Thursday 21 August 2008

Study Material-DJ-IIMC 2008

Concepts of News/Journalism

DEFNITION OF NEWS

News is a report of any current event, idea or problem which interest large number of people BUT it acquires different meanings and concepts in different political, economic and socio-cultural environment.

1. News is new information
2. News is looking at a subject from a new perspective

3. The gap between "How things work" and "How things are supposed to work"


ELEMENTS OF NEWS
A News report must answer following questions:

WHO
WHAT Generally
WHEN Factual
WHERE

WHY Element of Interpretation
HOW is introduced

CREDIBILITY
Principles to be observed while reporting an event or editing news report

Accuracy
Fairness
Balance
Attribution
Objectivity

NEWSWORTHINESS
How to decide newsworthiness of an event, idea or problem (Evaluating information or any information package)
Audience
Impact
Proximity
Timeliness
Prominence (Size)
Context
Policy Parameters
Specific Informational Value
Unusualness

STRUCTURE OF A NEWS STORY
INTRO
EXPLANATORY DETAILS
DESCRIPTIVE DETAILS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ETC.
(In order of descending importance)

Various Types of Journalistic Writings
FACTS
ANALYSIS
VIEWS

 News item
 News Report
 News Analysis
 Interpretative Reporting
 Feature/Featured Reporting
 Interview
 Commentary
 Article
 Editorial
 Profile, Review, Review Article etc.

The investigative process

 Tip –Tipsters
 Formation of story idea
 Formulation of the problem
 Preliminary research feasibility study
 Plan of action-Synopsis
 Minimum and maximum story

BASE BUILDING: THE SPIRAL OF RESEARCH

 Written sources
 Experts- the sources of knowledge
 Sources of experiences
 Reportage- Field trips- Observations
 Key interviews

Assessment and analysis

• Conclusions
• Outline of story
• Writing and revising
• Hand in before deadline

Two Major Streams in Journalism

Episodic Journalism
Thematic Journalism

 Reporting Event: What was happening
 Reporting the process that goes into happening of the event
 Explain why it was happening







Study Material-DJ-IIMC 2008

Concepts of News/Journalism

DEFNITION OF NEWS

News is a report of any current event, idea or problem which interest large number of people BUT it acquires different meanings and concepts in different political, economic and socio-cultural environment.

1. News is new information
2. News is looking at a subject from a new perspective

3. The gap between "How things work" and "How things are supposed to work"


ELEMENTS OF NEWS
A News report must answer following questions:

WHO
WHAT Generally
WHEN Factual
WHERE

WHY Element of Interpretation
HOW is introduced

CREDIBILITY
Principles to be observed while reporting an event or editing news report

Accuracy
Fairness
Balance
Attribution
Objectivity

NEWSWORTHINESS
How to decide newsworthiness of an event, idea or problem (Evaluating information or any information package)
Audience
Impact
Proximity
Timeliness
Prominence (Size)
Context
Policy Parameters
Specific Informational Value
Unusualness

STRUCTURE OF A NEWS STORY
INTRO
EXPLANATORY DETAILS
DESCRIPTIVE DETAILS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ETC.
(In order of descending importance)

Various Types of Journalistic Writings
FACTS
ANALYSIS
VIEWS

 News item
 News Report
 News Analysis
 Interpretative Reporting
 Feature/Featured Reporting
 Interview
 Commentary
 Article
 Editorial
 Profile, Review, Review Article etc.

The investigative process

 Tip –Tipsters
 Formation of story idea
 Formulation of the problem
 Preliminary research feasibility study
 Plan of action-Synopsis
 Minimum and maximum story

BASE BUILDING: THE SPIRAL OF RESEARCH

 Written sources
 Experts- the sources of knowledge
 Sources of experiences
 Reportage- Field trips- Observations
 Key interviews

Assessment and analysis

• Conclusions
• Outline of story
• Writing and revising
• Hand in before deadline

Two Major Streams in Journalism

Episodic Journalism
Thematic Journalism

 Reporting Event: What was happening
 Reporting the process that goes into happening of the event
 Explain why it was happening

DJ Course IIMC: Study Material on Story Ideas

Developing News Story Ideas
Development Journalism Programme, IIMC, August 2008
Source: BBC-IIMC
i-Learn Programme

An idea is an angle about a subject that you believe will interest the readers of your newspaper. Without new ideas the editorial pages would be pretty dull. But where do ideas come from? And how do you find them?

When you are lucky, an idea can sometimes find you. But more often you have to search for ideas. This sounds difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. Every writer has their own way of developing ideas. The longer you work for a particular newspaper, the more attuned you will become to the type of ideas that will interest your readers.

By cultivating an alert mind and training your powers of observation, you will acquire the skill of spotting suitable material. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, think about every person, every experience and every event in terms of a potential story. Talk to people. Be interested in new subjects. There are feature ideas everywhere. It’s just a case of realising them. When you find them, write them down.

People relate to a wide range of subjects. Many are common to everyone, including relationships and emotional issues, work, money, family, health, education, self-improvement, local and community issues, children, transport…..The list is endless. The only limits are your imagination and your ability to make an idea relevant

Ideas from newspapers

When you read each edition of any newspaper, including your own, ideas for features should leap out at you from almost every page, provided you think laterally and allow your imagination to wander a little.

Let’s start with news stories, which can provide a wealth of feature ideas. Read the news with a feature journalist’s eye. Think about the story and the people who are quoted. Is there a wider issue that needs to be discussed? Is there an interesting personality who emerges from a news story and is worthy of a feature in their own right? Is there an element missing from the news story, one which could be expanded into a feature? And the most important question of all – will your readers be interested in it?

Here’s an example:

Your newspaper has carried a story about a community which has held a sale to try to raise money for the treatment of a child who is suffering from a rare disease that is causing her to gradually lose here eyesight. A new technique, only practised in one hospital in a city many miles away, might help her. Women and children in her community have taken a stall at a market where they sell home-baked bread, fruit from their land and craft items to raise funds.

Think about what feature ideas you might get from this story and write them down before going onto the next page to see how your ideas match ours.

Examples of feature ideas from a news story

There are at least three potential feature ideas in the story about the child with the eye condition that would be likely to interest your readers.

1. The child. Although the news story focused on the community effort, we learned little about the child and how her family coped with her illness. This angle gives us the opportunity to engage readers who enjoy human interest stories. An interview with the mother of the girl will give us enough material to write a feature.

2. The specialist treatment. In the news story we learn that one hospital offers hope for this child. But there is very little detail. We can expand this angle into a feature. A telephone interview with the specialist who has devised the technique will give us sufficient material. He may also tell us about other people who have benefited from his expertise and we can telephone them. Their stories could be used as case studies to run alongside the main feature.

3. The market: This is the most lateral-thinking of the three ideas. It really has very little to do with the sick child, who is central to the original story. But her community raised money using their talents to find items to sell on a market stall. How could your readers do something similar, either to raise money for a specific project or for their own family needs?

Provide them with a ‘How To’ feature guide – how to identify their talent for producing items of food, clothes, paintings or wood carvings, for instance. How can they make their stall stand out? How can they safeguard the money they take from customers? Ask readers who follow your advice to write and tell you about their stalls, so that you can photograph them and tell their individual stories at a later date.

4 Ideas from newspapers: Advertisements

Although you are more likely to find feature ideas from news stories, there are other sections of a newspaper which will give you inspiration. Reading the advertisements often sparks the imagination.

Here’s an example: You notice that a number of shops are advertising cut-price sales at an unusual time of the year. When you think about it, you wonder whether people are short of cash, causing a down-turn in trade. You telephone a couple of shop managers who confirm that their profits are suffering and that they are trying to boost trade by offering bargains.

Think about what feature ideas you might get from these advertisements and write them down before going onto the next page to see how your ideas match ours.


5 Examples of feature ideas from advertisements

There are a number of feature ideas from these cheap sales that would interest your readers. Here are two examples, one serious, one frivolous:

1. What is causing the economic down-turn? Investigate why people are not spending as much as they normally do at this time of year. Speak to shoppers, to organisations that represent traders and to experts in economics. Is this a local problem – in which case, find out the reason behind it - or is it affecting the whole country?

2. What is a bargain? Just seeing the word ‘sale’ in a shop window makes some people want to buy. Give your readers a questionnaire to test them on whether or not they get carried away by the idea of a bargain, but end up wasting their money.


6 Ideas from newspapers: What’s On Guide

In addition to news stories and advertisements there is another key element of a newspaper that will provide ideas for features. Many publications carry a What’s On guide to events that are happening in the area over the coming days or even weeks.

Here’s an example: You spot an item in the list about a popular touring theatre group that is coming to your town. They are well known in the country for exploring controversial issues in their plays. Their latest production is no exception. It is about adultery.

Think about what feature ideas you might get from this play and write them down before going onto the next page to see how your ideas match ours.

7 Example of feature ideas from “What’s On” guide

This play suggests at least two very different feature ideas:

1. Contact the leader of the theatre group in advance of their visit and write a feature about their history and why they choose such controversial subjects. How do they pick their subjects? Who writes their plays? Why do they think they are so popular?

2. The effects of adultery. Ask a relationship or family expert and a doctor to list all the adverse affects. Speak to one person who admits to adultery and use their story as an example at the side of the main feature. Use the forthcoming play as a peg for the feature.
8 Other printed material – books and magazines

If books and magazines are sent into your office, make a point of reading them, with a view to finding ideas. If they aren’t, buy them or find them in a library. In addition to books, libraries usually keep copies of national and foreign magazines and newspapers, plus reports and academic journals.

Books can provide ideas because they are likely to have been researched over a long period of time and authors will have dug out interesting stories on a wide variety of issues.

For example, if the history of a shipwreck off the coast of your country had been uncovered in a new book, you could interview the author for a feature. You could also talk to the team of divers who uncovered the secrets of the wreck, and even seek out descendants of any survivors of the disaster.

Magazines may focus on subjects as diverse as economics and politics or fashion and beauty. They might be glossy, national publications or stapled, community-based pamphlet-style magazines. They are useful background reading.

By using lateral-thinking skills, you will find a whole range of ideas to develop and adapt. For example, women all over the world enjoy buying clothes and looking their best. If your newspaper has a feature page which is geared towards fashion and beauty, magazines will help you spot trends to pass on to your readers.

9 The Internet Overview

The World Wide Web is an invaluable and unprecedented tool for journalists. Never before have we had so much information at our fingertips.

Search engines are useful in helping you to unearth masses of information on the subject you are researching. And, of course, you can remain instantly up to date on current affairs by using reputable international news sites, such as the BBC.

There is, however, a downside. The internet throws up so much information that it can take valuable hours to sift through the mass of data to find what you need. And not all internet content is reliable. Pick and choose your sites carefully, cross-checking your facts with other information sources when you are in doubt.

In general, however, looking for feature ideas on the internet can be far more convenient than any other method of research. Many newspapers and magazines publish their own websites.

10 The Internet Content

There are more ways to find feature ideas on the internet than just looking through search engines. Here are a few examples of where you can look.

Chat Rooms These are forums where you can ‘chat’ online with other people. You type in a message and it is displayed instantly. Other people then respond. If you already have a subject area in mind, choose a chat room appropriate to that topic and discover what the audience is talking about. Even going into a general chat room might enable you to pick up ideas.

Forums and Message Boards These are a bit like message boards in a university faculty or a sports hall, but they are based on the web. People post text messages about a particular subject – chemistry or basketball, for example – and wait for replies. Rather like the chat room, this is a way for journalists to join topical conversations on all kinds of issues. By discovering what your readers are talking about, you can tap in on the ideas and transfer them to newspaper features.

Newsgroups and Discussion Lists Like forums, each newsgroup or discussion list is made up of people interested in the same subject. The aim is to spread knowledge and information. The groups are classified by subjects – humanities, for example. They are then categorised by topic – fine art, philosophy, music, literature. Each topic has its own thread of conversations about specific aspects of the topic.

Individual websites Sometimes the ideas for features are just staring us in the face on the internet. It’s the websites themselves that are worth writing about. Take two of our basic list of target feature topics that appeal across the spectrum of readers – relationships and money. Two of the most successful websites in the UK in recent years have been Friends Reunited – aimed at putting together old friends from school, college and work – and ebay, which enables people to sell anything, even plastic carrier bags
11 Television and Radio

The world continues to shrink as the internet and satellite broadcasting bring people on different continents in instant contact with information and news reports of events as they unfold.

If your readers have access to television and radio, you should keep a keen eye on the content they are watching. It is forming an additional agenda in their lives, of which the newspaper needs to be aware.

People who appear on TV become popular with your readers. These personalities are useful to interview for features. Television and radio also produce documentaries, which are the elongated versions of newspaper features. Programmes such as these can fuel new ideas.

12 Contacts

When you have read all your newspapers, magazines and useful websites, listened to the radio and watched TV, yet find yourself still struggling for a good idea, what can you do next? Pick up the telephone and start talking to some real people!

From the outset of their careers every journalist should have established a contacts book or file. Each time you meet someone new, carry out an interview or find out background information, record the details in your book or on your computer file. The file should be organised in an alphabetical system, so that the data is easy to retrieve.

Enter the full name of the contact, their occupation, their home and business addresses and all phone numbers. If the person is not someone whose name you are likely to recall easily, but they have helped you with their expertise on business issues, for instance, cross-reference their entry under ‘business’ too.

Your contacts book should be jealously guarded. People give you their private phone numbers and details because they trust you. Some people lead very private lives and do not want to be pestered by constant phone calls. Don’t leave your book lying around for others to use.

If you treat them courteously, contacts become one of the best sources of new ideas and information because they multiply. You may have 100 contacts and each one of those 100 will have 100. The numbers start to build dramatically.

On days when it is difficult to find inspiration, make a few random calls to people in your book. Ask them what is happening. Are they doing anything new? Have they heard information about anything in general?

This is hugely useful when you write for a specialist feature section, like health, for instance, since your contacts will work and socialise with many hundreds more in that field, giving you the best chance of a scoop

13 Ideas File

If budding authors had money for every plot they have thought up for a brilliant novel in the middle of the night, but failed to write down, they might all be rich. It is the same with features.

When an idea occurs to you, write it down that instant. You can be sure you will not remember it if you leave it to chance.

Keep the ideas in one notebook or one computer file, so that you can browse through it from time to time. The idea may not be useful immediately, but something may happen in the future to trigger its use.

Organised journalists will take their ideas file one step further by filing away relevant newspaper and magazine cuttings, press releases, emails and website printouts in folders with each idea.

Chances are that if you get excited by an idea – and so do the people around you – then your readers will too
14 PR Departments

Public Relations or Press Relations departments in government organisations and businesses are staffed by people who have a three-way function in life.

These PR departments will set up interviews and supply background information for your features, which is useful and saves you time.

The same staff will also ‘sell’ you a story. They will telephone, email and send you press releases. They will also invite you to events to celebrate the launch of new products or premises, or policies.

It is important to realise when you are simply being sold an advert and when there is a real story worth printing. There is sometimes a fine dividing line between the two. You must decide whether there is a story worthy of public attention or whether it would be giving a product or organisation free publicity by mentioning it. Decide too whether you need to question the basis of the PR department’s story.

15 PR Departments: advertisement or story?

Let’s look at an example of how a PR exercise might work.

You are sent a press release about a new type of bed. The PR department for the manufacturer claims that it has been proved to be better for your back and that it is only half the price of other, similar beds because of a manufacturing breakthrough.

If you wrote a feature, based on this alone, you would simply be advertising the product. But, when a PR officer rings she tells you that the company are so confident of their claim that they have asked a man with chronic back pain to sleep in their factory for a week, to see if his condition improves.

Since back pain is one of the most common ailments in the world, this will be a feature that will interest readers. If we get the man to write a diary of how he slept and how his back reacted, it should make good copy and is a genuine test of the bed (albeit a very small-scale test with no statistical significance).

But PR departments do not simply survive on putting out press releases. Sometimes a company – or a government – find themselves in trouble. The PR officers are there to try to limit the damage.

So, let’s stay with the example of our bed. We discover that the man with the bad back who is testing the new product is less than happy. The bed collapsed when one of its legs gave way in the middle of the night.

The PR department, desperate to avoid bad publicity, is keen to try to pass the blame to a rogue supplier who put together the frame. Your job as a journalist is not to be swayed by these claims, but to get to the truth of the story.

16 Diary Events

Every newspaper should have a diary, which contains details of planned future events. These may include visits from government ministers, press conferences, court trials, sporting events, business announcements, anniversaries etc.

Each time you receive an interesting press release with a future date, enter the details into the diary. Each time you have a tip-off that something is about to happen, enter it into the diary. If you go to a court hearing and a date is set for trial, enter that too. Each entry should include a date, time, place and contact name with telephone number.

Even though most diary entries relate to news stories, it is useful for a feature writer to be able to look through the list. On some occasions a job will lend itself to both news and feature treatment. This is particularly so in the case of high profile court cases. The proceedings will be covered by news reporters, but there may be an interesting background feature which can be prepared in advance of the end of the trial.

Give yourself enough time to match up with a diary event. If you are aiming a feature to coincide with the anniversary of the death of someone important, it will be no use producing it for the week after the commemoration.


Ideas

Ideas are not difficult to conceive if you open your mind to the possibility that they can come from all around you. Be alert and train your powers of observation. Start to question everything that you see. Ask yourself how, what, where, who, when and why? You will start to look at the world in a different light. But when you are thinking of ideas, don’t select only the ones that appeal to you. Writing features is not a self-indulgent pastime. Think of your readers. Are they likely to buy your newspaper to read the feature you are planning?

Newspapers Both your own, and other people’s newspapers are a constant source of features ideas. Read news stories to look for missed or new angles. Read advertisements and look through the What’s On diary of events.

Magazines, books and other publications Read through magazines to spot trends and features that might adapt for a newspaper readership. Books often produce good story angles, particularly if they focus on real-life events.

The Internet The World Wide Web is an invaluable sources of information. But not all of the information contained in it is reliable. When in doubt, cross-check with another source.

TV and Radio Both television and radio are popular worldwide since satellite technology made them more accessible. If your readers are watching TV, it is useful to know what they are likely to view. Features can include interview with personalities from TV or spin-offs from documentary and factual programmes

Contacts There is no better source of ideas that are likely to produce exclusive material than your own contacts. Every journalist should cultivate contacts from the moment they start in the job. Keep a book or a file with the personal details of everyone interesting you meet or interview.

Ideas File The world is full of people who had a brilliant idea in the middle of the night, but forgot to write it down. Organised journalists jot down ideas for features immediately. Even better, they create files, with cuttings from newspapers and magazines, printouts from the internet, emails and other relevant background information.

PR Departments These will try very hard to ‘sell’ you an idea for a feature. The more space they gain for their client, without having to pay advertising charges, the happier the client becomes. Although good PR departments do come up with well-targeted ideas, beware that you are not being duped into carrying advertising material. Remain objective.

Diary Events All newspapers keep a diary in which to record the dates, times and places of future events. These may include visits by government ministers, major criminal trials, protest meetings, sporting events etc. Writers will find it useful to browse through this list, making a note of events that might lend themselves to feature treatment.