As resources dwindle for news organizations, among the first casualties of cost cutting are the beats that were once the core of journalism’s mission. This week, OTM looks at the great decline in beat reporting.
The Cautionary Tale of Bell, California
Over a 17-year period, the city manager and other municipal officials bilked tax payers out of millions of dollars. Here's how the scheme went unnoticed for almost two decades.
Brooke and Bob on the Decline of Beat Reporting
Bob remembers the best story he got while working the crime beat for a small newspaper in Pennsylvania.
The History of Beats
You’d think that beat reporting has been fundamental to journalism since the birth of the business. But beats didn’t really take off until a little over a century ago.
The State House Beat
Two-thirds of audited daily papers do not assign a single reporter to cover the State House.
Rod Blagojevich Meets His Match
How one reporter was in the right place at the right time to uncover the story of a lifetime.
The Labor Beat
As the power of the unions declined, so did the number of labor reporters covering them.
The Obit Beat
There’s a saying from the early days of newspapers that goes “everyone gets to be in the paper twice: when they’re born, and when they die.”
