How to start work in Political beat.

1. Political Reporting : Tools and Tips
Dr. Ashok Kumar, Assistant Professor,
IMCMT,KUK
Email:akkumar@kuk.ac.n

2. Importance of politics and political beat
Ú Politics is a big area which provides a very large part of
the media's diet of news. Politics is about relationships
within and between societies, about the use of power
and authority, and about the government of countries or
communities.
Ú For journalists, politics can range from stories about
individuals competing for power in minor organisations
to nation competing against nation in international
affairs.
Ú It is difficult to define where politics ends and
government begins - or even if there is a dividing line.

3. Principles of political reporting
Ú The most important thing to remember about politics is that
it involves people.
Ú It involves the politicians who make decisions, the public
servants who carry out their orders and - most important -
the people affected by their actions.
Ú Your job as a journalist is to serve the people affected, to
explain how the decisions will affect their lives.
Ú You should also give them knowledge they need to take part
in debates and vote for the people who will serve them best.
Ú You should not be writing for the politicians or public
servants concerned in particular issues; they should know
already what is going on. Whenever you report on any
political story, always ask yourself: "How will it affect my
readers' or listeners' lives?"
Ú There is a further reason for reporting politics. If you tell
the people what is happening, they can give their reactions
to it.

4. Duties of a Political Journalist
Ú Explain events and issues
Ú One of your main tasks as a journalist is to
explain events and issues in a way your
readers or listeners can understand. If you
only report what happens or what is said, you
will give your readers or listeners a
fragmented picture of the world. They also
need to know how and why things happen. Your
stories must always put events and issues in
context, showing how they affect people.
Ú Explanations do not have to be long
descriptions. It can often be done in one or
two sentences.

5. Know your audience
Ú As with any area of news, it is important that you know your readers
or listeners. You can then adapt your news-telling style to their
general level of interest and understanding, remembering always that
you should aim to inform the less-educated members of your audience
as well as the educated ones.
Ú It is worth adding here that some societies or communities are more
"political" than others. By this we mean that they see politics at work
in issues more often than the members of some other communities.
Ú An awareness of the general level of political consciousness in your
community will help you to determine which issues you need to cover -
and how.
Ú Do not confuse your community's general level of political
consciousness with your own interest in political affairs, which might
be greater because you work in the media.
Ú If readers or listeners are not interested in politics, you should not
force them. However, even a lack of interest in politics should not cut
them off from receiving news of a political nature about things which
affect their lives.

6. Be suspicious
Ú It may seem obvious, but remember that you cannot
believe everything you are told in politics.
Ú Always be suspicious about what people say,
especially when they make promises or boast about
their achievements.
Ú When a politician or political activist speaks just to
appear good (or to keep in the public eye for the
next election), you should treat what they say as
personal advertising.
Ú When they speak on a current issue, you should ask
whether their c
Ú Comments add to the people's understanding of the
issue. If they do, that is news. If they do not, that
is just personal advertising.

7. Cultivate sources and contacts
Ú Even though you may be suspicious of the motives of politicians, you
should still try to make a wide range of contacts among them.
Ú You may need to put aside your personal dislike for a politician or his
philosophy. You should judge politicians you dislike in the same way as
you judge those you admire. Whenever they speak on an issue, you must
ask:
Ú On a practical level, even politicians you personally dislike will give you
stories if they believe that you will treat them fairly.
Ú Politicians in opposition often provide useful information about abuses by
those in power. Both you and they are there to monitor the performance
of the rulers, whether national or local.
Ú You may, of course, be working in a country where confrontation is not
encouraged in politics. In some countries, politicians not in power are
meant to support the leaders, not oppose them. Everyone is urged to
work together to achieve certain national goals. Even in situations such
as these, criticism is usually allowed as long as its aim is to suggest
improvements to the system, not simply to oppose it on ideological
grounds.
Ú Try to keep a balance between reporting the achievements of the
powerful and reporting the concerns of the powerless.

8. Protect confidentiality
Ú Because political reporters have to deal with
both sides in an argument, you have a duty to
respect the confidentiality of sources - you must
keep any promises you give to keep certain
information to yourself.
Ú If people feel that they can talk in confidence
to you, they will often give you plenty of
material, both on and off the record.
Ú On the record comments can be reported. Off
the record comments are usually given on
agreement that they will not be reported.

9. Know your subject
Ú Knowing your subject and being properly prepared is vital in all fields of
journalism.
Ú Before you do any interview, you need to know something about the issue, its
latest developments and history; the interviewee's background and politics; and
the political system applicable to the issue.
Ú It could, for example, be pointless interviewing a local council leader about
defence policy when defence is a central government responsibility. Equally, it
could be embarrassing to ask a person why he opposes a measure when, in fact,
he supports it in principle.
Ú Always try to prepare some searching questions. Some stories will demand a very
critical approach, others may only need a clear explanation and some questions
to make some points clearer.
Ú You must always pursue a line of questioning until you get an answer that will
satisfy your readers or listeners.
Ú They cannot ask the party leader, association chairman or minister directly, so
your readers or listeners rely on you to know what kind of questions they want
answering.
Ú You may think you already know the answers, but the purpose of journalism is
not to educate you. You exist as a journalist to inform your readers or listeners,
so keep asking questions until you are sure that they will be satisfied with the
answers.
Ú It is important that you keep up-to-date records of any changes in government
structures or political office.
Ú Whenever you write a story about any political or government changes, also make
the necessary changes in the newsroom reference file. For example, if there is a
cabinet reshuffle, get a full list of the new ministers and put it in the newsdesk

10. Political story Structure
Ú Political stories can be written in the inverted pyramid
style. However, because political issues can usually be
seen from a number of different viewpoints, political
stories are often more complicated to write than a
simple report of an event. You need to include factual
details of any measure or decision, but also report the
different opinions on the issue.
Ú The simplest way of doing this is to start by giving one
angle in the intro and first part of the story, then switch
to other views later.
Ú However, this approach can be unfair, especially in
newspapers where the reader might lose interest before
coming to the other comments.
Ú The best way to structure a news story to overcome this
problem is to include a reference to the other opinions
early in your story. You do not have to give them in full at
the beginning of your story; you just need to mention
them, then you can explain them in more detail further

11. News first
Ú As with other news stories, you should give
the news first, the comment second .
Ú The only time you give the comment first is if
you are writing a follow-up or reaction story,
in which case you refer back to the facts
already revealed.
Ú In cases where your intro interprets an event
or announcement in different terms - perhaps
putting a human face on a political
announcement - you should immediately
explain it.

12. The human face
Ú Most political stories are about people, but
many politicians and bureaucrats hide the
human face behind the way they talk about
issues and events.
Ú This is because they are specialists in politics
and government, not in communications.
Ú They see things from a different angle, and
sometimes concentrate so much on solving a
specific problem that they forget how it will
appear to ordinary people.
Ú It is the responsibility of the journalist to
express stories in human terms - what is
happening to your readers or listeners where
they live, work and play.

13. The human face
Ú Politicians and public servants often hide the human face of
events and issues behind difficult official language we
call jargon. Sometimes they use it to disguise the real meaning
of unpleasant facts or decisions.
Ú The enemy is no longer "killed", they are "neutralised"; where
there used to be "the unemployed", now we have "a pool of
reserve labour" - the list is endless. When faced with a
complicated idea, do not be tempted to repeat it word-for-word
and hope that some of your audience will understand.
Ú Your job is to cut through the jargon to show exactly how
policies, rules and regulations will affect your readers or
listeners. A good dictionary or advice from other journalists is
necessary if you are to avoid passing on your own ignorance to
your readers or listeners.

14. Political parties in India
Ú National Parties in India : 6
ü Bahujan Samaj Party. By ECI. Bahujan Samaj Party. ...
ü Bharatiya Janata Party. By ECI. Bharatiya Janata
Party. ...
ü Communist Party of India. By ECI. Communist Party of
India. ...
ü Communist Party of India (Marxist) By ECI. Communist
Party of India (Marxist) ...
ü Indian National Congress. By ECI. ...
ü Nationalist Congress Party. By ECI.
State Parties in India : 36
: https://www.elections.in/political-parties-in-india/#info3
Regional Parties : 657

15. Sources in Political Reporting
Ú Political parties
Ú Political leaders
Ú Policies
Ú Speeches
Ú Rally's and Campaigns
Ú Press Releases
Ú Communication department
Ú Workers and Public
Ú Interview
Ú Press Conferences
Ú Website, Facebook Pages,
Twitter and Insta Handles,
Ú Committees, Reports and
recommendations
Ú Political issues and ideology.
Ú Election commission of
India.
Ú Different political wings of
a party.
Ú Reports and other
documents.

16. Types of Political Stories
Ú Personality profile stories.
Ú Appointments and
resignation.
Ú Ideology of political
parties.
Ú Speeches and quotes
Ú Political controversies and
conflicts
Ú Political analysis
Ú Moral conduct and
behaviour of the leaders
and workers
Ú Political issues
Ú Training and orientation
Ú Internal and external conflicts
Ú Special programs, functions and
Meetings
Ú Budget and funds.
Ú Historical backgrounders
Ú Achievements and Failure
Ú Policies and Programms
Ú Political gossips
Ú Off beat stories in Political beat

17. BBC Political reporter Adam Fleming shares
his journalistic advice on reporting politics.
Be a good listener.
Ú Often politicians will give away things in subtle ways and so you need
to listen very carefully to the words they use. They very rarely say:
"Listen to this next bit of my interview because I am about to tell
you that I disagree with the Prime Minister." It's up to you to spot it.
Have a good memory.
Ú If you hear an interesting fact that might not be totally relevant to
the story you're working on at that moment, make an effort to
remember it because you never know when it might come in handy.
Jot down things in your notepad.
Learn the lingo.
Ú Politics is full of weird words. Take the time to learn what a "second
reading" is or what a "whip" does or the job of a "select committee".
It will make you sound very smart but also make things seem less
scary.
Be wary of numbers.
Ú When you hear a statistic, start asking questions because numbers
can be manipulated. For example, a politician might say "We are
spending so many billion pounds on this." OK, but over how many
years? Spread over how many places and people? Is this new money

18. Don't be worried if you don't feel like an expert.
I used to feel intimidated by people who knew more about a subject
than I did, but then I realised that it was my job to ask lots of
questions and find things out. Although it helps to know a bit!
Try to get a straight answer.
Politicians love talking but sometimes don't say very much. Be prepared
to ask your question a few times until your interviewee actually tells
you something.
Be polite.
On TV and radio you will hear big-name interviewers giving politicians a
really, really hard time. But think carefully about the difference
between tough questions and rude ones.Compare what people are
saying now with what they've said before because a politician
changing their mind means there's a story somewhere!
Watch lots of news.
You need to know what politicians have been saying on other programmes
and you need to know what else is going on in the world because
politics touches on a lot of other issues.
Keep your political opinions to yourself.
The BBC's job is to be fair and impartial which means you can't let your
own views come across or interfere with your reporting.

19. References
Ú http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/20938414.
Ú https://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%20
2/volume2_27.htm
Ú https://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%20
2/volume2_28.htm
Ú https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6cTe09RL9U
Ú https://www.elections.in/political-parties-in-india/
Ú https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/01/how-to-
be-a-political-reporter-know-your-beat-respect-the-reader-
hold-your-nerve
Ú Dr. Ashok Kumar, News writing and reporting, Published
by Shivalik Parkashan New Delhi. ( Chapter -13)

20. Thanks