Know your rights

• Most meetings you will be assigned to cover, such as Board of Trustees, Academic Senate and DASG are public, open meetings, which means that the media are free to cover them. Voice recording, photos and video are allowed if they're not distracting. Do not ask permission.

• Agendas have to be published in advance; minutes need to be publicly available.

• You are not obligated to identify yourself or to sign a roster.

Before the meeting

• look at the agenda for the meeting and minutes from past meetings

• Focus on the most interesting and important items on the agenda. Talk to participants in advance if possible. Links:

  • DASG Senate

  • Academic Senate

  • IPBT (Instructional Planning and Budget Team)

  • SSPBT (Student Services Planning and Budget Team)

  • ASPBT (Administrative Planning and Budget Team)

  • Foothill-De Anza Board of Trustees

Covering the meeting

• Mingle (live coverage): Use the time before the meeting, during breaks and afterwards to talk with sources and anyone else there. Introduce yourself and initiate a conversation.

• Draw a diagram of the meeting participants and label people by name/position. If that's not possible, label by an identifying characteristic (blue sweater, glasses/bald, bow tie, etc.). Find out their names later.

• Take good notes: Who said what? Be thinking throughout the meeting about what you are going to focus your story on.

• Look for stories: Listen to what is being said and make note of potential stories. Half a dozen things will be mentioned but not embellished. Check up on those later and follow up with stories.

• Snag people: After the meeting ask people questions to complete the information you need to write a solid story. If someone speaks at a public hearing and you didn't get their name, track them down in the crowd.

Writing

• Write fast: As you are in the meeting and as you walk away afterwards, already have a lead in mind.

• Write a basic story before checking quotes on your voice recorder. Fill in exact words later.

• Quote people by name.

• Don't be a stenographer: Write the story focused on a one or two news angles just like any other news story. Do not simply list a chronology of what happened at the meeting.

• Add bullet points if needed, e.g. "Other actions taken included: ... ", "In other news: ... ."