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News Gathering and Reporting

Chapter 13

© 2009, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE

• Deciding What is News

• News Reporting in the Digital Age

• Categories Of News and Reporting

• The News Flow

• The Wire Services

• Media Differences in News Coverage

• Readership and Viewership

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DECIDING WHAT IS NEWS

• Timeliness

• Proximity

• Prominence

• Consequence

• Human Interest

• Economics

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NEWS REPORTING IN THE DIGITAL AGE

• The digital revolution has changed reporting.

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More Sources of News

• Internet increased number of news sources– General news sites– News aggregators– Specialized news sites

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Blogs

• Represent another source of news

• Can have an agenda setting effect

• Can provide check on traditional media

• Provide additional outlet for reporters

• Make it possible for everyone to be a reporter

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Citizen Journalism

• Ordinary citizens become amateur reporters

• Facilitated by digital and cell phone video cameras, high speed Internet access

• Traditional media encourage citizen journalism

• News organizations no longer monopolize what’s reported and how

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Hyperlocal News

• Coverage of stories of interest to very small community– Single ZIP code– Interest group in defined area

• Most hyperlocal news appears on web sites

• Publishers hope will draw in people who don’t generally consume news

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The Converged Journalist

• Has skills of print journalist and video journalist

• Backpack journalists

• Mobile journalists (mojos)

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New Tools

• Internet allows reporters to access wide variety of information while at their desks– Must learn how to use these tools– Computer-assisted reporting

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CATEGORIES OF NEWS AND REPORTING

• News can be broken down into broad categories

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Hard News

• Traditional fact-oriented journalism– Who, what, where, when, why, how

• Print media– Inverted pyramid format– Lead

• Broadcast media– Square format

• Online media– Varied writing styles

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Soft News

• Features– Wide range of topics– Human interest

• Inverted pyramid style

• More common on TV than radio

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Investigative Reports

• Significant information about matters of public importance

• Non-routine methods

• Longer than typical news item

• Bloggers

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THE NEWS FLOW

• Many gatekeepers in print and broadcast news

• Online reporting may have fewer gatekeepers

• Bloggers

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Print Media

• Sources of print news– Staff reports & wire services

• Other contributing sources, less important

• Staff– City editor

• Beat reporters• General assignment reporters

– Copy desk– Managing editor & assistant managing editor– All are gatekeepers

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Broadcast Media

• Sources of broadcast news– Local reporters & wire services

• Syndicated news services• Network feeds

• Staff– News director– Executive producer & producers– Assignment editor– Reporters and anchors (most reporters are general

assignment reporters)– Camera crews, sound editors, writers, etc– All are gatekeepers

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Online Media

• News flow and production process similar to traditional media– Top executives– Editors– Staff members– Reporters

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THE WIRE SERVICES

• Two biggest wire services– AP: Associated Press– UPI: United Press International

• Wire services provide most of the news about what’s going on outside the local community

• Other wire services compete with AP & UPI

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MEDIA DIFFERENCES IN NEWS COVERAGE

• Print, broadcast, and online media all have strengths and weaknesses

• All play crucial role in informing the public

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Words and Pictures

• Print & online news are organized in space; TV stories organized in time– TV covers fewer stories and in less detail

• TV better at transmitting experience or impressions; print & online better at facts, information, lengthy analysis

• Newspapers & online have more permanence; can cover complex stories better

• TV has strong visual dimension, but visual is also important to print & online

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Print, Online, and Broadcast Journalists

• Appearance and personality of reporters are more important in TV than in print and online– TV newscasters can become stars– Print & online reporters are more anonymous

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Similarities Among the News Media

• Print, broadcast, and online journalists share basic values and journalistic principles– Honesty– Accuracy– Balance– Objectivity– Maintaining credibility

• Credibility is key in keeping public’s trust

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READERSHIP AND VIEWERSHIP

• Audiences for news have been shrinking and getting older

• Except for Internet, exposure to all sources of news has decreased

• Audience has become less likely to trust the media