The Dynamics of Mass Communication Joseph R. Dominick Seventh Edition

Part 4 Specific Media Professions

Chapter 12 News Gathering and Reporting

DECIDING WHAT NEWS IS There are five standards, called news values, which help editors decide what constitutes news: timeliness timeliness proximity proximity prominence prominence consequence consequence human interest human interest Economic factors also play an increasingly important role in deciding what stories get covered and to what extent.

CATEGORIES OF NEWS AND REPORTING News stories can be broken down into three broad categories: 1. Hard news 1. Hard news (traditional “Page 1” stories) written in inverted pyramid format starts with the lead, answering who, what, where, why, when, and how questions of the news story broadcast news uses the square format

CATEGORIES OF NEWS AND REPORTING 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

NEWS FLOW There are three main sources of news: staff reporting beat reporters general assignment reporters wire services auxiliary sources (government reports, public relation handouts, syndicates, columnists, news conferences etc.)

News Gathering Technology ENG ENG Electronic News Gathering allows portable cameras to capture live images at the story scene and beam them back to newsroom. SNG SNG Satellite News Gathering allows live satellite feeds from anywhere on the planet to give local newsrooms global coverage ability. While these technologies allow live coverage, that same news is also shown “raw,” unedited and unfiltered, and therefore subject to elements of trivia, irrelevance, and inaccuracies.

The Wire Services The purpose of wire services is to provide newspapers with reporters and geographical coverage that newspapers couldn’t otherwise afford. Wire correspondents cover stories, then file them with a local bureau; if the story is important enough, it gets bumped up to the state level, perhaps then to a regional bureau, or even to a national or global bureau level. There are two primary U.S. wire services: Associated Press (AP) Associated Press (AP) United Press International (UPI) United Press International (UPI)

The Wire Services The AP and UPI do have other competition, most notably: The New York Times News Service Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service Britain’s Reuters news service France’s Agence-France service specialized services available on the Internet, such as the Internet Wire and CNet

Media Differences in News Coverage Print news has a leg up on broadcast news in that print news is shown in space, not time, allowing papers to provide users with in-depth reporting and analysis. Broadcast counters that they have greater immediacy and can provide stories with both sound and video. Online new sites have an advantageous mixture of both print and broadcast, but critics charge that online reporters are often too undisciplined and untrained.

Print, Online, and Broadcast Journalists Yet another difference between news reporters in these three mediums is public recognition. Both print and online reporters remain relatively anonymous, identified to the public, if at all, only by a byline under their news stories. By contrast, TV news anchors are so well known that they achieve star status, and their appearance and personalities often become as important to the public as the stories they cover.

NEWS COUNSULTANTS Though all three news mediums use news consultants, the effect is most noticeable in the broadcast industry. Since TV station profits are so dependent on good audience ratings, news consultants often encourage owners to value news appearance instead of substance. This approach can give the public the types of stories and coverage they’re perceived to want rather than the stories traditional journalism guidelines might mandate.

Similarities in the News Media Despite their differences, professional journalists in all news media share common goals and values. They include: honesty accuracy objectivity fairness balance integrity Without adhering to these values, journalists would surely lose their credibility and the trust of the American public.

Online Journalism Recent studies show the public increasingly turning to online sites for news and information. News sites such as MSNBC, CNN, and CNET are visited most often. Archived, searchable story databases are valuable to the public. Journalists cite the Internet as the most important advance in news gathering tools since the telephone. Online journalists will need extensive tech training in Internet use as well as traditional journalism training.

News Gathering and Reporting End of Chapter 12 News Gathering and Reporting