EN2120 News Writing and Reporting
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This document provides information about journalism and news writing. It defines what a journalist is and discusses different types of journalists by medium, task, and message covered. It also defines what constitutes news and its key characteristics like being factual, accurate, and unbiased. Additional sections cover the differences between facts and opinions, bias, tips for accurate reporting, subjective vs objective writing, editorializing, ensuring balance, and the importance of objectivity and accuracy. The document concludes with discussions on what makes something newsworthy, other news considerations, using the 5Ws and H format, and the inverted pyramid structure for news stories.
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EN2120 News Writing and Reporting
- 1. EN2120: MEDIA STUDIES MONDAY 1PM – 3PM AM112 MS JESSICA THOMPSON
- 3. Journalists work in many areas of life, finding and presenting information. Journalists are men and women who present that information as news to the audiences of newspapers, magazines, radio or television stations or the Internet. WHAT IS A JOURNALIST?
- 5. Print Journalists Photo Journalists Broadcast Journalists Multimedia Journalists BY MEDIUM
- 6. Reporters Sub-editors Photo Journalists The Editor The News Editor Feature Writers Specialist Writers BY TASK
- 7. Current Affairs Sports Business Politics Crime Arts and Culture Education Lifestyle BY MESSAGE
- 9. …interesting …informative …new Information …recent or Current …what interests the reader …what’s important to the reader …factual and accurate …fair (both objective and balanced) NEWS IS…
- 11. …factual …accurate …unbiased …objective NEWS MUST BE…
- 12. Fact can be proven or verified as true or false, i.e.: the graduation ceremony was held in the Baily Allen Hall. Opinion is a person’s point of view and is open to interpretation, i.e.: the ceremony was extremely boring and the speeches were far too long. FACT VS OPINION
- 13. Your personal opinion or preference for or against something. Selectively revealing or holding back information that is pertinent to the story. BIAS
- 14. Make sure you understand the event. Make sure you double check the names of the people and their titles. Make sure dates are correct. Make sure you record the facts – not your opinion. Don’t write until you know what you want to say. Put good quotes and human interest high in the story. TIPS FOR ACCURATE REPORTING AND WRITING
- 15. Verify each fact and quote. Put relevant illustrations or anecdotes high in the story. Avoid adjectival exuberance. Avoid judgements. Let the facts talk. Don’t raise questions you cannot answer. Write simply, honestly and quickly. TIPS FOR ACCURATE REPORTING AND WRITING
- 16. Subjective: emphasis in on opinion, bias, personal attitudes Objective: based on fact, unbiased, not personal feelings or opinions, not a personal interpretation SUBJECTIVE VS OBJECTIVE
- 17. When you use your own opinion in a story it is often referred to as editorialising. If you comment on how people felt, you are editorialising. “Everyone thought the movie was great”. This is editorialising because you can’t prove that the movie was great. Report the facts, not what you think or feel. Give your reader the facts and let them decide. EDITORIALISING
- 18. Cover all sides of an issue. If you state an opinion, balance it with other opinions. Balance facts with other facts. Make sure to interview many people involved in the story so that you get a true balanced story. Sources: the person that provides you the information for your story. Make sure you interview experts on the issue or story. Make sure that the people you are talking to know the facts so that you get accurate information BALANCE
- 19. Objectivity is being true without including an individual’s biases, feelings, interpretations, and imaginings Accuracy is reporting the factual, truthful information. OBJECTIVITY AND ACCURACY
- 21. Timeliness/immediacy Proximity Impact/Consequence Conflict Prominence/Celebrity Oddity/Rarity/Novelty Human Interest/Emotion Currency News Value WHAT MAKES NEWS NEWS?
- 23. 5 WS AND A H
- 24. Who? What? When? Why? Where? How? 5 WS AND A H
- 25. LEADING WITH THE 5WS AND H
- 26. A 3-year-old boy shot and wounded his father and pregnant mother with a 9-mm handgun that he pulled out of the woman's purse while searching for an iPad, police in New Mexico said on Sunday. Thousands of people braved wintry conditions in Derry on Sunday to mark the 43rd anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Scientists will conduct an autopsy today to determine the cause of death of a killer whale that washed up on a beach near Co Waterford. WHO?
- 27. Fighting raged in eastern Ukraine on Sunday as Russian-backed separatists used artillery fire to try to dislodge government forces from a strategic rail hub after peace talks collapsed. Gunshots are sounding in Maiduguri Sunday morning as soldiers and Boko Haram terrorists engage in battle over the control of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. WHAT?
- 28. More than three decades after two Irish soldiers were killed on a mission in Lebanon, a man accused in their deaths has returned to the scene of the alleged crime. On 31 January 1985, a debate took place on BBC Radio between Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams and the then SDLP leader, John Hume. WHEN?
- 29. In a bid to deny youngsters an opportunity to ape all their parents’ and grandparents’ worst habits from their youth, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a report (pdf) warning against a serious health threat posed by e-cigarettes and called for action to restrict their use. With the weather downright awful and the excitement of Christmas festivities a distant memory by now, many of us might just feel like hibernating during the Irish winter. WHY?
- 30. Outside Vladimir Moroz's snug little brick home, winter and hardship grip war-stricken eastern Ukraine. A Dublin pub had the last laugh after they tracked down three customers who did a runner on a €300 bill this weekend. WHERE?
- 31. Killing at least four climbers and leaving more than two dozen others unconscious and feared dead, the eruption of Mount Ontake is considered Japan’s first fatal volcanic eruption in 14 years. HOW?
- 32. Every effective news story will have quotes from someone involved. Quotes must be accurate. Inaccurate quotes can get you in trouble! If you can’t get the whole quote, paraphrase. QUOTES
- 35. GROUP WORK
- 36. Write a news story based on the fairy tale of the Three Little Pigs. Use the Inverted Pyramid. Ask the relevant questions at an in-class ‘press conference’. Write up a news story based on the facts. GROUP WORK
- 37. THE THREE LITTLE PIGS
- 38. ASSIGNMENT: 5%
- 39. Using the points discussed in class, select a Fairy Tale and turn it into a 300 word news story. You can make up quotes but ensure you stick to the basic storyline. Email to jessicathompson152@gmail.com by 12pm next Monday. TURN A FAIRY TALE INTO A NEWS STORY
- 40. Hansel and Gretel Goldilocks and the Three Bears Beauty and the Beast Cinderella The Little Match Girl The Pied Piper of Hamelin Snow White Little Red Riding Hood Rumplestiltskin FAIRY TALES
- 41. Jessica Thompson Email: jessicathompson152@gmail.com Sin Newspaper: editor@sin.ie Twitter: @Jess__Thompson (two underscores) CONTACT ME
Editor's Notes
- Print journalists usually report for newspapers or magazines. They may be full-time reporters for one particular publication or freelance writers who contribute to a variety of different publications. Oftentimes a print journalist will be paired with a photojournalist who will take pictures to complement the written story. Photojournalists are different from traditional photographers in that they are more interested in capturing images that tell a story than ones that just look nice. Photojournalists are generally highly-trained photographers who may have worked in a traditional photography medium like wedding photography before transitioning into journalism. Broadcast journalism encompasses both television and radio news. There are two ways that journalists can be involved in broadcast journalism: behind the scenes or on the air. Journalists working behind the scenes do a lot of research and reporting, but their faces or voices will not be broadcast. Journalists who work on the air may do their own reporting or read stories crafted by their colleagues. Multimedia Journalism: This is the newest field of journalism and also the fastest-growing. Multimedia journalism can encompass all the fields listed above because a web page can have a written story, still photos, video, and audio. Multimedia journalists are encouraged to have a wide set of storytelling abilities, as well as highly defined technical skills.
- Types of journalist by task Within these different media, there are different types of journalists. In large organisations like RTE or BBC, journalists will probably specialise in only one task. But in smaller organisations such as any local newspaper, each journalist may have a number of tasks. So what are the different types of journalists? Reporters gather information and present it in a written or spoken form in news stories, feature articles or documentaries. Reporters may work on the staff of news organisations, but may also work freelance, writing stories for whoever pays them. General reporters cover all sorts of news stories, but some journalists specialise in certain areas such as reporting sport, politics or agriculture. Sub-editors take the stories written by reporters and put them into a form which suits the special needs of their particular newspaper, magazine, bulletin or web page. Sub-editors do not usually gather information themselves. Their job is to concentrate on how the story can best be presented to their audience. They are often called subs. The person in charge of them is called the chief sub-editor, usually shortened to chief sub. Photojournalists use photographs to tell the news. They either cover events with a reporter, taking photographs to illustrate the written story, or attend news events on their own, presenting both the pictures and a story or caption. The editor is usually the person who makes the final decision about what is included in the newspaper, magazine or news bulletins. He or she is responsible for all the content and all the journalists. Editors may have deputies and assistants to help them. The news editor is the person in charge of the news journalists. In small organisations, the news editor may make all the decisions about what stories to cover and who will do the work. In larger organisations, the news editor may have a deputy, often called the chief of staff, whose special job is to assign reporters to the stories selected. Feature writers work for newspapers and magazines, writing longer stories which usually give background to the news. In small organisations the reporters themselves will write feature articles. The person in charge of features is usually called the features editor. Larger radio or television stations may have specialist staff producing current affairs programs - the broadcasting equivalent of the feature article. The person in charge of producing a particular current affairs program is usually called the producer and the person in charge of all the programs in that series is called the executive producer or EP. Specialist writers may be employed to produce personal commentary columns or reviews of things such as books, films, art or performances. They are usually selected for their knowledge about certain subjects or their ability to write well. Again, small organisations may use general reporters for some or all of these tasks.
- Some journalists define themselves not by the medium that they use to tell their stories but the kind of stories they tell. Oftentimes journalists are assigned 'beats,' particular topics that they will cover exclusively. These journalists have the opportunity to develop a high level of expertise in their beats and develop valuable contacts in the field. Some popular beats include: Sports Business Politics Arts and culture Education Crime
- Make sure you understand the event. Is it a graduation? And award ceremony? What’s it’s history? When was it established? Make sure you double check the names of the people, their titles. You must spell proper nouns correctly. Look it up names of organizations or businesses to double check. Ask the person to spell their name and then have them check their name for correctness. Don’t be embarrassed to ask. It can’t be as embarrassing as printing an incorrect spelling. Make sure dates are correct. Double check on a calendar if you are not sure. Make sure you are recording the facts, not your opinion. Don’t write until you know what you want to say. Show; don’t tell. Put good quotes and human interest high in the story. Verify each fact and quote. Put relevant illustrations or anecdotes up high in the story. Use concrete nouns and colorful action verbs. Avoid adjectival exuberance and resist propping up verbs with adverbs. Avoid judgments and inferences. Let the facts talk. Don’t raise questions you cannot answer in your copy. Write simply, succinctly, honestly and quickly.
- Timeliness/immediacy: What is happening now? Proximity: How close to the reader is the story happening? Can they connect to it? Impact/Consequence: How will the story impact your reader? If it doesn’t impact your reader, re-evaluate your story. Conflict: Is there conflict between people, or governments? Prominence/Celebrity: Is the person in the story well known? This could be well known in the community, not just famous people. Oddity/Rarity/Novelty: Is there something out of the ordinary about the story? Readers are often interested in the unusual. Things that happen less frequently are often considered more interesting. Human Interest/Emotion: How does the story impact you emotionally? Does it make you laugh? Cry? Get angry? Does it pull at your heart strings? Currency: Sometimes a story becomes news just because a lot of people are talking about it. For example: the water charges. News Value: The value is determined when a story has one or more of the elements of news. The more elements of news that are present, the more the story is said to have value.
- Audience: Who is the story for? Policy: What is policy of your paper on the type of stories that they will cover. Some publications have policies on what and how a story can be written. Competition: Whatever other media your audience reads or watches. Presentation: How your story looks makes a difference. Take good photos, create interesting infographics, write an intriguing headline.
- It’s important to have as many of these as possible in the first line of the story.
- Who? What? How? Why? Where? When? Who? What? Where? When? Why? Who? What? When? Why? Where?
- What? Where? When? Who? How? Why? What? Where? When? Who? Why?
- When? What? Where? Who? Why? (Because he was accused in their deaths) When? What? Where? (BBC) How? (radio) Who?
- Why? Where? (California) Who? (Dept. of Public Health) How? (issued a report) What? (the report) Why? Who? What? When?
- Where? Who? When? (Winter) What? (hardship) Why? (War-stricken) Where? What? Why? Who? When?
- How? Who? What? Where?
- Break into groups of two or three.
- Facts at ‘press conference’ with Superintendent Jessica Thompson: On Thursday night a Mrs Wolf reported her husband, Mr Big Bad Wolf missing. The search ended yesterday evening (Sunday) when the remains of a wolf were found in a large black pot in the home of a Mr Third Little Pig. Mr Little Pig has been brought in for questioning, along with his siblings, a Mr First Little Pig and a Miss Second Little Pig, both of whom reported the destruction of their houses early last week. The three had recently moved out of their mother, Mrs Pig’s home and were building homes of their own. The houses in question were not built according to regulations. One was made of straw and the other of sticks. The houses were allegedly blown down by Mr Wolf. Mr Third Pig told us that Mr Wolf attempted to blow his house, which was made of bricks, down on Friday afternoon, as he had allegedly done with the houses of Mr Little Pig’s siblings. Mr Pig reports that after failing to blow the house down, Mr Wolf banged on the windows and doors before climbing onto the roof. He says there was a pot of water boiling over a fire with no lid on it and the wolf fell in. The body in the pot was identified by Mrs Wolf has her missing husband last night. The three pigs are currently being questioned.