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![• News is what is extraordinary, interesting and not known.
[Gillian Hargreaves, BBC reporter]
• News is an account of a current idea, event, or problem
that interests people. [Campbell & Wolseley]
• News is a timely report of facts or opinions that hold
interest or importance, or both, for a considerable number
of people. [Mitchell V. Charnley]
What is news?](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/practicaljournalism-130225112808-phpapp01/75/Practical-journalism-4-2048.jpg)
Uploaded byJimi Kayode
Practical journalism
The document provides guidance on writing news stories and what constitutes news. It discusses that news is a timely report of facts, ideas, events or problems that interest people. It also notes several factors that are important for determining what is considered news, such as significance, proximity and unexpectedness. The document also provides tips for journalists on preparing for interviews, covering news conferences, finding story angles, structuring news stories and attributing sources.
In this document
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Introduction to news writing, characteristics of good journalists, elements that define news.
Discussion on the relativity and objectivity in news, highlighting complex factors.
Different sources for news such as news releases and conferences, vital for reporters.
Importance of clear writing using simple language, active verbs, and effective structuring.
Guidelines on structuring a news story to engage readers effectively.
Skills and types of interviewing; preparation and ethical considerations in interviews.
Techniques used by journalists to discover and verify news stories through research.
Concept of journalism as storytelling, emphasizing setting, characters, and resolution.
Importance of critical thinking, attribution, and authentic representation in storytelling.
Citing sources and acknowledging influential publications and institutions in journalism.
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Practical journalism
- 1.
- 2. • Good journalistshave a nose of news. They work hard to ‘sniff out’ original stories and find the facts of the events they are assigned to cover • News is created What is news?
- 3. • Know theiraudience • Understand what makes a strong news story • Recognize the best angle • Avoid repeating press releases verbatim What is news? Good journalists strive to:
- 4. • News iswhat is extraordinary, interesting and not known. [Gillian Hargreaves, BBC reporter] • News is an account of a current idea, event, or problem that interests people. [Campbell & Wolseley] • News is a timely report of facts or opinions that hold interest or importance, or both, for a considerable number of people. [Mitchell V. Charnley] What is news?
- 5. • A report • Ideas, events, and problems • News is real • News is current • News interests people • News elements: timeliness, nearness, size, importance, personal benefit, policy, journalistic treatment, and space allocation. What is news?
- 6. • Hard news •Soft news What is news?
- 7. • Frequency or time span • Meaning • Significance • Clarity • Closeness to home • Consonance or predictability • The unexpected or rare • Continuity • Composition • Concentration on elite nations and individuals • Person-centred • Negativity What is news? Johan Galtung & Mari Ruge - factors important to news gatherers when deciding what’s news
- 8. • Others • Thelaw • Work routines • Financial control What is news? Johan Galtung & Mari Ruge - factors important to news gatherers when deciding what’s news
- 9.
- 10.
- 11. • News releases •Diary stories • News conferences • Pseudo events • Off-diary stories News Sources
- 12. Good writers makeit easy for their readers by using: - everyday words - short, simply structured sentences - active verbs - anecdotes and quotes Telling the story - grammar and style
- 13. • Think clearly– you have to know what the story is and then tell it in the most direct and succinct manner. • Language must be appropriate for the audience Putting the message across…
- 14. • Be clear about what you want to say • Say it with everyday words • Use simple sentences • Use short paragraphs • Use verbs in the active voice • Report details, draw a picture with words • Use a style that is natural to you • Keep adjectives to the minimum • Use strong quotes close to the beginning of the story • Avoid clichés as far as possible. • Don’t repeat words • Don’t bury your quotes • Don’t use ‘officialese’ Good Writing: some rules
- 15. • Focus on the strongest angle • Write an intro that attracts the reader • Set out facts faithfully and lucidly • Structure the story to encourage reading • Use the most compelling quotes early on. Structuring the story
- 16. Good interviewers areeasy to trust and can put people at their ease. When conducting an interview they: - Have a clear idea of its purpose - Prepare carefully and consider lines of questioning - Interview rigorously but fairly - Remain well mannered at all times Effective Interviewing
- 17. • Interviewing successfullyis one of the great arts of reporting and a sure way to a good story. • In broadcast news, the interview has become a form of packaged news itself. • Its question and answer style has the advantage of giving a journalist an opportunity to explore issues in greater depth. Effective Interviewing How important?
- 18. • It isa conversation with a source • It isn't just an informal chat • The source has an important information, so an interview is meant to get it, by getting the source to tell you Effective Interviewing What exactly is an interview?
- 19. • The informationalinterview • The expositional interview • The interpretative interview Effective Interviewing Types of Interviewing
- 20. • First, checkthe library clippings for stories relevant to the interview • Think about what you want from the interview • Think of lines of questioning which may elicit memorable quotes or anecdotes or other evidences from the source • You may prepare a list of questions beforehand but you don’t have to follow it slavishly • If the subject is a sensitive issue prepare beforehand for the most probable attitude from your source How to prepare for an interview?
- 21. • First impressions • Simple is not stupid • Use lots of open questions to draw out the information • The less threatening you can be the better even if the source seems unwillingly or unruly • Don’t open with challenging or sensitive questions • Don’t be afraid to ask the difficult or tough questions when the time comes • Strive to get good quotes. This brings the human element and animate a story • Silence can be golden The interview
- 22. Make sure tonote: - Why the news conference was called - The main points being made by the speaker/speakers - The consequences of the news conference - The names and job titles of the speakers - The best quotes (strict accuracy is essential here) - Any good points to come out of the follow-up asked by reporters. Covering news conferences
- 23. • Is oneof the hardest part of your job • It involves going uninvited to someone’s house or waiting outside a restaurant, cinema, or court in the hope of getting a few comments from the source • Public figures are used to this but ordinary people who have been caught in a news story should be handled carefully. Door stepping
- 24. • Telephone interviews •E-mail or submitted question interviews others
- 25. • ‘off-record’ • keepwhatever promise made to the source • Protect and minimize harm to the source Ethical issues
- 26. Good journalists knowhow to dig out information. They don’t wait to be given stories, they go looking for them. They - Have excellent contacts - Will not accept information in press releases, leaks or tip- offs at face value, but will always seek to verify it - Know where to find and how to use reference books, records and reports - Can interpret and analyze figures Finding the news
- 27. • There’s nosuch thing as a story. Stories don’t exist they happen. • A story is an event, not an object. It exists in time and space. It’s a performance by the giver and an experience for those receiving it. • Tell journalistic stories much like other stories. Reporting as “story”
- 28. • Every realstory has a setting, a place where it happens and a combination of circumstances that provides its context. • Every real story has one or more characters, with some being major players and some playing bit parts. • Every real story has some sort of complication that occurs, triggering the chain of events that makes the story more than just simple description. Reporting as “story”
- 29. • Every realstory puts its character through a process of responding to this complication as they try to resolve the problem or conflict, take advantage of the opportunity or achieve their goal. • Every real story brings this process to a resolution, happy or otherwise. Reporting as “story”
- 30. • And everyreal story includes some sort of closure that looks into the future or provides meaning. • The reporter’s shopping list: - Setting – where and when - Characters - who - Complication – what and why - Process of responding/resolving – what (happened) - Resolution - How - Closure – so what? Reporting as “story”
- 31. • There’s adifference between story and myth • Report only as much of the story as you’ve really gathered • The story you are telling is often the story of being told things by other people Story as Trap
- 32. Treat any story,be it for print or broadcast, as a story to be told, and read your draft out loud to test how well it works.
- 33. Attribute meticulously. Remember, yourstory is often about people telling stories of their own. Don’t fall into retelling those stories as though they were facts.
- 34. Read broadly witha critical eye for how the story is being told.
- 35. Listen with earthat’s hungry to study how people instinctively tell their stories.
- 36. Tell stories yourself,and tell them as real stories, no matter to whom, no matter why, no matter about what.
- 37. • Harper, C.and The Indiana group.(1998). Journalism 2001. Madison: CourseWise Publishing Inc. (www.coursewise.com) • Campbell, R.L. and Wolseley, R.E. (1961). How to report and write the news. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. • Dennis, E.E. and Ismach, H.A. (1981). Reporting Processes and Practices: Newswriting for Today’s readers. California: Wadsworth Pub. Co. • Sissons, H. (2006). Practical Journalism: How to write News. London: Sage Publications. references
- 38. Jimi Kayode Journalism Department AdebolaAdegunwa School of Communication, Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria.