Watchin’ the dogsCovering student government

Hi! I’m going to use these little notes to help you

through the slides without my actual presentation.

- KRG

“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

Thomas Jefferson

Your job as the Fourth Estate is

to watch those in power.

1. Attend all meetings

You need to have a reporter there each

time they meet. You will get stories from these

meetings.

2. Know the law

Understand laws that apply to your

administration and student government, including

state open meetings and open records laws.

3. Rotate the beat This keeps any individual reporter from getting stale

in his/her coverage.

4. Write about people, not processes

No one cares about policy and procedure. We want

to read about people.

5. Avoid conflicts of interest

Don’t allow editors to serve on student

government.

6. Cover live

Live tweet meetings, Storify coverage,

post online stories ASAP.

7. Train staff

Make sure your staff understands Robert’s Rules of

Order and how to cover student government meetings.

8. Don’t forget issues

Continue your reporting on each

issue until a resolution is reached. Don’t drop coverage.

9. Obtain documents

Possess all of the official student government

documents so you can refer to them when

necessary.

10. Match accountability

Whatever is required of your SGA (GPA, conduct, etc.), you also should require of

your staff.

Kenna Griffinwww.profkrg.com

@profkrg www.facebook.com/ProfKRG

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