PRECISION JOURNALISM: AN EMERGING THEORY AND TECHNIQUE OF NEWS REPORTING* BY

The changing shape of news The meaning of news differs widely among reporters within a nation or culture and, as certainly, among journalists who work in different cultures. Yet while we differ, we also share a great deal- the desire to provide information which will make life easier and more under-standable for those who read, hear or see our news. News systems may reflect different values over time. There has been a gradual shift in the news approach in the United States during the past two decades, a shift reflected by use of ’new ’ reportorial techniques and more in-depth journalistic perspectives. This paper discusses some of these changes in techniques and perspectives. News presented in newspapers and in radio and television broad-casts in the United States has been heavily event oriented. That is, the news story is about something specific, a car or plane crash or presidential press conference. The techniques used to gather information obviously are related to the type of news reports which we produce. Heaviest used by journalists in the United States is the interview, often combined with an examination of pertinent public documents. The single interview is splendidly adapted to obtain a lone point of view fixed in time, but it is poorly designed to reveal the full range of public opinion, or simultaneous views from many perspectives. Only a carefully designed and executed public opinion survey can do that, as journalists-are learning. Reporters also are learning to use computers to assist with analysis of public documents. Two Philadelphia reporters linked content analysis with a computer to determine whether Philadelphia courts were more likely to sentence (rather than allow probation for) blacks than whites for certain kinds of crime (they were) or give blacks longer sentences than whites for the same crime (they did). (All citations are listed in th