Week 6: Journalistic writing. Introduction

COMM-125 Introduction to Journalism

Section 1- Language of instruction English

Wednesdays 15:00-18:00Venue: NEWTON Amphitheatre

Lecture no. 6

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Writing and reporting are the central tasks of the journalist.

Hence the chapter on journalistic writing is probably the biggest one of all.

Among other things, it consists of:

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characteristics, the language, conventions and tools, structures/formats and techniques, style, editing, headline formation, the writing for different media and the different assignments.

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Writing and reporting, however are very different tasks, and inevitably some journalists are better reporters - that is, gatherers of information - than writers.

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While reporting requires a person to talk with people in certain ways and to look for information intelligently and creatively,

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writing requires the journalist to sift through the information and mold it into the appropriate form for the medium he or she is using.

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Having the proper information - all the relevant facts of a story,

the proper identification for the people involved,

the times and dates,

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accurate direct quotations, and so on –

is vital to the writing process,

but it is only the beginning.

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There comes a time when the information gathering must cease and the writing must begin.

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The ability to write well requires that the writer have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the subject.

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In addition, the writer must understand the basic structure of the news story

and the conventions or customs of news writing in order to complete the process.

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Basic Writing CharacteristicsAll writing for the mass media shares four characteristics: accuracy, precision, efficiency and clarity.

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These characteristics should be on display in any

nonfiction writing for a large audience.

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AccuracyWriters must learn to use the words and phrases that will convey the information they have, in a way so that readers will not only understand it, but also be able to form an appropriate interpretation of it.

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Writers must not only present facts, but they must also present them within a proper context.

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Achieving accuracy is no easy task.

Factual information has to be processed by the writer, and the result of that processing can come out in many different ways.

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A reader has an expectation in reading a news story that if he or she had seen and heard the same things that the reporter saw and heard, the reader would interpret them in the same way.

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Precision is one of the basic means for achieving accuracy.

Precision in this context means that the writer uses the language accurately and according to commonly accepted rules of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and diction.

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Some people argue that grammar, spelling, and punctuation are not important.

The thoughts, the ideas, the information, now that's what's important they say.

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They are wrong on two levels.

First, thoughts, ideas and information take their shape in the words used to express them.

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If those words, phrases and sentences are not correct, how can thoughts, ideas, and information be correctly expressed?

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But those who argue that grammar, spelling, and punctuation are not important are wrong on another, more practical level.

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The media professions simply do not tolerate misuse of the language.

The language is the basic tool of the profession,

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and those who do not use the language well cannot be taken seriously by other professionals or by the general public.

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To say otherwise is to be unrealistic.

Simply put, writers who would work in journalism must know the language and use it precisely.

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Efficiency is another highly valued characteristic of journalistic writing.

Most of us think, talk, and write inefficiently.  

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Good journalists must learn how to write so that they can include as much information as possible in a small amount of time and space. 

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The practical reasons for this are that, except for the World Wide Web,

space is limited in all media and readers also consider their time to be limited.

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They expect the media to give them information quickly and efficiently.

They do not want their time wasted by irrelevant information or unnecessary words.

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Do not confuse efficiency with brevity (shortness, or briefness).

Although the two characteristics of writing have some things in common, they are not the same.

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Achieving efficiency has to do with the way in which information is presented rather than the amount of information.

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A long article may be more efficiently written than a shorter one.

The key is how much information gets to the reader and how quickly.

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Clarity is also a prized characteristic of journalistic writing.

It means that a reader can understand what the writer is saying, without having to figure out what the words mean or what the writer has in mind.

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Clear writing does not have to be read a second time to discover its meaning.

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As information becomes more detailed and complex, clear writing is harder to produce.

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Writers who work with complex information sometimes forget to ask themselves some basic questions about how their audience will react to the writing, such as:

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"Will a reader understand the words I am using?" and

"Will the reader be able to picture the information I have if I say in this way or that way?"

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The first turn toward clarity is for the writer to try to put himself or herself in the place and shoes of the reader, asking:

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"What does the reader know about this information, and what can I do to add to the reader's knowledge and understanding?"

The writer should never take things for granted.

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One road to clarity is through simplicity, a basic tenet of modern writing.

Journalistic writers should try to write as simply as possible, using the most basic words and sentence structures that are appropriate for the information.

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This is not to say that every sentence should be a simple sentence or that every word should be a one, or two syllable word.

Variety in sentence structure makes for interesting and readable writing.

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But using long or unfamiliar words when short, simple words would do, is not a sign of good writing and does not present information efficiently or clearly to the reader.

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Most sentences that we write are too long, particularly those written on a first draft.

Long sentences are often the result of a lack of clarity in the thinking of the writer.

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That is, a writer is trying to say too many things or the writer has not worked out what pieces of information he or she needs to present.

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Simply shortening a sentence or breaking one long sentence into two sentences will greatly increase the clarity of the piece of prose.

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Writing conventionsWhereas some journalistic writing is narrative or chronological, much of it is not.

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That is, in presenting information about an event or a subject, journalists do not necessarily begin at the beginning or with the first thing that happened.

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Instead, they are likely to start with the last thing that occurred or the most important information.

How, then, do writers make this kind of non narrative writing hand together?

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Journalism has developed a number of writing conventions for presenting information.

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Those conventions, or ways of writing, tell us much about what journalists believe is important, and they deserve some attention from students who are beginning to learn this type of writing.

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No two writers will approach any event or issue in exactly the same way, so there is no formula that a writer can always use.

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The information the writer has, the amount of time there is to write the story,

and the amount of space available to print the story will be major factors in determining how the story is developed.

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Still, writers must be aware of the tools and conventions of writing in order to make the story acceptable for the publication for which they are writing.

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Following are some tools and conventions that writers of news stories must use and observe.

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AttributionA major convention of news stories is the use of attribution.

Attribution simply means telling readers where the information in a story comes from.

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Documenting, referencing and crediting are other words that can be used.

Attribution is important because it establishes the news report's credibility.

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Readers are more likely to believe that the publication is trying to be accurate in its reporting if they know clearly the source of information.

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News reports in which the information is properly attributed reflect the professionalism of the publication and its reporters.

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Another reason for attributing information in a story is to allow the reader to assess the information by assessing its source.

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Some sources are more credible than others.

By telling the reader where information comes from, the news reporter is letting the reader make up his or her mind

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whether the information can be believed.

(see Week 3 - Journalism’s essence is a discipline of verification).

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In most cases the attribution can be included in a natural or unobtrusive way.

Look at these examples:

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- The country executive said the country is facing a budget crisis.- According to the fire department report, the cause of the fire was faulty electrical wiring.- The jury has stopped deliberating and has retired for the evening, the judge said.

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Most of the major facts in a news story should be attributed to some source (unless they come from an eyewitness account by the reporter), BUT

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information that is common knowledge to most readers usually does not have to be attributed.

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For instance, in the sentence,

"A heavy cloud of smog hung over the city today, National Weather Service officials said,"

is unnecessary and even silly.

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The most common verb of attribution is said.

Said is a neutral word. It simply connotes that words have been spoken;

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it doesn't say anything about the way in which they were spoken.

Consequently, it is the kind of word that journalists ought to be using.

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It is also unobtrusive in a news story.

Even if used repeatedly, it does jump out at the reader and get in the way of the information that is being transmitted.

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Trying to find substitutes for the word said is a dangerous game for the journalist.

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Although there are many words that might be used in its place, writers should remember that they must use words for their exact meaning, not simply for variety's sake.

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Too often writers misuse these substitutes and create erroneous impressions about what was said.

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Another danger in the search for substitutes for said is that most substitutes are not neutral.

If used, they make a statement about how the journalist feels about what was said.

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For instance, a person accused of a crime may "say" that he is innocent, or he may "claim" that he is innocent.

Claim carries a negative or doubtful connotation, one which the journalist should not be implying.

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Other writing conventionsIn addition to attribution, journalists must observe a number of other writing conventions, such as:

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Short sentences, short paragraphsNews stories use short sentences and short paragraphs.

The news writer tries to get information to the reader as quickly as possible.

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That is accomplished more easily if the writer uses short sentences.

They are easier for the reader to digest.

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Paragraph length usually should be kept to three sentences or less and to less than 100 words.

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Third personNews stories are usually written in the third person.

A writer does not intrude into a story by using first-person pronouns (unless they are part of a direct quotation from one of the story's sources).

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Except for unusual cases, when the writer witnesses a dramatic event, or is somehow a participant in that event,

he or she should not tell the story from the point of view of the first person.

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By the same token, news stories rarely directly address the reader by using the second-person pronoun you.

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Occasionally, lead paragraphs are questions directed at the reader, but this device can be overused quickly,

and it is best avoided when you are beginning to learn news writing.

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An attitude for accuracyAccuracy forms the core of the writing process, as already said.

Journalists expend much energy in making certain that all the information they have is correct.

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Achieving accuracy is not just a matter of reporting and writing techniques but also a state of mind that journalists should foster.

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Journalists should never be satisfied with information about which they have doubts.

Journalists have to make every effort to alleviate those doubts and to clear up any discrepancies.

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This attitude extends not only to the major information that a journalist has but also to the smaller bits of a story.

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Making sure that dates and identifications are correct, that numbers in a story add up properly, that locations are correct, all of these things are part of a journalist's job.

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Journalists should take special care with the names of people to make sure they are spelled correctly.

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Journalists should be perfectionists and strive for accuracy because they realize that their readers and viewers trust them and expect their reports to be accurate.

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If those reports are not accurate, journalists will lose that trust and eventually lose credibility, as well as their audience.

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Summarizing:All journalistic writing should share four characteristics: - Accuracy- Clarity- Efficiency and- Precision

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Precision is the ability to use the language correctly, following commonly accepted rules of grammar, punctuation, and spelling,

as well as using words for precisely what they mean.

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These constitute the so called Writing Style, to be discussed in another lecture.

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Thus, the ability to use the language efficiently, effectively, and confidently is the mark of a good journalist.

Such ability guarantees good journalistic writing, i.e. the use of the simplest words possible and a variety of sentence structures.

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Although the journalists must learn certain writing techniques and structures (e.g. inverted pyramid, lead paragraphs – in another meeting)

to be successful, those requirements do not lessen the creativity of the writing process.

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Attribution means giving credit to sources for their information.

This is one of the most important journalistic writing convention, that if you avoid using will transform you into a Plagiarist, instead of a Journalist,

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i.e. a "stealer" of others "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions" and the representation of them as your own work

(see ethical dimensions of journalism, to be discussed in another lecture).

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