JORM 2085: ENGLISH NEWS REPORTING AND WRITING

WEEK 6: SPECIALISED REPORTING

SIU CHI YUI PHILA

“© SIU CHI YUI, DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM, 2021.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.”

“THIS CONTENT IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED

AND SHALL NOT BE SHARED, UPLOADED OR
DISTRIBUTED.”
ADVANCES NEWS DISCUSSION

 https://
zh.hongkongers.org.uk/employment-survey?fbclid=IwA
R1mgFzgy-jHMfwVtlVEYbDYSKLjP-BYx-BlLEJdPW
ioLfVEDp7wl8UxQlc

 Read this survey

 15 mins later, we’ll discuss how to write a story out of
this
 UNGRADED ASSIGNMENT:

 Come up with a list of things you want to cover first

 1) What is this policy?

 HK$5,000 / month

 2) For whom?

 People aged 18 or above who have been unemployed for three

months or longer
 3) Why is the gov introducing this?

 4) How much will it cost the gov per month?

 5) How to apply? When will application start? When will they

receive the money?
 6) How long will the scheme last?

 7) Other useful info from QnA

COMMON ISSUES
 1) Not stating the “major policy” directly
 Hong Kong’s financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po
announced a major policy on Friday.
  what is the “major policy”?

 2) Not having direct quote

 3) Factual mistakes

 4) Big chunks of words

 5) Not knowing the key points of the article; not

knowing how to start the story
 6) Too short; not including all the necessary facts
HOW I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN IT
 Hong Kong’s financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced
on Friday that citizens who have been unemployed for three
months will be eligible for a monthly subsidy of HK$5,000
starting from December.
 To be eligible, the applicants must be aged 18 or above, and
that they must not have more than HK$150,000 in their bank
account.
 About 70,000 people are expected to eligible, and Chan
estimated that it would cost the government HK$350 million
a month.
 “STRONG QUOTE HERE,” said Chan.
 SPECIALISED REPORTING: PROTEST
 Remember:
 Your safety is NUMBER 1 priority. It’s not worth getting
injured for a story
COVERING A PROTEST BEFORE 2019..
 You just need:
 Pens, notebooks, water, snacks, phone.
 Covering a protest since 2019:
 Helmet

 PRESS vest

 Gas masks (full or half masks)

 Comfortable clothes

 Long sleeve T shirt

 Food and water

 Pens and notebooks

 Tissues

 Sneakers (NO high heels!)

 Raincoats

 Power bank

 Q: What have I done wrong in this photo?

 Rules and things to remember:
 You’re a journalist. NOT an activist. Don’t bring your
personal political opinions to the scene. Leave them at
home.
 You DO NOT shout political slogans

 You DO NOT yell at protesters or police

 You are impartial / objective. You report everything

everyone has done during protest: protesters throw petrol
bombs at police; police fire tear gas, etc. You DO NOT
take sides.
 You observe what happens. Take some photos or videos, because
you might be somewhere where our photogs and video producers
are not there.
 But your job is mainly to inform our readers what is happening at
the protest, through your observations, your words.
 You do not just observe, you find out the “WHYs”: why are
people still protesting after so many months? What are their
plans? How have they changed since protest movement? Etc In
short, apart from merely “observing”, you should be “analysing”.
 What do you do in this scenario?
 You observe from a safe distance.
 What’s a safe distance? Definitely NOT between
protesters and police.
 Also NOT behind the police and protesters. Why? –If
you stand behind police: You may be hit by bricks from
protesters
 If you stand behind protesters: You’ll be hit with tear gas
cannisters
 Where do you stand then?

 On the two sides

 There’s no need for you to get too close to the conflicts.

For example, you do not need to run into the middle of
the tear gas smoke to tell your readers that police have
fired tear gas.
WHERE SHOULD YOU STAND?
WHERE SHOULD YOU STAND?
 What else do you do?
 Observe how conflicts started. Was it protesters who
started throwing things at police? Or did the police
suddenly fire tear gas without warnings? You need to tell
the readers
 Talk to protesters: why’re they still out on the streets
after so many months? Have they ever been frustrated?
How’s the protest movement affecting their lives? What
are their backgrounds?
 SCENARIOS:
 You’re covering a protest in North Point. You saw a few
middle-aged man holding knifes, apparently angry at protesters’
behaviours. What do you do?
WHAT DO YOU DO?
 Make sure you’re safe.
 If you feel uncomfortable, leave.

 I walked up towards them, together with other journalists

there.
 Take pics and video. Why? Video speaks a thousand words.
Also, my photog and video colleagues not there.
 Walk up, but not too close, make sure you can escape.

 Try to walk on the sides, so they can’t just suddenlt throw

their knives at you.
 Try to look for an exit route in advance

 Never get too close to objects on fire

OTHER SCENARIOS
 What do you do if the police ask to check your press
accreditation?
 What to do if you see someone getting beaten up?

 What to do when you’re at a pro-government

demonstration and you get harassed?
 What to do when protesters asked you not to take photos
of them?
COVERING A CRIME SCENE / TRAFFIC
INCIDENT/ FIRE
 Again: safety first.
 You see something happening: a police officer fighting a
thief; a man running out of a building engulfed in smoke.
 What do you do first?
WHAT IS YOUR JOB AT THE SCENE?
 You want to find out what happened before the crime
happened / the car crashed and killed someone / why the
building was on fire.
 How?

 Talk to people there: shop keepers, residents, even police

officers etc.
 Ask the shops for CCTV footages

 Describe the scene. Let the readers feel they are there
too.
COVERING A PRESS CONFERENCE
 The Food and Health Bureau, the Department of Health and the
Hospital Authority will hold a press briefing on the latest
situation of COVID-19 at 4.30pm today (October 9) at the
Information Services Department Press Conference Room,
25/F, Harbour Building, 38 Pier Road, Central.
  
     The Under Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Chui Tak-yi;
the Head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the Centre
for Health Protection of the Department of Health, Dr Chuang
Shuk-kwan; and the Chief Manager (Quality and Standards) of
the Hospital Authority, Dr Lau Ka-hin, will attend.
  
     Coverage is invited
 How to prepare?
 Where to sit?
WHAT DO YOU DO?
 Dig up the background
 “Pre-write” if this is a major assignment and story needs to be
publishd ASAP
 Bring you pens, recorder, notebook, press card, business card

 Be prepared: what do you want to ask? What’s the latest

development today? What do YOU want to know from the
speakers?
 The process: you go there; register outside the conference room;
ask if there’s a press release, get it; get a seat; when the speakers
come out you get your recorder going; listen, write down notes;
wait for QnA and ask your Qs. When press conference is over,
go up to the speakers and say hi, give them your cards
COVERING TYPHOON MANGHUT
 Again: Safety is the No 1 priority.
 Bring you rainboat (Not one of those thin plastic ones from
7-11!); boots; clothes to change; helmets; and press vest in
case the police or firemen need to identify you from afar;
food and water
 You’re a reporter but you’re also a human being (NOT
superman!) so you stay where you may get hit by flying
windows
 Too dangerous? Stay inside your car / indoor

 Takes photos and videos, lots of them

 NEXT WEEK
 Mock presser / 1st graded assignment: 15% of your grade
 Be in class on time.

 Attend the presser, and write up the story at home.

 Confirmed deadline: 4 Nov11.59pm

 Write your story in a Word document. (NOT PDF)

 Name of the Word doc should be your name: Chan Tai Man

 I will upload the rubric (the marking criteria) to Moodle this

weekend