If you've ever wondered what reporters do on a slow news day, you should read White House pool reports.
Because many presidential events aren't open to the entire White House press corps, a pool of reporters from each medium -- print, radio and television -- is assembled to report back to their colleagues about what took place.
The dispatches are revelatory and often hilarious, colored with off-the-cuff observations. They give a unique glimpse of political life behind the curtain of pomp and circumstance.
Whether cheekily describing the caviar in the pool hold or the president's ceremonial first pitch, the reports are sure to entertain.
But the nature of the pool report is changing. Now, pool reports are finding their way to blogs and are circulating to the public via e-mail.
Traditionally written for an audience of insiders, the dissemination of the reports to the wider public raises journalistic questions for reporters.
Ken Herman of Cox Newspapers and Julie Mason of The Houston Chronicle talk about their experiences as pool reporters and how they approach the task of writing a report.
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