In the fast-paced and digitally connected twenty-first century, we, as a reporter, often think that remote access, or communicating by email, is good enough — but it's not really. Quite often the emotional tone of a conversation is lost in an email; the excitement or fear that we experience under certain circumstances does not translate well to bits and bytes. A good reporter must connect with sources face to face. If your beat is a local neighbourhood, you cannot cover it adequately from in front of a computer screen; if residents are complaining about rubbish being left in a park and they say it's piled 3 metres high, you need to go and look for yourself. You will need a photograph or even video footage. The best way to get the story would be for you to arrange to meet the residents at the park and talk to them there; if you rely on their version of the story without checking the facts, you could be wrong and then get into trouble with the city council. Even worse, you would be misleading your audience.