McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Chapter 2 : How Newsrooms Work 1

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McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  What skills do journalists need?  A reporter must be able to assimilate information, interpret and write clearly for media consumers.  Besides traditional print and broadcast delivery systems, journalists today use the Internet, podcasting, cell phone texting…  And yes, even Twitter to report the news.  Tech savvy? You have a leg up on today’s journalism environment. 3

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Reporters are witnesses to history and the eyes and ears of the public. Sometimes it’s a dangerous occupation Watch: Kvg&feature=related Kvg&feature=related Read the latest stats on where, why and how journalists have been killed in the line of duty: Former ABC anchor Bob Woodruff nearly became a casualty…Watch what happened:  4

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Reporters want to know what’s happening  Reporters read  Reporters research  Reporters know how to write or they figure it out  People skills  Tenacity  Tech savvy  Gutsy  Independent  Grace under pressure  Sense of humor 5

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Reporters at a typical news operation beats general assignment 6

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  A GA reporter covers breaking news  They get assignments from editors or respond to “spot” news as it happens.  GA’s get a variety of assignments during the shift  They are quick writers, spontaneous and know their community.  Best job at a newspaper if you like action.  Here’s a GA at work:   (OK… bad example…but funny…) 7

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Beat reporters cover breaking news in specific geographic and subject areas every day  Typical beats: Cops, fire, school board, courts, City Hall, county government.  Beat reporters must be able to develop sources.  Good beat reporters know their turf…  The are the eyes and ears for the news outlet  Government watchdogs for the public interest. 8

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Selection of news for print or broadcast is subjective.  Gatekeepers control the news flow  Gates open/gates closed  There are many gatekeepers in and out of the newsroom. 9

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Gatekeepers:  Managing editor  Reporters  Photographers  Copy desk/page design  Sources  Advertisers  Publishers  The lady loading the newsroom fax machine? Yes. 10

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Definition: Convergence is the merging of mass communication outlets --- print, television, radio, the Internet --- through various digital presentation platforms (video, photography, audio and Web sites). 11

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McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  A simple definition is difficult to formulate…  News coverage decisions are formed by geography, tradition, technology, organizational policy and economics and sometimes… the personal peeves/quirks of gatekeepers.  What is your definition? 14

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. News judgment –ability to determine which stories are most interesting and important to readers  Editors decide where stories run in the newspaper and in a broadcast  Editors, reporters and readers ask, “What is news?”

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  A tragedy involving a police officer always leads…  Oceana is responsible for 12,000 local jobs  Dick Cheney’s chief of staff indicted. Wow…  Promos to other stories  When the president visits your city it’s a big deal. But…

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  They prefer news about serious issues and major events.63%  They prefer crime and celebrity news.24%  The media is out of touch with average Americans.48%  They find the news depressing.84%  They find the news negative.77%  They find the news sensational.58% News by the numbers  Americans who say:

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Have little or no interest in politics.42% Journalists who say:  They often avoid running stories readers think are important but dull.77%  They sometimes ignore stories because readers might find them too complex. 52% News by the numbers  Americans under the age of 30 who say they:

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. The Metropolitan Daily  Lots of pages to fill with range of topics  Local to global News depends on the newspaper Storm warningPrint it County fairPrint it Tuition hikePrint it Volleyball billKill it Flu shotsPrint it Maybe Hold it Mexico bus crash Girl Scout cookies Lottery winner Eminem sex change

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. The Community Weekly  Limited space  Tight regional focus News depends on the newspaper Storm warningKill it County fairPrint it Tuition hikeKill it Volleyball billKill it Flu shotsPrint it Kill it Print it Kill it Mexico bus crash Girl Scout cookies Lottery winner Eminem sex change

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. The Twice-Weekly Campus Paper  Space very tight  Stories focus on campus events and culture News depends on the newspaper Storm warningKill it County fairKill it Tuition hikePrint it Volleyball billKill it Flu shotsMaybe Kill it Print it Kill it Mexico bus crash Girl Scout cookies Lottery winner Eminem sex change

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Some journalists dismiss “pandering” to readers. Smart journalists adjust  To tastes.  To reading habits.  To news appetites. You might write terrific stories, but they’re worthless if nobody reads them

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. We ask them. We watch them.  Focus groups  Phone, mail and Web surveys  Monitoring devices So how do we know what readers read? And more Ethnography Sales/Web views Reader response Anecdotal feedback

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Focus groups  Good to test ideas and prototypes.  May not be accurate. Surveys  Detailed data.  Reliable and accurate.  Respondents can lie. So how do we know what readers read?  Monitoring devices Can see what people actually read. Testing occurs in unnatural conditions.

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Readers are in a hurry. Readers have short attention spans. Readers want stories that connect. Things every reporter needs to remember about readers 5  Readers want stories told in a compelling way.  There’s more than just one type of reader.

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Spend 90% of time chasing a story, and 10% writing it. Not everything a reporter hears makes it into the finished story. How a story gets written  Not everything is as it seems.

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McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. News stories can be broken down into three broad categories: 1. Hard news “Spot news” Written in inverted pyramid style starts with the lead, answering who, what, where, why, when, and how questions of the news story. Killings, city council actions, accidents, fires, stuff.. 29

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 2. Soft news, or feature news purpose is to inform, entertain, instruct, inspire not generally as time dependent as hard news 3. Investigative reports purpose is to reveal significant information about matters of public importance through the use of time-intensive, non-routine news- gathering methods 30

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Breaking news.  News happening right now…timely with consequences 31

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Oil from the BP spill lands on area beaches… That’s breaking news… 32

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Entertainment, profiles, critters, oddities, human interest, inhuman interest...(another Hellboy sighting?) 33

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Digging, getting the hidden story 34

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. What makes a story interesting? There are six standards, called news values.  immediacy  proximity  prominence  impact  Emotions (human interest)  Conflict  novelty 35

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McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Instincts of editors/reporters  News hole  Availability of news  Pressure from the publisher  Influences of advertisers  Competition among media 43

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Daily – printed every day. Weekly – printed once a week. Newsletter – printed once a month. Talk the talk  Mainstream newspaper (The New York Times)  Alternative press (The Village Voice)  Specialty publication (Fur & Feather Magazine)

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Broadsheet – large format page Tabloid – half the size of a broadsheet Talk the Talk  Stories can be spiked or killed.  Writers can create a thumbsucker or a goat- choker.  Editors can trim or cut a few graphs and butcher or bury stories.

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Parts of a story  Photo  Byline  Dateline  Lead  Quote  Attribution  Photo credit  Liftout quote  Tagline  Headline

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Flag  Name of paper set in special type.  Never changes. Edition  Daily papers often print street sales and home delivery editions. The parts of a page  Infographic Informational graphics. Display key facts.  Deck Subheadline. Written by copy editors.

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Text  Story measured in inches. Jump line  Tells readers where story continues, or jumps. The parts of a page  Cutline Caption. Written by copy editors or reporters.  Teaser Promo or skybox. Captures readers’ attention to highlight story in issue.

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Refer  Alerts readers to another story related to topic. Wire story  Story written by reporter working for another paper or national wire service. The parts of a page  Mug shot Closeup photo of someone’s face. Usually small.  Centerpiece Lead story.

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Index  Last page element copy editors create before sending paper to press. The parts of a page  Logo Small, specifically designed title (often with art). Used for labeling special stories or series.

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. The Stylebook is like a dictionary. It gives you guidance on how to write everything from abbreviations to television show titles.  You tend to jump around a bit in the book. It can get a bit confusing. Hang in there! 51

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Note the different ways terms, numbers, dates, days and the president’s title and name are used in this story that does not follow AP Style…  WASHINGTON - President Bush is seeking nearly unfettered control over how 25,000,000,000 dollars would be spent for US military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan later this year.  The President said the $25 billion fund package is critical and that the war costs the U.S. government 1 billion dollars a month to wage.  Although congress is considered certain to provide President George Bush with the money he wants, it is uncertain whether Congress will grant him the leeway he wants in dispensing the funds. The U.S. Senate and the house of representatives are debating the issue Thurs. A vote could come as soon as next Monday.  The money is supposed to cover the first months of the Government's 2005 budget year, which starts October First and ends Aug. 12.  President Bush formally asked lawmakers for the money on wed., a week after administration officials first told congressional leaders that they were seeking the funds.  Bush’s request abruptly reversed earlier declarations that they would not seek the money until after the November elections or late Dec. 52

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  I’ve underlined discrepancies in style…  WASHINGTON - President Bush is seeking nearly unfettered control over how 25,000,000,000 dollars would be spent for US military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan later this year.  The President said the $25 billion fund package is critical and that the war costs the United States government 1 billion dollars a month to wage.  Although congress is considered certain to provide President George Bush with the money he wants, it is uncertain whether Congress will grant him the leeway he wants in dispensing the funds.  The U.S. Senate and the house of representatives are debating the issue Thurs. A vote could come as soon as next Monday.  The money is supposed to cover the first months of the Government's 2005 budget year, which starts October First and ends Aug. 12.  President Bush formally asked lawmakers for the money on Wed., a week after administration officials first told congressional leaders that they were seeking the funds.  Bush’s request abruptly reversed earlier declarations that they would not seek the money until after the Nov. elections or late Dec. 53

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Here is correct AP Style for this story It standardizes the use of numbers, titles and abbreviations.  WASHINGTON - President Bush is seeking nearly unfettered control over how $25 billion would be spent for U.S. military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan later this year.  The president said the $25 billion fund package is critical and that the war costs the U.S. government $1 billion a month to wage.  Although Congress is considered certain to provide Bush with the money he wants, it is uncertain whether Congress will grant him the leeway he wants in dispensing the funds.  The U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are debating the issue Thursday. A vote could come as soon as next Monday.  The money is supposed to cover the first months of the government's 2005 budget year, which starts Oct. 1 and ends Aug. 12.  Bush formally asked lawmakers for the money on Wednesday a week after administration officials first told congressional leaders that they were seeking the funds.  Bush’s request abruptly reversed earlier declarations that they would not seek the money until after the November elections or late December.  “ 54

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