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Databases
form basis for
most solid news reporting
By Melissa
Tabeek
Bulletin Staff
The Internet has
changed much in journalism, particularly for newspapers. Online content
has become important, and the news media are scrambling to keep up with
the “next big thing.”
 Although
the future of print newspapers is uncertain, what is certain is that
the Internet has given a gift to journalism, particularly journalism
of an in-depth or investigative nature, in the form of online data.
Whether it is online
or on paper, information gleaned from databases and public records is
a crucial part of many stories.
“Public records
are where the bodies are buried,” said Tom Kearney, managing editor
of The Stowe (Vt.) Reporter.
Before coming to
the Stowe Reporter, Kearney spent 37 years at at the Keene (N.H.) Sentinel, as a reporter, city editor, managing editor and, from 1984 to 2005, executive editor. He has been active in right-to-know issues and has gone
to court frequently during his journalism career.
“If you want
to know what really happened, you really need the records to see how
a decision was made, the reasoning behind it, and see who’s helped
or who’s hurt by a particular decision,” Kearney said.
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