Writing Watchdog Journalism

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Do you know the differences among a Quit Claim, Trust and Grant deeds? How about cross-checking with a DEF 14A proxy statement? Where would you go to find information about these documents? Public records. Everything that happens in U.S. life that has to do with "the public" or involves public funding is supposed to be recorded; we all have rights to view or obtain this information. That's what Danielle Cervantes, an analyst for the San Diego Union-Tribune, told our writer's group last month. Cervantes is part of the paper's Watchdog & Projects Team. She functions as a "computer-assisted reporting specialist" who crunches the numbers and cross-checks data to back up muck-raking reporters. One of those news-breaking stories won the paper a Pulitzer recently.

Cervantes explained that computers and public records are the tools of watchdog journalism these days. When reporters want to ferret out the truth about major issues, institutions or individuals, they turn to the computer analysts to verify tips and backup stories.

The only exception to the availability of public records are law enforcement cases. If you want to investigate a story in your area, it helps to have a handle on the names for the kinds of records you might want to review. Cervantes provided a list of terms commonly used for public records. While some of these might be specific to California, your state or country will have something similar. If you know the definition, you'll be able to discover the name applicable in your area.

I'm making the Public Record Terms document one of the free articles available on the Writing Help page here at A Writer's Edge. In the future I'll post more about this kind of writing and more resources to help those interested.