News Writing Final
Explain the Zenger trial and its importance for freedom of the press.
-was a court case against John Peter Zenger in 1734 -was accused of printing libel against the Governor because he'd accused the government of being corrupt -won the trial through the idea that "libel" means something is distinctly wrong, and the corruption that he'd accused the government of wasn't necessarily false
In complete sentences, explain what "shovelware" is and why journalists should avoid it.
"Shovelware" is when reporters take a story that was written for and published in a printed paper and uploads it to an online publication without changing anything to make it fit the website format. The reason journalists should avoid this is because readers can tell when this happens, it makes them less engaged with the content, less likely to continue reading both the story that was shoveled onto the site and the site as a whole, and gives the publication a bad look overall. It makes the publication look out-of-date and older than it would be if the articles were fixed for online consumption.
Who was Edward R. Murrow and what was his contribution to journalism?
- a newscaster from after World War II - he helped define the style of short, succinct sentences that gave more information to the watchers faster
How has social media and digital delivery of news changed how news is consumed? How has the production of news changed with digital technology?
- has allowed news to be consumable every single day, whenever needed wherever someone is - has become different because of digital innovation because now writers must think about what people would wanna read online, the best way to have their pieces stand out among the thousands of other pieces out there, and figure out where their funding is coming from and going to in the light of no one buying papers.
Who was James Gordon Bennet and what was his contribution to journalism?
-was the creator of the New York Herald -he showed the newspapers could be more entertaining by adding things like interviews to pieces, sports stories, and letters to the editor
What were newspapers like in 19th century America? How did newspapers evolve to became the main source of news?
-were becoming more essential to daily life and were just becoming cheaper and more profitable -volved to become the main source of news because of inventions like the penny press, which allowed for papers to only cost one cent
What are ten tips for writing a successful news release (also known as a press release)?
1. Continue to use proper news writing style. 2. Double-check everything. 3. Pick a good headline for it. 4. Create a good lead. 5. Don't over exaggerate. 6. Keep the terminology simple. 7. Keep it concise. 8. Make sure your reader sees how it relates to them 9. Time the release right, if you send out your release to reporters too early/late they will either ignore it or not be able to ask follow-up questions or research and can't put out a piece on the topic. 10. Send it to the right people.
Who was Nellie Bly and what was her contribution to journalism?
-allowed herself to get locked in an insane asylum -traveled the world in 72 days -worked in a sweat-shop in order to expose the effects and dangers of child labor
Who was Joseph Pulitzer and what was his contribution to journalism?
-the creator of The World newspaper -he created one of the first schools of journalism at Columbia University and he used his paper to fight against political corruption.
What is yellow journalism and what is wrong with it?
-the practice of emphasizing pieces of news that are either partially false or enhanced in order to gain more traction -it moves the point of journalism away from being about giving the public correct information and moves it toward sensationalism and getting the most influence over the public as possible through incorrect information.
Order the following types of stories in terms of the amount of opinion that can be in the story from least to most.
1. News Story 2. News Analysis 3. Sports Story 4. Political Commentary 5. Movie Review
Explain six of the common types of sources reporters use for gathering news.
1. Newsmakers: Those that are the actual center of the story, firefighters, athletes, celebrities, etc. They are the reason the piece is being written whether they meant to do something or not. 2. Spokespeople: These are the workers that give comments for higher-ups like CEOs and politicians. This process is relatively quick but the validity of the quotes are questionable. 3. Experts: Interview professionals on a subject allows to give background information when needed in an article. 4. Official records: There's public records of information for most events, institutions, or people either online or in physical records. 5. Reference materials: Using the internet, or physical books, to obtain relative information for your articles allows to give more detailed information and references for the article. 6. Ordinary people: Any person walking down the street or an eye-witness at an event can have an opinion or something to say about whatever you are writing. Their quotes add personality to pieces.
What are five ways that public relations differ from journalism?
1. People who work in PR work write their pieces to get a certain point across for the company they work for so it's going to be biased and unreliable whereas a journalist writes their news pieces to get the information across rather than convince people of anything. 2. The jobs utilize different skills, where journalism is mostly about informing and being objective about everything PR requires someone to be able to persuade their audience and be connected to the company they work for. 3. These jobs have different levels of malleability when it comes to the information they put out. 4. The level of specialization differs in both fields. When working in public relations someone can work on anything from memos to fliers to press releases so their skills need to be flexible. 5. The pay is very different between these two fields and that affects who it attracts. PR specialists can get paid a lot but they're focused on profits and the image of the company they're working with is more than anything else.
What are five ways that public relations differ from advertising?
1. Public relations is far cheaper than advertising. When it comes to advertising there's so much to pay for because they have to pay for the advertising spots on radio, TV, and in magazines/newspapers. 2. People avoid advertisements but people look for the things put out by PR teams. 3. The level of seriousness is different between fields. 4. What the production teams use to create what they put out to the public is different between fields. 5. Advertisements are seen by huge numbers of people.
Explain three major technological innovations that changed news production in the 20th century. Explain how each technology changed how we get the news and the kind of news that is delivered.
1. Radio allowed voices and advertisements to be added to news, people no longer had to read the news, they just had to listen. Radio was also the first introduction to immediate news, they didn't need to print and distribute the newspaper they could just hit record and send it out. 2. the introduction of the television allowed video and pictures to be added to the voices from the radio, this allowed more entertainment for the consumers and kept audiences engaged. 3. The internet was the newest medium for news, allowing all of these aspects from physical papers, radio, and television to fit in the pocket of anyone who had a smart phone. The news was immediate and portable.
Explain ten differences between writing news for radio and television and writing for newspapers?
1. When writing for a broadcast you have to use a more general vocabulary and tone. 2. You have to keep your sentences short and easy to understand without losing the information when it comes to broadcast news. 3. When you're writing for a newspaper you typically need to avoid using contractions to keep the more professional tone but when it comes to radio and television news contractions are only avoided when the words are hard to pronounce or understand out loud, otherwise they're used frequently. 4. Don't use the inverted pyramid when writing broadcast news stories. 5. When you write for a printed newspaper you typically write in past tense because you're reporting on something that happened before the issue was printed but with broadcast news you typically are reporting on on-going situations which means you need to use present tense as often as possible. 6. When you're attributing quotes for a radio/television news story you have to write them in a way that will be clear to the listener and the attributions won't be confused to the wrong statement. 7. When you are naming certain people, which should be avoided if the names could be hard to pronounce on-air, you must add pronouncers which tell the news readers exactly how to say the names. 8. Unlike when writing for a newspaper, when writing for a broadcast station you should avoid using hyphens because they're distracting for the news readers. 9. When writing for a broadcast story you need to write out every word, don't abbreviate. 10. When using numbers in your broadcast reporting round the numbers out, news readers saying complex numbers out loud confuses the reader and makes them lose focus on the story.
What are the five W's and why they are important to writing a good news story?
1. Who 2. What 3. When 4. Where 5. Why 6. How
What are at least five traits of successful reporters/journalists?
1. curiosity 2. boldness 3. persistence 4. patience 5. the ability to stay calm and work hard under pressure and time constraints
In complete paragraphs, explain the six steps for turning an idea into a feature story.
1. research through the internet/archives if that idea has been covered and to what extent. 2. find the exact angle you want to research and report on. 3. talk to your higher-ups. 4. Begin the actual reporting, scheduling and doing interviews, conducting research, and checking sources. 5. plan how you're going to present the story. 6. actually write the story out.
Explain five things every reporter needs to remember about readers.
1. some enjoy hard and important news, others enjoy light-hearted "fluff" pieces so not everyone will enjoy every piece they write 2. they appreciate well written, refreshing to look at, pieces 3. readers are always in a hurry especially with technology being so prevalent in daily life and news consumption 4. readers need a personal connection to stories to become interested in them 5. a reporter should always switch to a more creative format if it is possible for a story
Startling Statement Leads
A lead starting with an interesting piece of information in one short sentence
Choose the "hard" story idea. Select only one answer.
A line has been forming at a downtown theater for "Star Wars: Revenge of the Phantom Sith Clones." The movie doesn't open for another three weeks, however.
Long formal interview
A private one-on-one interview that allows you to build trust with the interviewee and ask more personal and hard-hitting questions for a longer period of time.
Choose the "hard" story idea. Select only one answer.
An angry student, upset at failing a class, ate his homework in protest.
"Backgrounder"
An informal interview where you ask a professional questions regarding the article in order to give better general information rather than add colorful quotes.
"On-the-fly Chat"
An interview done in a public place where you have to give the subject questions as fast as you can and walk along with them through the space.
Walkaround
An interview that's done on-site with the subject of the article doing the task that the piece is about, like interviewing a firefighter while in the truck.
Quick Phoner
An interview that's fast and over the phone.
What is the term for a phrase that identifies the source of a fact, opinion, or quote in a story?
Attribution
What is the term for the area or subject that a reporter is responsible for covering?
Beat
What is the term for the reporter's name, usually printed at the beginning of a story?
Byline
Write a good lead for the following crime story:It's Thursday morning in Springfield. A few hours ago, police found a body in a downtown alley. They've identified the victim as Stormy Snowe, the perky and popular weather forecaster on WUGH, Channel 2. Police say that Snowe's ex-boyfriend, Hagar Samuels, has confessed to hitting her with a crowbar after stalking her last night and watching her kiss another man.
Channel 2 weather forecaster, Stormy Snowe, was found dead in an alley on Thursday. Police said her ex-boyfriend, Hagar Samuels, confessed to killing her after finding her out with another man the night before.
What is the term for information about a photo, often collected by photographers, but written by copy editors or reporters?
Cutline
What is the term for the location of a story, especially if it is written outside of the paper's usual coverage area?
Dateline
What is the term for a sub-headline, written by copy editors, that supplements information on the main headline?
Deck
In at least one or two paragraphs, explain what is wrong with the following review."Recipe for Murder" opens in the stockroom of a Chicago fast-food restaurant.
The most glaring problem with this review is that the entire plot of the movie, and its twist, is spoiled. A review can give the basic information about the movie without spoiling the plot. Since the twist was revealed there's now no reason for the audience to go see the movie you're reviewing.
In a couple sentences, explain two mistakes or problems with the following lead:Vicksburg police officers were called to a hit-and-run accident at the corner of University Avenue and Second Street at 5:12p.m. on Oct. 13.
Two mistakes in this lead are 1.) the time that's included is unnecessary and just taking up space and 2.) there's no story in the lead. It's not including why this hit-and-run is notable and why they're reporting on it.
What is public relations?
Public relations is the way that information is relayed from a company to the public and the way that it is done. This involves choosing the wording of announcements, creating fliers, or even representing celebrities.
Anecdotal Leads
Starting a story with a mini-anecdote that gives more detail/background to the article that follows it.
In a story about a traffic accident, you quote one of the victims saying, "That driver's a lunatic. He's a freakin' menace." That remark is libelous?
False
It's permissable to reprint images you find on a Web site as long as you clearly identify and credit your source. True or False?
False
Libel is defined as any published statement that damages someone's reputation. True or False?
False
On his late night show, Jay Leno makes several jokes about the Detroit Lions. You want to reprint those jokes in your school newspaper, careful to provide proper attribution. You would be violating copyright law?
False
You can publish defamatory statements about people, but as long as you don't identify them by name, they will NOT be able to successfully sue you for libel. True or False?
False
Cons of user participation
In contrast to these pros there are plenty of cons, one of which being unreliability. Users are normal people, not reporters. They don't have a need to tell the truth, plenty of people on the internet will embellish or lie just to get their name in the paper, you can try to double-check their information but it's hard to do that when it comes to personal experiences. Another con is that people online are immature and unprofessional, they can lie and say they're somebody they're not. This puts you as the reporter in danger because if they give you fake information, or say they're someone they're not, you can hurt your reputation. The final con is that adding the outlets for users to provide information online is hard and takes a lot of work and manpower that few newsrooms can afford.
What is the journalism term for continuing a story on another page?
Jump Line
What is the journalism term for the first sentence or paragraph of a news story?
Lead
What is the term for the graphic treatment of a quotation taken from a story, often using bold or italic type and a photo?
Liftout Quote
explain what media convergence means
News convergence is when journalists from all different types of news-reporting media, news channels, radio stations, newspapers, etc., work together in one huge newsroom. This allows reporters to work together, brainstorm, and decide the best route to take a story. One newsroom that actually implemented this was the News Center in Tampa, Florida which combined their newspaper, radio station, and online publication, into one communal building. One example of media convergence is newsgathering convergence, this is the most basic form of media convergence where reports from different medias will borrow aspects of stories from other medias, a graphic, a photo, a video, or travel together to an event they're covering. Another example is content convergence is the much more complicated version of the previous convergence, it involves combining all forms of media.
"kabob"
Organized by anecdotal quotes from a person at the beginning and end of a piece, with information and details in between.
"Martini Glass"
Organized similarly to the pyramid where it first starts by organizing most important information first, but then it diverges into a chronological story
What two quotes would you use from the following interview and why?
Out of these 4 quotes the 2 best to use would be the second and last quotes. They both contain very few filler words and give plenty of color for a piece about the concert the interviewees are attending. The leftover quotes are either far too short or they would require too much editing to coherently use in an article.
Basic News Leads
Summarize the information as fast as possible, putting the important of the 5 W's into the lead
Explain what the cons of blogging are?
Some of the cons to blogging is that anyone can make a blog which means that not everything will be properly fact-checked and can very easily spread misinformation on subjects. Another con is that there can be so many blogs about a particular topic that it's hard to find the good ones under all the mediocre ones. Having too many mediocre blogs can ruin the reputation for a certain topic, the effects can be even worse if this happens with news coverage.
What is the term for the closing line where reporters say their names and station call letters? (Example: "Ella Funt reporting for Newsradio 920").
Tag
What is the term for information providing contact information for the reporter, enabling readers to provide feedback or to follow the work of the reporter?
Tagline
Explain the main mistake with the following news quote. "Assaults on campus increased from 20 in 2004 to 33 in 2005," Penn State University deputy director of university police Ben Z. Dreen said. "That's an increase of 77 percent."
The math is incorrect, it doesn't increase by 77 percent. The reporter would have to find another source.
You're researching a story (or a column, or review). You find an article that has already been published that says exactly what you wanted to say. If you "borrow" information and statements from it, then you would be guilty of plagiarism. True or False?
True
What does the term "penny press" refer to?
The penny press was a machine that allowed newspapers to be printed at 4,000 pages an hour. This caused newspapers to become more accessible because they'd only cost a penny each.
In at least a paragraph or two, explain what is wrong with the following review.The band, in my opinion, sucked.
The problem with this review is that there's no actual information. Even though a review is the opinion of the reporter there still needs to be undeniable facts, did the band completely mess up a song, were they out of tune? did people leave during the show? A review should be constructive critique not just saying something was bad or good.
Don't of writing a Beat
The things you shouldn't do when working a beat are getting too comfortable with sources, telling them that you'll show them in a certain light of not reveal specific facts. You shouldn't waste the time of your sources; if you're going to talk to them make sure that you're asking meaningful questions that either build trust with them or give you information for the story. Finally, you should never just continue what the previous reporter that was on the beat was doing. You can take inspiration and talk to them to get more information but always make the beat your own.
In a couple sentences, explain at least two mistakes or problems with the following lead: "We have to stay focused and give 110 percent," coach Rick Shaw said, but for his Mudhogs, it's do or die when they face the Swamp Toads this weekend.
There are a few problems with this lead, one being the use of a very cliche phrase, "it's do or die" which should typically be avoided when reporting on anything. The second problem with this lead is that they started with a quote, although this can be okay in some cases it's not the most ideal way to write the lead. If they wanted to still use a quote they could have picked one that better explained what was so notable about the story they were reporting on.
In a paragraph or two, explain where you can go for facts you can trust and why.
There are certain places you can trust the facts they deliver and those places are government documents that are approved and official, these documents are public access and must hold reputable information for the public to stay informed of the going-on's of the government. Another trustworthy place is public meetings, these meetings like school board meetings, town hall meetings, and public forums. These meetings are meant for the public to give their opinions and hear what's going on in specific sectors.
In at least one to two paragraphs, explain some of the differences between print stories and web stories.
There are many ways that print stories and web stories are different but the major one is timeliness. If a big news story broke a web-based publication would be able to report almost immediately and constantly update the story as they get more information whereas a print-based publication would have to wait until their issue gets out and hope that the story isn't stale or irrelevant. Some other ways that these two types of publishing are different is the way they have to be formatted to run on the sites or fit on the pages, to catch the eyes of their readers, and to best present their stories. Websites have to make sure their pieces can run easily on computers and phones while keeping their reputability and print-based publications have to make sure they can fit all their stories into the paper in a way that's neat and easy to read.
Wordplay Leads
These leads are anything from puns to onomatopoeia. These are usually only used in feature pieces that have room to be amusing and are typically used to illicit a humorous response/audience.
What are three myths about public relations?
Three myths about public relations is that it's an easy profession or that it's a "sell-out" decision to move into public relations, everything that PR groups create is meant to take advantage of the public, and that all PR work involves celebrities and interacting with the rich and famous when a lot of it is representing local businesses or small companies.
A student posts gossip about your school's cheerleaders on his Facebook page. You reprint it in your school newspaper column, identifying your source. A cheerleader reads your column, goes ballistic and decides to sue for libel. You would be guilty of libel?
True
Someone gives you secret information. In return, you promise to conceal his identity. If you suddenly change your mind and publish his name, he could sue you for violating a verbal contract. True or False?
True
You write what you feel is a fact-based story on the pros and cons of pornography and want to print it in the school newspaper. The student editor and faculty advisor to the college newspaper refuse to print it. On behalf of the school, the student editor and faculty advisor are allowed to censor the article?
True
You're outside an office, waiting to interview a Dearborn politician who you hear saying anti-Muslim comments. You take careful notes. If you print the comments, you can be sued for libel?
True
In a couple sentences, explain two mistakes or problems with the following lead:The jury reached a shocking verdict Wednesday in the dramatic murder trial of Amanda Lynne.
Two problems in this lead are that 1.) using the word "shocking" and "dramatic" are opinionated words that some readers may disagree on and should be avoided for news stories, and 2.) they didn't include the actual newsworthy part of the verdict, the actual verdict.
Pros of user participation
User participation is interesting when it comes to reporting, there are plenty of pros and cons for it. One pro of user participation is that there are users everywhere, especially places you're not. This means that there are eyes everywhere that you can get better information from, first-hand accounts of events with huge groups like protests, fires, and parades. Another pro is that there are so many users that there's bound to be someone with the knowledge that you need, out of thousands of viewers there's most likely going to be at least one expert in a field you need. Finally the users want to talk about everything, they want to know other people's experiences and opinions which means they're very likely to share their own information.
How does a news story get put together for the radio? What are some tips for radio journalists?
When producing a story for the radio a reporter will go out on the field, or do phone calls/emails, to record their interviews. After returning to the newsroom the reporter listens over to the audio they recorded and picks out what parts would be used during a broadcast. From there the writer will write their short story based around the sound bites they chose and incorporate them into the piece for when it's read aloud on-air. Sometimes there can be several versions of a story written but only one is chosen to later be read on-air. Some tips for radio journalists are to write your story around your sound bites, read your piece aloud before sending it in, don't include useless words, find the part of the story that connects directly to the listeners and focus on that, and use imagery to create the scene that you're reporting on and keep audiences hooked.
Do's of writing for a Beat
When working a beat you should always get to know your sources, learn their names, the people they're connected to, and what they know about the beat that you're working. It's necessary to learn the lingo and jargon that the professionals you're reporting on speak in so that you can translate that and give the information to the readers. Something that goes for a lot of other reporting as well as beat reporting is calling back sources, double-checking facts, and checking spellings for anything and everything. Finally, you should always write for the people reading rather than the people you're talking to on the beat.
How does a news story for television get put together? What are some tips for television journalists?
When writing a news story for a television broadcast a reporter is assigned the day's story by an editor and they are sent to the scene with a photographer/camera operator in tow, from there they perform the interviews live on-air. Some stories that are later read by news anchors use footage that was filmed then sent to the studio to repackage into a more clear and concise story. Some tips for television journalists are work with your photographer and communicate the ideas you both have for your stories, pick your strongest shot that you captured for the story and build the actual writing from there, don't repeat information that's already shown in the photos/videos, enhance the emotion of the situations with the photography (show, don't tell), and dress professional and not distracting for the viewers meaning no bright colors, patterns, or styles.
What is the term for a story that begins and ends with a reporter's voice "wrapped" around one or more actualities or cuts? (TV reporters call this a package.)
Wrap
Rewrite the following statement a) as a direct quote, b) as a paraphrase, and c) as a partial quote."All too often, a story free of any taint of personal opinion is a story with all the juice sucked out. Keeping opinion out of the story too often means being a fancy stenographer." --University of Missouri journalism professor Geneva Overholser
a) "All too often, a story free of any taint of person opinion is a story with all the juice sucked out. Keeping opinion out of a story too often means being a fancy stenographer," said University of Missouri journalism professor Geneva Overholser. b) University of Missouri journalism professor Geneva Overholser claims that news writing without opinion is boring. c) University of Missouri journalism professor Geneva Overholser thinks that if a writer doesn't include any opinion in a story then it's had "all the juice sucked out" and that the author becomes "a fancy stenographer."
Round-Up Leads
consists of a list of nouns that are used to build up to the full information of a lead
Inverted Pyramid
organizes information in a way of prioritizing the most important information in your lead, then delving into more detailed information the further you go into the article
Scene-Setter Leads
start an article by describing an environment/event that occurred and building your article from that
Explain what the pros of blogging are?
the pros being it's an immediate way to get information to your readers. A huge part of a journalist's job is to get information to the public as fast as they can in a way that stays factually accurate. Blogs also allow the writer to get the information to the ideal audience instead of getting lost in a full publication. If you run a blog reporting on a certain hockey team, fans of that team will keep up with the posts you make so your goal audience is right there. Another pro to blogging is that anyone who wants to be a journalist can be one. Publications with an already established reputation aren't the only people who have blogs, anyone and everyone can start a blog and report one things.
Blind Leads
the writer deliberately holds out a piece of information to hook in the reader
Direct Address Leads
written directly at the reader, in second-person rather than third-person
To be a credible or trustworthy journalist, what questions should you ask about your sources to make sure they are reliable and that you are getting accurate and fair facts?
you should always ask what credentials the source has, if needed, what biases could the source have, and can you verify the information that the source is/has provided?
