This presentation distills down a semester-long introductory reporting class to 12 basics. It also has some specifics at the end that may be of use to journalism students. Professor Linda Austin prepared it for her reporting students at the National Management College in Yangon, Burma, in September 2015.

1. 12 THINGS TO
REMEMBER
By Robert Couse-Baker
JNL-1102 Reporting and Writing I

2. 1. GOOD JOURNALISM MOVES PEOPLE
And it can move the world.
-- Joe Grimm, journalism professor, Wayne State University

3. 2. PYIRP
Put Yourself in the Readers’ Place

4. 3.NEVER
ASSUME

5. What does
ASSUME
spell?

6. ASS
U
ME By horslips5

7. USE THE ACCURACY CHECKLIST

8. 4. IF YOUR MOTHER SAYS
SHE LOVES YOU,...
ByDinJimenez

9. CHECK
IT
OUT! By Din Jim

10. 5. VERIFY
Make sure that the information a
source gives to you is true. This
may involve:
(1) observation,
(2) talking to other sources,
(3) looking at documents.

11. 6. ASK:
HOW
DO YOU
KNOW THAT?

12. 7. YOUR
OPINIONS

13. 8. BE BALANCED AND…
•Report all sides of a subject without
favoring one over another
ByvaXzine

14. …AND FAIR
•Treat all people and subjects in an
equal, even-handed and reasonable
way.
ByThePizzaReview

15. 9. ATTRIBUTE
YOUR
INFORMATION

16. 10. ALWAYS BE ON THE HUNT
By tinyfroglet
WHY?

17. 10. ALWAYS BE ON THE HUNT
By tinyfroglet
WHO
BENEFITS?

18. TOP 11 PLACES TO FIND STORIES
6. Facebook
7. People
8. Paper
9. Data
10. Sources
11. Events
1. What are you
curious about?
2. What do you see?
3. What are people
talking about?
4. News media
5. Ads

19. 11. EVERYBODY HAS A STORY
Talk to a new person daily.

20. Take a different path.
11. EVERYBODY HAS A STORY

21. 12. NEVER STOP LEARNING
Read widely, and write daily.

22. 12 THINGS TO REMEMBER
1. Good journalism moves people, and it can move the world.
2. PYIRP – Put Yourself in the Readers’ Place. Audience = #1.
3. Never assume.
4. If your mother says she loves you, check it out.
5. VERIFY using other sources, documents and observation.
6. Ask: How do you know that?
7. Be fair and balanced.
8. Leave out your opinions.
9. Attribute your information.
10. Always be on the hunt for story ideas; ask “Why?” and
“Who benefits?”
11. Everybody has a story. Talk to a new person daily, and take
a different path to work.
12. Never stop learning. Read widely, and write daily.

23. WHERE TO FIND PRESENTATIONS
http://www.slideshare.net/laustinnc

24. HOW TO STAY IN TOUCH
laustin.nmc@gmail.com OR Facebook group

25. “Ce-zu
tin-ba-
deh!”

26. SPECIFICS TO USE
• 8 questions to ask in search of news
• 3 questions to ask at the end of every interview
• How to write a direct lead and structure a hard news
story as an inverted pyramid
• How to write a delayed lead and structure a news
feature in 6 boxes

27. 8 QUESTIONS TO ASK
IN SEARCH OF NEWS
1. Is it unusual?
2. Does it impact many
people?
3. Are prominent people
involved?
4. Is it timely?
5. Is it about a conflict?
6. Is it local?
7. Is it useful?
8. Is it interesting or
entertaining?
Photo by sskennel
From page 18 of textbook

28. TOP 11 PLACES TO FIND STORIES
6. Facebook
7. People
8. Paper
9. Data
10. Sources
11. Events
1. What are you
curious about?
2. What do you see?
3. What are people
talking about?
4. News media
5. Ads

29. 3 QUESTIONS TO END AN INTERVIEW
1. Is there anything I
haven’t asked that you’d
like to talk about?
2. Whom else should I talk
to for this story?
3. May I please have your
mobile number and email
in case I have more
questions? Please contact
me if you think of anything
else that might help me
with my story. By Robert Couse-Baker

30. Hard news vs. soft newsHARD OR BREAKING NEWS
Timely stories about events that have just
happened or are about to happen.
Photo by Steven Taschuk
Lead
Body
• Usually one sentence
• What the story is about
• Summary of the most
important of the
5 Ws and H
• Info in order of importance
• Explains and supports lead
• Details, quotes, background

31. 1. Collect all the
facts.
2. List the 5 Ws
and the H.
3. Prioritize the 5
Ws and the H.
4. Rewrite.
1. Accurate?
2. 30 words or
fewer?
3. Most important
facts 1st?
4. Strong, active
verb?
5. Attribution?
WRITE A DIRECT LEAD
STEPS CHECKLIST
Hard-news structure

32. INVERTED PYRAMID
Hard-news structure
Story organization in which the most important information is
placed at the beginning, or in the lead, followed by
information that supports the lead, and then less important
information.

33. Hard news vs. soft newsSOFT NEWS OR FEATURES
News that entertains or informs with an emphasis on
human interest and novelty and less so on
immediacy. Often, inspires warm and fuzzy feelings.
Lead
Body
• May be a description of a
person or place or a little
story, or anecdote
• Includes so what or nut
graph
• No more than four graphs
• Has a beginning, middle
and end
• Good descriptions and
quotes

34. USE 6 BOXES TO ORGANIZE
LEAD
• A description of a scene or person that draws people
in.
• No more than 3 paragraphs
NUT
GRAF
• The “so what?” graf that answers: What is this story about?
• Why is this important? Why am I reading this story?
POINT
1
• One important point or fact
• Could be context or background or a detail or quote
POINT
2
• A second important point or fact
• Could be context or background or a detail or quote
POINT
3
• A third important point or fact
• Could be context or background or a detail or quote
KICKER
• A good quote or another description of the scene.
• Do not end with your opinion on the situation.
News-feature structure