watchdog reporting on a budget - michael j. berens - las vegas newstrain - oct. 10-11, 2014

WATCHDOG REPORTING

ON A BUDGET

LOW RISK, HIGH IMPACT STORIES

MICHAEL J. BERENS | MBERENS@SEATTLETIMES.COM | @MJBERENS1

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MEET MY EDITOR

– A GUY WHO

THOUGHT A

SPECIAL

PROJECT WAS

SOMETHING

THAT TOOK TWO

HOURS INSTEAD

OF ONE

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Not every story is your story

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Do not begin with a noun

Nouns are not stories

PROJECT CHECKLIST

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Text for slides is ARIAL (BODY)

36 PT

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Quantify

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He said.

She said.

Now I’m going to tell you

who’s telling the truth.

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COLLECT THE TOOLS

OF THE TRADE

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Find enterprise and watchdog

stories in your own publication or

broadcast

Clips from a random day:

Sept. 15, 2014

FAA ACCIDENT DATA RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

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WWW.LANDINGS.COM

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FATALITY ANALYSIS REPORTING

SYSTEMLAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL

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FATALITY ANALYSIS REPORTING

SYSTEM

KTNV LAS VEGAS

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How many children die outside of car seats?

How often do drivers to roll over a pedestrian?

How many children die in car accidents?

What’s the most dangerous intersection?

Do teens or seniors have more fatal crashes?

How many cop cars are involved in fatal

crashes?

How many involved police pursuits?

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Powerful and exclusive

stories are derived from

databases that you create

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CREATE STORIES

KTNV LAS VEGAS

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CREATE STORIESLAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

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How many victims are killed by strangers?

How many homicides involve domestic violence?

What is the deadliest area of your region?

How many children are homicide victims?

What % of killings involve guns?

What kind of gun?

… any question you want

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A LESSON LEARNED

An editor’s question:

“What day of the week is the most

popular for police drug raids?”

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OSHA DATALAS VEGAS SUN

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WWW.OSHA.GOV/OSHSTATS/

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Most dangerous profession in your city or state?

Business with the most worker injuries?

Categories of injuries and deaths?

How many grain blasts each year?

Percentage tied to negligence?

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STORIES HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

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STORIES HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

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STORIES IN PLAIN SIGHT

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A health care professional was

administratively charged with sexual

misconduct with patients.

His punishment?

He was only allowed to treat women

age 50 or older (re: public record on

Wa. Dept. of Health website)

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BREAKDOWN THE STORY –

FOLLOW THE PAPER

A source tells you that officers

assigned to an undercover police

unit, which investigates bars and

liquor violations, is legally getting

drunk on duty.

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WWW.GAO.GOV

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WWW.IGNET.GOV/IGS/HOMEPAGE1.HTML

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WWW.GUIDESTAR.ORG

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Require reporters to write story memos

On breaking news, create a central file

Create a FOIA database

Hold regular watchdog meetings

Create a database library for the staff

Designate a database editor

Create a “story process”

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WWW.IRE.ORG

Searchable Story Database (26,000+)

Searchable Tipsheet Database (23,000+)

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UNLEASH YOUR WATCHDOG

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