Covering the Big, Breaking Story

Be ready

• Plan ahead.
  You can't plan exactly how to cover a big story in advance because each story is different. But you can make some general plans. If you made some mistakes or learned some valuable lessons on the last big story, discuss how to avoid the mistake or repeat the helpful moves on the next story. You can adopt some standard practices for handling big stories.
• Prepare.
  Make sure that you are comfortable and competent writing and filing on a laptop computer. You don't have time on the breaking story to fumble with the equipment and call someone who can help you file. Practice on some routine stories, so you know how to set up a file, how to send it into the system, how to trouble shoot. On deadline, you want to get it right the first time. If you're an editor, make sure all of your staff is comfortable with the laptop.

Coordinate

• Overreact. Whether you're deciding whether to go to the scene or deciding how many reporters and photographers to assign to the story, err on the side of overreacting. It's always better to send several good reporters and photographers to a story that doesn't quite pan out than to send too few staff members to a huge story or, worse yet, to try to handle the big story solely by telephone.
• Double team.
  When the big story is a long way from your office, double-team it, dispatching some reporters immediately while others start reporting by telephone. You will duplicate some efforts, but the people who work by phone will help you make your early deadline. They also will save some time for the people on the ground by learning some of the facts and identifying people to interview. When you're scrambling to cover the big story, you want duplication rather than gaps.
• Know who's in charge.
  Both at the scene and in the newsroom, you need someone who is in charge, regardless of how many people are working on the story. The lead person at the scene, usually a reporter, needs to confer with the lead person in the newsroom, then to assign people to their duties quickly. The lead person at the scene needs the authority to change the plan as the situation changes and as the team learns more about the story. But that person then must notify the lead person in the newsroom of changes as quickly as possible, especially when combining or canceling stories or launching new stories.
• Delegate.
  Decide roles early, even though you probably will have to change some as you go along. Decide whether someone at the scene is going to write the main story, or whether someone in the office is going to rewrite, with everyone filing takes from the scene. Designate someone in the office to take dictation in case reporters at the scene will not have time to write (or in case they didn't prepare as directed above and have trouble filing). As you learn about the story, designate reporters to write sidebars or to gather various types of information. Designate a reporter (or a few) in the office to call sources (such as FEMA, highway patrol, NTSB, INS) who may not be at the scene or may be more talkative or accessible than people at the scene.
• Talk early and often about art.
  Send photographers to the scene as early as possible. It's better to send too many and call some back than to be playing catch-up. Start artists working immediately on graphic and illustration possibilities. Think of ways to tell the story beyond the story itself: timelines, locator maps, lists of similar incidents in the past, diagrams of the scene, diagrams showing how something happened, graphics explaining destructive weather, biographical boxes on victims, suspects or heroes. You might need to send an artist to the scene. Or you may need to have a reporter gather information for the artist. Get exact maps and building plans for the artist to work from when possible. Remember that photographers become part of the reporting team on a big story. They may see or hear things that should go in the stories, and they should receive credit accordingly. Photographers need to pass along information to reporters and reporters need to ask photographers what they know about this or that. Sometimes the photographer will not have precise enough information for the reporter to use in the story, but provides a tip the reporter has to follow up or a contact to interview.
  
  Research.
  Designate a reporter(s) or librarian to research background on the Internet and in your library and other newspaper archives. Check data online that might provide facts for the story or might show whether officials had warnings about this problem or how widespread the problem is. You want to be able to document a trend or say if this incident is the first, worst or deadliest.
• Plan again and again.
  Fairly early in the process, the lead editor needs to write a coverage plan, after talking with everyone involved, including reporters, artists and librarians in the newsroom and reporters, photographers and artists in the field. Sometimes the lead editor will not talk directly with those people, but with the editors who supervise them and have talked directly with them. However, the editor writing the plan should always discuss it in detail with the lead reporter at the scene. Update the plan as the story takes shape and inform people about significant changes in the plan. The plan should coordinate your reporting, not inhibit it.
• Communicate.
  Everyone in the field should have cell phones and everyone in the field should have all the phone numbers. Editors and reporters working on the story in the newsroom should have all the phone numbers, too. Try to coordinate efforts to communicate. But err on the side of too much communication, rather than too little. You would rather have two or even three people calling to give a reporter a vital piece of information than fail to let the reporter know. Be sure to let all affected reporters know of important developments in the story and of changes in the coverage plan.

At the scene

• Secure the minimum story.
  Someone should have primary responsibility to get the basic facts that provide the minimum story: who, what, when, where. This story usually comes from official sources. These are the facts that will embarrass you if you miss them. You can't afford to have everyone chasing exotic and exclusive angles and fail to get the minimum story.
• Pursue the maximum story.
  Assign someone to pursue the angles that will produce the best possible story. This will involve investigative or narrative information. It will answer tougher questions such as why and how. It will develop intriguing story elements such as plot, character, setting, conflict and resolution. Pursue the maximum story immediately, even though you may not get it for the first cycle. You will get it sooner if someone is pursuing it immediately. That person(s) may get lots of information that will add to the minimum story before he nails down the maximum story.
• Never say no for someone else.
  Assume you will get all important interviews. Some people will not want to talk to you, but that should be their decision. Tell them sensitively that you would like to tell their story. If they don't want to talk, give them a card and tell them you would like to talk when they are ready. Maybe you can set a time right then to come back for an interview. If they're not slamming the door in your face, ask a couple questions anyway. Maybe simple biographical information about themselves or the deceased or the suspect - age, names of children, where she went to school. That may give you the few minutes and few words you need to start a real interview. Or maybe you can get just a few answers or a photo now and establish contact that will lead to an interview later.

After deadline

• Follow up.
  However thoroughly you cover the story at first, you will have follow-up angles. Gather all the reporters and editors together (electronically, if you have to) and brainstorm ideas for follow-ups for the next cycle. Assign some people to keep covering developments while others start working right away on enterprise stories for Sunday or further down the road. Discuss narrative, investigative and explanatory possibilities. Someone might have to check inspection records or criminal histories or building permits. Discuss important characters that you might want to profile. Discuss whether you need to explain some process or legal or scientific aspect of the story. Don't assume that all the enterprise stories are for Sunday. Some of them might be timely sooner. You will do some investigative stories right away if you can.
• Learn lessons.
  When you're finished with the big story, gather everyone together to discuss what you did well, why that worked and what you learned that will help on future stories. Also discuss, without finger-pointing, what didn't work as well. What did you learn from that to help on future stories?

Roy Peter Clark's "How to Cover the Big, Big Story": http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=6272