Reporters Basic/Essential Responsibilities for Filing Stories to News Desk

Reporters Basic/Essential Responsibilities for Filing Stories to News Desk

A reporter has certain must own basic responsibilities for filing stories to the
News Desk.
He should help in making the job of a sub-editor easy by giving him clear to
understand copy with all the facts and figures double checked.
If a reporter follows a few rules before sending his story to the News Desk,
he can help the editor in releasing an error free story in the shortest possible time.
a) First of all, a reporter should ensure that the slug is correct and
appropriate for the story he is doing. Reporters often give little importance to the
slug.
b) If a Master Slug is being used, he must use it too. For example, if Budget
is the master slug, the other slugs could be: Budget-GDP, Budget-Highlights,
Budget-Taxation. Similarly, if Train is the master slug, this series of stories could
have following slugs Train-Accident, Train-Driver, Train-Passengers, Train-
Police, etc.
c) Headline is a very important component of any news story because it
forces the reader to carry on reading. A good and short headline, clear in meaning
should be produced.
d) A reporter should make sure that the intro is short and punchy, and the
most important information is mentioned in it.
e) Try to make sure that your story contains some crispy quotes to support
the intro too.
f) The story should be written in the pyramid style, so the editors could use
the top portion and cut down the unnecessary details without giving much thought.
g) A reporter should not leave any question unanswered. All the 5 Ws
(What, Where, When, Why, Who) and H (How) should be answered.
h) The reporter should make sure that his story is properly sourced. He
should make it clear from where and when he got the information. For example,
from a website on Sunday, a newspaper on Friday, an interview on Tuesday, a
news conference on Thursday, a TV channel on Wednesday, or a news release on
Monday. In a certain case if source requests anonymity, he may mention it, but
keep a record with him.

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 Reporters Basic/Essential Responsibilities for Filing Stories to News Desk

i) The story should be written in an interesting manner using simple and

short words, so that it is understood by everyone. Technical or difficult subjects
should specifically be given more attention in this regard.
j) A reporter should ensure that the website addresses, phone numbers and
postal address given in the story are correct.
k) A reporter should also make sure that the times and dates given in the
story are correct.
l) All the figures should be double checked to ensure that they add up to the
total given in the story. Similarly, the figures in percentages should add up to 100.
There should be no mistake in writing millions and billions, and there should be no
misplaced decimal point in the story either.
m) Once a reporter completes a news story, he should immediately run a
spell checker to remove the typing mistakes. Then he should carefully look for
grammatical errors while giving a second reading to the story.
n) He may also ask a senior reporter in his section to critically read the story
for catching any error, before it is sent it to the desk.
o) A reporter should ensure that the information given in the story agrees
with the headline. And preferably it should correlate with the intro too.
p) If a reporter is dealing with a problematic story, he should seek the chief
reporter’s, station manager’s or bureau chief’s help. This way the story will not get
stuck at the desk for long.
q) A reporter’s copy should also be balanced and unbiased. He should write
a story keeping libel in mind. A person who does not agree with the facts or angle
in the story could file a case in the court of law against you and APP. So be very
careful.
r) After filing the story, the reporter must remain available to respond to the
queries of the desk. If a reporter has to leave the office before his story is released,
he should make sure his mobile phone remains on.
s) If a reporter wants to make correction in the story that has already been
sent to the desk, he should immediately inform the desk and ask it to delete it,
instead of simply sending another story with the message “Editor please use this
story and kill the earlier one.”

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 Reporters Basic/Essential Responsibilities for Filing Stories to News Desk

t) If the reporter has to write Lead for his already released story, he should
use the edited copy. This way, the sub-editor will only have to edit the additions to
the story rather than re-editing the whole story.
u) A reporter should not consider a sub-editor as his rival rather as a member
of his team, whose job is to improve the quality of his story.
Ends

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