If you’ve ever worked as a reporter, what was your first beat?
My first beat was “people.”
No seriously. In my first journalism job, I was a Sunday features writer, and got to tell basically any story I wanted about people. It was fun and borderless and a great way to spend five years. (One time, I saw a sign that said “will sharpen anything here” and knocked on the door. I ended up telling the story of an 80-year-old making due by sharpening blades out of his home.)
At my next job, my beat for the next five years was “demographics,” and included race, immigration, the Census and aging.
In each beat, I learned about the topic I was covering, and over time, how to cover a beat itself.
Getting one year to cover one topic was a luxury, and it’s one a lot of local journalists don’t have anymore. Last year, Poynter launched Beat Academy to help journalists dig into topics that are going to be in the news cycle.
“Beat Academy takes topics that are high on the news curve and gives local and regional journalists a leg up on covering them in a way that makes sense in their area,” said Jon Greenberg, formerly a staff writer at PolitiFact who is now my colleague at Poynter. “We know people are super busy, so we bring in experts to give them an essential framework to help them wrap their heads around the issue, we point them to the data to buttress their reporting, and we focus on turning all of this into story ideas that they can execute. It’s super pragmatic and it’s very affordable.”
(They cover eight topics in a dozen 90-minute webinars, and the total cost is $75.)
Greenberg recommends Beat Academy for reporters of all experience levels who want to sharpen their work and skills.
“Attending Beat Academy opens the door to eight reporting grants, each providing no less than $10,000. The topics are challenging — political extremism, transgender dynamics, Biden and the Justice40 scorecard — but that’s as it should be. These grants will stretch your journalism muscles and show what you can accomplish,” he said. “And this year, we have two competitive, expenses-paid, in-person events. Up to 25 people will join us in Chicago for a master class on covering extremism. Up to 20 people can attend a two-day workshop in El Paso, Texas, to gain a deeper understanding of the immigration pressures at the border.”
You can learn more about Beat Academy here. It starts Feb. 1.
And check out these free resources that beat reporters can benefit from, too:
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SciLine can help match journalists with experts, offers topics crash courses and quick facts briefings.
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Follow people covering your beat to get inspiration and build connections. Muck Rack has a directory.
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And remember experts aren’t just people with titles and degrees. Reuters reporter Kat Stafford practices and teaches this. Community members are expert sources, too.
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