Beat Reporting: What Does it Take to be the Best?

Chip Scanlan knows journalism.
He worked for the Washington, D.C.bureau for Knight Ridder. He also worked at the St. Petersburg Times and the Providence Journal. From 1994-2009, he was a faculty member of the Poynter Institute, which provides training for journalists.
In 2002, he wrote an article about beat reporting.
"The best beat reporters I’ve known are well-organized, determined, with a clear sense of mission and a wide range of sources. They are constantly reading about the beat and striving to learn new things. They are well-versed in the language, issues and events that matter. They are judged by the breadth of their knowledge and their success at communicating the important stories on their beats," Scanlan wrote.
Click here to read more about his view on beat reporting.