In Public Affairs Reporting, There Is No “One-Stop Shop”

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is trying to make their records accessible. But this is not the only stop for a reporter doing a police records story. J.D. Callaway, the Public Information Officer at the HCSO, and his colleague, USF graduate Crystal Bermudas, shared with our class about the different documents available at the Sheriff’s Office. However, Gil’s quote impacted me the most. When discussing the necessity of "shoe leather journalism", Gil stated that there is “no one-stop shop”.

Once HCSO sends out a press release about one of the newsworthy cases that came in that day, a reporter’s work just begins. Callaway explained that the search does not start at the Sheriff’s Office. He suggested to start at the jail and get the criminal report affidavit to see who the victims and the arrestees are. Next, you need to go to the courthouse to see if the arrestees have previous court cases on their record. After this, you need to go to the HCSO for the charge report and any other records available from the case (i.e. DUI reports, traffic reports). Lastly, check out the scene of the crime and talk to secondary sources, like family members and friends, about what happened. As one student put it, it’s a lot of driving.

In an age of Wal-Mart shopping and internet searching, young journalists might find this process daunting. However, “shoe leather journalism” is necessary to get the story right. You cannot depend on a press release or a detective’s report alone for the most accurate and intriguing information. First of all, a press release only gives you the bare minimum facts and finding the story can require digging deeper. Secondly, many of the reports are hard to read or illegible, so they need to be verified with other sources.

I think this kind of reporting makes journalism exciting. Even though traveling to each place can be inconvenient, it is imperative to a good, solid story. Besides, Callaway admitted that they only release about five percent of the cases that come in each day in a press release. Although I’m sure Callaway and Bermudas are capable PIO’s, they still work for elected official, David Gee, and their news judgment may not be the same as yours.

So find your own story, research that story, and do some enterprise reporting that will affect your community.