Chapters 10–12 Summary

The importance of public relations and crisis management is unmatched, like with the Tiger Woods situation in 2009 when he crashed into a tree and a fire hydrant in his car and it broke that he had many affairs with many different women, and he did little to manage the crisis or let his story be heard or told in all of the chaos that ensued. Writing is obviously very important in journalism, but it’s also important to write in different ways and have a wider range of skills when it comes to writing, such as PR writing or media relations, government affairs, public affairs, or investor, financial, or shareholder relations. Chapter 11 discusses more of a simple style of reporting, beat reporting. The principles of covering a story, regardless of the magnitude, stay the same. For example, to be successful as a reporter on that beat, you must be prepared, be alert, be persistent, be there, and be wary. It’s also important to know what to expect in beat reporting and also to establish good relationships with the sources that you may be using. Being persistent in beat reporting means a couple of things, like first, it means that when you ask a question, you cannot give up until an answer is given. Second, it means that you must keep track of slow-developing projects or problems. Another important thing in beat reporting is obviously being there, because in beat reporting, there’s no substitute for personal contact, and trying to cover a beat by telephone or email just won’t work. Writing when listening to speeches varies depending on the type of journalism that you’re going for, for example, if you’re writing a story for print, then taking good notes, using an audio recorder, and getting audience reaction might suffice.