crime beat
Law enforcement reporting
A crime beat is the area of coverage assigned to a journalist who reports on criminal activity, police work, and the justice system.
Beat reporters develop sources within law enforcement and courts, becoming specialists in their territory: She spent fifteen years on the crime beat before moving to investigations.
The term comes from the older sense of beat as a regular route or territory, as in a police officer's beat.
- reporterOne who gathers news
- journalistNews profession practitioner
- press passJournalist's access authorization
- city deskLocal news department
- policeCivil law enforcement
homicide · detective · murder · cold case · investigation · deadline · front page · scanner · precinct · patrol · squad car · sirens · courthouse · trial · victim · witness · off the record · editor
- true crimecold case, unsolved mystery, murder mystery, homicide, serial killer
- crime newscourt reporter, court reporting, breaking news, arrest report, police blotter
- local reportingcity desk, school board, city council, town hall, community news
- newspaper worldcolumnists, front page, byline, newsprint, broadsheet
- legal medialegal drama, courtroom drama, Court TV, legal analysis, Judge Judy
- media trialstrial by media, media circus, trial coverage, media frenzy, court reporting
crime beatpuff pieces
Uncritical promotional writing
human interest · society column · soft news · gossip column · food writing
crime, beat, crimes, criminal, criminally, criminality, criminalize, criminalized, criminalizing