Learning objective

Students will analyse the role of record-keeping in journalism by identifying key elements that contribute to comprehensive news coverage. They will evaluate how maintaining detailed records enhances the ability to provide context in breaking news situations.

• Student-facing objective: By the end of this lesson the student will be able to explain why keeping detailed records is crucial for journalists and how it helps in reporting news stories with context.
• Standards: This lesson is designed to help students understand the importance of keeping detailed records of stories they have covered.

Learning activities

Warm-up

Begin with a brief discussion: “Why do you think keeping records is important in journalism?” Allow students to share thoughts. Then, present a scenario: “Imagine you’re a journalist covering a developing story. You need to provide background information quickly. What records would be helpful?” Encourage students to brainstorm types of records (e.g., past articles, interview notes). This primes them for understanding the role of record-keeping in providing context.

Direct instruction

• Conceptual understanding: Explain the historical context of record-keeping in journalism. Discuss how journalists traditionally kept records using physical methods like newspaper cuttings and notes. Highlight the transition to digital tools, emphasising that while technology has evolved, the core principles of record-keeping remain unchanged. Use real examples, such as a journalist’s personal archive, to illustrate the importance of maintaining records for context in news stories.
• Procedural skills and fluency: Demonstrate how to organise and categorise records effectively. Present a step-by-step process for setting up a digital record-keeping system. Include:
  • Selecting relevant topics based on audience needs and personal interests.
  • Using digital tools to tag and categorise information for easy retrieval.
  • Sharing and collaborating on records with peers to enhance collective knowledge.

Provide a scenario where students must organise a set of digital articles and notes into a coherent system. Guide them through the process, ensuring they understand each step.

Application: Present a case study of a breaking news story. Ask students to identify what records would be necessary to provide comprehensive coverage. Discuss how these records add value and context to the story. Encourage students to think critically about the types of information that would enrich the narrative and how they would access and utilise these records in a real-world setting.

Guided practice

Think, Pair, Share

• Think: Ask students to individually reflect on a recent news story they found compelling. Have them list the types of records that would be essential for a journalist covering that story to provide context and depth.
• Pair: In pairs, students share their lists and discuss the reasons for choosing each type of record. Encourage them to consider how these records could enhance the story’s coverage.
• Share: Facilitate a class discussion where pairs present their findings. Highlight common records identified and discuss any unique suggestions. Emphasise how these records contribute to comprehensive news coverage.
• Connect: Guide students to connect their findings to the lesson’s learning objective. Discuss how maintaining detailed records supports journalists in providing context in breaking news situations.
• Reflect: Conclude with a brief reflection. Ask students to consider how they might apply these record-keeping strategies in their own work or studies. Encourage them to think about the importance of organisation and accessibility in record-keeping.

Independent practice

• Assign students to select a recent news story of interest.
• Instruct them to create a digital record-keeping system for the story.
• Require them to:
  • Identify and save relevant articles, interviews, and notes.
  • Tag and categorise each item for easy retrieval.
  • Write a brief explanation of how each record adds context to the story.
• Direct students to practice a related exercise by placing placeholders where I should link to said exercise.
• Circulate to observe and support students as needed.

Assignment

Ask students these questions:

1. What is one key reason journalists keep detailed records?
2. How can digital tools enhance the record-keeping process for journalists?
3. What’s one question you still have from today’s lesson?

Suggested answers:

• Suggested answer to Question 1: To provide context and depth in news stories.
• Suggested answer to Question 2: They allow for easier organisation, retrieval, and sharing of information.

Teacher resources

Differentiation guide

• Advanced learners: Encourage them to explore advanced digital tools for record-keeping, such as databases or specialised software. Suggest they analyse a complex news story, identifying nuanced records that add depth. Challenge them to create a presentation on how these records could influence public perception.
• Striving learners: Provide a simplified template for organising records. Use a guided worksheet to help them identify basic types of records. Pair them with peers for collaborative activities to build confidence. Offer additional examples and one-on-one support to reinforce understanding.
• Background reading: This lesson plan is based on the article ‘The importance of keeping records‘, which we recommend you read before adapting this lesson plan for your own purposes.

Notable definitions

• Record-keeping: The systematic process of collecting, organising, and maintaining information for future reference, ensuring accuracy and accessibility in journalism.
• Context: Background information that provides a deeper understanding of a news story, helping audiences grasp the significance and implications of events.
• Digital tools: Software and online platforms that facilitate the storage, organisation, and sharing of information, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of record-keeping in the digital age.

Required materials

• Computers or tablets with internet access
• Digital storage tools (e.g., Google Drive, Evernote)
• Access to online news articles
• Note-taking software or apps
• Projector or screen for demonstrations

Lesson summary

• Warm-up
• Direct instruction
• Guided practice
• Independent practice
• Assignment

The free teaching tools at the Khan Academy were used in the production of this lesson plan.

Related article

The importance of keeping records

The post Lesson: Keeping Records first appeared on Media Helping Media.

Journalists who want to inform the audience need to keep records so that they can add context to breaking news stories without having to rely on others for background information.

In the past these records were in the form of newspaper cuttings and notes. Now, in the digital age, tools exist to make the task easier. But the basic principles of keeping records has not changed.

Keeping records has always been an integral part of our newsgathering. Technological advances have merely simplified the task of finding, storing, enhancing, publishing, and sharing valuable news assets.

Before computers

When I started as a newspaper journalist, in the days before the internet, I was always looking for information that might prove to be useful in the future.

I had folders of news cuttings which were stored in boxes in my flat. The boxes were filled with articles which I had come across while reading other newspapers and magazines.

I also kept notes, scribbled down while I’d been listening to radio and watching TV bulletins.

Each item was a reminder of something I had found interesting, and which I felt might come in useful in the future.

I had my stack of my reporter notebooks with every fact, note, interview and observation safely stored.

There were carbon copies of every typed story I had written for the newspaper. They were bound in elastic bands and dated.

Keeping copies and records was a newspaper house rule which was put in place for legal and follow-up reasons.

I also had stacks of scrapbooks containing newspaper cuttings of my own work. That was my version of the modern-day online archive; my related stories, if you like.

My newspaper had its own ‘diary-and-file’ cabinet. An office junior would spend all day cutting up articles and filing them away for future use. Each would be labelled and indexed.

If an article covered more than one issue, another copy of the newspaper would have to be cut up so that the content could be filed in more than one category.

If there were important articles printed back-to-back, two more newspapers had to be clipped, and so on.

Cutting up newspapers with scissors and then sticking them to paper with glue was time consuming but it was important because the records we were keeping ended up in a reference library of files available for all staff to use.

Knowing what to keep

It’s important to know who is going to benefit from your the material you are gathering.  This will help you decide what to save, what to invest time and effort in developing, and how to present the resulting material.

A journalist covering a specialism (also known as a beat or a patch) will probably find it easier to decide what records to collect. A general reporter may find it more difficult.

However, all journalists should have areas they are interested in and all should understand the needs of their audience.

So gathering material based on your interests and the needs of your audience is a good starting point.

Knowing why we keep it

We keep records because it’s part of our job to inform the public debate. To do that we need to add context to the information we produce with sourced, verified and attributed material.

In a breaking news situation we will probably be dealing with the latest facts only.

But as the story develops, or if we are carrying out an in-depth investigation, we will need to dig deep in order to reference material that will enrich our coverage and enhance the understanding of those consuming it. That is why we need to keep records.

The content we keep must have the potential to add value to our work or to help those we are working with better understand an issue.

Ideally we will know something about the topic. We will add information and then share. By doing so, those who had not seen the original item, and who may have not thought about the line you have developed or expanded upon, might benefit.

There may be a sentence buried deep in an article that is particularly relevant to something you are working on. You can then point to that element and share just that point.

Keeping records helps you unearth gems, polish them and display them for all to see

When I started in journalism I was encouraged by my news editor to have my own storage system which started off as the bottom draw in my desk in the newsroom. There cuttings would relate to ongoing stories that would need following up.

Once a story was no longer current I would move the cuttings to the box in my flat.

I would also contribute to the joint record-keeping effort of my newsroom colleagues by suggesting material to be stored in the filing cabinet in the office.

Later, when I moved to the BBC, there was a department called ‘News Information’ which you could ring up to ask for cuttings. The department had staff whose job it was to store copies of every story for future reference.

Now, there are many great tools, most free to use, that offer different storage and collaboration benefits.

When I worked in newspapers, keeping records was a part of everyday life. However, apart from the material we shared in the office filing system, our own systems were very much a personal thing based on the topics were had invested time and effort covering.

Choosing what to keep

You need editorial focus, audience awareness, and time.

When I worked on my first newspaper I wouldn’t clip every article. A clipping had to have value. It had to be about an issue I was investigating, a developing story in which I would invest more time researching, and, more importantly, information that would help me produce better journalism for those who read the newspaper I worked for.

So my early cuttings had a clear editorial and audience focus. I needed to know who my readers were and what issues kept them awake at night worrying.

Working on a small town newspaper in the north of England made that fairly easy; we rubbed shoulders with the people who read our journalism every day, and so we understood the issues that concerned them most.

So my advice is to draw up a list of the the topics that interest you. Set these categories in whatever online storage tools you are using. Don’t take on too much. Start off by selecting only that content you think you are likely to return to, or which you think may be of use to those in your social network.

If you find something of interest, consider sharing it and inviting others to contribute. Many of the online storage sites will enable others to make suggestions about what you have collected.

If others join in, you could end up with a rich repository of the most valuable information on a topic.

However you don’t want to get swamped. It’s no use storing material if you can’t find it when you need it. Tag items carefully so that you can retrieve any information when you need it.

Today, we have the luxury of tools that enable us to grab anything we see online, store it, tag it, add notes to it and file it. It’s the same end result as keeping records in the days before computers, but it’s faster, neater, and more useful.

What we didn’t have in my old newspaper office was the ability to share cuttings in an instant, and, in doing so, invite others to add their perspectives and share it with their friends.

We would have to work on the material, make phone calls, knock on doors, sit on doorsteps and follow people round to get the quotes and angles needed to be able to create a professional piece of journalism.

That could take days. Then the piece would be submitted to the news editor, the sub-editor, and the editor, printed, distributed, and then read.

And, presumably, once our newspaper was out on the street, someone was probably starting the whole cycle again with our material, cutting it up, referring to the pieces, reusing the material, expanding on it, etc – an early form of viral news dissemination.

Questions

1. What are the primary reasons journalists keep records?
2. How did technological advances change the way journalists keep records?
3. Describe the process of record-keeping in a newspaper office before the digital age.
4. What role does audience awareness play in a journalist’s decision on what records to keep?
5. Explain the importance of having a personal storage system for journalists.
6. How should decide what content to keep?
7. Discuss the benefits of using online storage tools for record-keeping in journalism.
8. What is the risk of not keeping accurate records?
9. Evaluate the impact of digital tools on the speed and efficiency of journalistic record-keeping.
10. Synthesise the key elements that contribute to effective record-keeping for journalists in the digital age.

Answers

1. Journalists keep records to add context to breaking news stories, inform public debate, and enrich coverage with sourced, verified, and attributed material.
2. Technological advances have simplified finding, storing, enhancing, publishing, and sharing news assets, making the task of record-keeping easier.
3. Before the digital age, record-keeping involved cutting up newspapers, storing articles in files, and maintaining personal notebooks and scrapbooks.
4. Audience awareness helps journalists decide what records to keep by focusing on topics that interest their readers and address their concerns.
5. A personal storage system allows journalists to organise and access information relevant to ongoing stories and personal interests.
6. Journalists should focus on editorial priorities, audience needs, and the potential value of content when deciding what to keep.
7. Online storage tools offer benefits like easy access, collaboration, tagging, and sharing, enhancing the efficiency of record-keeping.
8. If a journalist fails to keep records they could be lacking essential information needed to add context and meaning to a breaking news story.
9. Digital tools have increased the speed and efficiency of record-keeping by allowing instant storage, retrieval, and sharing of information.
10. Effective record-keeping involves editorial focus, audience awareness, use of digital tools, and collaboration to create a valuable information repository.

Lesson plan for trainers

If you are a trainer of journalists we have a free lesson plan: ‘Keeping records‘ which you are welcome to download and adapt for your own purposes.

The post The importance of keeping records first appeared on Media Helping Media.