Transcript News Reporting & Writing

News Reporting &
Writing
Week 2: What is news?
Kevin Voigt
What is it?
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Is journalism a science, or is
journalism an art?
Types of reporters
Traditional newspaper model
General Assignment
Beat
Specialty
Emerging model
Super-specialist, blogger, commentator, etc.
Is it news? 7 questions
Is it “new”? Recent?
Does it affect many people?
Does it affect many people in my intended audience?
Does it involve well-known people, places or institutions?
Does it involve conflict or struggle?
Is it unique or rare?
Do you think it’s important?
The 5 “W”s & 1 “H”
Who
What
When
Where
Why
How
News versus Features
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News stories (“straight” news or “hard” news)
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Focusing usually on WHAT happened, WHEN and
WHO was affected and WHERE
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WHO can make it more news worthy (public
official/celebrity – people you have a reasonable
expectation the readers know)
Features
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Feature stories (“color” stories, “soft” newsalthough I dislike both the “hard” and “soft”)
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Best typically bring to surface information the
reader didn’t know about, or makes the common
seem uncommon
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The best of both types of stories are “new” to the
reader, hence “news”
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Contrary to expectations – “counterintuitive”
Hard news v. Features
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Although most new non-fiction writers prefer to write
feature stories, actually these are the most difficult to do
well
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Skills of newsgathering for hard news stories of fast
breaking events (fires, accidents, natural disasters) help
you to write feature stories. Why?
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Eye for details
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Accuracy – double-checking facts
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Anticipating the questions readers will want
answered in the story, and answering them
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Therefore a key skill to
becoming a good journalist
is…
EMPATHY
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Understanding your sources
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Understanding your readers
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This understanding, however, brings conflict –
empathizing with your sources versus empathizing
with your readers
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In the final analysis, great writing ALWAYS
empathizes with readers
News story structure
1-2-3-4
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1. The lead. What is the most important news? How can
you write it in the clearest way — and make it interesting
too?
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2. Elaborate on the lead. Two, three, four or five
paragraphs that explain, support and amplify lead.
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3. Key background and context of event, if needed;
information that helps readers understand more about the
news they are reading.
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4. More elaboration of the news, in descending order of
importance.
Ledes: Hard Vs. Soft
Hard news lede
Gives readers the basic facts of what happened
and where it happened
Entices readers to keep reading to find out the
“how” and the “why”
Soft news lede
Gives readers a small, intriguing taste of the
story
Elements of a hard
lede
What happened or what was said
When the event occurred
Where the event occurred
Who (or what) was the source
Formula for a hard lede
Subject
Verb
Object
Example: “I love you.”
Not: “You are the person that I love.”