Reporting – Principles, Approaches & Special Beats

Preface

The art of news gathering and reporting is a tasking activity which requires
commitment, coherence of thought process, appropriate planning and
understanding of the news environment. Reporting techniques are a bit
technical but simple and exciting. Understanding the process of reporting
requires knowledge of the environment, principles, and dynamics of news
gathering and presentation formats.
It is against this backdrop that this book, “Reporting: Principles,
Approaches, Special Beats” is an apt contribution to the journalism
profession in Nigeria and beyond. In this second edition, the author updates
some basic definitions and provides more recent examples used in
explaining various topics. This book satisfies the quest for an insightful text
on reporting written in the Nigerian context. It discusses the basics of various
forms of reporting, with emphasis on specialized journalism and beat system
of reporting.
This text approaches the discourse on reporting principles, trends
and special beats from three major themes organized as sections of the book.
They are Reporting: Principles and Special Beats(section one), Specialised
Reporting: The Beats (section two), and Legal and Ethical Issues in
Reporting (section three). Each section treats specific subjects, topics, and
issues in the area of reporting in clear terms with examples to buttress the
explanations. The first section contains foundational explanations of the
basics of news and news reporting. It treats topics such as news values and
elements, including various kinds of news gathering and presentation
formats straight news, featurised, newspaper, magazine, precision,
interpretative, broadcast, investigative, new media, and development news
reporting. The second section focuses on specialized reporting, giving clear
explanations of what beat reporting means, kinds of beats and dynamics of
specific beats common in journalism practice in Nigeria environmental,
religion, agricultural, sports, crime, entertainment, and rural news beats,
among others. Section three discusses legal and ethical challenges
journalists face in the line of duty and how to achieve professionalism in
journalism practice. This second edition includes a discourse on the
Freedom of Information (FOI) Act which is designed to facilitate
information gathering by journalists and members of the public.
Aunique feature of this text is the writer’s use of valid local examples
to add practical flavour to the discussed subjects. The explanations come in
simple, easy-to-understand language, making the text a useful companion to
practicing and potential reporters, including journalism and mass
communication educators and students. It is a must read for students and
practitioners in all aspects of mass communication, related areas in social
sciences and humanities, including people in diverse fields who want to
understand the dynamics of news and news gathering process.