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3.2: Developing a Beat

  • Page ID
    320632
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    Learning about "beats" is critical when thinking about community journalism. So first, let's define what a journalism beat is.

    Definition: Journalism Beat

    Beat reporting refers to thematic specialization and routines (places to go, people to see) in journalism. The term reflects the distinction between general assignment reporters and specialized (beat) reporters covering a specific area (beat) as well as the subject-matter or geographic divisions between areas of reporting by which media organizations seek to structure the social environment they cover. (Source: Oxford Research Encyclopedias)

    In many cases, beats are defined by communities. Two examples:

    • A large news agency that covers New York City might have a Westchester County beat, where a reporter finds stories significant to the larger metro area that begin or heavily effect Westchester County, a suburban area just outside of NYC.
    • A video games beat might cover their developers, the people who play and love games, the financial aspects of the industry, etc.

    So beats can be highly versatile forms of community journalism, but developing a beat has many commonalities across all focus areas. This video breaks it down for us:

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    3.2: Developing a Beat is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.