WHAT IS NEWS?Journalism basics

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Audience identification

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What is news?

The appeal of local news is that your readers or listeners might know the people or places involved and may identify with events

People can identify with stories about other people like themselves

Stories which many can identify with are stronger than those which apply to a few

Closeness Personal impact

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News sources

Information from press officers and public relations officers are a steady source of information

Part of your job as a journalist is to sort out what is informative from the millions of boring words you are sent

Material we are given Which we have to assess

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There is also news which journalists find for themselves and reveal to the public

This need not be a subject which somebody wants to be kept secret

Many people have a story to tell

It’s part of your job as a journalist to find these people and report their stories

Material we find Which we have to explain

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Wars, strikes, revolutions, political power battles

All are important topics that we must explore and explain

We need to help the audience understand the underlying issues

Conflicts Which we have to understand

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Air crashes, train crashes, ships sinking, volcanic eruptions, Tsunamis, earthquakes

Human tragedies such as children falling down deep wells from which they cannot be rescued

Disaster and tragedy Sensitivity needed

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How changes affect people's lives, for better or for worse

New ideas or progress in one area may mean less progress in another

Our job as journalists is to find out and explain to the audience

Progress & development No free PR

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Crime is news, whether it is a road traffic offence, break and enter, corruption, forgery, rape or murder

More serious crimes or unusual crimes generally make bigger news stories

But we must always avoid sensationalising and must ensure that we just deliver facts and not write drama

Crime Innocent until proven guilty

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Fortunes made and lost Taxes and budgets Food prices Wage rises It is not only large sums

of money which make news

Struggling to live is a major source of important news stories

Money Who is paying whom?

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The journalist should give voice to the voiceless the innocent

against false charges

the poor against exploitation

The underdog Voice to the voiceless

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Events involving religious lives, such as festivals and new buildings

Statements by religious leaders

The things the public do as part of their beliefs

How religion impacts on society

Religion Understand tolerance

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Prominent men and women make news

What people in the public eye do, the lives they lead and what they look like, are all of interest

But we must never simply write stories about prominent people for the sake of it

We must always explore the news angle

Famous people Privacy issues

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Disease, outbreaks, cures, research, all make news stories

Advice on drugs, diet and exercise are also of interest to the public

We need to be covering the health issues that concern the audience

Health Public information

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All societies are interested in sex, even if they do not talk about it openly.

Many news stories about sex involve behaviour which goes outside society's generally accepted standards.

Sex Public information

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The weather may affect the daily routine of people

It’s of interest when it’s unusual with exceptionally high or low temperatures, or exceptionally high or low rainfall

We need to look for the stories where the weather has caused personal and social disruption

Weather Public information

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Shortages in the food supply

Failure of crops and poor harvests

The price of food A visit to the market

will always produce a news story

Food and drink Public information

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Stories about music, dance, theatre and cinema

The lives of celebrities always interest the audience

However we must ensure that there is an editorial justification in covering these stories and ask ...

“is it in the public interest?”

Entertainment Public information

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Sports news, results, player transfers, statistics

Many people will choose a radio or TV station or select a newspaper based on its sports coverage

If your coverage is good you need to reflect the top stories from that coverage in your bulletins and on your front page

Sport

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Unusual and interesting aspects of other people's lives which are not particularly significant to society as a whole

Stories about these are called human interest stories

The audience likes them because they make them smile and can be a nice distraction from the harder news

Human interest

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If it is not new or unusual

If it is not interesting or significant

If it will not affect your readers‘ lives

Then it is not news Do not publish it as

news

The news test We only deal in news

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What is news?

The module uses material from The News Manual

Media Helping Media has been given permission to publish edited highlights of some basic training modules

Using some material from The News Manual

http://www.thenewsmanual.net/

The source of the following material in this module

Media Helping Media