JOURNALISM HANDOUT

PART ONE

I.1. WHAT IS JOURNALISM?

Journalism is a discipline or a profession or an art of collecting, gathering,

writing, editing, analyzing, verifying and transmitting or reporting information
to the public.

Journalism is about searching, selecting, assessing and editing information and

it is the investigation and reporting of recent/timely events, issues and trends or
previously unknown information to a broad audience through media [print,
online and broadcast].

It is the work of collecting and reporting news for different media organizations
such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, blogs and social media, etc.
The product generated by such activity is called journalism. It can be about
selection or framing or agenda setting, designing, layout, photographing or
filming activities.

Journalism involves the sifting [sieve, filter, selecting, examining] and editing
of information, comments and events into a form that is recognizably [clearly]
different from the pure form in which they first occurred.

The media scholars also stated that the subject matter of journalism can be
anything and everything, and journalists report and write on a wide variety of
subjects such as politics, economics and business, social and cultural aspects at
local, regional, national and international levels. Besides, journalists report on
anything that news organizations think consumers or audiences will read or
listen or watch them.
 I.2. WHO ARE JOURNALISTS?

People who gather and package [wrap up, put together] news and information
for mass dissemination are called journalists.

According to Bardoel and Deuze (2001), Journalists are those individuals

working within an editorial board or newsroom ( be it full-time or freelance)
who perform one of four core journalistic tasks:

a) Selecting
b) Researching (or gathering);
c) Writing (or processing)
d) Editing

Journalists are daily engaging in recording and interpreting events day-to-day.

However, it is important to know that all writers and mass media staff members
are not necessarily journalists.

 There is also a big difference between academic journalist and the

ordinary [amateur] journalist

-Features of academic journalists include:

o Normally they take formal education in schools, colleges and

universities;
o Knows better about the principles of journalism;
o They are aware about the ethical and unethical journalistic rules;

-Features of amateur journalists, include:

o Being journalists by experience;

o Enter the field because of their personal interest;
o Lacks depth and enough knowledge about the guidelines of
journalism;
 o Absence of know-how onto the ethical principles of journalism

Most probably the following are some examples of Journalists in the media
station.

writers, editors, reporters [junior and senior reporters],photographers,

videographers, camera crews ,broadcast presenters, producers and Others who
are the purveyor [sources, sellers] of information and opinion in contemporary
mass society.

1.2.1.QUALITIES OF GOOD JOURNALISTS

Good journalists have the following qualities

Intelligence: to be able to understand complex issues.

Knowledge: broad general knowledge and experience in order to understand
a number of different areas and have the ability to go from one area to
another easily.
Effective: the ability to get things done; work under pressure; work well with
others under pressure; be well organized.
Curiosity: the need to be curious enough to go beyond the surface; look at
things in a questioning manner; to seek information to find out about people,
events, activities and to understand them; to be skeptical at times.
Comprehension [understanding, intellectual capacity]: the ability to analyze
information, sort [differentiate] the important from the unimportant;
understand what you're writing about.
Judgment: gather information and learn to sort the important from the
unimportant effectively; be able to weed out [remove, discard, reject]
information, determining what readers need to know, what will make a
complete, accurate article.
 Persistent: knowing when to continue to seek or push for information, when
to give up; the need to be energetic; not stopping just because someone says
"no" (remember reporters Woodward and Bernstein and the obstacles they
encountered unraveling the Watergate scandal, which forced the resignation
of U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1974).
Literacy: grammatical skills; reading ability coupled with comprehension;
acceptable writing skills.
Motivation: the drive to work beyond the normal 8-hour day; journalists
must cover the story when it occurs; news is a perishable commodity.
Personal Stability: keeping your head when the world around seems to be
falling apart; ability to remain professional and do the job even though you
may be witnessing unpleasantness.
1.2 . 2.QUALITIES OF A GOOD REPORTER
Reporters are the people who get the story and write it in first draft form and
they tend to be generalists (Clare, 2004).

A good and responsible reporter is expected to fulfill the following qualities:

1. He/ She should not be biased

2. He/ She should write what he sees.
3. He/ She should follow the ethics of journalism/truthfulness, balance,
minimizing harm, etc
4. He/ She should not mingle [mix, merge] his own opinion in the story.
5. He/ She should try to provide complete and authentic or genuine
information.

6. He/ She must have greatest sense of responsibilities.

7. He/ She must exercise care.

8. He/ She must try to find all sides to a story.

9. He/ She must not influence by fear or favor.

1.3.KINDS OF JOURNALISM

Journalism is divided into two basic types that are broadcast journalism and
print journalism. Broadcast journalism includes electronic media such as
Radio, Television, Internet, audio and video tools; mobile etc.print journalism
includes newspaper, magazine, books, newsletters, press release, broachers
and pamphlets etc.

1.4.THE FUNCTION OF JOURNALISM [MEDIA]

The central purpose of journalism is to provide/cater citizens with accurate and

reliable information. In other words, the primary purpose of journalism is to
ensure a well informed citizenry for social, economic and political structures.

Generally, the basic function of media can be divided into three. These are
listed down as follows:-

1. To inform the Public –“Information is the currency of democracy”; and

according to Machiavelli “Information is power”
2. To educate the Public – schools, colleges, and universities are not the
only tools of educating people but also media plays its own role too.
3. To entertain –the media help the people to escape the pressures of daily
living – to avoid boredom [dullness], to relax, and to forget their
problems (Fedler, 1978:8).

Besides, the function or purpose of the media can include all of the
following:

To persuade- Attempt to lead rather than follow public opinion

Watchdog role - The mass media constitute the backbone of democracy. The
media are supplying the political information that voters base their decisions on.
They identify problems in our society and serve as a medium for deliberation.
They are also the watchdogs that we rely on for uncovering errors and
wrongdoings by those who have power. Edmund Burke coined the expression
‘the Fourth Estate’ with the quote: “There are three estates organs in the
state/Parliament/ but in the reporters’ gallery media sits as a fourth estate more
important.

Journalism has an important watchdog role: Journalists are the eyes and ears
of the public and help ensure that people, particularly those in public life, are
acting properly and honestly.

The media serves as the voice to the voiceless.

The media shape public opinion, but they can be in turn influenced and
manipulated by different interest groups in society too. Media can promote
social cohesion, integration and unity and the media can promote democracy.

1.5. NEWS

1.5.1. WHAT IS NEWS?

It is too difficult to get a universal definition of news. Different scholars

define news relying on their character, personal experiences and
professional judgments (Fedler, 1993).

News is information about events, people or issue that the public wants or
needs to know (Mark levin, 1999).

The managing editor of the New York Times defined news as “anything you
find out today that you didn’t know yesterday.” Some media scholars also said
that news is something which interests a large part of the community and which
has never been brought to their attention.
Generally you can say that News is information which is accessed from sources
and filtered by professional journalists (including other gatekeepers) then passes
through different channels and transmitted to audiences.

The first point to make clear is that ‘News’ does not happen. Events happen,
and news is produced by reporting some events. So, a single event to become
news it must be passed, or the news production process goes, through a number
of steps

News must be new. It means ‘new to me', but it may not be new to you. It is a
report of recent events and happenings or previously unknown information.
News is what is new; it’s what’s happening.

1.5.2. NEWS VALUES OR ELEMENTS OF NEWS

 News is what is new; it’s what is happening. But most of the things that
happen in the world everyday do not find their way into the newspaper or
onto the air in a newscast. So what makes a story newsworthy enough to
be published or broadcast? The real answer is that it depends on a variety
of factors. Generally speaking, news is information that is of broad
interest to the intended audience, so what big news in Lagos is may not
be news at all in Addis Ababa or Robe. Journalists decide what news to
cover based on many of the following “news values”. These news values
are also known as elements of news. These elements are :
 Timeliness

It should be events that are occurred recently. Something just happened or is

going to happen very soon. Is it current or new? Audiences want news as
quickly as possible. Even though it depend on the medium, length of time for
which a piece of information continues to be newsworthy is necessary. The
recent of the information is depends on the medium. For radio it may be fraction
of minutes because unlike print media, broadcast have the ability to transmit
event from the place it occurred.

 Impact/consequence

Are many people affected or just a few? Will it affect your audiences in an
important way? How many people an event or idea affect and how seriously it
affects them.

 Proximity

Did something happen close to home, or did it involve people from here? A
plane crash in Russia will make headlines in that country, but it is unlikely to be
front-page news in Ethiopia unless the plane was carrying Ethiopian passengers.
Proximity can be how it is close to us geographically or psychologically.

 Controversy/conflict

Are people in disagreement about this? It is human nature to be interested in

stories that involve conflict, tension, or public debate. People like to take sides,
and see whose position will prevail.

Audiences have an interest in disagreements, arguments, fights and rivalries. If

an event has conflict attached to it, usually Stories that involve conflict are those
about sports, trials, war, politics and even Congressional debates.

 Prominence

Is a well-known person involved? Ordinary activities or mishap [accident,

disaster, and catastrophe] can become news if they involve a prominent person
like a prime minister, presidents, or a film/music star.

 Human interest: If a situation makes you angry, sad, happy or

overjoyed, it contains the news element of human interest.Some stories
are newsworthy on this basis alone.
  Currency

Are people here talking about this? A government meeting about bus safety
might not draw much attention, unless it happens to be scheduled soon after a
terrible bus accident.

Is it relevant, important or interesting to the audience?

 Oddity
 Is what happened unusual?
 How unusual is it?
 How new or different is it?
 According to John Bogart (1918): “When a dog bites a man that
is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a
dog, that is news.”

The five 'W's' and one ‘H’in the news

Commonly, news content should contain the “five Ws” and ‘H’of an event.
Every news story must cover or come out with the answer for the five 'W's' and
‘H’ question.

They are: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

 WHO will do, said or did something

 WHAT will be done, was said or happened
 WHEN it will be done, it was said or happened
 WHERE it will be done, it was said or happened
 WHY it will be done, it was said or happened
 HOW it will affect me or how it was done
You don't have to cover all these in the lead or in the headline obviously, but
usually you will address one or two in the first graph or lead. And the rest
should come soon. Make sure they are all covered somewhere in your story

1.5.3.THE PARTS/COMPONENTS/ OF A NEWS /NEWS PACKAGE

The important information or parts of news that should be included in news is

highlighted as the following:

Headline: It catches your eyes and sums up the story. It is usually in larger font
and often bolded

Byline: The author of a story or the name of the reporter who wrote a particular
story. This tells you who wrote the article.

Caption: Synonymous with cutline. It is the explanatory lines above or below

a newspaper photograph, illustration or diagram.

Lead: This gives the most important information very briefly

(Usually who, what, when and where)

Body: It supplies additional information. It is divided into small paragraphs.it

may contains Facts about what happened

Quotations/SoundBits/Voice Over /: Quotation is to retell, word for word,

what someone actually said. Usually these quotations come from witnesses at
the scene, or experts on a subject.

SoundBits: it is when you take the exact sound of the interviewee

V/O: Reporter’s voice over pictures. Also called Voice Over./for television /

Attribution: This means the identification of the person being quoted in the
reporter’s story. You only attribute a story to a source if he or she gives such
information on record.
Transition: this is the method of turning from one section to the next section or
parts. Or it may indicate the station identification.

Summary: this to finalize or retell you the headline briefly.

1.5.4. TYPES OF NEWS

The basic divisions of news are two; these are hard news and soft news.

1.5.4.1. Hard News

Hard news is essentially the news of the day. It’s what you see on the front
page of the newspaper or the top of the Web page, and what you hear at the start
of a broadcast news report.

Hard news stories deserve a lively lead/intro so as to catch up the interest of the
reader. Hard news is more serious and timely topics. Hard news isspot news;
live and current news in contrast to features. Breaking news ismostly immediate
and categorized under this type of news.

Hard news stories are short, very timely and focus on telling you what's just
happened starting with the most important thing first.

Most of the time hard news happensout of the blue [unexpectedly, suddenly],

Some examples of frequent hard news topics include:

Plane/Train/Car crashesEarthquakes/volcanoes/

Earth slide/go down/fallFloods

Hurricane [storm, cyclone] – common in U.S and Canada

Other accidents or emergencies

War: internal instability/civil war, international war or war between two or

more countries,

Politics: elections, political scandals/doing shameful political

assassinations/killings/murder, coup d’état /taking political power illegally via
overthrow, death of country leaders,

Business [stock markets boom/unexpected profit gain/be suddenly prosperous;

or bankruptcy/economic failure], Crime (robbery, sedition)

1.5.4.2.Soft New/Features/Human Interest Stories:-

Soft news are usually lighter topics .Soft news is a term used in journalism to
describe stories that fit the criteria of less time sensitive. In fact, many of them
are based on surveys, studies, reports and other common tools of the public
relations industry.

Feature articles: longer forms of news writing; topics covered in depth;

sometimes the main article on the front page of a newspaper, or the cover story
in a magazine. Feature writing is journalistic writing covering people, places
and events in greater depth and with less timeliness than an immediate hard
news story.

A story about a world-famous athlete who grew up in an orphanage would fit

the definition of soft news. It’s a human-interest story involving a prominent
person and it’s an unusual story that people likely would discuss with their
friends. But there’s no compelling reason why it has to be published or
broadcast on any particular day. By definition, that makes it a feature story.

 Some examples of soft news include:

Lifestyles, clothing,home and family, the arts, entertainment, infotainment,
health and medicine, sports, hobbies and recreation ,sex and
relationships ,animal sanctuaries/asylum/refuge/ [parks] and so forth.

1.5.5.TYPES OF NEWS STORIES BASED ON THE WRITING

STYLE:

They are four major types of news stories: these are:

1.5.5.1. The straight forward news story

This is the product of the usual routine reporting. Most of the stories published
in our commercial newspapers are straightforward news stories.

Such stories are never interpreted, editorialized or laden with reporter’s

biases and prejudices. They are stories objectively and anchored on facts.

The reporter adds or subtracts nothing from the facts on which the story is
based.

A straightforward news story may be short or long, but it can hardly be long
enough to occupy three-quarters of a page or a whole page. As a rule, its lead
must answer to the 5Ws and H and the story, as a whole must leave no
questions unanswered. The story must be simple, accurate, concise and
understandable. As stated earlier, straightforward news story maybe hard news,
soft news and human-interest news.

 Hard News

Hard news stories are stories that deal with government, economic, social and
political policies. They are stories with a lot of facts and figures. Stories
concerning the annual budget, political and economic programmes are all hard
news stories.
  Soft News

These are stories about trends, fashion, entertainment personalities and

lifestyles. The time element is not too emphasized in writing such news stories.

1.5.5.2. Investigative Stories

These types of news hinges on the pursuit/search/of information that has

been concealed. It focuses on investigations of wrongdoing such as
investigating and exposing unethical, immoral and illegal behavior by
individuals, businesses and government agencies.Investigative stories therefore
require the digging out of facts.

The investigative reporter is not expected to inject his own biased ideas or
opinions into his story. He is not expected to editorialize or interpret the facts
either.

1.5.5.3. Interpretation Stories

This is a form of story in which the reporter is free to interpret the news the way
he or she sees it. She/he is allowed to inject his own biased but expert opinion,
editorialize and pass comments on the fact being reported.

Interpretative stories require additional facts, detailed explanations and logical

analysis. Examples include personality profiles and feature articles.

1.5.5.4. In-Depth Stories

This is complete quality news reporting. In-depth story needs the full treatment
and it needs back grounding. It requires creative thinking and deep
imagination on the part of the reporter and writer. Most newsmagazine stories
are usually in-depth stories and there is little difference between an in-
depth story and an investigative story.