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Beat Memo Example and Instructions

The document provides instructions and an example beat memo for a student covering Nassau County, New York. The beat memo example lists the most newsworthy aspects of the beat, potential sources of information, relevant organizations, research data, other reporting on topics, and three solid story ideas on the opioid epidemic, proposed red flag gun laws, and increased red light camera violations fees.

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Jacob Garden
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449 views3 pages

Beat Memo Example and Instructions

The document provides instructions and an example beat memo for a student covering Nassau County, New York. The beat memo example lists the most newsworthy aspects of the beat, potential sources of information, relevant organizations, research data, other reporting on topics, and three solid story ideas on the opioid epidemic, proposed red flag gun laws, and increased red light camera violations fees.

Uploaded by

Jacob Garden
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Beat Memo Example/Instructions • Prof.

Dan Evans
Instructions: The point of this exercise is to get you acquainted with the people and issues on
your beat, and to give you a jump start on generating story ideas. Reaching out and connecting
with the people on your beat now will pay dividends (in the form of lower stress) later on in the
semester. As you can see from this example, doing this assignment well will require a significant
amount of research and reading. So get to it!

Make a copy of the file labeled “Beat Memo Template,” fill it out and upload it to Canvas by the
deadline.

Name of Beat (Topic or Area): Nassau County, New York

What are the three most newsworthy/current aspects of your beat?

1. Local news is relevant to all Nassau County residents.


2. For this beat, I can take a national topic and make it local by contacting sources from
local universities, schools, police departments.
3. Nassau County news and legislation in the county affects SUNY Old Westbury students.

Five potential sources with contact info (elected officials, experts in the field, etc.). You must
get either a phone number or email. Work to get a direct line, not just the main office
number.

1. Laura Curran, Nassau County Executive


Office of the County Executive
1550 Franklin Ave.
Mineola, NY 11501
Ph: 516-571-3131

2. Charles Testagrossa, Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations


Nassau County District Attorney's Office
1590 Franklin Ave.
Mineola, NY 11501
Ph: 516-571-3000

3. Madeline Singas, Nassau County District Attorney


Nassau County District Attorney's Office
1590 Franklin Ave.
Mineola, NY 11501
Ph: 516-571-3000

4. Patrick J. Ryder, Police Commissioner Nassau County Police Department


1490 Franklin Avenue
Mineola, NY 11501

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Phone: 516-573-8800

5. Steven Siena, SUNY Old Westbury Chief of Police


Phone: (516)876-3333
[email protected]

Five organizations (universities, non-profits, etc.) that are active in your topic/area

- Nassau County District Attorney’s Office


- Nassau County Universities:
- SUNY Old Westbury
- NYIT
- Nassau County Community College
- Hofstra
- Adelphi

Three examples of relevant research/data (studies, Pew reports, Census/American


Community Survey, etc.)

1. https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/3383/Drug-Overdose-Facts-Statistics
2. https://www.pdcn.org/DocumentCenter/View/113
3. https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/1939/Fine-Assessment

Five examples of other reporting on the topic/area (the closer to home, the better) with one-
sentence ideas of follow-up stories you can think of based on others' reporting

1. https://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/drug-overdoses-nassau-crackdown-
1.17740157
For this story, I could contact Nassau County Executives on their thoughts and plans to
control the opioid epidemic in the county.

2. https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/07/us/gun-extreme-risk-protection-orders/index.html
I could make this story more local by contacting SUNY Old Westbury University Police
and if they think these laws will be passed in the state and the affect they will have on
the campus.

3. https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/laura-curran-nassau-budget-fees-
1.17793382
For this story, I could contact Nassau County executives on reasons why certain traffic
violations are being raised in the new 2018 budget.

4. http://longisland.news12.com/story/37862526/traffic-parking-violation-fines-would-
rise-under-curran-proposal

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I could do a story on whether red light violation tickets are proven to lower car accident
rates.

5. https://theislandnow.com/great_neck/north-shore-residents-march-for-their-lives-
against-gun-violence/
For this story, I could contact some of the marchers and ask whether they think red flag
gun laws are a step in the right direction in decreasing gun violence in the area.

Three solid story ideas (1 paragraph each, remember to address who, what, where, when,
why and why do we care)

1. Opioid epidemic in Nassau County


Recently, 53 people were arrested in Levittown as apart of opioid crackdown. In 2017,
there were up to 600 deaths due to opioid abuse on Long Island. Nassau Police
Commissioner Patrick Ryder and Madeline Singas have spoken about the abuse of
opioids on March 1st, 2018 and their plans to regulate this epidemic on Long Island.
Numbers are continuously rising of opioid users and deaths in Nassau county alone.

2. Red flag orders being proposed by NYS legislators


Following the Parkland shooting, much of the media coverage across the nation has
been focused on adjusting the current gun laws. Several states have proposed enacting
red flag orders which would allow law enforcement to temporarily prohibit someone
from owning or purchasing firearms. This is relevant on Long Island because New York is
proposing this law in the state. Gun violence has been a topic of conversation at local
universities, and these laws would aim at decreasing the numbers of school shootings.

3. Red light camera violations increase


County Executive Laura Curran’s proposed budget for 2018 includes fee hikes for red
light camera violations, golf carts, and a distracted driver program. This brings up
concerns over whether red light cameras are actually proven to reduce car crashes, or if
it is just another source of revenue for the county.

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