BASIC REPORTING PROGRAM 7

Get close to the action

If there is a motto that reporters should apply as often as possible to reporting it is this -- get close to the action. As a reporter it is important to go to the scene to be able to report the real events as they unfold or at least talk to people at the scene after the event.

Many reporters do just that. If a demonstration takes place, they go there and talk to participants. If a bomb explodes in a public place, they go to the scene to interview witnesses.

BEING ON THE SPOT Getting up close and personal matters. Stories gain measurably from reporters being on the spot. Quite often what you see can provide the action or description for the “lead” or beginning of your story. Some of the best stories come from reporters who were at the event and were able to convey the story through description, action and quotes. (EXAMPLE)

SEE FOR YOURSELF Being at the scene can help in verifying the authenticity of an event. How reliable and how detailed can secondary sources be? Secondary sources are usually people not directly involved in the event or action. There are times when these people have their own agenda, they have a bias, and unless you are actually able to go to see for yourself, their views can give the wrong impression of events. This happens in international media reports more often than you might expect. Shoddy reporting results in misleading stories. Sometimes reporters can be plain wrong.

DON'T RELY ON THE PRESS Take a story of an event you have read in newspaper. Often going to the scene of the event will change your initial approach to the story. Many stories "evolve" out of on-the-ground contact with the people and the subject. What you find may be different from what has been published in the newspaper. Much of the best groundbreaking journalism comes from journalists who don't follow the "pack.” Avoid the “herd instinct.”

KEEP AN OPEN MIND Not that visiting the scene will guarantee you get the story right. Think before you rush out the door and think while you are reporting. This may sound obvious. But there is a danger that some reporters, in the rush to get the story, might fail to open their minds to what they are reporting. Pay attention to your preparation for the story. Even if it is rushed, try to make sure you have done some research and understand the background to the events that might unfold before you. Draft a list of questions to ask at the scene, even if you end up modifying those questions due to the real-life circumstances you encounter. Ask yourself what the story is really about. Delve deep. But also stand back and ask yourself what it all means. Keep an open mind.

KEY PLAYERS Even if you miss the event or incident, try to get as near to the action or as high up the ladder, in terms of talking to key players, as possible. Take the example of a social worker injured in a demonstration. You may have missed the protest but you could go to the hospital where the injured person, in this case a woman, is recuperating to try to talk to her. Ideally, it is better to talk directly with her than with the nurse who is looking after her or her family waiting outside with flowers. Their comments may be valuable but they are secondary sources. The woman with the bandage on her head is the person to talk to.

COLOR On-the-spot description can bring the story alive. You will have the opportunity to include in your story what you see and hear when you go to the scene. There is the opportunity to include description to make the story more interesting to read, though try not to clutter your News Report with adjectives and adverbs – those colorful, descriptive words (see use of color in a later Reporting module). (EXAMPLE)

SHOW, DON'T TELL Description obtained from being at the scene matters if you are to follow the story writers' directive "show, don't tell" when writing the story. This is where you take your first-hand observations and use the description to illustrate an issue or point in the story. (EXAMPLE)

CAUTION On-the-spot description may indeed bring the story alive. But you need to be alive to tell the story. Don’t put your life at risk. Bear in mind the local sensitivities in reporting a story in your country. In some countries in Asia , danger to life and limb is greater than in others.

By calling on you not to put your life at risk, we are aware that some reporters do take risks. But sensible and experienced reporters take “calculated risks,” stepping into dangerous situations that they know they can get out of. There is a fine line between care and folly.

THAT EXTRA KILOMETER Naturally, reporters have to be practical. It may not be possible to cross the country to visit the scene of an event or incident. Time or expense may prevent it. It may be impossible to meet directly with the main players. For example, how easy is it to just drop in on your country’s prime minister and ask him directly about a burning issue. The political situation in the country may pose serious censorship challenges, preventing the reporter from covering issues that are too "politically sensitive." But try as much as the local situation allows to get as high up the ladder as possible and as close to the issue as you can. You may find it worthwhile going that extra mile (or kilometer!).

WITNESSES Often the real story can be found in the lives of those directly affected by the words and actions of people in power. People at the scene of an incident or development may provide telling first-hand accounts. You may not be able to talk directly to the person who issued the directive, who made the speech, or pulled the trigger. But you could talk to the people who have been affected by the action - the people helped, the people evicted, those who witnessed the event, or the man lying in a hospital bed in agony from a bullet wound.

Finally, bear in mind the spin-off benefit for the reporter of visiting the scene. Apart from being able to provide more insight into the story, it can be personally satisfying. If you get close to the action, you may find yourself a witness to history in the making.

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SAFETY FIRST

Your safety comes first when reporting. CLICK HERE to read about the frame of mind you should have when reporting in potentially dangerous situations.

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EXAMPLE

Take an account UCAN ran telling of the appalling conditions faced in Gujarat, India by Muslims who had fled communal violence to the safety of a camp. In relatively few words, that "frontline" account conveyed the horror of people living in fear. The story says “twenty-six children have been born in unhygienic conditions in the camp,” mentions the visit of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to the camp, and notes that while the premier spoke about friendship, a Muslim woman Ameena Begum was suffering labor pains just meters away. As soon as the premier left, Begum prematurely gave birth to a boy whom she named Aman (peace).

If the reporter had not visited the camp, he would have been unable to describe that incident or effectively convey the feeling of fear in the camp.

EXAMPLE

Let's suppose the army had evicted farmers from their village, claiming they had encroached on a national forest (this is a fictional example of a real reporting experience in Asia). Obviously the story can be brought to life by actually visiting the village and interviewing the villagers camped out nearby. These people may be able to tell in their own words who evicted them and why, and describe the action. All this is grist for a potentially compelling Feature story.

The story might begin as follows: It was midday when they burned down Lungka village. Fifty armed men walked casually from house to house, torching the tinder-dry buildings. "They didn't say anything, they just set the houses on fire while most of the people were in the fields," said a local member of the Banhu tribe, standing amongst the weeds that now grow where his family home once stood. Eighty houses, as well as crops, were destroyed in the raid on the village, leaving over 100 people homeless.

Why this works as the lead to a Feature story is because the reporter was actually there, talking to a member of the tribe amidst the wreckage of the person's village.

EXAMPLE

Getting close to the action can be seen in the few words in a Feature story we ran on a slum in Japan, words "showing" homeless men rising in the morning to line up at an employment bureau, helped convey the despair felt by those living on the margins of Japanese society. The story was about the slum of Kamagasaki, the "other face" of Japan that many local people wish did not exist. The neglected area is a blot on the image of Japan as a modern, developed society.

The story included the following description: Before dawn, hundreds of disheveled men rise from under cardboard or newspaper coverings on the garbage-strewn, urine-stained sidewalks to line up at employment bureaus in the hope of obtaining a day's work.

Few words. But it conjures up an image in the reader's mind of the face of Japan that few see.

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(HEADLINE) SAFETY FIRST

(SUB-HEAD) Go to the scene but be careful

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Get the story! Get up close! Talk to the key players! Reporting is all about getting close to the “action.” But you have to survive to tell the tale. Reporters ought to be treated as objective observers offering a service to society. Sadly, some are injured or killed pursuing their profession.

Reporters should develop a sense of survival. In most reporting situations you will not need to use it. But for those who do get caught in threatening situations – a demonstration that gets out of hand, armed conflict, or a potential hostage-taking scenario – you need to know how to react.

This comes down in large measure to commonsense. Some responses are obvious. If a demonstration turns violent, you should try to back out calmly. If somebody starts shooting, you should take cover. Don’t take any unnecessary risks. Obvious? Yes. Commonsense should be your guide rather than any desire to be seen as a hero (or heroine). Pride and ego should be put aside. Your job is to report and then return to write up the story. Try to stay calm and get out of danger. You don’t want to be the one who is featured on the front page of the newspaper the next day.

All this might seem a little simple -- easier said than done. In a later module, we will take a careful look at safety.

For now the matter can best be summed up by maintaining the “correct frame of mind.” Try to remain calm while reporting. Don’t be intimidated by angry or aggressive people. If people do threaten you, try to talk to them. You are there to report and maybe they have a message they want to convey. This may not be easy, but holding a conversation may give you some leverage. If you do get caught in a dangerous situation, don’t prolong the excitement. Try to get out.

Be cautious and careful. Live to tell the tale. That’s the bottom line.