Journalism in General
Noah Webster,Fraser Bond, and by the encyclopedia:
JOURNALISM.
The word journal comes from the Latin word, diurna,
which means "daily."
In ancient Rome, short bulletins of battles, fires and
elections compiled by government officials were posted
up in public places. These were called acta diurna which
meant "daily events."
Webster defines journalism as the occupation of writing
for publication in newspapers and other periodicals.
Fraser F. Bond, on the other hand, defines it as
"something that embraces all forms in which or through
which the news and com- ments on the news reach the
public." According to him, all that hap- pens in the
world, if such happenings hold interest for the public,
and all the thoughts, actions and ideas which these
happenings stimulate, become basic materials for the
journalist.
High School journalism has been defined by school
paper advi- sers of the City Schools of Manila as "that
enjoyable co-curricular activity of the school paper staff
in collecting, organizing and present- ing news; in
writing editorials, columns, literary articles and
features; in copyreading, proofreading, dummying, and
writing headlines — all for the purpose of putting out a
school organ."
Scope of Journalism
Journalism may be divided into three areas, namely:
written, oral, and visual. Periodicals such as newspapers
and magazines fall under written journalism. A
periodical, defined broadly, is a publica- daily, weekly,
tion that comes out at regular periods of interval
fortnightly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, annually,
etc.
A newspaper, compared to a magazine, prints more
news, has no special cover, and is printed on newsprint.
News is printed front page as well as on the inside and
back pages.
A magazine, on the other hand, prints more features
and human paper. If ever news is printed, it is brief,
featurized and found in the interest stories, has a
special cover and is oftentimes printed inside pages.
Periodicals, brochures, journals, books, and graphic arts
are classified under print media. Radio falls under oral
journalism, while television, movies and documentaries
fall under visual journalism.
Radio and television are examples of broadcast media
while movies and documentaries are examples of film
media.
Functions of the Campus Paper
A campus paper is a publication, either mimeographed
or printed, put out by staff members who are either
students or faculty members of a school or university.
The campus paper has many functions. The traditional
roles of the campus paper were specified by Harold
Spears and C. H. Lawshe Jr. in their book, "An
Introduction to Journalism."
A. Aids to the students
1.To provide an opportunity for interesting writing
2.To give students the opportunity to learn how to read
the newspapers
3.To act as a stimulus to better work
4.To develop students' powers of observation and
discrim- ination concerning relative merits of news
articles
5.To serve as an outlet and motivation for journalistic
writing
6.To offer training in organization, business methods,
com- mercial art, salesmanship, bookkeeping and
business management
7.To develop qualities of cooperation, tact, accuracy,
tolerance, responsibility, and leadership
B.Aids to the school and community
1.To inform the community as to the work of the school
2.To publish school news
3.To create and express school opinion
4.To help unify the school
5.To make known the achievement of the school
6.To encourage and stimulate worthwhile activities
7.To develop right standards of conduct
8.To provide an outlet for student suggestions for the
better- ment of the school
9.To develop better interschool relationship
10.To develop school spirit
11.To develop cooperation between parents and the
school
The modern campus paper has evolved other functions.
Information function-It informs the readers of events.
This is its news function. But information may also come
from the fea- tures, editorial and other sections of the
school paper.
Opinion function- editorials and editorial columns, the
editor interprets the meaning of the news, especially of
the banner news, and gives his opinions on important
matters or on significant events of the day.
Education function - One of the most important
functions of a modern campus paper is to educate not
only the students but also the people in the community.
Sex education and family planning which used to be
tabooed in classrooms are now topics of discussion by
student writers in their school organs.
Watchdog function -The school paper acts as the
guardian of the students' rights. It serves as the eyes of
the readers.
Laboratory function -It serves as the teaching tool for
the bud- ding journalists. After they have learned, for
example, how to write straight news stories, they cover
school activities and write the news for publication.
Documentation function-Important school events,
worthwhile student accomplishments and
achievements are recorded in the school paper for
posterity sake. Most present-day histories have been
researched from old files of newspapers.
Entertainment function-The school paper, like an
interesting book keeps the company reader especially
when he or she is alone. Most of the stories of interest
are very interesting to read.
Developmental function - In a developing country such
as the Philippines, scholastic and commercial jounalism
is given more noble importance. The young writer who
previously spent more time reporting on club activities
such as elections and parties, and writing lines to
Delilah, ended up being a development journalist. As a
result, he incorporated his community into his beat, and
sometimes touched on topics of national importance.
He was encouraged to write more scientific news and
development reports, to cover the government's
priority programs, especially those related to increased
agricultural productivity, land reform, expanded health,
medical and other welfare social services, population
education, rural electrification, education in nutrition,
and the promotion of deeper awareness of the culture
of the people.
National and Campus Papers Compared
A newspaper is a printed publication which is published
and sold at regular intervals. Its main purpose is to
provide news for its readers. The paper also tries to
explain what the news means, so it prints comments
and opinions. Another goal is to entertain and teach
through pictures, cartoons and other interesting
features.
A paper which is published daily is called a daily paper.
The papers published once a week are called weeklies.
National paper is a paper that can be easily purchased
anywhere in the country.
National papers fall into two categories: popular papers
and heavy or quality papers. Popular papers show their
news in a vivid life, with easy-to-read articles and many
pictures. Heavy or high-quality papers emphasize more
serious topics, and print longer articles about them.
Some newspaper publishers produce Sunday papers,
sometimes with similar nameplates as daily papers.
These are not Sunday editions of dailies. They have
different editors and different staffs. As people have
more time for reading on a Sunday, a Sunday paper has
more pages and contains more articles than the daily
paper; so,costs even more.
Sections/Parts of a Campus Paper
A.Front Page
1.Local news - news that takes place within the country.
2.Foreign news - news that takes place outside the
country.
3.Dateline news - an out-of-town news story. It is
introduced by a dateline which states the place from
which the story was reported, the date, and the source
of the material if not written by the local staff, as Tokyo,
Japan, Jan. 25 (AP). 4.Weather news- usually a boxed
forecast of the area, some- times about the
temperature, wind directions and velocities. Extremes
on weather are reported as more detailed news stories.
5.Index a slugline indicating an important inside page
'story and the page where it is found.
Other things found in the Front Page: (Those with
asterisk may or may not be present).
1.Nameplate-the engraved or printed name of the
news-- paper as the Manila Times or The PNC Torch.
2.Ears* - the little boxes on either side of the
nameplate.
3.Banner -the principal headline bearing the boldest
and biggest type. It is the title of the most important
news of the day which is called banner news. It may or
may not run across the page. If it does, it may also be
called a streamer.
4.Running head-a head made up of two or more lines.
5.Headline -the title of any news story. The word
headline is used only for titles of news stories, thus the
various rules for writing it.
6.Deck - a subordinate headline placed immediately
below its mother headline, also known as bank or
readout.
7.Lead-the beginning of a news story. It may be a word,
a group of words, a sentence, or even a paragraph.
8. News story the whole story of an event composed of
the lead and the text which is the elaboration of the
lead.
9.Columns the horizontal division into parts of a news-
paper. Many national papers are divided into eight
columns, while a typical school paper is divided into five
columns of 12 ems each.
10.Column rule - the vertical line that divides the page
into columns. Most pages of a newspaper are divided
into columns by a space usually one em wide. This
space is called the sunken rule.
11.Fold-the imaginary horizontal line that divides the
news- paper equally into two parts.
12.Byline* -the signature of a reporter preceding a
news- feature as By Warren Cruz.
13.Box*-news materials enclosed by line rules.
14.Cut-a metal plate bearing a newspaper's illustration,
also known as cliche.
15.Cutline - the text accompanying photos and other art
work, better known as caption. If written above the
photo just like a slugline, it is called overline.
16.Kicker- a tagline placed above but smaller than a
head- line, also known as teaser. If it is bigger than the
headline, it is called hammer.
17.Credit line - a line giving the source of the story or
illus- tration as reprinted from the "Manila Times" or
Photo by MPI.
B.Editorial Page
1. Folio consists of the page number, date of
publication, and name of the newspaper usually written
on top of the page. This is also found in the other pages.
2.Masthead - the editorial box containing the logo,
names of the staff members and position in the staff,
subscription rate, the publisher and other pertinent
data about the newspaper. A logo (a shorter word for
logotype) is a cut which contains an identifying word or
words, such as the name of the newspaper or of a
section.
3.Editorial proper-a commentary written by any of the
editors who comments or gives the opinion of the staff
or of the whole paper on various subjects. It is the stand
of the paper, sometimes called Top editorial. / Lead
editorial. - a personal
4.Editorial column-opinion written by the columnist
himself. Like the editorial proper, it may attack, teach,
entertain, or appeal depending upon its purpose.
5.Editorial cartoon - usually a caricature emphasizing a
sim- ple point. Usually humorous, it has the function of
the editorial. Standing by itself, it is not a complement
of the editorial proper.
6.Editorial liner- a short statement or quoted sayings
placed at the end of editorial columns or editorials to
drive home some messages.
7.Letter to the editor - a letter sent in by the reader
giving his personal views on certain aspects.
C. Sports Page Sports stories are classified as news
stories; therefore, what may be found in the news page
may also be found in the sports section. Other things
that may be found in the sports section are the sports
commentaries and sports features.
D. Special Features-The modern newspaper has some
special features and eliminated some which have
become irrelevant to the needs of the times. An
example of this was the society page.
Commonly found in the present-day newspapers are: a)
Life and Leisure (The Arts, Religion, Entertainment and
Comics) and b) finance and business for Phil. Daily
Inquirer. The feature page of The Bulletin Today
contains a) home and culture, entertainment, comics; b)
reviews, features and miscellaneous, and c) business
sec- tion, shipping, classified ads, movie, TV and radio
guides and the comics page.
The modern campus publication is both a school and
community paper. It is for this reason that its contents
are similar to that of a metropolitan paper, minus the
business and agricultural sections; the shipping, movie,
TV and radio guides; the display and classified ads, and
the comics page.
From Reporter to Reader (Via Letterpress Printing)
BEFORE A NEWSPAPER CAN be printed, there must be
some news to be reported. This news story may be
covered actually by the reporter, or it may be relayed to
him by an eyewitness.
Sources of these news are news agencies like the
Associated Press (AP), Agency France Press (AFP),
Philippine News Service (PNS), Reuters (British News
Agency) and United Press International (UPI). These are
organizations that employ reporters and
correspondents that send their news to their respective
central offices.
Letterpress Printing
For example, a reporter has covered an event. He
submits the facts he has gathered to the page editor
who assesses the importance of the news and prepares
the story for the printer. The copy goes to the
copyreader who edits it and writes both the headline
and the guideline on a separate sheet of paper.
The copy, as well as the other articles are submitted to
the publication office for recording purposes then
brought to the composing room. At the composing
room, the linotype man sets the story. The slugs are
arranged in the galley for the galley proofs to be
corrected by the staff's proofreader. Corrections are set
again by the linotype man.
The compositor assembles the slugs and headlines in
chase form according to the dummy sheet. The pages
are proofread after which the linotype man again sets
the correction. If there are no more errors, the pages
are okayed then sent to the press room. The paper is
put to bed and the press begins running.
Linotype. typesetting machine that casts an entire line
of text on one piece of metal.
Slug-printing a line of type produces by a linotype
machine
Elements that Make News
Simply defined, news is an oral or written report of an
event that happened, is happening, will happen in the
North, East, West or South that is of interest to the
reader and which should be reported.
A.Conflict-This may involve physical or mental conflict
versus man, man versus animals, man versus nature, or
man versus himself. Stories of war, athletic meets and
journalism contests are examples of conflicts.
B. Immediacy or Timeliness- This element emphasizes
the newest angle of the story. The more recent the
event, the more interesting it is to the reader.
C.Proximity or Nearness -This may refer to geographical
near- ness as well as to nearness of kinship or of
interest. To a Filipino reader, news about a cholera
epidemic in Asia concerns him more than the same kind
of epidemic in Europe, unless he has relatives in Europe.
D. Prominence - Some people are more prominent than
others by reasons of wealth, social position or
achievements.
E. Significance -Whatever is significant to the life of an
individual
is interesting to him. This is the reason why newspapers
sell like the proverbial hot cakes when news of the
increase in the price of oil, or of the imminence of war is
published.
F. Names -Important names make important news.
Also, the more names there are in the story, the better.
G.-Drama-This adds color to the story. The more
picturesque the background and the more dramatic the
actions are, the more appealing the story is to the
reader. The public certainly loves a good show.
H. Oddity or Unusualness-This refers to strange or
unnatural events, objects, persons, and places. An odd
story is interesting not because of its news value but
because of the human-interest side of it.
J.Sex-Since the dawn of history, sex has always
interested man. Stories of sex are usually related with
stories of romance, marriage, divorce and the varied
activities of men with women.
K. Progress-The onward and forward march of
civilization or the progress of a country is chronicled
step by step in the news- paper.
L. Animals Stories of animals-especially those with
talents are good reading matter because of their
human-interest value.
M. Number-Sweepstakes numbers, vital statistics,
election re- sults, scores in games, casualties, fatalities,
prices of goods, and ages of women make good news.
N. Emotion All the other elements of news mentioned
about appeal to the emotion. But the term emotion
here includes various human responses such as the
innate desire for for clothing, shelter; the universal
interest in children, animals an nature; and the natural
feeling of love, sympathy and generosity of fear, hatred
and jealousy.
Writing the News Story
Identifying the News Story
News Report
Newspaper readers want the more important
information first, the news reporter begins with the
climax. Then as he discloses the most important
information, he works away from the climax to the
lesser facts following the inverted pyramid structure.
Types of News Stories
A. Scope or Origin
1. Local news report of events that takes place within
the immediate locality
2.Foreign news news that takes place outside the
country
3.Dateline news - Many news stories come from other
places. These stories include the name of the city or
province or country where the news event occurred and
sometimes the date on which the story happened. This
notation is called a dateline. The dateline precedes the
story.
B. Chronology or Sequence
1.Advance or Anticipated -news published before its
occurrence, sometimes called dope or prognostication.
The reporter foretells events expected to occur at a
definite time in the future.
2.Spot news -news that is gathered and reported on the
spot. It deals with unscheduled information demanding
immediate publication. The reporter himself was an
eye- witness to the event that took place.
3.Coverage news-news written from a given beat or
assign- ment. Both spot news and coverage news are
good examples of first-hand reporting.
4.Follow-up news-a sequel to a previous story. Having a
new lead of its own, it is a second, third or subsequent
A.Single-feature structure isolated event.The story
chapter of a series.
breaks logically at every paragraph; thus enabling the
reporter to cut or lengthen it as space dictates.

C. Treatment B.Several-feature/Composite structure -are included in

the lead in their order of importance. These facts are
1. Fact story - This is a plain exposition setting forth a
elaborated one after the other in the body.
single
F. Advanced News-Investigative, Interpretative
situation or a series of closely-related facts that inform.
(Interpretive), Depthnews (Dis- cussed in Advanced
It
Campus Journalism, Book IV)
is written in the inverted pyramid design.
Minor Forms
mere
1.Newsbrief- - a short item of news interest, written like
2.Action story - A narrative of actions involving not a brief, telegraphic message, giving mainly the result
persons and events, perhaps testimony of witnesses, as with details.
well simple facts, but also of dramatic events,
2.News bulletin It is similar to the lead of a straight
description as explanatory data. Sports games,
news story. Its aim is just to give the gist of the news.
competitions and
3.News-featurette - This is a short-news feature usually
reports are examples of action stories. used as fillers, e.g., "Quirks in the news."

3. Speech or Quote story- A news story usually written
from
a public address, talks, speeches, statements and
letters, and to some extent, interviews. All are based on
recorded information,
4.Sidebar - A news item or a feature placed side by side
its mother story to which it is related but under a
headline of its own.
5.Flash-A message giving a first brief news of an event.
It is usually boxed.

D. Content

1.Routine story-reported events that occur year in and

year out like enrolment, Christmas, election, graduation
and anniversary stories.

2.Police reports stories of events wherein the police,

the military or government authorities have to step in,
like accident, fire, calamity stories, especially, when
people are killed or injured, and property is destroyed.

3. Science news* -stories on science.

4. Development Communication-advancement and

progress.

5. Sports news —stories on sports and athletics.

E. Structure

1. Straight news -news that consists of facts given

straight without embellishment. Its main aim is to
inform.

2.News feature-(Featurized news distinguished from a

feature article) It is news, not a feature article. It is also
based on facts, but it entertains more than it informs.

The writer may give his impression, may describe and

narrate, but without resorting to biased opinion. The
reporter's byline usually appears with his story.

A straight news story and a news feature may be a

single-feature (one-incident) or several-feature,
(multiple- angled or composite) story.