Research guides for every beat

What is beat reporting?

Beat reporting means covering one subject, institution or place over time. A beat reporter builds a network of sources, learns the records that subject produces and spots change faster than a general assignment reporter can.

Common news beats include politics, courts and crime, health, education, business and the environment. Many newsrooms also assign beats by place, such as city hall or a county, or by institution, such as a school district or a hospital system.

Beat guides

How to start a new beat

1. List the agencies, courts and companies that make decisions on your beat, and find the records each one must publish.
2. Build a source map that includes officials, critics, front-line workers and the people affected.
3. Set up alerts for new filings, data releases, meeting agendas and court dockets.
4. Learn the baseline numbers so you can tell a real change from normal variation.
5. Keep a running file of promises, deadlines and past coverage to hold people to what they said.

Questions that travel across beats

• Who has authority, and under which law or policy?
• What is the primary record?
• What changed, compared with what baseline?
• Who benefits, who bears the cost and who is missing?
• What would disprove the central claim?