The Printer’s Devil

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Why is it that newspapers assign their newest, most rookie reporters the cops and court beat?

There’s probably no beat more likely to get a newspaper sued, no beat more likely to create ill-well among the public and no beat more likely to give an editor heart burn when things go wrong — as they often do when a cub reporter is involved.

Believe me, it’s a lot better to assign a reporter who knows the community and has some experience to cops and court — that is if you have one.

Done well, cops and court news can really make a newspaper shine — and if you love to enter newspaper contests, that’s the type of stories that tend to attract awards.

However, a few points to ponder:

• Be aware that it takes nearly a year for a police reporter to really be worth his salt. Cops are a naturally paranoid bunch and they’re especially paranoid about the press. It takes a long time for them to loosen up and have the level of trust in a reporter that makes them genuinely useful sources and it takes many months to navigate the court records.

Also; be sure that your reporter emphasizes to the cops the adage: If you don’t want it on the record, don’t open your mouth. It eliminates all confusion. As the reporter and cops warm to one another, they can start making the deals concerning background sources or off-the-record information.

• Of course, always watch new reporters’ cop copy like a hawk. Especially for police and court news, it’s absolutely vital to be accurate. Especially at first, make sure their stories are written strictly from the written record and court documents and unless it’s court testimony, be careful about quotes and comments.

Remember even eyewitnesses and cops can get it wrong or have an agenda.

However, also tell the reporter not to get so focuses on the paper record that they don’t keep their eyes and ears open or look for that bit of color that lights up a story.

• Keep a wary eye on the tendency of some reporters to become “police buffs,” where they so totally come to identify with officers that they’ve become “cops”, writing the department’s propaganda and prosecuting criminals and agitating for police pay raises or bond issues for a new police station in your newspaper.

Ironically, being in the cops’ pocket doesn’t get the paper any exclusives. I’ve seen many the case in which a police buff gets shafted on a major scoop because the cops don’t respect him and go to the more combative competitor as a way to curry favor.

• Watch out for the natural tendency to use the court and cop lingo. Reporters become so familiar with terms as “suspect vehicle,” “arraignment” and “pro bono” they tend to use them without thinking, and forgetting that the average reader has no idea what they just wrote.

• Reporters should be able to walk on both sides of the street, talking to police, the public, attorneys and criminals. Like the old evangelists would say, be in the world, but not of the world.

• Once they’ve gotten acclimated, be sure to train others to step in at a moment’s notice and at least make sure they’re familiar with the major players in case of emergencies or your main cops reporter going on vacation.

In some cases, the constant atmosphere of death, violence, moral depravity that makes cops and court such a wonderful beat can taint or wear down a reporter and sometimes it’s a good idea to give them a breather and decompress.

Be aware, you may lose some edge concerning the cops and courts but it’s worth it to keep from burning out your number-one cops and courts reporter.

As long as your substitute can navigate the paperwork and lingo that keeps you in the game.

• It’s inevitable. Someone will call in a high dungeon about a story. Be sure to either have your reporter quickly refer calls to you or be sure to train them to keep cool and use a soft answer to turn away wrath.

Most libel suits get filed because the the caller gets an angry response or a smart-mouthed comment or gets blown off.

In most cases, they merely want something fixed. Reply that they say there’s a mistake, explain that it was taken from the record and that the reporter will check it immediately. If there was a mistake, run a correction promptly and call to apologize — which is the best policy in all cases, not just cops and courts.

• You’ll also field a lot of calls from people demanding that their name, or their kids’ names, not be printed in the police blotter items. They don’t mind paying hefty fines or do some time, but having their names in the paper is capital punishment.

How you respond will be up to your newspaper’s policy — I assume your paper has one. Be sure that, whatever you do, be consistent from the banker’s son to the homeless bum. It’s a small community and word will get out if you play favorites.

My view is that all names, (although many papers exempt juveniles and rape victims) get published if the cops include them on their daily logs.

However, be aware that people will call the police department to demand their names not get in the paper and the police invariably respond, “If you want your name out of the paper, call the Daily Bugle.” If it happens too often, you may have to have a heart-to-heart talk with the police chief or sheriff.