Reporting on a local area and finding stories can prove challenging when you are short of contacts. It is a problem students and inexperienced reporters frequently face, as do other journalists when switching to a new area.
Knowing how to forge those sources to develop a story beat is one of the main skills a local new reporter must develop in order to earn their salt.
In this week's podcast we learned how one local news website did exactly this. When MyLondon launched less than a year ago, it was very much started from the ground up. Now, they have built a reputation of receiving tip-offs from the public and landing scoops on their doorstep.
Social media editor Sian Elvin and reporter Charlie Jones offer a guide to beat reporting and developing a local patch drawing on their early days experience.
Want to know how to use breaking news to grow your audience? Find out how at Newsrewired on 27 November at Reuters, London. Head to newsrewired.com for the full agenda and tickets
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