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Reporting Techniques & Skills

Study Material for Students

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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN MEDIA WORLD

Mass communication and Journalism is institutionalized and source specific. Itfunctions through well-organized professionals and has an ever increasinginterlace. Mass media has a global availability and it has converted the wholeworld in to a global village. A qualified journalism professional can take up ajob of educating, entertaining, informing, persuading, interpreting, andguiding. Working in print media offers the opportunities to be a news reporter,news presenter, an editor, a feature writer, a photojournalist, etc. Electronicmedia offers great opportunities of being a news reporter, news editor,newsreader, programme host, interviewer, cameraman, producer, director, etc.

Other titles of Mass Communication and Journalism professionals are scriptwriter, production assistant, technical director, floor manager, lighting director,scenic director, coordinator, creative director, advertiser, media planner, mediaconsultant, public relation officer, counselor, front office executive, eventmanager and others.



: Reporting Techniques & Skills

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INTRODUCTION

The book deals with techniques of reporting. The students will learn the skills ofgathering news and reporter’s art of writing the news. The book explains the basicformula of writing the news and the kinds of leads. Students will also learn differenttypes of reporting and the importance of clarity and accuracy in writing news. Thebook also deals with the art of writing Articles, Editorials, Middle, Profiles, andLetters to the Editor, Book Reviews, Film Review and Sports Reviews. At the end ofthe book, students will learn about Photojournalism.




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INDEXReporting Techniques & Skills

1. The Business of Mass Media & Reporter. 10-14

2. Gathering the News: 14- 242.1 Reporting & Reporters2.2 Training & Qualifications to be a reporter2.3 Where reporter works2.4 Reporting for Newspapers 14.2.5 Taking Notes2.6. Interviews2.7 Types of interviews 232.8. News Reporting

2.8.1 Investigative or Interpretative Reporting2.9 A nose for News. 292.10. Organizing the information

2.10.1 Writing and Editing2.10.2. The main elements of News2.10.3. Functions of News2.10.4. News Sources

3. Skills for Writing News: 25-603.1 The basic formula3.2. Structure for news story

3.2.1. The Inverted Pyramid3.3 Writing the Lead3.4 Types of Leads3.5 Headlines

3.5.1. The Types of leads –3.5.2.Four functions of a headline:

3.6 Types of News Writing3.7 Organization of Topic of Newspaper3.8 Types of Reporting3.9 Writing the Story

4. Types of Reporting: 60-794.1. Crime Reporting4.2. Court Reporting4.3. Health Reporting4.4. Civic Reporting4.5. Political Reporting4.6. Business Reporting4.7. Science & Technology Reporting4.8. Sport Reporting4.9. Culture Reporting4.10. Civil Administration Reporting4.11.Education Reporting





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4.12.Development Reporting

5. Writing the Story: 80- 965.1 Magazine Writing5.2. How to write an Obituary?

5.2.1. Article Writing5.3. Editorial Writing guidelines5.4.. Writing Letter to Editor5.5. Writing Film Review5.6.Writing Book Review5.7. New paradigm features

6. Photo Journalism: 97- 1176.1 . Photojournalism6.2. What is a photojournalist?6.3 photojournalist different from a photographer6.4. Uses of Photography

6.4.1 Elements of Photography6.4.2. Point of Interest

6.5. Role of Visualizations6.6. Photo Editing in newspaper6.7. India's Top Cartoonists6.8. Cartooning

Glossary of journalism terms 118-124

Summery 125

Questions for practice 127

Suggested reading 128





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SYLLABUS


UNIT 1. The Business of Mass Media & Reporter.UNIT 2. Gathering the News:Reporting & Reporters - Training & Qualifications to be a reporter - Wherereporter works- Reporting for Newspapers - Reporting the expected & unexpected - Made news –What reporters do - Reporting skills - A nose for News. Observation listening &seeing, Taking notes, finding, checking, verifying, analyzing & interpretinginformation - Interviewing -Asking questions - Types of interviews - Interviewingtechniques.UNIT 3. Skills for Writing News:The basic formula - The Inverted Pyramid: advantages & disadvantages. Writingthe Lead- Kinds of Leads - The summary Lead - Thinking through the Lead - Finding theappropriate verb - No news Lead - Organizing the facts - Time elements -Variations on the summary Lead - Some other aspects of the Lead - Datelines,Credit Lines, Bylines -Checklist for the standard of the news story.UNIT 4. Types of Reporting:Objective, Interpretative, Investigative, Legal, Developmental. Political. Sports,Crime, Economic & Commercial, Technical & Science Reporting & the rest.UNIT 5. Writing the Story:Single - Incident Story - Attribution - Identification - Time and Timeliness – TheStylebook.UNIT 6. Photo Journalism:How is News Photography different from the rest - Analyzing the camera angleAction photography - Choosing the right - pix - India's Top Photo Journalists.Cartooning: The Craftsmanship, India's Top CartoonistsUNIT 7. Glossary of Newspaper terminology





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REPORTING TECHNIQUES & SKILLS

OBJECTIVES

To understand the techniques of reporting To know the skills of gathering news and art of writing the news To understand the importance of clarity and accuracy in writing news To study the types of reporting To learn the art of writing Articles, Editorials, Middle, Profiles, and Letters to

the Editor, Book Reviews, Film Review and Sports Reviews The know about photojournalism

INTRODUCTION

Part – I

Mass Media is a term used to denote a section of the media specificallyenvisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of anation state. It was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radionetworks, mass-circulation newspapers and magazines, although mass media waspresent centuries before the term became common. The term public media has asimilar meaning: it is the sum of the public mass distributors of news andentertainment across mediums such as newspapers, television, radio, broadcasting,which require union membership in large markets such as Newspaper Guild and &text publishers. The concept of mass media is complicated in some internet mediaas now individuals have a means of potential exposure on a scale comparable towhat was previously restricted to select group of mass media producers. Theseinternet media can include personal web pages and blogs.

UNIT 1. THE BUSINESS OF MASS MEDIA & REPORTER

Journalism is not a profession that is founded on starry-eyed optimism. It scornsthe up lifter as much as it suspects the reformers, having had grievous experiencewith both in the course of its daily dealings with human affairs. In fact, it cries woeknows full well that such an automatic reflex action has a better chance of beingright or wrong.





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Today, Progressive Journalists have realized that there are both civic and nationalresponsibilities that come ahead of their normal professional duties. Merely tellingand printing the news is not enough, nor is it sufficient to keep chanting a litanyabout interpreting the news without finding better people, better ways, more space,and more time to do it before a crisis makes it imperative. The reporter or thejournalist is no longer justifies in wrapping himself in the guise of a philosophicalanarchist and pretending that he is someone set apart with a mission beyond that ofordinary men. For the fact is that he no longer is mere news gatherer, often, in theact of gathering news, he makes it and even influences the course of events. Surely,the time has come for him to recognize it. He is not part of the gigantic shadowplay, he is one of the principal actors, and what he says and does can have asubstantial influence on its outcome. He must face up to his responsibilities as agood citizen first, a good reporter second.

The Press is independent of government. Governments are composed of humanbeings, and human beings can and do commit wrongs. The press and governmentshould not become institutional partners. They are natural adversaries withdifferent functions, and each must respect the role of the other. Sometimes a freepress can be a distinct annoyance and an embarrassment to a particulargovernment, but that is one of the prices of liberty. A free press is responsible toits readers and to them alone.

Independence is at the very heart of any statement of ethical principles respectingthe conduct of the press. The proprietors of a newspaper may choose to ally it witha particular political party or interest, but an increasing number of newspapers andjournals are politically independent as well as independent of government. Thismeans not that they refrain from endorsing a certain political party or a candidatefor public office, but rather that they owe no prior allegiance and that they makethe endorsement voluntarily, as an exercise of their independence.

From this it follows that an independent press must cherish that role by resistingpressures of all kinds - from local as well as national government, from specialinterest groups in the community, from powerful individuals, from advertisers.This is a noble standard that is sometimes more difficult to follow in a smallcommunity than in a large one. It may be relatively easy for a large, well-financednewspaper to risk the displeasure of a particular interest group or advertiser. But ona small paper, where the support of such an advertiser or interest has a directbearing on the ability of management to meet the payroll, it takes courage to resistpressure.





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From this also flows the point that the newspaper and its staff should exemplifyindependence in their actions. Not only should they be independent in fact, but alsothey must be seen to be independent. A newspaper that rewards its friends withunwarranted, flattering stories or fawning editorials will not long be respected. Anewspaper whose reporters also are on the payroll of a special interest group orwho accept free trips or lavish gifts will find it hard to be convincing in itscriticisms of corruption or other unethical practices in government.

Occasionally, newspapers attempt to justify the acceptance of gifts or services. Areliable reporter will hardly be corrupt. Admittedly, in small communities,journalists sometimes may encounter problems in maintaining an independent role.There are pressures to participate in volunteer services, in clubs and businessassociations, and even in local government. Conflicts of interest may arisefrequently.

Journalists cannot expect to be walled apart from the community in which theylive. But neither can they serve two masters with opposing interests. A diligenteditor or reporter will at least be aware of the conflicts and keep his or herprofessional responsibilities foremost in mind.

A newspaper has the right to be captious, or partisan, or untruthful, or bigoted, orwhatever else its conscience allows it to be. And although newspapers areanswerable to the laws of libel, within a very large compass they continue to settheir own responsibilities. The underlying idea is that, from the clash of opinionsand ideas presented by a free press, ultimately something resembling truthemerges.

In practice, however, truth does not always emerge unless someone digs it out.And there is no single patented version of what constitutes truth. In a communitywhere only one newspaper exists, a reader may not encounter differing opinionsunless the newspaper chooses to present them. Radio and television are not alwayseffective substitutes.

Recognition, of the importance of fair and balanced reporting, in which opinionsthat differ from those of the writer, or the newspaper, or a government official arenevertheless accurately portrayed. News stories and analysis are presented on thenews pages, with their origins and sources identified wherever possible. Thenewspaper's own opinions are presented on the editorial page, which may alsocarry signed columns from syndicated writers or staff members of the newspaperitself.





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News Reporting needs to guard against undue intrusions on the privacy of personsabout whom they are reporting. A photograph of a person jumping off a building orplunging into a fire may be dramatic, but editors ought to debate long and hardover whether they are violating someone's rights or dignity by publishing it. Doesthe publication serve a defensible purpose, one that will be understood by readers?Or is it using an indignity to pander to curiosity?

Reporters enjoy no special rights beyond those of other citizens. They must beaggressive in pursuing facts. Indeed, one of the most important functions of a freepress is to serve as a watchdog. But its staff members have no dispensation to berude or discourteous. Television has many sins of its own, but one thing it purveysvery quickly to viewers is whether reporters at a news conference are behavingarrogantly or with unnecessary brusqueness.

A Reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information incertain types of mass media.

Reporters gather their information in a variety of ways, including tips, pressreleases, and witnessing events. They perform research through interviews, publicrecords, and other sources. The information-gathering part of the job is sometimescalled "reporting" as distinct from the production part of the job, such as writingarticles. Reporters generally split their time between working in a newsroom andgoing out to witness events or interview people.





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Most reporters working for major news media outlets are assigned an area to focuson called a beat or patch. They are encouraged to cultivate sources to improvetheir information gathering.

Reporters working for major Western news media usually have a university orcollege degree. The degree is sometimes in journalism, but in most countries, thatis generally not a requirement. When hiring reporters, editors tend to give muchweight to the reporter's previous work such as newspaper clippings, even whenwritten for a student newspaper or as part of an internship.

Reporting skills can be learned, just like any other skill. The entire reportingprocess involves setting objectives, through data gathering and analysis tools, toplanning, drafting, editing and designing the report.

Set evaluation goals- know what you are doing from the startSelect data gathering methods - select the best way to get breadth and depth ofinformationAnalyze quantitative and qualitative data - really understand what your data istelling youPlan the report-put your ideas into a structure that works. Write more clearly andorganize your ideas and analysis effectively - getting to the point in a powerful,persuasive style

UNIT 2. GATHERING THE NEWS

2.1. Training & Qualifications to be a Reporter

News reporters, correspondents, and analysts gather and prepare useful informationfor local and nationwide audiences. They inform society on current events and theactions of public, corporate, and special interest figures.

News analysts, or newscasters or news anchors, harness and interpret news to bebroadcast. They present on-air videotapes, stories, or live transmissions fromcorrespondents outside of the studio. Some newscasters specialize in either weatheror sports, and hence receive the titles of weathercasters and sportscaster. Theygather and deliver information relating to these areas of interest. Someweathercasters are actual meteorologists who make their own weather forecasts.

Reporters are heavily involved with all phases of news gathering, organizing,shooting, and delivering. They often interview individuals with cameras and later





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edit the material for presentation. Often this information will be sent via electronictransmission to news writers who write about the material. Television and radioreporters may submit material live from a news source. They usually record anintroduction to their story to be presented. Commentators and columnists arejournalists who provide readers and listeners with their own personal opinions.Reports write on assigned topics of relative importance, such as political orcompany events, accidents, or celebrity visits. Some reporters will be assignedspecial interest stories such as “police beats.” Still others specialize in unique fieldsof interest, such as sports, politics, health, consumer affairs, science, religion,entertainment, and others. Investigative journalists may spend days to weeks at atime working on stories. Teams that include reporters, photographers, graphicartists, and editors are often gathered to report on particular events or stories.

News correspondents cover news stories in regional stationed areas. Reporters thatwork with smaller publications involve themselves with all phases of gathering andpresenting news, from taking photographs to laying out pages and editing finaltranscriptions. They may also sell advertising and do some office work.

News reporters, correspondents, and analysts should anticipate busy schedules andpressure deadlines. They may have to rush to broadcast a story by a certain time.Work environments vary from comfortable offices to rooms full of technicalequipment and other workers. Outside field reporters may find the environment ofan event to be extremely hectic and even dangerous.

Work schedules vary. While print reporters typically work in the late hours of theday until midnight, television, radio, and magazine reporters usually have dayschedules with some evening work.

In order to meet a deadline, reporters may have to adjust their schedule or workovertime. This is especially so as many stations have 24 hour broadcast schedules.Travel may also be necessary for breaking news events.

2.3. Where Reporters work?

Reporters gather information and write news stories. These stories appear innewspapers and magazines. Some reporters appear on television and radio. To getinformation, reporters look at documents. They also observe the scene andinterview people. Reporters write about events. These include things such as anaccident, a rally, or a company going out of business.





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Radio and television reporters often report "live" from the scene. Newscorrespondents mostly work in large cities. Some report from foreign citiescovering the events in the city.

Reporters must meet deadlines. Some work in private offices, while others oftenwork in large rooms with other reporters. Television and radio reporters mayencounter curious onlookers, police, or other emergency workers.

Reporters work long hours and sometimes have odd schedules. They may have totravel. At morning newspapers, reporters might work from late afternoon untilmidnight. At evening or afternoon papers, they may work from early morning untilafternoon. Radio and television reporters work day or evening shifts. Magazinereporters generally work during the day. Reporters may have to work extra hoursto meet deadlines. They may have to change their work hours to follow a story.

A college degree in journalism is preferred. Some employers hire graduates withother majors. Working at school newspapers or broadcasting stations is goodexperience. Internships with news organizations may also help when seeking a jobas a reporter.

Reporters must write clearly and effectively. They also need word processing,computer graphics, and desktop publishing skills. Speaking a second language isnecessary for some jobs. In high school; you should take courses in English,journalism, and social studies, with an emphasis on writing.

Employment of news analysts, reporters, and correspondents is expected to declinemoderately. Still, some job openings will occur in newer media areas, such asmagazines and newspapers on the Internet. It is difficult to get a job at newspapersand broadcast stations in large cities. The best chances for a first job are on smalltown and suburban newspapers.

2.4.Reporting for Newspapers

Our newspapers must present a balanced view of the community, state, nation andthe world beyond our borders. To do so it requires a certain amount of skill,patience and understanding. Therefore, a reporter must have a nose for news. Wetalk of news of reader interest.





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Generally the following will interest the reader:1. Unusual events2. Mysteries and the unknown3. Prominent people, places and the things4. Whatever people are talking about5. Statements by persons in authority6. All events that affects readers’ lives7. Trends or continuing events that grasp the imagination of readers over a

period of time8. New ideas-anything that is likely to be new to the general reader9. Conflict between man and man; between man and nature10.Natural phenomenon; violence, calamities and disaster11.Tragedies and comedies that appeal to the human emotion12.The why of news; why things happen, what makes them happen, who pulls

the strings13.Topics of health14.The environment15.Fashion and entertainment

2.5. Taking notes in Reporting is very important!

You must be able to provide evidence of everything you include in an article ornews report. Therefore, it is vital that you keep adequate notes, and includeeverything you can, including for example) transcripts of interviews and e -mails.When taking notes, you might try making your own shorthand. Evidence which isof unknown source is not evidence.

How to Take Notes?

1. In preparation for writing a piece of work, your notes might come from anumber of different sources: course materials, set texts, secondary reading,interviews, or government sources and common people. You might gatherinformation from radio or television broadcasts, or from experiments and researchprojects.

2. The notes you gather in preparation for writing will normally provide detailedevidence to back up any arguments you wish to make. They might also be used asillustrative material. They might include such things as the quotations and page





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references you plan to use in an essay. Your ultimate objective in planning will beto produce a one or two page outline of the topics you intend to cover.

3. Be prepared for the fact that you might take many more notes than you will everuse. This is perfectly normal. At the note-taking stage you might not be sureexactly what evidence you will need. In addition, the information-gathering stageshould also be one of digesting and refining your ideas.

4. Don't feel disappointed if you only use a quarter or even a tenth of yourmaterials. The proportion you finally use might vary from one subject to another,as well as depending on your own particular writing strategy. Just because somematerial is not used, don't imagine that your efforts have been wasted.

5. When taking notes from any source, keep in mind that you are attempting tomake a compressed and accurate record of information, other people's opinions,and possibly your own observations on the subject in question.

6. Your objective whilst taking the notes is to distinguish the more important fromthe less important points being made. Record the main issues, not the details. Youmight write down a few words of the original if you think they may be used in aquotation. Keep these extracts as short as possible unless you will be discussing alonger passage in some detail.

7. Don't try to write down every word of a lecture - or copy out long extracts frombooks. One of the important features of note taking is that you are making a digestof the originals, and translating the information into your own words.

8. Some people take so many notes that they don't know which to use when it'stime to do the writing. They feel that they are drowning in a sea of information.

9. This problem is usually caused by two common weaknesses in note-takingtechnique:

Transcribing too much of the original Being unselective in the choice of topics

10. There are two possible solutions to this problem:

Select only those few words of the source material, which will be of use.Avoid being descriptive. Think more, and write less. Be rigorously selective.





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Keep the project topic or the essay question more clearly in mind. Takenotes only on those issues which are directly relevant to the subject inquestion.

11. Even though the notes you take are only for your own use, they will be moreeffective if they are recorded clearly and neatly. Good layout of the notes will helpyou to recall and assess the material more readily. If in doubt use the followinggeneral guidelines.

Before you even start, make a note of your source(s. If this is a book, anarticle, or a journal, write the following information at the head of yournotes: Author, title, publisher, publication date, and edition of book.

Use loose-leaf A4 paper. This is now the international standard for almost allprinted matter. Don't use small notepads. You will find it easier to keep trackof your notes if they fit easily alongside your other study materials.

Write clearly and leave a space between each note. Don't try to cram asmuch as possible onto one page. Keeping the items separate will make themeasier to recall. The act of laying out information in this way will cause youto assess the importance of each detail.

Use some system of tabulation as being done in these notes. This will helpto keep the items separate from each other. Even if the progression ofnumbers doesn't mean a great deal, it will help you to keep the items distinct.

Don't attempt to write continuous prose. Notes should be abbreviated andcompressed. Full grammatical sentences are not necessary. Useabbreviations, initials, and shortened forms of commonly used terms.

Don't string the points together continuously, one after the other on the page.You will find it very difficult to untangle these items from each other aftersome time has passed.

Devise a logical and a memorable layout. Use lettering, numbering, andindentation for sections and for sub-sections. Use headings and subheadings. Good layout will help you to absorb and recall information. Some people use colored inks and highlighters to assist this process of identification.

Use a new page for each set of notes. This will help you to store and identifythem later. Keep topics separate, and have them clearly titled and labeled tofacilitate easy recall.

Write on one side of the page only. Number these pages. Leave the blanksides free for possible future additions, and for any details, which may beneeded later.





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Notebook of a Reporter

Every interview has a common problem; how is it to be recorded? The sight of anotebook on the knee of a reporter sometimes has a paralyzing and tongue-tyingeffect on the person whose views are being sought, unless such happenings are acommon occurrence for him and he is perfectly used to them, the best way is tomake your entrance apparently devoid of all the tools of your trade and to listenintently for a minute or two. Then you can quietly produce your pen and a piece offolded paper and make a few notes, if possible, while still watching the speaker.Never look away from him for longer than you can help, make him feel that he,and not your note-taking has more attention.

Another way is to wait until the speaker has made a point or half given a string offigures, then, producing your paper and pen, ask: may I quote that? And as youmake your note, allow him to prompt you on the words to be used, if he wishes.Then look up at him again, put a question, or allow him to continue talking. Lateryou can make another note or two, perhaps with increasing frequency as the sightof your slip of paper becomes familiar, but watch him as much as you can andappear interested.

Checking, verifying, analyzing & interpreting information is extremelyimportant for a reporter.

Fairness is the foundation of good journalism. Fairness and balance is giving bothsides of the picture, while fairness is not taking sides. It also means not providingsupport to political parties, institutions, communities or individuals, etc through thecolumns of the newspaper. It is the attribute of a professional reporter and the dutyof a sub editor to implement it.

This one is as difficult, in practice, as accuracy is simple. Fairness is often in theeye of the beholder. Fairness means, among other things, listening to differentviewpoints, and incorporating them into the journalism. It does not mean parrotinglies or distortions to achieve that lazy equivalence that leads some journalists to getopposing quotes when the facts overwhelmingly support one side. Fairness is alsoabout letting people respond when they believe you are wrong. Again, this is mucheasier online than in a print publication, much less in a broadcast.

Ultimately, fairness emerges from a state of mind. We should be aware of whatdrives us, and always willing to listen to those who disagree. The first rule of





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having a conversation is to listen - learn more from people who think we are wrongthan from those who agree with us.

Journalists might see themselves as satisfying their professional commitmentby taking the following steps before publishing a story:

Looking at both sides of a story Assessing conflicting claims Assessing the credibility of sources Looking for evidences Not publishing anything believed to be untrue See if the story stands up

Analyzing Quantitative and Qualitative data is often the topic of advancedresearch and evaluation methods courses. However, there are certain basics, whichcan help to make sense of reams of data.

When analyzing data whe ther from questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, orwhatever, always start from review of your research goals, i.e., the reason youundertook the news-story in the first place. This will help you organize your dataand focus your analysis. For example, if you wanted to improve a program byidentifying its strengths and weaknesses, you can organize data into programstrengths, weaknesses and suggestions to improve the program

Read through all the data in your news story. Organize comments into similar categories, e.g., concerns, suggestions,

strengths, weaknesses, similar experiences, program inputs,recommendations, outputs, outcome indicators, etc.

Label the categories or themes, e.g., concerns, suggestions, etc.

2.6. INTERVIEWS

Planning and Conducting Interviews

Before meeting for an interview, both the interviewer and the interviewee have tomake planning and preparation. Many job interviews are failures because either theapplicants or the interviewer lack the skills of planning for them. The interviewermust have clear and detailed information about the post for which the candidatesare to be interviewed. He should be in a position to tell the candidate the workingconditions, details of job operations and other responsibilities. He has to make





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proper seating arrangement for the candidates in such a way that they may feelrelaxed in the waiting room before facing the interviewer. He should know whattype of candidate is required for the job. He must have the bio-data of all thecandidates who might attend the interview.

Similarly, the applicants too must prepare themselves for the interview situation.He has to know his own abilities in carrying out the responsibilities of the post forwhich he applies. He has to ask himself whether he really desires to do that workand if it is suitable for his talents. Secondly, he has to know the organization inwhich he seeks the job. He has also to prepare himself for the probable questions,which would be asked in the interview.

The winning grace of Interviewing

The precise nature of the questions you ask will be determined initially by thepurpose and the research you have done, but it is important that you listen topeople’s answer s and adjusts your line of questioning. Though, there is plenty ofoften quite prescriptive advice available on interviewing techniques, but trial anderror is the way most trainee journalists feel their way through their firstinterviews. Experiment with different approaches and see what works for you indifferent circumstances. Journalists have to be comfortable speaking to all sorts ofpeople from millionaires to the homeless. So the main asset of a journalist duringinterviews are being curious about people and allowing enough time.

Conversation is the key to good interviewing. Even the briefest interview shouldinvolve the techniques of conversation: listening as well as talking, engaging withwhat is being said rather than just waiting for a gap to fill with your next question,making eye contact in face to face interviews, and encouraging the intervieweethrough sounds and gestures.

Interviewing celebrities and famous personalities require much tactics and carefulpreparations. Unless you are accusing the interviewee of wrongdoing, you need toestablish a rapport between him and yourself. First impressions are important sodon’t be late and dress appropriately. Nonverbal communication is important, soshow interest by making eye contact without staring or nodding. Give verbalreassurance that the interviewee is not speaking into a vacuum-laugh at their jokes,sympathies with their troubles and use phrases like ‘really’? But don’t over do it.

Learn to listen; interrupting their flow only if they are digressing too much and youare on deadline. Keep your eyes as well as your ears open because you might





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discover a visual clue to the interviewee’s character or a visual prompt for anunusual question. Clothes, hair, tattoos, pictures on the wall, books on the shelves,an unusual plant, and the view from the window-all might spark off a question andlead to the discovery of a different angle.

2.7 .Different Types of Interviews

Written Interview: The written interview, where a person writes answers to aseries of questions sent to him, is now seldom employed. Perhaps this is as well,for it is never wholly satisfactory. For one thing, a ‘follow up’ question can neverbe asked, and it may so happen that a written answer almost demands furtherquestions in order to elucidate a point. In addition, it lacks the personal touch thatis so essential. Avoid it as much as you can.

Telephonic Interview: the telephonic interview has been found a useful way ofgetting the views of local people when you are very near press time, which perhapsaccounts for the extension in its use. For instance, suppose some restrictions on acommodity were suddenly lifted, and you were told to get interviews for a local-angle story: you would need to contact the president or secretary of the associationconcerned, one or two leading people and a house-wife. From them you shouldobtain a pretty good variety of views some of them welcoming it, other fearing,that the sudden lifting of the regulations would cause such a run on it that thecommodity would be virtually unobtainable and so on.

Thus, before ringing up these people, try to put yourself in their position: if youwere contacted by the ringing of a bell and asked for your views, would you haveable to give them on the spur of the moment? Even if you could, would you beprepared to do so, knowing that whatever you said would be made public in thefour corners of your locality? Would you not prefer to have a few minutes in whichto give a little thought to the matter? These are points, which the thoughtfulreporter will bear in mind, and it may well be, as a result, that he will first ring uphis people and ask them if they would give their views when he rings up again inten minutes time. Many people are only too willing to assist, but they like to have abrief period for reflection before committing themselves and they appreciate thefriendly tip that you want them to do so.

Specialized Interviews: in the case of important individual interviews only asenior reporter is generally given the assignment well in advance. He spends a fewdays in studying the career of the great personality to be interviewed and framesthe questions to which he wants an answer. If the interview is to deal with a





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specific subject and is not intended to be a general survey of the world or of thelocality in which the newspaper is published, the reporter must make certain thathe has at least rudimentary ideas of the matters which he wishes his personality totalk about. It is no good being ushered into the great man’s presence and thenwriting for something to turn up.

The reporter would be well advised to utilize the resource fullness of the officelibrarian, who can generally provide a host of ideas and cuttings, when he is toldthe name of the man to be interviewed. The reporter is sometimes asked by thepersonality to submit the receipt of the interview report and if time permits, heshould comply with the request and make the stipulation that when it is returnedthe words ‘O.K.’ should appear on every sheet. There can then be no post-mortemeither on the interview or the reporter. But it must be made clear that the generalsense of the interview must not be altered and that in agreeing to the request for ascript, the desire is that the interview should be rounded off and that occasionalwords should be altered if they do not entirely convey the intended meaning.

Press Conference Interviews: there are frequently occasions for PressConferences at which ministers or leading figures in the world of ‘industry’science, entertainment, or sport wish to inform the newspapers of latestdevelopments. Is such cases, the editor of the newspaper gives instructions to thePublic Relations Officer to get the journalists together and hear thepronouncements if any. It is generally left for the PRO or the news editor to decidewhether he will make it a ‘free for all’ conference or a gathering limited forspecialists or experts because he realizes that knowledgeable and sensiblequestions will be put to him. There are sometimes Press Conferences andinterviews ‘which is simply a waste of time, where the information could havebeen issued by the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry concerned in the formof a ‘handout’.

In a news conference, one or more speakers may make a statement, which may befollowed by questions from reporters. Sometimes only questioning occurs;sometimes there is a statement with no questions permitted.

A government may wish to open their proceedings for the media to witness events,such as the passing of a piece of legislation from the government in parliament tothe senate, via media availability.





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Television stations and networks especially value news conferences: becausetoday's TV news programs air for hours at a time, or even continuously,assignment editors have a steady appetite for ever-larger quantities of footage.News conferences are often held by politicians; by sports teams; by celebrities orfilm studios; by commercial organizations to promote products; by attorneys topromote lawsuits; and by almost anyone who finds benefit in the free publicityafforded by media coverage. Some people, including many police chiefs, holdnews conferences reluctantly in order to avoid dealing with reporters individually.

A news conference is often announced by sending an advisory or newsrelease to assignment editors, preferably well in advance. Sometimes they are heldspontaneously when several reporters gather around a newsmaker. Newsconferences can be held just about anywhere, in settings as formal or as informal asthe street in front of a crime scene. Hotel conference rooms and courthouses areoften used for news conferences.

Interviews of Eminent Persons: one type of interview prevalent in a democraticcountry like India or the United States is that with the President or the PrimeMinister or a foreign head of states visiting the country. The procedure here is thatwritten questions are submitted in advance to the PRO of the authority concerned,





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and when the dignitary replies to them, he would indicate whether he could bequoted for the information he was imparting or whether he is not to be quoted asthe source of the news, or whether he is speaking entirely off the record. If thiseminent personality has a particularly important statement to make, he willgenerally issue copies of it at the close of the conference.

2.8. NEWS REPORTING

News reports are classified into two broad types:1. Straight news reports2. Investigative or interpretative reports

Straight news reports present what has happened in a straightforward, factual andclear manner. They draw no conclusions, nor offer any opinions. There is noattempt to probe deeper than the surface happenings, or they provide elaboratebackground information, or even to examine claims made. The main sources are:Government officials, elite groups, news agencies, eminent people, businessmenand others.

Both these types of news stories merely present the claims, without in any waytrying to question or rebut, or ask why. Investigative reports, on the other hand,would make an effort to go behind the claims and see how valid they are. Theyreport happenings in depth, present fairly all sides of the picture in the context ofthe situation, and generally, put some meaning into the news so that the reader isbetter able to understand and analyze the event.

Disaster stories e.g. famines and floods get pride of place in the daily press, andthese provide many ‘human interest’ stories. Developments in science, industryand agriculture are increasingly coming to be considered as interesting news, asalso the exposure of corruption in high places, the exploitation of the lower classesand workers, and social injustice and inequalities resulting from the social,economic and political structures. Of course, all the news reported is not news ofthe highest interest to everybody. Politics interest some, sports others, crime stillothers. However, it is rare that newspapers touch in the information needs andinterests of the poorer sections of the society.

2.8.1. Investigative or Interpretative Reporting

‘There is no more important contribution that we can make to society thanstrong, publicly spirited investigative journalism’.





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Investigative journalism is a kind of journalism in which reporters deeplyinvestigate a topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or someother scandal.

Investigative and interpretative reporting is not necessarily getting ‘scoops’ andsensationalizing them but rather ‘situation reporting’ in place of event orpersonality reporting. It is indeed a calm, restrained and detached manner ofarriving at conclusions. In short interpretive reporting is when a reporter, who is anexpert in a particular area, say finance and economics, gives meaning andrelevancy for the reader to information he has researched and gathered on aparticular topic. This will usually include some relevant history, interviews withexperts, interviews with those of opposing views, and an informed opinion aboutimplications and trends.

An investigative report begins with a hunch that there is something more thanmeets the eye. Many newspapers have carried investigative news reports like theIndian Express carried four investigative reports in 1979 about the inside of Tiharjail. Also news magazines like India Today, Outlook, Sunday and The Week haveexposed the Bhagalpur blinding, and other police atrocities in many parts of thecountry.

An investigative journalist may spend a considerable period researching andpreparing a report, sometimes months or years, whereas a typical daily or weeklynews reporter writes items concerning immediately available news. Mostinvestigative journalism is done by newspapers, wire services and freelancejournalists. An investigative journalist's final report may take the form of anexposé.

The investigation will often require an extensive number of interviews and travel;other instances might call for the reporter to make use of activities such assurveillance techniques, tedious analysis of documents, investigations of theperformance of any kind of equipment involved in an accident, patent medicine,scientific analysis, social and legal issues, and the like. In short, investigativejournalism requires a lot of scrutiny of details, fact-finding, and physical effort. Aninvestigative journalist must have an analytical and incisive mind with strong self-motivation to carry on when all doors are closed, when facts are being covered upor falsified and so on.





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Some of the means reporters can use for their fact-finding:

studying neglected sources, such as archives, phone records, address books,tax records and license records

anonymous sources going undercover

Newspapers and news magazines are turning more and more to investigative andinterpretative reporting, as television, radio and the internet have a clear edge overthem in giving up-to-the minute development in news around the world. Themorning papers of course provide news in much greater detail, but it is all the sameyesterday’s news, which is in fact stale news. However, TV and radio cannotmatch the press in in-depth reporting and critical analyses.

Investigative stories have to be done with the active support of the editor; else theymay be ‘killed’ at the last minute. That is because such stories could tread on manytoes, especially governmental and business. They often demand months of tediouswork, and when finally published can have dramatic effects. An offshoot ofinvestigative reporting is consumer reporting, which exposes business practicesthat exploit consumers. Our newspapers have yet to take on big business in a bigway. Occasional reports have focused on drug and soft-drink companies, butwithout much dramatic impact. The findings of consumer organizations andConsumer Redressal Courts are rarely given wide publicity and ‘complaints’columns in the press so not follow-up the complaints made.

The daily newspaper is the result of a glorious team effort. The members of theteam are often a restless lot getting on each other’s nerves. But they share the‘values’ of the same profession and belong to a team. Reporters, sub-editors, newseditors, assistant editors and editors belong to the editorial department of thenewspaper. Compositions, makeup men and printers form the printing ormechanical department. Thus, the editorial team is the creative organ of thenewspaper.





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2.9. A Nose for News

Newsgathering

Begin collecting articles on your subject. Talk to friends and associates about the subject. Contact any agencies or associations with interest or professional knowledge

in the area. Create a list of people you want to interview; cover both sides of the story by

interviewing people on both sides of the issue. Collect government statistics and reports on the subject get old press releases

or reports to use as background.

Interviewing do's and don'ts

Be polite. Explain the ground rules of the interview to people unfamiliar with how the

media works - this means that you tell them the information they give youcan and will be published. If they do not want any part of what they saypublished, they need to tell you it is "off the record."

Tape the interview so if anyone comes back at you, you have the proof ofwhat was said.

Build a relationship with the person being interviewed. Start with easy questions; end with difficult questions. Read the body language of the person you're interviewing and if they get

defensive, back away from the question you are asking and return later. Don't attack the source. Keep control of the interview; don't let the subject ramble or stray from the

subject. On the other hand, don't let your "opinion" of what the story should be color

the interview. Always remember that the person you are talking with knowsmore about the subject than you do.

2.10. Organizing the information

Gather your notes, interviews and research into a file. Review your notes. Look for a common theme. Search your notes for good quotes or interesting facts. Develop a focus.





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Write the focus of the article down in two or three sentences.

2.10.1 Writing and Editing

Remember you are the narrator, the storyteller. Don't be afraid to rewrite. Be as clear and concise in the writing as possible. Avoid run-on sentences. Be direct. Tell a good story. Tell the reader what you think they want to know. Always ask yourself what the story is about. Read the story out loud; listen carefully.

2.10.2. The main elements of News are:

Elements of news are what determine a story’s “newsworthiness”. There are 10elements of news; however, a story only needs to have a few of these elements.

Oddity-Strange incidents are news. News stories with an element of surprise willcreate curiosity and will be in news. This is where the ‘man bites dog’ storiescome in along with other surprising, shocking or unusual events.

Emotion-How do people feel about it? These news stories will be both bad newsand good news. Death, tragedy, is example of bad news. Positive news storiesare far more prevalent than is suggested by the cynical claim that only good newsis bad news.

Consequence -What is the effect on the reader? News stories about issues,groups and nations are perceived to be of relevance to the audience.

Proximity- Where is the story from? What happens in and around your cityinterests you more than what happened in a far-flung region. Therefore,newspapers allocate greater space for local news coverage because of theproximity factor.

Drama-Dramatic Events of any kind would be an ideal subject for an interestingnews story.

Human Interest-People doing interesting things or incidents having anemotional element. These kind of stories covers all the feelings that human





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beings have including sympathy, happiness, sadness, anger, ambition, love, hate,etc. News stories concerning entertainment, showbiz, drama, humoroustreatment, witty headlines, entertaining photographs will be of interest to most ofthe people.

Prominence-Famous people make news! Virtually every action of famouspeople is considered to be newsworthy. Stories concerning the elite, powerfulindividuals, organizations or institutions are enough to create a news story.Celebrities are always a subject for news and their every action is under theobservation of the media.

Progress-Technological advance and new discoveries will always be the subjectfor discussion and a readable news story.

Conflicts-Man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. machine, man vs. himself.Conflict has an element of drama that gets attention and hence serves as acriterion for news selection.

Timeliness-Its new so will be in news! Timeliness is the essence of news and isunderstandably a criterion for news selection. An event that has just happenedmakes a good news story, while events happened a few days ago are history.

2.10.3. Functions of News

News contains much that is new. ‘News is anything out of the ordinary.’ ‘News isanything published in a newspaper which interests a large number of people’. Themain functions of news are:

1. News informs people about anything unusual that take place in the society.Mysteries, small or big, interest people and so mysteries are news. Eventsthat affect people’s lives are news, the more people affected the bigger thenews.

2. People learn something new everyday through news they get fromnewspaper or television. They read about things they have heard about andalso would like to read about.

3. News affects people and is capable of stirring widespread awareness. Newstouches the deepest emotion of the people and appeals somehow toeveryone. Thus news affects the government as well as the common people.





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4. Important messages and decisions of the government are conveyed to thepeople through the medium of news. News broadcast carry importantstatements by persons in authority to the people.

5. Conflicts between man to man and also between man and environment arecarried out as news. These affect us in one-way or other. Natural phenomenalike violence, calamities and disasters make us aware of the presentsituations and keep a check on growing violence in our society.

6. New trends, events and ideas are the focus of soft news and thus grasp theimagination of people in the society. This further brings about change andprogress for the country.

7. News focus on the economic, political and cultural aspects of a nation andpeople throughout the world learn about other nation through news only.News forms an image of a nation to the outside world.

8. Journalist may predict that something will happen thus forming a mentalimage of an event and thus increase the curiosity of the audience making thenews more and more relevant.

9. Reference to persons in news makes them more popular and famous. Elitepersonalities crave to remain in news to keep up with their image thoughnegative publicity too these days is seen as a medium of becoming famous.

10.Stories and pictures with the capacity to entertain or amuse an audience isalways the main function of news. Entertainment through news is done bycarrying stories relating to showbiz, drama, sex, and humorous treatment byuse of photographs or witty headlines.

Extracting Stories from outside copies

2.10.4. News Sources

‘One study after another comes up with essentially the same observation….thestory of journalism, on a day-to-day basis, is the story of the interaction ofreporters and officials.’- Michael Schudson

‘Sources of news are everywhere’. A journalist is surrounded by sources ofpotential news stories ore features. A conversation with a friend, a poster on a wall,an unexpected juxtaposition-all might result in a story if you keep your eyes, earsand mind open. Some sources will be routine points of contact for journalists whileothers may be one-offs, some will be proactive, approaching journalists becausethey want news access for their views or events, while other sources may not evenbe aware that they are sources. A journalist should maintain a contact book having





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list of people categorized and carrying vital information. Sources of news can belistless, some sources are:

1. Academic journals- Research by academics, published in journals is afrequent source of news stories. Here the journalist job is to spot a potentialstory among qualifications and to render the story intelligibly to the readers.

2. Armed forces- in peacetime the armed forces can generate stories throughmysterious deaths or cases of bullying that comes to light. During times ofconflict military briefings become events in their own right.

3. Art groups- apart from providing information about forthcoming events, artgroups can generate rows about funding or controversial subject matter.

4. Campaigns- campaigners who want to influence public opinion on subjectsranging from animal rights to environment are likely to come up withopinions or events that might generate news stories.

5. Commerce & Trade- business organizations can be useful source of newsstories or comments about anything from interest rates, shares to shopping.Also, consumer stories are a valuable source of information for evaluatingthe image of an organization.

6. Council press offices- local authorities employ teams of press officers. Theyreact to journalists’ queries, coming up with information, quotes andcontacts while acting as buffer between decision makers and journalists.Council press officers with an eye for a good story should be able to getdaily page leads in local evening newspaper because they know what turnson the common people.

7. Court hearings- court reporters dip in and out of several courtroomslooking for cases that fit the news values. Hence, the importance of goodcontacts with court staff, police, solicitors and others should be realized.Some reporters will also go after background material like quotes fromvictims and their relatives.

8. Entertainment industry- it is an increasingly important source for today’smedia and celebrities gain immensely because of popularity through mediacoverage. Films, serials and various other programmes gain only if mediahas been highlighting them.

9. Government News Network- the government news network produces vastnumbers of news release on behalf of the government departments andagencies on a regional and national basis. It also handles ministerial androyal visits.

10.Health authorities & hospitals- outbreak of serious disease, funding crisis,hospital closures and health promotion are all examples of news stories thatarise from health authorities. Hospitals are source of good news stories





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carrying news about cures, new treatments and general triumph-over-tragedy.

11.Libraries- though it is hard to believe but the truth is that not everything isavailable on the Internet. Libraries retain a useful role in providing access toreference books, company reports, local history achieves, indexes of localsocieties, community notice boards and so on.

12.News Agencies- they are the foot soldiers of journalism at a national andinternational level, allowing media organizations to cover stories in areaswhere they have few or no staff. Agencies keep a check on offices and localbodies and look out for news stories here. Newspapers, radio, television, bignews media houses, depend largely on the news agencies for general newscoverage. Some famous news agencies are AP Associated press of Americaprint, Reuters UK, PTI Press Trust of Ind ia, etc.

13.News Releases- news or press releases are point of reference for thejournalists while covering an event. Badly written press releases can bewaste of time both for the journalist as well as for the organization.

14.Notice boards- Notices in shops, offices, libraries, colleges and elsewheremay also become a source of news.

15.Other media- newspaper monitors other papers plus TV, radio, news siteson the web. And, in turn, each medium monitors other media.

16.People- potential stories can be suggested by people you meet while atwork, rest and play. This can range from somebody mentioning that theyhave just seen a police car parked in their street to other substantialinformation provided by the common people.

17.Political parties- contacts within parties can be a fruitful source of storiesabout rows and splits, while party spokespeople will be keener to let youknow about the selection of candidates or launch of policy initiatives.

18.PR companies- this industry provides the journalists and us a peek into themedia world everyday. So it is a major source for the journalists.

19.Press conferences- press conferences are likely to be held to announce theresults of official inquiries or to unveil new appointments. Fewer pressconferences take place these days, as most journalists are too busy to go andcollect information that could be faxed or emailed.

20.Universities- universities are a source of a huge range of stories, whether itis ground breaking research, an unusual degree scheme or an ethicalargument. They are also where you will find experts in everything fromaeronautics to the zodiac.





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Part - II

UNIT 3. SKILLS FOR WRITING NEWS

What is News?

‘News is anything that makes a reader say “Gee whiz”! Arthur Mac Ewen.As the word implies, news contain much that is new, informing people aboutsomething that has just happened. But this is not happening always as some storiesrun for decades and others are recycled with a gloss of newness supplied to it.

News is, anything out of the ordinary, it is the current happenings. It isanything that makes the reader surprised and curious. News is anything that willmake people talk. News is the issue for discussions and debates. Any event, whichaffects most of the people, interest most of the audiences and involves most of thepeople, is news. Thus, news can be called an account of the events written for thepeople who were unable to witness it.

‘News’ is the written, audio, or visual construction of an event or happening or anincident. The news is constantly in search of action, movements, newdevelopments, surprises, and sudden reversals, ups and downs of fate and facts andfollies of the mankind.

3.1. Writing a News Story

1. What can I write about? What is news?

On the surface, defining news is a simple task. News is an account of what ishappening around us. It may involve current events, new initiatives or ongoingprojects or issues. But a newspaper does not only print news of the day. It alsoprints background analysis, opinions, and human-interest stories.

Choosing what news is can be hard!

The reporter chooses stories from the flood of information and events happening inthe world and in their community. Stories are normally selected because of theirimportance, emotion, impact, timeliness and interest. Note: all these factors do nothave to coincide in each and every story!





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Kinds of News Stories

Hard news +/ - 600 words: This is how journalists refer to news of the day. It isa chronicle of current events/incidents and is the most common news style on thefront page of your typical newspaper.

It starts with a summary lead. What happened? Where? When? To/by whom?Why? The journalist's 5 W's. It must be kept brief and simple, because thepurpose of the rest of the story will be to elaborate on this lead.

Keep the writing clean and uncluttered. Most important, give the readers theinformation they need. If the federal government announced a new major youthinitiative yesterday, that's today's hard news.

Hard news stories make up the bulk of news reporting. Hard news consists of basicfacts. It is news of important public events, international happenings, socialconditions, economy, crime, etc. thus, most of the material found in daily papers,especially from page items or news casts, deal in the hard news category. The mainaim of the hard news is to inform.

Soft news +/ -600 words: This is a term for all the news that isn't time-sensitive.Soft news includes profiles of people, programs or organizations. As we discussedearlier, the "lead" is more literary. Most of news content is soft news.

Soft news, if cleverly written and carefully targeted can offer an alternative. Softnews can cover business or social trends. Typically, soft stories have a humaninterest, entertainment focus or a statistical and survey approach. This is yourchance to be creative and have fun with the news.

One major advantage of softer news is that many of the stories have a longer shelflife: they can be used at any time the practitioner or reporter deems appropriate.

Feature +/ -1500 words: A news feature takes one step back from the headlines.It explores an issue. News features are less time-sensitive than hard news but noless newsworthy. They can be an effective way to write about complex issues toolarge for the terse style of a hard news item. Street kids are a perfect example. Thestories of their individual lives are full of complexities, which can be reflected, in alonger piece.





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Features are journalism's shopping center. They're full of interesting people, ideas,color, lights, action and energy. Storytelling at its height! A good feature is aboutthe people in your community and their struggles, victories and defeats. A featuretakes a certain angle i.e. Black youth returning to church and explores it byinterviewing the people involved and drawing conclusions from that information.The writer takes an important issue of the day and explains it to the reader throughcomments from people involved in the story.

Hint: Remember to "balance" your story. Present the opinions of people on bothsides of an issue and let the readers make their own decision on who to believe. Nopersonal opinions are allowed. The quotes from the people you interview make upthe story. You are the narrator.

Editorial: The editorial expresses an opinion. The editorial page of the newspaperlets the writer comment on issues in the news. All editorials are personal but thetopics must still be relevant to the reader. Editorials try to persuade the readers. Itsgoal is to move the readers to some specific action, to get them to agree with thewriter, to support or denounce a cause, etc. it is considered to be the most difficultwriting among all the newspaper types of writing. Editorials are also important asthey interpret and analyze issues for the readers.

Two types of editorials can be recognized:

Youth beat +/ - 700 words: Youth beats are journalist’s editorial bread andbutter. It's your story, from your point of view. Tell it like it is. Youth beats usuallybut not always combine personal experience(s with opinion/analysis.Essentially, you establish your credibility by speaking from experience.

My Word! +/ -600 words: An opinion piece. Short, sweet and to the point. Notas likely to be a personal narrative. Christmas "spirit" bugs you? Say why. Had anencounter with a cop that left you sour? Same deal. Be strong. If you don't likesomething, don't beat around the bush. This is a space for you to rant and roll withas much emotive power as possible.

Writing The Story: Attribution, Identification, Time and Timeliness, TheStylebook: -

Writing the story: There is no substitute for the direct style of sentence and storyconstruction. When you have the story in mind, tell it in a straightforward way.Avoid putting participial phrases or dependent clauses at the beginning of





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sentences. If the main element is qualified by some ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’ present the mainelement first and then get into the qualifications.

The lead should call attention to the main element of the story and should not becrowded with too many facts. Don’t try to cram all five Ws and the H into the lead.You’ll lose the listener or reader’s attention. Avoid leading with direct quotes orquestions. A direct quote may make the listener wonder for a moment or two.Make your points one at a time. Wrap up one aspect of a story before going to thenext. Don’t jump back and forth from one to another.

Names and Identifications: don’t lead with unfamiliar names. They’re too easy tomiss. Set the listener up for them by leading with identifying information about theperson, it’s all right to lead with a familiar name like President’s name orGovernor’s name. Middle initials of most newsmakers are omitted for broadcast.Indeed, if a person is very well known, first name is usually skipped. If you’re suremost members of the audience know the first name, omit it. Otherwise, include it.The middle initial should be included if it appears needed for exact identification,as with an accident victim or a suspect in a crime.

The newspaper form for ages- Mary Jones, 30- should usually be avoided. Thestandard broadcast approach for years has been 30-year old Mary Jones. If –indoubt, use this style. But now and then it’s good to hear someone break themonotony of the standard treatment of ages.

Attribution and Quotes: attribution should be made clear and should be placedbefore what the person said. This is part of direct oral expression: who said-what.As noted at the start, the dangling attributions so common in newspaper storiesmake for unnatural speech patterns. Do not use them. Use quote sparingly! Theparaphrase or indirect quotes is usually preferable. You can often say it moreconcisely than the news source, and the exact words are seldom so important thatyou gain by presenting them as such. If a diary spokesman tells you that ‘the priceof milk is going up’ and those are the words you use in the story, the fact that theyhappen to be exactly the ones the spokesman used is too trivial to justify makingthem stand out as a direct quote. Such quotes only clutter your news copy. If theexact words are so colorful, meaningful or controversial that you feel you shouldmake them stand out as a direct quote-do just that.

Time & timeliness: listeners or readers expect the news to be up to date. Withoutmisleading, your writing can make it sound fresh and current even if it’s getting alittle older than you’d like at times- as in the early morning when most of the file is





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what happened yesterday. Ask yourself what the current situation is and use themost appropriate tense, which may well be different from the past tense rigidlyused by newspapers. Using present and continuing tense helps you avoidconstantly repeating the words ‘yesterday’ and ‘today’ in the many items, whichmake up a newscast.

For the matter, ‘yesterday’ is implied for many stories in the early morningnewscast- congress, speeches, news conferences, etc. and on a late afternoon orevening newscast, ‘today’ maybe assumed for most of them. When there’s dangerof having the listener think a yesterday story happened today, include the timeelement. Never use a story that has been out more than 24 hours. It’s no longernews. You waist the time of listeners or viewers when your 10 p.m. newscastincludes stories they read several hours earlier in the morning newspaper. Thishappens quite often where some of the newspersons apparently don’t bother toread the morning paper. The wire-service rewrites the story from the morningpaper and sends it over in present perfect tense. Since all these writers or editorsknow is what they read on the radio wire, they assume that it is fresh news. Neverassume that a wire story written in present perfect tense is a today story.

Stylebook: Each newspaper has its set of rules that generally are strictly enforced.These are contained in something called a stylebook. At some smaller newspapers,this may be no more than a sheet of paper. At larger newspapers, the stylebookmay consist of up to two hundred pages and resemble a dictionary. The chiefkeepers of the stylebook rules are the newspaper’s copy editors.

3.2. STRUCTURE FOR NEWS STORY

Story structure

You have several options when it comes to the structure of your story. You canchoose a chronological order, where you present the key events in your story asthey occurred. It is more likely, though, that you will use one of the threetraditional news forms: the inverted pyramid, the narrative or the hourglass.

The most popular structure for news stories is the inverted pyramid. In the invertedpyramid, the information is arranged in descending order of importance. The mostimportant material is placed at the beginning of the story, and less importantmaterial follows. Succeeding paragraphs explain and support the lead.





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The inverted pyramid is popular because it still serves readers well. It tells themquickly what they want to know. It also serves the reporter by forcing her tosharpen her news judgment, to identify and rank the most important elements ofthe story.

But the inverted pyramid has big disadvantages. Although it delivers the mostimportant news first, it does not encourage good writing. Many times stories do nothave an ending crafted by the writer; they simply end. There is no suspense.Reporters tend to lose interest, time and energy. Writing in the second half of thestory is casual at best, and poor at worst.

One alternative to the inverted pyramid is narration or storytelling. Narration usesscenes, anecdotes and dialogue to build to a climax. People are prominent in thestory, and they are responsible for the action. The story has a beginning, middleand end. Quotations sound like real speech. The words and actions of thecharacters reveal motives.

A third story structure, the hourglass, combines some of the best elements of boththe inverted pyramid and the narrative. It consists of three parts: a top, which tellsthe news quickly; the turn, a nimble transition; and the narrative, a chronologicalretelling of events. The hourglass works well with police stories, courtroom dramasand other incidents that lend themselves to chronological narration. The hourglasshas several advantages: Readers get the news high in the story; the writer gets touse storytelling techniques; and it encourages a real ending.

The structure of a news story hard & soft news & features is simple: a lead andthe body.

The LeadOne of the most important elements of news writing is the opening paragraph ortwo of the story. Journalists refer to this as the "lead," and its function is tosummarize the story and/or to draw the reader in depending on whether it is a"hard" or "soft" news story - See below for the difference between these twogenres of news stories.

In a hard news story, the lead should be a full summary of what is to follow. Itshould incorporate as many of the 5 "W's" of journalism who, what, where, whenand why as possible. e.g. "Homeless youth marched down Subhash Street indowntown Delhi Wednesday afternoon demanding the municipal government





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provides emergency shelter during the winter months." - Can you identify the 5W's in this lead?)

In a Soft news story, the lead should present the subject of the story by allusion.This type of opening is somewhat literary. Like a novelist, the role of the writer isto grab the attention of the reader. e.g. "Until four y ears ago, Raju slept on railwaytracks." Once the reader is drawn in, the 5 "W's" should be incorporated into thebody of the story, but not necessarily at the very top.

The BodyThe body of the story involves combining the opinions of the people youinterview, some factual data, and a narrative, which helps the story flow. A wordof caution! In this style of writing, you are not allowed to "editorialize" state yourown opinion in any way.

Remember:

The role of a reporter is to find out what people are thinking of an issue and toreport the opinions of different stakeholders of an issue. These comments make upthe bulk of the story. The narrative helps to weave the comments into a coherentwhole. Hint: Stick to one particular theme throughout the story. You can put indifferent details but they all have to relate to the original idea of the piece. e.g. Ifyour story is about black youth and their relationship with the police you do notwant to go into details about the life of any one particular youth.

As a reporter, you are the eyes and ears for the readers. You should try to providesome visual details to bring the story to life this is difficult if you have conductedonly phone interviews, which is why face-to-face is best. You should also try toget a feel for the story. Having a feel means getting some understanding of theemotional background of the piece and the people involved in it. Try to get a senseof the characters involved and why they feel the way they do.

Further Tips for News Writing

Finding story ideas:-

Keep your eyes and ears open; listen to what your friends are talking about. Read everything you can get your hands on; get story ideas from other

newspapers and magazines. Think of a youth angle to a current news story.





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Research a subject that interests you ask yourself what you would like toknow more about.

Talk to people in a specific field to find out what is important to them.

Structure and scope of News Reports

‘Always grab the reader by the throat in the first paragraph, sink your thumbsinto his windpipe in the second and hold him against the wall until the tag line.’-Paul O’Neill.

News report writing always starts with the most important fact. When you reporton a football game, you do not start with the kick-off; you begin with the finalscore. A news report has a beginning, middle and an end. News stories in contrastto this will blurt out something and then explain themselves. News reports aremostly active rather than in passive voice and are written in concise language.Paragraphs are short so as to set in newspaper columns. Shorter paragraphs aremore likely to keep the attention of readers. Attribution meaning ‘somebodysaying something’ is used in the news- reports to present a range of views overwhich the reporters can appear to remain neutral.

Most news reports follow the ‘Kiss and tell’ formula- Kiss standing either for‘keep it short and simple’ or ‘keep it simple, stupid.’ Complexity, abstract notions,ambiguity and unanswered questions tend to be frowned upon and deleted out ofnews copy. News reports structure should have-

Stories should have the main idea given to the journalist for covering of anincident.

Content of the news report should be comprehensive and balanced. The intro should contain the main point of the story and should be clearly

developed with the most important information coming early in the story,followed by a coherent, logical and readable structure.

Personal comments should be avoided. Facts should be presented logically. The style, context and facts should be accurate.

The news reports aim is to meet the requirements of everyday life as lived byeveryday readers. So it largely depends on elements like directness, pace, varietyand information. It aims to state the facts quickly and clearly.A news report has three parts:





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1. The headline2. The first paragraph3. The remainder of the news story

The Headline first attracts us. It stands out in bold black type. It message is abruptand often startling. It makes us stop and look. It tells us quickly what the storycovers. Its function is to attract our attention. Though, the headline writing belongsto the copyreader’s province and not to the reporter’s.

The lead remains the primary concern of the news writer. As the present dayreader is the man who both runs and reads, present day newspapers seek tofacilitate his getting the information quickly. The convention has developed oftelling the main facts of a news story in its first lead paragraph. Writing this leadalso involves answering the questions, which would occur to any normal personwhen confronted with the announcement of a news story. These questions, calledthe five W’s are:

Where?Who?What?When?Why?

Suppose the news story concerns a fire. In writing the lead-the reporter wouldanswer the questions, ‘What?’ “Fire broke out,” he would write. He would answerthe question, ‘Who?’ and ‘Where?’ by telling whose premises were burnt andgiving their location. He would answer “When” by telling the time the fire brokeout and how long it lasted. ‘Why?’-in this case the cause the usual carelessly tossedcigarette butt. The reporter can also answer the ‘How’ in this story in several waysby describing the type of fire, or by answering ‘How much’? Here, he wouldestimate the probable lost and find out if premises had been covered by insuranceand if so by what amount.

The lead forms the springboard for the reporter’s leap into the story. The journalistshould keep in mind the elements of a good lead as he may flop sadly if the leadturns out to be defective. The best way to gain journalistic facility is to practice thewriting of leads.

The end is the conclusion of the news reports. From the headline and the lead onecomes to the rest of the story. The reporter constructs the model news story after





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this pattern. He selects the most important incident or fact for his lead. Then heproceeds by selecting the next most important incident, fact or detail, the next mostimportant after that, and so on till he reaches least important phase of all. Guidedby his idea of news importance, the story assumes graphically the shape of an3.2.1. inverted pyramid. The end will be at the peak of the inverted pyramid withthe facts or incidents of least value. When writing a news story for an organizationyou should always retain the idea that your text is to be read and understood byothers. Thus a story is like building blocks, which should be linked logically toeach other. Therefore, there should be continuity between the intro, the lead andthe end of the news story.

Thus, the most popular format of news writing is the Inverted Pyramid:





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This is the most widely used approach in news writing. The information is given inthe descending order of importance. Thus, it has three parts:

Lead –introduction paragraph Support and supplement to the lead Details on descending order of importance

3.3. Leads

The opening paragraph of the introduction paragraph of the news story is called the‘lead’. Though in journalistic practice we also use this word for biggest headlineon the front page of newspaper, calling it the ‘lead story’.

The main purpose of the intro or the lead is to make the reader want to read on,motivate them to move further into the news story and state the important factsfirst.

Lead to a story "grabs the reader, informs the reader, and teaches the reader how toread the rest of the story." John Mc Phee says the lead is the "flashlight that shinesinto a story.” A newspaper reader is likely to spend only a few seconds decidingwhether to read a story. If the lead does not grab the reader, the writer's work is invain.

The lead establishes the direction your writing will take. A good lead grabs yourreader's attention and refuses to let go. In other words, it hooks the reader. Notevery type of lead will work for every writer or for every piece of writing and onehas to experiment with them. For writing a good news story, be sure to have atleast three sentences in your lead, whatever type it may be.

Below are some ideas on how to write an interesting lead:

QuestionOpen with an interesting question that relates to the main idea.

Example: Have you ever wondered how you would survive if you found yourselfalone in the wilderness? How would you defend yourself against predators? Whatwould you eat? Where would you find water?





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RiddleOpen with a riddle that the reader can solve by reading further. You may want togive the answer right away or save it for the conclusion.

Example: What textbook has no pages, is miles wide, and smells like a creek? It'sbeen around for millions of years. That's right-Outdoor School

AnnouncementOpen with an announcement about what is to come. However, do not insult thereader by saying something like, "I am going to tell you about..." The reader shouldbe able to figure out what you are writing about. If not, there is something wrongwith what you have written, not with the reader.

Example: The trait of voice is very important in writing. However, it is difficult toteach and even more difficult to learn. It is similar to athletic ability because it ismore like a talent than a skill.

Bold and Challenging StatementA bold and challenging statement is similar to an announcement, but is meant tocause some people to disagree with what you say. It's like one side of an argument.It can be an opinion, but don't immediately state that it is your opinion.

Example: Using horses and cattle in the sport of rodeo is animal abuse. Whatmakes it more aggravating is that it is legal. According to the law, there is nothingwrong with chasing an animal down, tightening a rope around its neck, knocking itto the ground, and tying its legs together so it cannot move.

DefinitionOpen with a definition of the term you are discussing. It can be your own or comefrom a dictionary or textbook. If you take it from a dictionary or textbook, be sureto use quotation marks and give credit to the source.

Example: According to Webster's Dictionary, a government is the authority thatserves the people and acts on their behalf. How can the government know what thepeople want if the people do not vote? If we do not vote, the government may acton its own behalf instead of on the behalf of the people.





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OpinionOpen with your opinion about the topic. This is similar to a bold and challengingstatement, but you let the reader know that it is your opinion right away.

Example: In my opinion, the driving age should be lowered to fourteen. Mostteenagers are more responsible than adults give us credit for being. Just becausewe are teenagers does not mean we are irresponsible and dangerous.

Well Known Quotation or Quotation from a Famous PersonOpen with a quotation that is well known or from a famous person. Be sure to putquotations around the quotation and give credit to the person who said it. Ofcourse, the quotation must be directly related to your topic. A good source is abook of quotations. Look in the library or ask your teacher.

Example: President John F. Kennedy once said, "Ask not what your country cando for you, and ask what you can do for your country." I think today's Americanshave forgotten Kennedy's message. We expect our country to take care of us, butwe are not taking care of our country.

Quotation Not from a Famous PersonOpen with a quotation from a person that is not famous. It could be a characterfrom the story or someone you know personally. You still must put it in quotationmarks and give credit to the person who said it.

Example: When I was a child, I was given the "mother's curse" by my mom. Oh, itis not anything mean or evil. She just said, "When you have children, they will actjust like you." I laughed. Well, now that I have children of my own, I am notlaughing anymore. The "mother's curse" really works!

Personal ExperienceOpen with something that has happened to you, or a personal experience. It couldbe a part of the story, or it could be something that is not a part of what you arewriting about but still relates to the topic.

Example: Although I did later in my room, I never cried at my grandfather'sfuneral. I guess that is why I felt so sad for the little girl standing next to hergrandma's coffin. She looked so lost and afraid.





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Figurative LanguageBegin with a simile comparison using like or as, metaphor comparison sayingone thing is another thing, personification giving something nonhuman humanqualities, or hyperbole exaggeration. The figurative language must relate directlyto your topic.

Example: The pencil sharpener was always hungry. It ate my pencil every time Iwent to sharpen it. It never seemed to do this to anyone's pencil but mine. Whatwas so special about my pencils?

Enumerated General StatementBegin with a general statement containing three or so ideas about your topic. Theinformation given in the lead is general, not specific. The specific details thatsupport the general statement will appear later in the paper.

Example: There are many characteristics that a good teacher possesses. However,the three most important characteristics include being a good listener, beingknowledgeable about the subject, and having a kind heart. All of the teachers whopositively influenced me had all three of those characteristics in common.

3.4. Types of Leads

Hard/Direct/Summary Leads: This kind of lead is mostly used in news storiesbecause of the fact that news stories need to be concise, to the point and put themost information into the least amount of words. That's why with summary leadsyou summarize the entire article in the lead, or in other words, put the mostimportant piece of information into the first sentence and go from there. Here's anexample of a summary lead:

President Bush was aiming to rally U.S. forces encountering tougher resistance inIraq and warn Americans anew of a potentially long conflict when he was to visitthe headquarters of Central Command on Wednesday. The president was getting apair of briefings from Central Command brass and having lunch with troops. Atthe Tampa, Fla., facility, he also was to give a speech in which he was remindingmilitary personnel that the United States leads a large coalition in the war tounseat Saddam Hussein, White House spokesman Fleischer said.

Blind Leads: This is a lead where you start off the article by summarizing butleaving out one essential detail; this is done to catch the interest of the reader. Asjournalists you want people to read and be interested in your work, and in feature





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writing especially confusing the reader in the beginning is sometimes a very goodway to catch their interest. Right after a blind lead you have to clarify the missingpiece of info though. Here's an example:

It was like the scene from the movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," only for awireless generation.

Elena Brooks was incredulous when a pizza deliveryman arrived at Bethel HighSchool one day last spring with an order for a student who was in class.

Finding the culprit was simple enough. "Go into the room, tell everyone to turntheir cell phones on and find out which phone has the number stored for the pizzaplace," said Ms. Brooks, the principal of Bethel High, in Hampton. Whenidentified, the student said he had ordered the pizza because he had missed lunch."He didn't see anything wrong with it at all, which was amazing," she said.

Narrative Leads: These leads are another feature type that actually takes you intothe mind of the main person in an article. Narrative leads tell a story from aperson's specific perspective; it's the most classic and in some instances mosteffective way to start out a feature. Pick a person and start your article out withtheir story and tie it into the main point. Here's an example:

Joe Darnaby had his heart set on going to college out East next year. But sinceSept. 11, his parents have laid down a new rule: no school more than five hours'drive from home in Deerfield, Ill.

"Part of me says that he has to follow his dreams," says his mother, Maureen, whowants her son to be able to get home in an emergency. "But there must be anotherplace closer to home where he can do that."

Quote Leads: This is a lead where you start off the article with a quote thatexpresses the idea you want to get across well. In some newsrooms quote leads arebanned because finding the perfect quote for an article is a very challenging taskthat most newspapers don't have the time for. Articles are written fast andfrequently, and finding a good lead is essential and needs to sometimes be donevery quickly. But if you have the time quote leads are very effective if done right.

Question Leads: These are leads use the first sentence of an article to answer oneof the "w" questions in journalism, who, what, when, where and why. Another





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question is how, and question leads can use this too. Basically you use the lead toanswer one question to make the reader wonder the answers to the rest.

Direct Appeal Lead: This type of lead addresses the reader directly or byimplication as ‘you’. It has the effect of making the reader, a collaborator, andpartner, in what follows.

Circumstantial Lead: Here the beginning stresses on the circumstance of thenews.

3.5. HEADLINE

A headline grabs the reader's attention, targets him or her by sayingsomething meaningful, and creates some curiosity in the reader. It can make apromise for some big benefit, it can make an offer, it can challenge the reader insome way, it can introduce some really compelling concept or idea, or it can besomething newsworthy.

A headline is a ‘window’ to the news story. Thus, a heading must fit, must tell thestory, must confirm to newspaper’s standard, must not just be a label, must be safeand must not commit the paper to an opinion. A good headline is one that in lessthan a dozen words summarizes what a reporter has said.

The earliest newspapers had no headlines on the front page, which was devotedentirely to advertisements, and the headlines inside did no more than announce thesubject of the report. Today, every newspaper has its own style of headlining astory. Some newspaper give straight hard headings, while some other prefer to giveexciting and sensational headings. It normally depends on the policy of thenewspaper.

It has been found that all daily newspapers in standard size generally prefer to givestraight headlines and tabloid newspaper throughout the world give sensationalheadlines.

3.5.1. Type of Headline

Banner Headline: A newspaper headline written in large letters across the widthof the page. When the heading is given below the nameplate of the newspaper andcovers all columns from left to right, it is called banner headline. Some may call





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it streamer, which also covers the entire column but is normally given on the insidepage. Sometimes the streamer may leave one column.

Skyline: for very exceptional and exclusive events, the headline of the story issome times given over the nameplate of the newspaper. It means that the event iseven more important than the authority of the newspaper.

Rectangle: in such headings, all the lines are equal from left to right. Normally, itis of three lines but sometimes it can be of 2 to 4 lines too.

Hanging indentation: right justification the heading with more than two or morelines which are justified on the right side and unjustified on the left are calledhanging indentation.

Waist: this is of three lines where the first and the third line cover the column butthe centerline is smaller and placed centrally.

Full one/one line: the headline is normally single line heading covering all thecolumns of the story

Crosser/highlighter: crosser are normally one line headline which is given in themiddle of the story. Sometimes in the story, a few important points are highlightedin the middle of the story. They are also included in this category.

Flash: a recent development in the newspaper is to highlight the stories of insidepages on the first page, just below the flag. Flag The Times of India).

Over line: this is also called the eyebrow or strap line. This is normally given overthe main heading.

Oval: in such headlines, middle line is longer than the above and below lines. Thisis normally of three lines.

Multi deck headings: the descending lines get smaller in size, after the mainheading

Sub-heading: these are the small subsidiary headings in the body of the story

Symbolic headline: this headline will show the special effects of the story





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Left step: here the lines of the headline are justified on the left and unjustified onthe right.

Step line: the headline with two or more lines, displayed so as to give an effect ofa stair. Ladder)

Inverted pyramid: in this heading, there are three or more than three lines whichare centrally set from large to small. In some cases, there could be two lines only,set in such a fashion.

The headline is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospectivereader. Without a headline, the rest of your words may as well not even exist. But aheadline can do more than simply grab attention. A great headline can alsocommunicate a full message to its intended audience, and it absolutely must lurethe reader into your body text. At its essence, a compelling headline must promisesome kind of benefit or reward for the reader, in trade for the valuable time it takesto read more.

The one thing that can make or break a newspaper article is the headline. A goodnewspaper headline is concise, informative and, at times, entertaining. When youwrite a newspaper headline, your goal is to hook the reader into reading the article.Writing a headline for your article is easy, if you follow these steps.

Reread your article; identify the underlying theme. Express the theme in an active voice using as few words as possible. Active

verbs lend immediacy to a story. If a reader sees a headline written in apassive voice, he or she might glance right over it.

Keep your headline in present tense. Keep it simple. A headline is a short, direct sentence without extra adjectives

or adverbs. Provide enough information in the headline to give the casual reader an

impression of the entire story.

3.5.2.Four functions of a headline:

It gets the reader's attention. It summarizes or tells about the article. It helps organize the news on the page. It indicates the relative importance of a story.





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A good headline should be accurate, clear, grammatically correct, strong, active,fresh and immediate. It should catch the reader's attention.

The two most basic rules for headlines:

They must be accurate. They must fit the available space.

For headlines to be accurate the headline writer must understand the articlethoroughly before writing the headline; the copy editor who doesn't have a goodview of what the article says isn't likely to write a headline that communicatesclearly and accurately.

Accuracy tips:

Spell check after writing the display type. In particular, double-check any proper names or any numbers.

The headline should sell the article to the reader. Tell readers why theyshould be interested.

Every news story headline should have an active Verb. Headlines on featurestories can be more creative. But aim for complete thoughts. Tell the story,but avoid the "clears hurdle" or "man dies" phenomena. Get the mostimportant element first, the least important head element last.

Attribute heads that convey opinion. If the lead needs attribution, chancesare the headline will, too. Most times, attribution will go at the end of theheadline.

Headlines should be accurate in Tone: Don't put a light headline on aserious story. Be careful not to put a first-day head on a second-day story.Match the tone of the story. Be original and creative, but not trite and cliché.If you do employ word play on an idiom or common phrase, be sure themeter is exactly the same. The headline will ring falsely otherwise. If youuse a pun, be honest with yourself. Will it make the reader smile, or groan?

Don't repeat the lead in a headline. Write a better headline than the lead.And don't give away the punch line of a feature story that has a surpriseending.





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Be aware of any unintended double meanings. Real-life examples ofsome headlines that were published: Old man winter sticks icy finger intoVirginia. Teens indicted for drowning in lake; FBI ordered to assist Atlantain child slayings.

Avoid Bad Breaks at the end of lines, such as dangling prepositions orconjunctions.

Avoid weaklings: Words such as mull, eye, rap, hit, slam, vie, assail, andseen and bid are headline weaklings. Alter your approach to get away fromthem. Look for a fresh approach.

Don't go for the obvious. On fire-related stories, for example, stay awayfrom verbs such as spark and snuff; on storm stories, stay away from verbssuch as spawn, dump, blow, churn. In articles, hurricanes always seem tochurn, and tornadoes are always spawned.

3.6. Types of News writing

Every news story has to have a focus, which could be a person or an event. Thestory emerges sharper when the focus is clear and blurred when the focus isunclear. A news story is built on a central idea theme), sometimes on two or threecentral ideas. So it is called as single element story or two-element story or three-element story depending on the number of themes it has.

Journalists use many different kinds of frameworks for organizing stories.Journalists may tell some stories chronologically. Other stories may read like agood suspense novel that culminates with the revelation of some dramatic piece ofinformation at the end. Still other stories will start in the present, then flashback tothe past to fill in details important to a fuller understanding of the story. All aregood approaches under particular circumstances.

Inverted pyramid: By far the simplest and most common story structure is onecalled the "inverted pyramid." To understand what the "inverted pyramid" namemeans, picture an upside-down triangle one with the narrow tip pointing downwardand the broad base pointing upward. The broad base represents the mostnewsworthy information in the news story, and the narrow tip represents the leastnewsworthy information in the news story. When you write a story in invertedpyramid format, you put the most newsworthy information at the beginning of thestory and the least newsworthy information at the end.





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Before computers, newspaper copy was cut with scissors to fit a space on the newspage. Editors cut the copy from the bottom up, chopping off the least importantinformation that reporters put on the ends of their stories. These days, with somuch competition from TV, radio, and the Internet, reporters tend to cover theirpyramids with cake frosting. They want to hook even the most distracted readers.So they write a lead, statement, before the main news story. A good lead givesreaders the feeling that they have a front seat for the action and provides a reasonto keep reading.

Story telling style: this approach to news writing is used mostly in magazines. It isa style that is very familiar to all of us. News stories are told in the order in whichthey happened, i.e., what happened first, what happened second, etc. This is knownas telling a story in chronological order. This style is used to hold the reader’sinterest and stimulate some imagination to see, feel, and understand the news. Thisis also called narrative approach.

Personalized approach: This style is rarely used in the newspaper stories. This isthe first person approach and the reporter gives a personal account of the incident,which took place on the spot where he/she was present personally. The reporter onthe television and radio will mostly use this approach to news reporting and not thenewspaper news reports.

Chronological news writing: In this type of writing, the information is given in achronological order instead of information given in descending order ofimportance as in inverted pyramid.

Clarity and Accuracy

Writing is a process that has to be mixed with your own individual style,thoughts and methods, and with the subject and a form of writing. To producea good write-up, you have to learn to combine all these. Also remember thatwriting is hard work. Most people give up writing as soon as they can, because it issuch hard work. It is physically, mentally and emotionally demanding. Goodwriting does not happen all of a sudden. The writing process is often slow, at timestedious and even frustrating. Thus, a good writing does not happen all at once, andit is the result of sweat and blood-in a literal sense.

Context & background, technical terms, obscure details, Jargons &unanswered questions are the things that one has to look up to in a news storyor a write-up.





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Some suggestions that can improve your writing and tie-up your news storiestogether are:

Write simply: simplicity is the best way to achieve clarity. Gifted writers take tothis method to convey their message. A student, a beginner in the profession ofwriting, will also find it easy to write in a simple manner.

Use simple words: many people think big or complicated words will impress thereader. In fact it has the opposite effect. ‘To write clearly, not only the mostexpressive but the plainest words should be chosen’, Benjamin Franklin oncewrote. It is better to write ease instead of facilitate, many instead of numerous anduse instead of utilize.

Economize on words: mostly writers use too many words in their drafts. A carefuleditor deletes these at the time of editing. There is no substitute for simple,straightforward prose. One should not try to use one word more than necessary. Beon the look out for phrases, words and sentences that do not add substantially tothe content of what you are writing. You should also guard against those fancyphrases which draw attention to the writing and the writer-and take away thecontent. Do not boast while writing.

Use simple sentences: it is easier to write five simple sentences than one complexor compound sentence. So why not write simple sentences as long windingsentences only distract the reader.

Do not use Jargons: each group of people has a technical language of their own.This is called jargon. You may be using certain abbreviations or names in yourschools, sports field or in an office. Scientists do so in their labs, and these are thejargons. Only the selected groups understand them. As a writer, you should not usethese. You should rather explain the jargon if you have to use it. Your aim shouldbe to make your message clear to the people who have no direct relationship tosuch groups. Your writings should not cut people off from receiving your ideas bya language that they cannot understand.

Avoid using overused words or phrases. These are called clichés. A write-upwith clichés is not considered good writing. Clichés are so overused that theybecome tiresome and bereft of any meaning. Some columnists have a tendency touse such clichés and that is why you call their writing boring.





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Euphemism is the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for onethought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt. It is an act or an example of substituting amild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive. Inwriting, readers would repel from such words or phrases used in your writing.

Tie together- quite often one might have heard that writing must be well knit. Forthis it is required to not only knit the words alone but the thoughts as well. Readersshould be able to read through a piece of writing without stops and surprises.While introducing a new idea or piece of information, do not do so without tying itto other parts of a story. Springing up with sudden thoughts jolts a reader, and likea sudden jerk on a smooth road, he is thrown off balance.

Connect any new information in a story to information already introduced. Youhave to develop a mental discipline and read your copy with discerning eyes.Expect your reader to condemn you for any folly you make in the copy. For areader, your name is immaterial. For him, you are either a good or a bad writer.

Avoid Adjectives: adjectives and adverbs are often superfluous. You should buildup your sentences around nouns and verbs. Usage of adjectives often weakens yourmessage. It is suggested that you write two simple sentences than use an adjective,which more often is unnecessary if your description are clear and vivid. Youshould select good active verbs to enliven your copy. A good verb denotes actionand a better verb denotes action and description. So choose your verb carefully. Itwill reverberate and rejuvenate your copy. Remember, adverbs and adjectivesmodify limit and verbs expand your thoughts and thus the writing.

Be specific: brevity is the soul of wit. Just as you try to avoid someone who talkstoo much, so do readers about writings, which-have too many superfluous or highsounding words or pilings of phrases or long-winding sentences that have run outof thoughts. Eliminate all that which you have said once. You have to haveaccuracy and clarity. But never try to sacrifice these for the sake of brevity. If factsneed explanation do not economize on sentences. Instead of one long sentence, it isbetter to explain it in five sentences. To be specific, get to the point, sometimes, itis certainly a difficult task. Decide on the theme of the write-up and weave yourstory around it.

Cut out unnecessary words: quite often one is in habit of writing words like‘really’, ‘actually’, ‘very’, ‘in fact’ and similar others. These words do not tellmuch to the readers. Rather they tell nothing, so cut these out. This will also help





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in keeping your story trim and fit it into the limited space of a magazine or anewspaper.

Avoid repetition and redundancies: both these traits show lack of discipline onthe part of the writer. Sometimes facts need to be repeated but that is not the casevery often.

Datelines, Credit Lines, Bylines

A dateline is a brief piece of text included in news articles that describes whereand when the story occurred, or was written or filed, though the date is oftenomitted. In the case of articles reprinted from wire services, the distributingorganization is also included though the originating one is not. Datelines aretraditionally placed on the first line of the text of the article, before the firstsentence. The location appears first, usually starting with the city in whichthe reporter has written or dispatched the report. City names are usually printed inuppercase, though this can vary from one publication to another. The divisionand/or nation the city is in may follow, but they may be dropped if the city name iswidely recognizable due to its size or political importance a national capital, forinstance).

Datelines can take on some unusual forms. When reporters collaborate on a story,two different locations might be listed. In other cases, the exact location may beunknown or intentionally imprecise, such as when covering military operationswhile on a ship at sea or following an invasion force.

Credit line- also called as photo credit. A photographer's byline. The name of theperson or organization responsible for making or distributing a photograph, usuallyappearing small type under the reproduced picture.

The byline on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name, and often theposition, of the writer of the article. Bylines are traditionally placed betweenthe headline and the text of the article, although some magazines notably Reader'sDigest place bylines at the bottom of the page, to leave more room for graphicalelements around the headline.

A typical newspaper byline might readRima SethStaff writer





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A byline can also include a brief article summary, introducing the writer by name.Magazine bylines, and bylines on opinion pieces, often include biographicalinformation on their subjects. A typical biographical byline on a piece of creativenonfiction might read. Most modern newspapers and magazines attribute theirarticles to individual editors, or to wire services.

3.7. Organization of a typical Newspaper

Organization of Newspapero news storieso feature storieso business section

news stories feature stories the stock market report exchange rates for foreign currency

o sports section news stories feature stories

o columnso editorialso Letters to the editoro reviewso scheduleso cultural eventso other

comics classified advertisements weather reports

2. Headlineso one- or two-sentence summaries of the articleo Deletion of short words articles, "be" verbs, etc.o verb tenses different from ordinary use)o abbreviationso short words instead of common longer words

3. Organization of News Storieso bylines, credit lines, and datelineso arrangement of news articles inverted pyramido leads

4. Grammar of Newspaper Articles





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o shorter sentenceso omitting relative clauseso using more noun phraseso avoiding using "of" forms and prepositional phrases

5. Specifying the Source of Information6. Objective; Avoiding Writer's Opinions

Part 4

UNIt 4..TYPES OF REPORTING

4.1. Crime Reporting

There are tremendous public interests in crime stories and no newspaper can affordto ignore them without damage to circulation and credibility. Crime is a part of lifeand it is newspaper’s duty to inform the readers of what crimes are going on intheir city, state or country. However, crime reporting should not aim at satisfyingmorbid curiosity or sensation mongering.





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Although crime reporting is usually assigned to one of the junior reporters in anewspaper, it is a highly responsible and specialized job. The reporter should notonly have the ability to sift the grain from the chaff, and the truth from lies, heshould also have good contacts in the police and other departments of theadministration as well as working knowledge of the penal codes and law on libeland other relevant matters.

Besides, he must observe a code of honor. He should be as objective and ashumanly as possible so as to avoid resorting to sensationalism or cheap gimmicksto catch the attention of the readers or the viewers. He should not suppress news ofpublic interest. Nor should he seek to settle personal scores with police officers orlawyers or judges. And he must be careful that in the course of his work, he doesnot unnecessarily invade a citizen’s privacy.

There has been much criticism of press reporting of crime and not all of it isbaseless. Some reporters have been found guilty of unethical standards, thuscausing much pain and sorrow to their victims or their families and friends.

Crime Reporters try to glorify the activities of criminals or sometimes make heroesof them. This practice should be discouraged as much as a resort to sensationalism.The crime reporter much never violates standards of decency and good news taste.

There are several types of crime news-murders, fires, accidents, robberies,burglaries, fraud, blackmail, kidnapping, rape, etc.

FiresThe reporter must get his facts correct about the essential elements of a fire storythe number of persons killed or injured, the extent of damage to property, the lossof valuables, etc. he must also find out if the fire brigade responded in time or wasguilty of delaying the fire-operations through sheer lethargy or incompetence orlack of water supply. He should question eyewitnesses about any acts of bravery orcowardice. All these are essential ingredients of a fire story.

The lead in a fire story would normally suggest itself. If, for instance, lives havebeen lost, it needs highlighting in the lead. If possible, the reporter must list thenames of the dead and the injured.





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HomicidesIn cases of a major murder, the reporter should rush to the scene as soon aspossible after receiving a tip and gather all the relevant facts. In nine cases out often, crime reporters, say, in Delhi depend on police information about murders andthere is a time lapse before they can begin their investigations.This often hampers their search for the truth. The reporter must, in any case,exercise great care in how he handles the story. Otherwise, he runs the risk ofcausing offence.

In reporting dowry deaths or alleged dowry deaths, the reporter must refrain fromleveling uncorroborated statements by one party or the other. He must therefore gethis facts correct by talking to the investigation police officer, the girl’s in laws andher parents, and, if possible, with the neighbors.

AccidentsMost accidents are reported on the basis of police bulletins or information supplied‘by police spokesmen’. However, wherever possible the crime reporter must rushto the scene of a major accident to give authenticity to his story.

ArrestsIt is a serious matter to report that a person has been placed under arrest. Whensuch a report is made, the exact charge against the arrested person could be givenand it should be documented by either a record or attribution to a responsibleofficial. If such documentation cannot be obtained, the reporter has better to checkthe facts. The person in question may not have been under arrest at all. In manystates an arrest is not formally accomplished until a prisoner is booked. The news,in any case, must be handled with care.

AccusationsIt is commonly written that someone is being sought for robbery, suspected ofarson or tried for murder. This is journalistic shorthand, which has gainedacceptance through usage, but it is neither precise nor correct.

Persons are sought in connection with a robbery, unless a charge has actually beenmade, in which case they are charged with robbery. Persons under suspicion arenot necessarily going to be charged with a crime and it is generally not privilegedmatter to indicate that suspicion is attached to any individual by name. Where thepolice suspect someone, but lack proof, that person may be held as materialwitness- that is far different from being accused of as a criminal. Therefore, casesof suspicion are not usually given too extensive and detailed news treatment if no





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privileged material is available for use. The practice of reporting that a defendant isbeing ‘tried for murder’, while widely used, is obviously prejudicial and could bemore accurately, if less drama stated, as ‘being tried as a charge of murder’.ConfessionsThe use of the word ‘confession’ to describe statements made by a person to thepolice or the prosecuting authorities is dangerous when it is not a matter of publicrecord. The fact that a police chief or a prosecutor has claimed to have aconfession, except in open court, may be used only at the risk of the newsorganization. Most press-bar voluntary agreements forbid the use of confessionsuntil they are admitted in open court. The records are full of supposed confessionsthat backfired later for a variety of reasons and of persons who admitted crimesthey could not possibly have committed. Unless and until it is established in factthat a person has confessed, approved procedure for reporters is to use such termsas ‘statement’, ‘admission’, ‘description’ or ‘explanation’. They convey the shadeof meaning that is warranted by circumstances and do not subject the newsorganization to unnecessary risks.

There are a few fundamental precautions which a crime reporter must takeaccount of:

The first is that the police and prosecutors rarely will give them informationon a silver platter. That means, a tremendous amount of interviewing andresearch must be done in a very short time so that a coherent story may bewritten

There is no guarantee of police accuracy; and therefore police versions ofnames, addresses and other facts must be checked

Police and journalistic terminology are not identical. The legal term for aslaying is a homicide, but many news organizations loosely and incorrectlyrefer to such crimes automatically as murder.





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4.2. Court Reporting

Even the big newspapers of India do not have the resources to cover all thecourts of their main circulation area, the reason being that there are too manycourts. Newspapers neither have the time nor the space to cover everything thathappens in the courts. Paper covers only those stories in which their readers areinterested.

A country governed by laws needs many courts, each with a differentjurisdiction. The emphasis of the news media is on criminal courts, High courts,and the Supreme Court. The media are less interested in covering Civil Courts.One of the reasons for this lack of interest may be that the Civil Courts arejammed with cases, the suits remain pending there for several years and it isassumed that in the mean time, members of the public would lose whateverinterest they may have showed initially.

If we go through the old files of a newspaper, we will find that the volume ofcourt reporting has increased in recent years. One of the reasons for the increasemay be the courts are now getting more active in the field of social justice. Publicinterest litigations are also increasing. As the number of petitions increase, onenotices a corresponding increase in the coverage of courts and the judgmentsthey deliver.

Many of the stringers are professional advocates. Many part-timers also coverstories in their respective areas and come from teaching, law and otherprofessions. A newspaper, which does not have a full time law reporter, may sendits regular staff correspondent to cover an important court story.





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The first time that one covers the court beat as a court reporter; one usually feelsamidst the technicalities and complex language. A trainee reporter aiming to be afuture court reporter must at first acquire some understanding of the courtjurisdictions, its procedures and its hierarchy. At the apex we have the SupremeCourt of India. Then there are the High Courts, Session Courts, Magistrate Courts,etc.

If the reporter is acquainted with the jurisdiction of different courts, then one caneasily locate the specific court for a particular matter. Similarly, if one is familiarwith the hierarchy in the courts; one can easily guess where the appeal would befiled.

Much of a reporter’s success in the coverage of the courts depends on one’scontact and sources, and one’s ability to gain access quickly to records. For areporter, the key person in a court is the clerk of the court. A court clerk preparesand keeps the records. He can make available copies of transcript for a fee. Courtreporting involves diligent checking of records. The judge who presides a trial isseldom one’s source. But a reporter should, as soon as possible, introduce oneselfin person to the judge. A court reporter should also have good contacts with thelawyers working on a case and if possible with the respective parties. Where acase attracts much public attention, reporters may be under pressure from rivallawyers for a more favorable description of their individual positions. The reportermust then ensure impartial reportage in all fairness to the proceedings in court.

Court reporters must understand the judicial process from beginning to end. Theyshould know what happens when a suspect is arrested, charged, arraigned, tried,and sentenced or released. Experienced reporters say the best way to learn theprocess is to spend time at the courthouse. As stated before, begin with the courtclerks, who keep track — the list of cases — and the calendar. Find out how to getcopies of the court record, filings, and testimony. Read the case files — includingmotions and pleadings before the trial — and keep track of what's reported aboutthe case if you can't be in court every day, which frequently happens.

Defense attorneys are some of the best sources of information on the justice beat.They often are more willing than prosecutors to talk with reporters about cases onwhich they are working. Do your best to understand legal jargon, but avoid using itin your stories. If you don't know what something means, ask the person you'reinterviewing to explain it.





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4.3. Health Reporting

Health reporter usually informs the public about major epidemics, diseases andtheir cures, new medical discoveries, medical irregularities, etc. they are eitherspecialized in their field of medical of take the assistance of doctors, medicalpractitioner, etc. the common man cannot understand most of the medical terms soit is the duty of the health reporter to explain these terms and present the reportwhich is easily understood by the common man.

Every change of season witness some major breakouts of epidemics and thus thepeople must be informed about these diseases and the necessary measures to betaken to avoid the occurrence of these diseases. The health reporter in no wayshould frighten the common man but present remedies and cures for the diseases.Crosschecking is extremely necessary if the reporter is not specialized in themedical field. Therefore, most of the newspaper relies of medical practitioner,doctors, scientist, and others to present the articles or features for the newspaper.The health reporter is supposed to cover researches, developments in the field ofmedicine and pharmaceuticals and new experiments in medicine and medicalsurgery. He collects this information from different departments of medicalfraternity.

Many well-known health and medical science reporters writing in a few majornewspapers have become the primary source for secondary pick-ups by manyradio, newspaper, and television reporters. Thus, a small handful of powerful,skilled writers wield an enormous amount of influence in this field. These days,most of the health reporting also covers fitness tips given out by experts in the fieldof yoga, acupuncture, meditation, and others.

The public is poorly served by the coverage of medical science in the general press.Scientists and physicians blame the press, claiming that journalists are careless intheir reporting, subject to competitive pressures, and ignorant of the scientificprocess. Journalists accuse the medical community of limiting access toinformation and erecting barriers to the public dissemination of medical research.In many areas of health news reporting, the underlying problem is an interactivedynamic that involves scientists and journalists. Both parties share theresponsibility for accurate communication to the public.

Health Reporters usually deliver medical news as if they are reporting on a hostagecrisis. Information is delivered rapidly, but little time is taken to provide a contextfor the story. Instead, the reporting is sensationalized: The journalist overstates a





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scientific finding and, as a result, the public is misled about the implications of thatfinding. This sort of reporting has its roots in newsroom pressures to dramatizestories by sounding alarms.

To avoid inaccurate stories, health reporters need to examine the credibility andbiases of scientific sources. Such examination is often not done, however, possiblybecause reporters are misled when the public relations efforts of scientists,institutions. The major sources for a health reporter are the doctors or medicalofficers.

A journalist's audience should be told explicitly whether the journalist's source ofinformation could benefit financially from the media attention or whether thesource is funded or employed by an institution that will benefit. However, suchconflicts of interest are often not apparent to reporters or their audiences.

The public is generally unaware of the scientific process and is therefore likely togive more importance to awareness and full details of diseases and remedies by arenowned medical practitioner. This follow-up should be done, because journaliststhemselves may not completely know the complete medical process works. Certainmedical terms are likely to be misinterpreted and thus it is the duty of the healthreporter to clarify such doubts. The health science community should promotecontact with the media when confirmatory or no confirmatory studies emerge in anarea that has already received attention from the press. General assignmentreporters typically wrote medical news stories and Reporters who specificallycover medicines are now commonly found at many major news organizations.Thus, those who understand the complexities of newsworthy issues in medicineand public health should

Examining the media's coverage of medicine seems to show that medical newsreporting is less than ideal. Medical scientists and journalists share theresponsibility for this problem. Thus, the medical science community canencourage accurate medical reporting and reporters will also have to take activemeasures to improve the situation.

Health Reporters should be able to assume that press releases are accurate, findingsare not overstated, and conflicts of interest are acknowledged. The health reportershould deal with failures to be accurate, to identify vested interests, to follow up onstories, and to cover important health issues as the patients are the ones who standto suffer the most. The health reporter must remember that it is the public that





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ultimately benefits from medical scientists' contributions to improved mediacoverage.

4.4. Civic Reporting

Newspapers have traditionally been the most community oriented of mass media.Newspapers have been given a good deal of credit for building the democraticcommunity life cities and towns. These days, however, the media and theiraudiences have been so thoroughly fragmented that the newspaper seems on theverge of becoming just another specialized commercial product for a niche market.

Together, the people and the journalists work on efforts to fight attempts to weakenthe civil justice system, to protect the rights of all to the right to trial by jury, and toforce government and businesses to make human health and safety the top priority.

Public Citizen is very interested to report the news reporters for information in avariety of cases: products liability, medical malpractice, cases involving children,cases involving drugs or medical devices for women, cases where punitivedamages were awarded, cases where defendants withheld documents or engaged inother types of abuse or misconduct, and cases where discovery documents ortestimony revealed a company decision to risk foreseeable injuries or deaths inorder to save money or increase profits.

Reporters around the country are increasingly turning to civic journalism to findbetter stories and report them in ways that re-establish a bond with readers, viewersand listeners. They do so to:

Tackle tough issues. Discover new local stories. Interact with readers and viewers in new ways. Use the web to improve reporting.

Mostly two or three junior reporters, supervised by a senior one is appointed tocover local news, administration problems and important judgments of the districtcourts. A senior reporter assigns the coverage among the junior reporters whoactually go into the field and bring news of local interest. There may be a fire ortheft or important crime to report like a murder or dacoity. Then there may be courtproceedings of a sensational nature wherein important crime cases are heard andadjudged upon. These reporters are called district reporters. Each reporter has anarea assigned to him, which may include one or more large towns with the additionof smaller towns and larger villages. In some cases, a district office is established





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in prominent towns to enable the reporters to cover the ground with a seniorreporter in charge. The senior man also acts as the manager of the office, whokeeps the accounts and is responsible for the advertisement and other revenue,which is received.

The Civic reporters have considerable responsibility as an important link in thechain of news collection of interest to the newspaper. The senior as well as thejunior reporters keep their respective diary of engagements and see that nothing ismissed which may give the lead to other newspapers. If the locality or the town islarge one, the reporter may find himself, with a full diary of routine engagementsevery day.

The civic reporter needs to be active men who have the opportunity of making awide circle of friends. They develop influence in the local administration and candig their news ahead of other contemporaries representing other newspapers. Oneimportant qualification of a local or civic reporter is knowledge of law so that hedoes not commit any errors leading to libel. He must be above board and not haveextreme likes and dislikes of individuals, businessmen or influential personalitiesin the area.

The telephone is a very important means of receiving and collecting informationabout any event-taking place in the area. A civic reporter has his link with policeofficers and corporation administrators who inform him of anything importanttaking place around. However, it is not advisable to simply depend on one or theother individual source for making the story.

Immediately on receiving the hint of an important event, the civic reporter issupposed to either rush himself or send his juniors, depending on the importance ofthe news, to cover it. If necessary, a photographer may also be taken alongalthough many newspapers prefer junior reporters to know as to how to handle thecamera and have working knowledge of photography. In the case of importantnews, even movie cameras are sometimes maintained by newspapers to obtain TVfilms for supply to the TV Organizations on specific charges.

4.5. Political Reporting

Political reporters in a democracy have one central mission: to provide citizenswith the information they need to make an informed choice between the candidatesfor elective office. To do that, journalists need to examine the candidates'backgrounds and qualifications, their positions on the key issues, and what the





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candidates are saying in campaign appearances and advertising. Reporters whocover politics look at the candidates' supporters, too, since their interests can oftenshed light on what a politician will do if elected.

A political reporter should have intelligence, instinctive perception of groundrealities, good judgment of people and a strong historic sense. Since politics is themain focus of newspapers, too many new entrances would like to be politicalreporters hoping that it would be a ladder to the coveted office of the editor.

But the fact remains that there is a dearth of good political reporting in India whohave the skills to report insight, and do reporting that captures in flesh and bloodof the players in the political field. A skilled political reporter is able to expose thenaked ambitions of political leaders and the hypocrisy of political parties.

Politics is the game for power, a game for supremacy and ironically this game isplayed in the name of the people for evoking national greatness. The majority ofpoliticians in India have acquired office because they were misfits everywhereelse and are driven by a desire to make up for their past failures and frustrations.

Thus, the sad thing about Indian democracy is that it is these politicians whoguide the destiny of some 900 million people. Bereft of ideas, intelligence andcharacter, they exploit caste, religion and language to stay in power and thecountry slip from crisis to crisis.

Therefore, it is the duty of the political reporter to never glorify a minister or apolitician but truthfully present their achievements and failures. Programmes ofpolitical parties should be critically evaluated and the flaws commented upon, sothat the people are not carried away by their patriotic portrayal. The performanceof government needs constant review and herein is the wisdom and maturity ofthe political reporter set on a national spectacle.

A lot of things are happening behind the scene in politics. Diplomacy, lobbying,image-building and hatching conspiracies are only few of them. Nothing much isvisible to the outside world but the tip of an iceberg. The real challenge ofpolitical reporting is in unmasking these happenings in the political world.Connections and inside sources are the strengths of a politics reporter.

Party conferences, campaigns and rallies and press conferences are normalreporting events. But to add news value to these the reporter should have ‘inside’information or exclusive stories. The best selling newspapers in any country arethose with a strong political bureau satisfying the political curiosity of the readers.

Inadequate political coverage usually judged by the quality of reporting, bringsdown the circulation of a newspaper. The honest and well-meaning politician





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deserves the support of the reporter and the people’s support. One of the basicduties of political reporting is to bring to national focus such deserving leadersand to warn the nation against criminals in political garment.

The political reporter must have a sound knowledge of history and the ability tosee the chain of events before it happened and the wisdom to translate thethoughts into memorable words.

4.6. Business Reporting

The focus of business reporting is the state of business, depending on the country’seconomic climate. The stock market, capital market, the wholesale and consumerprice, metals and gold prices, industries and agricultural production, consumerbehavior, inflation, money supply foreign and Indian investments, unemployment,wages and labor, all are areas of interest to the business reporter.

The economy operates in a cycle of expansion and contraction known as boom andbust. The markets hit a low during bust, characterized by low demand, piling up ofgoods product and at worst people are thrown out of employment.

At boom, the demand picks up, entrepreneurs invest, employment is generated,there is more cash flow and happier times return as the economy operates at itspeak. After a few years, the economy goes back to bust to repeat its business cycle.Low employment speaks of the ill health of the economy and the need for optimumlevel of investment. The developing nations, called the Third World, need massiveinvestments to generate employment and they also need the latest technology tocatch up with the developed world.

Business, industry and agriculture, year after year, look to the finance minister’spresentation of the union Budget that could change the business climate. Taxincentives to industry and agriculture can boost production, and surplus productioncan lead to export and prosperity. Exporting nations like Japan, Taiwan, andSingapore in Asia enjoy a higher standard of living than many economic laggardsof the continent, some of whom face miserable living conditions. The budget is apowerful instrument of transformation in the hands of an able finance minister.

A business reporter should have a masterly understanding of economic at themacro and micro levels to interpret economic data and tell how they are going toaffect business. He should sound an alarm when the economy is heading for aslump or recession.





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Also, when the economic outlook is bright, he should bring cheer to industry. Buthe should desist from creating a panic in the stock market where people haveinvested their life savings. To command respect in financial and business circles,you must be knowledgeable, credible and insightful.

To do so, the business reporter must be in contact with some of the best economicbrains of the country that may be in the finance ministry, universities, researchorganizations and even corporate houses. The reporter should watch out forcorporate newsmakers. Entrepreneurs are of two kinds, those with a broad visionand those with a tunnel vision. The former think laterally and are a creative lot,bringing new products, new designs, new models and new ideas that can transformthe way people live, work and spend their leisure.

Another breed of newsmakers is the corporate raider who buys the shares ofcompanies in bulk and tries to dislodge the existing families out of their business.Majority of the shareholders are innocent of their rights, and easily manipulated byholding meetings at sites most of them cannot reach or by deliberately delaying theintimation letters for such meetings.

Market-linked technology watch may signal the arrival of new products,impending competition and phasing out of old models. Computer and car marketsare changing dramatically and will keep changing in the years ahead. Exposingbusiness frauds and manipulators is the high calling of business journalism, butfavoring them for a pittance could tarnish the image of the profession.

Keep a tab on major stock market players, chairman of blue chip companies andCEOs who could always spring a surprise. PROs of business houses and privatesecretaries of market players could be of help in getting the lead for a story, butthese stories must be properly filtered for news.

Like the politician who generates political news, the corporate houses generatemost of the business news. And the finance and commerce ministries, the RBI,SEBI, FICCI, Assocham and Indo-American, Indo-British, Indo-German, Indo-French, and Indo-Japanese joint trade organizations keep the business reportersvery busy.

4.7. Science & Technology Reporting





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The age of science is the age of reason, and it is by reasoning that human beingshave unlocked the secrets of nature. Science reporters are driven by a curiosity andgoverned by scientific temper. The first step to becoming a science reporter is todevelop well-grounded awareness of science by reading good popular sciencebooks and journals. Keep watching popular science programmes on foreign andIndian television channels.

Half-truths, bluffs and blisters are not part of science reporting, which is based onverifiable technological facts. Verify your facts from other sources, referencebooks and journals before you report. Credibility and clarity are the catchwords inscience reporting.

Specialists speak in technical language popularly called jargons. Befriend theleading scientist and engineers of your town and ask them about the latestdevelopment in their fields-inventions, applications and research. Attend seminarsand conferences regularly and write interpretative reports for the knowledge –hungry readers. Publishing interviews of eminent scientists not only enhances theprestige of the newspaper/magazine but also promotes science awareness insociety.

Age of computers is rapidly changing the way we live computers are installed inbanks, railway stations, airports, operation theatres of hospitals, public health, andwater supply and electricity departments and real estate agencies. Creatingenvironmental awareness is one of the duties of the science reporter. Crusading fora better environment is the hallmark of dedicated science reporter.

Science reporting calls for greater precision and logical progression of ideas. Thepopular science writers have amazing clarity of thought and expression and anirresistibly fascinating manner of presentation. Exaggeration and sensationalism donot belong to science reporting which is basically an exercise in precision writing.

4.8. Sport Reporting





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Sport reporting demands for an exceptional interest in the field of sports and agood writing style. Sports reporters are conversant with the rules of the game andhave good relations with players and coaches. They are also knowledgeable aboutthe lives of top players to dish out interesting anecdotes in sports features.

Sport reporters write to appeal to a class of readers who eat, drink and sleep sports.Sports writing are as competitive as the game itself. Like all reporters, the sportreporter too works under pressure, but there is too much action in succession forhim to recapitulate that it makes his job uniquely challenging. So, to become asuccessful sports reporter, one should keep a sports diary. Renowned sportsjournalists have the habit of jotting down every idea or scrap of information, whichthey later skillfully weave into their reports and columns.

Keep a clipping library of reports and articles of special interest to you, which youhave come across in newspapers and magazines. This could be a ready referencelibrary for facts and figures and back grounders. Classify under different names ofgames like ‘cricket’, ‘hockey’, ‘athletics’, etc to make it handy.The reporter must make his report descriptive enough for those who have not seenthe match and analytical enough for those who have seen it on television but are





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seeking something more to it. Develop a racy style that befits the game,recapturing the players in their best action, which is the difference between a goodreport and a bad report.

Sports reporting differ from general reporting in that sports reporters enjoy greaterfreedom for self-expression, which includes the use of superlatives. The famousamong them do enjoy special privileges in keeping with their professional status.Sport reporting provides details on the fitness of players, points of play, individualperformances, tactics and strategies adopted in the contest and crowd reaction.

4.9. Culture Reporting

The term “The Culture Beat” refers to the way a newspaper will assign reporters tocover various sites where news originates-city hall, the police reports, sports,entertainment, local, etc.

Culture reporting is characterized by its punchy style, rough language, andostensible disregard for conventional journalistic writing forms and customs. Thereporter attempts to present a multi-disciplinary perspective on a particular story,drawing from popular culture, sports, political, philosophical and literary sources.It is styled eclectic or untraditional. Culture reporting remains a feature of popularmagazines. It has a good deal of entertainment value.

Culture reporting also focuses on the personal lives of people, primarily celebrities,including movie and stage actors, musical artists, models and photographers, othernotable people in the entertainment industry, as well as people who seek attention,such as politicians, and people thrust into the attention of the public, such as peoplewho do something newsworthy.

Culture reporting today is the province of newspaper gossip columnists and gossipmagazines and has become the focus of national tabloid newspapers like theNational Enquirer, magazines like People and Us Weekly, syndicated televisionshows like Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, The Insider, Access Hollywood,and Extra, cable networks like E! and numerous other television productions.

It differs from feature writing in that it focuses on people who are either alreadyfamous or are especially attractive, and in that it often covers celebritiesobsessively, to the point of these journalists behaving unethically in order toprovide coverage. Paparazzi, photographers who would follow celebrities





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incessantly to obtain potentially embarrassing photographs, have come tocharacterize celebrity journalism.

It is the most common kind of reporting where reporters are placed at the moststrategic news-breaking points like hospitals, courtrooms, police headquaters,airports, railway stations, universities, government and corporate offices and healthand recration centers. Unlike editorial writing, the culture reporting is impersonal.

A culture reporter is should essentially be an honest storyteller, who should riseabove his prejudices and subjectivity. He should be fair and impartial and presentin all aspects of the story. Complete objectivity may be required as the primary jobof a reporter in any beat is to tell the truth.

4.10. Civil Administration Reporting

The government establishes the civil administration and the area concerned arethe local, municipal, social and national levels of the society. Civil administrationreporting will thus carry news stories relating to all these sections of a country.Civil administration of a country exercise certain authority normally in thefunction of the local government; or hostile territory. It exercises executive,legislative, and judicial authority.

Civil administration reporters thus have to work with civil authorities and civilianpopulations in the area of operations.

Civil administration reporters are the specialists who can quickly andsystematically identify critical requirements needed by local citizens in badsituations. They can also locate civil resources to support help operations, helpsupport national assistance activities. The reporters report on the plan to establishand maintain liaison or dialogue with civilians and private organizations.

The civil administration reporters provide a prime source of nation-building skills.Their prime focus of reporting is in the fields of public administration, publicsafety, public health, legal systems, labor management, public welfare, publicfinance, public education, civil defense, public works and utilities, publiccommunications, public transportation, logistics, food and agricultural services,economics, property control, cultural affairs, civil information, and managingdislocated persons.

One of the main components of civil administration is the police who are appointed





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with the duties to keep a check on the society. Reporting police news is difficultand potentially dangerous. But if reporters and editors are properly prepared andsufficiently cautious, mistakes will be held to a minimum. Police news tells usabout ourselves, and how we handle police news tells us something about ourjournalistic ability. Ideally, police news is used to inform the public, not to aiddirectly in conviction. Keeping this perspective is important in handling policenews effectively.

Police reporters need to know exactly how crimes are defined in the communitythey cover. In the United States, for example, a "burglary" and a "robbery" are notthe same thing. Burglary involves breaking into a building to commit a crime.Robbery is stealing money or property by force. Developing a glossary of essentialterms can prevent embarrassing mistakes. A police press release may provide thebasic facts about a crime, but good reporters dig deeper. They go to the scene tolook for details and to talk with neighbors or eyewitnesses, whenever possible.

The coverage of civil disorder imposed major responsibilities on the reporters. Onthe one hand, they must expose themselves to danger if necessary to determine themagnitude of any street incident. But whatever they do, they must always beconscious that careless reporting or the provocative appearance of still ortelevision cameras can cause untold harm in a tense situation, particularly in thecrowded inner cores of many cities and towns.

4.11.Education Reporting

As Education, is the organized teaching and training of students, the reporter’s jobwill revolve around these areas. Education is a body of theoretical and appliedresearch relating to teaching and learning. Thus, the reporter has to focus on theseboth areas of education. The education reporter works in different areas ordisciplines such as psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics,neuroscience, sociology and anthropology

The education reporter focus on the education systems as these can be used topromote doctrines or ideals as well as knowledge, and this can lead to abuse of thesystem. These days, the education reporters focus on adult education as they havebecome widespread in many countries. However, education is still seen by many assomething aimed at children, and adult education is often branded as adult learningor lifelong learning.





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Adult education takes on many forms, from formal class-based learning to self-directed learning. Lending libraries provide inexpensive informal access to booksand other self-instructional materials. Many adults have also taken advantage ofthe rise in computer ownership and internet access to further their informaleducation.

The reporter has to report about the Education reforms. Educational reforms areplans, programs, or movements which attempts to bring about a systematic changein educational theory or practice across a community or society. As the publicattention focuses on standards based education reform in response to the highexpense and poor outcomes of education, it is the duty of the reporter to bring forthsuch informations.

The teaching method must be teachable! Many educators now believe thatanything that more precisely meets the needs of the child will work better.Programs that test individual learning, and teach to mastery of a subject have beenproven to be far more effective than group instruction with compromise schedules.

Philosophers identify independent, logical reasoning as a precondition to mostwestern science, engineering, economic and political theory. Therefore, everyeducational program that desires to improve students' outcomes in political, healthand economic behavior should include a Socratically-taught set of classes to teachlogic and critical thinking. Substantial resources and time can be saved bypermitting students to test out of classes. This also increases motivation, directsindividual study, and reduces boredom and disciplinary problems.

To support inexpensive continuing education a community needs a free publiclibrary. It can start modestly as shelves in an attended shop or governmentbuilding, with donated books. New programs based on modern learning theoriesshould be quantitatively investigated for effectiveness.

The education reporter has to report education plans, durations, costs, andscholarships of various educational programs started by national and internationaluniversities. Thus much research with educationists, institutions and expertise isrequired to prepare the report. As always, crosschecking of facts is important.Also, the education reporter has to present counseling help to the students as theyoften get confused because today we have so many options available in theeducation and vocational fields.





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Thus, the education reporter must be aware with different departments ofeducation, have good contacts with colleges and universities and get an insight intothe psyche of the students’ about their preferences and choices. These reportershave to regularly attend functions like convocations, academic events of collegesand universities to know the progress and the launch of new educational programs.

4.12.Development Reporting

Development reporting creates an awareness of the rapid transformation of thesociety from a poor economy to a highly developed economy by informing thepeople of the various programmes of development charted out by the governmentand development agencies and to bring to the notices of the government theproblems some of these poorly implemented schemes create so that it can beconsidered for remedial measures.

It is through people’s participation that food production is raised, new roads,railways and houses are constructed, and amenities of safe drinking water,electricity and communication are provided. Sometimes, development hasdisastrous consequences too: air and water pollution, soil degradation anddeforestation. This led to rethinking on what constitutes development and aftermuch deliberation; ecology too came under its preview. The most importantquality to be inculcated is to have development perspective based on groundrealities and sharpened by a global vision.

A telling tale that is apt to awaken a slumbering government to action and a stylethat also spreads awakening among the masses are expected of a developmentcommunicator.

Reporting success stories do motivate people and even the failures teach preciouslessons on how to avoid the mistakes made by others. Development reportersshould not be biased like a section of western media, which sees only the negativeside of India’s achievements. There a hundreds of development stories lying buriedto be discovered by a good development reporter. Government departments andministries dole out press releases, newsletters and annual reports, which could givethe lead for a story.

Sustainable development, therefore, represents an opportunity for humanity tocorrect a historical error and develop a gentler, more balanced, and stablerelationship with the natural world.





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5. WRITING THE STORY

5.1. Magazine Writing

Most magazines you see on newsstands every day rely on freelance writers fortheir content. From fillers to features, most parts of a publication are fair game forwriters hoping to break in. No, you don't have to have a cousin in the publishingworld to see your name in print. You just have to follow the rules like every otherjournalist until, one day, the editors start calling you.

As you write for magazines, it will give you increased confidence that you canwrite for publication, meet word limits and deadlines. There are many benefitsfrom writing for magazines.

Some basics to get started while writing for magazines:

Decide on your genreIf all matters foodie particularly drives you, consider being a recipe writer and foodjournalist. Or perhaps a reporter on traditional dishes from the four corners of theearth. Maybe even a critique for restaurants and hotels in your area. There are toomany avenues to begin to list them all, but bear in mind there are very fewmagazines and journals that don’t have a recipe in there somewhere and everybodyhas to eat… Choose a subject that rings your bell. One that you have goodbackground knowledge of already will be second nature to start writing about.Once you have made a start, you will find it is easy to expand to other topics.

Find your angleWhere are you coming from? Are you going to report on the subject or beinnovative and tell others about your ideas? Would you prefer something along afictional line? Maybe Q and A and FAQ’s is your bag. Don’t rule anything out, butget acquainted with a comfortable angle by trying lots of different types of writingon your chosen subject. The more relaxed you are, the better your quality of workwill be, because it will flow more naturally.

Research your subjectOnce you have a focus, look into that field in great depth. See what is available andtopical at the moment, on paper and on the Internet. It will help to know whatpeople are reading and interested in, before you put pen to paper. Do you feel yourline of thought has not been covered yet? Perhaps that could be a door ofopportunity opening for you. Websites are not difficult to get up and running these





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days – consider setting one up for your chosen subject, with the possibility of anaccompanying newsletter.

ResearchResearch is, without a doubt, one of the biggest bugbears, but if you are committedto a career in writing, you might as well make it your best friend, because you aregoing to be doing an awful lot of it!

Writer’s guidelinesYour piece might be amazing, with bells on, but if you don’t comply with thesubject line or the addressee; it will more than likely end up in the recycle bin! It isa laborious task going through them and doing as you are told, especially whenyour piece is clearly the hottest thing on the market. Remember, if it were thateasy, everybody would be doing it and besides, there has to be some fun in thechase.

Keep track of your workKeep a log of your submissions, query letters and published pieces. Create anaddress book of all the editors, fellow writers and useful contacts you make. Don’tbe put off by the response times either. Make up files that allow you to reviewwhat you have sent to whom and keep on top of it.

Remember, a writer must write something every single day, without fail! It keepsyour hand in and makes you look at new angles and ways of self-expression. Youhave to be topical, expressive, interesting and informative. It is a big old readingworld out there, don’t be daunted, be focused, be clever and most of all, have fun!

An Anecdote is a short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographicalincident. An anecdote is usually based on real life, an incident involving actualpersons, whether famous or not, in real places. However, over time, modificationin reuse may convert a particular anecdote to a fictional piece, one that is retold butis "too good to be true". Sometimes humorous, anecdotes are not jokes, becausetheir primary purpose is not simply to evoke laughter, but to reveal a truth moregeneral than the brief tale itself, or to delineate a character trait or the workings ofan institution in such a light that it strikes in a flash of insight to their very essence.A brief monologue beginning "A man pops in a bar..." will be a joke. A briefmonologue beginning "Once J. Edgar Hoover popped in a bar..." will be ananecdote. An anecdote thus is closer to the tradition of the parable than the patentlyinvented fable with its animal characters and generic human figures— but it isdistinct from the parable in the historical specificity which it claims. An anecdote





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is not a metaphor nor does it bear a moral, a necessity in both parable and fable,merely an illustrative incident that is in some way an epitome.

Note that in the context of Lithuanian, Bulgarian and Russian humor anecdoterefers to any short humorous story without the need of factual or biographicalorigins.

5.2. How to write an Obituary?

An obituary can be as basic as containing only public facts about a person's life,their birth, family tree, and their death. Also relates to your thoughts, experiencesand memories with them.

It can also be a very personal look at a life. Not only a summation of the publicfacts, but a glimpse of the uniqueness; that, when combined with those "facts,"created a personality. Written by someone who is close to you, an obituarybecomes an intimate view of what made you memorable to others. Written by you,it becomes your personal life's story.

As much as you love someone, recalling the details of their life at the time of theirdeath is an overwhelming responsibility. Having the obituary already written andon file with your funeral provider is not as difficult to do as you may think. Thinkabout your life and what you would most like remembered.

Preparing Tributes & Obituaries

Obituaries usually come in one of two forms: a short notice; common in localand regional newspapers and the longer style, more common in nationalnewspapers giving a detailed history of the person’s life achievements.

Here is a useful guide regarding what to include for you or the person writing theobituary.

Check with the newspaper you are going to publish in to see if they have anylength restrictions and what the cost of insertion will be. Make sure youplace the obituary a few days before the funeral.

Write the full name of the deceased person. Write the date and place of death. Write down when and where the funeral etc will take place. Detail the main life events beginning with the date and place of birth.





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Include pertinent information relating to education, universities attended andnotable employment.

Write down any hobbies and involvement with community, charities or otherorganisations.

Include any major achievements. Write down the names of those surviving including partners, parents and

children. You can also mention siblings, grandparents and those who havealso died before the deceased.

Mention where flowers and contributions should be sent to and give thefuneral directors name if relevant.

As a friend or family member you may be asked to give a tribute or eulogy at thefuneral. This is your opportunity to say a very personal goodbye and reflect whatyou and others thought of them. It can be quite difficult to write something that isso emotional, here are some guidelines:

As a starting point think about what you loved about that person, how youmet them, how your relationship developed and what you will miss aboutthem.

Remember this is your personal goodbye and should come from the heart,not everyone may agree with every sentiment but they will appreciate thatyou have taken the time to write and deliver something at a very hard time.

You don’t have to deliver the most amazing piece of perfect prose – it is atribute to someone you love and you can expect to cry when you speak thewords. No one will think badly of you for this.

Use the people around you to collect information, anecdotes and stories toinclude.

Be honest. It may be a tribute but make sure you speak of someone you allknew, not an idealised version.

However, remember this isn’t the time to voice disagreements or vent anger. Make sure you write down the eulogy or tribute – you won’t remember it on

the day.

Writing an obituary or eulogy for someone can be your final gift to them – a wayto remember them through your eyes and a gift for everyone else who has sufferedthe same loss.





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5.2.1. Article Writing

An article will analyze and interpret and provide arguments and counter-arguments. An article will go to the root cause of an event or happening andprovide background information. Then it describes the present situation and finallypeeps into the future prospects too. Though it is not necessary that an article willfollow the past-present-future course. An article may start with an insight into thefuture and then cover the past and present. It may start with the present situation,go to the past and then look into the future. Also, it may not be necessary that anarticle should always deal with the past or predict the future.

Articles are written on all kinds of topics and many kinds of subjects are dealt within an article. They are also written about the past, present and the future. There isno bar or restrictions on the nature of the topic or issue chosen to write an article.Articles in a newspaper will mostly follow the various purposes like:

To analyze the present To provide some important information To predict the future prospects of an issue To present a point of view about a topic To interpret a trend

Articles are not written in newspapers as to serve only one selected purpose butmay fulfill more than one purposes mentioned above.

Articles writers’ intentions are to analyze, interpret and rationalize and thus there isno place for humor, satire and other such emotions in an article. The contents andtreatment of an article is sober and serious. The basics of newspaper writinglike Consistency, conciseness, completeness; continuity, etc also apply to articlewriting. These basics will be applicable to any piece of writing like the editorial,feature or a news story.

An element that is absolutely necessary for articles is credibility. Thus, usually,only the experts will write articles. In fact, such established writers regularly writecolumns and are free to write only one subject or a variety of subjects. The readersrarely doubt the creditability of such renowned writers and the articles gets a goodresponse.





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Guidelines for Article Writing

The topic for an article is mostly selected on the basis of how much interest it cangenerate among the readers. Highly interesting topics and issues will generateinterest and curiosity by the readers. The selected topics must be concrete andbring in the details. These details should be dealt in an interesting manner toprovide all the relevant information in a concrete and complete manner.

An article must be believable and relevant facts should be presented. There shouldbe source credibility, authentic research, original quotes and accuracy in thearticles to make it believable to the newspaper readers. An article writer will try tocover all aspects of the topic and provide more and more support material as proofto substantiate the points they are presenting in the article.

Ten Steps to Writing an Article:

1. Realize that writing is a process, not a short burst of frantic activity. The usualsteps are planning, research, writing a rough draft, editing, and then writing a finaldraft.

2. Planning an article involves discussing why it is important and what you wantto include. If you decide about length, scope and focus in advance, it will save youtime and effort later.

3. Good articles are descriptive. Draw on your own experience and talk to thosewho have more experience or different experience than you.

4. The best articles help readers solve problems, save time, avoid mishaps and dotheir jobs more effectively. You can’t assume that the reader shares yourperception of a problem; you may have to sell them the problem before you sellthem a solution.

5. Write your draft the way you would tell the story to one of your friends. Itshould be informal and clear. Short words and short sentences are fine.

6. Readers want articles about things they can actually control and problems theycan solve. Writing an article about a huge problem that is too large or tooexpensive merely raises the reader’s anxiety.





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7. Tell real stories. Use actual examples. Readers want to hear about things thathappened. They aren’t interested in platitudes, clichés, lectures, or slogans.Readers want reality, not theory.

8. Magazines are a clutch plate between the way things are and the way theyshould be. Ideally, everyone follows all the rules all the time, and no mishaps everhappen. In reality, people cut corners, take chances, stop paying attention, fallasleep in class, drive drunk, ignore their supervisor, take the easy way out, and getin a hurry, resist learning, and on and on.

9. A magazine article doesn’t repeat official procedures or rules. Readers haveplenty of those things already; the problem is that they don’t follow them. Simplyrepeating the procedures avoids the real problem.

10. "Why" is more interesting than "what”? Defining a problem or a hazard is onlythe starting point.

Structure of an Article

An article has a definite beginning lead or introduction, a body, and an endconclusion. The basic format used for articles are:

The chronological format, past -present-future), The reverse chronological format future -present-past, And the flashback format where the article may start in the present, go back

to the past and then go to the future).

The lead or the introduction, introduces the topic to the readers, arouses andsustains their interest. It could be a direct lead where information is given in astraightforward manner. Articles can also start with a statement or quotation toprovide interest. A statement or a quotation also helps in telling somethingabout the topic of the article.

Some times statistics or numerical data are used in the lead to startle the readers.Articles can begin with a question. Some times writers use a number of questionsalso. Questions arouse curiosity in the minds of the readers and they read further tofind answer to the questions.

Thy body takes up about three quarters of the total space of an article. Here thewriter tries to answer the questions put in the lead. The claims made in the lead aresubstantiated. The statements and quotations made are elaborated. So explanation,




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description, elaboration, substantiation, etc are what the body of an article is allabout.

Writers provide details, statistics, claims and counterclaims in the body to present,project and promote their point of views. The body of an article is where claims aresupposed and defended, while opposing viewpoints are attacked. The conclusionportion simply closes the argument and is often brief stating the gist of the wholearticle.

An Editorial is a statement or article by a news organization, newspaper ormagazine that expresses the opinion of the editor, editorial board, or publisher. Anop-ed, abbreviated from opposite editorial due to the tradition of newspapersplacing such materials on the page opposite the editorial page, is similar in formand content to an editorial, but represents the opinion of an individual contributor,who is sometimes but not always affiliated with the publication. These two termsare sometimes used interchangeably by the public, although it is important tounderstand that they have different definitions and characteristics.

5.3.. Editorial Writing guidelines

Editorials are generally printed either on their own page of a newspaper or in aclearly marked-off column, and are always labeled as editorials to avoid confusionwith news coverage. They often address current events or public controversies.

Generally, editorials fall into four broad types: news, policy, social, and special.When covering controversial topics such as election issues, some opinion pageeditors will run "dueling" editorials, with each staking out a respective side of theissue.

Many magazines also feature editorials, mainly by the editor or publisher of thepublication. Additionally, most print publications feature an editorial, or letter fromthe editor, followed by a Letters to the Editor section. The American Society ofMagazine Editors has developed a list of editorial guidelines, to which a majorityof magazine editors commonly adhere.

Most editorial pieces take the form of an essay or thesis, using arguments topromote a point of view. Newspapers often publish editorial pieces that are in linewith their editorial slants, though dissenting opinions are often given space topromote balance and discussion. Requirements for article length varies accordingto each publication's guidelines, as do a number of other factors such as style andtopic. An average editorial is 750 words or less.





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An editorial is an article that presents the newspaper's opinion on an issue. Itreflects the majority vote of the editorial board, the governing body of thenewspaper made up of editors and business managers. It is usually unsigned. Muchin the same manner of a lawyer, editorial writers build on an argument and try topersuade readers to think the same way they do. Editorials are meant to influencepublic opinion, promote critical thinking, and sometimes cause people to takeaction on an issue. In essence, an editorial is an opinionated news story.

Editorials usually have:

Introduction, body and conclusion like other news stories An objective explanation of the issue, especially complex issues A timely news angle Opinions from the opposing viewpoint that refute directly the same issue the

writer addresses The opinions of the writer delivered in a professional manner. Good

editorials engage issues, not personalities and refrain from name-calling orother petty tactics of persuasion.

Alternative solutions to the problem or issue being criticized. Anyone cangripe about a problem, but a good editorial should take a pro-active approachto making the situation better by using constructive criticism and givingsolutions.

A solid and concise conclusion that powerfully summarizes the writer'sopinion. Give it some punch.

Functions of Editorials will be:

Explain or interpret: Editors often use these editorials to explain the way thenewspaper covered a sensitive or controversial subject. School newspapers mayexplain new school rules or a particular student-body effort like a food drive

Criticize: These editorials constructively criticize actions, decisions or situationswhile providing solutions to the problem identified. Immediate purpose is to getreaders to see the problem, not the solution.

Persuade: Editorials of persuasion aim to immediately see the solution, not theproblem. From the first paragraph, readers will be encouraged to take a specific,positive action. Political endorsements are good examples of editorials ofpersuasion.





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Praise: These editorials commend people and organizations for something donewell. They are not as common as the other three.

Things that could go into the five-paragraph editorial:

1. A personal experience, the thesis statement2. Explanation of the other side of the issue3. Examples to support your point of view4. Reasons for your point of view5. The last paragraph should restate your thesis statement and end on a positive

note

5.4. Writing Letter to Editor

In writing a letter to the editor, you have a unique opportunity to discuss issues orframe the debate on an issue in your own words. For every comment a news outletreceives, they assume there are hundreds, if not thousands of readers, who feel thesame way. A few quality letters can carry real weight and make a criticaldifference. Readers of newspaper editorials and opinion pieces tend to be decisionmakers sensitive to public opinion. Presenting information and ideas to them in acoherent written form helps reach important and influential audiences.

1. Go to your local newspaper’s web site or call for information on how andwhere to submit a letter to the editor. Most letters can be e-mailed.

2. Be sure to include your name, email and phone number with the letter toallow the editorial staff to contact you if they have questions.

3. Do not exceed your newspaper’s word count. Most letters to the editor areabout 200 words, but can vary. Edit the provided template as necessary.

4. Without exceeding the word count, try to personalize the attached sampleletter with a particular comment based upon your area of expertise or personalexperience.

5. Make sure that any additions to the provided template are specific, concise,and to the point.

Many letters to editors are badly presented, in spite of being written with an eye topublication. Even if an assistant deals with the letter section, the editor should readall the letters, either before or after the assistant has worked on the selection to bepublished. Most journals that publish correspondence point out that the editorreserves the right to reject, shorten, excerpt or edit the letters for publication. Editingshould, however, be restricted to removing intemperate statements or examples of





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bad taste. Spelling mistakes should be corrected but the grammar should not bechanged unless the writer’s point is unclear. Letters should be published as soon aspossible after receipt and, except in rare cases, they should be signed. Letters to theeditor rarely need to be refereed. Any letters criticizing a previously published articleshould be shown to the author of the article, whose reply should preferably bepublished in the same issue as the critical letter.

5.5.. Writing Film Review

Film review writing is not an easy job as many would think. You need patience towatch a film with a critical eye, perceive all the information about it and then writea detailed film review. A good review is not just a summary of a film, but a criticalanalysis that examines why and how a movie works and whether the film succeedsin its presentation.

When writing a film review, always consider who the intended audience is for thefilm and the audience you are writing for. You should remember that your writingis intended to be persuasive. Additionally, it should demonstrate clearly that younot only viewed the movie, but also read the novel or play which formed the basisof the film.

You should focus your review around a larger argument, such as why the filmworks or fails to work and what are both the successful and unsuccessful elements.Make sure that you have a major thesis and a set of supporting arguments. A goodfilm review uses scenes and dialogue from the film to support its larger argument.Moreover, a good review focuses on whether and how a movie works and whetherthe reviewer recommends it. Finally, a good reviewer shows how a film worksboth psychologically, emotionally, intellectually, and even spiritually.

“Anyone can be a film critic,” French director Francois Truffaut writes in hisbook “The Films in My Life.” Whether you watch movies as soon as they arrive atyour local theatre or wait for the video or cable version, your number one reasonfor being a critic must be your love of movies. If you’re a real film buff, chancesare you’ll like all types from Hollywood blockbusters to subtitled films with nospecial effects.

Be objective: When watching a movie, be it a cartoon or an epic, remain objective.Don’t be swayed by who’s in it. Pay no attention to the director. Ignore any storiesor rumors you might have heard about the filming of it. Be completely absorbed inthe movie, concentrating on the events unfolding onscreen. If you’re launching a





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career as a film critic and want to use the first person, then use it right from thestart. Make your opinions count and do so in a way that’s forceful. Be stern andunwavering! Or be funny. Just make sure you can handle being the “I” behind allyour opinions. You’ll gain many admirers and detractors, but if you’vecomfortable with writing in the first person then go ahead—you’re the critic!

Comparing movies: To compare the current movie you’re reviewing to one that isalready on video/cable or has been around for dozens of years is a very commonpractice. This shows that A you know about movies and B) allows people whohave seen the earlier movie to know what you’re writing about.

Assume nothing: Depending on your audience, whether it’s a college newspaper,a local daily, weekly or monthly publication or an Internet website, use yourclearest style of writing. You never know who’ll happen to read your review. Thatperson might be the president of a movie studio or a grade-schooler. If you’redoing a comparison, be precise but not overly so. Not everyone in the world hasseen the movie “Psycho” so should you use this movie as an example, you mightwant to preface it with: “classic horror film” or “director Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960movie starring Anthony Perkins,” etc. Add a few words to introduce a new readeror refresh an older reader’s memory.

The story: What is this movie about? After assigning a category such as drama,action/adventure, horror, comedy, etc., you must give a synopsis of the tale. Is it aman vs. man saga? Man vs. nature: “The Perfect Storm.” Man vs. the supernatural?“The Haunting” and any horror flick

The actors & actresses: Without them, we wouldn’t have a movie—or much ofone! Don’t get their personal lives mixed up with what they do onscreen. Analyzetheir performance in relation to the story. Mention past films if appropriate, as thisgives the reader an opportunity to explore their earlier works. Respect the thespianfor what they’ve done, but not excessively. If an actor has destroyed an otherwisegood film due to many situations such as being inappropriately cast, waveringaccent[s], wrong age/size for the part, etc. point it out in a diplomatic way. Notevery actor/actress is cast in the right part!

If the actor/actress steals the movie, please indicate this. If you should favor oneactor over another personally, don’t allow this to ruin a critique. Stay rational! Youmay think a certain performer is wonderful, that they can do no wrong. They’restill just human beings! Keep your perspective. You’re writing a review, not a loveletter!





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The Director: The leader behind the movie, this person has enormousresponsibilities and can range from being invisible to being in the movie. Directorscan also be hyphenates such as director-producer, actor-director, director-screenwriter, etc. Analyze the hyphenate the same way you would the average one-titled director. Keep in mind that this person has a huge undertaking but oftentimesnot the complete power over the project that he/she would like to have. Things towatch for: how the director interprets the story. Are there lots of close-ups or is thecamera kept at a distance? Is the film in color or black and white – or both? Ifcolor, does one color stand out? Does the camera move around or remainstationery? If the movie takes place in an earlier time period, do you feel likeyou’ve stepped backwards through a time machine? In science fiction, do you get asense of a future world that’s very different from our 21st century? If this is acontemporary story, do you feel as though everything’s accurate?

The screenwriter: More invisible than the director and usually under-appreciated,the writer is finally getting a little more recognition for their screenplays. Whenwatching opening credits, you’ll notice that [since 1998] the screenwriter getscredit just before the director, rather than before the producer. Think of famousmovies from any decade -- whether it’s an epic like “Gone With the Wind” or acomedy like “Groundhog Day.” Every movie originates with the writer. Not onlymust a writer be able to describe the action you see on screen, it must be donesuccinctly as the powers that be [producers, agents, directors] like to read scriptsthat are preferably under 130 pages. The screenwriter has to be able to writedialogue that moves the story along and also sounds realistic.

The Producer: This is the persons who gets the movie made, has all the moneycontacts and ranges from hands off to being involved in all facets from pre-production to post-production and even publicity.

Some common terms: Genre: action/adventure, comedy, drama, horror, romanticcomedy, science fiction, tragedy, religious, historical, documentary, thriller,western, war, martial arts, teen or musical.

Others: Long shot, Flashback, Narration, Cinematography, Editing Montage,Lighting and composition, Close-up, Tracking shot

3 Types of movies: 1.Foreign. Always mention whether it’s sub-titled or dubbed.2. Mainstream: Big budget Hollywood.3. Independent a/k/a/ India: Low budget.





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Your rating system: You’ve seen those number ratings, the stars, and the thumbsup or down, letter grades. You need to come up with something unique—something that represents your love of movies as well as your own style.

Some reviewers highlight a movie’s rating and the amount of violence/badlanguage/sex or adult situations it contains. Other reviewers don’t care to do this;they’re only interested in reviewing the movie.

5.6.Writing Book Review

Every newspaper has a panel of book reviewers, usually specialists on the subjects,to do book reviewing for their book review feature. The most importantqualification of a book reviewer is knowledge on the subject and general ability toassess the utility of the book from the reader’s point of view. The reviewer conveysthe comments about the book in a readable and acceptable manner.

A small review of a book is generally of three to five paragraphs. The reviewusually starts with the name of the book, the name of the publisher, the number ofpages and the price.

Following tips about book reviewing are important:

i A brief description of the objectives of the bookii Something about the author if the work involves original research or the

author has a standing and statusiii A brief account of what the book tries to highlightiv A comparison of the book with other important books in the same fieldv An appraisal preferably indirect through description and exposition in

terms of the aims and purposes of the author

The book reviewer’s function is to tell the readers succinctly and readably whetherbook is worth reading and if so, why. This is an expert’s job and is done by anauthority on the subject matter of the book. Since the review may make or mar thepopularity of the book the reviewer has on him a serious responsibility to dischargewith due consideration while giving him comments without fear or favour. Hemust take an unbiased view and guide the readers about the utility or otherwise ofthe book. One important task of the book reviewer is to bring out the main pointsof the book in a few sentences and apprise the readers of what the author has triedto say and bring out in this respect the reviewer analysis can be a brief capsule ofthe book, making the review self sufficient by way of its giving a brief summaryboth of the contents and argument contained in the book.





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The skills of the reviewer lies in his ability to hit off his points in a pithy, arrestingopening sentence or paragraph which at once sums up the objectives of the bookand give a glimpse of the nature and content of the publication. A good review isgenerally self-contained and takes the reader along on the journey through thebook. By reading the review the reader should get to know what the book is about,what is new or innovating in it, what is the quality of the writing and such otherdetails.

An ideal reviewer should convey to its readers a sense of what the book is about,its plot, characters, whether or not the author has accomplished what he intended toand some evaluation based upon the reviewer’s standard of writing, taste andexperience. The reviewer’s task is to give the reader enough information to enablehim to decide whether or not he wants to read the volume under discussion.

Writing Sport Review

Anybody who undertakes to write about sports must have an intimate knowledgeof the assignment. The three greatest necessities are accuracy, restraint and decentrespect for the language. Sports reviewers invariably pride themselves on beingexperts. They like to hear and rear about ‘inside’ strategy, just as the literacygossips endlessly about the famous people on whom characters in a sensationalnew novel are supposedly patterned. Some games are easier to describe thanothers- and that depends on the patterns of the sports.

An essentially simple game like baseball is easy to be reviewed. The games playby- play, the result and the reasons for it can be quickly summarized and thendocumented with a description of the key players. A few other details and theaccount are complete enough for a post game electronic round up. But the writtensports must be different and it must have more details.

Boxing and horse riding have essentially simple patterns and need not be told intoo complicated fashion. What matters particularly is the detail that makes the tinyimages- blow up. It is clear, therefore, that the patterns of sport reviewing havemuch to do with the pattern of sports journalism. The big-money sports such ashours racing, boxing, baseball, and football are the ones with the most publicappeal in general, professional sports have the widest following, but college sportsalso attracts millions of followers.

Clarity and Accuracy





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Some principles of news writing you must apply every time you attempt to putwords on paper include accuracy, brevity, clarity, coherence, emphasis,objectivity and unity. Accuracy If a writer has to pick one principle that shouldnever be violated, this should be the one. To fall down in this area is to discredityour entire writing effort. As a reporter, you will be working with facts. Thesefacts will involve persons, places and things. They will involve names, ages, titles,rank or ratings, addresses and descriptions. You will work with facts that areboth familiar and unfamiliar to you. You cannot afford to be casual in your

approach to facts.

Your readers will often judge on what you say and how you say it. An easy way tolose the public’s respect and confidence is by being careless in your handling offacts. When you send a story to a newspaper, the editor depends on you foraccuracy in every fact. The news release heading that appears on every storyyou distribute means the information it contains is reliable and has been

approved officially by the source. A mistake in a news story implies that the sourceis careless and undependable. Datelines tell when and where the story is writtenand should appear on all stories written for release. In the text of the story, whenand where may refer to the dateline. Attribution relates to accuracy. It means thatyou name the person who makes any statement that may be challenged.

Good quotations liven a story, give it color and aid in development of coherence.Attribution also ensures that the reader does not get the impression the statement isthe writer’s personal opinion. However, attribution should never be used in a storymerely to flatter a person by publicizing his or her name. Brevity- The question isoften asked, “Should I be brief in my writing or complete?” By all means, be brief,but not at the expense of completeness. The key is to boil down your writing andeliminate garbage. A compact piece of writing is frequently much stronger than alengthy story. Clarity- Nothing is more discouraging than reading an articleand then realizing that you do not know what you read. A similar frustration ariseswhen you are trying to follow directions on assembling a toy, particularly when theinstructions read, “...even a 5-year-old can assemble this toy,” and you cannot

do it, because the directions read as if they were written in a foreignlanguage. Assume that if there is any chance of misunderstanding, readers will

misunderstand. Reread what you have written looking for points that couldlead to readers’ misunderstanding.

Credibility is indeed the very life-blood of the press, no matter which governmentis in power. Journalism is an awesome responsibility, which rests on the shouldersof journalists because in the final analysis they are the custodians of the freedom of





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press. If they prefer careerism to standing up for their rights, they are letting downtheir profession. Unfortunately, journalists are inclined to accept many favors fromgovernment and therefore, their news stories will ultimately favor that particulargovernment.

5.7. New paradigm features

Journalism, have a role in society to link the individual to the world. Thejournalists need to give the audience a sense of what it is to be in the placethey are reporting and connected to the world.

Our audience is diverse and complex. So there needs to be a consciousnessof diversity: not just in terms of race and gender but also class, rural/urbanand youth/aged.

Journalism must emphasize context; interpretation; research; investigation;complete reporting and analysis.

The journalists must foreground the storyteller the individual and the mediaorganization.

They should respect the audiences and engage in dialogue. In our use of sources the journalists should move beyond “the authorities”.

Audiences are also sources. They must remember to foreground and situatewho the sources are.

Ownership: symbolically the audience needs to feel they “own” the medium. Ownership: economic -this needs to be diverse and needs participation by all

stakeholders in media. Control and structures within media organizations – there should be respect

for storytellers and storytelling and these should be given status andcompensation. From this we drafted the policy statement which reads: “Inrecognition of our role in society as storytellers; as the link between citizensand the world; we strive to promote:

Stories, told in a multiplicity of voices that are well researched;conceptualized; analytical; interpretive; in dialogue with, are consideredrespectful.

Part – III

6.1. Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism the collecting, editing,and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast that creates images inorder to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images,





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and in some cases to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism isdistinguished from other close branches of photography such as documentaryphotography, street photography or celebrity photography by the qualities of:

Timeliness — the images have meaning in the context of a publishedchronological record of events.Objectivity — the situation implied by the images is a fair and accuraterepresentation of the events they depict.Narrative — the images combine with other news elements, to inform and giveinsight to the viewer or reader.

Photojournalists must make decisions instantly and carry photographic equipment,often while exposed to the same risks war, rioting, etc. that are faced by text -onlyjournalists. The fact that they rarely have the option to stand back or wait until thedangerous parts of an event are over means they may take even more risks.

Photojournalism as a descriptive term often implies the use of a certain bluntnessof style or approach to image-making. The photojournalist approach to candidphotography is becoming popular as a unique style of commercial photography.For example, many weddings today are shot in photojournalism style resulting incandid images that chronicle the events of the wedding day.

Sometimes a photograph says what an entire news report cannot. Whether it's ariot-stricken city or people displaced by natural calamities, it is often thephotojournalist who braves his surroundings for that perfect frame.

A great journalist cares about people and an ideal world. A great journalist canapproach a topic as vast as the universe and make it simple and interesting to bothEinstein and the new immigrant, who is trying to learn the language.

The written word has power. With skill, reporters can expose the dark deeds of theworld and bring them into the light. However, journalism is limited to non-apathetic, monolinguistic people with some time to kill and a few neurons stillfiring. Enter photojournalism. It destroys almost all barriers. Justice can draw itssword in the time it takes an eye to scan an image. An image has no age, languageor intelligence limits.

6.2. What is a photojournalist?





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A journalist tells stories. A photographer takes pictures of nouns people, placesand things. A photojournalist takes the best of both and locks it into the mostpowerful medium available - a single frozen image.

Photojournalists capture "verbs." This sounds simple, but a room of professionalphotographers was dumbfounded by this realization. Even after a full-lengthlecture with documentation and visual evidence, half of the photographers still hadno clue what the difference was."So, what's the difference between photographyand photojournalism?" "Verbs!"

Although photojournalists can take properly exposed and well composedphotographs all day long, they hunt verbs. They hunt them, shoot them and showthem to their readers. Then, they hunt more.

A photojournalist has thousands of pairs of eyes looking over his shoulderconstantly. The readers are insistent: "What are they doing?" "What did you see?"and "What happened?"

To tell a story, a sentence needs a subject, a verb and a direct object. News photosneed the same construction. Photojournalists tell stories with their images. Also,words are always used in conjunction with photojournalist's images.

The words below a photo are called a cutline. One has to write the cutlines that gowith most of my images. At many newspapers, photographers provide names andnothing else. They don't write cutlines because they sometimes can't write a leadfor a story. To be a photojournalist, we must understand the relationship betweenthe image and these basic elements of language.

The girl hits or misses the ball.

There are no other options. The girl is easy to photograph. The ball is easy tophotograph. The verb is the hard part.

As a servant of the citizens, it's the photojournalist's OBLIGATION to capture theentire sentence involved in EVERY event. There are no excuses. It's hit or missed.Some photographers don't care. They have a picture of the bat. "Hey, that's whattried to hit the ball." They just don't get it.

A photojournalist is a visual reporter of facts. The public places trust in itsreporters to tell the truth. The same trust is extended to photojournalists as visual





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reporters. This responsibility is paramount to a photojournalist. At all times, wehave many thousands of people seeing through our eyes and expecting to see thetruth. Most people immediately understand an image.

In today's world of grocery store tabloids and digital manipulation of images,the photojournalist must still tell the truth. The photojournalist constantly huntsfor the images or verbs, which tell of the day -to-day struggles andaccomplishments of his community. These occurrences happen naturally. There isno need to "set up" reality. There is no need to lie to a community that bestows itstrust.

The photojournalist simply wants to hang around, be forgotten and wait for theright moment. Then, the hunt begins anew. Like the police officer or firefighter,the photojournalist's concern is his community even if that means sacrificingcomfort or life. Many photojournalists die every year in the process of collectingvisual information, which lets the public know of atrocities, dangers and themundane.

6.3. What makes a photojournalist different from a photographer?

Photographers take pictures of nouns people, places and things. Photojournalistsshoot action verbs "kicks," "ex plodes," "cries," etc.. Photojournalists do shootsome nouns. These nouns can be standard photos of people portraits, placesproposed zoning areas or construction sites and things name it. However, thenouns we seek still must tell a story.

Assignments and image holes

Assignments are honored on a first-come basis with exceptions. Once a section hasits initial image quota, priority shifts to another section until each section is "safe."Then additional images are collected for future issues. Primarily, editorial newsjudgment is applied to image priority murder is more important than other plannedoccurrences. However, unlike text -based reporters, visual reporters must be onlocation when events occur. Therefore, events with flexible times fall lower on afixed priority scale, but have a greater overall editorial priority and may bumpother items under time restrictions.

Additionally, anything with front page potential usually has priority over sectionfront and inside images.





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In a newspaper, the loose shooting priorities may be as follows: Breaking news murders, hostages, natural disasters, major wrecks, etc. General news funerals, courts, perp walks, dignitary visits, etc. Photo essays Major feature events Sporting events Festivals Educational events Feature photos Advertising non -spec. Illustrations Mug shots Spec. items "Photo ops" and other garbage to make a singular reader happy.

Consequently, additional enthusiasm and effort goes toward potentiallycompetitive images more than non-competitive images.

Photography is the process of making pictures by means of capturing light on alight-sensitive medium, such as a sensor or film. Light patterns reflected or emittedfrom objects are recorded onto a sensitive medium or storage chip through a timedexposure. The most common process is done through mechanical, chemical ordigital devices known as cameras.

The word comes from the Greek words phos "light", and graphis "stylus","paintbrush" or "re presentation by means of lines" or "drawing", togethermeaning "drawing with light." Traditionally the product of photography has beencalled a photograph. The term photo is an abbreviation; many people also call thempictures. In digital photography, the term image has begun to replace photographthe term image is traditional in geometric optics.

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Photography gained the interest of many scientists and artists from its inception.Scientists have used photography to record and study movements, such asEadweard Muybridge's study of human and animal locomotion in 1887. Artists areequally interested by these aspects but also try to explore avenues other than thephoto-mechanical representation of reality, such as the pictorialist movement.Military, police and security forces use photography for surveillance, recognitionand data storage. Photography is used to preserve memories of favorites and as asource of entertainment.

In its simplest definition, a composition is a combination, or arrangement, ofelements. A photographic composition is the arrangement of visual elements andas such is the product of a photographer's vision and their skill in seeing,identifying, arranging, and framing the finished image. This is a clearly distinctskill from those necessary to successfully operate a camera or calculate exposure.

In general, good pictures result from careful attention to some basic elements ofcomposition, together with appropriate lighting and an interesting subject. There is,however, no "right" way to take a picture. Three photographers recording the samescene may create equally appealing photographs with entirely differentcomposition.

Photography is practiced on a professional level for portraiture and for variouscommercial and industrial applications, including the preparation of photographs





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for advertising, illustration, display, and record-keeping. Press photography is fornewspaper and magazine illustrations of topical events and objects. Photography isused at several levels in the graphic arts to convert original photographs or otherillustrations into printing plates for high-quality reproduction in quantity. Industrialphotography includes the generation and reproduction of engineering drawings,high-speed photography, and many other forms of technical photography, whichcan aid in the development, design, and manufacture of various products. Aerialphotography is used for military investigation and mapping, civilian mapping,urban and highway planning, and surveys of material resources. Biomedicalphotography is used to reveal or record biological structures, often of significancein medical research, diagnosis, or treatment. Photography is widely applied topreparing projection slides and other displays for teaching through visualeducation.

Photography is one of the most important tools in scientific and technical fields. Itextends the range of vision, allowing records to be made of things or events whichare difficult or impossible to see because they are too faint, too brief, too small, ortoo distant, or associated with radiation to which the eye is insensitive. Technicalphotographs can be studied at leisure, measured, and stored for reference orsecurity. The acquisition and interpretation of images in scientific and technicalphotography usually requires direct participation by the scientist or skilledtechnicians.

6.4.1 Elements of Photography

Photography gained the interest of many scientists and artists from its inception.Scientists have used photography to record and study movements, such asEadweard Muybridge's study of human and animal locomotion in 1887. Artists areequally interested by these aspects but also try to explore avenues other than thephoto-mechanical representation of reality, such as the pictorialist movement.Military, police and security forces use photography for surveillance, recognitionand data storage. Photography is used to preserve memories of favorites and as asource of entertainment.

In its simplest definition, a composition is a combination, or arrangement, ofelements. A photographic composition is the arrangement of visual elements andas such is the product of a photographer's vision and their skill in seeing,identifying, arranging, and framing the finished image. This is a clearly distinctskill from those necessary to successfully operate a camera or calculate exposure.





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In general, good pictures result from careful attention to some basic elements ofcomposition, together with appropriate lighting and an interesting subject. There is,however, no "right" way to take a picture. Three photographers recording the samescene may create equally appealing photographs with entirely differentcomposition.

6.4.2. Point of Interest

Identify a primary point of interest before taking the picture. When you’vedetermined which area is the most important to you, you can compose toemphasize it. Studying advertising photographs is a good way to get acquaintedwith emphasis in composition.

SimplicityBe sure that only the things you want the viewer to see appear in the picture. Ifthere are numerous objects cluttering up the background, your message will belost. If you can’t find an angle or framing to isolate your subject, consider usingdepth of field control to keep the background out of focus.

ContrastA light subject will have more impact if placed against a dark background and viceversa. Contrasting colors may be used for emphasis, but can become distracting ifnot considered carefully.





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BalanceGenerally, asymmetric or informal balance is considered more pleasing in aphotograph than symmetric formal balance. In other words, placing the mainsubject off-center and balancing the "weight" with other objects smaller or lowerimpact will be more effective than placing the subject in the center.

FramingA "frame" in a photograph is something in the foreground that leads you into thepicture or gives you a sense of where the viewer is. For example, a branch andsome leaves framing a shot of rolling hills and a valley, or the edge of an imposingrock face leading into a shot of a canyon. Framing can usually improve a picture.The "frame" doesn’t need to be sharply focused. In fact if it is too sharply detailed,it could be a distraction.

ViewpointYou can often change a picture dramatically by moving the camera up or down or,stepping to one side. One of the best ways to come up with a prize-winningphotograph is to find an "unusual" point of view.

Direction of MovementWhen the subject is capable of movement, such as an animal or person, it is best toleave space in front of the subject so it appears to be moving into, rather than outof, the photograph.

DiagonalsLinear elements such as roads, waterways, and fences placed diagonally aregenerally perceived as more dynamic than horizontals.

Rule of ThirdsLast, but not least, is something called the "rule of thirds." This is a principletaught in graphic design and photography and is based on the theory that the eyegoes naturally to a point about two-thirds up the page. Also, by visually dividingthe image into thirds either vertically or horizontally you achieve the informal orasymmetric balance mentioned above.

Although there are many ways a photograph can be composed effectively bybasing it on the use of "thirds," the most common example is the placement of thehorizon line in landscape photography. If the area of interest is land or water, thehorizon line will usually be two-thirds up from the bottom. On the other hand, if





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the sky is the area of emphasis, the horizon line may be one-third up from thebottom, leaving the sky to occupy the top two-thirds.

6.5. Role of Visualizations

It has been said that a really good photographer can make a picture with a pinholecamera made from a shoe box. Currently, a good photographer can make a goodimage of anything that he can see. But seeing requires an "eye." One has to "see"the picture before the shutter is released. Not everyone sees the subject in the sameway, and not everyone can see the picture. But most people can learn to "see"through training and experience. It is a slow process that has its own reward.

The point in "seeing" is well illustrated when we come upon an interesting subject.The immediate reaction is to make several exposures on the spot. But it is far betterto pause and examine the subject from different points of view, from differentangles, and to walk around it if it is not too big or at least to view it over 180degrees.

Observe the lighting as you change positions; observe the foreground, thebackground, and the composition. Use a punched out ready mount for framing, andby moving it back and forth you will know how long a lens you need. This iswhere the zoom lens is better since you can fill the frame exactly without moving.Then, with the camera on a tripod, make your exposure. Do not hand hold; the bestlens will not produce a critically sharp image if there is the slightest movement ofthe camera.

How many slides of the same subject do you need? Two or three at the most if theyare intended for competition. It is quality, not quantity that counts. The latter is awaste of film. It has been heard about people bragging that they shot 60 rolls offilm on a 12-day trip. That is five rolls per day, 180 exposures. Certainly therewere not 180 subjects; so many shots had to be made of each subject. It is true thatwe are often advised to take lots of film, twice as much as we think we need. Butthat does not mean that we should use all of it. It is simply insurance that we do notrun out of film.

Bracketing is good insurance for the best results in difficult lighting situations, buthardly necessary for everything. However, it is good photography to make morethan one shot of a subject from different angles and at different image sizes with azoom lens.





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What about indoor workshops and home setups where the photographer hascomplete control over everything? Visualization plays an important part in stilllife photography as well. We usually visualize the image before setting up thesubject and photographing it. Many great photographs have been made this way.Another technique is to create a subject from workshop materials.

Visualization means to form a mental image. Please note that there is no suchword as pre-visualization. When you have complete control there is no need tobracket exposures. To do so shows uncertainty of technique.

The art of seeing extends also to competition, both in the camera club and in othercompetitions, including international exhibitions, where some judges are long on"rules" and short on creativity; long on triteness; short on constructive criticismand weak on aesthetics. Have you heard a judge say "I don't know what this is"when an abstract, creative image appears on the screen, such as crystals? He/she isat a loss for words. At least the judge could comment on compositional elementssuch as line, color and mass. New concepts appear from time to time and representprogress. We must be on the alert for them and be objective and free from bias.

Cameras at the top of the line are expensive precision instruments for bothadvanced amateur and professional photographers. Such cameras should not bebought for status symbols. When all is said and done about photography, precisioncameras are still only sophisticated tools. Less expensive cameras can produceequally good photographs for the average worker. A skillful, creative andaesthetic person is required in order to utilize the camera's features to fulladvantage. Simply pointing and shooting, letting the camera do the restautomatically often does not produce prize winning images. The camera does notthink, but is the tool of the thinking photographer who can formulate in his/hermind a superior image.

Photography is a language. Like the written or spoken word, photography has itsown vocabulary and its own grammar. Photography might be called an art ofselection. A photographer works with a vocabulary made up of the visual elementsthat exist all around us. Anything we see can be a visual element.

The grammar of photography is the order in which visual elements are selected,isolated, related to other elements, or otherwise emphasized in a photograph. Thechoice and arrangement of visual elements are techniques a photographer uses tocommunicate an idea.





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6.6. Photo Editing in newspaper

Photo editing is an art and craft for effective communication with the help ofjournalistic photographs by selection, cropping, enlarging blowing up, reducing,sizing, retouching, reproduction, insetting, grouping, clubbing, etc for appealpresentation.

Selection: selection of a photo is an extremely important job, as the valuable spaceavailable in the newspaper should in no way, be wasted. The selected photographshould be able to depict a scene and to follow the old slogan that ‘a picture speaksmore than a thousand words’. If the picture provided by the photographer, providesnothing to the understanding of the reader, it should be rejected.

In some pictures, the emotions are very well captured by the photographer and insome both the pictures and words will provide perfect combination. A creative andcapable picture editor, experienced in visual communication, provides necessaryguidance for successful use of pictures. Small and local newspapers usually turn tothe photographer for advice, but mostly it is the news editor or copy editor whomakes the decision.

Selection procedure may differ from newspaper to newspaper. Some allow thephotographer to make the decision of selecting the photos and the picturessubmitted by him/her are considered for publication. Some newspaper workclosely both with the photo editor and the photographer to make the bestselections.

Cropping: this process involves the cutting of the unwanted part of a photograph.Earlier the photographs provided by the photographers were either selected orcompletely rejected but these days a photographer has the tools to select therelevant content of a photo while the rest is cropped off.

Enlarging: also called as blowing up, involves the procedure of enlarging aphotograph. Some photos are very small in size, but of great relevance and value tothe news story. Such photos need to be enlarged or blown-up.

Reducing: it’s just the opposite of enlarging. Both the newspapers and themagazines run into space crisis and at these times some photographs needs to bereduced in size so as to be accommodated on the page. Reducing will mostlydepend on the relevance, importance and degree of news value.





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Sizing: the sizing of a picture should be preferably determined by the value of thephotograph and not by the space available. Many a times, the newspaper editortries to reduce a photograph to fit a space and destroy the impact of the photo in theprocess. It is obvious that a photograph of about 10 people will be ineffective in atwo-column photo and thus this photo will need at least three columns.

The biggest danger while sizing a photo is to make it appear too small. A skillfuland rational photo editor will opt for a three-column photo if given a choicebetween two columns and three-column space.

Sizing of any picture is very significant job, but sizing of pictures on multi-photograph packages is especially significant. In such packages, one photographshould be dominant. These multiple pictures allow the photo editor a lot offlexibility that may not be available in single-photo situations. Dramatic sizecontrast is an effective device to use in multi-picture packages. A photo editortrained in visual communication understands the usefulness of reversing normalsizing patterns for added impact.

Retouching: it is a process of toning down or eliminating extraneous distractionswithin the frame. Retouching can improve some pictures. It can be accomplishedwith an airbrush, an instrument that applies a liquid pigment to a surface by meansof compressed air. Retouching can also be done by brushing on a retouching liquidor paste or by using retouching pencils of varying colours.

Retouching should be done so minutely and meticulously that the meaning andcontent of the picture are not changed. Retouching a picture to change its meaningis unethical as changing a direct quotation to alter the meaning of a speech.

Reproduction: there are four main mechanical processes of reproduction. Theseprocesses are 1 metal engraining 2 plastic plates 3 screened positives 4windows and photo negatives.

Insetting: insetting is an innovative and creative way of photojournalism. Forexample, there was some fatal incident at a particular city. The people affected bythe incident are shown in the picture. At the same time, a map of the city is insertedin the picture indicating where that particular city is located in the country.

Grouping: when two or three or even more photographs are joined withoutoverlapping one another, the process is called grouping.





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Clubbing: clubbing is a very creative, imaginative and innovative way with asense of graphics. The photojournalist moves through four steps in handling astory:

Idea generation Planning Observation Writing captions

The photojournalist develops an idea or concept, decides on the appropriate lenses,speed and aperture and selects locations from where to shoot; decides when toshoot, and then does the darkroom work that will enhance to story. For a feature,the photojournalist moves carefully and deliberately through these stages on abreaking news event, the thinking and the decisions come quickly andinstinctively.

If the camera does not tell the truth, skepticism about the media arises in the mindsof readers. A picture may be striking and it may be narrative. But if it conveys afalse or distorted impression it would be better left unpublished. Picture editorsusually will select the picture showing the figures more favorably.

6.7. INDIA'S TOP PHOTO JOURNALISTS

Pablo Bartholomew born 1955 is an award -winning Indian photojournalist. PabloBartholomew is an independent photographerbased in New Delhi, India. He is noted for hisphotography, as an educator runningphotography workshops, and as manager of asoftware company specializing in photodatabase solutions and server-based digital

archiving systems like Net photograph.

Represented by Gamma Liaison for over 20 years, he worked asa photojournalist recording societies in conflict and transition. His works havebeen published in the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, Business Week, NationalGeographic and GEO, amongst other prestigious magazines and journals.Bartholomew then began photographing people in transition in different parts ofthe world.





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He has held a number of fellowships, including one from the Asian CulturalCouncil, New York 1991, to photograph Indian immigrants in the USA, and onefrom the Institute of Comparative Studies in Human Culture, Norway 1995, tophotograph the Naga tribes in India. Between 2001 and 2003 he ran a photographyworkshop for emerging photographers in India with the support of the World PressPhoto Foundation in Amsterdam. Among his photo essays are "The Chinese inCalcutta," "The Indians in America," and "The Naga Tribes of Northeast India".Pablo Bartholomew at the age of 19 won the World Press Photo award for hisseries on Morphine Addicts in India 1975 and the World Press Photo of theYear for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy1984.

Some pictures from ‘Morphine Addicts in India’ 1975)





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N. Thiagarajan 1933 - 2008 was anIndian photojournalist and photographer who described himself as "a pictorialphotojournalist."From 2002 to 2004 he was a member of the Press Council of Indiabut it was in the field, as a practicing photojournalist, and later as photo-editor, thatN. Thiagarajan made his name.

For many years he worked for The Hindustan Times but spent time at The Hindu,Sport and Pastime and the Times of India."I have always said thata photojournalist or a journalist should be committed to journalism, but should notbe a ‘committed journalist’. Like many embedded war photographers orcorrespondents,” he said, famously.

His big break came in 1955 with the visit to India of the Soviet leadership, NikitaKhrushchev and his Prime Minister Nikolai Bulganin. He went on to photographmany of the great names of world politics, including Fidel Castro, IndiraGandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. His coverage of the 1971 war, in Bangladesh, whereKishore Parekh and Raghu Rai were also active, and the Bhopal gas tragedy arewidely remembered.

He also wanted to move away from portraying India in a negative manner, as aland of beggars and snake charmers. "I want to show that real India exists far awayfrom all of this. The rich cultural heritage and the diversity of the country is what Iwanted to portray in my images," he said. His legacy is his body of work, familyand the Academy of Visual Media, which promotes photography and art.

Altaf Qadri born in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir, is anoutstanding photojournalist of his generation. Altaf studied science at KashmirUniversity and began his working life as an engineer before hetook photography as a profession. It was not long before Altaf gained his firstfreelance assignment and, in 2001, he became a staff photographer on a localnewspaper. In 2003, he joined the "European Press photo Agency", for which heprovided extensive coverage of the conflict in Kashmir till May 2008 and joined"The Associated Press" in September 2008. His photographs and stories fromevents in Kashmir have appeared in newspapers around the globeincluding Time, The Guardian, New York Times, International HeraldTribune, Washington Post and The Times among others. He has had manyexhibitions in several cities like, Los Angeles, Washington DC, San Francisco,New Mexico, Cambodia, Houston, New York, Beijing, France, New Delhi andMumbai.





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Winner of First place in General News Story category in India Press PhotoContest 2008 by The Indian Express Ramnath Goenka Foundation

Winner of the All Roads Photography Program by National GeographicSociety for the year 2007.

His photo story titled Kashmir: Paradise in Pain won the bronze prize in theWar & Disaster News category in the China International Press PhotoCHIPP) Contest 2007.

First Prize in "One Weeks Work" category by Pictures of theYear International POYi 2007.

His picture of Kashmir village children playing cricket gave him the Firstprize in Sports Action and Feature category in the ‘India Press Photo 2006by The Indian Express Ramnath Goenka Foundation.

Outstanding Award in Spot News at the 2nd China International Press PhotoContest CHIPP) 2006.

Outstanding Award in General News at the 2nd China International PressPhoto Contest CHI PP) 2006.

Raghu Rai born 1942 is an Indian photographer and photojournalist. Rai becamea photographer in 1965, and a year later joined the staff of The Statesman, a NewDelhi publication. In 1976, he left the paper and became a freelance photographer.From 1982 up until 1992, Rai was the director of photography for India Today. Hehas served on the jury for World Press Photo three times.

Raghu Rai took up photography in 1965, and the following year joined "TheStatesman" newspaper as its chief photographer. Rai left "The Statesman" in 1976to work as picture editor for "Sunday," a weekly news magazine published inCalcutta. Impressed by an exhibit of his work in Paris in 1971, Henri Cartier-Bresson nominated Rai to join Magnum Photos in 1977. Rai left "Sunday" in 1980and worked as Picture Editor/Visualizer/Photographer of "India Today", India’sleading news magazine, during its formative years. From 1982 to 1991, he workedon special issues and designs, contributing trailblazing picture essays on social,political and cultural themes, many of which became the talking point of themagazine.

Rai has specialized in extensive coverage of India. He has produced more than 18books, including Raghu Rai’s Delhi, The Sikhs, Calcutta, Khajuraho, Taj Mahal,Tibet in Exile, India, and Mother Teresa. His photo essays have appeared in manyof the world’s leading magazines and newspapers including Time, Life, GEO, TheNew York Times, Sunday Times, Newsweek, The Independent, and the New Yorker.





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For Greenpeace, he has completed an in-depth documentary project on thechemical disaster at Bhopal in 1984, and on its ongoing effects on the lives of gasvictims. This work resulted in a book and three exhibitions that have been touringEurope, America, India and Southeast Asia since 2004, the 20th anniversary of thedisaster. Rai hopes that the exhibition can support the many survivors throughcreating greater awareness, both about the tragedy, and about the victims – manywho are still uncompensated – who continue to live in the contaminatedenvironment around Bhopal. He has served three times on the jury of the WorldPress Photo and twice on the jury of UNESCO's International Photo Contest.Awards:-

Padmashree’ in 1971 National Geographic cover story “Human Management of Wildlife in India”

won him widespread critical acclaim for the piece. 1992 Photographer of the Year from USA 1992

Subhash Sharma is an award winning freelance photographer basedin Mumbai, India contributing to various publications, specializing in humanisticand documentary photography. His photographs are regularly published inphotographic journals, illustrative books and magazines like TIMEmagazine USA, Nikkei Japan, Venerdi Italy, The Globe and Mail Canada, QuebecScience, IEEE Spectrum USA, Courier International Paris, The NationalNewspaper Abu Dhabi, Hindustan Times, Marwar magazine, G2magazine, ROUGH Travel Guide to India etc. To capture the Magic of everydaylife, the day to day existence of ordinary unimportant people who despitetheir hardships face life with utmost dignity and courage, photographing them intheir daily environment and circumstances is what gives him the utmost joy andfulfillment.

A mechanical engineer by qualification, he discovered photography at an early age.While he was studying for his M.B.A. degree, he realized that his creative self wasnot at all satisfied. He then left the course to give all his time to his love forphotography, which is now his passion.

His first book titled “Digital Glimpses of India” was also widely received andappreciated. His next book “The Land of The Holymen “is currently under printand explores the lifestyle of the Naga Sadhus Naked saints Of India. A sensitiveartist, Subhash Sharma is not only inspired by the works of photographers butalso painters, poets, ancient Indian art and philosophy, and filmmakers.” There are





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always many sources of inspiration for the one who wants to create. It is just amatter of sensing it and reacting to It.” he says.Awards-

2008: 1st prize INDIAN PRESS PHOTO AWARD, sports feature storycategory.

2006: 1st prize HUMANITY PHOTO AWARD, CHINA, traditional sportsCategory sponsored by UNESCO.

2005: 2nd place in the United Nations, Switzerland WHO ICF InternationalPhoto Contest themed

Other India’s Photojournalists• Ramnath Goenka IPP Picture of the Year Award 2006: Vipin Pawar DNA• Spot News Single) Amit Dave Reuters• General News Single) Aziz Bhutta Rajasthan Patrika• General News Picture Story Rafiq Maqbool Associated Press• Sports Action Feature Single) Altaf Qadri European Press Photo Agency• People in the News Single) Prashant Nadkar The Indian Express• People in the News Story Yasin Dar, freelancer• Nature and Environment, Single) Ashima Narain, freelancer• Daily Life Single) Manish Swarup, Associated Press• Daily Life Story Sohrab Hura, freelancer• Arts and Entertainment Single) Mahendra Parikh, The Indian Express• Contemporary Issue Single) Arvind Jain The Week• Contemporary Issue Story Samkit S hah freelancer

6.8. Cartooning

A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. Much of this work ishumorous, intended primarily for entertainment purposes. Many print cartoons areof the single-panel variety and are published in print media of various kinds.Cartoonists may work in many different formats: single-panel gagcartoons, editorial cartoons, comic strips, comic books, graphic novelsor animation. A cartoonist traditionally developed rough sketches into finishedpencil drawings and then, for reproduction purposes, completed the artwork inblack ink, using either a brush or a metal-nibbed pen. Today, cartoonistsincreasingly work in digital media.

Cartooning that is an art which was introduced in India by the British, and hascome a long way. Today, cartooning is an integral part of every newspaper. Acartoonist has to be alert and sensitive.





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While photojournalists in India once saw their job as a source of livelihood, todaythey understand their social, political and moral responsibilities as professionallens men.

However, the Indian photojournalism scenario has been plagued by lack ofopportunity to showcase and recognize talent, lack of motivation and internationalexposure.

With the credibility of the media challenged time and again, we are still able toidentify brave men and women who continue to report events as they are. Cartoonswere very much needed in a healthy democracy and politicians should alsowelcome then so that hey could correct their functioning.

India’s top Cartoonists

Mario De Miranda:Mario, who has held exhibitions in several cities of the world, does not limithimself to cartooning. His sketches and drawings have graced the books of DomMoraes, Kushwant Singh, Manohar Malgoankar and Ruskin Bond. He has alsoillustrated children's books for India Book House. His drawings on Bombay,Mysore and Bangalore, are well known.

S. D. Phadnis:He is from a rare species of cartoonists who have not done political cartooning,"The Visual Experience offered by society is rich and universal and I enjoy it morethan any thing else," His cartoons have a stylized grace and gentle humor ispresented with finesse. Phadnis is a rarity; some of his best cartoons don't havecaptions. That way he cuts language barriers.

C. J. YesudasanHe drew his first cartoons for Janayugom, the communist party organ, in 1960 andthree years later joined the Shanker's weekly He has won about a dozen of awardsincluding The Cartoonist of The Year Award of National Film Academy in 1998,Millennium Award for Best Cartoonist 2000 and Cartoonist of The Decade Awardfrom the Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam.

Pran:It was in 1960s that young Pran thought of creating Indian comics having our owncharacters and based on local themes. Thus came into life adventurous teenage boy





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Daabu and Prof. Adhikari. But the character that made Pran popular was ChachaChaudhary.

Bapu: His main achievements are the production of an illustrated book ofRamayana for children, one-man art show at National Film Theater in London1978 and over 250 one -man shows throughout Andhra Pradesh.

Gopulu: Sri Gopulu joined Ananda Vikatan in 1945 under the leadership andinspiration of the great master Sri. Mali. Gopulu started to draw journalists’

Chacha Chaudhary is one of the most famous Indian comic characters. He was created byPran Kumar Sharma in 1969 though he first appeared in the Hindicomic magazine “LotPot” in 1971. His first comic was “Chacha Chaudhary and the PocketThief”. Chacha means uncle in Hindi. From then on he has come a long way selling almostten million copies and being published in ten different Indian languages.Chacha Chaudhary is portrayed as a middle class, old man. Physically he is not strong buthis strength lies in his brain. He is always shown as holding a stick and wearing a redturban. His family includes his wife, Bini, more famously known simply as Chachi Hindifor aunt. His companions include Rocket, who is a street dog and Sabu who is a giant fromthe planet Jupiter. Sabu decided to stay permanently on Earth after tasting delicious foodmade by Chachi’s hands. When need arises Sabu helps Chacha Ji with his physicalstrength. Chacha Chaudhary is remarkably different from other superheroes whetherIndian or foreign that he does not have a single superpower to his credit except of coursehis mind about which it is said that “Chacha Ji’s brain is sharper than a needle and worksfaster than a supercomputer”. Chacha Ji has solved more than eighty cases till now, most ofthem involving around supernatural or scientific threats. He has a red convertible as hiscar.





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illustrations, cartoons, caricatures, and jokes etc. that are part and parcel of TamilJournalism.

R. K. Laxman: Childhood, for R.K. Laxman, was a happy series of doodles in alarge family, and he practiced with chalk on the floors of his house. When he learntto wield a pen and pencil comfortably, he began to generously supply beards,moustaches and shaggy eyebrows to photographs or sketches, which appeared inbooks and magazines. Awards and accolades have been showered on Laxman: ThePadma Bhushan, Ramon Magsaysay award, numerous doctorates.

Cartoon by R.K. Laxman





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GLOSSARY OF JOURNALISM TERMS

1. ABC: Audit Bureau of Circulation, which has the task of certifying, auditedstatistics on the circulation of a publication. This is highly respectedwatchdog body.

2. Add: additions of any kind to news story. If copy sent down to the printinghas to be supplemented by additional material, this is done by marking thenews copy with the connotation ‘add to’

3. AP: Associated press4. Assignment: A particular job given to reporters by editors. Sometimes

reporters suggest their own assignments, but they must get an editor'sapproval before beginning work.

5. Advertisement: A public notice or announcement usually paid for, aboutthings for sale.

6. Angle: To give a specific aspect, bias, or point of view to a story or report.7. Article: A complete piece of writing on a single subject; it is nonfiction.8. Attribute - to write the name of source of your information when using a

quote, of book, or a part of any copyrighted work.9. Banner: A headline stretching across all the columns on the top of the front

page.10.Beat: The exclusive territory assigned to reporter or a series of places visited

by a reporter to gather news.11.Body: Part of a story that follows the lead. Also the name of the type in

which regular newspaper reading matter is set.12.Bleed: When an illustration of photograph runs bleed into the edge of the

page. Instruction given to printer to follow this direction.13.Blurb: Publicity material.14.Broadcast - communicating near and far using radio and television.15.Byline: A line between the headline and the article, telling who wrote the

article.16.Caption: The copy what is written underneath a photograph17.Caps: Capital letters18.Closed question - This type of question doesn't help an interviewee to open

up! Closed questions usually prompt a person to answer with simple "yes" or"no". But keep in mind that they can be the right questions to ask at certainpoints in an interview. They help you pin down important information andget a definite answer.

19.Clip - a segment of audio or videotape that's included in a story that isbroadcast on radio or television or on the Web.





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20.Copy - material for a newspaper or magazine article.21.Copy Desk: Where copy is edited, cut and headlined.22.Correspondent: A reported who is out of town on duty, who corresponds

with his head office23.Cover: Covering an event, that is, reporting it in full24.Credit line: To name the source of a picture, illustration, photograph, giving

credit to the person responsible25.Cartoon or Comic Strip: A drawing, as in a newspaper, caricaturing or

symbolizing, often satirically, some event, situation, or person of interest. Ora humorous drawing, often with a caption.

26.Column: An article that appears regularly. It is written by one writer orabout a special subject.

27.Communications: A giving or exchanging of information, signals, ormessages by talk, gestures, writing, etc. Or a system for sending andreceiving messages, as by telephone, radio, etc.

28.Crop: Cutting out nonessential parts of a photograph to sharpen the visualimpact

29.Cut line - sentences at the bottom of a photo that describe what happened init, which usually relate to a story. Also called a caption.

30.Dateline: The place-names at the beginning of a story that tell the readerwhere the story occurred. A dateline includes the name of a city or town, andsometimes the country. Before high-speed transmission of data, it alsoincluded the date, which is why it is called a "dateline."

31.Deadline: A time given to a reporter by which he/she must turn in a story.32.Desk: The sub editor’s desk33.Download - to take files from another computer or server for use on your

own.34.Drop: Used to indicate that a letter should be in larger type, it is the first

letter in the first paragraph of a story and is set thus for purpose of effectivedisplay

35.Draft - Most journalists will write a draft of an article before submitting it.After completing this draft, they will edit their own work for content andmistakes before submitting it to the editor.

36.Dummy: A drawing usually freehand, outlining the position of news storieson a page, along with advertisements and illustrations

37.Editor: A journalist who works closely with reporters, giving outassignments and deadlines and helping them craft their stories.

38.Edition: Remake or revision of some of the pages of a newspaper39.Editing - the process of reviewing a news story, revising the writing and

checking it for mistakes before it is published or broadcast.





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40.Editorial: A column written by the editor that expresses his or her opinionabout a particular subject of interest

41.Embargo: Mandatory deadline for the release of a story42.Encoding videos - the process of changing video camera footage into digital

footage, which can be read and displayed by a computer. i.e. —Real Videomaterial

43.Ethics in Journalism: The code of morals that journalists are supposed touphold. These include a commitment to revealing the truth, objectively andwithout being influenced by self-interest, maintaining the secrecy of sources,and attributing what is said to the appropriate source.

44.Exclusive: A story that is not carried by any other newspaper on a particularday, a scoop

45."Execution at Dawn" - These are groups of people lined up against thewall to be shot with a camera of course)! For large groups, cut lines end upbeing long lists of people from ‘left to right'.

46.Feature: A carefully researched article, that explains, interprets and/orprovides background or tells of interesting, unusual occurrences that interestthe reader. Feature stories sometimes have emotional, personal, and/orhumorous slants.

47.Filler: Small items used to fill out columns where needed48.Flush: Set copy without para indenting49.Feature: A feature takes an in-depth look at what's going on behind the

news. It gets into the lives of people. It tries to explain why and how a trenddeveloped. Unlike news, a feature does not have to be tied to a current eventor a breaking story. But it can grow out of something that's reported in thenews.

50.FTP - File Transfer Protocol this is a program used to upload files andWebPages from a personal computer to a server. After an individual createsa website, they must upload transfer) this page to a server so that it can beviewed by others.

51.Headline: The title of the article or column.52.HTML - Hyper Text Markup Language HTML is the lingua franca for

publishing hypertext on the World Wide Web. It is a non-proprietary format,based upon SGML and can be created and processed in a wide range of toolsfrom simple plain text editors to sophisticated authoring tools. HTML usestags like <h1> and </h1> to structure text into headings, paragraphs, lists,hypertext links and more.

53.Hyperlinks - The text you find on a Web site, which can be "clicked on"with a mouse, which in turn will take you to another Web page or a differentarea of the same Web page. Hyperlinks are created or "coded" in HTML.





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They are also used to load multimedia files such as AVI movies and AUsound files.

54.Hypertext -A system of writing and displaying text that enables the text tobe linked in multiple ways, to be available at several levels of detail, andto contain links to related documents. It refers to a nonlinear system ofinformation browsing and retrieval that contains associative links to otherrelated documents. The World Wide Web uses hypertext transfer protocolHTTP to provide links to pages and multimedia files.

55.Interview: A meeting in which a person is asked about views, activities; asby a reporter on a radio or a published account.

56.Investigative Reporting: Reporting that requires a careful search to uncoverfacts and determine the truth.

57.Info-bahn - the information super highway info, as in information andbahn, as in German for highway.

58.*. Jpeg *.gif - These two file extensions are the most common types ofpicture files. If you were to scan a picture into a computer yourself, youwould need to convert the file to one of these formats for use on a web page.

59.Journalism: The work of gathering, writing, editing, and publishing ordisseminating news, as through newspapers and magazines or by radio andtelevision.

60.Journalist: Someone who works in the news gathering business, such as aphotographer, editor or reporter.

61.Layout: The way the newspaper is designed and laid out on the page.62.Leading questions - These questions try to lead an interviewee in a certain

direction.63.Lead - the first and most important sentence of the story. It sets up what the

story is going to be about.64.Loaded words - words that leave people with a distinct and often negative

impression. That can prompt your source to get defensive or to disagree withyour question – and that won't help you get an answer to your question!

65.Mass Media: Those means of communication that reach and influence largenumbers of people, especially newspapers, popular magazines, radio andtelevision.

66.Morgue: News library, also known as reference section67.Newsroom: An office where journalists work.68.Neutral questions - A neutral question is straightforward. It doesn't have

your opinion in it. You aren't assuming you know the answer already. Yourquestion is clear and gets right to the point. In return, you will probably getan informative answer.





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69.News article: It presents, as objectively as possible, the facts about the latestnews events.

70.News brief or News Item : The basic structure for a newspaper article.71.Objectivity: The state or quality of being without bias or prejudice;

detached, impersonal. The journalist's job is to report the facts, not coloredby his personal opinion; except in the case of opinions or editorials.

72.Obit: Short for obituary, an announcement of a death73.Opinion: Letters or articles that express the subjective opinion of the writer.74.Open-ended questions - these questions encourage the person to talk and

share their thoughts and feelings on a subject. It allows them to tell their ownstory without much prompting from the reporter.

75.Off the record - this is what people say when they want the informationthey tell you to be unmentioned. This means that they don't want their namesor quotes to be said to anyone or printed in your story.

76.On the record - the opposite of "off the record". This means that you areallowed to use the person's name and quotes for your story.

77.Online journalism - stories that are written specifically for the Web insteadof newspaper, radio, television or magazine. It can include the use of text,photos, graphics, hypertext, audio and video to tell stories.

78.Photographer: A journalist who takes photos.79.Pulitzer Prize: Pulitzer Prizes are annual awards for achievements in

American journalism, letters, drama and music. The prizes have beenawarded by Columbia University in New York City since 1917, on therecommendation of a Pulitzer Prize Board. Fourteen prizes are given injournalism. The award is named after Joseph Pulitzer, American newspaperpublisher, who endowed the journalism school and the awards.

80.Photography: Each article must be accompanied by an appropriatephotograph and caption. Photographs should be colorful, interesting, clearand well composed.

81.Pix: Picture82.Plagiarism: The act of taking ideas and writings from another and passing

them off as one's own.83.Profile: A short biography of an interesting person. It is usually based on an

interview with the person.84.Proof Reader: One who reads proofs to make corrections in setting and

sends it back for revision85.Pack journalism - this refers to large groups of reporters from different

newspapers or broadcasting stations that are all after the same big story. Youusually find mobs of journalists outside courthouses, city halls, or at thescene of an accident or disaster, to get comments from the important





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sources. Compare this to a pack of hungry wolves: they're all hunting onething, the story, but they're all so hungry that they want to move in to get thebiggest piece for themselves.

86.Photographs "Grip and Grin" - These are photos of people receivingawards or diplomas, cutting ribbons or passing out cheques. They just do the‘handshake' pose and smile at the camera.

87.Publish - to produce or release a written work for the public to see or hear.88.Put to bed: When all pages have been locked up and the press is ready to

print it.89.Report: An article meant to tell a story and inform.90.Review: An article that presents a critic's opinion about an artist's work for

example: books, plays, movies, television and dance).91.Reporter: A journalist who gathers information and writes news stories.92.Real Video - The format of video files displayed on most Internet sites, such

as SNN.93.Running Story: A chronological story of an event topped by successive

leads as the news changes94.Scoop: An advantage gained over competitors by publishing a news item

first. Often, a news item itself is a called a scoop when no one else has thatnews item.

95.Source: A person who gives information to a reporter or editor.96.Survey: It collects the demographic profile of the reader and their opinions

about a subject that has been chosen for study.97.Subjectivity: The state or quality of being effected by the feelings or

temperament of the subject or person thinking. It is extremely important forus to teach our students to distinguish between subjective and objectivejournalism. Even though it is presented in black and white that does notmean that it is free from the writer's opinion.

98.Scrum - The gathering of reporters around a person who is important to aparticular story. When a scrum occurs, all the reporters shout questions tothe person in an attempt to further their own story. This situation is muchmore informal then a Press Conference.

99.Source -a person, written article, book, song, video or film from which toget information

100. Search engine: a program used by an Internet browser to look forspecific words and sort them for information.

101. Server - A computer in a network shared by multiple users. The termmay refer to both the hardware and software or just the software thatperforms the service. For example, Web server may refer to the Web serversoftware in a computer that also runs other applications, or, it may refer to a





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computer system dedicated only to the Web server application. There wouldbe several dedicated Web servers in a large Web site.

102. Syntax - the way those words are put together to make sentences.103. Target Audience: Who are the readers of the newspaper? The editors

and journalists must gear themselves towards writing what will interest thispopulation, in order for the newspaper to be successful.

104. Tail piece: Usually paragraph with finishing touches, a joke at theend, something added on to enliven a column105. Upload: to transfer files from your computer to another computer or

server.106. Wire: A source of information for Journalists. You may have heard a

reporter say that they got their information "off the wire". The wire itself isan up-to-the-minute source of information for other reporters.

107. Wrap-up questions - help you make sure you have all theinformation you need. You can ask your source questions like this to end theinterview and clarify information he has given you during the course of yourconversation.

108. Web cast - a video or audio broadcast that's transmitted over theWorld Wide Web.

109. Wire Service: News Agency110. Yellow Journalism: The use of cheaply sensational or unscrupulous

methods in newspapers to attract and influence the readers. The New YorkWorld of 1895 would print the "Yellow Kid" comic strip in yellow ink toattract readers.

SUMMARY

The Press is independent of government. Governments are composed of humanbeings, and human beings can and do commit wrongs. The press and governmentshould not become institutional partners. They are natural adversaries withdifferent functions, and each must respect the role of the other. Sometimes a freepress can be a distinct annoyance and an embarrassment to a particulargovernment, but that is one of the prices of liberty. A free press is responsible toits readers and to them alone.

A Reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information incertain types of mass media. Reporters gather their information in a variety ofways, including tips, press releases, and witnessing events. They perform researchthrough interviews, public records, and other sources. The information-gatheringpart of the job is sometimes called "reporting" as distinct from the production part





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of the job, such as writing articles. Reporters generally split their time betweenworking in a newsroom and going out to witness events or interview people.

Fairness is the foundation of good journalism. Fairness and balance is giving bothsides of the picture, while fairness is not taking sides. It also means not providingsupport to political parties, institutions, communities or individuals, etc through thecolumns of the newspaper. It is the attribute of a professional reporter and the dutyof a sub editor to implement it.

‘Sources of news are everywhere’. A journalist is surrounded by sources ofpotential news stories ore features. A conversation with a friend, a poster on a wall,an unexpected juxtaposition-all might result in a story if you keep your eyes, earsand mind open. Some sources will be routine points of contact for journalists whileothers may be one-offs, some will be proactive, approaching journalists becausethey want news access for their views or events, while other sources may not evenbe aware that they are sources. A journalist should maintain a contact book havinglist of people categorized and carrying vital information.

News report writing always starts with the most important fact. When you reporton a football game, you do not start with the kick-off; you begin with the finalscore. A news report has a beginning, middle and an end. News stories in contrastto this will blurt out something and then explain themselves. News reports aremostly active rather than in passive voice and are written in concise language.Paragraphs are short so as to set in newspaper columns. Shorter paragraphs aremore likely to keep the attention of readers. Attribution meaning ‘somebody sayingsomething’ is used in the news- reports to present a range of views over which thereporters can appear to remain neutral. Most news reports follow the ‘Kiss and tell’formula- Kiss standing either for ‘keep it short and simple’ or ‘keep it simple,stupid.’ Complexity, abstract notions, ambiguity and unanswered questions tend tobe frowned upon and deleted out of news copy.

Every news story has to have a focus, which could be a person or an event. Thestory emerges sharper when the focus is clear and blurred when the focus isunclear. A news story is built on a central idea theme), sometimes on two orthree central ideas. So it is called as single element story or two-element story orthree-element story depending on the number of themes it has. Journalists usemany different kinds of frameworks for organizing stories. Journalists may tellsome stories chronologically. Other stories may read like a good suspense novelthat culminates with the revelation of some dramatic piece of information at theend. Still other stories will start in the present, then flashback to the past to fill in





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details important to a fuller understanding of the story. All are good approachesunder particular circumstances.

An article will analyze and interpret and provide arguments and counter-arguments. An article will go to the root cause of an event or happening andprovide background information. Then it describes the present situation and finallypeeps into the future prospects too. Though it is not necessary that an article willfollow the past-present-future course. An article may start with an insight into thefuture and then cover the past and present. It may start with the present situation,go to the past and then look into the future. Also, it may not be necessary that anarticle should always deal with the past or predict the future.

An Editorial is a statement or article by a news organization, newspaper ormagazine that expresses the opinion of the editor, editorial board, or publisher. Anop-ed, abbreviated from opposite editorial due to the tradition of newspapersplacing such materials on the page opposite the editorial page, is similar in formand content to an editorial, but represents the opinion of an individual contributor,who is sometimes but not always affiliated with the publication. These two termsare sometimes used interchangeably by the public, although it is important tounderstand that they have different definitions and characteristics.

Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism the collecting, editing, andpresenting of news material for publication or broadcast that creates images inorder to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images,and in some cases to video used in broadcast journalism.

QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE

1. What training and qualifications are required to be a news reporter?2. How to take Notes while reporting?3. What are the skills required for writing news?4. What are the newsgathering skills required by a news reporter?5. What are the various kinds of interviews which a reporter takes while doing

reporting?6. What are the various beats/kinds of reporting?7. ‘Headline is window to the news’. Comment.8. What is the importance of a good lead in a news story?9. What things should be kept in mind while writing letters to the Editor?10.Write short notes on:

Photojournalism





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Inverted pyramid style of news writing Editorial Article Cartooning Film review

SUGGESTED READING

1. Media and Journalism by J.K. Singh APH Publishing Corporations2. The Indian Press at the Crossroads by J.P.Chaturvedi Media Research

Associates3. Journalism by Jayapalan Atlantic Publishers & Distributors4. Professional Journalism by M.V. Kamath Vikas, New Delhi5. Professional Journalism by Patanjali Sethi Orient Longman, Mumbai6. Journalism Editing & Reporting by M.H. Syed Anmol Publication Pvt .




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