Multimedia News Writing Chapter 4
Nine Guidelines for Wording and Positioning Attributions
1) The first time you identify a source, use his/her full name, after that use only his/her last name; 2) For most attributions, it's preferable to put the noun ahead of the verb; 3) When a quote uses just one sentence, the attribution usually follows the quote; 4) When a quotation uses more than one sentence, it's often best to put the attribution at the end of the first sentence; 5) The are times when it makes sense to start a quote with the attribution: to set up a partial quote, for instance. Or to avoid forcing readers to scan a long quote without first knowing who the speaker is; 6) It's also acceptable to set up long quotes with an attribution followed by a colon; 7) When inserting an attribution into a quote, try to find a logical spot for it, then insert additional quotation marks; 8) Once you attribute the first sentence of a quote, you don't need to attribute additional sentences that directly follow; 9) Begin a new paragraph whenever you change speakers. TO avoid confusion, add new attributions as soon as possible
Experts
A professor, an author, a government official, to provide analysis or opinion.
The Mean
Add up a group of items then divide that total by the number of items in the group
Official Records
All instituions collect and store massive amounts of information. Most records are available under the Freedom of Information Act
Line Charts
Also called fever charts, show connecting points on a graph that measure changing quantities over time. Consist of a scale running vertically down one side that measures amounts, a scale running horizontally along the bottom measuring time and a jagged line connecting a series of points, showing rising or falling trends
Sight
Attention to detail lets you view the scene as if you're looking through the reporter's eye
Attributing Something to a Source
Attributing facts and opinions to their sources shows readers that you're reporting what's been said, not saying it yourself
The Wording of the Question
Avoid polls that use leading questions
Diversity in Your Newsroom
Bringing diverse voices into a newsroom can broaden its perspective, helping staffers view the news through new and different lenses. Sending culturally diverse reporters into the community can increase a news organization's accessibility and make its reporting more credible.
Bar Charts
Compare two or more items by depicting data as columns stacked side by sided. Consist of a scale running either horizontally or vertically to measure the data and parallel bars representing items being measured
Preparing for the Interview
Continue your research, organize your questions, prioritize, rehearse your interview with a friend, get to the interview on time, dress appropriately
Blogs
Cover news events, refining and refuting facts presented by mainstream media.
Pie Charts
Depict percentage values or proportions by showing the different parts that make up the whole. Consist of a circle representing 100 percent of something and several wedges dividing that circle into smaller percentages
How to Not Plagiarize
Directly quote and credit the source, Paraphrase, while still crediting the source, Rework and reword the idea until it's more ours than theirs
Problems to Avoid When using Quotes in Stories
Don't bore readers with dull, obvious quotes, don't rehash what a quote is saying, avoid using a quote as a lead, don't be telepathic, beware of monologues, it's best not to mimic someone's dialect, beware of could language, don't distort a quote's meaning
Scheduled Events are...
Easier to over than breaking news, you know when they'll start and finish, often predict what will happen, you can decide in advance how important they are, which allows you to plan the timing and scope of your coverage. Write advances, precedes, or previews that explain the who, what when and where for readers ahead of time
Advantages of Phone Interviews
Fast, efficient way to get answers, for many people talking to a reporter isn't as intimidating when they can't see you taking notes, with cell phones, conversations can occur anytime, anywhere
Setting Up the Interview
First do your homework, think through your story, determine the best way to interview those sources, set up the interview, decide when and where to meet, ask if photos will be allowed
Feature Stories
Focus on people, trends or events. Ideas for feature stories can originate in surprising, unpredictable ways.
Check Sources
For accuracy, to ensure all facts and statements are true
Balance Sources
For fairness, to represent all sides of every issue
Select Sources
For relevance, to focus each story on whats most important
Cultivate Sources
For tips and story ideas in the future
Many Interviewers, One Interviewee
Formal news conferences or at informal post game media mobs. Reporters usually take turns tossing out questions and everyone gets to share the answers
News Stories
Frome events that are sudden and unpredictable, scheduled events, news release alerting the media to noteworthy events or topics, ideas generated by readers, editors, or reporters
Follow-up (Second day story)
Further analyze what happened, what it means or what happens next.
Advantages of E-Mail Interviews
Gives Interviewees time to ponder and contract intelligent responded, offers the most flexibility, you can ask and answer questions whenever its convenient, since responses are typed, they're easy to copy and past, and they provide a record of all thats been said
Many events...
Happen on schedule and recur predictably: Ex) the mayor campaigns for re-election, the semester ends, the cicadas return , almost every concert, court case, public meeting and sports event is scheduled weeks (or ever months ) in advance.
Deciding Whether a Source is Reliable
How does this person know what he/she knows, whats the past record of this source's reliability, Does this source have some bias or self-interest that compromises the integrity of what he/she says? Am i being manipulated for some reason, Is this information available form other sources that would let me verify or refute what he/she is saying
Partial Quote
If a direct quote is too long or awkwardly phrased, you may decide to insert just a part of it. Beware of overusing fragmentary quotes
Post Audio or Video
If conversation with good, consider recording it so you can convert it into a podcast or online video clip
Pseudo-events
Illusions created for the media that crowd out real issues and real events.
Taking Notes
Involves major multitasking, lots of listening, interpreting, observing, evaluating, writing and reacting in a hurry
Other Variables
Is the survey demographically representative, how many respondents refused to answer questions or lied.
Disadvantages of Phone Interviews
Its impersonal, you can't tell what people look like, what they're doing, how they're reacting; its difficult to record a phone conversation without buying a reliable recording gizmo, you're much more likely to mis hear or misquote someone
Advantages of In Person Interviews
Its the best way to build rapport and encourage sources to cooperate, a subject's physical surrounding often provide useful information, you can pick up cues by watching a person's gestures, body language, people take you more seriously when you're right in front of them
Advantages of Typing
Its the fastest way to turn your notes into a story, its the most efficient way to gather last-minute details or fill holes in a story on deadline, you can conduct an entire interview using chat or e-mail
Advantages of Recording
Its the most accurate way to capture every word spoken during an interview, if anyone tries to challenge your story, you have actual proof of what was said, it lets you post interview audio on your paper's web site
Its the most efficient way to contact the experts you find mentioned on web sites you visit. Great way to conduct interviews with multiple sources simultaneously. Receive press releases, tips and feedback from readers, colleagues and sources
Search Engine
Lets you enter key words or phrases, then scours the Web to provide links to sites using those words
Advantages of a Notebook
Low tech, nothing to break, no batteries to fail, written notes are easy to access and transcribe later, you keep a permanent record of what you hear and saw
Tips for Maintaining Diversity
Monitor your work patterns, expand your horizons and your comfort zone, honor the everyday, not just the exceptional, avoid portraying minorities as monolithic blocks or stereotype, do good journalism
Disadvantages of Typing
Most people talk fast, typing quotes might be inaccurate, Computer problems can ruin interviews or destroy files, you're stuck sitting in one place staring at the screen
The Internet, No Matter How Useful
No substitute for reality, for real discussions with real human being.
NewsGroups
Online bulletin boards organized by topic
Disadvantages of a Notebook
People talk faster than you can write, quotes may be inaccurate, standing still to write can be cumbersome and restricting, some of your scribblings will later seem illegible to you
Calculating Percentages
Percentages are used to compare the sizes of two different things or to show how much something increases or decreased over time
Post Complete Transcripts
Post the entire q and a online
Let Readers Join the Conversation
Promote the interview in advance on your web site and ask readers to submit their questions ahead of time
Directory
Provides a huge list of Web sites organized by topics that get more detailed the deeper you dig
Q-and-A's
Questions posed in one font, answers in another. They can be light or serious, long or short. You can even edit remarks for brevity, as long as you don't distort their meaning
Context
Readers will broaden their understanding if you approach the topic from different points of view
During the Interview
Relax, Never forget: You're in charge, start with the basics, budget your time, begin with softball questions, focus your questions, keep it simple, limit questions that can be answered simply yes or no, make sure every question gets answered, rephrase questions, ask follow-up questions, stay flexible, ask people to slow down, don't worry about asking dumb questions, remember to look around, use reassuring body language, try using silence as a tactic, don't interrupt, don't take sides, save your toughest questions for last
Disadvantages of Recording
Replaying and transcribing interviews wastes valuable time, background is noisy, it can be impossible to make out what's being said, if the machine fails, the tape jams or the batteries died, its a serious problem
On the Record
Reporter's source agrees that anything said during the interview can be printed and the source's name can be used
Reference Material
Research relying on printed material.
After the Interview
Review your notes before you end the session, Ask who else should I contact, Ask permission to call back later, Ask Interviewees to call you, say thank you, review your notes again privately, check back with your sources after the story runs
Every Reporter Must Learn How To:
Select sources, check sources, balance sources, cultivate sources
Press Releases
Send out by bureaucrats, event organizers, and public reaction experts to newsrooms big and small. Arrive by fax, e-mail, and snail mail; many elaborate release use video, ling to Web sites or include free samples of merchandise
Said
Serious news stories use said
Emotion
Show you the scene, in simple and direct language, without telling you how to feel
Sound
Skilled writers empty all their sense to capture the smells, tastes, and sounds of their stories. Descriptions range from subtle to extreme as they paint sonic pictures
Anonymous Sources
Some sources are reluctant to be named or quoted in a story. Granting anonymity to nervous sources is often the only way to get information into a story, usually undermines your credibility which is why editors discourage it
Fun Facts
Sometimes the smartest reporting is also the simplest. Present data is to boil complex topics down to their essential who what when where why, then decide which of those facts should be highlight in a fast facts sidebar.
Ordinary Folks
Sometimes you want to hear the opinions or anecdotes of the man on the street or the woman on campus. Ordinary people add authenticity that resonates with readers
Many Interviews, Many Interviewees
Spin room at political debates or during media gatherings at trade showers, where impromptu interviews arise in random clumps
Direct Quote
State what someone said or wrote. Quoted statements always being and end with quotation marks. use when a sources entire sentence presents ideas or opinions in a concise relevant way
One Interviews, Many Interviewees
Teammates who just won the big game, assembled members of a rock group. Keep a careful note of who says what.
The Sample Size
The Larger the sampling the more accurate the surgery. The smaller the sampling the less trustworthy the results. Pollsters use a mathematical formula to determine the margin of error for each poll, the plus or minus percentage that indicates the range within the poll results are accurate. The more serious the survey, the more you need to disclose its margin of error
The Median
The halfway point, the middle number in a series. To find it, sort your list in order from smallest to largest then find the value thats exactly in the middle
On Deep Background
The information can be used by the source cannot be revealed. The reporter could write it but publishing unattributed speculations may be risky
On Background
The information can be used in a story and can even run as a quote but the source cannot be identified by name
Off the Record
The information cannot be published in any form, if a reporter is told off the record something, the reporter must confirm it from a separate source before printing it
Diversity in the Topics You Cover
The more varied voices you include, the more the focus of every story is likely to shift in a fresh, compelling way
Reliability
There's less chance of inaccuracy or bias when you gather facts from a variety of sources
Disadvantages of E-Mail Interviews
Theres no personal interactions, the lag time between questions and answers makes it hard to ask immediate follow-up questions, some people take an hour to type what they could say in five minutes, not sure if the is really the person they claim to be
NewsMakers
These are the people who willingly or not take part in the news events. Their recollections, opinions and emotions validate stories and give them life.
People Lie
They exaggerate, fudge facts to make their case, they bend the truth to win our approval so stay skeptical
Dialogue
To capture a conversation between say two speakers, you can reprint their actual dialogue
Diversity in Your Stories
To reflect your entire community, you need a broad spectrum of voices in your stories. Making a conscious effort to cast a wide net when you seek out sources
How to Search the Internet
Try using directories and search engines, bookmark your favorite search sites and get familiar with them, keep keywords as specific as possible, study the site's search syntax, watch your spelling, before you link to web sites, study their addresses
Punctuation Advice for Using Quotes in Stories
Use double quotation marks at the beginning and end of direct quotes, use single quotation marks for quote statements inside other quoted statements, put periods and commas inside quotation marks, if you're quoting someone's question put the question mark inside the quotation marks, colons semicolons and dashes go outside quotation marks, when editing a quote use an ellipsis to indicate deleted words phrases or sentences, use parentheses to supply missing word, capitalize the first word of a direct quote but you don't need to capitalize partial quotes
Says
Used in reviews, feature stories, broadcast news writing
Actions
Verbs add verve
The Source
Was the data collected by objective researchers?
Paraphrase
When you summarize without using the exact words or adding quotations marks. A common way to clarify or condense someone else's statements. Paraphrasing is necessary, lets you rephrase their ideas in a clearer, more concise way
A Walkaround
Where you accompany your interviewee as he/she does that newsworthy thing you're writing about
A Backgrounder
Where you informally pick an expert's brain on a topic you're researching
A Quick Phoner
Where you seek fast facts to plug into a story
A Long, Formal Interview
Where you sit privately in a room, asking probing questions and getting revealing answers
Spokespeople
Who speaks for institutions, big corporations or public agencies. Usually one person (or office) is responsible for disseminating information to the media. Helps streamline the process and eliminate confusion, also gives those organizations more opportunity to control or spin the story
An On-the-Fly Chat
With a newsmaker where you fire off questions as they whisk through a public place
Disadvantages of In Person Interviews
You can waste time setting up a meeting, traveling, waiting around, making small talk; Distractions often interrupt the interview, if you're uncomfortable, unlikable, or unpleasant to be around, face-to-face interviews can go badly
Depth
Your story will offer more information and insight
People Yammer
and stammer and fumble around trying to express ideas that you could say better