This document discusses the concept of bias in communication. It defines bias as tendencies or inclinations that make it difficult to communicate without prejudice due to influences built into human cognitive and communicative abilities. The document explores several types of bias including personal, psychological, political, and cultural biases. It examines the role that bias plays in areas like news media reporting and discusses some common biases that stem from ethnocentrism, in-group/out-group dynamics, stereotypes, and established systems of thought. The document provides methods for analyzing communications for elements of bias by studying the rhetorical situation and key influences on a speaker.
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Bias
Human communication always takes place in a context, through
a medium, and among individuals and groups
situated historically, politically, economically, culturally, and
socially. This state of affairs is neither bad nor
good. It simply is. Bias is a small word that identifies these
influences.
All forms of communication are subject to multiple biases—
personal biases, psychological biases, political
biases, and cultural biases. Bias is generally thought to cause
distortion in messages that might otherwise be
delivered and received in some pure or true form. The antidote
for bias is supposed to be something called
objectivity. There are two senses in which to understand
objectivity in communication. First, objectivity, similar
to the scientific method, is an inductive process of gathering
facts and presenting the truth based on those
facts. Objectivity may also be understood as the “worthy” but
impossible philosophical ideal of observing and
describing reality “as it is” instead of how we wish it to be.
If bias exists, if communicators and audiences have social,
political, cultural, and economic histories they can-
not escape, then a pure or true form of a message cannot exist.
As-it-is objectivity cannot exist. That said,
human beings can be made aware of their biases and learn to
3. mitigate them in communication. One could
argue, however, that the desire to mitigate bias, and the
techniques used to do so, simply introduces new
biases into the message.
Some communicators speak from positions of political,
economic, social, or cultural power. Politicians, for ex-
ample, speak from positions of political power. They are
certainly biased in favor of their ideological positions,
and they may even be overtly partisan. They belong to parties
and espouse dogmas and policies. And while
they may think their individual ideologies are simply common
sense, they understand that they speak from
political positions. Citizens expect bias from politicians.
But what about powerful communicators who would have us
believe that they speak the truth from a position
of objectivity? Academics, for example, conduct research using
well-established methods of inquiry that they
believe help them develop theories about how the world works.
Because academics are people constrained
by the same influences as others, bias can be found in their
messages.
The problem with bias is not that it exists, nor is it that bias
somehow pollutes an otherwise pure message.
The problem with bias is that it may distort a message sold to an
audience as “objective.” What happens when
the form of the message persuades us that the information is
truthful yet the bias of the speaker distorts the
truth?
This chapter will explore the role of bias in communication,
focusing on the news media because it is in the
arena of public affairs that the problems of bias seem most
acute. Journalists attempt to get the facts and tell
5. People have the ability to name and categorize the objects and
sensations they encounter and use metaphor
to compare objects and sensations. Comparison leads to
evaluation—the determination of good or bad. And
such evaluations lead to bias.
Bias, then, may play an important role in human evolution.
Consider the hypothetical example of an early
human tribe encountering a new environment. Their ancestors
had long since learned that animals of a par-
ticular kind eat people. They learned to identify and categorize
these animals by distinct characteristics that
separate them from other more useful or less dangerous animals.
The dangerous kind hunt and kill prey, with
forward-facing eyes, sharp claws, and large teeth. As the tribe
explores the new environment, they encounter
a strange animal. But they notice that it moves with the same
smooth ease as the man-eaters they have left
behind. They notice that it has forward-facing eyes, long teeth,
and paws that possibly hide retractable claws.
It is unlikely that they will approach this animal for a closer
look. It is far more likely that they will ready their
weapons to defend themselves. And one reason for this will be
bias—a prejudice against animals with the
characteristics of a man killer.
This process is also known as stereotyping—making an
evaluation about a new person, object, or sensation
based on comparisons and generalizations following from those
comparisons.
In the case of our exploring tribe, bias plays an important role
in keeping its members alive by helping them
create new knowledge. Bias allows them to compare the new
objects they encounter with similar objects from
their former home. And these comparisons allow them to
6. evaluate the new objects before actually studying
them. So bias and prejudice were important, early defense
mechanisms, and the source of rational evalua-
tions of new experiences.
Furthermore, bias plays a role in reproducing culture. Suppose
that this tribe believes that the new creature
is connected in some important way to powerful gods.
Encountering the new animal may certainly create a
dangerous situation, but it almost as certainly creates an
interesting cultural moment: The powerful gods they
fear and worship apparently inhabit this new land, too. And so
they are able to impose their culture onto the
new environment. They will be able to think and talk about their
new surroundings in familiar ways. The things
that they know to be good will remain good. The bad will
remain bad.
Bias works in similar ways today. For example, suppose you
enjoy live theater and prefer such entertainment
to the movies. You might argue, in a discussion with friends,
that the live performance of a particular work is
far superior to the film version. Your bias in favor of live
theater could cause you to overlook fine qualities in
the film version. If you tend to speak about theater in
consistently positive terms and speak about film in con-
sistently negative terms, then your bias may be the cause. Your
bias might even cause you to make sweeping
generalizations about the quality of theater versus film.
A simple preference for live theater, however, may not be the
only source of your bias. Perhaps you were
raised by parents who actively promoted theater and disparaged
film as low-brow entertainment. Perhaps
they even made rude comments about the cultural norms and
morals of people who enjoy the movies. Per-
8. thermore, you make it a point to introduce the topic in
discussions with people you meet. And you plan one
day to write a book and appear as a guest on television talk
shows so that you can further your goal of pro-
moting theater over film. Such an effort may certainly fit your
ideology, but it is not the result of bias. Instead,
you would be engaged in propaganda—the systematic
propagation of a doctrine or belief. In other words, if
you are doing it on purpose, it is not bias. Bias is not
intentional.
Methods
It is not possible to list all the things that influence a speaker
and his or her message. Some influences, how-
ever, will be more important than others. And identifying these
important influences—making the evaluation
of important versus unimportant—will be subject to the biases
of the investigator or critic.
The first consideration in evaluating a message for bias is
understanding the complexities of the “rhetorical
situation.” This concept identifies the circumstances under
which a speaker chooses to speak. The concept
relies on understanding a moment called “exigence,” in which
something happens, or fails to happen, that
compels one to speak. For example, if the local school board
fires a popular principal, a sympathetic parent
might then be compelled to take the microphone at the board
meeting. Bitzer (1968) defined the rhetorical
situation as the
complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an
actual or potential exigence which
can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced
into the situation, can so constrain
9. human decision or action as to bring about the significant
modification of the exigence. (p. 6)
The following are eight of the elements of the rhetorical
situation:
1. Exigence: What happens or fails to happen? Why is one
compelled to speak out?
2. Persons: Who is involved in the exigence, and what roles do
they play?
3. Relations: What are the relationships, especially the
differences in power, between the
persons involved?
4. Location: Where is the site of discourse? For example, a
podium, newspaper, Web page,
or street corner.
5. Speaker: Who is compelled to speak or write?
6. Audience: Who does the speaker address and why?
7. Method: How does the speaker choose to address the
audience?
8. Systems and institutions: What are the rules of the game
surrounding and constraining
numbers 1 through 7?
Analyzing the rhetorical situation (which, at its most
fundamental, means identifying the elements above) can
tell us much about speakers, their situations, their persuasive
intentions, and any biases they may have in
regard to the situation.
Bias may also be studied beginning with one or more of four
broad categories: ethnocentrism, in-group/out-
group, stereotypes, and systems. These categories offer
11. would live similarly if only they learned how great the
American way is. And Americans often find it surprising
when people of other cultures reject the “gifts” of classical
liberalism. There is nothing surprising about it. For
many other cultures, it is truth and common sense that the fruits
of American culture are poisoned.
Ethnocentrism, and the commonsense understanding of culture
that drives it, sometimes leads people to as-
sume that the words and deeds of those from other cultures are
driven by irrationality at best and evil at worst.
Bias based on ethnocentrism may then appear in the way a
speaker assigns motive to those of a different
culture in comparison with his or her own culture. The speaker
may use consistently positive terms to de-
scribe the motivations of his or her own culture and consistently
negative terms to describe the motivations of
another culture.
In-Group/Out-Group
Related to ethnocentrism are the concepts of in-group bias and
out-group bias. Humans are social creatures
and love to associate with fellow humans in numerous ways.
Some groups form by choice—clubs, political
parties, professions. The members of other types of groups
belong whether they want to or not—age groups,
gender, race. In-groups are associations of like members, and
out-groups are either an opposing group or the
entirety of the population not “in.”
Members of political parties belong by choice—choice driven
by a number of historical, cultural, and familial
factors. Part of what defines a group such as a political party is
its ideology, which will naturally differ slightly
or drastically from the ideologies of other parties. In other
13. egory are similar in other ways or all ways. Consider the
category “teenager,” for example. All members of
the category belong, if they are aged 13 to 19. Now, further
suppose that you shop at the local mall and of-
ten encounter teenagers there who disrupt the social scene with
obnoxious behavior. You further notice that
people outside the category “teenager” do not seem to behave
similarly. To assume, then, that all teenagers
are obnoxious is to engage in stereotyping. To act with regard
to this stereotyping—treating all teenagers you
meet with contempt—is to engage in prejudice. If you speak
about teenagers in consistently negative terms
and assign negative motivations to their actions, then you are
biased against teenagers.
As in the example of the early human tribe demonstrated above,
however, stereotyping and prejudice are
not necessarily always bad. Even the current example—concern
about the behavior of teenagers at a
mall—might not be entirely ill considered.
Systems
A system is any method or procedure, based on an ordered
collection of facts and/or principles, aimed at
producing a desired result. A system may also be a collection of
coordinated objects that together create a
technology aimed at producing a desired result. Systems
introduce bias into a message because people use
systems to create and deliver messages.
Journalism, for example, is a profession in which its members
may feel a strong connection in terms of profes-
sional identity. Such identity could lead to various biases based
on the individual journalists being part of an
in-group. But journalism also has a regular system of
14. procedures that dictate what journalism is and how the
would-be journalist should produce it. The system of
journalism—the norms of its professional practice—ex-
erts a large measure of control over the kinds of messages a
journalist may produce.
For example, journalists structure hard news articles (breaking
news about immediate events) using the “in-
verted-pyramid” concept: The first two or three paragraphs
answer the six reporter's questions: who, what,
when, where, why, and how. This also happens to be the rough
order in which most journalists use them be-
cause people appear to be affected by events happening now in
a particular place for a particular reason and
by a particular means. The events of the world and the human
reactions to those events do not usually unfold
in so neat a fashion as this structure. Hard news is biased
toward a story of the world in which complex, and
often ambiguous, events are presented in a simple hierarchy of
importance.
Furthermore, journalists use various technological systems that
introduce bias into the message. Television
is a visual medium. Good journalism practiced in the medium of
television is defined by the quality of pictures
and sound. Some news situations are easily covered by
television, for example, fires, car wrecks, protests,
and mayhem of all sorts. There is an old saying in television
news: “If it bleeds, it leads.” This may seem a
cynical expression of journalistic pandering to the lowest
common denominator. But it also demonstrates that
television demands a certain type of content to be good
television. The journalist who would hope to work in
television is then encouraged to adopt the biases necessary to
make it work.
16. pristine objectivity of philosophy. Instead, a journalist attempts
to be objective by two methods: (1) fairness to
those concerned with the news and (2) a professional process of
information gathering that seeks fairness,
completeness, and accuracy.
It might seem that these journalistic ethics, and the process that
supports them, would help reporters avoid
bias and charges of bias. It might seem that journalistic practice
is set up specifically to avoid bias. But the
press today is often thought of as a unified voice with a distinct
bias (right or left depending on the critic).
This may be simplistic thinking that fits the needs of
ideological struggle. Perhaps it is not useful in coming
to a better understanding of what is happening in the world.
Groups such as Accuracy in Media (AIM) and
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) thrive by critiquing
the news media, based on opposite charges
of bias—AIM charging liberal bias and FAIR charging
conservative bias.
It should surprise no one that some charges of bias are
politically motivated. Such motivation, however, does
not explain why 69% of Americans believe that the news media
are politically biased (Pew Survey Report,
2000). Instead, the answer is generally quite simple: Bias
affects all parties in a communicative situation. Bias
affects the messages speakers deliver. An audience's own biases
affect what it hears.
For citizens and researchers, it is important to develop the skill
of detecting bias. Begin with a set of critical
questions as follows:
• What is the speaker's sociopolitical and cultural position? A
given speaker may certainly have polit-
17. ical or cultural intentions for a message. These intentions are
not the source of bias. Instead, bias
will arise from commonsense assumptions that spring from the
speaker's sociopolitical and cultural
position.
• With what professional, social, ethnic, or culture groups is the
speaker identified? Group members
learn the biases of their group. In an important sense, a group's
biases, springing from its structure
and worldview, define what the group is and who belongs to it.
• Does the speaker have anything to gain personally,
professionally, or politically from delivering the
message? Money, power, and prestige also play an important
role in bias.
• Who is paying for the message? Where does the message
appear? Who stands to gain?
• What sources does the speaker use, and how credible are they?
Does the speaker cite statistics? If
so, how were the data gathered, who gathered the data, and are
the data being presented fully?
• How does the speaker present arguments? Is the message one-
sided, or does it include alternative
points of view? Does the speaker fairly present alternative
arguments? Does the speaker ignore ob-
viously conflicting arguments?
• If the message includes alternative points of view, how are
those views characterized? Does the
speaker use positive words and images to describe his or her
point of view and negative words and
images to describe other points of view? Does the speaker
19. Shah, 2003).
Perhaps more important than charging political bias is studying
the inherent, or structural, biases of journalism
as a professional practice—especially as mediated through
television.
• Commercial bias: The news media are money-making
businesses. As such, they must deliver a good
product to their customers to make a profit. The customers of
the news media are advertisers. The
most important product the news media delivers to its customers
are readers or viewers. The news
media are biased toward news that draws readers and viewers.
• Temporal bias: The news media are biased toward the
immediate and the fresh. To be immediate
and fresh, the news must be ever-changing even when there is
little news to cover.
• Visual bias: Television is biased toward visual depictions of
news. Television is nothing without pic-
tures. Legitimate news that has no visual angle is likely to get
little attention. Much of what is impor-
tant in politics—policy—cannot be photographed.
• Bad news bias: Good news is considered boring. This bias
makes the world look like a more danger-
ous place than it may actually be. Plus, this bias makes
politicians look far more crooked than they
may actually be.
• Narrative bias: The news media cover the news in terms of
“stories” that must have a beginning, a
middle, and an end—in other words, a plot with antagonists and
protagonists. Much of what happens
20. in our world, however, is ambiguous. The news media apply a
narrative structure to events, sug-
gesting that these events are easily understood and have clear
cause-and-effect relationships. Good
storytelling requires drama, and so this bias often leads
journalists to add, or seek out, drama for
the sake of drama. Controversy creates drama. Journalists often
seek out the opinions of competing
experts or officials to present conflict between the two sides of
an issue. Last, narrative bias leads
many journalists to create, and then hang onto, master
narratives—set story lines with set characters
who act in set ways. Once a master narrative has been set, it is
very difficult to get journalists to see
that their narrative is simply one way, and not necessarily the
correct or best way, of viewing people
and events.
• Status quo bias: The news media believe that “the system
works.” During the “fiasco in Florida” fol-
lowing the 2000 presidential election, the news media were
compelled to remind Americans that the
Constitution was safe, the process was working, and all would
be well. The mainstream news media
never question the structure of the political system. The
American way is the only way, politically and
socially.
• Fairness bias: Ethical journalistic practice demands that
reporters and editors be fair. In the news
product, this bias manifests as a contention between/among
political actors (also see “Narrative bias”
above). Whenever one faction or politician does something or
says something newsworthy, the press
is compelled by this bias to get a reaction from an opposing
camp. This creates the illusion that the
22. is always ready with a quote and
always willing to speak (i.e., say what you need them to say to
balance the story)? Who sent a press
release recently? Much of deadline decision making comes
down to gathering information that is
readily available from sources that are well-known.
• Glory bias: Journalists, especially television reporters, often
assert themselves into the stories they
cover. This happens most often in terms of proximity, that is, to
the locus of unfolding events or with-
in the orbit of powerful political and civic actors. This bias
helps journalists establish and maintain a
cultural identity as knowledgeable insiders (although many
journalists reject the notion that follows
from this—that they are players in the game and not merely
observers). The glory bias shows itself
in particularly obnoxious ways in television journalism. News
promos with stirring music and heroic
pictures of individual reporters create the aura of omnipresence
and omnipotence. Consider the use
of the satellite phone with regard to glory bias. Note how often
it is used in situations in which a nor-
mal video feed should be no problem to establish. The jerky
pictures and fuzzy sound of the satellite
phone create a romantic image of foreign adventure.
• Class bias: Journalists used to be working class. Early in the
20th century, the average journalist had
a high school education and made a working-class wage. By
midcentury, college graduates began
showing up in newsrooms at America's largest newspapers. But
the working-class attitude persist-
ed. The class status of journalism turned a corner in the 1970s.
Reporters at smaller daily news-
papers now have college degrees. And along with these degrees
23. come greater earning power and
a white-collar, middle-class lifestyle. Further separating
journalists from the working class and poor
is the ongoing move by corporate newspaper chains to cut back
circulation among the poorest citi-
zens because advertisers do not care to reach people without
discretionary income. The result is that
journalists, for the most part, have become socially,
economically, politically, and culturally separated
from the poor and the working class.
Structural Bias as Theory
Some critics of the press think of it as speaking with a unified
voice with a distinct ideological bias. A better
understanding requires a theory. A theory offers us a model that
tells us why things happen as they do. Fur-
thermore, a theory allows the user to predict outcomes and
behavior. Assertions of ideological bias do neither.
While the press does demonstrate ideological biases with regard
to certain issues or other localized phenom-
ena, these and other behaviors are explained and predicted by
the structural biases. Since the press some-
times demonstrates a conservative bias, asserting that the press
is liberal neither predicts nor explains. Since
the press sometimes demonstrates a liberal bias, asserting that
the press is conservative neither predicts nor
explains.
Test this for yourself. Choose a situation that is current—
preferably breaking right now. For each of the struc-
tural biases listed above, write down what you would expect the
press to do, based on that bias. Then, com-
plete the exercise with a concluding statement that takes into
account as many of the structural biases as
possible. Now, follow the situation as the news event plays out.
25. ethnocentrism, in-group/out-group, and stereo-
types—come directly from this field. Bias in communication
from a communication perspective offers a wide-
open opportunity for the student researcher. Bias is
understudied in communication.
Part of the problem, as mentioned above, is that a good metric
for determining bias does not exist. Textual
analysts may certainly detect, describe, and theorize about
various forms of bias in a given text. But as yet no
measure exists for determining bias in broad classes of texts
such as journalistic writing.
Niven (1999), however, has suggested a technique for
comparing the performance of specific news organi-
zations under similar circumstances. His study developed a
method of determining bias based on analyzing
coverage of specific types of news events by different news
organizations. For example, the Niven study
looked at 20 years of coverage of Democratic and Republican
governors who had achieved similar results in
two specific policy areas: murder rates and unemployment. His
contention was that differences in coverage
must then be attributed to partisan bias if the governors of
different parties achieved similar results. He found
no support for allegations of bias based on his metric.
Although Niven's results are interesting, they speak to a specific
sort of situation. What about other types of
coverage? Do his results hold up if the subject of the study is
the coverage of state senators, presidents, or
city managers? Niven's technique creates interesting
opportunities for future research.
Another interesting area of future study is the bias caused by
how journalists use language. It is readily appar-
27. use language. Most journalists, consciously
or not, accept a theory (metaphor) of language as a transparent
conduit along which word-ideas travel to a
reader or viewer, who then experiences reality as portrayed by
the words.
Lakoff (2002) argues that journalism operates with many false
assumptions about language. Journalists ap-
parently believe, for example, that concepts are literal and
nonpartisan. The standard six-question rubric of
journalism (who, what, when, where, why, and how) cannot,
however, capture the complexity of issues as
seen through, and expressed by, incompatible ideologies.
Journalists treat language use as neutral; the mere
use of language cannot put anyone at a disadvantage: Words do
not have a political reality. They are merely
“arbitrary labels for literal ideas.” Following from this,
journalists generally think that news can be reported in
neutral terms. But to choose a discourse is to choose a position.
To attempt neutrality confuses the political
concepts. Is it an “inheritance tax,” a “death tax,” or an “estate
tax”? What could possibly be a neutral term?
Journalists believe that a general reader exists, and each shares
the same conceptual system. Americans, for
example, share the same English language, that is, its grammar.
They often do not share dialects or the con-
notations of concepts, lived experiences, and ideologies. The
statement “I am a patriotic American,” means
something entirely different to liberals as compared with
conservatives. This difference is more than a matter
of connotation. The differences in connotation spring from
different social constructs and ideologies.
For further research, perhaps these false assumptions by
journalists, rather than overt politicking, help create
some of the political bias the public detects in news reporting.
28. A conservative will quite naturally assert a con-
servative worldview by using concepts in ways comfortable to
conservatives. The same goes for liberals. It is
often pointed out that most news reporters are Democrats or
vote for Democrats. Party affiliation, however,
tells us nothing about political ideology. There are conservative
Democrats and liberal Republicans. Be that as
it may, the ethics of journalistic practice strongly urge reporters
to adopt the assumptions about language and
the structural biases listed above. The ethics of journalistic
practice encourage journalists to adopt a (nonex-
is-tent) neutral language to mitigate any effects of ideological
bias. Could it be that there is no concerted or
sustained effort to slant the news for political purposes by
mainstream news outlets?
Antibias Crusading as an Elitist Practice
For further research: AIM claims that the news media are biased
toward liberal politics. FAIR claims that the
news media are biased toward conservative politics. Supporters
of these views see one group as right and
the other as wrong. But the reality is not that simple. Yes, AIM
and FAIR each point out coverage that ap-
pears to bolster their various claims. At times, the media do
seem to be biased one way or the other. What
these groups do not say, however, is that their mistrust of the
media is also a mistrust of the people. Those
who complain the most about media bias would see themselves
as able to identify it and resist it. They get
upset about it because they question whether the average
American is able to do the same. If the average
American can identify it and resist it, then there is little need to
get upset about bias. The AIM and FAIR Web
sites are full of material to help hapless Americans avoid the
cognitive ravages of the “evil” conservatives or
30. audience.
AndrewCline Missouri State University
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Press/Politics6(3)31–46. (2001). http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/
108118001129172215
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communicating with voters. Retrieved January 15,
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Rouner, D.Slater, M. D.Buddenbaum, J. M.How perceptions of
news bias in news sources relate to beliefs
about media bias. Newspaper Research Journal20(2)41–51.
34. Trillo Apparel Company Project Management Report
Sean Markl
Argosy University
March 5, 2019
Executive Summary
Trillo Apparel Company wants to expand to District 4. Before
doing this, it is important to construct and set the warehouse to
be in good condition. This will need the construction of a high-
quality warehouse. As project manager for the District 4
Warehouse Move project, I supervised, monitored and control a
project which was designed to construct the warehouse Move
within seven months at a value that doesn't exceed $1million.
Our central concerns lied on the three key areas. These include
the quality, time and cost. We had a plan to complete the
movement within the stipulated time, cost and the same time
ensure that the quality is achieved. The report will give
elaboration on how the project proceed, the challenges and
determine whether the project achieved objectives or not.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 2
Project Performance and Status Report 4
Initial Plan 4
Challenges 4
Measures taken to address the challenges 5
Organizational Structure 6
Project and Administrative Teams 8
Project Risk and Change Management 8
Project Management Techniques Employed 9
International Project Manager qualification (IPMP) 9
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) 9
Risk management tools 9
35. Resource Management tools 10
Dependencies, milestones and critical paths 10
Conclusion 10
References 12
Project Performance and Status ReportInitial Plan
As per the initial plan, we had scheduled the project to last for
only seven months. We had schedule that permits should be
officiated within the first 5 days. We had planned that the base
should be poured within the first 20 days of the first month.
Most of the tasks were related. This means that delay in one of
the task was likely to affect the completion of the successors,
(Fuller, Valacich, George, & Schneider, 2017). Generally, we
had initial budget of $1 million and a period of seven
monthsChallenges
Although project proceed successfully, we encountered a
number of challenges. The first challenge concerns the
acquisition of permits. Delay in getting permits significantly
hinder our objective of finishing the project on the right time.
Permits was part of the task in the critical path. This means that
it was a task that must be completed before other tasks. The
first thing we did was to consult with key stakeholders of the
project and agree to extend the time reasonably. We knew that
communication with strong stakeholders is critical to the
continued delivery of successful projects. When potential
problems and actual problems arise in the project, the project
manager must maintain strong communication with the project
sponsors and customers, so when the project appears They won't
be surprised when they are delayed. By fully understanding the
issues that arise in the project, the customer may actually feel
that the project has taken longer to control the problem and
provide better results. While the project may be delayed after
expiration, strong communication will reduce the negative
impact of delayed delivery, reduce customer expectations for
expiring delivery, and achieve good customer expectations
management results (Too, Le & Yap, 2017). Nevertheless, we
36. were finally able to get the permits but after delay of
approximately one-week delay because permits had been
scheduled to take only two weeks but we got them after 3
weeks.
We also experienced a problem concerning the contractor
contacted for framing. Initially, the framing had been scheduled
to take 15 days. Since framing was predecessor for other tasks,
the delay in framing significantly hindered the successors.
Contractor is only able to send half of the original crew due to
delay. The delay in permits made the issue even more complex.
Framing was the successor of plumbing and hence it was hard to
continue without completing plumbing tasks. We also
experienced an issue with the contractor for drywall. Drywall
tasks was successor of the framing task. This also affected the
completion of other successors. For example, the scheduled
start for the plumbing and electrical was changed causing poor
staffing of the crews. Measures taken to address the challenges
In order to ensure that the schedule time would not be affected,
we had a number of options to consider. The first was to
increase resources. Ideally, spending more budgets is often
recommended as a way to ensure that projects are delivered on
time or completed, and such solutions are often applied to larger
projects, especially for projects with clear deliverables (Collins,
Parrish & Gibson 2017). For example, the task of building a
house can speed up the progress by adding additional personnel
from another company. For example, the task of renovating 20
warehouses can be broken down into two subtasks, and 10
warehouses of two companies can be renovated. But for smaller
projects, this approach may not be appropriate, as there may be
only one or two people working on the project, and adding more
people will not be able to improve the project service. For our
case, we had an option of injecting $200,000. However, before
adopting this option, we had to compare it with other
alternatives.
The second option was to adjust the timetable of the project
delivery date. We achieved this through the help of critical path
37. method (CPM). CPM is an effective deal of deciding which task
should be completed first.
After comparing the consequences of each of the option, we
found that it was better to adjust the time than to inject
additional money. We found option 2 the better option, as long
as the other contractor crews are able to adjust to the change in
schedule. Organizational Structure
Trillo Apparel Company is a big company with more than 3000
employees. The organizational structure of the company is
summarized in the chart below. The company is headed by chief
executive officer. Below him include chief information officer,
chief financial officer, VP design and chief operating officer.
District 4 manager works under VP operations and are all
headed by chief operating officer. Consequently, in the project,
I was working under the project manager and those who worked
under me included the contractors and vendors for different
tasks such as framing, plumbing, dry wall etc. The chart below
summarizes the project management plan. We worked under the
department of the operations.
Project and Administrative Teams
At the top of the administrative chart was the CEO. Under him
was the chief operations officer. Chief operation officer was
assisted by the VP Operations. This means that project manager
worked under the VP Operations. I was the project manager and
I coordinated the operations of different teams such as those for
framing, plumbing, electrical, dry wall and work benches. I
worked with the foreman for these areas. Some aspects of the
project were administered by City & County administrators,
who were in charge of inspections.Project Risk and Change
Management
Trillo Apparel was faced with a number of risks. During the
project, we faced a number of risks. The first risk is the delay in
the provision of permits. The delay significantly affected other
areas that were dependent on the permits. The second risk is
that the contractors assigned to Finish Work tasks did not fulfill
their responsibilities because some walked off when the work
38. was halfway. Another risk is that contractors in charge of
framing and drywall delayed due to delay in the permits. We
also had issue with work benches. The initial quality was poor
and most of them had to be rebuilt. Lastly, there was destruction
of equipment during the movement. Project Management
Techniques Employed
The success of Trillo Apparel movement project couldn’t have
been possible without application of a number of project
management techniques. Some of the techniques and tools
applied include IPMP, PMBOK, risk management, resource
management and CPM.International Project Manager
qualification (IPMP)
IPMP is a four projects IPMA (International Project
Management Association) implemented on a global scale
management professional certification. The International
Project Management Association publishes the Project
Management Competency Benchmark (ICB: IPMA Competence
Baseline) which describes the knowledge and experience
requirements of project managers, large project plan managers,
project managers and project managers (Kerzner & Kerzner,
2017). It is included in a successful project management theory.
And use the basic terminology, tasks, practices, skills,
functions, management processes, methods, techniques and
tools used in practice, as well as the application of expertise
and experience in specific environments for appropriate,
creative, and advanced practical activities.Project Management
Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
PMBOK is focusing on project management and a series of
standard solutions by members of the Project Management
Institute compiled and published a set of standards. This project
management knowledge system standard has been widely used
in project management and is widely known. PMbok has been
approved by the US Project Management Association as the
national standard for project management in the United States
(Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017).Risk management tools
It is difficult for a person to find a project without risk. At
39. all stages of development, of course, they have different effects
on the plan. Often, unforeseen developments can have a
negative impact. But sometimes it is just the opposite. In any
case, unforeseen circumstances and risks can affect the
duration, schedule, duration, budget, participants, etc. of the
mission. In order to avoid unforeseen expenses, projects take
too long, and performance quality deteriorates, we had to
calculate all risks ahead of time (Fuller, et al 2017). Resource
Management tools
Resource management is an integral part of software
development projects. What are the resources? They can be
materials (such as equipment), labor (your team), and
expenditure (cost per resource). Therefore, when the project
management tool provides resource management functions, it is
very convenient and practical (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). This
provides a high value for those who not only have to assign
tasks but also calculate expenses. Project managers who are
already doing resource costs are concerned with the cost of the
entire project, whether or not the resource is working too much,
or vice versa. As a result, all processes and tasks in software
development are managed more effectively. We took a number
of measures to achieve resource management. Dependencies,
milestones and critical paths
Dependencies, predecessors and successors are at the heart
of any project management and this we had to take very
seriously. Task #1 may be associated with task #10, and so on.
Because tasks cannot exist alone, there are many options. That's
why all the great tools in the development phase should provide
task dependencies (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). Most tools allow
users to create such associations using drag-and-drop clicks.
Milestones are used to mark important or other specific points
on the project's timeline. If a milestone is close, it means that
the project has just passed an important event and is moving in
the right direction. Using Microsoft project management
software, it was possible to arrange the task according to
dependencies and create a critical path. Through critical path
40. method, we found a number of options as summarized in the
charts below
Project was expected to take 122 days to be completed based on
the highest number of days. However, the project exceeded the
scheduled time due to delays in the officiation of the permits.
Conclusion
Although the project succeeded, there are many lessons learned.
First, it is apparent that project management needs to deal with
a large number of political issues, so that team members can
achieve the same level of performance and negotiate scarce
resources. Project management is more than just a schedule. It
is not just some tools. It is not just a job or a job title. It is also
not the sum of these. Organization is a collection of people, and
the process is that people are dealing with it. If there is a
problem with the human factor, then the process may have
problems; if there is a problem with the process, the completion
of the task will be greatly reduced. Unfortunately, we know
more about how to improve the efficiency of the equipment than
the administrator (Harrison & Lock, 2017). Success of any
project depends on the quality of decisions made. If the
requirements change is to be carried out during the project, it
needs to be raised as early as possible. In the process of project
management, after the current period of requirements and plans
are determined, the project manager can not only follow up the
progress of development and testing, but also communicate with
the demand side in a timely manner, so that they can provide
timely feedback. Don't wait until the release, the product
manager ran over and said, "I don't want this, I have to change
it here." Remember, never leave the problem to the last minute,
take a step ahead and leave room for it. Another thing apparent
is that the success of a project depends on application of project
management tools. It is therefore crucial for any project
manager to master the tools and methods of project
management. For example, project planning techniques, project
schedule monitoring methods, multi-project management
resource allocation methods, and methods for shortening project
41. cycles.
References
Collins, W., Parrish, K., & Gibson Jr, G. E. (2017).
Development of a project scope definition and assessment tool
for small industrial construction projects. Journal of
Management in Engineering, 33(4), 04017015.
Fuller, M. A., Valacich, J. S., George, J. F., & Schneider, C.
(2017). Information Systems Project Management: A Process
and Team Approach, Edition 1.1. Prospect Press.
Harrison, F., & Lock, D. (2017). Advanced project management:
a structured approach. Routledge.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a
systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John
Wiley & Sons.
Too, E., Le, T., & Yap, W. (2017). Front-end planning-The role
of project governance and its impact on scope change
management. International Journal of Technology, 8(6), 1124-
1133.
VP Operations
Project manager
contractor-frame
Contractor plumbing
Contractor electrical
42. Contractor-dry wall
Contractor finish work
21st Century Communication: A Reference
Handbook
Reporting, Story Development, and Editing
Contributors: K. Tim Wulfemeyer
Edited by: William F. Eadie
Book Title: 21st Century Communication: A Reference
Handbook
Chapter Title: "Reporting, Story Development, and Editing"
Pub. Date: 2009
Access Date: March 5, 2019
Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc.
City: Thousand Oaks
Print ISBN: 9781412950305
Online ISBN: 9781412964005
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412964005.n66
44. keep in mind what's likely to be relevant to audience members
(Brooks, Kennedy, Moen, & Ranly, 2008, p. 4;
Hansen & Paul, 2004, pp. 31–39). What people, places, things,
and issues are audience members interested
in, and what do they care about the most? Perhaps a time-
honored prescription about what is good journalism
sums it up best: “Make the important story interesting and the
interesting story important.”
Years of practice and research in journalism have identified a
number of factors that play a part in the process
of achieving that critical goal. Among these are the “uses and
gratifications” (see also Chapter 56, this vol-
ume) that people associate with news media messages; the news
values/elements/qualities used by journal-
ists to help them select which issues, events, and people to
report about; and the traditional five Ws and the
H—who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Uses and Gratifications
People have told researchers that they become news consumers
for a variety of interesting reasons. They
have a number of “uses” for the information they obtain, and
they obtain a number of “gratifications” from
consuming such information (Levy, 1978; Levy & Windahl,
1984; Vishwanath, 2008). By knowing about and
understanding such uses and gratifications, reporters can begin
to build a framework for their information-
gathering mission. Among the major uses and gratifications are
surveillance, reassurance, intellectual stimu-
lation, emotional fulfillment, and diversion.
Surveillance deals with simply keeping up with what's
happening in your town, city, state, region, country, and
world. Reporters who can find interesting information about the
46. Diversion deals with information that helps people forget about
their problems (at least for a little while), re-
duce stress, and decompress after a tough day. Searching for
humorous anecdotes, off-beat developments,
unusual outlooks, and strange incidents often can provide such
information.
News Values/Elements/Qualities
News values/elements/qualities include significance,
prominence, proximity, timeliness, conflict, oddity,
achievement, sex/romance (Brooks et al., 2008, p. 6; Campbell,
2004, pp. 104–125; Reese & Ballinger,
2001). Significance deals with how many people will be
affected and how deeply they will be affected. An
adage holds that the greater the scope of the impact, the greater
the chances that events and issues will
become news. Prominence deals with the status and/or notoriety
of the people involved in an event or issue.
The more well-known a person is, the more likely it is that
whatever he or she does will be judged news-
worthy. Proximity deals with the “localness” of the events and
issues. The nearer events and issues occur to
the target audience, the more likely it is that the events and
issues will become news. Timeliness deals with
how recent events and issues are. The more recent the events
and issues, the more likely they will become
news. If conflict exists in connection with events and issues, it's
more likely they'll become news. The more
unusual, out of the ordinary, strange, and off-beat events and
issues are, the more likely they'll become news.
If events and issues feature elements of setting records and
establishing standards of excellence, the more
likely they'll become news. If events and issues contain
elements of sex, romance, and affairs of the heart,
47. the more likely they'll become news. In addition, if events and
issues feature emotional aspects that tug at
the heartstrings, have humorous or at least amusing aspects,
serve as examples of good things to do or bad
things to do, include acts of heroism or selflessness, or have an
animal associated with them, the more likely
they'll become news.
The Five Ws and the H
The five Ws and the H provide more scaffolding for the process
of selecting what issues and events will be-
come news (Gibbs & Warhover, 2002, pp. 102–117; Hansen &
Paul, 2004, p. 55). Who is involved, what's
going on, where it's all happening, when it's happening, why it's
happening, and how it's happening normally
are important considerations in the news decision-making
process. The five Ws and the H are important parts
of the reporting process, too, of course, but they often are used
in an effort to select the events and issues
that will be reported about.
Generating Story Ideas
Ideas for stories can come from a variety of sources (Harrower,
2007, pp. 66–77; Hansen&Paul, 2004, pp.
37–39; Quinn & Lamble, 2008, pp. 15–28). The life experiences
of journalists, their family members, friends,
neighbors, associates, acquaintances, colleagues, advertisers,
and audience members are typical sources.
The joys and heartaches of everyday life, coping strategies,
successes, and failures can all be fertile ground
for story idea generation.
Other traditional sources for story ideas include localizing
regional, state, national, and international events
49. involved in a traffic accident, that analyze proposed legislation
to force automakers to build safer vehicles, or
that provide a historical evaluation of the most dangerous
intersections in your city.
Story ideas can come from periodic checks with agencies,
departments, and groups that regularly are in-
volved in news-making events and issues. So-called beat checks
are conducted with law enforcement agen-
cies, legislative departments, nonprofit organizations, military
representatives, and other public and private
groups to determine if anything newsworthy has occurred, is
occurring, or is likely to occur. Such checks often
are conducted at least once a day and often several times a day.
Many story ideas come from public relations, public
information, or public affairs practitioners (“Journalists
Rely on PR Contacts,” 2007). In fact, research has shown that
between 50% and 75% of the news stories re-
ported by traditional media organizations have some sort of
public relations connection. By using telephones,
fax machines, e-mail, Web sites, blogs, text messaging, printed
news releases, audio news releases, and
video news releases, organizations can inform journalists about
newsworthy events, issues, and develop-
ments. Such efforts are designed to generate favorable media
coverage and gain publicity for clients, but with
good reporting, such promotional, advocacy-oriented
information can be turned into valid news stories.
Gathering Information
No matter where story ideas come from, to ensure quality
journalism, it is critical that solid reporting follows.
The gathering of accurate, complete, balanced, and interesting
information provides the raw materials that
51. Page 4 of 16
21st Century Communication: A Reference Handbook
the reporting process.
It's critical that reporters evaluate the quality of documents,
databases, and Web sites. Who are the authors,
and what are their qualifications? Who paid for the information
to be made public? What's included, and
what's excluded? Why is information included or excluded?
How current is the information? Is attribution clear
and sufficient? Any grammar, spelling, or punctuation
mistakes? By answering such questions, reporters usu-
ally can feel confident that the information they're sharing with
the public is accurate, timely, fair, and bal-
anced.
Talking to People
Interviewing often is the main information-gathering technique
used in news reporting (Alysen et al., 2003, pp.
101–117; Brooks et al., 2008, pp. 42–60; Gibbs & Warhover,
2002, pp. 183–204; Hansen & Paul, 2004, pp.
94–111; Harrower, 2007, pp. 76–79). Talking to people, having
conversations with people, is a good way to
obtain answers to important questions. In addition, it's an
invaluable tool in achieving one of the main goals
of journalism—to get people to explain why they believe what
they believe, why they value what they value,
and why they do what they do. What better way to accomplish
this critical part of the journalistic mission than
to get the information directly from the people involved in
significant events and issues?
52. Interviewing can be done face-to-face, on the phone, via regular
mail, via e-mail, and via text messaging.
Face-to-face interviewing is preferred because it allows the
interviewer to make note of nonverbal commu-
nication and environmental factors, but sometimes it is difficult,
if not impossible, to meet with sources, and
it takes time to make appointments and travel to interview
locations. Phone interviews lose the observation
component but retain some of the “human communication”
aspects of face-to-face meetings and can be an
effective way to gather timely information. Regular mail takes
time, and the interviewer loses some control
over who actually answers the questions. E-mail and text
messaging can produce quicker results than regular
mail, but again, some control of the interview scenario is lost,
and, as with regular mail, spontaneity is not
what it could or should be. Sources have plenty of time to plan
their responses to make themselves and their
organizations look as good as possible.
Getting people to talk about their beliefs, attitudes, values, and
behaviors is not always easy, especially if
they're shy, stressed, grieving, in shock, fearful, distrustful,
embarrassed, guilt-ridden, angry, or annoyed.
Most of the time, most people are cooperative and willing, if
not eager, to be interviewed; however, when
people are reluctant to speak to journalists, several techniques
can be employed in an effort to persuade the
hesitant person to agree to talk. A journalist might attempt to
develop a rapport with the person. A brief chat
about the weather, sports, popular culture, or some other
relatively nonthreatening subject can help calm an
agitated or suspicious person. A journalist might start an
interview with relatively innocuous questions before
delving into the tougher, more threatening subjects.
54. Backgrounding can be done by surfing the Internet,
consulting databases, reading books, reading magazines, reading
newspapers, reading news releases, visit-
ing libraries, checking your news organization's archives,
talking with your colleagues, talking with friends of
interviewees, talking with family members of interviewees, and
talking with associates of interviewees.
Once you've gathered an appropriate amount of background
information, you can begin to finalize the process
of developing specific questions to ask your source(s). It's a
good idea to prepare a list of questions, a long,
complete list. Creating a list helps build confidence, provides a
roadmap for the interview, and gives you
something to fall back on if memory fails or a source refuses to
answer your first couple of questions. Don't be
too tied to your list, though. Be ready to depart from the list if
the interview takes off into new, interesting, and
unanticipated territory. Be flexible, and ask spontaneous or
follow-up questions when appropriate. Always be
on the lookout for unique angles and information. If they come
up, explore and develop them. They'll likely be
more interesting and/or important than what you had planned to
explore.
You won't be able to pick up on unexpected interview paths if
you don't listen to what sources say in response
to questions. Too often, reporters really don't listen to what
sources say in response to questions. This is es-
pecially true if the interview is being recorded. No matter what
the situation and what technological assistance
you have, listen carefully and analytically. Ask follow-up
questions. Ask for clarifications and explanations.
Take notes, too. Taking notes is a good form of feedback for the
source. It shows that you care enough to
write down what he or she is saying. If you're interviewing a
55. source over the phone, let him or her know that
you're taking notes. Taking notes can save you time
when it comes to preparing your final product (you won't have
to listen to the entire recorded interview over
again), and you never know when a recording device might fail
you.
Be sure you're talking to the right people about the right things,
events, and issues. If you're reporting about
renewable energy sources, talk to experts on that specific
subject. You also might want to talk with experts
in related fields, but your main focus should be interviewing on-
point, on-issue experts. Ordinary people who
are or who likely will be affected by or who are associated with
the issues can provide useful information, too.
Strive for a balance among your sources. It's traditional that
journalists attempt to include all (or as many
as possible) sides of an issue. That means talking to proponents
and opponents and those on the fence. In
addition, it's critical to balance sources on as many dimensions
as possible, including age, gender, race, oc-
cupation, educational attainment, political party, income levels,
geography, and religious affiliation. You won't
always be able to achieve complete balance for every story, but
it's a good goal to have, and over time across
the variety of stories you're likely to do, it's an important one to
achieve. Society needs and deserves as com-
plete a picture and understanding of the beliefs, attitudes,
values, and behaviors of its members as possible.
It's the job of journalists to provide that picture and help in
developing that understanding.
Good interviewers use a variety of approaches to elicit
information from sources. Being flexible in your ap-
57. what you want to talk to them about before
you actually go to conduct the interview. If you need to gather
specific statistics or acquire specific historical
information, let your sources know what you need and give
them enough time to find it. A prepared interview
source normally is a good interview source. There are times
when you want more spontaneity in your inter-
views. In such cases, you might want to be a bit more general in
your request for an interview. Perhaps you
don't want your sources too prepared or too rehearsed. You
might want their “top-of-the-head” responses.
This is especially true when you're dealing with sensitive,
embarrassing, or incriminating evidence.
Going Where the Action Is
Observing the activities of people and animals, how machines
and technologies operate, plus what environ-
mental factors exist often can provide important bits of
information that can be used in news stories (Brooks
et al., 2008, pp. 369–370; Gibbs & Warhover, 2002, pp. 208–
221; Hansen&Paul, 2004, pp. 72–84; Harrower,
2007, pp. 72–73). Carefully noting who does what to whom and
with what effect, plus where it's done, when
it's done, and why it's done, is critical. Noting the sights,
sounds, actions, smells, and textures associated with
environments helps journalists get a better feel for what the
people involved in newsworthy events and issues
are dealing with. It can help provide important clues for why
people believe what they believe, value what they
value, and do what they do.
Normally, journalists observe participants without actually
participating themselves. Participant observation in-
volves going to where the participants are and noting what they
do and what they say. Generally, information
58. is gathered rather unobtrusively, with the journalist remaining
relatively passive, a sort of “fly on the wall.” It is
critical that the journalist avoid doing or saying anything that
might cause the participants to act significantly
differently than how they normally act. Eventually, of course, a
journalist will need to ask questions and be-
come a bit more intrusive, but early on, it's usually best simply
to observe and take note of what takes place.
If it becomes necessary, advisable, or desirable for a journalist
to become an actual participant, care must
be taken to avoid behavior that might cause participants to
become self-conscious or to act “abnormally.” Be-
coming an actual participant is fraught with ethical dilemmas
and other problems, so in “hard news” situations,
it's best to get involved only if participation seems necessary to
earn the confidence and/or cooperation of the
participants. In “soft news” or feature-reporting situations,
becoming a participant can be an effective way to
gain a greater understanding of what participants face. It can be
an effective way to tell their story.
Just Do It
Journalists can gather valuable information by experiencing
things for themselves (Brooks et al., 2008, pp.
369–370; Gibbs &Warhover, 2002, pp. 208–221; Hansen &
Paul, 2004, pp. 72–84; Harrower, 2007, pp.
72–73). They can wear a fat suit to see how overweight people
are treated during an average day. They can
get a job as a fast-food worker. They can go back to school and
become a student again. They can try to hit
a fastball from a professional baseball pitcher. They
can do just about anything, of course, but do they do it as an
announced journalist or do they go “undercover”
in a type of covert “sting” operation?
60. events, follow-up/reactive stories, analyses/
commentaries, and enterprise stories (Harrower, 2007, pp. 66–
87). Advance stories include pre-meeting, pre-
speech, pre-news conference, and any other pre-event coverage.
Often, such stories are designed to let peo-
ple know if attending an event is worth their time, energy, and
money. Such stories also can provide preview
examinations of critical issues, help put things in perspective,
and help develop needed meanings associated
with events. The five Ws and the H come into play, of course,
but good reporters go beyond the basics and
seek out expert evaluations and insights about the critical issues
likely to surface during the upcoming events.
Scheduled/expected events include meetings, speeches, news
conferences, concerts, demonstrations, and
sports events. In such situations, reporters need to keep in mind
that many other journalists will be in atten-
dance, so it is important to look for unique, or at least different,
angles to report about. All the basic informa-
tion should be gathered, of course, but an effort must be made
to find something that can serve as a unique
focus for your story. Such things often can be found by
gathering anecdotes from participants, taking spe-
cial note of environmental factors/features, concentrating on
causes/effects/alternatives, and simply asking
participants what's different about this particular event or the
subjects talked about during the event. Another
thing that good reporters do is to supplement the information
they obtain from “official” sources—spokespeo-
ple, handouts, agendas—with information from people who are
or will be affected by what takes place during
scheduled/expected events. Such events should be part of the
information-gathering process, not the end of
the process.
62. 21st Century Communication: A Reference Handbook
group—is one common technique used.
Follow-up/reactive stories include “day-after” reporting of
major events, getting responses from people affect-
ed by major governmental or big business
decisions/developments, and finding related information when a
competitor has a story you don't have. Follow-up/reactive
stories almost always deal primarily with issues. It's
important to get a variety of reactions from the people involved
in events and issues, but it's also important to
get a variety of comments from sources who have expertise in
the areas being explored but who do not have
any real stake in what is taking place or has taken place. These
so-called “referee sources” include lawyers,
doctors, professors, and officials outside the geographic area
covered by a local news organization.
Analyses/commentaries include more personalized, in-depth
explorations of events and issues. Such stories
require detailed information gathering. Reporters need to find
information that will help them create a greater
understanding of the five Ws and the H among audience
members. In many cases, reporters need to find
information that will help them persuade audience members to
change their beliefs, attitudes, values, and be-
haviors. Such efforts require consulting multiple sources of
information, conducting numerous interviews, and
making extended observations.
Enterprise stories include investigative reports, in-depth
features, and unique-lifestyle explorations. Such sto-
ries require voluminous information gathering. Reporters must
63. search through numerous documents, conduct
numerous interviews, use a variety of observational techniques,
and verify, verify, verify (Ettema & Glasser,
1998, pp. 139–153). Very often, the reputations of important
people and influential organizations are involved.
Reporters must take great care that the information they include
in their final products is as accurate, com-
plete, balanced, and fair as possible. Reporters generally get
much more time to produce enterprise stories,
so they are expected to discover new sources of information and
to explore such sources more fully so that
they can produce stories that break new ground and reveal little-
known facts about the important people and
institutions in society.
What Interests Audience Members?
In any news-gathering situation, it is critical for a reporter to
take into consideration the topics and things that
people are interested in and care about (Brooks et al., 2008, p.
6; Campbell, 2004, pp. 104–125; Hansen &
Paul, 2004, pp. 31–35; Harrower, 2007, p. 17). Attempts should
be made to obtain as much information about
such topics and things as possible in the time available prior to
the deadline. News values/elements/qualities
help in this area, too, but there are many more topics and things
that people find interesting.
People are interested in events and issues that affect them in
some way. They are interested in what well-
known people say and do. They are interested in knowing about
timely “breaking news.” They are interested
in conflicts between people, groups, organizations, and
countries. They are interested in achievements and
the setting of records. They are interested in acts of courage and
heroism. They are interested in sex and
65. sources to be sure that impacts/meanings are clear and that
important stories are made interesting and inter-
esting stories are made important.
The fiveWsand the Hprovideagood framework for information
gathering (Gibbs&Warhover, 2002, pp.
102–117; Hansen&Paul, 2004, p.55). Of course, there are many
more Ws than five and many moreHsthan
one. Infact, for most stories, the Wsand the Hsare just about
endless. They include the basic who is in-
volved,what has happened,where didittake place, when didittake
place, why didit happen, and how did it hap-
pen? They also include the following:
If reporters get answers to as many of the five Ws and the H
questions as possible, it's unlikely that audience
members will be able to say “So what?” or “Who cares?” after
reading, listening to, or watching news stories.
Who was involved?
Who will be involved?
Who could be involved?
Who should be involved?
Who is affected?
Who was affected?
Who will be affected?
Who pays?
Who has paid?
67. Who is guilty?
Who was guilty?
Who will be guilty?
Who is innocent?
Who was innocent?
Who will be innocent?
When has it happened?
When will it happen?
When could it happen?
When should it happen?
When will we know?
When should we know?
What will happen?
What could happen?
What should happen?
What might have happened?
What is the significance?
What has been the significance?
