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Reporting 2
Understanding the forms in which news and information should be placed in journalistic writing and handling those forms with confidence is the mark of a maturing media writer. A couple of weeks ago, we suggested that the way to learn to write for the mass media is to do three things:
- Read
- Analyze
- Emulate
It's good to remind ourselves of that approach as we get into reporting because reporting and writing go hand-in-hand.
The information that you get from personal sources needs to be handled correctly so that it satisfies the source, the audience and the demands of journalism. One of those demands is that we tell readers where information is coming from that means attribution.
Verification
Journalism is defined by the process of verification. It is the essence of the journalistic method of finding information and assuring its accuracy.
- Consistency. Journalists use the same approach to finding information for their stories. See last week's lecture notes on sources. Who are the people we want to talk to about a story?
- Transparency. Journalists don't use secret methods, nor do they disguise themselves and what they do. They operate in the open, and they are open to criticism about their methods and actions.
- Multiple witnesses or sources. Journalists try to gather information from as many sources as possible given the nature of the event or topic and time they have to complete their work.
- Recognizing bias. Journalists first recognize their own bias and make consistent and honest efforts to assure that their methods are not change by their own bias. Then they recognize the bias that their sources have toward the information they are giving. This recognition allows them to weigh the information and correct it with other information.
- Adherence to professional forms. Many of the forms of writing, story structure and information presentation exist because they assist in the process of verification. For example, in a news story, all major information should be attributed to some source. This custom puts a burden on the writer, but it is necessary to show readers where the information comes from.
A good statement of the principles of journalism is at the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
On-the-scene reporting
Three kinds of events occur that reporters must cover: staged events; spontaneous events; and events that are a mixture of the two.
A staged event is one that is planned and about which information can be gained before the event occurs. A staged event might be a concert, a political speech, an awards ceremony or a grand opening. These events are usually managed by a person or organization and have a purpose that benefits whoever is producing the event. These are the easiest for the journalist to plan, often because the producers of the event want news coverage and will be cooperative with the journalists.
In covering staged events, journalists
- should contact the producers beforehand to get the who, what, when and where of the event.
- make sure that there are arrangements to accommodate journalists by finding out what access journalists will have to the areas of the event, to whom the journalists can talk to, the timing and scheduling of the event and so on.
- should check with the producers to see if there are any special rules in covering the event and to see if those rules are acceptable. Sometimes producers will want to limit coverage or will try to make sure that events are reported in a particular way.
- should not agree to attend and cover staged events if the conditions intrude on their freedom to write and say what they want about the event.
- check on with a staged event is to find what electronic and wireless availability there is in case journalists what to report live from the scene via the web.
A spontaneous event is when something unexpected and significant occurrs that involves more than a few people: a fire, an explosion at a factory, a major traffic jam caused by a wreck, a tornado that destorys property, etc. While many spontaneous events are bad news, that is not always the case.
Still, a spontaneous event is more likely to involve tragedy than not. Journalists must be ready to cover such events with all of the professionalism and objectivity they can display. They must remember that they are witnesses and should not get caught up in the moment and its emotions.
In covering a spontaneous event, journalists should
- try to get as close to the event’s location as possible
- should always carry some form of identification that shows they are reporters working as media professionals. Police and emergency workers are more cooperative in allowing reporters access when they are convinced the reporters are professionals.
- On September 11, 2001, CNN reporter David Mattingly was visiting family in Pennsylvania when he hear the news of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. He then realized he was about two hours away from where a plane hijacked by terrorists had crashed. He drove there immediately but did not have any identification that would show he was a reporter. He talked with the police guarding the crash scene and convinced them to let him have access to the scene by showing them his Georgia license tags (CNN headquarters is in Atlanta) and a CNN baseball cap that he had in the back seat of his vehicle. (See James Glen Stovall, Journalism: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How, Allyn and Bacon, 2005.)
- try to find officials in charge of the scene so they can get the latest information.
- try to find eyewitnesses to the event and interview them. Finally, they try to find people who have been affected by the event and talk with them about the ways in which the event has altered their lives.
- should identify themselves and make sure that people understand they are talking with a member of the news media and that they may be quoted if they continue the conversation.
- should take additional care for those who are grieving to make sure they do not take advantage of their vulnerability.
- if asked by those in grief to be left alone, they should honor that request.
A mixed event is one that has both elements of spontaneity and planning. An event might be planned, but its outcome may be in doubt. A sporting event such as football game is a good example. Journalists know generally what will happen at such events, but they still need to be there to witness the action and record the outcome.
Attribution
One of the conventions of news writing is that you give the reader some idea of what the source of the information is. This is called attribution. Three things you should know about attribution are
- most important information in a news story should be attributed to some source;
- information that is well known does not need to be attributed; for instance, you would not write, “The lake is on the north side of town,” the sheriff said;
sometimes the source of the information is so obvious that it does not need any direct attribution;
- different media have different styles of attribution; in writing for print, attribution is often direct and obvious; in broadcast writing, attribution is often implied rather than directly stated.
See the JPROF essay on verbs of attribution.
Quoting and paraphrasing
Because newswriting depends so much on personal sources of information, you will do a lot of quoting and paraphrasing. Both terms refer to attributing information to a personal source.
Quoting (or sometimes we say a direct quotation) means using the exact words that the source used. A direct quote uses quotation marks (“ ”) around the words of the source and then gives the name of the source.
A paraphrase is when you change the words of a direct quotation or when you put what the speaker has said in your own words. This is sometimes called an indirect quotation.
Direct quotation:
“My opponent is distorting my record,” Bradley said.Paraphrase
Bradley said the vice president was distorting his record.
In writing a typical news story, you should quote sparingly. There are several reasons for this.
One is that, as a trained news writer, you can generally say things more efficiently that your sources.
Another reason is that as a news writer, you are an interpreter for your readers. Lazy writers just dump a bunch of direct quotations on the reader as if to say, “Here, you figure it out.”
Still, you should use at least some direct quotation in your news stories when it is appropriate. Quoting directly gives your stories life and makes the sources seem more real.
Finally, two things about using direct quotation:
-- Notice how the quotation above is punctuated. Be sure to use the proper punctuation for your direct quotes.
-- The proper sequence for the elements in a direct quotation are direct quote, speaker, verb. Again, look at the example above.
Links and linking
Finding good links -- links to other information that will help the reader understand the story or expand the story for the reader -- has become one of the most important jobs of the journalist.
- Linking harnesses the power of the web. Print and broadcasting do not have this power.
- One of the duties of the reporter in this age of the web is to find good links about the topics on which he or she is reporting.
- Journalists must assess links on the same basis they judge other information – what is good, useful, accurate and complete.
Take a look at this article on the Art of Linking and an article on Finding links here on JPROF.
Writing tip from Roy Peter Clark
Roy Peter Clark is a writing teacher for the Poynter Institute. He has produced 50 audio pods of his favorite writing tips (available at iTunes U), and here is #3, Activate Your Verbs (1:48):
Possible writing lab activities for next week
-- Review lecture points as necessary; comments, questions?
-- Style review and quizzes as necessary
-- Continue discussion, practice interviewing
-- Exercise in finding links
-- In-class writing assignments from chapters 4, 5 and 6 as necessary; emphasize writing leads and second paragraphs
-- Introduce and discuss preview story assignment
Possible news quiz questions for this week's lecture session.
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