#1 NEWS REPORTING AND WRITING MC 2K19

Welcome to the World of News.

Focus: Vocational Journalism, Academic Journalism

1 Practical Skills for News Reporting&Wriring

2 Analytical Know-How of News Repotting
3 Scholarly Understanding of News, Functions, Impact

Careers:
Work as Reporters, Editors, Feature Writers ,Columnist, Opinion Writers
#2 WORLD AROUND US

• World is Complex.
• We, the Human beings are curious.
• We need information/awareness.
• Media/Journalists provide us information about the world.
• Information/News help to create understanding about world.
• Understanding helps us to make decisions and take actions.
• Help us view our world in context
• Warn of dangers and deceptions
• Help right injustices
• Expose hypocrisy/corruption/wrong doings of the powerful.
#3
J: Significance of Journalism in Life/Society

Journalism/Journalists Help Us Understand the World by

Providing Us Information/News of Events.

Reporters News Anchors News producers

Correct, reliable Information Help Us Make Right Decisions.

#4

Who is He?
#5

Who is
He?
#6

Who is
She?
#7

Who is
He?
#8

Who is
He?
#9

Which
Place?
#10

?
#11

How do you know about People, Places?

#12 WHAT IS JOURNALISM?
• Journalism is the field of news reporting/news production/dissemination of News Content
via various mediums/methods.

• Information is curated/produced/published by Using pictures/videos, visual text, graphics

and sounds.

• Journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and
information.

• The activity or profession of writing for Newspapers or Magazines or of Broadcasting news

on Radio Or Television.
#13 WHO ARE JOURNALISTS?

1 Informers 2 Opinion Makers 3 Influencers 4 Educators

Journalistic profession is a work/task/role which is closely related to the activities of searching, analyzing and
preparing news, all the products of journalism carries out news values.
#14
What is News?
Any piece of information, fact, related to events/ happening/activities which is
• Interesting,
• Informative,
• New Information,
• Recent or Current …
• What interests the reader
• What’s important to the reader
• Factual and accurate …fair (both objective.
• Real and factual information.

Newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent events

“One of Journalism Products is News”

#15
NEWS of Today
There are various versions of definitions of News.

Doug Newsom and James A Wollert (1984 ), in Media Writing: News for the Mass Media: News is
anything that people need to know. Delivering news means giving the required information to the
people.

Paul De Massener, in Here’s The News: Unesco Associate, stated that: News is an important
information that attracts attention from people.

William C Bleyer, in Newspaper Writing and Editing: News is the ‘hottest’ or the most update
information that is picked by the journalists for people/ others to read. Or the journalists (can) make
people read the information.

William S Maulsby, in Getting the News argues that: News can be defined as a neutral description of
current events/ facts which may attract the readers.
News is the fastest report on newest facts or ideas and the report is right, interesting, and important for
the audience of newspaper, radio, television, or online media.
#16
What is News… and What's Not News?
#17
What is News and What's Not News?

Standards/Styles/Guidelines of News Reporting

#18 What is News and What's Not News?

Styles of News Reporting

#19
• News and Newsworthiness Criteria?
The criteria by which News is judged are:

Is it new?
Is it unusual?
Is it interesting or significant?
Is it about people?

These elements make up what we call the "news value" of information.

The stronger the elements are, the higher the news value.
#20-A
• News Values?
NEWS VALUES are "criteria/bench marks that influence the selection process
of Events for News and presentation of events as published news".

These values help explain what makes something "Newsworthy".

Initially labelled "news factors", news values are widely credited to Johan
Galtung and Mari Holmboe Ruge (1965).
#20-B
• News Values?
1.Human Interest: appeals to personnel/profesinal life
2.Timeliness : Fresh
3.Impact : every gets affected
4.Prominence: Profile/high/low/big-wigs in politics
5.Proximity: Location
6.Novelty/Bizarreness/rare or unusual/Suspense
7.Conflict: War/crime/violence
#21
• Hard News and Soft news
News stories are divided into two types: Hard news Soft news
Hard News Soft News
• Generally refers to “up-to-the- minute” A Soft News Story tries instead to entertain or
news and events that are reported advise the reader.
immediately after it takes place.
• Hard news usually refers to news that • It may be about certain gossip about celebrities of
is very serious. interest, fashion tips, new arrivals of technology etc.
•
• This news tends to be urgent,
BEAKING NEWS Wider perspective on facts/observations/insights

• Shorter Longer, detailed stories.

• Hard Stories appeal to intellect/logic. Soft news are usually of human interest. It appeals
to emotions/feelings.

Examples: Politics, War, Crime, Economy, Health Examples: Infotainment, Lifestyle, Sports, Tourism, Arts
#22 Difference between Hard and Soft News
One difference between hard and soft news is the tone of presentation.

A Hard News story takes a factual approach: What happened? Who was
involved? Where and when did it happen? Why it happened? •

Hard News tend to be more serious whereas soft news do not at all contain a
serious tone.

Soft News creates a more of an personality-centred stories. They’re also stories

like scandals about famous politicians and celebrities.
#23-A
Components of a News Story
1 Accuracy- Edit, edit, and edit some more edits of News Story.  Make sure
absolutely everything in your story is correct (Information, names, spellings,
etc.).

2. Attribution– make sure each Source in  the story is attributed correctly. There
are four types of attribution: On the record, on background, on deep background,
and off the record.

3.) Verification-make sure you verify that all attributed material and all other
information is proven to be true. Just because material is correctly attributed,
does not prove that it is true.

4.) Completeness-make sure you do not leave the reader with any unanswered
questions about the story.
5.) Fairness- Do not take sides when writing a story.  Make sure you write the
story without any biases toward certain subjects and are fair throughout.
#23-B
Components of a News Story
6. Balance- Make sure your story is well balanced. You can do this by making
sure you get sources whose side of the story should be told.  If this is not
possible, you can look at what they’ve said in the past relating to you topic.
7. Objectivity- The reporter straddles the middle line. A careful reporter is
objective. In other words, when writing a story, do not say something you
perceive from your own judgment unless you can prove it.  You must verify any
suspicions or hunches you have.
8. Brevity- Say as much as you can in the least words as possible.  Tighten your
sentences without changing the meaning of what is being said. Be brief.
9. Selectivity- Know what to include and what to leave out of your story. What is
the most important information that the reader needs to know? ( who, what,
when, why, and how).
#23-C
Components of a News Story
10. Clarity- Write about your topic clearly and succinctly.  To do this, you must
thoroughly understand your topic.

11. Human Interest- Be creative when writing your story. How does this topic
relate to readers? Make it interesting for them to read.

12. Reponsibility- Responsibility is an attitude the reporter brings with them on

the job.  It is your responsibility that the story be accurate, complete, fair and
balanced, and clear enough that anyone can understand it.  Responsibility is your
commitment to your stories, journalism and to the public.
 
Source:
Mencher, M. (2008). Melven mencher’s news reporting and writing. (11 ed.).
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
#24
The Structural Elements of News Story?
1. THE HEADLINE
Grabs the reader’s attention
Sums up the story
(The headline is very important because it is what attracts the readers. If it is not interesting, the readers skip the      
  report/article.)

2. BY LINE
Writer’s name and specialty  (for example, sports, food, movies, etc.)
3. PLACE LINE
The story (Report) begins here.
4. LEAD PARAGRAPH
Gives most important information
Should answer most of the 5 W’s (What, When, Where, Who, How/Why))
5. BODY
Gives full details
Adds most important details first
6. QUOTATION (QUOTE)
Shows what someone actually said
Adds ‘at the scene’ feeling
#25
The elements of Journalism?
In their book The Elements of Journalism, Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
identify the essential principles and practices of journalism.
Here are 10 elements common to good journalism, drawn from the book.

1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.

2. Its first loyalty is to citizens.
3. Its essence is a discipline of verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to keep the significant interesting and relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
10. Citizens, too, have rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news
#26
Practical Activities
Identifying News Values in News Stories

The News The Dawn The Express

#27

Thanks
Dr.Muhammad Arif