News Writing 2 [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

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News Writing

MODULE II: NEWS WRITING

Notes

Unit 2: The Story Structure Structure 2.1

Introduction

2.2

Structure of News: 5Ws and H 2.2.1

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

Components of the Story

News Writing Styles 2.3.1

The Inverted Pyramid Format

2.3.2

Hourglass

2.3.3

Narratives

2.3.4

The Five Boxes Story

Quote, Attribution and Paraphrase 2.4.1

What to Quote Directly

2.4.2

Problems in Direct Quotation

2.4.3

Correcting Quotes

2.4.4

Attributing Direct and Indirect Quotes

2.4.5

Guidelines on How to Attribute Information

Intro or Leads 2.5.1

Function/Importance of the Lead

2.5.2

Various Types of Leads

Writing the body of the News 2.6.1

Where Is the Body of News Located in a News Story?

2.6.2

The Function of the Body of News

2.6.3

Building a News Story

2.6.4

How Is Each Paragraph Arranged in the Body?

2.6.5

Clear Writing

General Rules for News Writing and Reporting 2.7.1

Tips on Writing a News Report

2.8

Summary

2.9

Check Your Progress

2.10 Questions and Exercises 2.11 Key Terms 2.12 Further Readings

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Objectives

Notes

After studying this unit, you should be able to: 

Understand the structure of news and news writing styles

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Discuss the concepts of quotes, attribution and paraphrase

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Explain about writing the body of the news

2.1 Introduction Story structure distinguishes news writing from other types of writing such as the essay, poetry, drama, novel, short story and so on. Whereas the author of these other forms of composition usually begin with minor incidental details and work to a climax near the end of their compositions, the news writer reverses this plan of organization. He begins with the climax. In his first paragraph generally referred to as the lead or introduction, the news writer begins with the most important information or climax of the story. The second most important information comes second; the third most important information comes third and so on. This form of news writing is called the Inverted Pyramid Format. In this unit, we shall be discussing about the structure of news and news writing styles and the concepts of quotes, attribution and paraphrase. We will also learn about writing the body of the news.

2.2 Structure of News: 5Ws and H The first person associated with the 5Ws and H is Rudyard Kipling. “I keep six honest serving men they taught me all I know and their names are What, Why, Where, When, Who, and How”. The question these “men” raise is what happened? Why it happened, where it happened, when it happened, who was involved and how it happened. It may be that not all of these questions can or should be answered in connection with a story but it will be unfortunate and unprofessional for a reporter not to make attempt to find answers to these questions. 1. What Happened?: From the analysis of news stories published in five notable newspapers, the WHAT of the stories is the most common starting point? In asking the question What Happened? The answer forms the opening of the story. Example: A total sum of N2.8 billion was pumped into the foreign exchange market in March this year alone by the Central Bank. A further explanation of the “What” follows: This represents an increase of 15% over the level of N2.4 billion recorded last year. 2. Who Was Involved?: The news of WHO as the opening element shows the prominence of the personality involved in the news story and it is from this angle that Harold Evan in his book – News Writing – defines news as people. When the WHO is not prominent, that is, when it has no attraction in itself and leads to no special destination in the society; it will rarely open the news story. In some cases, special WHO may justify emphasis even though identification does not become part of the lead? Examples: President Olusegun Obasanjo has promised to improve the conditions of service of federal civil servants in the country in order to stem corrupt practices. United State President, George W. Bush has announced a donation of $50m in support of AIDS epidemic in Africa. 3. Where Did It Happen?: The location of a news story is important and of interest when the media considers their area of coverage or place of reporting. Example: An Evangelist of the Christ Church of the lord, Mr Aboidun Baruwa was killed by a lion at the Zoological garden of the University of Ibadan last Saturday.

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4. When Did It Happen?: Time element is important in a news story, and in most cases, it is included in the lead. However, it often sounds odd to begin a news story with time. That is why” At noon last Saturday” cannot begin a story.

Notes

Example: President Goodluck Jonathan leaves Abuja Monday morning for Madrid, to begin a three-day state visit Spain. 5. Why Did It Happen?: The WHY of a news story is the circumstances surrounding the event behind the story. In most cases, the WHY is always answered in the body of the news story, unless when the circumstances surrounding the WHY deserves more explanation. Example: INEC cannot remove Ngige based on his expulsion from the PDP. This clarification was made yesterday by the INEC Chairman. Abel Gbobadia, to refuse claims credited to him. 6. How did it happen?: The HOW of a story is closely related to the WHY? That is why the HOW and the WHY of the story is usually left for the second or third paragraph that form the body of the story. However, the HOW of a news story is mostly used to explain the process the event takes to become a news story. Example: Taiwanese police have rescued a wealthy businessman kidnapped and held for two weeks in the boot of a car while his captors demanded a ransom of 50 million Taiwan dollars. 2.2.1 Components of the Story The components of a story are what the story must contain to be accepted. Mencher (2010) identifies seven of such components thus: 

Accuracy: All information provided in a story must be accurate and the facts must also be verifiable.

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Attribution: The sources which provided the reporter with information he or she used in writing his/her story must be properly identified.

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Complete: A news story should contain the specifics that illustrate, prove and document the main point of the story

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Balanced and Fair: A news story should make sure all sides in a controversial issue are presented.

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Objective: The writer or reporter should never inject his or her own personal biases and prejudices into his or her story.

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Brief and Focused: The good news story should get to the point as quickly as possible and should keep to the point.

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Well-written: A good news story should be clear, direct, interesting and error-free.

2.3 News Writing Styles 2.3.1 The Inverted Pyramid Format The Inverted Pyramid Format is a news story writing format used centuries ago; however, most modern newspapers still use the format because it is the most spaceefficient story form known. It permits writers to deliver the most important information in a paragraph or two. This type of news writing format gives the most important information in the news first in form of a lead and goes on to develop the story in a descending order of importance. The Inverted Pyramid story has no conclusion, as many single incident news stories are presented in this form. The illustration below shows the format.

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Notes

Figure 2.1: Inverted Pyramid Format The purpose of this type of structure is to present the news quickly, clearly and readably, to help the reader easily understand the content of the story. Its basic logic grows out of the different ways in which readers approach a news story. Some will be so interested in the subject that they will read every word the reporter writes, regardless of how it is written; others read only a few paragraphs; many will only read the headline and lead. To provide all these readers with maximum benefit, the reporter arranges the fact in descending order of importance. The inverted pyramid form has a professional advantage over the conventional method of essay writing. When a news story is very long and needs cutting, the sub-editor can easily cut from the paragraphs, which contain the least important details. The Advantages/Importance of the Inverted Pyramid Format 1. It makes the reader get the gist quickly. 2. It helps in headline writing. 3. It facilitates reading. 4. It satisfies the curiosity of the reader. 5. It helps and facilitates page make up. 6. It facilitates editing to suit the news hole. 2.3.2 Hourglass It builds on the inverted pyramid and combines a narrative. It delivers breaking news and tells a story. The first 4-6 paragraphs contain a summary lede and answer the most pressing questions. Then a transitional phrase cites the source of the upcoming story "Police say the incident occurred after closing last night." The article concludes with the chronological story. Try a modular architecture called the hourglass. In the top globe, break your news in inverted-pyramid form with the most important information coming first, followed by other highlights. In the bottom globe, tell your story in narrative form, from beginning to middle to end. This is a good form for any news story that can get readers to ask those great narrative questions: How did that happen? What happened next? Lots of crime stories Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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look good in hourglass form, but any story with a cause and effect, or a complication and resolution, works: rescue stories, accident stories, journeys, quests and many others.

Notes

As a hybrid, the hourglass lacks the quick precision of the inverted pyramid and the involving suspense of a narrative story. But it’s a good form for constructing a news story that goes beyond the news. It’s a form that takes advantage of the suppleness of print. It’s hard to see videographers and photographers making use of the hourglass in a straightforward way. 2.3.3 Narratives It has a beginning, middle, and end just like a story. One famous example, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, was actually published as a novel. But for most news articles, narratives should be short and to the point and used only where telling a personal story helps to convey the point of the article. The New Yorker is noted for using narrative form. 2.3.4 The Five Boxes Story It combines the forms listed above. Useful when you have a lot of data to sort through. Box 1 contains the lede, Box 2 contains the nutgraph, Box 3 tells the story begun in Box 1, Box 4 contains supplemental details such as statistics or expert opinions, and Box 5 contains the "kicker" or the quote, image, or comment that ends the story on a strong note.

2.4 Quote, Attribution and Paraphrase Direct quotes add colour and credibility. By using direct quotes, you are putting your audience directly in touch with the speaker. Like a letter, direct quotes are personal. Not everything people say should be put into direct quotes. You need to learn what to quote directly, when to use partial quotes and when to paraphrase. You must also learn how and how often to attribute a remark because some information may not excuse you from a possible libel suit. Therefore, you must also learn to deal with off-the-record quotes and background information. 2.4.1 What to Quote Directly Brief, precise and relevant quotes spice up any story. But you can overdo a good thing. You need direct quotes in your story, no doubt but you also need to develop your skill in recognizing what is worth quoting. Make use of the following guidelines: 1. Use direct quotes when someone says something unique 2. Use direct quotes when someone says something uniquely 3. Use direct quotes when someone important says something important. 2.4.2 Problems in Direct Quotation 1. Paraphrasing Quotes: Some quotations need verifications while others need clarification. Do not quote someone unless you are sure of what that person means. The best way to avoid confusing and unclear quotes or needlessly long wordy quotes is to paraphrase. 2. Partial Quotes: It is also much better to paraphrase or to use full quotes than to use fragmentary or partial quotes. Example: The Vice-Chancellor said lecturers should “turn off” unnecessary lights and “lock up” before closing for the day. This sentence will be better off without quotation marks. Again partial quotes often contain an ellipsis inside them to tell the reader that some of the words of the quotes are missing. Example: Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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“I have come here tonight ... and I have crossed state lines ... to conspire against the government”. This practice at times may be justifiable, but you should not keep the reader guessing and wondering what is missing. 2.4.3 Correcting Quotes None of us regularly speaks in perfect, grammatical sentences. The same persons when writing down his remarks presumably would write grammatically and correctly. Therefore, it is accepted practice on many newspapers to correct grammar and to put a person’s remark into complete sentences. This has, however, brought some controversy. The question is “Would you fix a quote to make the person you are quoting sound grammatical?” Here are some opinions and answers from renowned reporters. 1. Columnist James Kilpatrick: Sure. It is elementary courtesy, and every one does it. You don’t change the substance of your subject’s thought, of course. You could make anyone in politics look ridiculous if you quoted him verbatim all the time with all the ands, ifs, buts, and ors. 2. Jack Newfield, former Senior Editor for village voice: No, I don’t. New York political leader Meade Esposito’s colourfulness comes from his lack of grammar. 3. The AP Style book says: Quotations normally should be corrected to avoid the errors in grammar and word usage that often occur unnoticed when someone is speaking but are embarrassing in print. 4. Use of Obscenity: On most newspapers, some things people say are never permitted in print, even if they are said uniquely. Newspapers rarely print obscenities, profanities or vulgarities unless they are essential to the story. For instance, obscenities are not used in the Washington Post except with the approval of a top editor. But if it is a “Hardcore” obscenity referring to the body and sexual or excretory functions, The Washington Post’s Style book calls for the first letter followed by dashes. E.g. He called the President a “f- -king fool” 2.4.4 Attributing Direct and Indirect Quotes In composition and creative writing classes, you may have been told to avoid repeating the same words. This is not so in news writing and reporting especially for the word “said”. Reporters and editors prefer forms of the verb “to say” in most instances, even if they are repeated throughout a story. There are reasons for doing so: 1. ‘Said’ is Unobtrusive – Not easily noticeable and hides in the news columns and calls no attention to itself. 2. ‘Said’ is Neutral- It has no connotations. 3. ‘Said’ is Objective – It does not depict the reporter’s biases. When you get information from a source, you normally need to attribute that information to someone. Attribution means to tell your readers or listeners the name and title of the person you interviewed or document you got the information from. You do it, for example, through the verb "to say" or a phrase like "according to ...." There are three levels of attribution, depending on whether your source is happy about being publicly identified or whether they want to keep some secrecy about what they tell you. These three levels (which we will explain in detail) are: 

On the record, which means you can use both their words and their name;

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Non-attributable, which means you can use the information, but not the source's name;

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Off the record, which means you cannot use either the information or the source's name.

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All of these terms are only used to describe reporting methods. They should not appear in your finished story. Let us look at these three in detail: On the record

Notes

Most information you are given will be on the record. People will tell you the details openly and allow you to quote their names and titles. The politician making a speech, the witness describing a crash, the police officer reporting an arrest, the company chairman defending an increase in prices, all are usually prepared to be quoted and to give their names. Even if they are unhappy about the story you are writing (perhaps because it makes them look bad), most people will understand your need to report fairly and accurately what they say. It is always best to get information on the record. You can remain accurate by using the exact words people say. You can also make the story seem more human by using direct quotes (or by using their voices on radio and television). But most important, people judge what they read or hear by the person who says it. They are much more likely to take notice if the Justice Minister says he believes in capital punishment than if the man who sweeps the street says it. On the record comments have an extra level of understanding for people because they know who is speaking and exactly what was said. Non-attributable Sometimes a source will give you information on the understanding that you can use the information but not attribute it to them. Your source may do this for one of several reasons. Perhaps they are not officially allowed to give you the information, but they think it could be made public. Perhaps they do not want to be in the public eye. Politicians sometimes give non-attributable details of a plan so that they can find out public reaction to it without any risk. If the public likes the plan, the politician can then go on the record and claim the credit. If the public do not like the plan, the politician can abandon it without losing face because his name was never associated with it anyway. The danger for journalists is that, if the politician does decide to abandon an unpopular plan, you will be left looking like a fool for writing about a story which the politician will then deny ever having considered. Politicians occasionally leak document to the media for similar reasons - to test public opinion on an issue unofficially. If you agree not to use your source's name, there are phrases you can use instead, such as "a spokesperson for...", "a reliable source at..." or "sources within..." These should only be used if you cannot convince the source to go on the record. They are an admission that you cannot tell the whole truth. If your source refuses to go on the record, ask them if they mind some information being used and attributed to them, but leaving the more sensitive information not attributed specifically to them. They may allow their name to be used for certain parts but not for others. For example, the Police Minister, Ari Katoa, may tell you about a forthcoming operation against drug growers, but not wish to be quoted on the details for fear of offending his police commissioner. However, he will be quoted on the problem itself. You might then write the story: Police in East Island are to launch a major offensive against marijuana growers. Extra police will be drafted in from today and helicopters will be used to search out drug plantations. Sources within the Police Department say this is the biggest operation of its kind ever mounted on the island.

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Police Minister Ari Katoa says drug abuse is a serious menace to the stability of the nation and the lives of young people. You should try to avoid making any agreement to accept non-attributable information unless it is unavoidable. Your job as a journalist is to pass on news as accurately as possible. Unattributed stories will not seem as accurate to your audience as stories where information is attributed. Off the record You will occasionally be given information on the understanding that it is totally off the record. Although you will have to ask your source exactly what they mean by such a phrase, it usually means that you should not even write about what they tell you. And you must certainly not use their name. People usually give information off the record when they want you to understand the background to something which is too sensitive for them to talk publicly about. For example, you might get a tip-off of a major police operation planned for the next day against the hide-out of a criminal gang. You ask the police chief for more information, but he will obviously not want you to publish anything which might warn the gang. On the other hand, he might not want to say "no comment" because you might start asking questions somewhere else. So he might say he will tell you off the record, on condition that you do not tell anyone else. Because he is asking you a favour - that is to keep secret something you already know a little bit about - you should expect a favour in return. If you agree not to publish details of the story before the raid, ask him whether, as a sign of goodwill on his part, he will allow you to accompany the police on the raid. You will then beat all your competitors to the story of the raid itself and have a scoop. One thing to remember about any request to treat information off the record is that it is only a request. You can agree or disagree. If a person says they will only speak to you off the record, you must decide how important their information is - and whether you can get it from somewhere else. If you cannot, perhaps you can agree to their conditions. In any case, you should bargain with them to give it on the record or at least non-attributed. If a person gives you an interview and only tells you at the end that it was all off the record, argue that they should have said so earlier and not wasted your time. You are in a strong position because you now know what it is they want to keep a secret. Using assumed names You occasionally have to protect a source's identity by giving them an assumed name. This arises most often when you are writing about the victims of some kind of abuse, usually in feature articles or documentaries. These people may not mind you are telling their story, but they do not want other people to know exactly who they are. Children especially should be protected, although you can use assumed names for anyone with a good reason to have their identity kept secret, such as alcoholics, drug addicts or battered wives. It is usual in such cases to give the person assumed name, for example "Tony" or "Juanita", and no surname. You must, of course, tell your readers or listeners that this is not the person's real name, but is being used to protect them. If you use a picture them, make sure they are not recognisable in it. If you use their voice, it is common practice in radio and television to electronically change it so it cannot be recognised. You may also have to disguise other facts of the story if there is a chance that these will lead people to identify the person. This should only be done after careful consideration and with the approval of your editor.

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2.4.5 Guidelines on How to Attribute Information 1. If a direct quote is more than one sentence long, place the attribution at the end of the first sentence. Example:

Notes

“The bus overturned at least three times,” the policeman said. “None of the twenty passengers was hurt. Luckily, the car did not explode to flames.” 2. Do not follow a fragment of a quote with a continuing complete sentence of quotation. For example: WRONG: The Vice-Chancellor said the time had come “to turn off some lights. We all must do something to conserve electricity.” RIGHT: "The time has come to turn off some lights,” the Vice Chancellor said. “We must all do something to conserve electricity.” Always separate partial quotes and complete quotes. 3. The First time you attribute a direct or indirect quote, identify the speaker fully. Example: The Vice-Chancellor of the prestigious Covenant University, Prof Aize Immonokhome Obayan, said students will no longer be allowed to wear jean trousers to lectures. (a) Don’t attribute direct quotes to more than one person, as in the following: “The bullets came out from everywhere,” witnesses said. “The protesters had guns even the children amongst them.” You can however, eliminate the quotation marks, if indeed any witness made the statement. Never make up a source and never invent a quote for anonymous witnesses. It is dishonest, inaccurate and inexcusable. (b) In stories covering past news events, use the past tense in attributing, and use it throughout the story. However, stories that do not report on news events, such as features, may be effective if the attributions are consistently in present tense. Example: “‘I like being the mayor,’ she says” You are indicating that she still enjoys it. (c) Ordinarily, place the noun or pronoun before the verb in attributions. Example: “Everything is under control,” the Inspector General of Police said. If you must identify a person by indicating a long title, it is better to begin the attribution with the verb. Example: “I enjoy the new position,” says Prof. Prince Izedonmi, Dean of Post Graduate Studies, and Covenant University.

2.5 Intro or Leads Since most stories are written in the inverted pyramid form, the news reporter must master the lead. The lead is the first paragraph of a news story and contains the 5Ws and H. In fact, the lead is the most important part of a news story because it contains the most important facts of such a news story. The lead also summarizes the facts of a news story and it must be attractive, interesting and readable. The lead could extend to the second paragraph of the story but under normal circumstances, it should not go into the third paragraph. This is not to say that one has not come across a story of threeparagraph lead in our dailies. What we are trying to emphasize here is that a reporter should not indulge in writing three-paragraph leads. According to Mencher, “The lead sentence usually contains one idea and follows the subject-verb-object sentence structure for clarity.” This means the lead should begin

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with the subject, followed by an active verb and conclude with the object of the verb. This structure also makes the reporter to write simple and short sentences. Some writers and editors also prefer to place word limit on leads. Mencher says a lead should not exceed 35 words. 2.5.1 Function/Importance of the Lead 1. The Lead Summarizes the News: It gives the reader the sense of the story to follow and takes him or her to the supporting facts or claims presented in the opening statements. 2. The Lead Answers the Questions Raised By the 5Ws and H: However, not all the answers provided by the 5Ws and H must be present in every lead to make it acceptable but no important one should be left out or omitted. 3. The Lead must Emphasize the News Feature: The lead is expected to play up the most interesting or significant aspect of the story. The news feature must be played up in the lead. 4. The Lead must Furnish the Reader with Identification Needed for Clarity: Persons, places and events must be given identification to make the lead clear to the reader. These bits of information may be considered as parts of the answers to the WHO, WHERE and WHAT of an event. 5. The Lead must also suggest or give the Authority on which the News is Written: This is called Documentation. Documentation gives credence to the news story. 6. The Lead must Attract Readers to the Story: As the window of the story, the lead must get the attention of the reader and sustain this till he or she gets into the story. 7. The Lead should Suggest the Headline: From the lead it becomes easy for the sub-editor or editor to cast the headline for the story. The lead should help suggest this. Hints on How to Write the Lead 1. Use the SVO (subject-verb-object) sentence structure. 2. Make use of simple and short sentences. 3. Discover the most important element of the story and play this up in your lead. 4. Decide on what lead feature to emphasize among the five Ws and H and make this part of the first sentence. 5. Use a single element if you find out that one element stands out clearly in the story. 6. Make your lead go straight to the point. 7. Always ensure that your main verb is in the active voice. 2.5.2 Various Types of Leads There are several types of leads; however, Sonaike (1987) identifies nine thus: 1. Summary Lead which comprises of a statement that answers the 5Ws and H of a news event; 2. The Effect’s Lead which focuses on the effect or consequences of an event; 3. The Contrast Lead which portrays contrasts of news events; 4. The Direct Address Lead which directs its statement at the reader; 5. The Question Lead which asks a questions and provides an answer as well; 6. The Cartridge Lead which presents the gist of an even in the fewest words; 7. The Double Feature Lead which contains two separate ideas; 8. The Quote Lead which starts with a quotation and

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9. The Shirt-tail Lead which is a lead broken into two sentences expressing two related ideas. We shall further explain some of these lead types that are relevant with examples.

Notes

Summary Lead The summary lead is often used with the inverted pyramid form because it seeks to summarize the story in a few lines and tells the reader what he needs to know by answering the 5Ws and H. The summary lead summarizes the whole story and gives details later. It is very brief and deals only with the key points of the story. Example: The ultra-modern Ariaria International Market in Aba, Abia State, reputed to be the biggest in Africa was razed by fire on Tuesday. Figurative or Coloured Lead This lead permits the extensive use of figures of speech or allows the use of words in the figurative sense rather than the literal sense. The power of a figurative lead is in its eye-catching effect. Example: After a countdown of several weeks, the Governor has put a fire button and blasted the MD of the state owned sugar Company into the rank of redundancy. Quotation Lead A quotation lead usually consists of a striking statement that could make readers interested in the story. Because the quotation lead is easy to write, the general rule is to use it sparingly. It should be used only where the quote is quite significant, and in cases where it could add drama to the story. Whenever a quotation is used, the explanation of such quotation should be made in the next paragraph. “The implementation of the present law on abortion would continue to impede the control of abortion in the country” Question Lead The question lead raises a question and attempts to answer the question. A question lead is commonly used in explanatory or specialized writing. The question at times answers itself when it is rhetoric. Example: What is constructive comment and what is disloyalty to the state? This is the question in many minds today following the dismissal of a state commissioner as a result of an alleged anti-government speech. The function of the second paragraph as statement following the questions is to explain the question to the listeners, readers or viewers. Bullet Lead Bullet lead is nearest to the headline. It is a shot sentence that carries great impact. Example: Multibillionaire and business tycoon, Chief was killed today in a car bomb outside his home. Staccato Lead This consists of short sentences, coming one after the other to create heightened effect. It is used to establish a mood best suited for the kind of news story. Example: The disaster started with a building flash. Next, a shattering roar that led to a crumbling wall then breaking glass, and death.

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Immediate – Identification Lead

Notes

In the immediate – identification lead, one of the most important facts of the story is the “WHO” element. Reporters often use this approach when someone important or someone whose name is widely recognized is making news. Example: Pop Singer Roy Kelly was hospitalized in good conditions with second – degree burns on his scalp last night after his hair caught fire when he was filming a commercial. Delayed – Identification Lead When a reporter uses this type of lead, usually it is because the person or persons involved have little name recognition among the readers. Example: Madison – A 39-year old carpenter was killed today in a two-car collision two blocks from his home. Dead is William Domonske of 205 W. Oak St. injured in the accident and taken to Mercy Hospital were Mary Craig, 21, of 204 Maple Ave. and Rebecca Roets, 12, of 207 Maple Ave. Multiple – Element Leads In some stories, choosing one theme for the lead is too restrictive. In such cases the reporter can choose a multiple – element lead to work more information into the first paragraph. However, such a lead must be written within the confines of a clear, simple sentence(s). Example: PORTLAND – The city council Tuesday ordered three department heads fired, established an administrative review board and said it would begin to monitor the work habits of administrators. Leads with Flair Although the inverted pyramid is designed to tell readers the news first and fast, not all stories begin with the most important statement. When the news value you want to emphasize is novelty, often the lead is unusual. Example: ROME, ITALY (AP) – The wedding guests included a drug suspects, the social coordinator was a narcotics agent, the justice of the peace was a police chief and 52 officers were party crashers. For the unsuspecting bride and groom the ceremony Friday was truly unforgettable – a sting operation set up by state and local police that led to 30 arrests. Please note you may come across other types of leads depending on the author you are reading. However, the summary lead is the most commonly used in this part of the world because of its tendency to summarize the 5Ws and H in the lead.

2.6 Writing the body of the News The body of news provides more of the background and details of a news story following the headline and lead. The news body could contain just one paragraph or more. Each paragraph, however, could be either simple compound or complex sentences depending on how much information the writer wants to give. 2.6.1 Where Is the Body of News Located in a News Story? The information from the second paragraph to the last paragraph of a news story is called the body. However, the body of some news stories may have only one paragraph. Similarly, a paragraph may also contain just one sentence.

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2.6.2 The Function of the Body of News The body of news provides the reader the background and details of a news story. It is an optional part in that it can be eliminated by the reader if they do not have time to skim it or it can be trimmed by the editor from the bottom up if there is not enough space for it, without causing any harm to the news story because the news summary and main idea are already stated in the headline and lead.

Notes

2.6.3 Building a News Story The first hurdle has been cleared when you have written your intro. You have made a good start - but only a start. You now have to tackle the rest of the story to ensure the second, third and following paragraphs live up to the promise of the intro. With a thorough understanding of the story, its content and its implications, and with the appropriate intro composed, the remainder of the story should fall into place quite naturally. It should become natural for you to take the readers and listeners by the hand and lead them through the story so that they absorb easily the information you have gathered. Remember the pyramid Remember the pyramid. Using this structure, the first sentence or first two sentences of the story make up the intro and should contain the most important points in the story. In the sentences below the intro, detail is given which supports the facts or opinions given in the intro; and the other most newsworthy details are given. Less important details and subsidiary ideas or information follow until the story finally tails away to the sort of details which help to give the full picture but which are not essential to the story. A story written in the pyramid style can be cut from the bottom up to fit limited space or time. Length and strength The actual length of the news story should not be confused with the strength of the story. Some very strong stories about major issues may be written in a few sentences, while relatively minor stories can sometimes take a lot of space. However, it is usual for stronger stories to be given in more detail. Whatever the length of the story, the bottom point of the pyramid - the place where we stop writing - should be the same. That is the level at which further details fail to meet the criteria for newsworthiness. Simple steps in writing the news story As with writing the intro, if you follow a step-by-step approach to the rest of the story you will make your task simpler and easier. We have already chosen key points, a news angle and written an intro about Cyclone Victor. Let us now return to that information and write the full news story. The amount of detail which you include will be different for print and broadcasting. If you are writing for a newspaper, you will need to include as much relevant detail as possible. If you are writing for radio or television you will give much less detail. For example, a newspaper report should certainly include the names and other details of the dead and injured people, if those details are available. You will not want to include these details in a radio report unless they are especially noteworthy.

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One reason for this is that newspaper readers can jump over details which they do not want, and carry on reading at a later part of the story. Radio listeners and television viewers cannot do this, so you must make sure that you do not give details which most of your listeners will not want. If you do, you will bore them, and they may switch off. It is also true, of course, that you can fit much more news into a newspaper than into a radio or television bulletin. Radio reports have to be short so that there is room for other reports in the bulletin. Information Providing the correct information is important. Key points Select the key points from the intro that have to be discussed in detail. Decide the most newsworthy key points which best fills the four criteria for news: 

Is it new?



Is it unusual?



Is it interesting or significant?



Is it about people?

Remember to decide to use one key point in preference to other if they were about the same fact if it is more appropriate or shorter for intro. The intro By filling in just enough of the Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? to allow the intro to stand alone if necessary, we finally wrote the intro: Options We have three choices at this point for writing the rest of the story. We could tell it chronologically - that means in the time order in which the events happened. Or we can tell it in descending order of importance of the key points, all the way down to the least newsworthy at the end. Or we can use a combination of these two approaches, i.e. we can begin by giving the key points in descending order then fill in the less important details in chronological order. Whichever option we choose, there must be a clear logic behind the way the story is told. This will make it easy for the reader to follow and understand it. There are many ways in which you could show visitors around your village or town, some of which would be logical and some illogical. You might show them the centre of the village first, then move to the outer buildings, and finish with the river and the food gardens. Or you might show everything to do with one family line first, and then move to a second family line, and so on. Visitors could follow and understand either of these. However, if you wander at random through the village, pointing out things as you happen to see them, your visitors will probably become confused. So it is with writing the news story. You must choose a clear and simple sequence for telling the facts and giving relevant opinions. In this way your readers or listeners will not become confused. Ranking the key points The points that we have chosen as key points need to be ranked in an order of their importance.

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Clearly, for example, the deaths need explaining if possible, as does the damage to people's homes, because lives are more important than homes. We have to make sure that the paragraph should not be too long and the key point is also emphasised properly.

Notes

Notice here that we can change the word “houses” to “homes”, since “homes” is houses with people living in them. We can also change the phrase "sustained considerable structural damage" to "were badly damaged". As in the intro, you must avoid overloading any sentence in your story with unnecessary words - remember the canoe. The original phrase was just jargon. The rewritten phrase is shorter and simpler to understand. Telling the rest of the story It would be possible to write the rest of the story by choosing more key points from the information left, ranking them according to newsworthiness then writing them in order. This is, however, very complicated and may confuse your reader or listener. A much simpler alternative is to now go back to the beginning of the event and tell it in chronological order, as things happened. Before we do this, we have tell our audience that we are going to change from the key points method of news writing to the chronological method, otherwise they might think that our next paragraph is our next key point (although our readers or listeners would not use that term). The easiest way of doing that is to provide a kind of summary to the first segment of our story with the paragraph: Checking the story Before we hand the story in to our chief of staff or news editor, there are two more things we have to do to make sure that it is accurate; we must check for mistakes and we must check for missing details. Inexperienced journalists are often so relieved that they have actually written a story that they forget to check it properly. You should make it a firm rule to read your story through several times before handing it in. If you should find another mistake on any reading, correct it and then, because your reading has been interrupted by the correction, you should read the whole story through again from the beginning. Keep doing this until you can read it through from beginning to end without finding any errors. Only then can you hand it in. Mistakes We have to check back through our story to make sure that we have all the facts correct, the right spellings, the correct order of events, the proper punctuation. In short, is this how you want to see the story in your newspaper or hear it read out on air? Missing details We have to ask ourselves whether there are still any outstanding Who? What? Where? When? Why? or How? Questions still to be answered The amount of detail which we include in the story will depend on how much we feel our readers or listeners will want. As we explained earlier, newspapers will give more details than radio or television bulletins. The final version The final version of our story, let us say for a newspaper, is now almost ready. We check for mistakes, and are satisfied that we have made none. Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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We then check for missing details. We have not given the names of the dead and injured, so we might phone the police and the hospital. Both places tell us that names will not be released until the families have been informed. This must be included in our story. 2.6.4 How Is Each Paragraph Arranged in the Body? Since there may be one paragraph or more in the news body, each paragraph is structured to present the news in order of descending importance,’ or in the form of an inverted pyramid, not in chronological order as in other types of writing. The following are some steps in arranging paragraphs of the news body: Step 1: Use the second paragraph to provide the background by making the story clearer, for example, what had happened before. Step 2: Introduce direct quotation as the source of news in the third, fourth paragraphs and so on to communicate directly to the audience. However, do not string all the quotations together. Save some for the other paragraphs if there are too many of them. Step 3: Use transitions when a new paragraph is introduced. There are many kinds of transitions which help smooth every paragraph together. They are: 

Numerically: first, second, third, etc.



By time: at 3 p.m., by noon, three hours later, just half an hour before, etc.



Geographically: in Bangkok, over India, outside the home, district 3 voters, in Delhi itself, on Ramkhamhaeng University campus, etc.



With words: also, but, once, meanwhile, therefore, in other action, however, below, above, etc.

Step 4: Do not include any personal opinions because the reporters are the eyes and ears of their audiences. They are just eyewitnesses, not the authors. If they want to express their own opinion, use direct quotations of people involved in the incident. If an adjective is used to describe a person or something, put it in quotation marks, for example, Radio Thailand and TV channel 11, both run by the Public Relations Department have been dubbed “dinosaurs” for producing “dull” and “unattractive” programs. Step 5: Do not end the news report with an ending similar to a short story, novel or play. Make the writing or report stop, but not the news story. An effective way to conclude a news story is with a direct quotation.’ 2.6.5 Clear Writing Choosing what to include in your story is only one part of writing the news story. If you wish to do the job well, you must also think about the way in which you write it. There are a number of things which you need to keep in mind if you are going to write clearly. Simplicity Keep the language and grammar clear and simple. This is not just a rule for intro writing - it applies throughout the whole news story. A lot of young journalists write bright, snappy intros with simple grammar and short words, and then spoil the story by overloading the rest with long and obscure words and complicated grammatical constructions. We will discuss this in greater detail in the chapters on Language and Style. For now, remember that the same factors which make a good intro also apply to the whole of the story Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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Another way in which we help to keep things simple for our readers or listeners is by writing paragraphs of one or two sentences. You may have been told in writing essays that you only start a new paragraph for a new idea. This does not apply in journalism, where we try to get lots of ideas into a short space in a newspaper or short bulletin on radio or television.

Notes

It is standard practice in news journalism to start a new paragraph with each sentence. We call each of these short paragraphs a par. You should get used to this term. The great advantage of having short pars in radio scripts is that the newsreaders have no trouble keeping track of where they are on the page. When they finish one sentence, their eyes automatically move to the beginning of the next par. In newspapers, short paragraphs introduce white space on to the page, at the beginning and end of each par, which makes the story more readable. It also makes the story easier to cut, if it is too long to fit on the page. Accuracy We have already mentioned that accuracy is one of the principal requirements of journalism. You may have to generalise in your intro to keep it short and simple. However, you must be accurate and precise when giving the full details later in the story. Sequence and continuity By identifying key points and ranking them in importance you have placed the facts in some kind of order. Certainly this is the best method to use for the intro and the first few paragraphs. However, with a long and involved story you will find that jumping from key point to key point may confuse your reader or listener. You will have to put your facts in a logical sequence and provide continuity between different segments of the story. Telling the story in chronological order will do this for some kinds of events, such as the cyclone or a rescue, but it will not work for all stories - for example an election campaign or a debate over where to build a new school. These need a slightly different approach once you have written your intro and principal key points. If you were showing someone around your village, you would not begin by pointing out the church, then take them inside the copra drying hut, then point out your home, and then take them inside the church. You would be more likely to start your tour by pointing out the main places of interest in general (that is like your intro and first few paragraphs), and then you would go on to visit each of the places, such as the church, the copra drying hut and your home, showing each in greater detail. That is how it should be with your story. Once you have written your intro and the paragraphs telling the principal key points, take each aspect of the story in turn and give details of it before moving on to the next aspect. Do not ramble from key point to key point. Take your readers or listeners by the hand and lead them through the story. When you change from one aspect to another, you may occasionally have to provide linking words to guide your audience: 

However, a spokesman for the men said they had a number of other complaints.



Meanwhile, the Western Highlands government was preparing its own plans to fight the coffee rust.

The "however" in our first example says that we are about to hear an opposing view to the one previously expressed. The "meanwhile" in our second example tell us that something else is going on at the same time. There are a number of other linking words which can give your story continuity. Be careful. Each has a specific meaning, so get it right. Also, remember that if you repeat

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"meanwhile" ten times in a story you will simply leave your readers or listeners confused, not knowing where in the story they are. Facts first Some stories involve both the announcement of facts (such as an increase in income tax) and comments on the facts themselves (from the Finance Minister, opposition leader and others). You must always give enough explanation of the facts first to put the comments in context; otherwise you will confuse your reader or listener: RIGHT: Income tax is to rise by two percent next month. The Finance Minister, Mr Barney Kina, said today the rise was needed to help to pay for increased spending on education.

WRONG: The Finance Minister said today that an increase in income tax was needed to help to pay for increased spending on education. Mr Barney Kina announced that income tax will therefore rise by two percent from next month.

You must also make sure that any facts or comments which are given in a brief form in the intro are explained in full later in the story. You must never leave any important Who? What? Where? When? Why? or How? questions unanswered. In our cyclone example, we said in the intro that six people had died. We explained how they died later in the story. The same rule applies to comments. If you say that someone attacked a policy or a proposal, later in the story you must quote the exact words he or she used, to support your intro. Readers or listeners will not take everything you say on trust - they too want evidence, and you must provide it. Quotes and attribution We have discussed quotes and attribution fully in section 2.4. For the moment there are two general observations to make. The first is that quotes bring any story to life by bringing together the news-maker and the reader or listener. On radio and television we do this by using a taped interview so that the person can be heard (and seen on television) actually saying the words. In newspapers, we use the person's actual words, in quote marks ("). In both cases, the readers or listeners are given direct access to the source of the news. When journalists do not use quotes, they seem to be getting in between the news-maker and the reader or listener. They seem to get in the way. The second observation is that you should, wherever possible, attribute the statement of facts to someone your reader or listener can identify in the story. This gives your audience some idea of how reliable the information is. Background Very often, you will write a news story updating something which has been reported by your newspaper, radio or television station before. We call stories which continue to produce new developments running stories, and we call stories which build upon previous news items follow-ups. You cannot assume when writing a follow-up that your readers or listeners will know the original facts of the story. You have to summarise the issue briefly to bring them up to date. We call this information background. One or two paragraphs of well-written background details must be included in the body of your news story, so that it makes complete sense. Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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2.7 General Rules for News Writing and Reporting The success of any profession depends on the quality of rules and regulations guiding such a profession and concerted efforts to ensure such regulations are not tampered with. In this unit, we will be considering the general and basic rules that guide news writing and reporting.

Notes

General Rules for News Writing and Reporting are discussed below. 1. Do not Pass a Verdict or make a Judgment: It is not your duty as a reporter or writer to pass a verdict or make judgment. Just gather the facts of the story present them to your audience and let them decide on whose side they will want to go. 2. Do Not Editorialize: Leave editorializing to the Editorial Writers. News reports must be as straightforward and objective. 3. Avoid the use of Unfamiliar Jargon: Do not assume that your audience knows the meanings of the unfamiliar jargons you are using. Always use familiar words. 4. Keep yourself and other reporters out of the story unless you and they are an essential part of the news. 5. Avoid the use of “told me”, “told this writer” or “told our reporter.” The phrase “in an interview will serve your purpose. 6. There must be perfect accuracy in writing and reporting. When in doubt, leave it out. 7. There must be no wilful distortion of facts in either news or headlines: Never tamper with the facts of a story no matter the benefits that may accrue to you as a result. This is an unforgivable offence in journalism. Any reporter who tampers or fabricates the so-called facts of a story is finished in the industry. You become leprous, untouchable and unemployable. 8. Guard against publication of libellous statements: The good reporter is the one who lives to write another report and see the fame of the previous reports come to him. Avoid writing your way into jail. Libellous statements should be avoided because of its capacity to keep you in jail and close down your media organization because of insolvency resulting from the inability to pay court fines. 9. Always use simple words: News writing and reporting are not the platforms to impress anybody with long sounding and big words. Always use the nearest simple word. A good news report is the one the average reader reads and understands. 10. All news copies must be typewritten and double-spaced: The era of hand written copies is gone. Therefore, a reporter must know how to type his story using the computer. It must also be typed in double space so that Sub-Editors and Editors will be able to edit the copy. 11. The first page must carry the reporter’s surname, a slug line and date in the top left hand corner. Slug lines must be short- preferably one word. 12. Start your story half-way down the first page: You must give enough space for your superior editorial staff to work on your copy. 13. Leave at least 1(inches) margin at left, right, top and bottom of each page. Don’t overcrowd the pages. Leave appropriate margins as suggested. 14. Each page must be numbered or lettered. The correct letter or numeral is in the form of “B copy next” or “page 2 next”. This type of numbering must appear at the bottom right hand corner of each page except the last. 15. The end of a story must be marked by a centred “30” or “***” or “#”. 16. Always make you lead interesting. Guard against misleading leads. Leads sell a story. Therefore, to get and keep the attention of your audience, the lead must be interesting. 17. Use the inverted pyramid format when writing your news story. This is the generally accepted format for writing news reports because it presents the most important

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elements of a story in the first few paragraphs. The format also makes it easy to cut stories from the bottom without losing any substance of the story. 18. You must quote accurately. Use quotes only where necessary to brighten up your story. Please, do not overdo this in your copy. 19. Use SAID if you want to write in the present tense and SAID THAT if it is reported speech. This style helps the copy retains currency and live. 20. Always read your copy carefully and connect all typographical spelling and grammatical mistakes before turning it in. This is a primary rule even in ordinary or everyday writing. No amount of haste could justify a badly written copy. 21. Your copy must be submitted in duplicate and both copies must be properly edited. 22. Never underline words or phrases or titles of books in your copy. 23. From the perspectives of Agbese (2008), a seasoned reporter and publisher, don’t exaggerate, don’t over dramatize, beware of adjectives, use the active voice and be natural and conversational when you write. 2.7.1 Tips on Writing a News Report If you need some tips on writing a news report, then keep reading. The following tips range from gathering the facts to the style of writing you should use. Four important parts of a news story are news, context, impact, and emotion. Readers need to know the facts and who or what may be affected by them. Related stories and background information make up the context and the emotional parts of the story show the human side of it. Following are tips on writing a compelling and gripping news report. 

Facts: The facts will answer the: who, what, when, where, why, and how of the news event. A writer has a responsibility to make sure his facts are accurate. If you have to write a report before you get all the facts, then say that in the report.



Style: When writing a news report, use the active voice. The active voice is more understandable and has more impact. Make short, concise sentences with action verbs. Your language needs to be simple and not have extra words that don’t really contribute to the focus of the story. For example, the weather or how someone is dressed doesn’t need to be included unless it has a bearing on the overall story. While you are writing, try to anticipate any questions a reader might have while reading your story.

2.8 Summary The first person associated with the 5Ws and H is Rudyard Kipling. “I keep six honest serving men they taught me all I know and their names are What, Why, Where, When, Who, and How”. The Inverted Pyramid Format is a news story writing format used centuries ago; however, most modern newspapers still use the format because it is the most spaceefficient story form known. It permits writers to deliver the most important information in a paragraph or two. Direct quotes add colour and credibility. By using direct quotes, you are putting your audience directly in touch with the speaker. Like a letter, direct quotes are personal. Not everything people say should be put into direct quotes. The media industry is an organized industry and so there must rules and regulations guiding how copies are written and filled for publication. Some of these rules may differ from country to country but the underlying fact is that they make for good writing. Any report that lacks these rules or some of them will definitely turn out rejected by a reputable editor or media organization. This unit focused on the rules that make for a good copy. Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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The body of news provides more of the background and details of a news story following the headline and lead. The news body could contain just one paragraph or more. Each paragraph, however, could be either simple compound or complex sentences depending on how much information the writer wants to give.

Notes

The information from the second paragraph to the last paragraph of a news story is called the body. It is believed that you are now familiar with these rules after going through this unit.

2.9 Check Your Progress Multiple Choice Questions 1. Which of the following is one of the Ws of the structure of News? (a) What Happened? (b) Who Was Involved? (c) Where Did It Happen? (d) All of these 2. Which of the following is one of the components of the story? (a) Accuracy (b) Attribution (c) Balanced and Fair (d) All of these 3. ............................................. is a news story writing format used centuries ago; however, most modern newspapers still use the format because it is the most space-efficient story form known. (a) Hourglass (b) Inverted Pyramid Format (c) Narratives (d) The Five Boxes Story 4. In the five box story, Box 1 contains the ………………………………. (a) Lede (b) Nutgraph (c) Supplemental details such as statistics or expert opinions (d) "Kicker" or the quote, image, or comment that ends the story on a strong note. 5. In the five box story, Box 2 contains the ………………………………. (a) Clue that story begun in the lede (b) Supplemental details such as statistics or expert opinions (c) Nutgraph (d) None of these 6. Box 5 contains………………………………….. (a) Supplemental details such as statistics or expert opinions (b) "Kicker" or the quote, image, or comment that ends the story on a strong note (c) Nutgraph (d) Lede 7. By using …………………………………….., you are putting your audience directly in touch with the speaker. Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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(a) Indirect Quotes (b) Direct quotes

Notes

(c) Attribution (d) Paraphrase 8. ………………………………………… means you can use both their words and their name (a) Non-attributable (b) Off the record (c) On the record (d) None of these 9. ........................................... is often used with the inverted pyramid form because it seeks to summarize the story in a few lines and tells the reader what he needs to know by answering the 5Ws and H. (a) Figurative or Coloured Lead (b) Quotation Lead (c) Summary lead (d) Bullet Lead 10. ..................................................... consists of short sentences, coming one after the other to create heightened effect. It is used to establish a mood best suited for the kind of news story. (a) Immediate – Identification Lead: (b) Staccato Lead (c) Delayed – Identification Lead (d) Leads with Flair

2.10 Questions and Exercises 1. Differentiate between a news story structure and style with that of a normal essay in English Language. 2. What are the various components of the story? 3. Discuss why the components of a story are vital to a journalist’s credibility. 4. Identify ten rules of news writing and argue that they should be retained even beyond this century. 5. Define various rules used for news writing and reporting. 6. What are Libelous statements? Discuss why these statements should be avoided. 7. Give some tips on writing a good news report. 8. Discuss the guidelines in attributing information 9. Identify five leads of five lead stories in the Guardian Newspaper and state the type of lead they are. 10. Identify and discuss two types of leads that will be suitable to the general interest Newspaper.

2.11 Key Terms 

Libelous Statements: Libelous statements, whether against persons or products, are published statements that are false and damaging.



Inverted Pyramid: The inverted pyramid is a metaphor often used by writing instructors to illustrate how information should be arranged or presented within a news story.

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Direct Quotes: Direct quotes add colour and credibility.



Staccato Lead: This consists of short sentences, coming one after the other to create heightened effect.



Bullet Lead: Bullet lead is nearest to the headline. It is a shot sentence that carries great impact.



Summary Lead: Summary lead is often used with the inverted pyramid form because it seeks to summarize the story in a few lines.

Notes

Check Your Progress: Answers 1. (d) All of these 2. (d) All of these 3. (b) Inverted Pyramid Format 4. (a) Lede 5. (c) Nutgraph 6. (b) "Kicker" or the quote, image, or comment that ends the story on a strong 7. (b) Direct quotes 8. (c) On the record 9. (c) Summary lead 10. (b) Staccato Lead

2.12 Further Readings 

Hallin, C. Daniel & Mancini, Paolo (2004), Comparing Media Systems: Models of Media and Politics, Cambridge University Press.

Three

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Rozell, J. Mark (2003), Media Power, Media Politics, Rowman & Littlefield

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Esser, Frank & Pfetsch, Barbara, Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges, Cambridge University Press.

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Nabi, L. Robin & Oliver, Mary Beth (2009), The SAGE Handbook of Media Processes and Effects, SAGE.

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Sparrow H. Bartholomew (1999), Uncertain Guardians: The News Media as a Political Institution, JHU Press.

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CASE STUDY: SATELLITE NEWS GATHERING

N

ews Gathering is one of the most competitive areas of broadcasting, making the ability to deliver high quality video and audio in the most efficient way possible an absolute commercial necessity.

The Challenge News Gathering is one of the most competitive areas of broadcasting, making the ability to deliver high quality video and audio in the most efficient way possible an absolute commercial necessity. One of the highest costs is the ongoing procurement of satellite bandwidth, creating a serious conflict between the operational need to increase the number of live transmissions and the commercial requirement to curtail expenditure by reducing bandwidth use. At the same time, the need to deliver higher standards of video quality, driven upwards by the increasing size and sophistication of consumer displays and the comparison between SD and HD content in particular, is also causing further significant challenges by threatening to push bandwidth requirements upwards to even more unaffordable levels. SIS LIVE is a leading provider of satellite broadcast services and operates the largest satellite uplink fleet in Europe. SIS LIVE has many of the world’s largest broadcasters among its clientele. When one of the most prestigious and respected of these decided to invest in new technology to provide a steep change in operational efficiency, SIS LIVE was able to propose a complete and highly cost-effective solution including the provision of new encoding equipment and dedicated transponder bandwidth on a leasing basis. The Solution The new encoding equipment was central to the success of the project and was tasked with delivering outstanding operational efficiency without compromising either the stringent video quality or latency requirements. Since MPEG-4 AVC promises substantial bit-rate savings over MPEG-2 and is fast replacing it as the compression technology of choice in contribution applications, it was clear that equipment best able to exploit the benefits of this technology for news gathering was required. However, with many solutions on the market claiming to provide the best answer, SIS LIVE conducted its own investigations to testing facilities. The list of requirements was extensive and included a very high level of “systems in a box” integration, extreme ease of use and a step-change in encoding and modulation efficiency with very low end-to-end latency and very high video quality. Finally, the solution had to be HD ready to support the very real possibility of conducting news gathering in HD as well as supporting alternative delivery methods such as IP. “Our operation relies on providing a first class service to our customers who include high profile broadcasters. It was essential that our chosen solution delivered the best video quality but was also easy to use, offered a high level of integration and operated across broad range of operating points. Ericsson EN8040 Voyagers clearly met these criteria.” —Mark Shadbolt, Sales Director, SIS LIVE The new, third-generation EN8040 Voyager is the world’s most integrated MPEG-4 AVC DSNG solution and combines MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC encoding with a wide range of integrated output options including ASI, DVB-S2 satellite, COFDM and IP. This makes the unit not only suitable for a wide variety of roles, but also makes it multi-purpose since many of these options can be fitted and used simultaneously to target contribution applications using virtually any delivery format. Testing proved for their application that the EN8040 Voyager could halve MPEG-2 video bit-rates while maintaining excellent video quality and low end-to-end latency. The integrated satellite modulator enabled the benefits of MPEG-2 to be concatenated with the encoding savings, providing on average a further 25 percent savings. Extensive functional testing within DSNG vehicles as well as in the lab proved that the EN8040 Voyager was reliable, simple yet very flexible and compact enough to integrate easily into existing news gathering fleets with a small amount of staff training and minimal disruption. Working in combination with the successful Ericsson RX1290 Multi-format Professional Receiver, this contribution-focused, latency and performance optimized solution readily achieved the goal of delivering a 50 percent transponder bandwidth reduction, and resulted in a contract being placed with SIS LIVE to roll the solution out throughout the news gathering network. This included a London-based national news gathering team, 13 regional teams based around the UK and a number of international operations. Today, the Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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EN8040 Voyager is in full service supporting all of these operations and is providing a healthy return on investment by delivering substantial bandwidth savings. Conclusion

Notes

The outstanding performance of the EN8040 Voyager MPEG-4 AVC HD DSNG is becoming an essential asset for many news gathering businesses around the world. Its combination of best-in-class encoding coupled with the most efficient modulation can allow satellite bandwidth to be reduced by 50 percent, or HD EN8040 Voyager can rapidly repay its initial investment cost many times over, and with HD hardware fitted as standard, it is no wonder why the EN8040 Voyager is establishing itself as the new powerhouse behind modern news gathering operations. About SIS SIS is one of the world’s leading companies in the television broadcasting industry. It is the foremost supplier of television programming and data services to the UK and Ireland betting industry. The company’s broadcast business, SIS LIVE, has the largest satellite uplink fleet in Europe and is the largest outside broadcast provider in the UK. It offers a complete broadcasting solution from onsite outside broadcast facilities through to global distribution and IP provision. The company covers 100,000 hours of live events worldwide each year, including Formula One, Glastonbury Music Festival, The Wimbledon Championships and European Tour Golf, and delivers approximately 80 percent of live news feeds across the UK. Question: Discuss how the performance of the EN8040 Voyager MPEG-4 AVC HD DSNG is becoming an essential asset for many news gathering businesses. Source: http://voyager.ericsson.net/uploads/documents/originals/SNG%20Case%20Study%20%20Voyager%20site.pdf

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Unit 3: Sources of News Notes

Structure 3.1

Introduction

3.2

Categories of Sources 3.2.1

3.3

Types of Sources

Headline Writing

3.4

3.3.1

Importance of Headlines

3.3.2

Catchy Headlines

News Analysis 3.4.1

3.5

How to Find the Story Idea

Backgrounder 3.5.1

How to Write a Backgrounder

3.5.2

Parts of a Backgrounder

3.5.3

Freelance Writers and the Backgrounder

3.5.4

How to Use a Backgrounder

3.5.5

A Backgrounder by any other Name

3.6

Summary

3.7

Check Your Progress

3.8

Questions and Exercises

3.9

Key Terms

3.10 Further Readings

Objectives After studying this unit, you should be able to: 

Understand the categories and types of sources of news



Discuss the process and importance of headline writing



Explain the meaning of backgrounder

3.1 Introduction To define news is one thing to get it is another. To gather news the reporter must know where and when to look for it, what and whom to see, why and how to verify the facts he assembled and when and how to use the information he has gotten to write a story. News gathering is the major occupation of both cub and experienced reporters. This is the major reason greater attention will be paid to it in this unit. In this unit, we shall be discussing about the categories and types of sources of news and the process of headline writing. We will also learn about meaning of backgrounder.

3.2 Categories of Sources Every story begins as a stream does “from a source”. You cannot find a great story today that does not have a story. This reminds me what one of my great Professors told Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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me-that every PhD as a story! Such stories also have a beginning. This is the major reason most persons who are unfamiliar with the news gathering process often wonder how reporters gather and assemble their information, how do they get access to information and information sources, and how do they sustain the daily publication of news in their media organizations. This shall be our concern in this section. There are three broad categories of sources of news stories thus:

Notes

Predictable Sources These are sources that regularly service the news industry either because of their function that make their activities of public interest or by their nature that help generate events that attract a large number of people. Predictable Sources include diary of news, published reports in form of newspapers, magazines, journals, and handouts, broadcast on Radio/TV and prepared speeches. It also includes active or dramatic newsbreaks, which include news from the police, hospitals, fire service, hotels, schools, religious organizations, labour and political associations. With predictable sources, you are sure to get something from there all the time. Unpredictable Sources This means a nose for news that borders on the ability, training, exposure and experience of the reporter to determine what news is and report it accordingly. Unpredictable sources are the likely sources where breaking news or tips that could lead to scoop could come from. Anticipated Sources This is similar to predictable sources except for the fact that anticipated sources are restricted to planned events that a reporter knows will definitely happen. Such events include a national day celebration, budget speech and special anniversaries, Labour Day etc. No matter the sources of getting news, a good reporter should have the ability to listen, see and possess attributes of a good interviewer. These are needed in dealing with those sources. Sources could also be human in nature, physical or online. Human sources are those personal contacts you have build over time. They are also authorities and people involved in news events. The physical sources are consists of records, documents, reference works etc. The Online sources include a vast array of human and physical sources, from academics to government data. 3.2.1 Types of Sources News is happening all the time: People are being born or dying, banks are being robbed, roads are being planned, companies are making profits or losses, storms are destroying homes, courts are sending people to jail or freeing them, scientists are discovering new drugs. Every minute of every day, something newsworthy is happening somewhere in the world. Even if you are a journalist working in a small country, something newsworthy is probably happening in your country at this moment, while you are reading this book. Your job as a journalist is to get information on those events and present it to your readers or listeners. But you cannot be everywhere all the time to see those events for yourself. So you need other ways of getting information on all those hundreds (maybe millions) of events you cannot witness yourself. When someone or something provides you with information, we call them a source. Sources of information can be people, letters, books, files, films, and tapes - in fact, anything which journalists use to put news stories together. Sources are very important if you want to report on events or issues and explain the world to your audience. Journalists try to work as much as possible from their own observations, but this is often Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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not possible. Some events or issues are finished before the journalist gets there. Others are like plants which only show their stem and leaves above the ground - the allimportant roots are hidden from sight. Journalists who only report what they see can miss much of the news unless they have sources to tell them of more details or other aspects which are out of sight. Journalists should deal in reliable facts, so it is important that the sources you use for writing stories can give you accurate information about what happened or what was said. But just as there are lots of different news events, so there are many different sources of information. Some of them will give you very accurate information and we call these sources reliable (because we can rely on what they say). Others are less reliable, but still useful, while some can hardly be trusted at all. The main way of judging sources of information is on their reliability. Reporters One of the most reliable sources of information (although not completely reliable) is other journalists. They may be your colleagues or reporters from a news agency which supplies your organisation. If they are well trained, experienced and objective, their reports will usually be accurate and can be trusted. However, if there are any essential facts missing from their reports, these will have to be provided. Either they will have to provide them or you will have to find the missing facts yourself. Mistakes can happen. This is why news organisations should have a system for checking facts. A reporter's story should be checked by the news editor then the sub-editor. In small newsrooms, where the reporter may also be the editor or newsreader, the reporter must be especially careful in checking facts. There is also the danger that reporters misinterpret what they think they see and then present that as a fact. This often happens when reporting such things as the size of a crowd. Unable to count every person in it, they make an estimate, often sharing their guesses with other journalists on the scene. This is just an estimate and any report which says "there were 40,000 people present" should be treated with caution, unless the reporter knows the exact number who came through the gate. All sources, including reporters, are said to be reliable if we think they can be believed consistently. If a source is always correct in the information they provide, we will believe them next time. If they make a mistake, we may doubt what they say. Reliability is built up over time. Your personal reliability as a journalist is important. If you have a good record for fair and accurate reporting, you will be believed. If you get a reputation for being careless in your work or biased in your interpretation, your colleagues, readers or listeners will not be able to rely upon you. In all cases it is better only to report what you know and make it clear in your report that everything else is either an estimate, an opinion or the word of someone else, perhaps a witness. You must always try to give precise facts and attributed opinion. If you cannot do that, you can use phrases like "it is believed that ..." or "it appears that ...". It is better to do this than to leave your readers or listeners believing that what you have said is a proven fact. Primary sources Often the source is someone at the centre of the event or issue. We call such people primary sources. It might be a man who fell 1,000 metres from an aircraft and lived to tell the tale; or a union leader who is leading wage negotiations. They are usually the best sources of information about their part of what happened. They should be able to give you accurate details and also supply strong comments. The fall survivor might say: "I saw the ground rushing up towards me and I kept thinking `So this is death'." The union leader might warn: "If the employers want blood on their hands, we are ready to supply it."

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Of course, just because a person was present at an event does not mean that they are either accurate or fair. The fall survivor may have injured his head after landing and so be confused. The union leader will want to present his side in the best light. It is vital to double-check and cross-check facts with other sources.

Notes

A word of warning here: If any of your sources, however reliable, gives you information which is defamatory, you can still be taken to court for using it. You are responsible for deciding whether or not to publish the defamatory material. Written sources Not all primary sources will be spoken. Written reports can make an excellent source of information for a journalist. They are usually written after a lot of research by the authors; they have been checked for accuracy and are usually published with official approval. However, just because information is printed, that does not mean that it is reliable. With typewriters, computers and modern technology, it is relatively easy to produce printed material. You must look at who has produced the document. Are they in a position to know enough about the topic and have access to the reliable facts? Do they have a reputation for reliability? This is especially important with information on the Internet. Anyone can put information onto the Internet and unless you know how trustworthy they are you cannot judge the reliability of what they write. One advantage of the Internet is that you can quickly cross-check numerous sources, but beware: a mistake on one site can easily and rapidly be repeated by people writing on other sites. Even major online references such as Wikipedia rely on volunteers writing the entries and checking their accuracy and there have been numerous cases of people using entries in Wikipedia and other online reference works to spread untruths. In many countries, official transcripts of the proceedings of a court or parliament have some legal protection from actions for defamation. Leaked documents You may occasionally be given documents which have not been officially released to the press. They may be given to you by someone in a company or government department who does not want to be seen giving them to the media. We call these leaked documents. Documents are often leaked by people who believe that the public should know the contents (such as an environmental report), but who are unable to reveal it in public themselves, perhaps because they do not have the authority to do so. In some cases, documents are leaked by a person to gain an advantage over someone else, perhaps someone who is criticised in the report. Leaked documents are often excellent sources of news stories because they can contain information which someone wants to keep secret. This might be a plan to do something which the public might oppose, such as bulldozing homes to make a new road. It might be a report on corruption within an organisation which the heads of that organisation do not want to be publicly known. Just because a government, company or other group does not want information to be known, that does not mean that you should not report it. If you believe that it is important to inform your readers or listeners of certain facts, you must do that, even if the information was given to you unofficially. Of course, like any information, leaked documents must still be checked for accuracy before they can be used. There are also legal dangers to consider when using leaked documents. They might, for instance, have been stolen. It is usually an offence to receive stolen property if you think it could have been stolen, even if it is only a few sheets of paper. As we Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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explain in the chapters on investigative reporting, photocopying the document then returning it is often a way to overcome this problem. Leaked documents could also be covered by copyright, so you could be breaking the law by quoting directly from them. You are on safer ground in reporting the substance of what was said, in your own words. Secondary sources Secondary sources are those people who do not make the news, but who pass it on. The official police report of an incident or comments by someone's press officer can be called secondary sources. Secondary sources are not usually as reliable as primary sources. Most eyewitnesses should be treated as secondary sources for journalists because, although they are able to tell what they think they have seen, they are often not trained for such work and can be very inaccurate, without meaning to be. You have to assess the reliability of secondary sources and if necessary tell your readers or listeners where the information came from. Tip-offs Occasionally someone will call with a story tip-off but refuse to give their name. These are said to be anonymous (meaning "no name"). These are the most dangerous sources of information and should only be used with extreme caution. Although anonymous tip-offs can provide good story ideas, they must never be used without a lot of checking. If they are wrong, you will be held directly responsible unless you have checked what they said with other more reliable sources. Often people who ring up with a tip-off will tell you their name if asked, but on the promise that you do not reveal their name to anyone else. You must still cross-check what they say because, of course, you cannot quote them as your source if there is any dispute about accuracy, for example if you are taken to court for defamation.

3.3 Headline Writing If you talk to enough copywriters, you’ll eventually hear that headlines are critical for your copy’s success. David Ogilvy summarizes this quite well in the quote above. The greater majority of people who read your headline won’t continue reading. Only the ones drawn in by an attention-grabbing headline will continue on to read the first sentence of your copy. So your headline matters a lot. A great headline convinces more people to read your copy while a poor one sends potential customers searching for somewhere else to spend their money. This leads us to another famous Ogilvy quote: “It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90 percent of your money…” Ogilvy believed headlines were so important that he viewed them as being worth 90% of the money invested in advertising. Can this be true? 3.3.1 Importance of Headlines Headlines are so important that a single word can impact a campaign dramatically. We’ve seen e-mail subject lines where a one word change increased click-through by 46%. Open rates were nearly identical and the e-mail creative was exactly the same for both versions, but click-through went up by 46% in the second. If the ad was sent to 2,000,000 e-mails, the winning version would lead to 17,000+ more clicks, all from

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changing a single word. That’s a measurable difference that significantly impacts the bottom line. So why are headlines so important? It’s because they’re the first lines of your copy that customers read. They create an initial impression that either draws readers in or pushes them away. Even if the rest of the copy is amazing and would convince 3 out of 10 people to buy, if the headline puts them to sleep, only a fraction of the customers who would have bought something will read your copy and make a purchase.

Notes

The headline alone can make or break an ad, homepage, or e-mail subject line. It sets the tone for the rest of the copy. If the headline pulls readers in, you’ll make more sales; if not, you’ll be left wondering what happened. And that’s why we’re devoting an entire chapter to headlines. By following the points in this chapter, you’ll learn how to write attention-grabbing headlines that convert readers into buyers. 3.3.2 Catchy Headlines The first thing you need to know is the #1 rule for headline writing: The primary purpose of the headline is to get the first sentence read. If you hang around copywriting circles long enough, you’re sure to read this rule at one point or another because most copywriters’ view getting potential customers to continue reading as the number rule of headline writing. Convincing your customers to keep reading means the time or money you invest in your copy won’t go to waste. So first, focus on writing a headline that pulls your customers in and compels them to read the first sentence. Here are four more rules of thumb to keep in mind. They’re taught as the “four u’s” of headline writing by a number of copywriters. The four u’s: 

Your headline should be unique.



Your headline should be ultra-specific.



Your headline should convey a sense of urgency.



Your headline should be useful.

You can rarely accomplish all four in a single headline, but if you can at least include one or two then you’re bound to write a headline that’s more likely to compel your prospective customers to continue reading. Let’s talk about each in more detail. Tip One: Your Headline Should Be Unique The first thing you want to consider is how to make your headline unique. If yours is just like everyone else’s, then your company won’t stand out. Your customers won’t have any reason to think you’re different than your competitors, which means they won’t have any reason to buy from you than from someone else. Today’s consumers are savvier than customers of the past. They’re used to being bombarded with commercial after commercial that says the same thing. We can all remember watching a commercial with lines like, “Buy now with three low payments of $24.95. That’s right. Only $24.95 per month. If you buy today, you’ll get a free carrot peeler valued at $19.95.” Businesses use commercials like this because they work, at least on a subset of customers, but many people are turned off by commercial wording they’ve heard over and over again. As soon as they hear, “Three equal payments of $24.95,” they tune out waiting for something that seems more credible.

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If you sound the same as everyone else, you’re automatically going to put customers to sleep, but if you do something different, you’ll stand out, your message will be refreshing, and you may delight your customers enough to get them to buy from you. What’s so great about this “headline”? For starters, it’s unique. It’s not a boring tagline that reads the same as the thousands of other taglines that copy each other. It’s also brazen. It shows personality. It stands out. It gets customers’ attention. To write headlines like this you have to be willing to take risks, but the benefit of doing something unique that stands out means you won’t be placed in the same bucket as your competition. You’re more likely to connect with customers who are looking for businesses that don’t speak like boring corporate robots. It works first and foremost because it has personality. People like to do business with people they like, and the same is true with businesses. If people like your business, they’re more likely to want to do business with you. We’d rather give our money to someone we like than someone we don’t. Butchers and other local service providers used to differentiate themselves by being more personable, and you can differentiate yourself by giving your business a personality that appeals to customers. Gary Vaynerchuk did this with Wine Library TV, and Brian Clark did this with Copy blogger. MailChimp is another great example of a business that wins customers over with a unique, approachable personality that stands out from the competition. Tip Two: Your Headline Should Be Ultra-Specific In addition to being unique, your headline should be ultra-specific. It should provide enough information to let customers know whether or not the offer you're presenting is interesting to them. If your headline isn’t specific enough, customers won’t know whether or not what you’re selling is something they’re interested in. Here’s an example: A while ago I visited a blog with this headline: “You’ll Be Missed.” I had no idea what it was about. Did the owner lose a family member? Did her dog pass away? Did something else terrible happen? I felt bad for her, but I had no idea what was going on. When I clicked through, I found out it was a post about Steve Jobs. He had just passed away in the past couple of days, and the author was writing about how she would miss Mr. Jobs. It ended up being a well-written post, but as a reader, I had no idea what it was about until I clicked through to read. In cases like this, it’s much better to provide enough specific information to compel readers to continue reading than to write something “clever” that doesn’t give readers adequate information to decide whether or not they’re interested. If it wasn’t this specific, e-retailers may not know the offer is targeted to them. They could read the headline, not know they’re the ideal customer, and then move on. Headlines should be specific enough to get the attention of the company’s target customers. Tip Three: Your Headline Should Convey a Sense of Urgency When possible, your headline should convey a sense of urgency. It should include something that compels readers to continue reading so they don’t miss out. This isn’t a rule that can always be used, but when it can, it works really well. This post ended up doing well on the KISSmetrics blog. It’s titled “Are You Losing Sales by Giving Customers Too Many Choices?” So why was it so successful? One of the reasons is that it conveys a sense of urgency. When business owners read it, automatically they think, “Hmmm...maybe I am losing sales. I need to read this

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article to find out.” And then they click through to read. The urgency of losing sales compels them to read the post. Whenever possible, it’s good to write headlines that convey a sense of urgency to convince people to continue reading.

Notes

Tip Four: Your Headline Should be Useful This may be the most important tip of all. If your headline isn’t useful and doesn’t convey a benefit, then it may not give people a reason to continue on past the headline. People want to know what benefit they’ll receive from reading what you’ve written. This also happens to be one of the rules that companies break the most. They end up writing something clever because for some reason most people think that’s the point of writing a headline. In doing so they fail to communicate a benefit and fail to give readers a reason to continue reading. Eventually, they end up with disappointing sales because no one pays attention to their copy. That’s a mistake you don’t want to make. What benefit is Bidsketch promising? They’re promising that you can create professional client proposals in minutes, which ultimately means you’ll land more clients and save time in the process.

3.4 News Analysis 3.4.1 How to Find the Story Idea How to find the story idea has always pricked the mind of reporters especially during lull period. But the imaginative reporter will discover in this section that the story idea could be gotten from a lot of places. For instance, the readers sometimes bring story ideas to the newspaper office. Most story ideas, though, are the result of an active imagination, a lively curiosity and a little help from friends. Journalists soon learn to recognize how stories written for other publications can be written for their own. They get in the habit of carrying a little notebook to jot down ideas when something somebody says strikes a responsive chord. But even for good journalists, the wellspring of ideas sometimes dries up. Therefore, take note of these 10 sources of story ideas. They are good for anytime and anyplace. Other People As a journalist you meet many people from time to time. What are they talking when they are not talking business? What have they heard lately? Journalists have to listen even if it means eavesdropping while having a cup of tea. What do you think interest people? There is no better source of story ideas than the people you meet while you are off-duty or on duty. They are, after all, your readers. Therefore, take note of others and always try to find out what’s on their mind. Whenever you look try to see beyond your nose. Other Publications News stories are sometimes recycled across the country by different media organizations in different ways. Read other newspapers, magazines, books, pamphlets and the house journals and newsletters of businesses and organizations. But please note that all stories cannot fit in every community. You have to know your own readership. A story about urban renewal will definitely attract more attention in Lagos than in Iyana Iyesi. When you are reading other publications for ideas, remember that you should not duplicate a story in your own newspaper report verbatim. You are only looking for the idea, so as to take the story from a new angle.

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News Releases

Notes

Releases from Public Relations persons are valuable sources of story ideas. Try to follow up on some of these regular releases that come to your media organization. You may never know where they will take you to or predict the end. Social Services Directory Many cities and localities have a composite listing of all agencies providing social services. These listings could throw up different kinds of ideas about the society which a reporter could follow through. You should therefore take note that each of those agencies and their clients could lead to a potential story. Government Reports Behind every statistics, there is a person. Every person is a potential story. The census report for instance contains not only the number of people in a community, but also their income and education, how many cars they own, whether they rent or own a house, etc. Such census reports tell much more. Therefore, find out what and why, and you have for yourself a treasure chest of stories. Stories in Your Newspaper Many a stream has yielded gold nuggets after the first wave of miners have left. Newspapers sometimes play hit-and-run journalism. Always ask yourself, whenever you read a report in a newspaper, if the human interest angle has been reported adequately. When your newspaper is concentrating on the election winners, maybe you can get an interesting story by talking to the losers and their supporters. And when the unemployment statistics are reported in your newspaper, remember that behind each of those numbers is a name of a person without a job and probably a family to support. Advertisements and Yellow Pages Adverts especially classifieds could be valuable sources of story ideas. Look through the Yellow Pages too. You may stumble on a good story idea. Wire Copy Whenever you go through the stories from the wire services, don’t forget to ask yourself if there are any stories that can be localized amongst them. When a wire service story for instance describes the increase in the rate of inflation, you should ask yourself how the people in your community would be affected. Always look for a local angle or slant. Local Newspapers Don’t ever brush off local news tips. Your readers may be more interested in them than the so-called national news stories. You In the final analysis, you are the one who must be alert enough to look and listen to what is going on around you. Always raises posers for yourself and attempt to answer them. Remember, reporters who are attuned to people rather than institutions will find the world around them a rich and fertile source of human interest. Don’t tune out. Look and see! Checking the Facts of a Story A lot of places and information are available for the reporter who is very thorough in his job and desires to verify every fact that goes into his story before publication. Some of these avenues are found in the reference manuals maintained in most newsrooms or in newspaper libraries. Below is a list of some of the avenues and places available for the reporter to check, cross check or even triple check his facts before going to press:

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Local and Area Tеlеphonе Dirеctoriеs: This could bе usеd to vеrify thе spеlling of namеs and addrеssеs, еtc. Thеy arе usually rеliablе, but thеy arе not infalliblе.



City/Town Dirеctoriеs: Thеsе providе thе samе information as thе tеlеphonе dirеctory but also providе information on thе occupations of citizеns and thе ownеrs or managеrs of businеssеs.



Statе Manuals/Brochurеs: Thеsе providе information on various govеrnmеnt agеnciеs.



Maps of thе City: County, Statе, Nation and World Local maps arе usually postеd in thе nеwsrooms othеrs may bе found in atlasеs.



Bartlеtt’s Familiar Quotations: This will hеlp you not to quotе anyonе out of contеxt or statе a quotation as anonymous whеn it actually has an author.



National Assеmbly Rеcords, Gazеttеs and Hansards: Thеsе arе whеrе Govеrnmеnt еstablishmеnts and parastatals storе its official information for rеtriеval and rеfеrеncе.



Facts on Filе (Facts on Filе Inc): This is a wееkly compilation of nеws from mеtropolitan nеwspapеrs.



Guinnеss Book of World Rеcords: Anybody who has donе any notablе thing and probably what no onе has donе bеforе thеn gеts listеd in Guinnеss Book of World Rеcords.



Currеnt Biography: You no longеr nееd to worry that you can find thе datе of birth of a notablе pеrsonality or his middlе namе or еvеn placе of birth. Chеck Currеnt Biographiеs.



Tradе and Profеssional Journals and Nеwslеttеrs: This will obviously contain usеful information on businеssеs and rеlatеd mattеr.



Rеadеr’s Guidе and Rеadеr’s Digеst: Any rеportеr who is not rеading Rеadеr’s Guidе or Rеadеr’s Digеst is obviously missing out on an important information loadеd book that could bе usеful to thе modеrn rеportеr.



Wеbstеr’s Nеw World Dictionary of thе Amеrican Languagе: This is a good rеfеrеncе matеrial for journalists.



Who’s Who (St Martin’s, Nеw York): Shows who is who as publishеd by St. Martin’s



Who’s Who in Amеrica (Marquis): Also shows who is who in Amеrica.



World Almanac and Book of Facts: A book whеrе you may probably find any mеaningful thing you arе looking for.

Notes

These useful publications and others not mentioned here, enable reporters to verify data and so avoid unnecessary embarrassment caused by avoidable and recognizable errors.

3.5 Backgrounder A backgrounder is an informational document often provided with a press release, press advisory or as part of a larger media kit. The backgrounder gives the press or other interested parties a more detailed background of an issue, event, and person of interest or launch. How to write a backgrounder is a skill that many freelance writers and PR writers should know. It is provided because other press or media documents such as media advisories and press releases are necessarily kept short and succinct. The backgrounder provides more information to the journalist or media outlet without compromising the readability or standard format of the media advisory or press release. When eBay or Google sends out a press release, reporters can be pretty sure that it’s legit. But if you are doing public relations for a new company or one that has traditionally shied from the limelight, you will want to introduce yourself to the media. A Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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great way to get all the pertinent information about your company to the media quickly and accurately is by providing a backgrounder. A backgrounder is an information sheet that you should send out to all media sources along with your news releases, press conference invitations, feature stories and other approaches. As with other documents you send to the media, such as press releases and fact sheets, backgrounders should be short and written in the AP style. What is the purpose of a backgrounder? Aside from letting reporters and editors know that you are a legitimate organization, they also provide background information to fill out any stories journalists might write or air about your company. Backgrounders also help them decide whether covering your company falls within the purview of their media outlet. What information should a backgrounder provide? All business backgrounders should provide a brief company history, a list or summary paragraph of key players, and some information about the company’s structure, sales volume, and capitalization. Also include information about the company’s main products and services, and its position in the market. If you are pitching to local media, you might want to tailor this to pertain to the local area, such as “Company X is the only provider of hot air balloon rides in Smithville.” If you are publicizing a non-profit, you should also include your mission statement, board of directors, and funding sources. One important fact to remember about backgrounders is to make sure they are extremely accurate. First, if an inaccuracy goes out on your backgrounder, the press may very well print or air it, and retractions are very hard to come by, especially if the erroneous information was provided by you. Second, reporters will likely dig into information you provide them, so don’t feel tempted to round that $925,000 grant up into a cool million on your backgrounder. Finally, while backgrounders should be short, feel free to include web addresses that reporters can visit for more information. If you write about a certain flagship product, for example, link reporters to a page full of the specs, prices, and media mentions of that product so that can quickly gather background information for a story. Reporters are deadline-oriented professionals. If you provide a backgrounder with all the information they need to write or air a complete story about you, they may very well pick your news release out of the pile and run with it. 3.5.1 How to Write a Backgrounder To write a backgrounder, begin with a short introduction to the topic at hand. Then, insert subtitles based on the additional information that you'd like to provide the media. Some examples of common backgrounder subtitles or subsections are listed below. Last, fill in the information as appropriate under your subsections. Since most of your documents will be aimed at media organizations, write the backgrounder according to AP style. Keep in mind that you're writing for busy professionals, so make ample use of subheads and easy-to-reference graphics, too. Your research may involve interviewing your client or other members of the organization; outside research should be heavily cited within the backgrounder, as journalists will often want to follow-up and verify your information. Think about who your ideal media outlet is for the event or launch you're working on, and then consider if they'd be more interested in the history of your event, the roles of the people in the organization, or the geographical applicability of the work at hand (for more on these sections, read on to the next subsection!). Despite the above suggestions, backgrounders--like all pieces aimed at journalists-should be kept brief. The last thing a PR writer wants to do is lose the interest of the media!

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3.5.2 Parts of a Backgrounder Typical sections of a backgrounder may include history of the organization, event or topic at hand, applicable statistics or other data, the names, descriptions and qualifications of important people within the organization, direct statements about why the event or issue is applicable and worth covering in today's news cycle (and in general), geographical or population data related to the issue, and a couple of emotive, interesting vignettes that the journalist could use to create their story.

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3.5.3 Freelance Writers and the Backgrounder Freelance writers may come across the need to write a backgrounder for clients who are seeking media attention, whether that is a start-up, a non-profit or a business in general. You may be hired to write just a backgrounder, but it is more likely that your client will need several different kinds of media-oriented documents, if not an entire media kit. Again, the need for media documents often comes up in the course of a launch, event or press conference, though this is not always the case. 3.5.4 How to Use a Backgrounder Backgrounder documents may be used as part of a media kit, such as one stored on an organization's website or given out in hard copy during a press event. Note that this means it should render well in print and electronically. They are often used in conjunction with press events, such as staged rallies or press conferences. Again, they are generally provided with several other documents as part of a media kit or press kit. They can be used other ways, too, such as a way to introduce a new organization, issue or event to the media, or as a touch-base for talking points. 3.5.5 A Backgrounder by any other Name Backgrounders may often be referred to by other terms. For example, they may be combined with or confused with a "fact sheet." Often used as part of a larger "media kit."

3.6 Summary To define news is one thing to get it is another. To gather news the reporter must know where and when to look for it, what and whom to see, why and how to verify the facts he assembled and when and how to use the information he has gotten to write a story. Every story begins as a stream does “from a source”. You cannot find a great story today that does not have a story. Predictable Sources include diary of news, published reports in form of newspapers, magazines, journals, and handouts, broadcast on Radio/TV and prepared speeches. Unpredictable sources are the likely sources where breaking news or tips that could lead to scoop could come from. How to find the story idea has always pricked the mind of reporters especially during lull period. But the imaginative reporter will discover in this section that the story idea could be gotten from a lot of places. A lot of places and information are available for the reporter who is very thorough in his job and desires to verify every fact that goes into his story before publication. These are sources that regularly service the news industry either because of their function that make their activities of public interest or by their nature that help generate events that attract a large number of people. Predictable Sources include diary of news, published reports in form of newspapers, magazines, journals, and handouts, broadcast on Radio/TV and prepared speeches. News is happening all the time: People are being born or dying, banks are being robbed, roads are being planned, companies are making profits or losses, storms are Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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destroying homes, courts are sending people to jail or freeing them, scientists are discovering new drugs. There is also the danger that reporters misinterpret what they think they see and then present that as a fact. This often happens when reporting such things as the size of a crowd. Unable to count every person in it, they make an estimate, often sharing their guesses with other journalists on the scene. You may occasionally be given documents which have not been officially released to the press. They may be given to you by someone in a company or government department who does not want to be seen giving them to the media. We call these leaked documents. Headlines are so important that a single word can impact a campaign dramatically. We’ve seen e-mail subject lines where a one word change increased click-through by 46%. How to find the story idea has always pricked the mind of reporters especially during lull period. But the imaginative reporter will discover in this section that the story idea could be gotten from a lot of places. For instance, the readers sometimes bring story ideas to the newspaper office. Most story ideas, though, are the result of an active imagination, a lively curiosity and a little help from friends. Journalists soon learn to recognize how stories written for other publications can be written for their own. A backgrounder is an informational document often provided with a press release, press advisory or as part of a larger media kit. The backgrounder gives the press or other interested parties a more detailed background of an issue, event, and person of interest or launch. How to write a backgrounder is a skill that many freelance writers and PR writers should know.

3.7 Check Your Progress Multiple Choice Questions 1. ……………………………. are sources that regularly service the news industry either because of their function that make their activities of public interest or by their nature that help generate events that attract a large number of people. Predictable Sources include diary of news, published reports in form of newspapers, magazines, journals, and handouts, broadcast on Radio/TV and prepared speeches. It also includes active or dramatic newsbreaks, which include news from the police, hospitals, fire service, hotels, schools, religious organizations, labour and political associations. (a) Predictable Sources (b) Unpredictable Sources (c) Anticipated Sources (d) None of these 2. ……………………………… means a nose for news that borders on the ability, training, exposure and experience of the reporter to determine what news is and report it accordingly. (a) Predictable Sources (b) Unpredictable Sources (c) Anticipated Sources (d) None of these 3. ………………………………… are similar to predictable sources except for the fact that anticipated sources are restricted to planned events that a reporter knows will definitely happen. (a) Predictable Sources Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education

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(b) Unpredictable Sources (c) Anticipated Sources

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(d) None of these 4. …………………….. are one of the most reliable sources of information (although not completely reliable) are other journalists. (a) Primary sources (b) Reporters (c) Written sources (d) Tip-offs 5. Often the source is someone at the centre of the event or issue. We call such people …………………………. (a) Written sources (b) Primary sources (c) Tip-offs (d) Reporters 6. You may occasionally be given documents which have not been officially released to the press. They may be given to you by someone in a company or government department who does not want to be seen giving them to the media. These are called ……………………………………... (a) Leaked documents (b) Secondary sources (c) Anonymous (d) Journalists 7. Which of the following is true for headline? (a) Your Headline Should Be Unique (b) Your Headline Should Be Ultra-Specific (c) Your Headline Should Convey a Sense of Urgency (d) All of these 8. The census report for instance contains not only the number of people in a community, but also their income and education, how many cars they own, whether they rent or own a house, etc. Such census reports tell much more. This is comprised by …………………………….. (a) Advertisements and Yellow Pages (b) Government Reports (c) Wire Copy (d) Local Newspapers 9. ………………………………………………………… could be used to verify the spelling of names and addresses etc. They are usually reliable, but they are not infallible. (a) State Manuals/Brochures (b) Maps of the City (c) Local and Area Telephone Directories (d) City/Town Directories 10. ……………………………………… will obviously contain useful information on businesses and related matter. (a) City/Town Directories (b) Trade and Professional Journals and Newsletters

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(c) Facts on File (d) Maps of the City

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3.8 Questions and Exercises 1. Discuss the various ways a reporter could gather news of an event he did not witness. 2. Discuss the concept of finding a story idea. 3. Discuss the news gathering procedure and mention five places to verify your facts before turning them out to your editor. 4. Will all your sources be reliable? How would you handle sources to ensure they don’t get you into trouble? 5. Write short notes on the following: (a) Primary sources (b) Leaked documents (c) Government Reports 6. Explain the concept of backgrounder. 7. Differentiate between backgrounder and news analysis. 8. Give a list of some of the avenues and places available for the reporter to check, cross check or even triple check his facts before going to press. 9. What is headline? Briefly describe its relevance. 10. State the four rules of thumb to keep in mind to write a catchy headline.

3.9 Key Terms 

Predictable Sources: Predictable Sources are sources that regularly service the news industry either because of their function or by their nature.

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Unpredictable Sources: Unpredictable Sources means a nose for news that borders on the ability, training, exposure and experience of the reporter to determine what news is and report it accordingly.

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State Manuals/Brochures: These provide information on various government agencies.

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Maps of the City: County, State, Nation and World Local maps are usually posted in the newsrooms. Others may be found in atlases.

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Facts on File (Facts on File Inc): This is a weekly compilation of news from metropolitan newspapers.

Check Your Progress: Answers 1. (a) Predictable Sources 2. (b) Unpredictable Sources 3. (c) Anticipated Sources 4. (b) Reporters 5. (b) Primary sources 6. (a) Leaked documents 7. (d) All of these 8. (b) Government Reports 9. (c) Local and Area Telephone Directories 10. (b) Trade and Professional Journals and Newsletters

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3.10 Further Readings 

Walker, S. (1975). News Writing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company

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Charnley, M. (1996). Reporting. Toronto: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

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Brooks, B.S., et al (1998). News Reporting and Writing. New York: St. Martin’s Press

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Nabi, L. Robin & Oliver, Mary Beth (2009), The SAGE Handbook of Media Processes and Effects, SAGE.

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Sparrow H. Bartholomew (1999), Uncertain Guardians: The News Media as a Political Institution, JHU Press.

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CASE STUDY: NEWS GATHERING FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

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n recent months, social media – and Twitter in particular - has become an indispensable tool. Along with an increasing number of BBC journalists, we now use it constantly to monitor breaking news, spot potential story ideas and make new contacts. The traditional newswires are now a secondary source of information. HootSuite has replaced ENPS as my first port of call for the latest details on unfolding events. For a while, we've been interested in exploring whether there is a place within our newsgathering for a World Affairs journalist dedicated to gathering material for social media platforms. So, when dozens of foreign ministers gathered at Lancaster House this week for the London conference on Libya, we decided to try an experiment. Armed with a Macbook, digital stills and video cameras, recording equipment and a WiFi connection, we provided a steady stream of content through the day via Twitter. Quickly snatched photos from around the media centre were posted on TwitPic. Radio dispatches from diplomatic correspondents Bridget Kendall and Jonathan Marcus were uploaded via Audioboo. Official Foreign Office press releases and communiqués were cut and pasted onto Twitlonger. Using a Marantz digital audio recorder plugged into the conference pool feed and Adobe Audition for Mac, we were able to 'top and tail' press conferences and statements from the likes of David Cameron and Hillary Clinton and post them as Audioboos within seconds of them finishing. The boffins at Audioboo spotted what I was doing and kindly allowed me to upload files that were longer than the usual five-minute limit. This meant we could upload press conferences in their entirety. Although we planned to use a Flip camera to post video onto YouTube as well, the demands of my 'real' job as the newsgathering radio producer meant we didn't have time to do this. So, what did we learn? Primarily, we confirmed that with fairly standard equipment it is possible to provide comprehensive news coverage on a developing story across social media platforms using text, pictures, audio and video. While flagship BBC News outlets will still need satellite trucks, radio cars and crews, broadcast-quality material can now be turned around in seconds by a single journalist working in the field with just a laptop. We were pleased that there seemed to be an appreciative audience for the content we provided. We received a tweet from a Danish diplomat who said she was using my Twitlonger posts as her primary information source because we were getting material out far faster than the official channels. "The only problem” is that some non-tweeting diplos still want all their information to come with a Foreign Office logo on it." We are sure that in time that credibility gap will narrow. Most gratifyingly of all, we made new contacts. Other journalists who were following my tweets came over to me in the press centre to say hello. We were delighted to be able to put faces to the names of fellow tweeters whose posts we trust. One word of caution, though. One-day social media experiment added additional demands to an already full workload. In the long run, it would be unreasonable to expect a journalist with other BBC outlets to serve to provide engaging content for a number of social media platforms in addition to their normal duties. Providing material for social media cannot just be an afterthought in the newsgathering process. It needs to be properly resourced if it's to be done at all. Question: Discuss the use of Newsgathering for social media. Source: http://bbcjournalism.oup.com/blog/posts/Newsgathering-for-social-media-a-casestudy3

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