Introduction to Journalis

UNIT

Journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and
information. It is also the product of these activities

Journalism has been around “since people recognised a need to share information
about themselves with others”. However, the study of journalism is a more recent
phenomenon. There are several reasons why the study of journalism is a worthwhile
endeavour for scholars. First, news shapes the way we see the world, ourselves and
each other. It is the stories of journalists that construct and maintain our shared realities.
Because of this, news can become a singularly important form of social glue; our
consumption of stories about current events large and small binds us together in an
“imagined community” of co-readers.

Through the rituals of consuming and discussing the texts of journalism we come to
understand and construct ourselves as subjects within local, national and, increasingly,
global contexts. In particular, journalism is seen as intrinsically tied to democracy. It
plays a key role in shaping our identities as citizens, making possible the conversations
and deliberations between and among citizens and their representatives so essential to
successful self-governance. In short, news is “the stuff which makes political action [...]
possible”.

It is especially the potential decline of traditional political journalism that raises

normative concerns for many theorists, as “its loss would rob us of the centrepiece of
deliberative politics”. However, to appropriate Mark Twain’s adage, rumours of the death
of journalism may be greatly exaggerated. We might be witnessing not the end of
journalism but rather its re-invention

As a textual form journalism is, as Hartley put it, the primary “sense-making practice of
modernity.” It advances the key narratives of modernity and provides a store for our
collective memory. The texts of journalism constitute “the rst draft of history.” It is
primarily through journalistic texts that historians and other observers of an age
apprehend that age, in accounts of and reactions to events and people. Journalism is
the primary means for articulating and playing out both consensus and con icts in
society; so news stories capture the ongoing drama of the battles between the dominant
ideology and its challengers

If journalism plays such a central role in society, studying it is all the more important for
anyone wishing to understand contemporary culture. Doing so has become an
increasingly popular endeavour. Today, journalism studies is a fast-growing eld within
the communication discipline. Over the past decades, the number of scholars identifying
themselves as journalism researchers has increased tremendously, helped along,
among other things, by the foundation of several new journals in the area, including
Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, Journalism Studies, and Journalism
Practice

In some ways journalism studies can be seen as both a newcomer and an old hand on
the stage of scholarly research. Most observers have argued that scholarly work in the
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 eld began in the early 20th century alongside the emergence of journalism as a
profession and a social force. However, some have found even earlier antecedents. As
James Carey (2002) and Hanno Hardt (2002) observed, many of the originating
impulses behind research on communication and journalism came from Germany in the
mid-19th century. As such, the “prehistory” of journalism studies research can be found
in the work of critical German social theorists, highlighting the normative impulses which
gave the eld its founding impetus. Hanno Hardt, in his now-classic work on Social
Theories of the Press (2002), traced af nities, continuities, and departures between and
among early German and American thinkers on the press

An interest in the processes and structures of news production, as well as the people
involved, only began to emerge in the context of journalism training, rst and most
notably in the United States. In this sense, empirical, rather than normative/theoretical
work on journalism probably got its start in the context of professional educators gaining
an interest in sharing knowledge about their work. It is certainly the case that in the US
context, the study of journalism sprang out of professional education and was often
administrative in nature. The establishment of Journalism Quarterly in 1924 (later to
become Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly), heralded this new age of
journalism scholarship. Among other things, the rst issue contained an essay by
University of Wisconsin’s Willard “Daddy” Bleyer outlining key approaches to newspaper
research. As Rogers and Chaffee (1994) pointed out, Bleyer was instrumental in
initiating a new age of journalism scholarship which took journalism seriously both as a
practical endeavour and an object of study.

In other countries, such as the UK and Denmark, journalism education took place
outside of the academy, within news organisations where journalists were trained
through apprenticeships and skills-based short courses. Under those conditions, the
education of journalists was considered along pragmatic lines, so that students took
courses in topics such as shorthand and journalism law. Because of the separation of
journalism training from the academy, a more re ective and scholarly approach was
lacking from this model, and it has meant that in countries where this has been the
template for journalism training, most scholarship on journalism has come from social
sciences and humanities disciplines that have taken up journalism among many other
interests. This may be one of the key reasons for the historically interdisciplinary nature
of journalism studies

In the United States, the empirical study of journalism was given a renewed impetus
when early communication research emerged in the 1950s. This work came out of
disciplines of sociology, political science and psychology, and was spearheaded by
larger-than-life gures such as Paul Lazarsfeld, Carl Hovland, Kurt Lewin, and Harold D.
Lasswell. The origins within the social sciences had a profound impact on the
production of knowledge about journalism. In particular, this in uence solidi ed the
empirical turn, drawing on methods such as experiments and surveys to understand the
workings of news media. While most research in this period was concerned with
audiences and media effects, the emerging eld of journalism studies slowly turned its
attention to “news people” and their professional values, as well as to editorial
structures and routines. Theories and concepts were generated by and based on
empirical research, such as the gatekeeper model
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 Sociological tur

The 1970s and 1980s witnessed a stronger in uence of sociology and anthropology on
journalism research, leading to what might be described as a sociological turn in the
eld. The focus shifted to a critical engagement with journalism’s conventions and
routines, professional and occupational ideologies and cultures, interpretive
communities, and to concepts related to news texts, such as framing, storytelling and
narrative, as well as to the growing importance of the popular in the news. The
increasing attention paid to cultural issues went hand in hand with the adoption of
qualitative methodologies, most notably ethnographic and discourse analytical
strategies. This tradition of scholarship, often focused on work in and of national and
elite news organisations, allowed for a greater understanding of news production
processes through descriptive work, but also paved the way for a view of journalism’s
role in constructing and maintaining dominant ideologies

The Global-Comparative Tur

Finally, the 1990s have seen a global-comparative turn in journalism studies: While
cross-cultural research was pioneered by Jack McLeod as early as in the 1960s, it has
taken up until the past two decades before the comparative study of journalism could
establish a tradition of its own. The global rise of international and comparative research
has been accelerated by political changes and new communication technologies.
Journalism researchers are nding more and more opportunities to meet with
colleagues from afar, made possible by the end of the cold war and increasing
globalisation. New communication technologies have triggered the rise of
institutionalised global networks of scientists, while it has become much easier to
acquire funding for international studies. As journalism itself is an increasingly global
phenomenon, its study is becoming an international and collaborative endeavour

The onward march of globalisation notwithstanding, journalism studies is still an

extremely diverse scholarly occupation. This diversity has been profoundly shaped by
different national traditions, resulting from the fact that the eld has borrowed unevenly
from the social sciences and humanities. US scholarship stands out because of its
strong empirical and quantitative focus and the use of middle-range theories, while
research in the UK and Australia has unfolded within a critical tradition in uenced by
British cultural studies. By contrast, French journalism research draws heavily on
semiology and structuralism and is largely invisible to the international academy,
whereas German scholarship has a tradition of theorising journalism on a macro scale,
in uenced by systems theory and other theories of social differentiation. Many
journalism researchers in Asia have been educated in the United States and have
therefore internalised a strong American orientation. Scholars in Latin America, on the
other hand, are currently re-orienting themselves, moving away from a reliance on US
examples to an orientation towards Mediterranean countries, most notably Spain,
Portugal, and France.

In the face of the growing internationalisation of the eld, however, the key English-
language journals continue to be dominated by Anglo-American scholars, though with a
steadily increasing degree of international contributions. Journalism & Mass
Communication Quarterly (JMCQ), which was, until recently, the most important home
to publications in journalism studies, draws heavily on US contributors, so that
scholarship from or about other countries is a glaring exception. The composition of the
journal’s editorship and editorial board bespeaks the strong American dominance, with
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 only two out of 80 editors and board members coming from outside the United States.
To be sure, JMCQ is published by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication (AEJMC), but the journal is extensively used as a source and reference
in many journalism and communication schools around the world. Some academic
associations, including the International Association for Media and Communication
Research (IAMCR) and the International Communication Association (ICA) are,
however, actively supporting a more equal representation of scholars from around the
world, and seeking to boost their international membership and visibility. New scholarly
journals, including Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, Journalism Studies and
Journalism Practice, have deliberately positioned themselves as international in
orientation by introducing greater national diversity on their editorial boards. However,
most editors and editorial board members are US- and UK-based, and scholars from
outside the English-speaking world are still a minority

Against this background, the ndings of a recent study of contributions to Journalism:

Theory, Practice and Criticism (JTPC) and Journalism Studies (JS) are hardly
surprising. Cushion (2008) concludes

The data, overall, indicates a clear North American/Euro dominance in scholarly

contributions. This dominance is more apparent in JS where nine in ten articles
published have either a US or European based author. North American Universities
account for a majority of articles in JTPC, while European institutions are the most
frequent contributors to JS. Less than one in ten authors lie outside US/Europe in JS.
Contributions from Asia and Australia mean JTPC fairs slightly better at roughly three in
twenty. Scholars from African and South American institutions have contributed little to
both journals.

Cushion (2008) further observes that close to half of all authors in Journalism and over
a third in Journalism Studies come from American universities. The geographical origins
of authors are, in turn, highly predictive of the area they study, so that the work of US
news organisations is extremely well charted, whereas we know excruciatingly little
about what goes on in newsrooms and media content in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

Despite the strength of an empirical tradition that has held sway since the early years of
communication research, and the growing importance of global perspectives, the eld is
heavily in uenced by a particular set of normative presumptions that we could do well to
re ect on: We assume, as implied at the beginning of this chapter, that journalism is a
benevolent force of social good, essential to citizenship, and that it constitutes a “fourth
estate” or plays a “watchdog role” by providing a check on excesses of state power. As
such, we also assume that journalists understand themselves as defenders of free
speech and as independent forces for the common good. In this, contemporary
journalism studies scholars of all stripes share the concerns that drove the work of the
pioneering German thinkers

However, by drawing on these assumptions we ignore the fact that in many parts of the
world outside the liberal and often libertarian Anglo-American tradition, the press has, in
fact, been heavily instrumentalist. Totalitarian regimes around the world have shown a
profound understanding of the power of the press, from the use of journalism to
advance national socialist ideology in Nazi Germany to China’s “watchdogs on party
leashes”. We should also not ignore the fact that journalism has been used to facilitate
genocide and fuel hatred and intolerance, thus powering con ict. This has been well
documented, for example in the cases of Rwanda, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Relatedly,
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 ever since the Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten’s controversial publication of cartoons

featuring the Prophet Muhammad, it has become apparent that claims of free speech
universalism rub up against cultural and religious sensibilities in a globalised world

Journalism researchers aware of these complexities are increasingly interested in

tracing the consequences of profound transformations in journalism organisations,
production practices, content and audiences that have come about as a result of
globalisation and political, economic, social, and technological change

HISTOR

The term journalism history is of relatively recent coinage, more recent than the term
journalism, of course. But the discourse now called journalism history has a longer
history, one that tracks the rise of news culture as a realm of rst print culture and later
media culture. As each new formation of news culture appeared, new genres of doing
the history of news developed. Throughout this history of journalism, the boundary
separating it from other forms of media history has been porous and blurry. Since the
1970s, journalism history has been wrestling with an identity crisis, one that in many
ways anticipates the broader crisis in the identity of journalism today

Because journalism histories are so various, the best way to map them is to historicise
them. This strategy has the additional advantage of showing how the project of writing
histories of journalism has been part of a larger project of de ning and disciplining news
culture. For many scholars today, history provides and indispensable tool for critiquing
professional journalism by showing its contingency and entanglements

Journalism history emerged from two sources. The rst was a kind of general
intellectual interest in the evolution of means of communication. Many scholars trace
this interest back to Plato’s Phaedrus, which discusses cognitive issues related to
writing. Enlightenment thinkers in Europe were particularly attentive to how literacy, then
alphabetic literacy, and nally the printing press occasioned deep structural changes in
social, cultural, and political life. Twentieth-century thinkers like Harold Adams Innis and
Marshall McLuhan expressed the same outlook. In works of journalism history proper,
this outlook often appears as a tendency to emphasise the importance of machines in
shaping the course of journalism. Comprehensive histories often use the introduction of
new technologies, like the steam press or broadcasting, as narrative turning points, and
journalists’ autobiographies often dwell on the changes that occurred in newsroom
technology in the course of their subjects’ careers

The second source for journalism history was more occupational. As news-work
developed and professionalized, it constructed a history for itself by projecting its
identity backward into the past. So journalism history grew up with journalism, and it's
historical awareness is a feature of its actual development

GUTTENBERG etc

The invention of Printing Press has contributed immensely in the development of

Journalism. The history of Journalism would have been something different without the
invention of Printing Press. Although, newspapers were there before the invention of
Printing Press, but, Printing Press ended the wide spread gap between the mass and the
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 class. It made books and newspapers available for the masses, which earlier were
affordable to the elite class because of the time and cost involved in making it.

Johann Guttenberg is known as father of modern printing. He invented printing press in

1440 in Germany. Although, much had been done by the Chinese and Korean people in
the area of printing, before the invention of printing press, but it was Johann Guttenberg
who, perfected the printing press. Around A.D. 600, Chinese, started printing with wooden
blocks, which was mainly done on textiles and later on paper. After few years, moveable
metal typeface came into market. But printing with this typeface was a daunting task, as
for every new page, letters were supposed to be arranged again. It increased the cost of
printing and that is why earlier the books were available and affordable for elite class only.
It was Johann Guttenberg, who made books and other printed material available for the
masses.

Johann Guttenberg was born in Mainz in Germany. It is believed that he grew up learning
the art of goldsmith and blacksmith. He was a printer, who used to love metals. According
to historians, his family left Mainz due to some political reasons. As, Guttenberg was
skilled in metals, he invented the printing press in 1440. His invention is considered as a
very important invention of the modern era, which helped in the transmission of
knowledge, culture and heritage. His invention revolutionised the printing technology that
too, at a cheaper cost. He printed his rst book 42 line ‘Guttenberg Bible’ around 1455.
Guttenberg’s Bible is considered as the rst modern printed book in the World.

Back in the days printing of books, broadsheets, brochures and other printed materials
was a meticulous process. Thanks to Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of movable type in
1439, which brought revolution in printing. By this time, it was widely known across Europe
and America. The movable type allowed a faster printing of books which in turn helped to
spread knowledge and education to many people.

Since then, printing has come a long way, because of the technological advancements
made by people in the respective eld. Books and other publications today can now be
mass produced in a very short period of time while maintaining the quality of prints.

JOURNALISM IN POST-INDEPENDENCE INDI

During British period, there was an early demand for free press made by Raja Rammohan
Ray and British Journalists in India like James Silk Buckingham. As a result, newspapers
were rooted in the British territories by the administration, not allowing any criticism or
inconvenient or embarrassing news irrespective of the professional quality of the
newspaper

The 19th century marked the emergence of two other categories of newspapers. One
started by the Serampore Missionaries as the cultural arms of British imperialism,
attacking Indian religions and their philosophies and Indian culture. The other category
consisted of newspapers started by Indians

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Gradually these news papers became the tools of freedom movement and played an
active role-in India's cultural renaissance and reformation in the country. Indian
newspapers grew in both quality and quantity since the information and news needs of the
people also grew due to socio-cultural controversies of that period

Even after independence, the legacy of anti-colonialism continued to in uence Indian

media. India inherited from the British the combination of a private press and a
Government-controlled broadcasting system. Given the diversity of the press, it was
critically aware and, by and large, acted as a fourth estate in a edgling democracy, while
the electronic media was used for what came to be known as 'nation-building. In a vast,
geographically and culturally diverse country with 16 of cial languages and more than 800
dialects, and great disparity in the levels of development. National media had a crucial role
to play to develop a sense of Indian-ness.

In India, popular journalism grew from the revolt of the subject class. Newspapers were a
vehicle of the freedom struggle. Most media owners of the 50's had their roots in the
freedom struggle. Indian journalism after independence continued to carry the hall mark of
missionary work, as though the social responsibility associated with publishing outweighed
all commercial considerations

The need for systematic changes in the format or design of the newspapers was not felt
for a long time. However, there were global technology shifts. In the '70s, hot metal printing
gave way to offset technology and the colour printing became cheap

Emergency and Pres

It has now become a well- known fact that during the emergency Indira Gandhi had a rm
grip on the Indian mass media. This was especially true since radio and television in India
are government owned and operated; for Indira, there was the simple matter of controlling
the newspapers in order to achieve a total control of the mass media. She used at least
three methods in manipulating the newspapers:

1) Allocation of government advertising

The Indian newspapers depend a great deal on governmental advertising; without such
revenues, it would be dif cult for many Indian newspapers to stay in business.
Unfortunately, this has kept many of them vulnerable to government manipulation. The
large scale possibility of such manipulation, however, was not fully demonstrated until
Indira Gandhi's government decided to take advantage of this unique circumstance. In the
beginning of censorship, when a few leading newspapers such as The Indian Express and
The Statesman refused to abide the governmental censorship, the government withdrew
its advertising support from these newspapers. Later on, this type of nancial castigation
was used on several other rebellious newspapers.

2) Shotgun merger of the news agencies

The second and perhaps more profound way of manipulating the news ow resulted from
the governmental decision to bring about a shot-gun merger of the four privately-owned
Indian news agencies; the main purpose behind this merger was to alter the management
and control of the Indian news agencies and thus to control much of the content of the
leading newspapers. Since these agencies had been acting as the gatekeepers of
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 information, it was essential for Indira Gandhi and her Information and Broadcasting
Minister, Mr. V.C. Shukla, to control the gatekeepers. To effect such a merger, the
government carried through various successful tactics. First of all, pressure was put on the
members of boards of these agencies. Then the nancial squeeze was applied to the
agencies themselves by withholding governmental subsidy. Thirdly, the government
introduced the threat of cutting-off the teleprinter services, the lifelines of a news agency.
For example, the government-owned Post and Telegraph Department ordered to impose a
suspension of services to the United News of India if it resisted the merger. The
manipulation of these four news agencies was so effective that hardly a voice was raised
to resist the governmental per dy

3) Use of fear-arousal techniques on newspaper publishers, journalists and

individual shareholders

A third and an equally effective method applied by Indira Gandhi was to use fear-arousal
techniques on the newspaper publishers, editors, reporters and shareholders. Such
techniques were imposed by making false charges with regard to tax arrears,
imprisonment of publishers and their immediate the press, and removal of govern- mental
housing and other facilities for Delhi-based journalists

Post-Emergency era

Between 1977 and 1999, Indian daily circulations increased some 500%. According to the
Newspaper Association of India (NAI), India’s combined circulation of mostly small and
medium regional language newspapers is 11 times greater than all Indian similarly sized
English-language newspapers. After 1992, India’s television landscape, dominated by
state-controlled TV stations, was “invaded” by numerous indigenous and transnational
television channels (ZEE TV, in October 1992, kicked off the era of private television
broadcast- ing in India).

In 1995, television news channels were launched. In 2004, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India) started expressing concerns about cross-media ownership and a lack of
diversity. Media houses had entered into content-sharing arrangements and content
management across media platforms. Journalists increasingly became managers and
corporate executives at media outlets, and media owners’ control over editorial content
increased further than during post-emergency times.

Until the 1980s, Indian newspapers were treated as modest, small-pro t businesses. But
everything changed in the late 1990s, when public relations departments were established
in newspaper of ces. Newsrooms were now concerned with making signi cant pro ts, and
“paid news” and “private treaties,” bribes for positive coverage, ourished. The Indian
government, which sees paid news coverage as a serious threat to democracy, continues
to ght this practice. For example, in 2009, India’s Election Commission charged electoral
candidates for purchasing paid news during general elections. Although many such
candidates were found guilty and punished, this unauthorised activity continues. In 2010,
the Election Commission distributed guidelines and mechanisms to curb paid news. And in
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 May 2013, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued its 47th report investigating
paid news.

Scholars have severely criticised India’s television news channels for inadequately
covering disasters and tragedies, creating news rather than covering it, and generating
media-initiated investigations. For example, TV news coverage of the November 2008
Mumbai terrorist attacks was condemned for inadvertently providing security information to
terrorists. And in the December 2012 New Delhi gang-rape case, after a young woman
died of her injuries, media coverage took on an activist role by creating awareness about
violence against women. Finally, during the 2014 general elections, TV channels began
overtly endorsing candidates and taking sides on issues.

The Indian press continues to produce multiple editions and local supplements, to survive
circulation wars, and to participate in electronic news media ownership. The government
has also made it easier for newspapers to access foreign investments. Most newspapers,
including Indian-language newspapers, have started online editions easily accessible
through mobile phone apps. And such innovations continue. For example, in 2011, the
South Indian multimedia Eenadu Group launched a mobile newspaper. And in 2015, the
Rajsthan Patrika Group started Catch News, a multimedia digital platform news outlet.

A 2015 Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Indus- tries (FICCI) and
international consulting corporation KPMG report stated that rising literacy, growing
disposable income, brand conscious- ness, and strong commercial development in larger
cities have contributed to increased regional print media circulation. It also stated that
online reading behaviour studies have found only 35.4% of the total In- dian population
use the Internet and visit newspaper websites, and only about 10% of daily Web users turn
to newspaper sites every day. It add- ed that regional newspapers are conversing with
readers in their local languages, leading to a much higher growth rate in revenues
compared to India’s English-language dailies.

Since 2015, newspapers, news magazines, TV news, and social media have been
ourishing in India. The Indian television news market is crowded with diverse languages,
coverage, and presentation styles. Online newspapers are a reality, and the mainstream
media is actively using social media. Alternative media exist, but their scope and scale
remain largely unknown due to a lack of research. Mainstream news media tend to focus
far more on speed than on accuracy and social responsibility. And news sites provide
information and perspectives on Indian current affairs

JOURNALISM: TRADE OR PROFESSION

The key question in journalism education to this day is whether journalism should be
regarded as a trade or a profession. The main distinction between the two is the implicit
standing afforded to journalists and the educational background expected from them. A
trade is de ned as the habitual practice of an occupation. Regarding journalism as a
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 trade would require only vocational teaching needed “to perpetuate practice”, and on-
the-job training without prior study would suf ce.

If journalism demands to be a profession, then it would need at least a de ned

educational pathway to underpin this claim. However, as indicated above, journalists
come to their jobs from a great variety of educational backgrounds, and most of them
receive in-house training by the media organisation they join. This has led to the debate
about journalism education having been “framed as scholars versus practitioners”, and
has caused a mistrust between academy and industry that shows few signs of easing.
According to Deuze (2006),“journalism education […] must negotiate rather essentialist
self-perceptions of both industry and academy.” Deuze (2006) correctly points out that
this dichotomy between theory and practice “adds a level of complexity to our
understanding of journalism (and its education).

This dichotomy is also perceived as one of the key questions in journalism education in
tertiary institutions, with discussion centring on the weighting of subjects either towards
the scholarly or the practical. Yet this debate masks another, wider issue. When looking
at the theoretical subjects that are part of journalism studies, the entrenched ideological
positions of journalism education become apparent. To most in the Western world,
journalism—and hence journalism education—is inextricably linked to the political form
of democracy. The importance of this link is one of the as yet rarely debated key
questions of journalism education. So far journalism education has been seen as the
exclusive domain of democracies, but geopolitical changes and transitions in media
systems will force journalism scholars and educators alike to address this hallowed
view

Also, the Internet has challenged conventional notions of professionalism. On one hand,
an increased “communication autonomy” of citizens has cast journalistic work as an
“intervention” rather than a helpful conduit to information. On the other, the professional
ideals of objectivity and disinterestedness have been seen as a barrier to contentious
journalism. This has led to the concern that professionalisation can make journalism elitist
and exclusive rather than inclusive
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 UNIT I

Journalists and the organisations for which they work produce news. In other words, news
is both an individual product and an organisational product. Even freelance journalists—
journalists not employed by a media organisation—were dependent until recently on media
organisations for the distribution of their messages. The complex technologies that have
been used to distribute media messages have required resources that few individuals
controlled.

The Internet has changed much about the way news is produced and distributed.
Journalists now can do their work on their own and distribute their messages on their own.

The news organisations and news construction, for the most part, is grounded in the past,
when the journalist was weak and the news organisation was powerful. That is changing,
however, re ecting the shifts in the relationship of the news worker to news organisations.

ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM

News is that part of communication that keeps us informed of the changing events, issues,
and characters in the world outside. Though it may be interesting or even entertaining, the
foremost value of news is as a utility to empower the informed. The purpose of journalism
is thus to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible
decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments

The press performs a very important role as means of mass communication in the modern
world. The press tries to inform its reader objectively about what is happening in
their community, country and the world at large. To bring certain developments into focus,
editorial comments on the news are also given. Newspapers also play a very important
role in eliminating undesirable conditions prevailing in  society. Sometimes, newspapers
carry on campaigns for some highly desirable civic projects and serve society in this way

Informatio

Informing the audience news helps in informing people of what is going around them in the
world. It covers the entire serious topic that every individual has right to know for the better
living. This function includes all reports, news and happenings concerning the daily life. It
does not include any information involving or concerning the pursuit of leisure. But it does
cover all news regarding government politics, foreign affairs, weather, accident, business,
labour, education. This function consists mostly of matter, which is given, in news
broadcast on the radio and T.V. as well as in the news columns of the newspapers and
magazine

Interpretation of New

The need for interpreting and explaining the news in our day and age is readily manifold
because their own elds of knowledge baf e even the specialists at times. The ordinary
mortal caught in a maze of economics, science or invention needs to be led by the hand
through its intricacies. Accordingly, present day journalism sees to it that along with its
announcement of a fact, event or theory, the reader or listener also gets explanation,
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 background material interpretation and diagrams. These are all aimed at helping an
individual to achieve a better understanding of the signi cance of what he reads or hears

Entertainmen

Side by side with its more serious roles as a purveyor of information, interpreter and
moulder of opinion, journalism lays increasing emphasis on its function as an entertainer.
Under this Function can be included all types of ction like comic strips stories amusing
aspects of everyday life etc. It also includes factual material sports news, theatre reviews
and hobby columns, which deal with leisure. The entertainment function of the press is
very important. This function not only competes for space and time with either functions
but it can also exert indirect in uence and impart information incidentally.

It plays a vital role in selling newspapers and magazines by the millions. The sports pages,
comic strips, astrology columns advice to the lovelorn and crosswords are essential to the
average newspapers survival as a mass media

Advertisin

This function of the press can very easily be recognised because it is commercially
oriented. Sometimes, the advertisements also have some pubic service message under
the prestige advertisements regarding family planning, driving safely, childcare, health care
etc. The commercially oriented advertising seeks to promote the sale of their goods

Generally, people have to depend upon the press for the major share of their total news
information because even television newscasts cannot carry that much bulk, nor could the
television viewers assimilate it, if they did. Of course, information can be written and edited
in such a slanted fashion that there exerts more in uence than the printed editorial.

The entertainment function's greatest threat to good journalism is its competition against
information and in uence for media space and time and consumer attention. Addition of an
extra page of comic strips may add to circulation and accompanying advertising revenues,
thus enabling the newspaper to add editorial material, or it may simply oust a few columns
of news and commentary. Similarly, a second lovelorn column not only steals space from
signi cant offerings, but also tempts more readers away from the remaining substance

There is no doubt that information and in uence play an inevitable role in the success of
the largest general interest. For example, much space of Reader's Digest is devoted to
articles and opinion pieces, about government foreign affairs current morality issues, and
education. Advertising also plays a very important role in the success of running a mass
media. Advertising provides the largest part of the revenue to nance the most elaborate
technically sophisticated press system. In fact all sorts of daily newspapers, magazines;
publications depend on advertising revenue. Advertisement also supplies essential
marketing information to the public and helps information businessmen of changes within
their elds

Education Functio

The journalism / newspapers not only provide the information to the people but they also
educate people by providing guidance on various  .issues through the editorials and
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 column. The need for interpreting and explaining the news in our day and age is readily
manifold because their own eld of knowledge baf ed even the specialists at time.
Accordingly, the present day journalism see to it that, along with its announcement of a
fact, event or theory, the reader or listener also get explanation, background material,
interpretation and diagrams. These are all aimed at helping an individual to achieve a
better understanding of the signi cance of what they read or hear

News Function (extension of information

The most important and exacting function of journalism / newspaper is the provision of a
daily or periodical supply of news and all the news. The provision of news to the readers is
a basic concept and Ale newspaper journalism

The function includes all reports news and happenings concerning the daily life, it does
include any information involving or regarding Govt. politics, foreign affairs, weather,
accidents, business, education etc

Opinion for Motive

It means in uence the opinion of the readers through editorials, articles or certain special
features. In journalism people are not only informed, guided and entertained but they all
in uenced to have their opinion on certain issues. In certain cases, the opinion of people is
diverted to another direction, sometimes, to negative and sometimes to positive direction

Guidanc

From the earliest days journalism has sought to in uence mankind. Journalism
endeavours to sway the minds of men through the printed words, cartoons and pictures as
they appear in the newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and books and through the spoken
words over the air

Avowedly the newspaper strives to in uence its readers through its articles of opinion, its
editorial, its cartoons, and its signed column etc. By Journalism we mean collection and
editing of material of current interests for presentation through print media

Now-a-days Journalism developed into a full- edged social discipline and News is the
essence of Journalism. Journalism is actually the information, education and guidance as
such information is one of the constituent part of Journalism. It stands for writing for
newspapers or magazines. It is the communication of information through writing in
periodicals and newspapers
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 ORGANISATION AND STRUCTURE OF THE NEWSPAPE

Who does what in the newsroom

General reporter: Most reporters start their careers as general reporters. This may
change once their editor has evaluated their work. The general reporter normally starts
the day without knowing where he/she will be or what they will be reporting about. The
news editor will assign a story to the general reporter who will usually cover local news.
Often a general reporter gets assigned a story simply because there is nobody else to
do it

Beat reporter: The beat reporter works in a particular area or on a particular subject. A
good example of a beat reporter is the court or crime reporter. A beat reporter has to
know what is going on in their special beat. Mostly their stories will be about routine
[everyday] events on their beat, but they must constantly search for unusual stories. A
beat reporter has to try to scoop stories. Scoop means to get a major story ahead of
your competitors. As a beat reporter you will be held responsible if, on the other hand,
your competitors scoop you. (More under ‘the concept of Beat’ below

News editor: The news editor controls the news desk which is the heart of the
newsroom. All news is gathered there. Editors of other sections like sports, business
and entertainment all liaise [link up] with the news editor. The news editor supervises
the general reporters

Chief sub-editor: The chief sub-editor (usually just called chief sub) is in charge of the
copy desk. The copy desk is where the pages of the newspaper are designed and the
different stories are edited and arranged on the pages. Under the chief sub are the sub-
editors (subs), who improve and polish stories. They must verify facts [that is, check
whether facts mentioned are correct or not] and check the spelling of names and
addresses. They also have to write headlines for all the stories. The chief sub enforces
deadlines to ensure that the newspaper is produced on time

How does a story get from the reporter to the page

A story starts with the reporter collecting all the facts, writing the story and then
checking the story for accuracy. The reporter then passes the story to the news editor,
who edits it and may suggest changes if necessary. The news editor then either returns
the story to the reporter or sends it to the chief sub-editor

The chief sub looks at the page layout plan and decides where the story will be places
in the newspaper. The chief sub then calculates how long the story must be and how big
the headline must be. After this, the chief sub passes it on to the sub-editor

The sub-editor checks the story to ensure it is accurate and clear and is the correct size.
If necessary, the sub-editor will also polish the writing to ensure that the story reads
better. The sub-editor writes a suitable headline as well as a caption for any pictures or
illustrations accompanying the story. The story then goes back to the chief sub for nal
checking

Once the chief sub is satis ed that the whole page is complete and correct, the page is
sent to production. The following diagram shows the way copy [the written stories]
moves through the newsroom
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 Other department

A newspaper is a business and like other businesses has to make a pro t for its
shareholders. Several other departments carry out the business functions of the
newspaper

Administration: The administration department is responsible for important business

functions of the newspaper. For example, it deals with salaries and wages, debtors and
creditors, purchasing and also human resources

Advertising: Most successful newspapers get most of their income from advertising
sales and most newspapers actually consist of up to 60 per cent advertising. Without
advertising, very few newspapers could survive. Newspapers usually have two types of
advertising: display and classi ed. Display advertisements are various sizes and are
distributed throughout the newspaper, whereas the classi ed advertisements are small
advertisements arranged in columns under different subjects in a special classi ed
section of the newspaper

Circulation: The circulation department has the job of distributing the newspaper i.e.
getting into the hands of the readers. Copy sales come second to advertising sales in
earning income for the newspaper

Production: Production is the department where the newspaper is nally put together
and printed

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT AND CONTEN

An editorial is an article that presents the newspaper's opinion on an issue. It is written by

or under the direction of the editor of a newspaper or magazine, or a statement broadcast
on radio or television. Editorials give opinions on important social, political, economic, or
legal issues of the day and intend to persuade readers to agree to a particular point of
view. An editorial, printed on the editorial page of newspapers, is an example of persuasive
writing and many of the suggestions

Editorials re ect the views of the owners, managers or board of directors of media
companies. Furthermore, editorials usually do not shy from controversy, in the hope of not
only presenting the issues to the reading public, but also of drawing response from the
public and attracting new readership in the competitive marketplace.

Editorial Structure

An editorial is similar to an essay in that it focuses on a speci c issue or topic, offers a

thesis, and provides evidence and supporting arguments to convince its readers. The title
clearly identi es the topic; the introductory statement includes the writer’s view on the
issue; the body provides supporting evidence and examples; and the conclusion restates
the writer’s view and provides a nal appeal for the reader to agree to that view.

It re ects the majority vote of the editorial board, the governing body of the newspaper
made up of editors and business managers. It is usually unsigned. Much in the same
manner of a lawyer, editorial writers build on an argument and try to persuade readers to
think the same way they do. Editorials are meant to in uence public opinion, promote
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 critical thinking, and sometimes cause people to take action on an issue. In essence, an
editorial is an opinionated news story

1.  Explain or interpret: Editors often use these editorials to explain the way the
newspaper covered a sensitive or controversial subject. School newspapers may explain
new school rules or a particular student-body effort like a food drive.

2.  Criticise:  These editorials constructively criticise actions, decisions or situations while
providing solutions to the problem identi ed. Immediate purpose is to get readers to see
the problem, not the solution.

3.  Persuade:  Editorials of persuasion aim to immediately see the solution, not the
problem. From the rst paragraph, readers will be encouraged to take a speci c, positive
action. Political endorsements are good examples of editorials of persuasion.

4.  Praise:  These editorials commend people and organisations for something done well.
They are not as common as the other three

How should an editorial be written?

Avoid moralising editorials. They tend to preach and turn the reader off. Whatever type of
editorial you write, it must be built around a logical framework. It must have a/an:

• Introduction: To get the reader’s attention.

• Body: To persuade the reader.

• Conclusion: To prompt the reader into action—vote, attend a rally, support

the troops, write letters, etc.

The editorial should be written in third person and should be forceful, never condescending
or preachy. Because the editorial is the of cial stance (position) of the newspaper, any
reference to the person writing the editorial would be inappropriate. Avoid phrases such as
in my opinion or I think. Some publications allow the use of we, as in “We believe the time
for a change is here.” However, the statement might be stronger to say “The Courier staff
believes it is time for a change.”

Quotes do not play a large role in editorials. Although a quote or two may be used for
effect.

Editorials of Persuasion:

It is crucial that the editorial show evidence that the writer understands the issue, that he
or she is aware of all sides of the question and understands why the different sides feel the
way they do. In the body of the editorial, the writer should make a strong case for the
position the staff is taking, then bring in some points from the opposition’s viewpoint, and
shoot them down with powerful arguments. If the opposing side is not mentioned, it will
appear that the staff might not have been aware of opposing viewpoints, and the message
of the editorial would not be as strong.

An effective formula for editorial writing is SPECS.

State the problem

Position on the problem

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 Evidence to support the position;

Conclusions: Who’s affected and how;

Solutions to the problem: At least two.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD EDITORIAL

1. Clarity: Precise conveyance of idea

2. Colour: Using words that evoke image

3. Concreteness: Being speci

4. Economy: Making every word coun

5. Tone: The general impression of the writin

6. Tempo: The pace (how the writing moves-  uency

7. Variety: Vary word choice, sentences, length, and sentence structur

THE CONCEPT OF BEAT

Integrated into the discussion of news routines is the concept of news beats. News
organisations generally organise themselves so as to be able to observe events and
gather the raw materials that are used to produce news.

The origins of the term “beat” as used to describe the organisational structure of news
gathering are not known. One possibility is that the term is borrowed from police work,
where police of cers are assigned geographical areas or beats that they cover in a routine
way. In fact, one dictionary de nition of the word “beat” is “a habitual path or round of duty:
as a policeman’s beat”.

The literature examining the construction of news and news routines has given extensive
attention to beats. For Tuchman (1978), news organisations use a “news net” as a means
of acquiring the raw materials that become news. The net, she argues, was originally
designed for “catching appropriate stories available at centralised locations”. It assumes
that the audiences of news are interested in occurrences at these locations, that they are
concerned with the activities of speci c organisations, and that they are interested in
speci c topics.

For these reasons, Tuchman argues, the news net is “ ung through space, focuses upon
speci c organisations, and highlights topics”. Of these three methods of dispersing
reporters, geographic territoriality is most important. A beat, for Tuchman, is a method of
dispersing reporters to organisations associated with the generation of news and holding
centralised information.
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 Fishman (1980), in his now-classic observational study of news gathering, noted that the
beat system of news coverage was so widespread when he did his study in the late 1970s
that not using beats was a distinctive feature of being an experimental, alternative, or
underground newspaper. In Fishman’s view, the beat is a journalist’s concept, grounded in
the actual working world of reporters. Beats have a history in the news organisation that
outlives the histories of the individuals who work the beats. Superiors assign reporters to
their beats, and, while the reporter is responsible for, and has jurisdiction over, covering
the beat, the reporter does not own that beat. The beat is a domain of activities occurring
outside the newsroom consisting of something more than random assortments of
activities. The beat is a social setting to which the reporter belongs. The reporter becomes
part of the network of social relations which is the beat. In Fishman’s view, beats have both
a topical and territorial character. Journalists talk about their beats as places to go and
people to see and as a series of topics one is responsible for covering.

The key process in news creation is story suggestion. Reporters have the responsibility for
thinking up story ideas. To this end, they are required to “keep up with what is going on in
the beats they patrol or in the areas of the country assigned to their bureaus, and they are
evaluated in part by their ability to suggest suitable stories”. Other staff members, including
top editors and producers, are also expected to come up with story ideas, and non-
journalists are encouraged to do so as well

EDITORIAL CARTOONS: Writing or drawing critically

If a politician in your country does something controversial, such as voting for a law or
bill that would seem contrary to their normal behaviour, or having sex with a sheep,
there are several courses of action available to the critic who wishes to express
themselves in print. Two of these, however, involve a rudimentary grasp of the written
word.

1. Using expertise or applied knowledge, examine the issue and then deconstruct it in
a dispassionate way, making cogent observations, arguments and conclusions
based upon research and turning them into an informed editorial.
2. Use your minimal writing ability and inherent bias to trivialise details of the issue and
shit out an uneven, illogical criticism more tted for a tabloid than a respected
journalistic publication, thereby creating an op-ed piece.
3. Draw a funny picture and have it have something vaguely to do with the issue:
questionably pithy statement optional. Voila! The political cartoon is at hand

Political cartoons thrive on hyperbole and exaggeration, and, to a lesser degree, humour.
Symbolism is also heavily used. Symbolism also allows political cartoons to reach a
broader audience: while people with college educations might nearly giggle when a
cartoon Jack Abramoff gives a sack of money to an elephant, illiterate high-school
dropouts might nearly chuckle at the thought of giving an elephant a sack of money.

Political cartoons typically feature one or more grossly deformed caricatures of well-known
politicians or public gures engaged in a static, easy-to-draw situation that distracts the
reader very little from the insightful political commentary. These situations include
politicians giving speeches, politicians talking with one another, and politicians talking to
someone else.

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REVIEW WRITIN

A review is not a report. Its primary function is to be critical. Although it does contain
factual information on which the writer’s opinion is based, the focus should be on the
elements the reporter found to be worthy of mentioning.

What should a review do?

• Make sense to the reader, whether or not he/she saw the movie, attended the play,
or listened to the music.

• Extend one’s appreciation of the performance.

• Convey honest and fair criticism, pro or con. (Usually a good review includes both 

elements, although not necessarily in balance.)

• Offer a unique perspective, one re ecting the production as a whole, and one
stressing a signi cant, fresh angle.

• Cite tangible, observable evidence for all conclusions.

• Build on accurate observation and appropriate reporting (listening, watching,

reading-- often more than once--as well as interviewing background sources).

• Make the reader feel, “That’s right! That’s what I thought or felt even though I
couldn’t express my reactions in those words.”

How should a review be written?

• Combine elements of feature writing and of opinion writing. Use colorful, sight-
sound details. Express a meaningful, clear viewpoint.

• Begin with a novelty (feature) lead.

• Give the writer’s overall impression of the art form being reviewed early.

• Organise the experience in a meaningful way, often by artistic concerns (effect,

style, tone, acting, staging, sound quality), rather than in a chronological order.

• Include details to support the criticisms, both good and bad.

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 • Re ect artistic sensitivity and avoid condescending manners and simplistic

statements (It was fantastic...beautiful...brilliant...etc). Show your reader how it was
fantastic, beautiful or brilliant.

• Use transitions to lead reader from one part of the story to the next.

• Conclude with paragraph that ties the review together which repeats a key element
from the lead.

What kinds of art forms can be reviewed?

• Dram

• Music (concerts, albums

• Art (painting, sculpture, architecture, photography) Film, Media (TV , radio

• Publications (books, periodicals

• Restaurant

• Trave

• Software (games, new programs)

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IMPORTANCE OF GRAMMAR IN JOURNALISM (AND EVERYTHING

• The quickest way to lose credibility with your reader is to have a story full of
grammatical errors.

• Journalists often rely on subeditors to ‘clean up’ their mistakes, but this should not
be the case. Subeditors have a heavy workload and should not be expected to x
basic mistakes. They also might not spot a mistake before it goes to print.

• Always run a spell-check before you submit your work, but do not automatically
accept every correction offered by your computer.

• When in doubt, read it aloud. You might ‘hear’ a mistake that you could not see.

• Avoid long, complicated sentences. They often introduce unnecessary errors, and
also put the reader of

The main culprits

1. Incorrect: The couple were waiting for the ordeal to end.

2. Correct: The couple was waiting for the ordeal to end.

3. Incorrect: Either of the two players are on the nal list.

4. Correct: Either of the two players is on the nal list.

5. Incorrect: The organisation is reconsidering it’s position.

6. Correct: The organisation is reconsidering its position.

7. Incorrect: Its now up to the weather to play along. 


8. Correct: It’s now up to the weather to play along.

9. Incorrect: There were less people at the match.

10. Correct: There were fewer people at the match.

11. Incorrect: I had plans for lunch, however, they were cancelled.

12. Correct: I had plans for lunch. However, they were cancelled.

13. Incorrect: There house is over their, and they happy with it.

14. Correct: Their house is over there, and they’re happy with it.

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FACT VS OPINIO

The average person is bombarded with thousands of messages every day—from the
television, the radio, billboards, the Internet, telephone calls, the intercom, mail—we often
feel we are in information overload. However, many of the messages do not pertain to us,
so we do not pay attention to them. It deals with factual messages that are important to
readers because they are newsworthy—they contain information which will enable them to
make better decisions in their lives or they contain information which is interesting to them.
These are the messages that make up what we call “news.

Journalists are constantly faced with problems of reporting facts and opinions. They must
be able to distinguish between them. This is important in both gathering and writing news.
It affects how you deal with anything you are told and also how you pass the information
on to your readers or listeners

A fact can be de ned as something said to have happened or supposed to true. However
as a journalist, you need to know how reliable statements are before you can report them
as facts. This determines how you present them to your readers or listeners

There are three kinds of facts which you have to deal with as a journalist. There are facts
which have been proved to be true; facts which are probably true though they have not
been proved; and facts which could be true, although they appear to be lies

Proven fact

These are facts which are proved and accepted as true by everyone. They include such
statements as "The world is round" or “Ramnath Kovind is President of India”. You could
check these facts yourself, but they are so universally accepted as true that you do not
need to. Of course, facts can change. It is a proven fact that Kovind is President at the
time this paragraph is being written, but he will one day be succeeded by somebody else.
When he is, the fact will become untrue, but for the moment it is a proven, accepted fact

You can rely on proven facts and report them to your readers or listeners with con dence.
They do not depend for their truth on who said them, so you do not need to attribute them

Probable fact

These are statements which it seems reasonable to believe are true, but you are not able
to prove yourself, either because you do not have access to the information or because
you do not have time to dig for proof (but not because you are too lazy to check). Probable
facts include statements by people who are in a position to know the truth and who have
no obvious reason to tell a lie. If the Finance Minister tells Parliament that ₹10 million was
raised from taxes last year, you can treat this as a probable fact

These are not, however, the same as proven facts. Although they are probably true, there
is a chance that they might be wrong, either because a mistake has been made or
because someone lied. Because this doubt exists, we must attribute probable facts to the
people who provide them

Probable lie
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 People occasionally make statements which seem on the surface to be untrue, but which
might just be true. A claim that "The Prime Minister has secretly married a sixteen-year-old
fashion model" may seem highly unlikely, but it just might be true

You must always check such statements before using them, and never use them without
con rming them rst. Once you have checked that they are true, you do not need to
attribute them. They have become proven facts. Of course, if you nd they are untrue, you
must not use them

If you have to report a known lie – for example, when reporting evidence presented in a
court case – you must attribute the statements and you should also present the alternative
counter view where and when it is given. We will talk more about this shortly

Opinion

Opinions are different from facts. An opinion is a conclusion reached by someone after
looking at the facts. Opinions are based on what people believe to be facts. This can
include probable facts and even probable lies, although few people will knowingly give an
opinion based on a proven lie

One person's probable fact can be seen by another person as a probable lie. This is one
reason why people have differences of opinion

Although an opinion can be any statement of what a person believes to be true (as distinct
from a proven fact), for journalists there are two main categories of opinions

Veri able opinio

These are conclusions which can be veri ed (shown to be true) or shown to be false.
People who predict the results of horse races draw conclusions from what they know
about horses and racing. For instance some may say that Shillong Lajong FC will win the
coming I-league. It is their opinion. Once the game is over, that opinion is proved to be
either correct or incorrect, depending on whether Shillong wins or loses

Although people usually base their opinions on facts, there is always a danger that they
can reach the wrong conclusion. They might have based their opinion on facts which are
themselves untrue (such as Shillong Lajong's tness); they might have failed to consider a
relevant fact (the ground was muddy and Shillong Lajong players runs best on rm
ground) or they might have reached the wrong conclusion because of a gap in the logic
they used to think it through (Shillong Lajong had a strong name, so was bound to win)

You must always treat veri able opinions as if they could be wrong. You must always
attribute them to the person who gave them

Expert opinio

It is worth mentioning here a special category of opinion we call expert opinion. Experts
can give their opinion on an issue, based on their special knowledge of the facts. A
pathologist gives an expert opinion when she tells an inquest that she believes a person
was killed before being thrown in a river. She has examined the body and found very little
water in the lungs. Unless there is proof of what happened, this must remain an opinion
and be attributed to the pathologist. The opinion may later be veri ed when the killer
confesses and describes what happened
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The best kind of expert opinion is one in which the expert keeps their own personal
feelings out of their conclusions. They look at the facts as they see them, and draw a
conclusion based only on those facts

However, even opinion from an impartial expert must be attributed, so that your readers or
listeners can judge the likely truth or otherwise of what they say

Personal opinio

Personal opinions are the conclusions someone reaches based partly on facts and partly
on what they already believe

Personal opinions can be given by people just because they are asked. If you conduct
a vox pop with people on the street, asking what they think about capital punishment, they
will give you their personal opinion

Personal opinions which are based on beliefs or values which a person already has are
called value judgments

These are opinions of what is good or bad and advice on what other people should do
about something. For example, a socialist might give the opinion that a new tax on the rich
is a good thing; a rich person might give the opinion that it is a bad thing. To understand
value judgments, your readers or listeners need to know who is making them and why.
Such opinions must be attributed

As a journalist, you are likely to encounter a lot of people who want to express their
personal opinion in order to impress people and to affect other people's attitudes. They will
see your newspaper, radio or television station as a useful way of getting their personal
opinions across to people. The most obvious examples of this are people such as
politicians, who believe they know what is right or wrong for others. They need to get their
opinions to the people, to gain their support. The prime minister who says that his
government is good for the people is expressing a value judgment. If he says it often
enough, people will believe that it is true, whether or not it is based on fact

Even experts can make value judgments, although this is quite distinct from an impartial
opinion based only on known facts. An expert who gives a personal opinion may be better
informed than many other people on that topic, but their opinion is still just a value
judgment, based on their own beliefs

Why distinguish facts from opinions

People use information in all sorts of ways. The most important way is to learn about the
world around them and their place in it. They can then decide on what to do. They can use
information on a tin of sh to choose whether to buy that brand or another.

In order to do something with information, people need to know whether or not it is true.
They use facts to reach conclusions about things, to make their own opinions.

Reporting people's opinions is useful to your readers or listeners. Hearing an opinion on

an issue might stimulate them to think about the issue themselves. If they hear a variety of
different opinions, they can use this information to build up their own ideas
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 They can also use other people's opinions as models for their own. If they read about
someone expressing an opinion they agree with, they might adopt that opinion for
themselves.

People use both facts and opinions when they are making decisions. Whereas we
generally accept facts whoever states them (assuming, of course, that they trust the
person to speak honestly), we judge an opinion by the person who expresses it

UNIT II

HARD AND SOFT NEW

Hard news and soft news are considered the two major types of  newsstories available.
News is often categorised by reporters as “hard news,” hard-hitting factual information of
great importance to a majority of people, very timely and very consequential—or “soft
news,” information which may be interesting to a majority of people but which may not
have the importance of “hard news.”

“Hard news” includes information about medical or scienti c breakthroughs which could be
vitally important to the reading audience. However, that information may be detailed and
statistical and dif cult to understand. It takes someone with a specialised knowledge of the
facts to write a “hard news” story that can be understood by a general audience. It could
be said that it is “hard news” because it is hard to write.

“Soft news,” on the other hand, may have more entertainment value to the reader. It could
include pro les of interesting people, perhaps some who are tied to a “hard news” story in
the same issue—the doctor or scientist who discovered a new technique, for instance. It
could be a how-to article, or an article about people or events in the entertainment
industry. “Soft news” may be interesting to a large number of people, but its importance is
relatively minor, compared to the information in a “hard news” story.

Up-to-the-minute news and events that require immediate reporting are considered hard
while features and news that is considered background information or human-interest are
thought of as soft news. Subject matter that is usually considered hard news
includes: Politics, war, economics, and crime. On the ip side, the arts, entertainment and
lifestyle stories are considered to be soft news in nature

With today’s trend of packaging related information with the main story, “hard news” and
“soft news” are often packaged together. For instance, a very technical article on a
scienti c breakthrough, which would be classi ed as “hard news”, may be packaged with a
pro le of the scientist who discovered the new procedure, a time-line of the steps leading
to the discovery, and other sidebars which help to tell the story. The sidebars would be
more “soft news” than “hard news.”

Soft and Hard News may overla

What de nes hard news isn't always about the subject matter. Some might call a news
story hard news because it is heavily reported—even though it is a subject matter
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 considered softer (like entertainment). It is possible to see news features that may be
considered both hard and soft, such as a story about the business dealings and private life
of a successful media mogul, leaving some to wonder if it is a business or a lifestyle story.
Or possibly a story on major style or renovation trends affecting the sale and cost of
homes in a booming housing market which again, is a blend of lifestyle and business

The major difference between hard and soft news is the tone in which the story is
presented. Hard news usually takes on a factual approach that explains what happened,
who the main people involved were and where and when everything happened and why

Soft news stories can be presented in a variety of ways, but they usually try to entertain or
advise the reader in some way. Listicles, like "Top 10 Food joints in Indore" are considered
soft news, as are more in-depth entertainment features, such as the lives and scandals of
famous politicians

It is important to note that even though some stories may be considered hard news in
style, they may use a soft lead-in to capture the reader's interest (and heart)

In general, soft news requires a different approach to lead writing and are often called
delayed leads because they start telling a story before getting to the main facts. Soft-news
lead-ins tend to be narrative or anecdotal in nature, where they tell a story instead of
stating important facts

Feature stories (soft stories that are a little longer and more re ective) often use soft lead-
ins and use more descriptive and colourful language before probing further. Such stories
begin with setting the tone and introducing the reader to the atmosphere surrounding the
story, before jumping into the who, what, when, where and whys. The story may then be
nished up with a conclusion such as those of more traditional structures of storytelling

JOURNALISTIC WRITING FORMA

How to report a News story

1. The Five ‘W’s (and the ‘H’)

This is the crux of all news. You need to know these things:

Who? What? Where? When? Why

(How?)

A good news story provides answers to each of these questions. For example, if you’re
writing a story about a new database you’ll need to answer questions like:

• What is it? Is it the rst of its kind?

• Who created it? Who else is involved? Who will maintain it? Who will use it? 

• Where is it based? Are there any partners based anywhere else? Where will the
users come from? 

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 • When is it released? How long have they been preparing? 


• Why has it been created? What is the need for it? 

• How does it t into the bigger picture of other resources? How can people start to
make use of it? How does it ll a gap in the market? How will it affect the science
people are doing? 


2. The Inverted Pyramid

A good journalist puts the most important facts at the beginning and works ‘down’ from
there. Ideally, the rst paragraph should
contain enough information to give the
reader a good overview of the entire story.
The rest of the article explains and
expands on the beginning.

In the story about the baby, most of the

answers to the ve ‘W’s appear in the rst
sentence, known as the lead.

Who: a baby. What: born. Where: on a

London bus. When: in rush hour.


A good approach is to assume that the

story might be cut off at any point due to
space limitations. Does the story work if
the editor only decides to include the rst
two paragraphs? If not, re-arrange it so
that it does.

The actual news is buried, if you can be bothered to read that far

3. People and what they sa

News stories are really all about how people are affected. A dry story can become much
more interesting and relevant when it is targeted towards the audience and how they
could bene t.

Try to quote people. It adds a personal touch to the story, and you know the journalist
has actually spoken to the people involved, and – most importantly – it makes the story
more interesting and readable.

4. Angl

Most stories can be presented using a particular angle or ‘slant’. It can help make the
purpose of the story clear and give it focus.

To nd an angle, try to pinpoint the most unusual or interesting aspect of the story.

5. Keep it simple – keep it tigh

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 Don’t make the mistake of QUOTE

thinking that by using
jargon, formal language,
complicated sentences and
going into great detail,
you’re making your story
sound important! It just
makes it boring. Report the
pertinent facts in a
language that can be
understood by everybody.
Use an analogy if it helps to
explain a concept better.
COMPONENTS OF A
NEWS STOR
1. The Headline:  The
headline is a one or two
Quotes are a fundamental part of the journalism industry, since stories are
built upon what people have said. They also add lustre to any story which
might appear dull without those ‘voices’ to infuse the writing with a sense
of humanity and personality. This means it is vital to use them correctly, or
your story will lose credibility and your writing will appear as a lifeless
block of text.
The basic rules of using quotes:
• Avoid repeating information by using direct and indirect speech
about the same thing. For example, it is redundant to write: 

Crime has soared on campus, but the chancellor says it is not the
university’s fault. 

“It is not the university’s fault,” he says.
• Remember: Direct speech often sparkles more than indirect
speech, and maintains the accuracy of what someone said. It is,
however, tedious if the entire story is made up of direct quotes.

line summary of the

• In most cases, the word “said” or “says” is preferable with direct
contents of the news speech so as to avoid bias by the journalist.
story, in larger type, that
tells readers what the
story is about .  Headlines act as an index of the contents of the newspaper, and a
summary of the information in its stories

2. The Lead: The lead is usually de ned as the rst sentence of a news story, sometimes
as the rst few sentences. The lead is the beginning of a story. The lead on a hard
news story is often called a  summary lead.  Lead should contain the most important
facts of the story - at least some of the Five Ws. The ideal lead is short - no more
than  25  or 30 words. Leads should be "tight" - that is, written with economy.  A news
story with a strong lead is more likely to be read. (Read further the header ‘Lead’
below)

3. The Backup Quote:  Most news stories, except the briefest of briefs, should have a
backup quote placed soon after the lead. Ideally, the backup quote - attributed to
comprehensible and entertaining way.

4. Attribution: All news stories require attribution .  Attribution is the explanation of the
source of the information in the news story. Attribution allows the reader to judge for
herself whether the facts set out in the story have merit. The best stories contain lots of
quotes - and all quotes have attribution.  A news story without attribution is worthless.
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 5. Reaction. All news stories that contain controversial statements, should have reaction
- the comments of someone who is familiar with the situation, or of someone with an
alternative view of the main thesis of the story. A representative of the government
should have the opportunity to respond. Fairness requires reaction

6. The Nut Graph.  A nut graph informs readers of the focus of the story. The lead will
serve the same purpose as the nut graph.   A nut graph is essential to set out for the
reader what is going on

7. Background. Most stories need some background for the reader to understand what's
going on.. The more complicated the story, the more pressing the need for
background. Background helps explain the action

8. The Ending.  Sometimes writers end a story with a reference to future action that is
expected
.

 LEA

Summary lead/lede


The rst paragraph of a news story, or the lead (sometimes spelled lede), is a concise
summary statement of the most important or most interesting of the 5 Ws and H, usually
giving the information about what happened or will happen. Other information may
include who is involved and why or how it happened.


The lead is the most important part of the story. The rst three or four words of the lead
should capture the reader’s attention. They should be concrete informational words.
Readers are busy people, and if a lead does not grab their attention with the rst few
words, the story does not get a second chance in most cases. Openers such as “There
was”, “There will be” or “There is” will not grab readers’ attention. Likewise, empty words
such as “a,” “an,” and “the” do nothing to grab the readers’ attention.


Poor Lead: There will be a meeting of the Student Council homecoming committee next
Tuesday after school.


Better: Student Council’s homecoming committee will meet Tuesday after school.


The second lead lets the reader know right away what the story is about.


The lead should give the readers the most important answers to the questions posed by
the 5 Ws and H, but should not overwhelm them with information. Not all facts should
be placed in the lead; less important information should go into the body of the story. 

The summary lead usually features one of the Ws or H and focuses in on that fact.
Modern reporters try to focus on the “How” or the “Why” if they are relevant to the story.
Some leads focus on the “What,” and in cases where the “Who” overshadows the
“What,” that information will be used. Unless the “When” or the “Where” are extremely
important or extremely unusual, they are usually not featured in the lead.


Here are some examples of leads featuring the various Ws and H:

•  What lead: Finding a solution to the nation’s economic woes will be a top priority
for the nation’s governors at their national conference this week in Boca Raton, Fla.

•  Who lead: Senior class president Susan Jones will be featured speaker at
Tuesday’s weekly Teens Who Care meeting in the Central High School auditorium.

•  Where lead: Under the same shady branches of the huge live oak where he had
his rst picnic with Gladys more than 60 years ago and where he married her three
years later, the family of John Bloom will lay his body to rest on Wednesday
morning.

•  When lead: Following a decade of struggling to pay the electric bill, provide braces
for the teeth of his six children, and keep enough food in the house for his growing
family while his inventions, one after the other, opped, Sam Matthews has nally
hit on the invention that may set him up for a lifetime.
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 •  Why lead: Because recent ooding destroyed much of the underground tunnel
system downtown, all major entrances to the tunnel have been sealed off while
repairs are made.

•  How lead: By exercising for 30 minutes three times a week and limiting her caloric
intake to 1000 calories a day, science teacher Beth Phillips went from a size 32 to a
size 6 in less than a year.

Lead writing checklist:

• The summary lead is short, usually no more than 25 words. If it is longer, it is broken into
two or more sentences

• The lead begins with the most important or most interesting information, featuring the
most relevant of the Ws and H.

• The lead should be able to stand alone and make the reader understand the most
important information about a news situation. It should be written in standard
grammatical form

• The lead should not overwhelm the reader with information. Save some facts for the
body of the story.

• The lead should avoid beginning with a question

• The lead should avoid beginning with a direct quotation

• The lead keeps the subject and verb close together

• The lead is written in active voice

• The lead uses speci c, interest-arousing words rather than generic terms (oak rather
than tree, stumbled rather than walked clumsily).

OTHER TYPES

Descriptive Lead: As the name suggests, this type of lead goes into great detail to
describe the scene or person that makes up the subject of the story. The idea is to create a
visual impact. It describes how an event happened rather than simply telling what the
event is about

Punch Lead: It uses strong verbs and short sentences that are meant to create an impact.
The purpose of this type of lead is to give a jolt so that the reader take note

Contrast Lead: This lead uses two different thoughts or two sentences that are exactly
opposite to each other in the opening paragraph to make a strong statement. The contrast
in the lead is employed to drive home the point about a particular event, person or
.

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 happening. For eg pitting joy against sorrow, new against old, tragedy against happiness
are some of the ways to do it.

Anecdotal Lead: An interesting anecdote can pull the reader’s attention which statistics or
straight narration of fact necessarily wont. This kid is rarely used for breaking news but
works well for both soft stores and news-based features.

Quotation lead: Quotes frequently are the essential documentation for a lead and should
be used immediately after a paraphrase that summarises them. Here paraphrasing the
verbatim quotation permits the removal of unnecessary words. But if a verbatim quotation
itself is very important or interesting, it can be the lead itself. This lead would add an
element of interest such as drama, pathos, humour, astonishment, or some other factor
that will reach out to the reader.

Question lead: Many editors dislike question lead on the basis that people read
newspapers to get answers, and not to be asked questions. But if the question is
provocative, it may be used as a lead.

'You' lead (or Direct Address lead): The `You' lead is intended to make a personal
appeal to the reader involved in a complicated situation. The second-person approach
reaches out to involve the reader and capture his/her attention. Here is an example, fairly
typical of a trend toward consumerism in the news:

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- If you are one of 30 million Americans working for a company with
a private pension plan, Congress has given you a new bill of rights. It is the Employment
Retirement Income Security Act and it promises that if you have worked long enough to
earn a pension, you will receive one at retirement age. Nothing -- including bankruptcy,
plant closings, dismissal or resignation -- can stand in the way.

Blind identi cation lead: If the person concerned is not well known in the community, his/
her name is less important than other salient facts that identify the person. eg. "a 80-year-
old woman" instead of her name.

A police inspector's son was attacked with a knife by some miscreants on Mount Road this
evening

May leads do not really into particular categories but use the features of different types of
leads to create a unique beginning
.

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 FEATURE STORIES

A feature story is a creative, sometimes subjective article designed primarily to entertain

and to inform readers of an event, a situation or an aspect of life

Feature stories are usually longer than news reports and columns and are written about a
range of topics including society, health, food, politics, entertainment, individuals, the
environment, sport, economics and current issues, etc.

Following are some of the most important characteristics of feature stories

1. They may inform, instruct and advise, but their primary purpose is to entertain the
readers. They are usually read after the news and in leisure moments.
2. They are factual, and require reporting
3. They may or may not be timely. If they are timely and related to a current news
event, they are likely to appeal more to readers
4. They may be written in any form and style. The only criterion is that the form and
style be appropriate to the contents and purpose of the story
5. They permit the reporter to use his/her knowledge and ingenuity to write a story
original in ideas and treatment
6. They rarely have news leads. Instead, they more often have novelty leads
7. They usually strike the keynote in the opening sentences, which permit the readers
to come into quick contact with the story and become interested
8. They usually are not cut in make-up. Thus, the reporter may use any devices of the
ction writer: suspense, dialogue, description, narration, climax, and the like. The
inverted pyramid does t the purpose of a feature story
9. They require the writer to apply his/her imaginations to the facts, yet they are not
ction
10. They usually can be improved by rewriting to eliminate all writing faults. For
example, stodginess, verbosity-, abstractness, monotony and absence of rhythm,
etc
11. They bring readers as close as possible to the experience or idea of the story. The
reader feels himself as a part of the story

TYPES OF FEATURE

News Feature  story has its basis upon timely news happening with a human-interest
angle is called a news feature Often a news happening can be made much more
interesting or newsworthy by writing it in a semi-feature sort of thing. A news feature is
generally timelier than a straight human interest or a long feature story

Historical Feature. though It is deal with events or personalities of the past, have interest
for present day readers because the facts these features give
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 • are timely
• are unique
• throw new light on an old story
• debunk wrong popular beliefs
• promote speculation and imagery among the readers

Informative Feature. This type does not use many of the ction writer's devices, since its
purpose is to inform more than to entertain. It may be very closely related to the so called
"New Journalism". Facts for this type are usually obtained from interviews, library research
and personal observation. To create interest feature writer, includes human-interest
elements in his feature. Its success depends upon the accuracy facts and the style and
form with which it is presented

Biographical/ Personality Sketches. It is very popular among the readers as everybody

wants to know about other people. These features are written about those men and
women whose stories are worth telling because they are historical characters in whom
interest survives long after they are dead

This type is not easy to write as it is an uphill task to portray a personality with artistic
preciseness. Facts about the person are obtained from his friends, teachers, relatives and
associates. While writing a personality sketch a feature writer must avoid, stereotyped
pattern that nds it way into these features very often

Human Interest Feature Story. Human-interest sketches are written under the in uence
of humorous and pathetic incidents that are reported in the daily routine. It usually
develops from an ordinary incident or situation but due to fantastic style of composition
appeals to the emotions. But it must be kept in mind that it is based upon facts of a timely
nature. Its news value is almost nil and it would not have been published if it were not
presented in an interesting and entertaining style. Therefore it entertains more than it
informs. It may be written about almost anything i.e. person's places, animals etc

Interpretative Feature.  Interpretative features inform, instruct and throw light on the
background of certain problems. The following topics are usually discussed under the
heading or interpretative feature

• Social problem
• Economic problem
• Political problem
• Problems of everyday lif

Scienti c Feature.  Popularised scienti c articles, bridging the gap, which separated the
scientist and journalist for a long-time present scienti cally accurate facts in a non-
technical easily understood language
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 COLUMN

A column is written weekly, monthly or bimonthly, and must be focused on one particular
topic. You have to be consistent in what you write, maintain the same tone of voice, and
stay focused on the issue at hand. A column can last from three to four months, to ten or
maybe even twenty. What differentiates a column from other forms of journalism is that it
meets each of the following criteria

• It is a regular feature in a publicatio

• It is personality-driven by the autho

• It explicitly contains an opinion or point of vie

There are two main types of analytical writing in newspapers: editorials and opinion
columns. Opinion columns are often found on the page opposite the editorial page. The
page is usually labeled "Opinions" or “Comment." Opinion columns may be found
elsewhere in the newspaper as well, especially on the page preceding the editorial page.
Opinion columns are usually labeled as such, to separate them from news reports

Column and a news report

The main difference between a column and news reports is that opinion columns are
subjective rather than objective. This means that they express an opinion or make an
argument. A news report, for example, might list various mistakes that a politician has
committed. It would not however, go on to state that because of these mistakes the
politician should resign. An opinion column, however, may do exactly this.

When reading an opinion column, it is helpful to imagine that the writer is engaged in a
debate with his or her readers. The writer is trying to persuade you or convince you that a
certain point of view is the correct one. There are, however, important differences between
editorials and opinion columns

Column and an editorial

Personal columns differ from editorials in that editorial is a voice, policy and ideology of the
newspaper whereas a column is a view point of the columnist himself. This view point of
the columnist may come in clash with the newspaper or the editorial's stance at times.
Only columnist is responsible for his words whereas the whole newspaper is responsible is
for the words which appear in editorials
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 QUALITY WRITIN

1. Conscious writing: Even on deadline, a story needs to be carefully crafted. With

experience, you learn how to do it under pressure.

2. Simple is stylish: Stories should appear simple but be packed with meaning, and
that comes from careful crafting. Excessive wording drags a story down, so make
sure every word has been hand-picked for your story.

3. Human interest: Good stories, even shorter ‘hard news’ pieces, are improved if an
element of human interest is included.

4. News angle: The converse is that softer, longer features are improved if a news
angle is included.

5. Show, do not tell: Use physical descriptions rather than abstract concepts to
convey your information. Use all your senses when gathering news and writing
stories so that the reader can do likewise.

6. Avoid clichés: News editors and readers are looking for something unique. Using
clichés in your attempts to include description and meaning can bog your story
down.

7. Pace and rhythm: These are very important in writing – through the story as a
whole, and within each sentence. If your writing is jarring, it will immediately put the
reader off.

8. Variety: Facts and gures, descriptions, direct quotes and personalities are blended
together for a compelling story.

9. Transitions: Your story must ow easily from one theme or element to the next.
This means your linking sentences are a very important part of the crafting process.

10. Story-telling: Remember that every story has to appeal to


the age-old human love of ‘a good yarn’. A carefully planned beginning, middle and
ending, and the journey they will take the reader on, must constantly be on your
mind as you craft your story

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NEWS SOURCE

The study of reporters and their news sources draws its roots from questions about bias,
power, and in uence. Couched in an atmosphere of adversarial conditions, a key question
in the early literature concerned whether reporters or sources exert greater in uence in
shaping the news. One extension of this question asks how journalists’ use of news
sources leads toward a particular news agenda that either favours or excludes some
issues over others. A second extension asks if source power provides the ability to
subsidise the time and effort required for reporting.

In essence, the relationship between reporters and their sources has long been depicted
as a battle for power over public opinion and public consent. Journalists end up in a role of
protecting society from corruption, while of cials in government and business take on the
task of protecting their own interests at all costs. But these kinds of power only represent
something ephemeral, that is, the ability to shape the outcome of speci c issues and
policies. Once the outcome is resolved, the power battle begins anew.

The basic relationship between reporters and their sources can thus be seen as “portable,”
that is, the relationship exists in all press systems, from the most authoritarian to the most
libertarian, if in different forms. Even when examining the same situation, what might be
seen as an element of freedom through one lens of journalistic professionalism might be
viewed as rather constrained through another. In every case, a fundamental belief of
journalists is that they cannot simply make up news but instead must rely on what they
have been told by somebody holding a perceived level of authority

Build up a list of sources with whom you stay in regular contact. As you develop a
relationship with them, they will call you with story ideas. When you call them, they will
give you up-to-date information which you can then analyse as possible story ideas.

Police and emergency services: They are the front line of all crime and accidents in your
city. Stay in touch with them, or speak to your news editor to see if anything interesting has
come up.

Press conferences: These can be a mine of information, and a good opportunity to get
comment and pose questions to various parties. Do research on background information,
and craft some questions, beforehand. Caution against simply regurgitating what you hear
there. Find a unique angle, and hang around afterwards to ask more questions and build
your contact list.

Press releases and invites: The story may seem like it has been dished up on a platter,
but your job is to explore the topic thoroughly, from various points of view. Never simply
paraphrase what you nd there. Keep an eye out for ‘hidden agendas’ and ‘spin doctoring’.

Witnessing an unplanned event: Being in the right place at the right time is a stroke of
luck. The trick, then, is to think on the spot about your angle and any questions you could
ask others who are also on the scene.

Brainstorming: The news of the day always has spin-off story ideas. It is useful to
brainstorm with a group of reporters across beats to generate many story ideas.
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 Follow-ups: Readers love to nd out what happened next. Do not leave them dangling.
Keep following a story you have already written to see if a newsworthy event follows in its
footsteps.

Morning shows and radio: Breaking stories delivered by more immediate channels, like
television and radio, are limited by their timeframes. Good newspaper story ideas can
develop from these initial short reports.

Internet and other technology: There is no limit to what you can nd on the internet.
Websites, social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook, chat rooms, blogs ... the list
goes on. Remember to keep an eye out for any new technological tools as they are a mine
of story ideas.

Conversations: Casual conversations with family members or friends – or eavesdropping

in public places – can trigger a thought for a story.

Community leaders: They are often the window onto a range of stories or issues affecting
a speci c community. It could be, amongst others, a geographical community, religious
community, or people united by their language, work, or culture.

Community workers: People who work out in the eld have excellent knowledge of what
is happening ‘on the ground’ in various communities. Building a relationship with them is
important. The more they trust you to handle stories sensitively, the more they will give you
information.

Local newsletters and community papers: Local news stories sometimes shed light on
a story that has broader signi cance or is interesting to a readership beyond its location.

Non-government Organisations: Often engaged in both research and eldwork, non-

government organisations often have knowledge of ‘hidden corners’ of society and can
introduce you to some useful contacts.

Lobby groups: People involved in a cause love being heard. This makes them excellent
sources, though one should never become their mouthpiece without nding balanced
information.

Of cial reports and research papers: Academic research, reports and statistics often
contain information that is of interest to a mainstream readership. Your job is to make it
more user-friendly for the public, and to place it in context.

Foreign publications: Stories from overseas can ignite an idea for a local exploration of
the same or a similar topic.

Mailing lists: They might annoy you by clogging your inbox, but mailing lists often provide
small nuggets for much greater stories
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 INTERVIEWING SKILLS: HOW TO INTERVIEW

Interviews are the main sources of information for journalists, for many reasons.

• Direct quotes in an article, or real voices and faces on air, give the story credibility. They
are evidence of attribution: the in- formation is not just coming from you, the journalist.

• Interviews are more lively, interesting and up-to-date than documents, and potentially
more honest than press releases and other public relations material.

• Journalists work under pressure. You may get a long report about an important issue
from government or a research institute, but you are not likely to have the time to read
every word and understand it thoroughly. So it is easier and quicker to call someone
who has deeper knowledge.

• As a journalist, you are not an expert, so you must rely on others who are experts.
• The way you conduct an interview will depend on your aims and what you want to nd
out. You may have one or more aims, and your approach will vary according to your
aims:

If you want information —


You are most likely to ask straightforward, ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘why’ questions,
for example, “Who was involved?”; “How did it happen?”; “How many people were
present?”; “What time did it start?” and so on.

If you are investigating, probing or challenging —


The information you want is much deeper, and interviews of this kind can become quite
hostile.

For example, if you are calling government to account, you might interview an of cial and
follow up information with more probing questions:

“Why was this allowed to happen?

“Who was responsible for the safety regulations?

“Is it police policy to extract information through beating suspects?” You might ask for
comment: “In your opinion, should prisoners be kept 15 to a cell?”

If you want background and contextual information


You are likely to ask questions like, “Would this normally hap- pen?”; “Has this happened
in the past?”; “What are policies are there on this?”

You might want analysis or interpretation — Your questions will be more about meaning:

“What does this tax increase mean for the rights of older people to security of income?”

“How will the new law change girls’ rights to go to school?”

“How will the new border policy affect migrants coming to work in our country?”

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Or a personal interview —

You will include questions about the person’s history, character, opinions and experience.
You could also include emotional questions, like, “How did you feel when it happened?”

With emotional interviews, avoid obvious questions like, “How did you feel about the death
of your daughter?” And avoid being patronising — don’t say things like, “I know just how
you feel....” — because you almost certainly don’t!

Before, during and afte

There are different types of interviews, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. In
your work as a journalist, you will conduct face-to-face interviews, telephonic interviews,
and interviews over email. The interviews you conduct – whether for ve minutes on the
phone or an hour in person – can make or break a story. There are certain skills you need
to master for the ‘before’, ‘during’, and ‘after’ phases of an interview. Please note: some of
these points are only applicable to the face-to- face interview.

Before

Know what you want: Different interviews have different purposes. You might be seeking
information, or exploring someone’s personality, or hearing the ‘other’ side of a contentious
issue. Whatever the purpose of an interview is, you must be clear about it before you
begin planning.

Proper brie ng: Make sure you know what your news editor has in mind for the story, and
express your ideas too. This will play a role in how you plan and conduct the interview.

Background research: Displaying ignorance or wasting time asking basic questions can
put the interviewee off.

Preparing questions: Write up a list of questions before conducting the interview. As you
do this, keep checking them against your ultimate ‘purpose’ for the interview.

Dress: You need to strike a balance between looking professional and placing the subject
of the interview at ease.

Punctuality: Being late is unprofessional, and can get your interviewee’s back up.

Time allocation: Estimate how much time you need for the interview, and let the subject
know how long you are hoping to meet with him/ her. Allow for exibility, however.

Put yourself in the readers’ shoes: Your questions should be designed to elicit
information that the readers would want to know. Try to imagine what the readers
themselves would ask the subject if they were given the chance, but avoid clichés and ‘the
obvious’.

Look beyond: Also think up some off-beat or quirky questions which will provide greater
insight into the topic you are writing on or personality you are pro ling.

Choose equipment: Dictaphone, notepad or laptop? All these have their advantages and
disadvantages. Make sure you choose the right one for each speci c interview.
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Check equipment: Malfunctioning equipment can spell disaster


in an interview situation, so you should always check that it works before you go. If you are
opting to use a Dictaphone or laptop, have a notepad and pen with you just in case.

During

Prepare but be exible: Research and pre-written questions are useful, but you should
also allow the interview to take its own natural course.

Your own bias: Go to an interview with an open mind. Let the interviewee really ‘speak’,
even if you do not believe or agree with what he or she is saying. Leave your own
assumptions out of it.

Body language: Remain professional at all times, but place the interviewee at ease.

In context: In some instances, a source will be more relaxed in their own environment
which will also help you to rely on visual clues to add some colour to the story. In other
cases, the work or home environment might prevent them from telling you the ‘full’ story.

Spelling: Make sure you have the correct spelling of every name that comes up in the
interview, particularly if it is something you cannot check on the internet later. It is
embarrassing to have to call an interviewee again to get the correct spelling.

Steering the interview: With your purpose in mind, guide the process so that it feels like a
natural conversation but still draws out the information you are seeking. Within that, do not
be too rigid.

Asking uncomfortable questions: You need to strike a balance. Being pushy or abrasive
does not encourage interviewees to open up, but asking uncomfortable questions is part of
the job.

Awkward silences: Avoid the temptation to jump in during awkward silences. This is often
when you will get the best information out of an interviewee.

After

Take a breather: If you have time, let the interview settle down in your mind before you
tackle it. What is important and what is not will become clearer.

Start looking at your notes or listening to your recording: The rst time you go through
them, just read them or listen to them as if it is your rst encounter with them.

Start putting notes into some kind of order: Group all the information under different
themes.

Brainstorm angles: Make a list of all the possible angles for your story as informed by the
interview. Decide which will be most unique or interesting and which will easily engage the
readers.
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 Go back to the question of ‘what will readers want to know?’: One can lose
perspective on the overall topic after an interview, so go back to thinking about the readers
as the target of your story

INTERVIEWING OFFICIAL SOURCE

• Disinformation — inaccurate or false information that is deliberately spread.

• Public relations — information put out by an institution to improve its reputation and
win public goodwill.

• Spin — interpretation of issues or events to persuade the public to view a certain public
gure, organisation, law, action or set of actions favourably. Spin usually involves
deliberate manipulation of the facts. People who develop spin are referred to as “spin
doctors.”

• The of cial line — a position taken up by an institution which the public is intended to
believe; the institution’s spokespeople (of cial sources) and messages will consistently
reinforce the of cial line.

The voice of authority

Of cial sources represent social institutions and
associations. They usually hold positions in these
organisations and speak on behalf of institutions.
For example, a member of the board of directors,
a chief executive of cer, a public relations of cer
or a senior man- ager may be a company’s
of cial source on matters relating to that
company; a government minister, civil servant or
departmental spokesperson is an of cial source for a government department; a trade
unionist is an of cial source on a matter involving workers’ rights; a police spokesperson is
an of cial source for the police.

Information from of cial sources carries a lot of weight, because of cial sources have — or
are believed by the public to have — both power and knowledge. An of cial source is
generally a senior person in an institution and therefore someone who should know about
the topic being reported, as well as about the positions, agendas and views of the
institutions they represent.

Of cial sources are the voices of authority and legitimacy. The more senior an of cial
source, the more likely they are to be believed. This presents both opportunities and
challenges for journalists.

Interviewing of cial source

Because of cial sources have power, they inspire awe and deference. Journalists are
sometimes fearful of challenging them. In some cases, it is right to be afraid: when
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 challenged, powerful people may take revenge. Many journalists who have challenged
of cial sources have suffered intimidation — arrest, assault and threats; some have been
murdered. Where journalists challenge powerful institutions on their human rights records,
they are raising the threat of investigation and people in the institution may face arrest and
prosecution. So there is a lot at stake for powerful institutions when confronted about
human rights.

However, an important role of journalism is to hold the powerful to account, so it is

important to challenge of cial sources when there is justi cation for doing so.

Three broad groups of of cial sources

Of cial sources who want to be interviewed.

These of cial sources will be quite easy to interview; they want to share information and
the interview will be relaxed and friendly. However, it is important to remember that they
represent the of cial line: be careful to verify the information and challenge their
statements by asking well-researched follow-up questions.

Of cial sources who do not want to be interviewed.

These are of cial sources who have something to hide. They are much more dif cult to
interview, and you must be well-prepared and con dent.

Of cial sources who want to remain anonymous

This is a complex and dif cult

group, and you will have to be very
careful. Ask yourself — why do
they want to remain anonymous?
What are their agendas?
Anonymous sources have different
reasons for wanting to remain
anonymous. The most likely reason
is self- protection, but there may be
other interests and agendas at
play. Assess of cial sources who
want to remain anonymous as
carefully as you would any other
source; especially consider their reasons for wanting to remain anonymous. Treat them as
you would any other anonymous source. Ask them: “Is there anyone who would be
prepared to go on the record with this information?” If there is, be sure to interview that
person.
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Ready Reckoner: Tips for interviewing of cial sources
Be prepared

Good preparation is the golden rule for all interviews. It is absolutely essential when you
are interviewing of cial sources. It is best to cultivate relationships with of cial sources
before an issue comes up. Of course, this is not always possible.

Before the interview, conduct as much background research as possible, about both the
source as a person and the issue being addressed. What kind of a person is the
source? What is his/her position in the organisation? What has s/he said before about the
issue? What is the of cial line? What facts do you know about the story? Which can you
be sure of? What are you less clear about? You can only challenge an of cial source if you
know your facts; if you make a mistake, you will look like a novice and the of cial source
may dismiss further questions. If you are not prepared, you may be misled by your source
and risk reporting half-truths and carefully “sanitised” information as facts.

Sometimes you may only have a few minutes to prepare. If this is the case, ask yourself:
What do I know about the situation? Jot down notes and plan a line of questions based on
what you know.

Decide your news line or angle in advance

Decide what you want the outcome of the interview to be — your news line — and pursue
it. But be open to the unexpected. If some- thing emerges during the interview, be
prepared to change course.

Prepare your strategy; draft an interview guide

What kind of interviewee is the of cial source? Friendly? Hostile? What interests are at
play? The answers to these questions will help you decide your approach and the order of
your questions.

Draft a list of questions in the order you want to ask them — but remember, listen to the
answers. Do not stick rigidly to your guide; think on your feet and ask follow-up questions
or follow new lines of questioning as they emerge.

Your interview guide should have a logical structure that is partly determined by the topic;
partly by the nature of the interviewee.

If the source is willing to be interviewed and you feel con dent that you will get the
information that you want easily, your plan and question guide can be relaxed.

But if you believe the of cial source does not want to speak to you, or will try to confuse
you with spin or just toe the of cial line, the order of questions is very important. A good
way of putting a dif cult or reluctant interviewee off their guard is to start by asking for
information that you know they feel comfortable with, then switch to more dif cult and
probing questions.

If you have time, discuss and test your interview strategy and guide with your news editor
or colleagues.

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 Take your notes to the interview

You will have done some background research and made notes. Bring them with you and
make sure they are organised so that you can quickly refer to them if you need to
challenge something your source says. Make sure your question guide and your notes
work well together. For example:

Be sceptical, challenging and probing, but always be polite

Journalists hold the powerful to account and serve the public’s right to information, and
therefore have a responsibility to chal- lenge powerful institutions and people. But this
does not mean being rude. Always respect your sources; be direct, but not argumentative
or aggressive.

Be provocative if necessary. Do not be afraid of confronting the interviewee with other

points of view. This is also a way of ensuring the other side of the story is re ected in the
interview. For example: “You say that the police attacks on the demonstrators were
justi ed. But the opposition National Party says they were completely unprovoked. What is
your response to the National Party’s point of view?”

Stay in control of the interview

You are the interviewer, therefore you are in control. Of cial sources may try to use their
power and knowledge to take control of the interview. Guard against this. If you lose
control, the interviewee has won, and you will not be able to ful l your role as a journalist.
The public will hear only public relations, spin and the of cial line.

Do not let the interviewee ask the questions. If this happens, politely assert your position:
“Thank you, but I am conducting the interview here.” And then immediately ask another
question.

Remind yourself to be strong

As you go into the interview, remind yourself to be brave and strong. You are going to have
to ask dif cult questions. Be pre- pared to do this.

Look — and be — con dent

Good preparation will give you con dence. As with any interview, you must also look
con dent and professional. Dress properly and be sure you have the right equipment (tape
recorders; cameras) and be sure the equipment works. If you have a camera crew or any
other team members, be sure that they are also professionally dressed, and well-briefed
about the interviewee and the interview.

Be human

If the of cial source says something that shocks or surprises you, do not be afraid of
showing your feelings. This will add to the interaction between you and the source, and it
will help inform your audience. This is especially important for TV and radio journalists:
your reactions will help shed light on the issue.
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 Keep your emotions in check

Of cial sources may tell outright lies. Challenge and probe; try to expose the lie, but do not
show anger. Do not be aggressive, argumentative or rude.

Challenge the of cial line

Watch out for public relations, spin and disinformation, and challenge these when you
recognise them. The best way to challenge these is to assert what you know. For example:
“But according to the government’s own White Paper on Access for the Disabled, only
23% of hospitals have wheelchair access.” Or, you could quote other sources. For
example: “But Sir, only two weeks ago the

Minister of Defence said that the army was involved in the northern part of the country....”
The more you know about the issue, the more likely you will be able to ask challenging
questions and get of cial sources to move away from the of cial line.

Concentrate and be quick on your feet

While you listen to answers, think about your next question or which direction you want to
go next.

Rely on your instincts

If you believe what you are hearing is not true, trust your instincts. Challenge and probe.

Ask for opinions as well as information

Of cial sources are likely to be more comfortable with informa- tion and facts. One way of
challenging is to ask for their personal opinions. They will resist, but they may also be
discomforted and give information they did not intend to.

Know where you are going

Avoid asking questions when you are absolutely uncertain what the answer might be. You
do not want to be caught by surprise, or put on the back foot. Of cial sources sometimes
introduce new information into interviews in order to change dif cult lines of questioning.
Watch out for this.
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 USING ANONYMOUS SOURCE

Anonymous sources may give you the core of a story; sometimes background or insider
information; sometimes just a tip-off. What- ever the value or amount of information, you
must handle requests for anonymity with great care.

Should you use anonymous sources?

This is a dif cult decision that raises serious ethical issues. Some media forbid the use of
anonymous sources. Others allow it, but with strict guidelines.

In general, sources who speak on the record are always the best op- tion in any
story. But sometimes, you do not have a choice. Some stories would never be
published if journalists did not have the option of allowing sources to be
anonymous.
Why use anonymous sources?

• To get the story out if there is no other

way

• To protect your source. Sources may risk

their reputations, jobs or even their lives
by speaking to journalists.

• To protect your relationship with your

source. If you fail to protect a source who
has asked to remain anonymous, you will
lose that source.

• If you use them carefully, anonymous

sources can be very useful.

Why is it better to use named sources?

• Named sources give the story credibility: they are like wit- nesses.
• They are more likely to tell the truth.
• They are less likely to change their story.
• The journalist is seen to be acting professionally; that is, reporting what is happening;
what others see and say.

• Readers can make up their own minds about whether to believe what the source says,
based on the person’s reputation or position.

What are the arguments against using anonymous sources?

• Anonymous sources create an atmosphere of gossip, rumour and speculation.

• The public might think the journalist is making the story up.
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 • Anonymous sources may be promoting certain agendas or interests and using the
journalists for their own ends, leading to bias.

• It is harder for the public to decide whether to believe what the source says, because
they don’t know the person’s reputation, position, or connections.

NEWSWORTHINES
News value
When making decisions, journalists also consider “news values.” News values are
qualities that make information newsworthy. News values have been developed over
many years, through practice and experience, and are not rigidly de ned. They are what
the media have come to believe will attract interest and audiences. Like the values of
good journalism, they vary in different media, but there is a generally agreed list:

To be newsworthy, the story must have some or all of the following values:

Impact — the story must be relevant to people’s lives. For example, stories about price
rises, political developments and climate change all have direct impact on people’s
lives.

Public interest — do people have a right to know the information? Do people need to
know? Will telling the story prevent harm or save lives? Will it inform the decisions they
make?

Timeliness — the story includes information that people need to know in order to
organise their lives in the present.

Proximity — close to home. A crime in your own city is more important to your
community than a crime that is far away.

Currency — what’s in the public focus at the time, e.g. controversial issues, cultural
trends, topics of debate set in motion by recent events.

Development Goals — is approaching. Race and racism were “hot” topics when
Barack Obama, America’s rst black president, was elected in 2008.

Novelty — events that are unexpected or surprising. The “man bites dog” story.

How do you recognise a good story?


To recognise a good story, you need good “news sense.”

“News sense is recognising the potential news value in facts that might by themselves
seem unimportant, and selecting the parts that will interest people. It is nding ways to

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 bring the audience into the story. It is making connections between facts and events and
predicting the ways an audience will react.”

—“Understanding Journalism,” Lynette Sheridan Burns

We are bombarded by events and information all the time, but we are limited by
deadlines and space. Having news sense means you can make quick decisions about
what stories to follow and what facts to include.

Most journalists develop news sense over time. Here is a set of questions to help you
develop good news sense and to choose your stories:

• Would people be interested to know about this?

• Who are the stakeholders — that is, who are the people who would be most
affected by the story? Who else would be affected?

• What is the news value — is it unexpected, timely, current, “close to home” ...?
• Is it in the public interest?
• How will it affect people’s lives?
• What is my own relationship to the issue? To what extent am I driven by my own
interests? What values / beliefs / connections do I have that may be
in uencing me? 


FINDING STORIES

• The world is full of stories waiting to be written. A journalist has the power
to ‘conduct’ those stories into the written word. That’s why news editors
lose patience with reporters who say they have nothing to write about.

• On some days, the news editor will approach fellow journalists with a story
idea. On many other days, you will have to generate your own. This can
seem daunting at rst, but there are countless avenues to explore.

• However you come by a story idea, make sure you apply some critical
thinking. Your job is to research the idea properly, not simply relay your rst
encounter with the story’s tentacles.

Points to ponder

• Think about whether your story is really newsworthy. To be so, it should contain at
least one of the following characteristics: proximity, prominence, timeliness, human
interest, oddity or consequence. 


• Not everyone who’s reading will know something about the subject. Assume that the
reader has never read your publication before. You may need to add some
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 background, but brief explanations of projects or concepts can always go towards the
end. They’re not part of the news. 


• Be active in your writing. The more action sentences that are included in the news
story, the more a reader will feel that it really happened. Try to avoid passive
sentences – not easy when you’re used to scienti c writing

• Try to think of a catchy headline if possible. 


• When you’re writing for the web, most of the same principles outlined here apply; but
do assume that your reader will devote even less time and attention to the story that
a print reader would. Reading from computer screens is tiring for the eyes and about
25% slower than reading from printed matter. Make sure you answer the Five Ws as
early as possible. Keep your paragraphs short. 


• When you think you've nished, edit the story...and edit again. Remove words which
aren't completely necessary and avoid repetition. As a rule, journalists will not use a
long word when a short one will do. Use ‘begin’ rather than ‘commence’, ‘used to’
rather than ‘accustomed to’, etc.; this makes your writing precise and succinct, and
intelligible to the vast majority of readers

GATHERING NEWS
Time is a scarce commodity for journalists. Before you begin any story, take ve minutes to
come up with a game plan: de ne exactly what you need to do to write the story properly.
But, however scarce time may be, adequate news gathering is fundamental, whether your
story is a short news piece or a longer feature.

A quick reference in your mind for news-gathering is the 3-P and T method: People,
places, paper trail and technology

3-P and T

“People, places, paper, and technology”

People

Without people, there is no story.

Once you have got your story idea, you need to speak to a wide range of people (even for
a short article) to develop it further. These include, amongst others:

Sources: While you develop your story, stay in touch with the person/ people who gave
you the initial information that ignited the idea. Things can change from minute to minute.

Contacts: They can provide you with expert or insider information, and as you build a
relationship with them, they will contact you with information on a regular basis.

Witnesses: They are your eyes and ears for an incident they experienced rst hand and
which you are now reporting on.
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Ordinary people: They have no hidden agendas, and the readers can relate to them.
They’ll tell you about their own experience as it relates to the story.

Main players: Spokespersons, politicians, leaders and other ‘top dogs’ provide important
information and comment but these must be balanced against other views and well-
researched facts.

Places

Get out of the of ce and into the world

Hard evidence: A story is more credible when you have witnessed it – or its immediate
aftermath – rst hand. The public is relying on you to give an account of events.

Many people in one place: Being out in the ‘ eld’, whether it is a conference, the scene of
an accident, or the courtroom, will give you access to many sources at once for face-to-
face questions.

Colour and atmosphere: There is nothing like ‘being there’ to give yourself, and therefore
your reader, a real sense of a story. Use all your senses.

Observation: Look, listen and keep quiet for a while. Your powers of observation will
reward you with crucial information which is more subtle than ‘hard evidence’.

Interviews: Sources will often refuse to meet up for an interview because they are too
busy, but if you catch them ‘on the scene’, they’re more likely to give you a slice of their
time.

Time and convenience: With today’s technology, you can be on the scene of the story,
write it while you are there, and email it your news editor before you get back to the of ce.
That way, you are not just relying on notes after the fact.

On their own turf: Many interview subjects are more relaxed in their own environment
and will therefore be more candid if interviewed elsewhere.

Time constraints: There is not always time to be on the scene for a story, but you always
have to measure this against what you will gain from it. If you are on deadline and you
cannot be there, contact a reliable source who is there and who can feed you some
colourful details.

Paper

There it is, in black and white

A paper trail provides clues, information and con rmation, and it might come in the form of
a long academic report from a university, or a person’s death certi cate, to mention but
two. It gives your story credibility as the reader is given the hard facts thanks to your
efforts. Paper-based research is without limit, but here are some examples:

Public records: Birth, death and marriage records are very useful. Birth certi cates verify
someone’s real name, the place and date of their birth, and their parents’ names. Death
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 certi cates indicate time, place and cause of death. Marriage records include the names of
both parties, and the date and place of marriage.

Police and court records: These shed light on someone’s criminal record and what their
convictions, if any, were for.

Telephone directory: You can nd your way to sources and con rm physical addresses
with this age-old treasure.

Old newspapers: Articles that never found their way into new forms of computer-based
technology can be very useful when researching the history or background of a story.

Other: You can nd information in the property register, traf c department records,
judgments from legal cases, and many other such documents.

Technology

The IT (information technology) revolution has changed the nature of research

Internet: One wonders how reporters managed to conduct research on deadline before
the internet came along. Online dictionaries, digital news sites, data bases, blogs,
information websites and many other useful tools are available at the click of a button, but
make sure you assess them critically.

Email: This has exponentially sped up the process of asking people for information. It also
means you have their answers ‘in writing’ should a legal problem arise at a later stage.

Cell phones: As you write stories, keep a list of all the cell phone numbers you acquire. It
is then easier to conduct research on deadline if you can get hold of the right people
immediately. Text messages have also come to play an important role in the process of
gathering news.

Social networking: Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking tools are increasingly
playing a role in helping journalists mine the information they need.

The sky’s the limit: Technology is changing and developing at a rate faster than ever
before. As a journalist, you need to be aware of any developments that might aid you in
collecting information for your stories.

STORY STRUCTURE
The way you structure your story will determine its impact on the readers. If it is well
structured, it will be compelling to read. Whether it is a short news piece written on
deadline, or a longer feature that has taken a while to research, the way you structure your
story is of utmost importance. Stories need to be ‘crafted’ just like any work of art.

Angle: You cannot decide on the structure of your story until you have decided what your
angle is going to be.
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 How you would tell a friend: It is useful to imagine how you would tell your friend the
story in a conversation. A sense of structure will begin to emerge.

Active structuring: Typing up your written notes does not mean you have structured your
story. You need to select and re-order the information to give you your rst draft.

Themes: You should group all your information into different themes or ideas. You can
then see what type of order they should follow.

Theme sentences: These alert the reader what you are about to tell them next. What
follows is the information and who or where you got it from.

Chronology: Some stories work best as a description of what happened from one
moment to the next. This is a chronological structure, but the story should still be placed in
context with some guidance for the reader as to why it is newsworthy or signi cant.

Logical ow: A story needs to move from one theme or sub-topic to the next in a logical
manner. It should never read like a ‘list’. Think of obvious questions that would arise next
in readers’ minds.

Linking sentences: The reader should be able to ‘glide’ from one theme to the next if
intelligent linking sentences are used. The connection between one theme and the next
should be clear.

Headlines, blurbs, captions and pictures: Your story will not exist in isolation. It will be
on a page with a headline, and very often, a blurb, picture and caption too. Bear this in
mind when deciding on structure, and feel free to make suggestions to the layout and copy
editors.

Genres: Your structure should be appropriate for the genre of story you are writing. For
example, a hard news piece would not begin with a lengthy description, while a feature
allows more space for each theme.

Beyond the inverted pyramid: Before, journalists were always told to cover the ‘who,
what, where, when, how and why’ in the beginning of the story. Today, this structure is only
suitable for some stories, so you must think about it critically before you begin.

Introductions: The way you begin your story is closely related to how you structure it. The
rst paragraph gives the reader a sense of what the story is about, so make sure your
structure echoes that.

Substantiation: All information in a story has to be substantiated. For example,

throughout your story you might be attributing quotes to your sources, describing what you
saw with your own eyes, or explaining where you got your statistics from. This all has to be
woven into the structure of your story.
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 UNIT I

JOURNALISM ETHIC

Ethics is the analysis, evaluation and promotion of what constitutes correct conduct and
virtuous character in light of the best available principles. Ethical reasoning is about how
people interpret, balance and modify their principles in light of new facts, new technology,
and new social conditions. The boundaries of ethics change. In our time, ethics has come
to include such issues as animal cruelty, violence against women, the environment and the
rights of homosexuals. Ethics is the never-completed project of inventing, applying and
critiquing the principles that guide human interaction, de ne social roles and justify
institutional structures. Therefore, ethics, especially journalism ethics, is essentially a
practical activity that seeks reasons to questions of how to act.

Is it ethical for journalists to reveal their con dential sources to police?

Is it ethical to invade the privacy of a much-admired politician to investigate alleged

misconduct?

Ethics includes the theoretical study of the concepts and modes of justi cation that provide
ethical reasons for acting. But the purpose here is also practical: to clarify principles and
improve deliberation so as to lead to well-considered ethical judgments. A stress on the
practical in ethics assures us that “the problems we have followed into the clouds are,
even intellectually, genuine not spurious”

Journalism ethics is a species of applied media ethics that investigates the “micro”
problems of what individual journalists should do in particular situations, and the “macro”
problems of what news media should do, given their role in society. Journalists as
members of news organisations have rights, duties and norms because as human beings,
they fall under general ethical principles such as to tell the truth and minimise harm, and
because as professionals they have social power to frame the political agenda and
in uence public opinion.

Therefore, a question about journalism is an ethical question, as opposed to a question of

prudence, custom or law, if it evaluates conduct in light of the fundamental public purposes
and social responsibilities of journalism. A story that sensationalises the personal life of a
public gure may be legal—it may be legally “safe” to publish—but it may be unethical in
being inaccurate and unfair. However, there is no necessary incompatibility between
ethical values and other types of value. A story may be well-written, legal and career-
enhancing, yet also ethical. What one regards as a question of journalism ethics depends,
ultimately, on one’s conception of the primary functions of journalism and the principles
that promote those aims. Consequently, there is room for disagreement on the level of
practice, in applying norms, and on the level of theory and principle.

PROBLEM AREA

A major task of journalism ethics is to determine how existing norms apply to the main
ethical issues of the day. Some current problem areas are:
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 • Accuracy and veri cation: How much veri cation and context is required to
publish a story? How much editing and “gate-keeping” is necessary?

• Independence and allegiances: How can journalists be independent but maintain

ethical relations with their employers, editors, advertisers, sources, police and the
public. When is a journalist too close to a source, or in a con ict of interest?

• Deception and fabrication: Should journalists misrepresent themselves or use

recording technology, such as hidden cameras, to get a story? Should literary
journalists invent dialogue or create composite “characters”?

• Graphic images and image manipulation: When should journalists publish

graphic or gruesome images? When do published images constitute sensationalism
or exploitation? When and how should images be altered?

• Sources and con dentiality: Should journalists promise con dentiality to sources?
How far does that protection extend? Should journalists go “off the record”?

• Special situations: How should journalists report hostage-takings, major breaking

news, suicide attempts and other events where coverage could exacerbate the
problem? When should journalists violate privacy?

• Ethics across media types: Do the norms of mainstream print and broadcast
journalism apply to journalism on the Internet? To citizen journalists? 


The history of journalism ethics can be divided into ve stages. The rst stage is the
invention of an ethical discourse for journalism as it emerged in Western Europe during
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Gutenberg’s press in the mid- fteenth century
gave birth to printer-editors who created a periodic news press of “news-sheets” and
“news-books” under state control. Despite the primitive nature of their news-gathering,
and the partisan nature of their times, editors assured readers that they printed the
impartial truth based on “matters of fact.”

The second stage was the creation of a “public ethic” as the creed for the growing
newspaper press of the Enlightenment public sphere. Journalists claimed to be tribunes
of the public, protecting their liberty against government. They advocated reform and
eventually revolution. By the end of the eighteenth century, the press was a socially
recognised institution, a power to be praised or feared, with guarantees of freedom in
the post-revolution constitutions of America and France. This public ethic was the basis
for the idea of a Fourth Estate—the press as one of the governing institutions of society.


The third stage was the evolution of the idea of a Fourth Estate into the liberal theory of
the press, during the nineteenth century. Liberal theory began with the premise that a
free and independent press was necessary for the protection of the liberties of the
public and the promotion of liberal reform.

The fourth stage was the simultaneous development and criticism of this liberal doctrine
across the twentieth century. Both the development and the criticism were responses to
de ciencies in the liberal model. The “developers” were journalists and ethicists who
constructed a professional ethics of objective journalism, bolstered by social
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responsibility theory. Objectivism sought to use adherence to fact and impartiality

towards political party to restrain a free press that was increasingly sensational (or
“yellow”) and dominated by business interests. The “critics” were journalists who
rejected the restraints of objective professional reporting and practiced more
interpretive, partial forms of journalism such as investigative reporting and activist (or
advocacy) journalism.

VALUES OF GOOD JOURNALIS

The values of journalism guide journalists in exercising their power, and protect the
public. They are intended to guarantee good journalism.

According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), there are about 400
written codes for journalists, which vary in quality and comprehensiveness. Some news
organisations have their own lists of values and codes of practice. In other newsrooms,
they are not written down, but learned in practice through working with more
experienced colleagues.

They vary from country to country to accommodate different situations and sensitivities.
But there are certain elements that are universal and recognised by all journalists.
These are journalism’s Big Five: truth, accuracy, independence, fairness and a
commitment to minimise harm.

Other important values say that good journalism should:

•Expose crime and corruption

•Make governments work better

•Promote open debate

•Explain the impact of events

•Be inclusive

•Respect privacy

•Promote the values of freedom of expression and information

> BEING FAIR AND ETHICA

Above all else, a journalist must serve the public good and write responsibly. With many
stories you work on, sticking to that de nition will be clear. Other stories will pose an
ethical dilemma

Basic fact-checking and accuracy: This is a non-negotiable rule in the newsroom. Make
sure that your sources are reliable, and that you have counter-checked every fact in your
story.

Watchdog: The public relies on you to play the role of the ‘watchdog’. This means
reporting without bias on anything in the public interest.

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 Law versus ethics: You, as a journalist, are bound by the law just like anybody else.
Make sure you are up to date with legislation pertaining to the media, particularly the
concept of ‘libel’. Ethics, on the other hand, refers to principles that ensure moral
behaviour. They are usually contained in a Code of Conduct (see below).

Consult a lawyer: When in doubt, speak to your news editor about consulting a lawyer.

The whole process: You need to be fair and ethical from the moment you conceptualise a
story to the moment you send it through to your news editor. When you think of your topic,
gather your information, conduct interviews, and write up your stories, you need to think of
all sides of the story and how you are representing them.

Code of Conduct: Your newspaper will have a written Code of Conduct. This is your
moral guide as a journalist. Make sure you read it and refer to it as often as necessary.

Con ict of interest: Anything which threatens your impartiality as a journalist results in a
con ict of interest. This includes, amongst others, receiving payments or gifts from
sources.

Deception: You might sometimes ‘embed’ yourself as a journalist. This means ‘blending
into the crowd’ to gather information through observation. You may not, however, conduct
an interview under the guise of being something other than a journalist.

Prejudice: All your writing should be free of discrimination and prejudice, whether it is
obvious or subtle. It should also not incite discrimination or prejudice in others. If you are
not sure, discuss this with your news editor.

Sensitivity to grief: While you should always do your best to ‘get the story’, this should
not be at the expense of a grieving family or friends.

Diversity: Sources should be as varied as possible, therefore representing a wide cross-

section of society.

Quoting out of context:If the meaning of a direct quote changes if you only use part of it
or do not provide enough background information, this is referred to as ‘quoting out of
context’ and is an unethical practice.

Comment clearly identi ed: Never take an allegation or comment from a source and
present it as ‘fact’. All comments and opinions should be clearly attributed to their origin.

Yourself: Be aware of, and think critically about, any prejudices that you may bring to your
story because of your own background, gender, upbringing, religion, sexual orientation and
other factors or experiences which have shaped you.

Getting too close to sources: While it is good to build trust between yourself and your
sources, developing too close a bond will bring about a con ict of interest.

Spin doctoring: If a source puts a certain spin on their information (for example, if they
are covering something up, or justifying bad behaviour, for example), it is your fundamental
duty as a journalist to explore the other sides of the story. If you fail to do so, you are
involved in ‘spin doctoring’ which is the opposite of unbiased, fair and impartial journalism.
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Plagiarism: Never present someone else’s work as your own. Reading previous articles
on the same topic by other journalists during your research is one thing but you may not
copy their work at all.

Press releases: While they provide useful starting points for stories, they should never be
regurgitated or even paraphrased. They should set you off on a path of investigation so
that you get both sides of the story.

Photographs: Photojournalists are also bound by law and guided by a Code of Conduct.
When you are out on a story together, it is important to discuss any sensitive issues.

Multi-sourcing: This is a key element in being fair and ethical

> GENDER-SENSITIVE REPORTIN

Male bias

Most stories in the media are about men and quote men. There are thousands of untold
stories about women everywhere. The best way of nding these stories is to talk to
women and to ensure that women’s voices are also heard in the news. Media that carry
women’s voices and perspectives are more balanced and richer.

Another way of countering male bias is to look for the women’s perspective in stories,
i.e. to mainstream gender perspective.

Lack of knowledge of issues

Journalists, both men and women, often lack knowledge of the issues affecting women,
or of how issues affect women in different ways. This can be remedied by education on
gender issues and mainstreaming the gender perspective.

The invisible woman

The media ignore certain categories of women, creating the impression that they are
unimportant or worthless. Examples include elderly women, working-class women,
women from certain minority ethnic groups and poor women.

Gender stereotypes

One of the most frequent criticisms of media coverage is that it portrays women in terms
of gender stereotypes.

Stereotypes are simplistic generalisations attributed to groups of people without regard

for accuracy or truth. For example

•Men are logical, women are emotional


•White people are arrogant


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 •Working class people are stupid


•People living with HIV/AIDS are promiscuous

When media reproduce these stereotypes they are shaping public opinion in ways that
reinforce them and deepen inequality, stigma and prejudice.

Stereotypes prevent us from seeing people as they really are. Gender stereotypes
prevent us from seeing women as they really are.

By challenging gender stereotypes, media are ful lling their obligations under
international human rights law. Media that challenge gender stereotypes are also in a
stronger position to challenge governments to ful l their obligations with respect to
gender.

Sex objects

Many studies have shown that the media most frequently represent women as sex
objects for men to look at and fantasise about. In news, features, entertainment and
advertising, images focus on women’s bodies, their clothing and their looks. The
impression is that women have nothing else to offer society and that women must live
upto unrealistic and undesirable standards.

Gender stereotypes

Common stereotypes of women are that they are mothers, home-makers, weak,
subservient, victims and intellectually inferior to men. The stereotype of a young girl is that
she is pure and a virgin.

If a woman behaves in a way that does not t the stereotype, she is represented as
extreme. For example, a woman doctor, or a woman who leads an organisation that looks
after street children is likely to be portrayed as an “angel” or a “saint” rather than as a
professional person. A woman who challenges a man is represented as unnatural. An
unmarried woman who is sexually active is portrayed as a sinner.

Double standards

In the media, a teenage boy who has sexual relations is represented as a man. A teenage
girl who has sexual relations is represented as promiscuous. A man who abandons his
children is simply bad or irresponsible; a woman who abandons her children is portrayed
as unnatural.

Covering sensitive issues

As mentioned, women suffer grave human rights violations that sometimes include
sensitive topics such as domestic violence, rape and other sexual abuse. Media coverage
is often not sensitive to these experiences or may portray women as being responsible for
the crimes.

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 > QUESTIONING TRUTH AND OBJECTIVITY

The pillars of truth and objectivity show serious wear and tear due to a post-modern
skepticism about objective truth and a cynicism about the claims of pro t-seeking news
organisations to be impartial informers. Therefore, any discussion of journalism ethics
must include the problem of truth and objectivity in journalism, and the decline of the
traditional doctrine of news objectivity to the point where it is, today, a spent ethical force.
There have been three types of complaint against news objectivity: First, objectivity is too
demanding an ideal for journalism and hence objectivity is a “myth.” Second, objectivity,
even if possible, is undesirable because it forces writers to use restricted formats. It
encourages a super cial reporting of of cial facts. It fails to provide readers with analysis
and interpretation. Objectivity ignores other functions of the press such as commenting,
campaigning and acting as public watchdog. Finally, objectivity restricts a free press. A
democracy is better served by a non-objective press where views compete in a
marketplace of ideas.

Yet skepticism about journalistic objectivity has not solved any serious ethical problems. It
only leaves a vacuum at the basis of journalism ethics. If objectivity is abandoned, what
shall replace it? Three options loom:

- Abandon objectivity and replace it with other principles; “return” to traditional objectivity
in newsrooms;

- Rede ne objectivity.
Returning to traditional objectivity is unrealistic. Abandoning objectivity, without a
replacement, is not an option. The central question is: If a news report involves (at least
some) interpretation, how can it be objective? One option is to re-conceive objectivity as
the testing of interpretations. On this view, objectivity is neither the reduction of reports to
bare facts nor the elimination of all interpretation. Rather, objectivity is the testing of
journalistic articles, regarded as interpretations, by a set of agreed-upon criteria
appropriate to a given domain.

JOURNALISM AND DEMOCRAC

In a democracy, journalism has a fundamental role: give people information that would
help them exercise their citizenship and participate in government decisions. Journalism
watches closely the actions of the government to make sure they do their jobs accurately
and with honesty. The news presented in mass media will have a direct or indirect
in uence in democratic processes of society. This can be seen from a community to an
international level. To ful l this essential role, journalism cannot be controlled by the
government or manipulated to serve the interests of those in power. Only free and
independent journalism is the one truly useful for a democracy. Unfortunately, in many
countries free journalism only exists in theories or is only an illusion. Even in democratic
countries, in many occasions, news media have worked only to bene t the interests of
elites
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Ethics and New Medium

Given this debate, whither journalism ethics? Positively, it is possible to regard the current
media revolution as prompting a much-needed re-thinking of journalism ethics. The clash
of ideas may lead to the invention of a richer journalism ethics.

The future of journalism ethics appears to depend on the successful completion of two
large projects: (1) development of a richer theoretical basis for journalism ethics; (2)
development of a “mixed media ethics”—a more adequate set of principles and norms for
a multi-platform journalism with global reach.

As we have seen, the rst project requires a more adequate epistemology of journalism,
with a “believable concept of truth” and objectivity. It also requires the enrichment of liberal
theory with other approaches to media theory. Ethicists need to show how new theoretical
approaches might change newsroom practice and journalism education.

The second project is a more practical task. It is the construction of rules, norms and
procedures for newsrooms that tell stories in print, broadcast and online.

What do the principles of truth-seeking and impartiality mean for mixed media?

By the late 1900s, the liberal and objective professional model was under attack from
many sources as journalism entered its fth stage, a stage of “mixed media.” Not only
were increasing numbers of non-professional citizen journalists and bloggers engaging in
journalism, but these communicators used interactive multi-media that challenged the
ideas of cautious veri cation and gate-keeping. As a result, journalism ethics was (and
continues to be) fraught with disagreement on the most basic notions of what journalism is
and what journalists are “for”.

Do the norms and public aims of journalism change when embedded in “social media,”
that is, on websites where citizens share experiences, information and images

Is journalism ethics moving away from a professional emphasis on veri cation and gate-
keeping to a non-professional emphasis on transparency, networking and un ltered
information?

Also, there is the practical question of how these ethical discussions are connected with
the public monitoring of news organisations, and the reform of regulatory structures for
media systems. What new public mechanisms can be put in place to improve news media
accountability, to make sure that journalism’s age-old desire to “self-regulate” comes to
include “public-regulation”?

Finally, journalism ethics should become more cosmopolitan in theory and practice.
Historically, journalism and journalism ethics have been parochial. Journalism ethics was
developed for a journalism of limited reach, whose public duties were assumed to stop at
the border. The suf ciency of this parochial ethics has been undermined by the
globalisation of news media. With global impact comes global responsibilities. The
violence that rippled around the world after the publication of the cartoons of Mohammed
in a Danish newspaper is one example of global impact. Our world is not a cozy McLuhan
village. News media link different religions, traditions and groups. Tensions propagate. A
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 globally responsible journalism is needed to help citizens understand the daunting global
problems of poverty and environmental degradation.

Determining the content of a global journalism ethics is a work-in-progress. In recent

years, ethicists have begun a “search” for the fundamental principles of a global media
ethics. This “search” faces the problem of how to do justice to both the particular and the
universal. But there are other questions, and other quandaries. How would a cosmopolitan
ethics rede ne the ideas of social responsibility or serving the public? Would a
cosmopolitan ethics reject patriotism as a legitimate in uence on journalists?

Despite these dif cult questions and daunting problems, the future of journalism ethics re-
quires nothing less than the construction of a new, bolder and more inclusive ethical
framework for a multi-media, global journalism amid a pluralistic world.

______________________________________________________________________________________
Sting operation in journalism

A sting operation is an investigative exercise undertaken by media to uncover the malpractices prevalent in
the society. In an era of sensational reporting, news channels have a eld day covering the expose in the
name of working in the interest of the public. The public too, deprived of transparency about the working of
public servants in of ce, save the lone RTI act, are ever willing to absorb the news they are fed

Sting operations are full of inquiries of legitimacy, and objectivity that are hard to manage in light of the fact
that the journalist is a common person loaded with his predispositions for or against somebody or something.
Therefore, the rightfulness of a sting operation cannot be determined objectively as the journalist may have a
bias towards or against a certain person that he might target. In addition, in the present world where video
doctoring tools are easily accessible and widely used, the question of legitimacy of the sting operation audio/
video is yet another issue for thought.

The expression 'Sting' is also illustrative of media's power in a democratic set-up and how it can be both
potent and venomous for the public at large; potent by exposing the evils, and venomous by infringing the
fundamental right to privacy of an individual or potentially entrapping someone into accepting a bribe and
thereby, causing corruption

A few nations like US, UK and Canada have perceived sting operations completed by legal enforcement
agencies as lawful techniques for gathering evidence. However, there are no directions regarding the test for
legality of sting operations in India and there is no nexus in decisions given by various courts, which requires
an earnest need to address the issue.

The ethical question of sting operation

Despite the fact that the freedom of press is not ensured in our constitution unequivocally, a few
interpretations by the apex court have held it as a basic part of our constitution. However, this freedom is not
absolute and there are some sensible limitations. In the technological age, the electronic media has
assumed control over the print media, and a huge number of individuals have access to and can be strongly
in uenced by the information published by media.

Media has an incredible role to play as the fourth pillar of democracy. This is based on a simple equivalence
relationship i.e. corruption cannot breed within the sight of transparency. The role of media involves
uncovering callous and degenerate public servants to the eye of the omnipotent public in a democratic set-
up and hence, undoubtedly, media is in its legitimate space while utilising apparatuses of investigative
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journalism to make people familiar with the hideous underbelly of the society. However, occasionally, media,
in its endeavours to secure ef cient administration, over-reaches its assigned obligation of disseminating
information and clashes with the judicial functions of law enforcement.

On the premise of purpose, there can be a delegation of string operations as positive or negative. The
positive are the ones in light of a legitimate concern for the overall population and planned to penetrate the
cover of the government’s working procedure. The negative ones don't pro t the general public, but are a
sensationalised endeavour to build the viewership in the era of 'breaking news' by encroaching the privacy or
sanctity of an individual or a body

The question that looms in the background however is whether such methods amount to deliberate
entrapment and are an invasion of privacy; or are they justi ed? Most sting operations are carried out
against public servants in the system. Media Houses claim that they are in such cases, acting out of interest
for Truth and Justice. They argue that in cases where the whole society is at stake, like corruption, cash for
votes, et cetera, they are justi ed in carrying out deliberate operations, as this is probably the only way the
defaulters can be caught red handed. That too in a situation where there is conscious concealment of
information, there seems to be no better way than this. In fact, in the police department this is a time tested
method to nab criminals.

Privacy concern: However in the hands of media, this power raises serious questions of privacy. Assuming
it is alright to cover the actions of a public servant, one wonders to what extent such coverage is warranted.
Does it stop in the course of his of ce hours; is it justi ed to venture into his private sphere as well to ‘nail the
evidence’? Just because he is a public servant, does that grant access to his private life too, of course in the
name of ‘public interest’? Questions remain. This apart, even the fundamental logic behind such media trials
seems debatable and several pertinent questions have come up.

Entrapment: The method used in any entrapment is to undertake decoy tactics and try to induce the person
to commit the offence; thereby trapping him ‘red handed’. Doesn’t this amount to deliberately inducing the
person concerned to commit a crime? If this is indeed a case of encouraging a wrong doing, is it not
unethical, ask many critics. One probable answer to them might be that most cases of media sting
operations are undertaken only when there have already been reported instances of deliberate concealment
of information.

Lacking courage: Journalists in India have covered the Punjab insurgency under Bhindranwale, reported on
the Assam violence, written and interviewed insurgents in Kashmir Valley, spoken to Naxalites without using
concealed cameras and tape recorders. This is done at risk to the journalist, but then that is the risk that is
associated with and interwoven into the profession, a factor very visibly missing in sting operations

Sensational: One can list any number of sting operations run by television news channels here that might
be covered through screaming headlines, but say little beyond what is already known. A very recent one---
probably being aired as one writes---is a case in point where nothing has been said that is not already in the
public domain. And yet it is being showcased as the channel's big sting

The question of admissibility of evidence obtained: It is regularly contended that the evidence procured
by a sting has been gotten by actuation and consequently, inadmissible. Nonetheless, others trust that when
evidence is convincing, it ought to be permissible; and little heed should be paid on the methods through
which it was secured. Some argue that sting operations should only be allowed and be admissible in a
proceeding if media has received prior approval for the conducting the same. However, such a setup will
render media as some kind of vigilance agency for the courts. This would not only be equivalent to pre-
censorship of broadcasting of court procedures but also curtail media’s right to freedom of speech and
expression warranted under Article 19(1) of our Constitution.

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 Sting Operations have been an incredible instrument in uncovering wrongdoing and de lement in the public
arena. We have seen various situations where sting operations have assumed a noteworthy part in securing
justice for all. Be that as it may, a line is required to be drawn between sting operations that assault privacy
and those which reveal debasement and like others with a particular objective to secure the very soul of the
Constitution of India. In any case, in the present circumstances where political corruption is at its apex, it is
dif cult to essentially discover which sting operations are politically invigorated, which are truly proposed to
lter the social order, or which are truly the results of fabricated broadcast bolstered by different political
gatherings, their corporate benefactors
______________________________________________________________________________________

POINTS TO PONDE As

• Why is this story going to be in the newspaper?

• Why will it be signi cant to the reader?

• What will ‘pull’ them into the story so that they carry on reading?

• Of the where, what, who, how, why and when, which is the most important for this
particular story?

• What is my angle on the story?

• How can I add an element of human interest?

• In conversation, how would I start this story if telling it to a friend?

Other handy tips:

• Your intro must match the genre of your story. Hard news should start with a hard
newsworthy lead, whereas a feature might start with a description or a quote, for
example.

• Keep it simple and punchy.

• It should not be more than 30 words.

• Some journalists nd it easier to write a ‘dummy’ intro just to get them started, and
then return to it once they have crafted the rest of the story.

• Others spend a long time crafting the introduction and then nd that the rest of story
ows easily.

• Endings are also very important and again, they should match the genre of the
story. They should be punchy, give an indication of the next event related to the
story, and tie up any loose ends.

AFTERWORD
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The practice of studying up has profoundly shaped which types of news work and news
texts are best documented, and which are neglected. For example, studies of news
organisations have tended to focus on journalism as produced in large, often national,
television and newspaper newsrooms in elite nations. Similarly, analyses of news texts
either focus on major events and disasters or on the routine news processes and
products of elite news organisations. However, a vibrant eld of journalism studies must
begin to look outside this narrow realm. This means that scholars ought to broaden the
scope of research beyond mainstream journalism as well as beyond elite nations,
leading news organisations and prominent journalists

For one, journalism studies has tended to ignore the work that goes on in less
glamorous journalistic workplaces which are nevertheless dominant in terms of both the
number of news-workers employed by such organisations, the quantity of content
output, and the audiences for their output. This scholarly neglect of a majority of the
occupation it proclaims to study is particularly problematic because the working
conditions of journalists vary hugely depending on economic, political, technological and
social contexts. In the absence of competing accounts, the journalism cultures that have
been well-documented come to stand in as the universal(ising) and authoritative
descriptions of what journalism is all about. For instance, the professional practices of
local journalists have been particularly neglected even though the vast majority of
journalists work in local or regional media

The focus on elite, national, or metropolitan media organisations can, to some extent,
be explained by the political economy of publishing and the academy: Researchers may
be more likely to gain institutional approval and prestige, grant money, publications and
promotions from a study of a well-known, national and elite news organisation than from
more marginalised media practices. Also, while the relatively small number of elite
national news organisations may serve as a more comfortable basis for generalisations
and statements suggesting a “shared culture”, such claims are much more dif cult to
make for the vast diversity of local, alternative or specialist media practices

In this respect, the neglect of journalistic practices marginalised within the newsroom is
particularly alarming. Research tends to overlook particular categories of news-workers.
It predominantly charts the professional cultures of privileged full-time news reporters
over casualised, multi-skilled, and free-lance journalists, to mention just a few neglected
categories. This is the case despite the fact that the journalistic workforce is, in fact,
increasingly based on short-term employment and a reliance on free-lancers

Other forms of journalistic production which operate at the peripheries of the newsroom
— even though they may be an integral part of the content put out by news
organisations—are equally neglected by researchers in journalism studies. This is
particularly true of specialist journalisms which are removed from the excitement of the
news-gathering process and frequently occupy the lower rungs of the newsroom
hierarchy. As a result, for example, the work of arts journalists, music journalists and
features reporters has received little attention. Similarly, scholars have failed to pay
attention to the large numbers of news-workers occupied in business journalism, a
specialism which is growing ever-more expansively and whose success is linked to
larger social trends, including the globalisation of capital. Popular forms of journalism,
despite their broader appeal and innovative forms of story-telling, have also received
scant attention
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 Similarly, journalism studies could bene t from a move away from a focus on the
producers and texts of media, towards an interest in a nuanced understanding of the
audiences of news. The tendency—replicated here—to separate production, content,
and audiences may blind researchers to fruitful and signi cant avenues of inquiry.
Traditional metaphors of journalism as a process of transmission of information need to
be rethought in terms of an understanding of journalism as a cultural practice that is
essentially based on a public negotiation of meaning. If the eld is committed to greater
re exivity about the power relations that underlie practices of journalism, it also ought to
generate more ne-grained knowledge about the ideological structures that underlie the
highly rationalised processes of news production and assess the ways in which they
reproduce social and cultural inequalities—as well as the potential of journalism to
challenge or at least interrogate these hegemonic structures by means of alternative
journalism

Journalism studies therefore needs to pay more attention to the transfer of knowledge,
generated by scienti c inquiry, to the elds of journalism education and practice. Finally,
to do full justice to its promise, journalism studies ought to engage in more explanatory
studies that go beyond mere description; and conduct more systematic and truly
longitudinal studies that carefully track changes in journalism over time. Such an
approach will allow us to see and analyse journalism in its historical and cultural
context

In other words, we predict that the future of journalism studies is one of understanding
the discipline and its object of inquiry as deeply embedded in particular historical,
political, economic and cultural contexts, and simultaneously as part of a messy global
world
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.

fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi