English for Journalism MOOC

Module One – The History and Principles of Journalism

Table of Contents
Welcome to Module One of English for Journalism! .................................................................................... 2
Private Journal 1: Introduction to Journalism............................................................................................... 3
The History of Journalism 1: The Early Days ................................................................................................. 3
Quiz 1: History of Journalism ........................................................................................................................ 5
The History of Journalism 2: 1690 - Present ................................................................................................. 6
Quiz 2: History of Journalism ........................................................................................................................ 8
Language Focus: Talking about the Past ....................................................................................................... 9
The Past Progressive ................................................................................................................................... 10
Quiz 3: Talking about the Past .................................................................................................................... 14
Private Journal 2: The Interrupted Past ...................................................................................................... 14
Discussion: The Interrupted Past ................................................................................................................ 15
Principles of Journalism 1: Gathering Sources ............................................................................................ 15
Principles of Journalism 2: Telling the Story ............................................................................................... 17
Language Focus: Word Families.................................................................................................................. 19
Quiz 4: Language Focus: Word Families ..................................................................................................... 21
Principles of Journalism 3: Making an Impact ............................................................................................ 22
Quiz 5: Principles of Journalism Vocabulary ............................................................................................... 23
Language Focus: Phrases for Agreeing and Disagreeing............................................................................. 24
Private Journal 3: Case Study: Principles of Journalism .............................................................................. 26
Discussion: Case Study: Principles of Journalism ........................................................................................ 27
Module One Check...................................................................................................................................... 28

© 2020 by FHI 360. ESPJ MOOC Module One Packet for the AE E-Teacher Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding
provided by the U.S. government and administered by FHI 360. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Share-Alike Attribution 4.0
License, except where noted. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

1
 This work is a derivative of "Bilingual Inscription " courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program, "Metal Typesetting"
by Hannes Wolf. under Unsplash license, and untitled image by William Cho under Pixabay license. This derivative is licensed
under CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for use in the American English E-Teacher Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

Welcome to Module One of English for Journalism!

Learning about the history and principles of journalism will help you become a successful news reporter.

Learning Objectives:
• Identify historical developments and milestones in journalism.
• Identify the core principles of journalism.
• Identify word forms to expand your vocabulary.
• Use the simple past and past progressive to report and describe past events.

Activities
Part One: Talking about the Past: The History of Journalism
Private Journal 1: History of Journalism (Optional)
The History of Journalism 1: The Early Days
Quiz 1: History of Journalism (Required)
The History of Journalism 2: 1690-Present
Quiz 2: History of Journalism (Required)
Language Focus: Talking about the Past
Quiz 3: Talking about the Past (Required)
Private Journal 2: The Interrupted Past (Optional)
Discussion: The Interrupted Past (Optional)

Part Two: The Principles of Journalism

Principles of Journalism 1: Gathering Sources
Principles of Journalism 2: Telling the Story
Language Focus: Word Families
Quiz 4: Language Focus: Word Families (Required)
Principles of Journalism 3: Making an Impact
Quiz 5: Principles of Journalism Vocabulary (Required)
Language Focus: Phrases for Agreeing and Disagreeing
Private Journal 3: Case Study: Principles of Journalism (Optional)
Discussion: Case Study: Principles of Journalism (Optional)

2
Private Journal 1: Introduction to Journalism
Important: This is a private journal. It will not be graded or seen by your peers.
In this module, we will be learning about the history and the principles of journalism. We will study the
history of journalism first. Before we begin, take a moment to think and write:

What is journalism? How did journalism begin? In the early days, how did people share and receive
important information? How has that changed over time?

Take five minutes to write the thoughts that come to your mind. Don't worry about mistakes. Only you
will see this.

The History of Journalism 1: The Early Days

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

The Origins of Journalism

One of the earliest forms of organized reporting of current events was the acta diurna of the Roman
Empire (around 100 BCE). These acta diurna (Latin for “daily events”) were organized by the Roman
government. They hired scribes who carved the information into stone. The government posted the
stones in public places so that people could read them.

If people were literate, or able to read and write, they could learn
about births and deaths, marriages, and the results of legal trials.

Fun Fact: The Latin word diurna is the root of the modern English
word journal.

"Bilingual Inscription" Digital image
courtesy of the Getty's Open Content
Program
Around the same time in China, a similar thing was happening. The
Chinese government sent out official reports, called dibao from the
capital to local governors. The governors edited the reports. This
means they decided which information was important for local
people to read. They wrote new editions, or versions, of the reports.
They carved the reports onto woodblocks and printed many copies.
They posted the reports in public places for people to
read. Woodblock printing was more efficient, or quicker and easier,
than carving into stone. Printing allowed people to make multiple
copies of a document for the first time.

3

Chinese Woodblock Print, Yuan
Dynasty by Petri Krohn (Links to
an external sitevia Wikipedia
Commons under Public Domain
"Early Printing Press" was
originally published in The
Illustrated History of England
by Henry Dulcken, 1888. This
image was published by Firkin
on OpenClipArt and is licensed
under Public Domain, Creative
Commons Zero 1.0
Throughout history, people learned about current events through
posted announcements and word of mouth. Everything changed
with the invention of movable-type printing presses, machines with
small metal parts that move so that any text could be created and
then many identical copies made. The earliest known movable-type
printing press was created in East Asia in the 10th Century CE.
In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg built the first movable-type printing
press for a Latin alphabet. This was the first time that the English
language could be printed quickly and efficiently.
The printing press changed the way that people got their news. It
was now much quicker and cheaper to print texts and almost
anybody could do it.
As technology improved, many people became printers. Soon,
they were publishing, or preparing and distributing papers, journals,
and books. As more and more written material was published, more
and more people became literate, or able to read and write;
however, government still controlled what people wrote.
In Europe, the printing press led to a new type of media, single-page
newsletters called corantos. These early newspapers had
information about wars and other current events as well as
philosophical discussions. Some corantos were critical of powerful
organizations like the government and the Church. The
government censored them, meaning they stopped people from
writing or talking about topics they didn't like. The government only
wanted people to write propaganda, that is information that helps
the government,
In England, the government passed a law which said that anyone
who wanted to print or publish had to have the government’s
permission, or license. Printers who had a government license
enjoyed a monopoly as competition was eliminated. Meanwhile, the
government was able to control what information was being shared.
The government gave permission to printers who published stories
they liked and refused or removed licenses for people who
published stories they didn’t like. The government was able to
remove and destroy any publication considered offensive. They
could arrest people who wrote, printed and published information
that they didn't like.
4
 In England, in 1644, John Milton wrote and published a famous
coranto called Areopagitica. This speech called for the freedom of the
press, the right to report news without being controlled by the
government. Many of the ideas that Milton wrote about are very
important to the modern principles of journalism and human rights.

Milton argued that people have the right to information. Information

helps us make decisions and can change our beliefs. He said that as a
society we should make our decisions through consensus, or a
general agreement, that respects a variety of opinions. He argued that
we must discuss and debate (or argue). Our discussion and debates
must be based on information that has not been manipulated or
influenced. We need the facts and only the facts so the we can form
1 "First page of
Areopagatica" by gobeirne our own opinions.
via Wikimedia Commons
In short, Milton argued that a free press is essential to a free society.
under the Public Domain.
He said that people should be free to report the news without
government trying to stop them.
Publick Occurrences, the first newspaper in the Americas, was published in Boston in 1690. It
contained only four pages and was supposed to be published every month; however, it
was censored immediately and only one edition was ever published.
In the early history of journalism, governments wanted to control the information that people
received. The authorities censored newspapers when they did not like what was being
printed. Next, we will look at the steps that allowed the press to become free, not controlled by
the government.

Quiz 1: History of Journalism

Welcome to your first quiz!

Answer the following questions from The History of Journalism 1: The Early Days. If you don't
know an answer, you can always return to the previous page.

Each question is worth two points. There are five questions. You must get four out of five
questions correct to pass the quiz.

You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.

>>>> Please note that this quiz can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

5
The History of Journalism 2: 1690 – Present

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

In the last lesson, we looked at origins of journalism and talked about the ways that journalism
was censored by governments. In this lesson we are going to look at the steps that allowed
journalism to become more independent and freer from government control. We will also talk
about the different ways that people get their news.

Watch the video or listen to the audio. Try to take notes on the dates and names you hear
because this will help you play the game that follows this lesson.

For most of the 18th century, governments still controlled what people wrote. For example, in
the USA in 1722, a young Benjamin Franklin took over as editor of a newspaper called The New-
England Courant, because his older brother was in jail. The government accused him of writing
things that were not true.
The Fourth Estate
In 1787, Edmund Burke, a politician, was making a speech in the British Parliament. He argued
that the press should be allowed to report on the House of Commons of Great Britain. He spoke
about the three traditional parts of European governments commonly known as the Three
Estates (the church, the nobility, and the common people). Then he pointed to the journalists
and called them the Fourth Estate. He meant that writing the truth was an important part of
governing a country. We still call journalism the Fourth Estate today.
The First Amendment
A few years later, in 1791, ten amendments to the US Constitution called the Bill of Rights
became a law. The first amendment talked about freedom of religion, freedom of speech and
also freedom of the press. The First Amendment protects journalists’ rights by making sure the
government cannot control the information or opinions that journalists publish.
Even though journalism was no longer controlled by the government, most newspapers in the
early 19th century were biased, meaning they only told one side of the story or one point of
view and were read by people who agreed with their opinion.
In 1835, however, a newspaper called The New York Herald was started with the goal of
providing unbiased news that everyone could enjoy. This newspaper also tried to be politically
independent, not preferring one political party over another.

6
 The Invention of the Telegraph
In the 1850s, newspapers moved from being just local to national. As technology improved, it
became easier to print and distribute many more newspapers.
The invention of the telegraph revolutionized journalism again. Before the telegraph, journalists
relied on government reports and mail delivery to receive their information and write their
reports. The telegraph made it possible to quickly share information across long distances, even
international borders and oceans.

The telegraph increased the speed of message delivery

but was also very expensive. A person visiting a
telegraph company paid by the word. People wanted
to save money, so they kept their messages short.
They wrote very short sentences and paragraphs. This
new style of writing soon became popular with
newspapers.
The high costs of telegraph messages also led to the
creation of the first news agencies or wire services. A
2 "Ada Jones Sending Morse Code in 1918" by
Oaktree b via Wikimedia Commons under Public news agency gathers news reports and sells them to
Domain news organizations. The first American news agency
was the Associated Press, which was founded in New
York City in 1846. News agencies allowed local newspapers to report on national and
international news. As the telegraph became more popular, printing technology was also
improving. it became easier and easier to print and distribute newspapers. Hundreds of
thousands of people could now read the same newspaper on the same day in different parts of
the country.
Newspapers of the 19th Century were often biased.
They only told part of the story or only one point of
view.
As the number of newspapers increased, literacy also
increased. More and more people were buying and
reading newspapers. Publishers wanted people to buy
their newspapers.
3 Hoe's Six-Cylinder Press" via Wikimedia Commons
under Public Domain
Newspaper publishing was a big business and some
publishers were becoming very rich and powerful. They
wanted to control information that might hurt their interests and they wanted to promote
information that might help them.
To attract readers and to protect their interests, newspapers often
published sensational stories that were not always accurate. These stories were exciting or
shocking and many people wanted to read them. This led to the rise of so-called "yellow
journalism", a precursor to the modern tabloid.
The early years of the 20th century saw the development of investigative journalism. This
involved a journalist looking into and writing about powerful people and industries. For
example, Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle in 1906. Readers of The Jungle learned about the

7
unhealthy practices in Chicago’s meatpacking factories and the bad conditions for the workers.
After people read The Jungle, people wanted to change the laws. This strong public reaction
pushed the government to create the Food and Drug Administration, the nation’s first
consumer protection agency.
Although newspapers continued to be popular throughout the 20th century, by the 1920s, they
also had to compete with newsreels and radio broadcasts. Listening to news on the radio
allowed the whole family to sit down and hear the news at the same time. They could also
listen to things live as they were happening instead of waiting until the next day to read about
them.
In the 1950s television became popular and nearly every family
in the USA had one. People could now see pictures as well as
hear people talk about the news in a live broadcast.
The internet became popular in the 1990s and online
newspapers began to replace print copies. Today over half the
adults in the USA get their news from Twitter or Facebook.
4Untitled Image via Wikimedia
Common is under Public Domain.

Quiz 2: History of Journalism

Each question is worth two points. There are five questions. You must get four out of five
questions correct to pass the quiz.

You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.

>>>> Please note that this quiz can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

8
Language Focus: Talking about the Past

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Hello, welcome to this language focus lesson on the past tense. We've been talking about the
history of journalism which means, we've been using different forms of the past
tense. You watched several videos, completed a survey, and played a game. While you were
watching the videos were you taking notes?
Take a look at those sentences. There are two forms of the past tense being used there, the
simple past, and the past progressive, sometimes called the past continuous. In this lesson,
we're going to talk about the structure and meaning of the simple past and the past
progressive. We'll also talk about when we
should use each of these forms. Let's start with the simple past.

Simple Past
When an action begins and ends in the past, then we use the simple past.

"Simple Past" by FHI 360 is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Example: Before this video, you watched a video, completed a survey and played a game.
We can change most verbs into the past tense simply by adding -ed or just -d to the end of the
verb.
For example: played, watched, completed.

9
Irregular Forms
You may notice that there are many verbs that do not take an -ed ending. For example: The
technology was not available to print the news before the Gutenberg press. In this sentence, the
verb to be is put in the past. This is an irregular verb.
Here's another example. In China, people read the messages from the government called the
Dibao. Here, the verb to read is in the past.
There are about 200 irregular verbs. It's worth memorizing these forms, because many of these
verbs are quite common. For example,

Base Form Simple Past Form

write wrote

think thought

take took

speak spoke

A list of the most common irregular verb forms can be found at the end of this

The Past Progressive

The past progressive is formed with either was or were and the -ing form of the verb.

"Past Progressive" by FHI 360 is licensed under CC BY 4.0

For example: While I was watching the video, I was taking notes.
This means that there was a duration, a period of time, when you were watching and taking
notes. Similar to the simple past, this is an event that began and ended in the past. But with the
past progressive, the audience, the listener or reader, knows that it happened for a longer time,
not just a moment.

Combining Past Progressive and Simple Past

Many times, the past progressive and the simple past are used together. For
example, I was researching the story when my editor called.

10
"Simple Past and Past Progressive" by FHI 360 is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Here, you can tell that the speaker was researching perhaps for many minutes or hours. The
editor called during that time. We don't know exactly when the editor called, but we know
what the speaker was doing at the time.
Here's another example. While many countries were looking for alternatives to gas powered
cars, Tesla introduced the electric automobile.
While and When
Notice that while is often used to introduce the past progressive. For example: While I was
watching the video about the history of journalism, I was taking notes. While many
countries were looking for alternatives to gas powered cars, Tesla introduced the electric
automobile.
When is often used with the simple past. For example, I was researching the story when my
editor called.
Summary
▪ Actions that start and end in the past use the simple past or present progressive forms.
▪ Use the past progressive to show what was happening when something else happened.
▪ Use the simple past if you are just talking about one event that began and ended in the
past.
▪ There are many irregular past forms in English. It is helpful to memorize these
▪ Use the words while and when to use both forms together.

11
 Common Irregular Verb Forms

Base Form Past Tense Past Participle

1 Be Was/were Been
2 Become Became Become
3 Begin Began Begun
4 Bend Bent bent
5 Bet Bet Bet
6 Bind Bound Bound
7 Bite Bit Bitten
8 Bleed Bled Bled
9 Blow Blew Blown
10 Break Broke Broken
11 Bring Brought Brought
12 Build Built Built
13 Burn Burnt Burnt
14 Catch Caught Caught
15 Choose Chose Chosen
16 Come Came Come
17 Cost Cost Cost
18 Cut Cut Cut
19 Deal Dealt Dealt
20 Dig Dug Dug
21 Do Did Done
22 Draw Drew Drawn
23 Drink Drank Drunk
24 Dream Dreamt dreamt
25 Drive Drove Driven
26 Eat Ate Eaten
27 Fall Fell Fallen
28 Feed Fed Fed
29 Feel Fell Felt
30 Fight Fought Fought
31 Find Found Found
32 Flee Fled Fled
33 Fly Flew Flown
34 Forbid Forbade Forbidden
35 Forget Forgot Forgotten
36 Forgive Forgave Forgiven
36 Freeze Froze Frozen
38 Get Got Got
39 Give Gave Given
40 Go Went Gone
41 Grow Grew Grown
42 Hang Hung Hung
43 Have Had Had
44 Hear Heard Heard
45 Hide Hid Hidden
46 Hit Hit Hit
47 Hold Held Held
48 Hurt Hurt Hurt
49 Keep Kept Kept
50 Kneel Knelt Knelt

12
51 Know Knew Known
52 Lay Laid laid
53 Leave Left Left
54 Lend Lent Lent
55 Let Let Let
56 Lie Lay lain
57 Light Lit lit
58 Lose Lost Lost
59 Make Made Made
60 Mean Meant Meant
61 Meet Met Met
62 Pay Paid Paid
63 Put Put Put
64 Quit Quit Quit
65 Read Read Read
66 Ride Rode Ridden
67 Rise Rose Risen
68 Run Run Run
69 Say Said Said
70 See Saw Seen
71 Seek Sought Sought
72 Sell Sold Sold
73 Send Sent Sent
74 Set Set Set
75 Sew Sewed Sewn
76 Shake Shook Shaken
77 Shine Shone Shone
78 Shoot Shot Shot
79 Show Showed Shown
80 Shut Shut Shut
81 Sing Sang Sung
82 Sit Sat Sat
83 Sleep Slept Slept
84 Speak Spoke Spoken
85 Spend Spent Spent
86 Spill Spilt Spilt
87 Stand Stood Stood
88 Steal Stole Stolen
89 Swear Swore Sworn
90 Swim Swam Swum
91 Take Took Taken
92 Teach Taught Tught
93 Tear Tore Torn
94 Tell Told Told
95 Think Thought Thought

13
Quiz 3: Talking about the Past
Each question is worth two points. There are five questions. You must get four out of five
questions correct to pass the quiz.

You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.

>>>> Please note that this quiz can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

Private Journal 2: The Interrupted Past

Important: This is a private journal. It will not be graded or seen by your peers.

Option 1: It was hilarious!

When is the last time you laughed out loud? What happened? What were
you doing when it happened?
Example 1: Last week, I was having coffee with my sister and she showed me a
funny video on her phone.
Example 2: This morning, my husband and I were having breakfast when my
dog knocked over a chair. She looked so surprised. Pretty soon we were
laughing really hard. When someone laughs, I always laugh too. I can't stop
5"untitled" by
Callum Shaw via myself.
Unsplash under
Unsplash license

Option 2: Our Scars Tell a Story

Have you ever had an injury? Did you break a bone? Do you have a scar?

Stories about injuries are a great way to practice using the past simple and
the past progressive. Almost always, these stories involve something that
happened quickly and interrupted another action in progress.

Think about a time that you hurt yourself. What were you doing? What
happened?
6Image by Shutterbug75 from
Pixabay under Pixabay license

Example 1: A few years ago, I was riding a bicycle. I wasn't looking where I was going. I rode into a
ditch. I fell off my bicycle and cut my knee. I cut my knee when I was riding my bike.

Example 2: I have a scar on my arm. When I was younger, I worked in a pizza restaurant. One time, I was
pulling a pizza out of the oven and my coworker bumped into me. My arm touched the inside of the
oven. I burned my arm. I burned my arm while I was cooking pizza.

Respond to option one or two.

Maximum 200 words

14
Discussion: The Interrupted Past

>>>> Please note that this activity can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

Would you like to share the story with your classmates?

Step 1: Copy and paste the story you just wrote.

Step 2: Read your classmates' stories. Did they use the past simple and past progressive correctly? Do
you have any recommendations?

Principles of Journalism 1: Gathering Sources

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

What is a principle?
A principle is a fundamental, very important truth that is the basis of something. So the principles of
journalism are the things that journalists have to remember to do all the time

Gathering Sources
In this lesson, we will discuss principles that are important for journalists to remember when they are
gathering sources, or collecting information for their story.

Imagine a journalist is reporting on a car accident. The journalist needs to talk to the people who
actually saw the accident happen. We call these people eyewitnesses When the journalist is talking to
these people, they are gathering sources.

When a journalist wants to know more information for a story, they may talk to eyewitnesses,
government officials, or professional experts. They may also go to a library or research online. This is
also gathering sources.

Let's talk about some of the important principles that a journalist needs to remember when they are
gathering sources: verification and objectivity.

Principle 1. Verification: verify sources for truth and accuracy

Journalists need to make sure that their information is accurate or true and correct. How can
they know if their source is accurate?
Being accurate means always having the correct facts, such as names, dates, and places. When a
journalist gathers sources by speaking to a witness or researching documents, they should always make
sure that they write down the correct information so that it's accurate when they use it in their article.

15
How can journalists verify a source to know that the information they get is accurate and true?
To start, a journalist can ask themselves these questions:

1. Is this a primary source?

If we consider the car accident, we looked at earlier, an eyewitness is a primary source, while someone
who just heard about the accident is not.

2. Does the source have expert knowledge?

For a car accident, an expert on road safety or an automotive engineer would be a good source of
information.

Principle 2. Objectivity: Report the facts without favoring one side or the other.
A journalist must be objective. They must report the facts without favoring one side or the
other or letting their personal opinions or emotions interfere.
An objective journalist tells the truth and reports only accurate information. They don't change
any facts or details to improve the story. They remain neutral. They report stories without
showing favor to any of the parties involved.
Finally, an objective journalist is emotionally detached. They report the story without any
emotion and present the story in a calm and rational way.
By reporting objectively, journalists hope the audience will come to their own conclusion. They
don't want to influence the audience.
When gathering sources, an objective journalist will get information from as many sources as
possible, including sources they may personally dislike or disagree with.
Summary:
▪ A journalist should determine which information is based in fact and present accurate
information from all sides.
▪ A journalist should not give equal time or weight to an opinion based on facts that are
clearly not true.

16
Principles of Journalism 2: Telling the Story

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Now, we will look at the principles that a journalist needs to remember when they are telling the story
or writing their article.

Principle 3: Originality. Create original work.

The first important principle to remember when writing a story is originality. When a journalist
writes a story, they are creating something new. A journalist must not borrow the words of
others and pretend that they have created them.
Imagine a hospital is being built in your town. This is an important story and many people have
been writing about it. Obviously, the facts of the story are the same, but the way the journalist
writes about the hospital must be original and not copied from someone else. If a journalist
copies a story about the hospital from someone else and then puts their name on it, we call
it plagiarism.

Principle 4: Completeness. Tell the whole story.

Another important principle to remember is completeness. This means that journalists need to tell the
whole story, not just a part of it. Journalists must present a story in context, which means looking at
both sides of a story as well as the events in the past that lead to the situation.

Principle 5: Transparency. The journalistic process should be clear to the

audience.
The third principle that we're talking about in this video is transparency. This is a word that we normally
use to describe something that you could see through. Like a glass window. When we use it to talk about
journalism, we mean that the people have the opportunity to look at the process that the journalist goes
through when they write their article.

For example, the journalist makes it clear who they spoke to and also, who they could not speak to.

Also, if the journalist has some connection to the story, they need to be transparent and tell people
what that connection is. For example, if the journalist's spouse is an architect who is going to help build
the hospital, he or she must state that in the article.

Principle 6: Fairness. Write accurately and without bias

When a journalist writes an article, they must think about the principle of fairness. This means that a
journalist must think about the language they use in their article to make sure they accurately tell the
facts without bias. favoring one side or another.

In the hospital example, they should use language that tells the facts about the advantages and
disadvantages of building the hospital.

17
It's important to remember that the journalist's goal should be to inform the public. The journalist
should tell the public what they need to know. The journalist should not manipulate the public or try to
shape the way the public thinks about something.

Summary
We looked at the following principles for telling your story:

1. Originality. Use your own words to tell the story

2. Completeness. Tell the whole story.
3. Transparency. Make your process clear to the reader.
4. Fairness. Write accurately without bias.

18
Language Focus: Word Families

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Hello! Welcome to this Language Focus lesson on word families. While you’ve been learning
about the principles of journalism, you may have noticed how some words have various forms,
for example: journalism, journalist, and journalistic.
The word endings, also called suffixes, change the part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)
The root of the word, the letters all forms have in common, stays the same.
Journalism is a noun. It means the act of writing for the news.
Journalist is also a noun. It means the person who produces news.
Journalistic is an adjective. It describes the process of making the news
Words with the same root but with different word endings are all part of the same word family.
In this lesson, we’ll look at word families, words with the same root and different endings to
form various parts of speech We'll also look at how the pronunciation may change in a word
family.

Can you find the root in these three words?

journalism, journalist, journalistic
These words all share the root word journal

Let's take a look at another example.

We've talked about how verification is an important principle of journalism.
Information must be collected from verified sources.
That means that journalists must verify who the source is and what they are saying.
In those three sentences, we saw the root ver in three different forms. In English, many of the
roots are borrowed from Latin. In Latin ver means truth. Therefore, verification is the process of

19
proving something is true. Verified is an adjective that describes something truthful. And
finally, to verify is the verb form of the root ver. It's the action verb of finding out if something
is true.
Now, let's look at the words we can make from the root ver, meaning truth. Look at the
sentences below. How many forms of the root ver do you see?

Suffixes help us identify the part of speech (noun, verb, etc.)

Recognizing roots and suffixes can help you understand and learn new words. To understand a
word, we often start with the root and then look for the part of speech depending on the word
ending, the letters at the end of the word. For example, -tion in verification shows that this
word is a noun. Other word ending that create nouns include -tion. -ity, -ness, -cy, and -ment.
For example, govern is a verb meaning to manage or lead. When the suffix -ment is added to
the end of the word, we get government. Government is a noun which means the system or
organization that manages or leads. Government.
Let's take a look at the adjective word endings, -al, -ed, -able, -ent, and -ive.
In our first example, verified can be used as an adjective.
Information must be collected from verified sources.
Now let's look at transparency and transparent.
Transparency is important because the reader needs to understand the journalist's process to
trust their story.
When we want to change the word from a noun to an adjective, we take away the -cy ending
and an replace it with a -t
Transparency -> transparent
Now, we can say "The journalist's process was transparent.”

Pronunciation: Suffixes can change syllable stress

When we change word form, the syllable stress can shift. A syllable is one vowel sound of a
word. For example, cat has one syllable. kitten has two syllables, kit-ten.
How many syllables are in the word verify?
Three! There are three syllables in the word verify. Ve-ri-fy

In English, we stress one (or more) syllables, meaning we pronounce it a little louder than the
others. This helps people understand each other.

20
In the word verify, we stress the first syllable: verify, VE-ri-fy

But when we change verify into a noun, verification, there are now 5 syllables:
verification, ver-i-fi-CA-tion
When a word ends in –tion, the stress falls on the syllable before that ending.
1. nation, NA-tion
2. invitation, in-vi-TA-tion
3. communication, com-mu-ni-CA-tion
4. verification, ve-ri-fi-CA-tion
This is also true for words that end in –ity.
Original has four syllables (o-ri-gi-nal) and has second syllable stress (oRIginal).
When we change this adjective to a noun, using –ity, we have originality.
Originality has six syllables (o-ri-gi-na-li-ty) and the fourth syllable is stressed (o-ri-gi-NAL-i-ty).
The fourth syllable (-al) is right before the word ending, -ity.
Let’s look at one final example. Let’s take the word objective. How many syllables does this
word have? (Three! The word objective has three syllables: ob-jec-tive)
Now, let’s change objective from an adjective to a noun. We will add the suffix, -ity. Objectivity.
Objectivity. Which syllable has the stress? (ob-jec-TIV-i-ty. The third syllable is stressed)
Summary

• Word endings can change a word from one part of speech to another.
• Word endings can change the syllable stress of a word.

Quiz 4: Language Focus: Word Families

Instructions: For each item, choose the best word form (or pair of forms) to complete each
sentence.
This quiz is worth 10 points. You must get at least seven points to pass the quiz.
>>>> Please note that this activity can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

21
Principles of Journalism 3: Making an Impact

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

We have already looked at principles related to gathering sources and telling the story. Now,
we're going to look at the principles that are about impacting people, meaning, how people are
affected by the articles that a journalist writes.
We're going to talk now about the last four principles of journalism, restraint, humanity,
accountability, and empowerment.

Principle 7: Restraint
People show restraint when they stop themselves from doing something. Journalists show
restraint when they stop themselves from writing things that could be bad for people.
For example, sometimes people think the wrong person has committed a crime. In the rush to
break a story, this person's name and picture could be released on the Internet. This could have
very bad consequences for somebody who has not done anything wrong.
Showing restraint avoids hurting innocent people and creates a better story. When facts are
verified properly, they have a better chance of being accurate and true.
Journalists also show restraint when they allow their sources to be anonymous. This means
that the journalist does not share the source’s name. Journalists need to do this because
sometimes bad things could happen to the person if their name was known. They might lose
their job or possibly even get hurt.

Principle 8: Humanity
Another principle that a journalist must think about is being humane. This means caring about
other people and treating them with respect, treating them as humans, not just part of a story.
In an earlier lesson, we said that journalists should be objective, not favoring one side or
another. However, a journalist can be both objective in their writing and sympathetic to the
people in a story.
For example, journalists should think about the feelings of a crime victim's friends and family
even when they're rushing to write a story.

Principle 9: Accountability.
The next principle is accountability. A person is accountable when they take responsibility for
their actions. They are responsible for the things they do.
22
For a journalist, there are two types of accountability. The first is personal. A journalist must be
responsible for the story that they write. They must balance what the public needs to know and
the rights of the people involved. If there are mistakes in the story, a journalist must admit that
they made a mistake. They must correct their mistakes.
The second type of accountability involves holding the people in power responsible for their
actions. People in power may try to hide their actions from the public. The job of a journalist is
to shine a light on these actions and let everybody know what the person in power has done.
For example, in a situation where drinking water has been polluted, the people responsible for
making sure the water is clean should explain what happened. They must explain what they're
doing to stop it happening again.

Principle 10: Empowerment

The final principle is empowerment, which means giving power to people who do not have
it. There are many people all over the world who feel powerless. They have little control over
their lives and their rights. They might be living in poverty. They might be refugees. Maybe they
are victims of war or natural disasters. A journalist's job is to speak for the people who don't
have the power to speak.
Next, check your journalism vocabulary with the following game.

Quiz 5: Principles of Journalism Vocabulary

This quiz will check if you remember the definitions of the ten principles of journalism that you
learned about in the video lectures.
Directions: Choose the best definition for each principle of journalism.
>>>> Please note that this activity can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

23
Language Focus: Phrases for Agreeing and Disagreeing

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Hello, in this lesson, we'll talk about phrases you can use to express your opinion, and to agree
or disagree with someone else's opinion. This is important as we prepare for our discussion
board.
When discussing opinions, there are words and phrases that can sound more appropriate and
polite. In most academic, professional, and even social situations, the goal is to have a
discussion, not an argument.
It's important to choose your words carefully, so that everyone feels welcome to share their
opinion and participate in the conversation. Let's start with expressing your opinion.

1. Expressing Your Opinion

There are several phrases that signal to the listener that the speaker is about to give an opinion.
Can you think of any?
▪ First, in my opinion...
▪ My point of view on this is...
▪ In my experience...
▪ Personally, I think...
▪ I strongly believe...
▪ I really feel that...
Here are some examples of strong opinions:
▪ In my opinion, the press should be free to print without fear of being punished.
▪ I strongly believe that governments should not control the media.
▪ In my experience, when governments control the media, people cannot make informed
choices.
2. Phrases to Agree with Someone Else's Opinion
Now, let's talk about phrases we can use to agree with someone else's opinion.
What can you say if you completely agree with someone?
▪ Absolutely, I agree with you. 100%.
▪ I see what you mean.
▪ You're right.
▪ That's a good point.
▪ I couldn't agree with you more.
▪ Exactly. That's just what I was thinking.

24
These phrases are used to agree with someone's opinion, and are usually followed by a
paraphrase, the same opinion using different words. For example:
▪ "I agree with you 100%. Newspapers cannot help people make decisions if they only
print the government's views. "
▪ "I couldn't agree with you more. When governments control the news, people start to
distrust the government. "

3. Phrases for Disagreeing with an Opinion

What can you say if you disagree with an opinion? Can you think of any phrases?
▪ I'm sorry to disagree with you, but....
▪ I'm afraid I must disagree.
▪ Yes, but don't you think...

These phrases signal disagreement but notice they're still appropriate and polite. In an
academic setting like college or university, you generally don't hear people say things like,
"you're wrong" or "that's just not true." In most public areas, (schools, the government, the
press), people will disagree, but they will disagree in respectful ways. Disagreeing doesn't
always result in an argument. For example:
▪ "I'm afraid I must disagree. The government's job is to keep its people safe."
▪ "Don't you think that if the press is allowed to write extreme views people could get
upset and become violent?"
▪ "I’m sorry to disagree with you, but the press shouldn't write articles that could create
problems for the government."

4. Phrases to Disagree in a Formal Situation

Finally, some situations are more formal than others. For example, if I were speaking with a
member of government or the president of the university, I would use formal language to more
softly disagree with someone else.

What are some phrases you can use in more formal situations to softly and politely disagree?
▪ I see your opinion, but...
▪ I'm not so sure about that.
▪ I understand what you are saying, but...

Here you acknowledge what they're saying, but also separate your thoughts from their
argument.
For example:
"I understand what you are saying, but the government must work with the press. The press
needs to report on events with the government."

Try to use these phrases in the next activity.

You'll be asked to express your opinion and respond to other students’ opinions.

These phrases will help you communicate clearly, appropriately, and politely.

25
Private Journal 3: Case Study: Principles of Journalism

Important: This is a private journal. It will not be graded or seen by your peers.
You can use this space to practice writing. If you want to share your ideas with your peers,
you can copy your response and paste it in the discussion that follows page.
Case Study:

There have been a large number of traffic accidents at an intersection in your town.

You hear that there has just been another accident and immediately go to the intersection.
When you arrive, you find emergency workers helping the victims. A man and a child have been
seriously injured. The other driver is sitting in a police car.

You take many photos of the incident. You have to choose a photo to accompany your story.
You have photos of the injured man, the injured child, the other driver, and the damaged
vehicles. Which photo should you choose to accompany your story?

Respond with your opinion below. Use one of the phrases for expressing opinion which we have just
studied:

▪ First, in my opinion...
▪ My point of view on this is...
▪ In my experience...
▪ Personally, I think...
▪ I strongly believe...
▪ I really feel that...

26
Discussion: Case Study: Principles of Journalism
Note: This is an optional activity. You will not receive a grade or official feedback on your
response.
>>>> Please note that this activity can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

Case Study:
There have been a large number of traffic accidents at an intersection in your town. Many
people have been killed or injured in recent months at this intersection. You hear that there has
just been another accident and immediately go to the intersection. When you arrive, you find
emergency workers helping the victims. A man has been killed and a child has been seriously
injured. The driver of the other car has been arrested and is in handcuffs. Police tell you the
driver is suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol.
You take many photos of the incident. You have to choose a photo to accompany your story.
You have photos of the dead man, the injured child, the suspected drunk driver, and the
damaged vehicles. Which photo should you choose to accompany your story?

1. Respond with your opinion below. Use one of the phrases for expressing opinion which we
have just studied:
▪ First, in my opinion...
▪ My point of view on this is...
▪ In my experience...
▪ Personally, I think...
▪ I strongly believe...
▪ I really feel that...
2. Read posts from other students
3. Post a response to each post that you read. Use one of the phrases for agreeing and
disagreeing which we have just studied.

Phrases for Agreeing:

▪ Absolutely, I agree with you. 100%.
▪ I see what you mean, you're right, that's a good point.
▪ I couldn't agree with you more.
▪ Exactly. That's just what I was thinking.

Phrases for Disagreeing:

▪ I'm sorry to disagree with you, but....
▪ I'm afraid I must disagree.
▪ Yes, but don't you think...

27
Module One Check
Please answer one question to verify that you have completed all activities in Module 1.
You must choose "Yes" in order to move on in the course.
This quiz will count as 1 point toward your grade.
>>>> Please note that this activity can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

>>>> This is the end of Module 1 <<<<

28