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Reporting Power

Civic Structures: Why They Matter, How They Work

Kate Ironside

The day I began writing this book, firefighters and police officers were combing the smoking wreckage of Grenfell Tower in London, searching for human remains. It was the UK's worst fire disaster since 1988. In the aftermath, reporters were turning to those responsible for the tower. They did not have time to ask: "What is a council?"

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About

About

About the Book

How do you hold power to account? How do you report tragedies, scandals and policy dilemmas? This book shows journalism students how to get to grips with centres of civic power in the UK. We look at how UK civic structures work, how to contact politicians and officials and where to find the stories that matter. In the process, we look at the horror of the Grenfell fire, terrorism, child protection scandals, major hospital failures and the police approach to rape investigations.

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About the Author

Kate Ironside

Kate Ironside was a journalist for 26 years, specialising in politics. She started by reporting local government, spent 13 years at Westminster covering national government and, for 17 years, wrote a weekly column on the European Union. She is now a journalism academic, teaching at the University of Northampton, and a member of the executive board of the Broadcast Journalism Training Council. She studied at the University of Reading, City University and the London School of Economics. She can be reached on Kate.Ironside@northampton.ac.uk

Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

READ THIS FIRST

Part A: The Overview

1. UK Government & Parliament

2. Devolution: How We Got Here

3. Reporting Wales & Scotland

  1. Wales
  2. Scotland
  3. Consequences for England

4. Terror & Hope: Northern Ireland

5. Local Government

Part B: News & Local Government

6. Child Protection

  1. The Tale of Baby P
  2. The Death of Declan
  3. Rotherham Child Abuse Scandal

7. Housing & Planning

  1. Planning Challenges
  2. Housing Challenges
  3. Structures in a Nutshell
  4. The Tale of Grenfell Tower

Part C: Governments & Parliaments in Action

8. Why Students Do or Don’t Pay Tuition Fees

9. Bombing Syria

Part D: Money

10. Government Budgets: Affecting Lives

11. The Price of Justice

  1. Paying for Justice (& Story Ideas)

Part E: Reporting Public Services

12. The National Health Service

  1. Issues: The Never-Ending Health Stories
  2. Structures: How to Find Stories
  3. A Place of Fear: The Mid-Staffs Scandal

13. The Police

  1. Structure & Accountability
  2. Funding And Why It Matters
  3. Reporting Rape: The Police, the Politicians and the Press
  4. Cliff Richard, the Police & the BBC

Part F: Final Tips For Newsdays

14. Guide to Compiling Your Student Newsday Diary

Contacting Me

About the Author

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