Chapter 2

Principles and Practices of Journalism

Course contents
 News: meaning, definition, elements, types, sources and news values.
 Understanding of basic concept of headline, deadline, dateline, lead, use of photos, illustrations,
cartoons, graphics, page-making, proof reading.
 News structure: - qualities and role of reporter and editor, principles of reporting and editing,
accuracy, balance and credibility.

Meaning of news:
‘News’ is a dynamic concept. The concept of news can change every moment, hour, day, week or month,
etc. Earlier it was said that yesterday’s news was no news. Today, in the era of twenty-four hour channels,
what is news in the morning is outdated by the afternoon. As we have discussed earlier, news is about an
event and the persons, organizations, or processes related to it.

Newspersons are generally called journalists. Newspersons are professionals involved in the gathering,
processing and presentation of news. A newsperson could be a field journalist or an editing journalist.

Field journalists include reporters, correspondents, photographers and camerapersons. Editing

journalists include sub-editors, chief-subs, news editors and editors, etc.

In case of television, input editors and output editors are newspersons. Anchors are also included in this
category. But persons, engaged in marketing, management, and advertising in news media, are not labeled
as newspersons.

Professionals working in entertainment field are sometimes media persons but they are not newspersons.

Curiosity and inquisitiveness are the part of human nature. Everyone is curious to know about other and
the happing around him. To satisfy this trait, gathering and dissemination of news started and the
communication tool were invented.

In common parlance, news is what is new. News is what everyone wants to know about. A newspaper
office's main concern is to gather and report news-local, state, regional, national, and international. The
basic understanding about news is essential for any editorial work in a newspaper/news agency or a news
magazine.

Cardinal directional meaning

North……………...N
East………………. E
West………………W
South………………S.
so, news can be described as anything that interests people from four directions.

News- an overview meaning

Let us start with what constitutes news. It is important to understand what makes news? Do people make
news? Do places make news? Do all information form news? Here we shall try to find answers to these
questions.
1. News as important information: News is essentially a package of information. It is essentially
information about certain events and the persons, organizations, or processes related to the
events.
Every piece of information is not news. We all live in a thick jungle of information. It is humanly
impossible to be aware of everything around us. At individual level there are certain bits of
information that are of value to us, rest is trash at any given point of time. Similarly, at group
level also every piece of information is not important and relevant. So information has to be
considered important at individual or group level to be considered as news.
2. News is important information that gets shared: Important information confined to an
individual or a small group is no news until many persons know about it. A discovery made by a
scientist is only important information till it remains with the scientist or the team. If and when it
becomes available to large numbers, it can be considered as news.
3. News is important information that gets shared through media: Sharing of important
information with very large number of people is not possible unless some technology of
dissemination is used. Radio, television, printed paper and Internet help in the dissemination of
information. These devices are called media.
4. News is new: News is always new. Death of renowned singer is news on the day it happened or
at the very best the next day. However, it is not going to be published in day after tomorrow’s
newspaper, because it is no longer ̳new information. However, if some new information about his
death is found, it can be reported. Events that happened earlier can still be news, they are not
reported before. If the information is in public domain, it cannot be called news. If it is reported
for the first time, irrespective of the time when it took place, it will be news.
5. News is unusual: There are many things happening around us. But all of them are not news. As
we discussed above, a girl going to the school is a usual thing; nothing special about it. But if the
girl is the first girl from the community or region to attend a school, it is unusual and will make
news. The classic definition of news is as follows: ―Dog bites man‖ is not news; ―Man bites
dog‖ is news.
6. News is interesting: Even if an event is new and unusual, it may not be news, if it lacks people’s
interest. One boy from your village gets first class. This might be a new and unusual thing in your
village. But it is unlikely to interest anybody other than your villagers or family members of the
boy. However, if the boy is a state topper, it will generate interest of entire state and can be
covered as news by the media.
7. News is significant: In addition to being new, unusual and interesting, news is always significant.
Let ‘s considers; a member of a political party announces that rice would be provided at one
rupee per KG in villages. This has least significance and will not be news. But if the same
announcement is made by Chief Minister of the State, it will be news, because, an announcement
from a Chief Minister is always significant.
8. News is not always about people: Most news is automatically about people as most of the events
always involve people, directly or indirectly. Human beings are not always the prime actors in all
events. Sometimes non-human entities like cyclone, a bush fire, a drought or an earthquake can
also become news when it affects people’s lives. News is always reported in terms of people.
News is a dynamic concept. It changes with time. It also varies from society to society. A girl
going to the school in a capital town may not be news. But a girl from a tribal community going
to school may be news. Prior to advent of internet and TV Channels, an event that happened
yesterday was news. But in the present era of twenty-four-hour news channels, what is news in
the morning is stale by the afternoon.

COMBINING THE ABOVE FOUR INGREDIENTS, WE HAVE ONE DEFINITION OF

NEWS:

1. “Anything that appears in the news space of various mass media is news.”
 2. “news is any information that appears in the news space of the newspapers or radio or
television or news portals of internet.”

Definitions of news by different scholars

Placed below are some of the definitions given by experts. It can be noted that every definition has a
different perspective or separate point of emphasis.
1. Events, action or statements that make us stop and shake our heads in wonder or
puzzlement is news. (Melvin Mencher)
2. News is anything that will make people talk. (Charles Dana)
3. News is what interests a good newspaperman. (Gerald Johnson)
4. News is anything that makes a reader says Gee whiz. (Arthur McEwen)
5. News is current or fresh information that is gathered and disseminated through a news
process to public about an event or subject of interest to a significant number of people.
(Melvin DeFleur & Everette Dennis)
6. News is ‘man bites a dog’; news is something you have not heard before, news is what
editors and reporters say it is. (Bruce Itule and Douglas Anderson)
7. Willard G. Bleyers : News is anything timely that interests a number of people and the best news
is that which is of greatest interest to the greatest number of people.
8. Turner Catledge : News is anything you can find today that you did not know yesterday.
9. John Chancellor: News is a chronicle of conflict and change
10. Kurt Loder: News is anything that‘s interesting, that relates to what‘s happening in the world,
what‘s happening in areas of the culture that would be of interest to your audience.
1. News may be defined as "anything timely that interests a large number of persons and the best
news is that which has the greatest interest for the greatest number".
2. In other words, the news is the timely report of events, facts, and opinions and interests a
significant number of people. The news is a new piece of information about a significant and
recent event that affects the audience and is of interest to them.
3. You must be aware of the famous definition of news developed by Jhon B. Bogart, City editor of
the New York 'Sun'. He defined the news like this: "when a dog bites a man, that is not news; but
when a man bites a dog, that is news. W. Jhon Bogart pointed out very correctly that unusual
events fall under the purview of the news.

4. Later, another famous editor of the Sun, defined the news as, "...everything that occurs,
everything which is of sufficient importance to arrest and absorb the attention of the public or of
any considerable part of it".
5. You must be familiar with the name of Joseph Pulitzer, the publisher of the New York World. He
defined news as, “original, distinctive, dramatic, romantic, thrilling, unique, curious, quaint,
humorous, odd, and apt-to-be-talked-about".
 6. The founder of the first School of Journalism, Walter William, defined the news as, "...News, in
its broadest sense, is that which is of interest to the readers-the public. ...".
7. The former managing editor of the New York Times said that the news was "...anything you can
find out today that you didn't know before.”

Let us recapitulate the salient points of the news based on the above definitions.

The News is:

 Perishable -When the event is understood and the tension is eased off- the news gets less
informative and more of history
 Of interest to a large number of people.
 Of unusual events and happenings.
 What is new to the public?
 An event put forward by a reporter-without a reporter, a news item does not exist.

However, you should remember that the general notion of the news varies with people and situations.
Generally, though some of the points about news may vary, but essential ingredients of the news are
universally recognized.

NEWS SOURCES

SOURCE

In journalism, a source is a person, publication, record or a document that provides information.

WHAT IS SOURCE?
Source is also called a point from where something is derived or obtained. Point of origin of
information is also called a source. A person or document that supplies information is also a
source.

NEWS SOURCES

Source in journalistic parlance, means the contacts or the people from whom the reporter receives
valuable information for news. It is impossible for a reporter to keep track of every activity or
happening in and around him and also collect the information for reporting in the media. In such
a situation the reporter has to rely on people outside the periphery of the media organization
he/she is working for to retrieve information. These people supply information and facts about
events to the reporter, which is otherwise impossible for the reporter to dig out. Normally the
reporters have reliable people at different places like the government or other offices, hospitals,
municipal body offices, state secretariats, assemblies, Deputy Commissioner’s office, police
headquarters, educational institutes and so on and so forth. The sources may range from
politicians, government officials, Public Relations Officers, police personnel to even the peons or
other junior employees of different organizations.

Sources can be of different types – primary or secondary, official or unofficial. When the news
organization’s own set of reporters or correspondents collect the news from the sources or go to
the spot and cover the event, then the news can be said to have come from primary sources. On
the other hand, news coming in from news agencies can be said to be coming from secondary
sources. Sometimes broadcast media use newspaper reports also as sources of information to
supplement their own information or the print media may supplement their information about an
event with what has been shown in the broadcast media. In such cases the print media becomes a
secondary source of information for the broadcast media and vice-versa. The types of sources are
as below: -

1. Academic journals-
Research by academics, published in journals is a frequent source of news stories. Here the
journalist job is to spot a potential story among qualifications and to render the story
intelligibly to the readers.
2. Armed forces-
In peacetime the armed forces can generate stories through mysterious deaths or cases of
bullying that comes to light. During times of conflict military briefings become events in
their own right.

3. Art groups- apart from providing information about forthcoming events, art groups can
generate rows about funding or controversial subject matter.

4. Campaigns- campaigners who want to influence public opinion on subjects ranging from
animal rights to environment are likely to come up with opinions or events that might
generate news stories.

5. Commerce & Trade- business organizations can be useful source of news stories or
comments about anything from interest rates, shares to shopping. Also, consumer stories are a
valuable source of information for evaluating the image of an organization.

6. Council press offices- local authorities employ teams of press officers. They react to
journalists’ queries, coming up with information, quotes and contacts while acting as buffer
between decision makers and journalists. Council press officers with an eye for a good story
should be able to get daily page leads in local evening newspaper because they know what
turns on the common people.

7. Court hearings- court reporters dip in and out of several courtrooms looking for cases that fit
the news values. Hence, the importance of good contacts with court staff, police, solicitors
and others should be realized. Some reporters will also go after background material like
quotes from victims and their relatives.

8. Entertainment industry- it is an increasingly important source for today’s media and

celebrities gain immensely because of popularity through media coverage. Films, serials and
various other programs gain only if media has been highlighting them.

9. Government and non-government News Network- the government/non-government news

network produces vast numbers of news release on behalf of the government/non-government
departments and agencies on a regional and national basis. It also handles ministerial and
royal visits.

10. Health authorities & hospitals- outbreak of serious disease, funding crisis, hospital closures
and health promotion are all examples of news stories that arise from health authorities.
Hospitals are source of good news stories carrying news about cures, new treatments and
general triumph-over tragedy.

11. Libraries- though it is hard to believe but the truth is that not everything is available on the
Internet. Libraries retain a useful role in providing access to reference books, company
reports, local history achieves, indexes of local societies, community notice boards and so on.
 12. News Agencies- they are the foot soldiers of journalism at a national and international level,
allowing media organizations to cover stories in areas where they have few or no staff.
Agencies keep a check on offices and local bodies and look out for news stories here.
Newspapers, radio, television, big news media houses, depend largely on the news agencies
for general news coverage. Some famous news agencies are AP Associated press of America
print, Reuters UK, PTI Press Trust of India, etc.

13. News/ press Releases- news or press releases are point of reference for the journalists while
covering an event. Badly written press releases can be waste of time both for the journalist as
well as for the organization.

14. Notice boards- Notices in shops, offices, libraries, colleges and elsewhere may also become a
source of news.

15. Other media- newspaper monitors other papers plus TV, radio, news sites on the web. And, in
turn, each medium monitors other media.

16. People- potential stories can be suggested by people you meet while at work, rest and play.
This can range from somebody mentioning that they have just seen a police car parked in
their street to other substantial information provided by the common people.

17. Political parties- contacts within parties can be a fruitful source of stories about rows and
splits, while party spokespeople will be keener to let you know about the selection of
candidates or launch of policy initiatives.

18. PR companies- this industry provides the journalists and us a peek into the media world every
day. So it is a major source for the journalists.

19. Press conferences- press conferences are likely to be held to announce the results of official
inquiries or to unveil new appointments. Fewer press conferences take place these days, as
most journalists are too busy to go and collect information that could be faxed or emailed.

20. Universities- universities are a source of a huge range of stories, whether it is ground
breaking research, an unusual degree scheme or an ethical argument. They are also where you
will find experts in everything from aeronautics to the zodiac.

The above sources of news can be summarized into two major groups.

a. Primary and secondary sources.

Primary sources Secondary sources

Eyewitnesses Archives
Perpetrators, survivors and victims Internet
Official sources/spokespeople Books
Experts Newspapers and other media
Activists and NGOs Official records, reports and documents
Press Releases
TYPES OF NEWS
News is often categorized into two types on the basis of importance;
a) Hard News and
b) Soft news.

Hard News
Hard news can simply be described as accounts of an event that has happened or are about to happen,
impacting a large part of the society. This specific type of news has to be covered almost immediately.
Hard news stories that have developed overnight or on the same day are often referred to by journalists as
‘breaking news’. Such news stories emphasize facts as it has happened, not opinion or analysis.

It is news of important public events, such as government action, crime, international happenings, social
conditions, the economy, environment and science. It has significance for large number of people. The
front sections of a newspaper and the lead stories of a radio or TV newscast are usually filled with hard
news. Normally, a standard technique is followed while writing hard news. In case of print media, the
inverted pyramid style is followed, i.e., the most important information is placed towards the beginning of
the story and the less important ones are placed thereafter.

Hard news is also called spot news or breaking news, because the news organizations disseminate the
news as soon as it happens. Hard new generally refers to up-to-the-minute news and events that are
reported immediately, while soft news is background information or human-interest stories. A hard news
story takes a factual approach: What happened? Who was involved? Where and when did it happen?
Why? Politics, war, economics and crime used to be considered hard news, while arts, entertainment and
lifestyles were considered soft news. But increasingly, the lines are beginning to blur.

Hard news usually attempts to answer the basic 5 ‘W’s and 1 ‘H’ questions. These are : · Who – the
people in the story · What- the events or actions that prompted the story · When – the time period ·
Where- the physical location · Why – comment on the reasons · How- further information on how the
event took place Normally, a standard technique is followed while writing hard news. In case of print
media, the inverted pyramid style is followed, i.e., the most important information is placed towards the
beginning of the story and the less important ones are placed thereafter. In the broadcast media, the less
important information is simply left out. Instead broadcast reporting follows a square format. The
information level stays about the same throughout the story. The hard news writing style is usually
followed while writing news about important public events, government actions, international events,
economic and social affairs, crime, science and technology, environment etc.
For instance, if a fire breaks out in any part of Guwahati causing considerable damage to the property of
the dwellers, including human lives, the information about this unprecedented devastation needs to be
given immediately. Or when a bomb blast takes place, the news about it would be immediately flashed in
the news media in the form of hard news stating the facts like where it happened, casualty, action taken
etc. These two are examples of hard news. Usually there are three types of coverage that falls under hard
newsspot coverage, depth coverage and enterprise coverage. In today’s parlance hard news is also called
spot news or breaking news, because the news organizations break out the news as soon as it happens,
without delaying. Examples of spot news stories include plane crashes, assassinations, fires, elections and
trial verdicts.
Some of the essential features of spot news are- ¾ Lead-off sentences are event based, telling the most
significant or interesting development. Lesser known facts follow suit. ¾ Witnesses and expert sources
are cited. ¾ Coverage reacts to events, which could be something related to a natural event or a scheduled
event like a press conference. ¾ Information for spot news stories is gathered and written against a
deadline. ¾ Coverage of different events is competitive as reporters from numerous news organizations
simultaneously cover the same event.
Depth coverage is also a form of hard news but it goes beyond spot developments. While spot news
focuses on events, depth coverage is concerned with providing details and explanation of broad
phenomena. Some of the characteristics of depth coverage are – ¾ Journalists rely on their curiosity and
enterprise to decide what to cover rather than letting sources or events set their agenda. ¾ The entire
process of gathering news and information is an extensive one ¾ Since depth coverage is proactive, with
journalists deciding what to pursue, stories basically take the form of scoops that most of the competitors
don’t have ¾ Since such form of news reporting does not involve deadlines, depth news stories are fine-
tuned and show advanced writing skills.
There is another form of coverage known as enterprise coverage. This form of coverage of news events is
possible because of the enterprising ability of a few persons who would take necessary steps in order to
extract information beforehand. For example, Reuters, the British news service exhibited enterprise in
setting up satellite transmission facilities that gave it an edge in covering the dramatic ousting of
Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe in 1990. CNN also led an early coverage of the
coalition war against Iraq in 1991 because months earlier it arranged for backup communication systems
in case regular lines went down.

Soft News:
News which doesn‘t depend much on the time element is often called soft news.
Many journalists define soft news as news that entertains as it informs, with more
emphasis on human interest, novelty and colourful writing and less on facts and
events that have just happened. It does not mean that soft news lacks factual
foundation.
Such news has much importance on the lives of the audience. It depends upon human
interest for its news value and appeal people‘s curiosity, sympathy, scepticism or
amazement. Features, editorials, articles, etc fall under this category. Reactions and
views are also included in soft news. Such news stories usually deal with human
interest angles. Most of the soft news originates from the hard news. Normally the
follow up stories of a major event, highlighting the angles not covered in the hard
news items, mostly the human interest angle are soft news. For example, when you
read that a severe cyclone has killed thousands of people in an area, that‘s hard news.
However when you read about the personal stories of a team of volunteers digging
out the victims, that‘s soft news.
The idea of such news stories is to arouse curiosity among the readers or viewers and
heighten emotional appeal by presenting it in an interesting manner.
The conventional inverted pyramid style of news writing is not applied while dealing
with soft news stories. The writer has the liberty to be extremely innovative and
creative. He or she can write a little longer, use more dramatic language, create
laughter, may even include some opinion in the story. Longer soft news stories are
often called ―features‖ or ―feature stories.

NEWS: VALUES, ELEMENTS AND FUNCTIONS

The following are the factors that determine, affect and influence the news value of any news story:
(i) Timeliness: This is an important factor that decides the news value. If the news is not timely, it has
little or no value. There is a fierce competition among newspapers to publish important events as
quickly as possible. Strict watch is kept on news events till the eleventh hour, i.e., the deadline when
the final pages go to print. In case something really important happens, other stories are pushed to the
back pages or dropped and the important story is flashed on the front page. This is done keeping in
view the reader’s desire for information on the latest happenings. If there is any delay in the coverage
of news, the reader might lose interest in the news or the news element itself might diminish. (ii)
Proximity: Human beings are inclined to know about the news events as soon as possible. Things that
happen at faraway places like other countries are of relatively lesser interest to people. Something
happening in the locality draws more interest than something occurring in the other town or for that
matter, in another country. For example, a crime incident in the city evokes more interest than
something that happens in a neighbouring country. (iii) Eminence: If the focus of the news is
someone of prominence like the President or the Prime Minister, the interest of the reader
automatically shifts to him as compared to people of little or no eminence at all. For example, many
ordinary people die in road accidents and hardly anyone bothers. Even the passerby thinks twice
before stopping, particularly in metropolises. Moreover, the utterances of eminent people also make
news; their speeches decide the leads of newspapers. (iv) Size: Different angles to a story decide its
size. This happens particularly in crime-oriented stories. The more the angles to a story, the more will
be the interest of readers in it. So at times, size also determines the news values of stories. (v) News
policy of the news organization: The spectrum of coverage that a news organization decides in
accordance with the readership it wants to cater news to is also an important determinant of the news
value. For example, Indian Express enjoys a special readership because of its, what some people say,
‘anti-establishment stance’. (vi) Human interest: People are always interested in knowing what is
happening to other people. Something that deviates from ordinary course of life is always interesting.
The uncertainty of human nature and oddity of circumstances normally contributes to such stories.
For example, in 2006 a boy named Prince fell into a deep bore-well pit and this prompted the media
to go after the story. Human interest is much in demand as far as news value is concerned. (vii)
Novelty or oddity: Anything that is new or odd in a way adds to the value of the news. For example,
in 2006 Pravin Mahajan, brother of then prominent BJP leader, shot his elder brother in his flat. It
was something absolutely unusual with no other parallel in Indian politics. So it made banner
headlines throughout the country. (viii) Conflict: Like creative stories, conflict plays an important
role in determining news value. Conflict of any kind is news, whether it is the family squabble of
Ambani brothers, agitation of Gujjars in Rajasthan to be included in the list of scheduled castes,
Telangana movement in Andhra Pradesh or the scourge of Naxalites in many states of India. (ix)
Weather and sports: Both categories of weather and sports carry considerable news value. Monsoon
arrival, cyclones, soaring (or plummeting) of mercury, icy chilly winds or dust storms make front
page news material. Many newspapers dedicate entire page or a couple of pages to sports. (x) Follow-
up: News items carry a lot of interest for the general public when the issues are followed up and
updated. Follow-up of news events keeps the interest of readers alive. Every good news story has
follow-ups as it does not end at the first reference only.

Elements of news
There are certain parameters on which any news has to be tested. News has certain fundamental
qualities, which are as follows:  Accuracy:Accuracy is basic to any news item. It will not be an
exaggeration to say that it is the backbone of any news story or news item. When a reporter fails in
accuracy, s/he loses credibility. Before writing the news, it is absolutely must for a reporter to
crosscheck the facts and information. S/he has to check facts, figures and names to make sure that the
meaning is not changed and the statements are not quoted out of context.  Balance: A news item,
report or story has to be balanced and this is as important as being accurate. While writing about a
controversy, both sides of the story should be given. A story may appear to be ‘imbalanced’ and thus
biased, if it has too much of government views, or tends to give too much of foreign news which has
little relevance to readers.  Objectivity:The reporter’s opinions should not creep into the story. Only
facts and other people’s opinions should be reported. The reporter should be a disinterested observer,
reporting events without taking sides.  Clarity: The opening sentence should be short and in active
voice to the maximum extent possible. The ideal length of each paragraph may be 3–4 lines
containing one-to-three small sentences to facilitate easy comprehension.  Impact: Whenever a
reporter does a news report, s/he should consider the impact the story will make. Will it induce some
changes for the better? S/he will have to develop a ‘nose for news’, particularly news that will leave
an impact.

QUALITIES OF A REPORTER
Like any professional a news reporter must possess certain qualities to be successful.
The following are the basic qualities of a good reporter.
1. News Sense: The primary job of a reporter is discovering the news. Hence it
is the basic quality of any reporter. The news reporter should have the news

sense or the nose for the news to differentiate what is news and what is non-
news. She must know what public interest is and what a publicity stunt is.

2. Clarity: A good reporter always has clarity of mind and expression. A confused
mind cannot present a clear story. The Reporter should be able to
present the news in simple and
logical way.
3. Objectivity: It refers to being to
have fairness, disinterestedness,
factuality, and nonpartisanship in
news reporting. Goo Reporters,
always resist their personal bias or
ideas and present the story in factual
and balanced way. They always
cover the views of representatives
of both sides of a controversy
without favouring one side to
achieve the balance. They never
dilute the story with personal views
and partial comments.
4. Accuracy: Good reporters always
strive for accuracy. They never
tamper with the facts. They check
and re-check the facts when dealing
with the facts and figures. Reporting

inaccurate information is considered as moral crime and can harm the credibility
of the reporter and news media.
5. Alertness: The reporter has to be alert in all situations. It helps to catch the
scoop. It also helps to keep abreast with all the happenings that are taking
place in the subject of the Reporter.
6. Speed: The News Reporter should think fact, decide fast and write fast to
meeting the pressing deadline or to cover another story. Being lazy will affect
performance of the reporter.
7. Calmness: Reporters work in different work environment. Good Reporters
remain calm and composed in most exciting and tragic circumstances. They
withstand the mounting pressure of long and erratic work schedules and maintain
they cool even amidst trying circumstances.
8. Curiosity: it is another very important quality of any good reporter. Good
Reporters are curious all the time. The spirit of curiosity helps them get good
stories.
9. Scepticism: Good Reporters should not take anything for granted. Healthy
scepticism is good for a reporter. They should not clear their doubt without
undeniable proof.
10. Punctuality: This quality helps the reporter to reach on time and not missing
anything. It is always better to reach on time and wait that reach late and ask
others. Punctuality also helps in building faithful relationship with the sources.
11. Patience: Reporting is a daily test of patience, the voluntary self control or
restraint that helps one to endure waiting, provocation, injustice, suffering or
nay of the unpleasant situation.
12. Imaginativeness: Being a storyteller the reporter should be imaginative to narrate
the story in the most interesting manner. This quality helps in presenting the
story in a better manner.
13. Farsightedness: This is about envisioning the future. It helps the reporters to
identify the processes and people that will be important in future. It is one
quality that helps in determining the importance of an event and in thinking
ahead of time and prepare accordingly.
14. Self Discipline: It refers to the dedication and firm commitment. Self discipline
helps the reporters to discharge their responsibilities effectively.
15. Integrity: Good Reporters are always honest and strictly adhere to the code of
ethics. The reporters should not be biased by temptations. This quality helps
the reporter to do away with all the immoral influences prevailing in the field.
16. Fearlessness: A good reporter is courageous and confident. Without courage
and confidence it is difficult for a person to be a good reporter. The Reporter
should not fear to ask unpleasant questions and taking risk to dig out the truth.

17. Tactfulness: The Reporter should have capability to handling any kind of
situation and people gracefully without causing hurt or angry feelings. A good
reporter is always considerate of others and careful not to embarrass, upset or
offend any. Flexibility and sociability helps in developing contact and information
gathering.
18. Initiative: Reporters should have outgoing nature with initiative and drive. They
must be assertive and aggressive to be successful.
19. Mobility: Good reporters always enjoy moving around and meeting people.
They never hesitate to travel to distance places for stories, if required.
20. Diligence: The reporters have to be diligent workers. Their jobs require
painstaking exertion of effort, alertness and dedication. They should seek
perfection, love their jobs and work hard to deliver spotless pieces of work.
21. Good Writing Ability: Reporters should be able to write well. By writing very
well I mean writing clear and well-focused stories that is easy to understand
by everyone. Good spellings, punctuations and grammar are also requirements.
22. Well Read: There is the need to have wide general knowledge on different
issues. The Reporter has to be better read or well informed about the
surroundings in order to tap the changing attitudes of the society and changing
situation.
23. Team Spirit: Since News Production is a team work, the reporter should have
the zeal to work in a team. As a member of the team the reporters should
know in clear terms, the role and responsibilities vested upon them and deliver
them in the best way possible.

STRUCTURE OF A NEWS REPORT

In previous sections we have discussed about what news is and what are its elements.
Once news is selected, the journalist writes the news report. Though individual style of
news presentation varies organisation to organisation or individual to individual, all
news reports contain a headline, a by-line or credit line, a dateline, a lead, a body and
conclusion. Headline: It is the most visible part of a news report and often is either
the summary or the major
point of the story. Usually
headline is written in a font
few sizes bigger than the rest
of the news story. A reader
decides to read the story
after reading the headline.
Sometimes headlines try to
create curiosity through
interesting use of language
and prompt the reader to
read the full story.
By-line / Credit line: This identifies the
source of the story or the writer. It could
be the name of the journalist who has
filed the story or the agency from which
the story has been sourced. In the first
example it is M Saraswathy. That
means M Saraswathy has filed this news story. In the second example it is written as
‘Statesman News Service’. That means it is sourced from the Statesman’s Bureau.
When a person or journalists name is mentioned, it is called by-line and when there is
no mention of the person’s name it is called credit line. The credit line could be the
‘agency’ from which news is taken or ‘by our correspondent’ or ‘our bureau’ or ‘by
our special correspondent’ etc.
Dateline: In both the news examples, name of a place and a date is mentioned below
the credit line or by-line and before beginning of the actual news. This is called dateline.
This informs the date on which the reporter has filed the story and the place from
where the reporter has filed the story.
Lead: This is the opening paragraph of a news story. This gives the most important
information very briefly. It is always short and crisp and reflects the mood of the story.
If the lead is not effective, the reader may skip the story. Generally it answers 5W
(Who, What, Where, When and Why) and I H (How).
Body: It gives the additional details or elaborates the event. In this part actual story is
narrated. The body describes what the story is all about in order of importance of
information, whereas the lead provides just the gist of the actual event. It is divided into
several paragraphs and written in inverted pyramid style. We shall discuss about inverted
pyramid style later.

EDITORIAL VALUES
News is the central awareness creating zone among the people. Being the focus among
the people and the only source people can information, there are basic values according
to which the news stories are edited. These values must always be kept into mind so as
to provide the true face of news stories in front of the readers.
1. Objectivity - Not every happening, incident or information can be a news.
Every story must have an objective strictly specified in the minds of the editor.
Specification of the objective of the news story is important because it avoids
the possibility of any confusion between various angles of news.
2. Facts - Facts are the mirror of a news story. The act as the building blocks of
any story. Facts must always be in their true form, not creating any false
impression for the reader. A news story must contain all the information that is
necessary for the awareness of the people. 3. Impartiality - The work of the editor is to display facts
about an incident the
way they are. The information must neither be added nor subtracted. It must
be exactly what has happened without any personal opinions of the editor. An
editor must never give a biased angle to the story. The news must be rid of any
partiality by the editor.
4. Balance - The work of the editor is to make a news story balanced. However,
it is one of the toughest jobs of any editor but balancing a story binds the
reader in the most appropriate way. The facts must be present completely
providing a complete meaning to any happening as a whole. The facts must
not be elaborated in detail that it traps the reader in a mess. In case of any
story, such words must be added which conveys the emotions of the story but
do not give it a biased touch.
Let’s learn about these values in details
2.3.1 OBJECTIVITY
It is that which is not forcing your own personal
opinions on the news. The opposite of
objectivity is subjectivity. Objectivity implies
a standard. But if a standard exists, then why
don’t two newspapers ever have the same
angle on a breaking story? If they’re all writing
objective stories, how can they all present the
same story differently? From the very moment
a story is assigned, there exists bias. An editor
wants one story over another story because
they think it’s a better story. They then run with a particular angle because they think
that it’s more interesting. The writer decides who to interview and, equally importantly,
who not to interview. They decide what to ask and what not to ask, what research
needs to be done and what doesn’t. They then decide what the lead should be, what
the angle should be (unless it’s already been decided from above), who should be
quoted first and who should be quoted longer. Editors then decide what to change,
what to cut, what to add and what headline should go at the top. More editors decide
where the story should be placed and which pictures should appear alongside it. If
you’re writing a story with conflict, there will be decisions made by a number of people
that will affect the way the story is written. Those decisions will affect the way the story
is perceived by the reader. This ability to influence perception is very powerful. It’s
your job to find out everything you can from all sides of any issue you write about.
Always find out what different sides have to say (there are always more than two). If
the research shows that your stand on an issue is wrong, then it’s wrong. If the facts
don’t back up your opinion, your opinion needs to change. Objectivity means that
when covering hard news, reporters don’t convey their own feelings, biases or
prejudices in their stories. They accomplish this by writing stories using a language that
is neutral and avoids characterizing people or institutions in ways good or bad. But for
the beginning reporter accustomed to writing personal essays or journal entries, it can
be hard to do this. One trap beginning reporters fall into is the frequent use of adjectives.
Adjectives can easily convey one’s feelings about a subject.
2.3.2 BALANCE
Balance is the devil’s advocate and the lynchpin of
credibility for your story. Without a balanced
representation of all viewpoints, your story ends up
serving the goals of those people you chose to interview
rather than representing an accurate spectrum of
opinion and dissent. One of the more difficult, and hotly
debated, aspects of balance is that it’s necessities
change story by story. Balancing one story may be as
simple as asking a few students what they think of dining hall food. But often it’s more
difficult than that. Balance means fair representation. If there is a voice of dissent or
assent, they deserve to be represented in your story. There is an element of judgment
to balance, though. Representing racist or homophobic views that are poorly informed
on the topic of your article doesn’t serve to inform anyone. Your responsibility as a
journalist extends to interviewing people who are knowledgeable in the field you are
investigating; who are not reactionary message pushers; and who can legitimately debate
issues at hand.
2.3.3 ACCURACY
Accuracy can have a huge affect on the credibility of
your paper, your article and you as a journalist. It is
imperative that you fact-check and ensure that what
you’ve written is, in fact, true. Before, during, and
after you have finished writing a piece, you should go
back and check everything that is considered a fact.
This includes: Nouns (names and places), Dates and
times, Job titles, duties, Literary quotations, Interview
quotations, Statistics, Sequence of actions, Contact
information.

2.3.4 IMPARTIALITY
Impartiality, which is not taking sides on an issue where there is a dispute. Impartiality
also includes presenting all sides of an argument fairly, what we call balance. Even if
you have strong feelings about an issue, you must not use the news to put over your
own arguments; you must not try to give extra time or better coverage to people you
agree with and less time or worse coverage to those you disagree with. For the good
journalist, objectivity and impartiality are two sides of the same coin. If you can be
objective and control your personal feelings on an issue, you can also be even-handed
in your treatment of all sides. Although impartiality or bias can enter all areas of
journalism, the greatest dangers lie in reporting politics, industrial disputes, religion,
race and sport. Any area in which people have very strong feelings can lead to conflict
and to bias in reporting the issue.

The same general principles which govern objectivity can also help you to be impartial.
Forget your personal preferences while working on a story, stand back from it and try
to look at the issues through the eyes of people both for and against. That may not
change your personal opinion that something is wrong, but it will help you to be fair. If
you do believe very strongly in a particular cause, you must develop two personalities
- the You-at-Home and the You-at-Work - and keep them separate. Many journalists
in democratic countries support one political party or another. They may vote for a
party or even be a member. But to keep a reputation as an unbiased journalist, they
should not allow their party loyalty to influence their news judgment. The party supporter

must be kept to the You-at-Home; the objective, impartial journalist is the You-at-
Work. Being objective is only part of the battle against bias. The other part involves

recognizing when one side in a dispute is applying unfair pressure to get their case in
the news (or another side is not getting its fair share of coverage). This can be obvious
and easy to correct, or more subtle and much harder to put right.

2.3.5 FAIRNESS
It means that reporters covering a story must
remember there are usually two sides – and
often more – to most issues, and that those
differing viewpoints should be given roughly
equal space in any news story. Let’s say the
local school board is debating whether to
ban certain books from the school libraries. Many residents representing both sides of
the issue are there. The reporter may have strong feelings about the subject.
Nevertheless, he should interview citizens who support the ban, and those who oppose
it. And when he writes his story, he should convey both arguments in a neutral language,
giving both sides roughly equal space.
Practicing fairness
There are several ways you can allow personal bias to destroy objectivity and impartiality
in the way you handle news. You should be aware of the dangers at each stage of the
process of news production, from the first decision to cover a story through to its
presentation on a page or in a bulletin.
1. Selection of news
Busy newsrooms constantly have to make decisions about which stories to cover and
which to ignore. The selection of stories can introduce a very basic bias if it is not done
objectively. Simply because you disagree with a government, a group or an individual
does not mean that you can suppress all stories which show the good side of them and
cover only those which show them unfavorably. You should be even-handed. This is
particularly important at such times as election campaigns. Your decisions on which
stories to cover should be made on the principles which govern what makes news.
News should be new, unusual, interesting, significant and about people. The exact
balance of these criteria may vary depending on your audience. If you work for a
scientific magazine, you may select different stories to a journalist who works in the newsroom of a
pop music radio station. You must develop an accurate understanding
of what is news to your audience, then be fair and consistent in the selection of every
story.
2. Choice of sources
Even if you have to overcome a personal prejudice and decide to cover a story you
find disagreeable, you must still take care that you are fair in your choice of sources of
information. It is not fair to choose to interview an attractive personality for a cause
you support but an unattractive or muddled person for a cause you oppose. There is
also the danger that, if you are asked to cover a story you dislike doing, you will fail to
put enough energy into finding interviewees and arranging to talk to them. For example,
someone you dislike may not want to talk to you. You must not say: “Oh well, let’s
forget him.” You should try your hardest to get an interview or at least a comment. If
you want to be a good journalist, you should put your best effort into every story. That
way you produce a good product and help objectivity.
In some cases people will be unwilling or unable to give an interview. Maybe they are
just too busy, maybe they hate the sound of their own voice. Of course, you should try
your very best to convince them they should do the interview. You should still try for
balance, even if it means finding someone else to speak for them or writing about their
previous position on the issue. (Be careful, though, that your story makes clear that this
is not a response to the present issue.) Always try to get some comment because using
phrases like “declined to comment” shows that you are unable to present a fair and
balanced report. If this happens too often, your reputation as a fair and honest reporter
will suffer. But remember this: To maintain balance, you do not need to present both
sides of an argument in one story, even though it is preferable. Balance will be achieved
if you give an opposing view in the follow-up story.
3. Interviewing techniques
Do not abandon objectivity when you conduct the interview. It may be difficult to
interview someone who stands for something you oppose or who has done something
you dislike, but you must continue to be fair and accurate. For example, if you are
interviewing a drug addict or a thief, remember you are not there as a policeman or
prosecutor. Do not demand answers in an aggressive tone. Keep your temper. The
golden rule of all interviewing is to be polite but persistent.
Questions should be fair and you must take as much care when taking notes or recording
as for any interview. If accusations have been made against the interviewee, do not
make them sound like your accusations. Instead of saying: “You ran away from your
responsibilities, didn’t you?” you should say: “Critics say that you ran away from your
responsibilities. Did you?” The outcome is the same, only the tone is fairer. This advice
applies particularly to broadcast journalists, some of whom like to ask aggressive
questions for dramatic effect - the so-called tough interviewer. If that is your style, you
must use it with everyone, not just the people you dislike.
4. Selecting material
Having conducted your interviews, you now have to put your material together into a
story. Whether working for newspapers, magazines, radio or television, you have to
select which facts and quotes to include and which to leave out. You will probably
write your story in the usual inverted pyramid, with the most important things at the
start. Here again, you must be fair in choosing material. There are usually two sides to
every argument, so do not be one-sided in choosing what facts to include or which
words to quote. If your interviewee has said: “I support the present government, but
with some serious reservations”, it would be wrong to use only the quote: “I support
the present government.” Be fair and quote accurately, making sure that the meaning
of each comment is put in context with what else is being said. If the person you have
interviewed stressed the importance of one particular aspect, do not omit it simply
because you disagree with what was said. You should judge each comment
independently under the criteria for what is news. That way you maintain objectivity.
5. Language
The language in which a story is written is very important. It is quite easy to change the
whole of a sentence by adding one or two words loaded with a particular meaning.
For example, your interviewee might have made some remarks quite forcefully. It
would be wrong to describe them as “firm” simply because you liked him, or “harsh”
because you did not. Stick to facts. If he moved his finger as he made certain remarks,
you can mention it but remember that there is a lot of difference between such words
as “waved” (which some people do with their fingers naturally while speaking),
“wagged” (which people usually do while telling someone off) and “jabbed” (which is
used to make a forceful point or accusation). In fact, it is better to keep such descriptions
out of news stories, although they can be used when writing features to show something
about the person involved.
Any words you use instead of the verb “said” when attributing facts and opinions can
add a bias to your reporting. Journalists often like to find alternatives for the word
“said”, because they think that repetition becomes boring. If you do use alternatives,
you must recognize that some imply that you believe the person quoted while others
imply that you do not believe them.
Many journalists use a thesaurus to find alternative words to enliven their copy. A
thesaurus should only be used if you have a very good understanding of the language.
It is much better to use a dictionary to find the exact meaning of a word. If you use
clear and simple language and leave out as many adjectives and adverbs as possible,
you will limit the chance of bias entering into your copy.
Once again, if your interviewee accuses someone, you must make it clear that they are
the interviewee’s words, not your own. For example, if he says that the regime in
Tilapia is brutal, attribute the remark to him, either in reported speech or in a quote. Do
not allow it to be seen as your own comment. Remember, one man’s regime is another
man’s government. One man’s cabinet is another man’s junta.
There are also good legal reasons for choosing your words carefully. In most countries
you can be prosecuted for making false statements about someone which causes them
harm. You should not blemish a person’s name without a special reason, even though
what you say is factually correct. There is no need to call a person who kills his daughter
“a beast”. If he has not been tried it is for the courts to decide his guilt or innocence. If
he has been found guilty, your story will be stronger if you carefully and accurately
record the facts without gory details and personal judgments. It will also keep your
reputation as an objective journalist.
6. Placing the story
If you are a sub-editor in a newsroom, you should be fair where you place a story in
the paper or bulletin. Do not let personal feelings interfere with your news judgment.
Just because you are strongly opposed to deer hunting, you cannot choose to lead
with that and put the story about the Prime Minister’s assassination further down if
they are both new. There is no excuse for hiding a story down the page or bulletin
simply because you do not like what is said.
Your readers or listeners may disagree with you over the order in which you rank
stories because they also have special likes and dislikes. But if you are fair and follow
the guidelines of news value, you will be able to defend your news judgment against all
sides.

2.4 MEANING OF BALANCE AND FAIRNESS

Balance and fairness are classic buzzwords of journalism ethics: In objective journalism,
stories must be balanced in the sense of attempting to present all sides of a story.
Fairness means that a journalist should strive for accuracy and truth in reporting, and
not slant a story so a reader draws the reporter’s desired conclusion. Some critics
argue that journalists never succeed in being completely balanced and fair — in telling
all sides of a story. News coverage often represents the voices of those only on both
extremes of the spectrum or voices of those who are the most powerful. Election
coverage is a good example of this. In many countries, candidates from non-mainstream
parties garner little news coverage. Consider the case of most of the ‘Independent’
candidates in India. This, critics argue, leads to candidates never building recognition
and, therefore, never getting elected.
Breaking news
Journalists are often criticized for lack of balance and fairness in breaking news
situations. Some media publish uncorroborated Twitter feeds that, at best, tell a story
only in pieces. An accusation against a prominent individual may be posted online
before a response is solicited or before the accused may even have been informed of
the comment. Media critics and watchdogs of all political persuasions are quick to
jump on such reports in their zeal to
prove a lack of fairness and balance.
Do they have a point? Are fairness and
balance achieved only when all of the
disparate pieces of a breaking news
story are consolidated and organized
into a coherent whole? What of the
damage done in the interim? How much
must a journalist try for fairness and
balance while on deadline?