news reporting and writing

8/13/2019 News Reporting and Writing

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News Reporting & Writing

The Nature of News,

and How to Write a Lede

Gerry Doyle


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A Good StoryMany journalists would say that an

important or good story is simply one

that peoplewantto read or watch orfeelthat they haveto.

Good stories are good because they are

important; they have value to readers andviewers.


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What is News?

Good stories are

many things, such asWai Sze Lee of HongKong winning abronze medal in

track cycling at the2012 Olympics.


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What is News?

Good stories are

also often abouttragedies, such as the

deadly ferry collision

near Lamma Island.


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Types of Good StoriesTwo types of good stories:

Well-reported, well-written or produced

accounts of things that happen.

Well-reported, well-written or producedaccounts of things the reporter developsin a unique way.


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The Elements of NewsThe ferry collision story had all the elements thatjournalists think of when they consider, Whatmakes news? and What makes a good story?

--Timeliness --Conflict

--Importance --Prominence

--Proximity --Unusualness

And plenty of this: Human Interest


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The Elements of News

Timeliness:Fresh and recent.

Importance:Impact and consequence.

Proximity:Relevant to us.

Conflict:News that is dramatic.


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The Elements of NewsProminence: People whose names we

recognize.

Unusualness: News that is abnormal.

Human Interest: News is life, and all of

the emotions joy, love, despair that

lifes events we humans can cause.


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Characteristics of NewsNews is contextual: it depends on your

audience, what happened before, what

people care about

News is about people:What they do, the

joys and sadness they experience


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Is this news?

U.S. President Barack Obama UnveilsUS$450 Billion Jobs Package


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Is this news?

Earthquake in Haiti Kills Thousands


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Ist is

news?

Deanie Ip Tak-han Named Best Actress

at Venice Film Festival


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Ist is

news?

Fred the Blogger Calls On Hu Jintao

To Resign


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Ist is

news?

HKU Student Detained by Police


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Ist is

news?

Chicken Found Dead


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Ist is

news?

Chicken Found Dead Had Avian

Influenza, Scientists Say


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7 QuestionsIs it new? Recent?

Does it affect many people?

Does it affect many people in myintended audience?

Does it involve well-known people,places or institutions?


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7 Questions

Does it involve conflict or struggle?

Is it unique or rare?

Do youthink its important? Is there

something that connects withpeople?


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Challenges

Keeping the story accurate and

balanced:

Being accurate is difficult

What is balanced?


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Challenges

Timeliness trying to be first can

create its own set of problems


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Challenges

Journalists have to verify all

information: The three-source rule


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ChallengesRelying on sources when you were

not at the scene


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ChallengesEven when journalists witness events,

challenges remain:

Notice the details

Ask the right questions

Get people to talk to you

Double-check all information


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The Lead

Plato in The Republic: The beginning

is the most important part of the work.


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Hard news v. soft

newsHard newsA single event or

happening

Breaking news: what

is happening now

New developments

relating to a previousevent

Soft news

A new trend

A broad theme

A profile of a person

Anything that is not

hard news


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Structuring the News

StoryThe basic structure for anews story for print and the

Web is often called theinverted pyramid.

The emphasis is on the

most newsworthy items in

your reporting.

The story trails off with lessimportant facts.


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Hard news: a story breaks

A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of

7.9 rocked northern Japan on Friday,measuring the highest level of 7 on theJapanese seismic scale, in Miyagi Prefecture,the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Source: Kyodo News, March 11, 2011


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Hard news: developments

A massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit

Japan on Friday, unleashing a monster 10-metre high tsunami that sent ships crashinginto the shore and carried cars through thestreets of coastal towns.

Source: Agence France-Presse, March 11, 2011


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Hard news: a local angle

An Australian search and rescue team is due

to make a difficult journey to areas badly hitby Friday's devastating earthquake and

tsunami in Japan.

Source: ABC News (Australia), March 16, 2011


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The LeadDirect (hard news) leads usuallysummarize only the most important parts ofa story.

The details are left for later.

Sometimes, direct or hard-news leads may

hint at important or intriguing contents tocome in the story.


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The LeadThe good hard-news lead meets tworequirements:

1) It captures the essence of the event.2) It invites the reader into the story.

Think of leads as bait that determineswhether readers stay with the story.


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The Lead

Leads are worth your time; reporters will try

several different drafts until they get the onethat seems perfect.

Reporters will be thinking of their lead as theyreport the story.


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The LeadGood reporting helps produce good news writing,

especially leads. Consider this lead:

A late-morning fire in the upper floors ofan 18-story housing estate in Pokfulam

killed three people yesterday.

It is perfectly OK, and quite common.


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The LeadBut another reporter asked a fire official to

describe what the fire was like, and the official

used the word blowtorch.

A fire roared like a blowtorch through

the upper floors of a Pokfulam housing

estate yesterday, killing three people.

Stronger, visual, same number of words.


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Direct LeadThe direct lead is the workhorse of journalism. To

decide what is the most important part of the

story, ask six questions:

Whowas involved: Who did it or said it?

Whatwas the most unique or the most

important or unusual thing that happened?

Whendid the event occur?


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Direct Lead

Where did the event occur?

Whydid the event occur?

How did the event occur?


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The 5 Ws and 1 HWho

What

When

Where

Why

How


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The Lead

Typically, but not always, the direct lead contains

four essentials:

It says something specific.

It says when the event or action happened.

It gives the source (without necessarily

identifying it in full).

It gives the place of the action (as concisely as

possible).


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The LeadOther points to remember:

Attribution can wait, sometimes.

Avoid long subsidiary clauses or titles.

Banish jargon and legalese.

Use a direct structure: S-V-O. Subject, verb andobject. (Wong [subject] hit [verb] the man

[object].)

Time element usually goes after verb.


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The Lead - LengthThe Associated Press tells its reporters tostart cutting if their leads run beyond 35words. To find places to cut, begin with:

Unnecessary attribution.

Compound sentences joined by butand and.

Exact dates and times unless essential.Long titles.


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Good Direct LeadFour men convicted of murdering a Germanfamily of four in a frenzied knife attack wereexecuted in China yesterday despite pleas for

clemency from the victims relatives.

The whatwas different. Concrete,

dramatic, specific language. Time. S-V-O.structure.


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Good Direct LeadJewelry tycoon Tse Sui-luens rags-to-richesstory entered its darkest chapter yesterdaywhen a High Court judge declared the self-

made company chairman bankrupt.

Who was important.Placewas important.

Imagery (a bit of a clich, but sometimes itcan work). Time element. S-V-O. structure.


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Reworking LeadsApprentice jockey Philip Cheng Cheung-tat

died at the Prince of Wales Hospital last night,

72 hours after suffering massive injuries in a

race fall at Sha Tin racecourse.

Does the job, but what about this:


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Reworking LeadsAfter clinging to life for three days, anapprentice jockey whose horse fell and rolledover him during a race at Sha Tin died last

night.

Visual; introductory phrase OK in this

instance; trims details not needed in thelead.


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A Lead ContestWhich one is better?

The Airport Authoritys acting chief executive

was axed yesterday to make way for new

blood after he failed to win an internal

struggle to retain his position.


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A Lead ContestThe Airport Authority has appointed a

businessman with no airport managementexperience as its next chief executive officer.

He will replace Bill Lam Chung-lun, who was

seconded from the Government by Chief

Secretary for Administration Anson ChanFang On-Sang in January 1998.


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A Lead ContestNo contest:

The Airport Authoritys acting chief executive

was axed yesterday to make way for new

blood after he failed to win an internal

struggle to retain his position.


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Summing it upA direct hard news lead is:

A lead that gives the most important point.

A lead that is concrete, specific, concise,

active and visual.

A lead that is accurate, honest and readable.

A lead that takes you into the story.


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Assignment

1) Read pages 43-59 in English-LanguageNews Writing (this week, posted onClass Resources page on course

website.)


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Assignment2) Write a short article no more than 300

words about something you observe. Itcould be a person, an event, a building.

Anything other than yourself. Use todays

lessons to guide you, and remember: Show,

dont tell. Due Monday (Feb. 4) at noon.

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