Ideally, the process of news reporting should present a well-rounded, carefully gathered body of accurate and balanced information. In practice, though, reporting is often accomplished by interviewing one or two experts or officials, along with a few comments from citizens who are affected by the news.
Problems with this practice include: (a) experts and officials often have a stake in a story's outcome and tend to present information that strengthens their position; (b) these experts and officials may not actually be knowledgeable about details of a story; and (c) those affected by a story may provide little factual information, focusing instead on their fortunes and emotions in the situation.
This course thus can be called "journalism beyond two officials and some people with feelings about a situation." It requires rethinking the process of doing journalism. We will explore four areas of computer-assisted reporting: