Choosing my Reporting Beat

Trying to choose my reporting beat was no easy task. There are so many different beats to choose from and so many of them seem interesting a like they could be very fun to cover. Beats cover all topics from politics, to art, to food, and many other aspects of life and news. When I chose mine, I wanted to make sure it was something I was interested in and also that it was something that my audience was interested in reading.

I decided to make politics my reporting beat, but not just regular politics because that seemed a little boring to me. I decided to be more specific and to cover political law, crime, and court hearings as my journalistic beat. This topic is a little less broad and focuses on topics that I enjoy learning and writing about and I believe that the general population likes to read about in the news. Go online and look at your favorite news organizations website and I am sure you will find that a murder is story is one of the top stories on the front page. People enjoy reading about the apprehension of criminals in their area and around the world. I for one have always enjoyed reading and writing about such stories.

I once wrote a short fictional series about a murder detective when I was in high school. I believe that is where my love for writing about criminal and crime began. The entertainment business seems to also have a love for crime and criminals. That is why there are so many documentaries, limited series, and movies about criminals, especially murderers and serial killers.

As a part of this assignment I was also asked to think of some local story ideas based on the journalistic beat I chose and also based on the future assignments we will have in the class including: an event story, a meeting story, a profile, a feature story, a video piece, and an enterprise piece.

One story idea I had included going to a Scott County Public School Board meeting where I have many connections and possible interviewees. Another story included a piece on a local high school that started a group dedicated to cold cases and was able to completely solve a case more than 30 years old. One last idea I had is a story on Kingsport’s attempts at addressing the homeless population in the area which will include the ways that they are doing it and how it has impacted the community.