1. Hall School of Journalism and Communication
JRN 2201 Reporting
Dr. Steven Padgett
Hall School of Journalism and Communication
Troy University
Class Notes I

2. News Basics News is difficult to define because it has many variables.
News must be factual, yet not all facts are news.
News may be opinion, especially that of a prominent person or an authority on a particular subject.

3. What is news? News is primarily about people, what they say and do.
News is not necessarily a report of a recent event, as stated in most dictionaries.
What is news for one school or community may not be news for another.
What is news today may not be news tomorrow.

4. News? What is news for one person may not be news for another person.
Two factors necessary to news, interest and importance, are not always synonymous.

5. Hard News / Soft News
Journalists today often refer to “hard” news and “soft” news.

6. Hard News Hard news is important to large numbers of people.
Hard news is timely.
Hard news is usually about events in government, politics, foreign affairs, education, labor, religion, courts, etc.

7. Soft News…
Soft news is usually less important because it entertains, although it may inform.
Soft news is often less timely than hard news.
Soft news includes human interest and feature stories, which may relate to hard news.
Soft news appeals more to emotions than to the intellect or the desire to be informed.

8. Hard News Facts
Hard news, despite its importance, usually attracts fewer readers because it may not be as interesting as soft news or it may be more difficult to understand.
Readers may not understand its significance. Reporters must be careful to include information to help the readers understand what the story means.

9. Many stories …
Many stories are a combination of hard and soft news, and may present some of the information in sidebars and infographics.

10. Three factors essential to news
Facts
Interest
Readers

11. Fact, Interest, Readers The basis of all news is FACTS.
The job of the reporter is to make facts interesting to a particular group of readers.
Interest
Readers
Facts

12. News must be… News must be factual.
News is based on actual occurrences, situations, thoughts and ideas.
Yet, not all facts are news.
News must be interesting.
But not all facts are interesting
Different facts will be interesting to different readers.

13. News Qualities
News has qualities that distinguish it from nearly all other forms of writing.

14. Some points about news I. It must be accurate. Factual accuracy
Every Statement
Every Name
Every Date
Every Age
Every Address
Every Quote

15. Accuracy It must have accuracy of general impression.
The general impression--the way the details are put together and what type of emphasis is put on the details--should be accurate.
Reporters should not distort the importance of a fact by giving it too much attention.

16. Accuracy is difficult to achieve because . . .
There are so many facts that go into a story
Reporters must work fast to meet deadlines.
Many people are involved in producing the finished story: the reporter, copy reader, editors. etc.

17. Hard Work Reporters must work hard to achieve accuracy.
They must check, double check and re-check every fact.

18. Reporters must question…
Reporters must question their sources carefully.
Informants sometimes misinform, although rarely on purpose.
Some reporters sometimes don’t ask the right questions to get the information they need for a story.
Reporters should “talk out” stories with assignment editors to make sure they understand the questions that need to be asked.

19. Second Point about news
II. News is balanced.
Balance in a news story is a matter of emphasis and completeness.
Reporters must give each fact its proper emphasis, putting it into its proper relationship to every other fact and establishing its relative importance to the mail idea or focus of the story.

20. Balanced and complete
News is considered balanced and complete when all significant details are included and have proper relationship to each other.
The purpose of balance is to give the reader a fair understanding of the event, not a detailed account of every fact.

21. Third Point…
News is objective.

22. News is . . .
News is a factual report, not a report of how the reporter thought something should have been.
A reporter must report news as impartially and honestly as possible.
Objectivity is difficult to achieve because a reporter’s own opinions and feelings can easily interfere with factual presentation in stories.

23. News is concise and clear.

24. Inverted Pyramid
Hard news stories almost always follow the inverted pyramid and are written concisely and clearly so that the meaning is clear to an average reader.
Most important facts
Next most important
Next Important
Next

25. Fifth Point… News is recent.
Timeliness is of major importance in this era of instant communication.
Other factors being equal, a news editor will choose one story over another because of its timeliness.

26. News elements help make facts interesting to people.
The elements of news.
News elements help make facts interesting to people.
The textbook gives ten elements of news.

27. Elements of news . . .
The first element listed in your textbook is immediacy or timeliness.
This is the most essential element of news
Reporters emphasize the most recent or newest angle of the story.

28. Elements of news . . . Proximity is the second element of news.
Readers are more interested in an event geographically near them than in one far removed.
Reporters emphasize the local angle whenever possible.

29. Elements of News . . . The third element is consequence or impact
A story that affects every reader will have more consequence than one that affects only a few.
Reporters emphasize the angle of the story that will impact most readers.

30. Elements of News . . . The fourth element is prominence.
Names make news. Include as many as possible.
The more prominent a particular name, place, event or situation, the more interest the story will have.

31. Elements of News . . . The fifth element of news is drama.
Drama adds color and vitality to a story.
The more dramatic a story, the more appealing it is to the readers.
Mystery, suspense, comedy, the unusual, the bizarre and chief elements of drama.

32. Elements of News . . . The seventh element is oddity/unusualness.
The greater the degree of unusualness in a story, the greater its news value.
“Firsts,” “lasts,” and “onlys” have been staples of newspapers since the 19th century.

33. Elements of News . . . Conflict is the seventh element of news.
Conflict appears frequently in news stories.
Conflict is inherent in sports stories, war news, crime news, violence, domestic disputes, government bodies, etc.

34. More about conflict . . .
Conflict can be physical or mental. (Ideas can be in conflict.)
Conflict can involve:
man vs. man
man vs. nature
man vs. animal
animal vs. animal

35. Elements of news . . . Sex is the eighth element of news.
Sex is present in stories of romance, marriage, divorce and other relationships.
The treatment of sex varies widely from publication to publication.
The “sex” element can be very troubling to editors and publishers!

36. Elements of news…
Emotions and instincts are the ninth element of news.
Readers enjoy stories that appeal to their emotions.

37. Emotion…
Stories with the emotion and instincts news elements are generally the most widely read stories in the newspaper, and most widely discussed of those heard on radio or television.
These include stories about the homeless, babies needing transplants, small children abandoned in freezing weather who must have limbs amputated, babies rescued from wells, someone winning the lottery, etc.

38. Elements of news . . .
Progress is the tenth element identified by your textbook.
Progress involves any significant change for the betterment of mankind.
This may refer to achievement in the laboratory, industrial plant, a legislative body, etc.

39. Impact Let’s go beyond the textbook and add another element--Impact.
Impact is how a particular event will affect the readers.
Impact is similar to consequence, but stronger and more personal.

40. How do these elements work?
A number of factors modify the importance of news elements in actual practice.
The policy of a news publication may increase or decrease the importance of a story.
The class of readers may determine what is news for a publication.

41. What determines coverage?
The amount of space available may determine if a particular story is told briefly or in detail.
Timing may alter the value of a news story. All news is in competition with the news available at the moment.
Previous publication may change a story’s value.

42. Censorship Censorship is a word that most American frown on.
Censorship, particularly in war time or times of national crisis, may change news value, sometimes keeping stories from being published for long periods of time.
Censorship is an issue in newspapers that reporters must work through.

43. Types of stories…
There are several different types of stories found in newspapers:
Straight Stories
Feature Stories
Depth Reports
Investigative Reports
Opinion Writing

44. The role of reporters
At most newspapers and television stations, the reporters are the “face” of the company.
Reporters are the people most associated with the stations and papers.

45. Reporters in the community
This means that reporters must always be aware of this role in the community.
Reporters must not violate the trust they have to serve the public’s interest.

46. Inverted Pyramid
In daily newspapers, most timely and featured news stories are written in the traditional form--the inverted pyramid form (the order of decreasing importance).

47. Inverted Pyramid
Most important facts
Next most important
Next

48. Summary Leads
The first paragraph of a news story contains the most important information.
This is called the summary lead, because it summarizes the most important facts gathered about the story.

49. Reasons for the Inverted Pyramid
Makes reading easier and faster
Enables the hurried reader to get all the important facts in a very short period of time
Satisfies curiosity in a logical way
Makes a page makeup easier
Makes the work of the copydesk easier

50. Characteristics of a good Summary Lead
Briefest possible summary of a story, usually no more than 25 words.
Includes the Ws and H that are important.

51. What are the Ws and H?
Who
What
When
Where
Why
How

52. Characteristics of a good Summary Lead
Usually only one paragraph, but may be more. It is easier to read two short paragraphs than one long one.
Usually starts with the feature of the story, the most important fact of the story.

53. How to find the feature Use you knowledge of news values.
Know who your readers are.
Ask yourself: “What would be the first question a reader would ask about this event?”

54. Characteristics of a good Summary Lead
Quickly summarizes in the first few words the most important fact of the story.
The WHAT is usually the most used feature of a lead, followed closely by the WHO.
The WHO should be used only when the name itself is clearly the most important fact.

55. Characteristics of a good Summary Lead
Begins with specific, interest arousing words.
POOR:
For several years it has been the custom . . .
GOOD:
A two-day vacation is in store for . . .

56. Characteristics of a good Summary Lead
Usually avoids beginning with such words or phrases as:
a, an, at a meeting, yesterday, last night, last week, recently, days of the week, according to, in the opinion of, it is, was, will be, there is , was, will be, etc.

57. Characteristics of a good Summary Lead
It is broken into two sentences or two paragraphs when too much important information would make an excessively long sentence.
Shorter sentences and paragraphs are easier for a reader to grasp quickly.

58. Poor: Whoa! Too much info!
Robert E. Lee High School’s basketball season came to an end March 2 when the Fighting Generals were defeated by Terry Parker High, 56-55, in overtime in the finals of the Regional Tournament at the Jacksonville Coliseum.

59. Better: MUCH better! Thanks!
Lee’s basketball season ended Wednesday in the semifinals of the Jacksonville Regional Finals.
The Generals were edged by Parker,

60. What does the lead tell?
The lead tells the most important part of the story, and the body of the story gives the other facts in decreasing order of importance.

61. Most important facts Next most important Next Summary Lead Body of the
story

62. Telling the story…
Through alternating direct quotes (which contain opinions, feelings or information that cannot be measured by some standard) and transitional statements (which contain facts), the reporter tells the story.
We will use an active voice in telling our story, not a passive one.

63. What is a transition?
Transitions are words or phrases which keep the story flowing smoothly and let the reader know you are either talking about the same thing as before or you have changed subjects.

64. What is a transition? Words or phrases such as:
meanwhile, also, nevertheless, accordingly, at the same time
Repetition of a word or phrase from a previous paragraph
Use of a synonym for a key word from a previous paragraph

65. Summary Lead Direct Quote Fact Direct Quote Fact Direct Quote Fact
Alternating paragraphs of quoted opinions, feelings or thoughts and factual transitions
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote
Fact
The last paragraph should be a direct quote. DQ

66. Example of a typical news story…

67. The summary lead: Yikes! I’d better read further!
Students who are chronically tardy to class may find themselves suspended if a policy being considered by the Troy City School Board is passed.

68. Quote #1
“Being on time is a virtue,” Principal Donna Schubert said. “Students today, however, don’t seem to think it is important.”

69. Transition #1
The school board discussed the policy Feb. 8 and will bring it up again in March. CHHS faculty discussed the proposed policy Wednesday.

70. Quote #2
“It is about time this district did something about the tardy problem,” social studies teacher Bart Boggs said. “It has gotten so bad that more students are out in the hall than in class.”

71. Transition #2:
The proposed policy states that students will be considered tardy if they enter the room after the bell has rung. The tardy will be unexcused unless an excuse signed by an assistant principal or counselor is presented to the teacher.

72. Quote #3
“Too many students are still wandering around in the halls or using the restrooms when the tardy bell rings,” Bob Johnson, sophomore Assistant Principal said. “Teachers have asked that these students receives some sort of penalty.”

73. Transition #4:
That penalty would come in the form of a 30-minute detention to be handled by the teachers, according to the new policy.

74. Quote #5:
“We would also be rewarding those students who regularly get to class on time and who set a good example,” Johnson said.

75. Transition #5:
Ten percent “punctuality points” would be averaged into a grade at the end of each quarter if the student has fewer than three unexcused tardies. If a student has three or more unexcused tardies, the punctuality points would not be given.

76. Quote #6:
“There would be some tougher penalties for those who don’t seem to understand that we mean business with this new policy,” Johnson said.

77. Transition #6:
By the fourth unexcused tardy, a student would referred to the principal’s office and the parent or guardian would be notified. One-day suspensions would result if the student continues to be tardy.

78. Quote #7:
“The proposed policy provides the incentie to students to be in class on time,” Schubert said.

79. Transition #7:
Administrators hope that the new policy, if adopted, will eliminate the majority of unexcused tardies, which have been numbering in the hundreds each day.

80. Final Quote
“The policy change is a step in the right direction,” Johnson said. “It’s a positive program to deal with a negative problem.”

81. Summary Lead Direct Quote FactDQ
The lead told readers a new tardy policy was being considered by the school board and that students who did not comply might be suspended.

82. Summary Lead Direct Quote Fact It summarized the most important facts:DQ
It summarized the most important facts:
Students might be suspended if they are tardy all the time if the new policy goes into effect.

83. Summary Lead Direct Quote FactDQ
The body gave further details about the proposed policy, using facts about tardies and opinions from various sources to tell the story.

84. The Hourglass
The “hourglass” is another way of constructing stories for the media.
It started to appear in the media in the early 1980s.
Hourglass stories can be divided into three parts: the top (concise info about the story), the turn (usually a chronological detailing of the event) and the narrative (background info).

85. The Hourglass
This format is used frequently on the sports pages of most newspapers.

86. Are there any questions?
Additional questions?
Are there any questions?

87. There will be more next time!
The End