Beat Reporting 101 pays off

Talking with sources among real estate agents and buyers led reporter Carolyn Said of the San Francisco Chronicle to a story about condo buyers having trouble getting financing and walking away from their sales contracts. The story provides both a look at a local trend as well as an example of life after the subprime-loan crash.

Today’s Tip: Don’t forget the basics of beat reporting: establishing relationships and checking in. Not every call to sources needs to be for a quote on the story of the moment.

While working at a weekly, my editors required reporters to get out and meet with at least three people each week. On busy weeks, that proved to be a major nuisance, but the face-to-face interactions did help build sources.

Carolyn says she asks her sources about trends and issues they see in the field.
“The fact that it affects a broad category of consumers — first-time home buyers who are at the low end of the market — made it interesting enough to pursue,” she says. “I had to make several dozen calls to find the one project that was willing to discuss the difficulties.”