Journalists most often cover a specific area – or beat.
When I started in the industry, newsrooms typically had the following:
- One or two local government reporters – one for county board, one for city hall.
- An education reporter (like me!).
- A few prep sports reporters.
- A features reporter.
- A few photojournalists.
- A courts reporter.
- A general assignment reporter.
Today’s newsrooms employ fewer journalists, which means reporters at daily publications often cover multiple beats.
Analytics have changed how we measure success for our work, and with it, some beats have shifted altogether.
I see more environmental coverage now than I did 15 years ago, which reflects growing interest from readers in that area.
Traditional outdoors coverage – what some call “bullets and hooks” reporting because of its focus on hunting and fishing – seems to be declining. Meanwhile, coverage of outdoor silent sports like biking, hiking and kayaking has grown.
Here at Wisconsin Watch, our beats are guided by our mission and values. Our journalists cover:
- State government.
- Education and employment on what we call the pathways to success beat.
- Agriculture and the environment.
- Health and welfare.
- And justice and safety.
Investigative journalism is in our DNA, and our reporters are some of the best at it. They also report enterprise stories and solutions journalism.
- Enterprise stories go deeper than something I would have covered as a daily education reporter. Think less about turn-of-the-screw school board coverage and more on trends emerging across the area or state.
- Solutions journalism is rigorous, evidence-based reporting on responses to social problems. Every solutions story covers four pillars: a response to the problem, evidence that it works (or not), insights and limitations.
These kinds of journalism, especially investigations, tend to take more time to produce and are therefore more expensive.
But you can support journalism that makes a difference in the community. Subscribe to your local news outlet or contribute to Wisconsin Watch.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
