The Significance of Cops and The Importance of Research
By Cassandra Bent
Cops
They respond to 911 calls and risk their lives to keep the streets safe. Who are they? They are the men and women in blue; cops.
Many news stories involve the police. Whether it’s a story about an event with police on patrol, or it’s a story about violence, police are often interviewed or mentioned on the news. In just one work week, the first week in December, at least two of Steve Cooper’s reports involved the police.
On Thursday, December 3rd, Cooper did a story about bank robberies in Brookline, MA. He explained that after a “rash” of bank robberies, Brookline police have “beefed up patrols” and are working with an FBI special task force to catch 2 bank robbery suspects. His news package then included him asking Brookline Lieutenant Phillip Harrington questions about the bank robberies.
The next day, Friday, December 4th, Steve Cooper’s report also involved the police, but in a very different way. He reported from Cambridge about a little boy who was let off at the wrong bus stop, which was over a mile away from his actual bus stop. Cooper mentioned that the police report was never filed because the Brookline police concluded that no crime was committed.
In Cooper’s December 3rd report, the police were a major part of the story and he actually reported from outside the police headquarters. On the contrary, in the December 4th story, the police were more in the background and were not a chief aspect of the story. However, cops were mentioned in both of the dissimilar reports.
Research
Knowing background information and related information to stories is critical. People want to know how the news affects them and why it is important to know. This past week, Steve Cooper’s Thursday, December 3rd report from Brookline tied in all of these aspects.
“Be alert to your surroundings,” warned Lieutenant Harrington. This alone opens ears because it suggests that the story relate to citizens in the area.
However, this story is not just important to the people in Brookline. Steve Cooper showed its possible relation to the economic crisis by asking the Lieutenant if the bank robberies are “a sign of the times” to which he replied that he thought they in fact are sign of the times.
Along with relating an issue to a bigger problem, Steve Cooper did his research about bank robberies in Brookline, and proved that the multitude of robberies is not common in this area. He told viewers that last year Brookline had 5 bank robberies in a year, and this year there has been 4 in one month.
