Selecting and Reporting the News

1
Selecting and Reporting the News

• Chapter 6

2
The Characteristics of News

• All news stories possess certain characteristics
  or news values. Traditionally, journalists have
  said that newsworthy events are those that
  possess
• TimelinessJournalists stress current
  informationstories occurring today or yesterday,
  not several days or weeks agoand try to report
  it ahead of their competitors. Remember what the
  first three letters of news spell NEW
• Impactreporters stress information that has an
  impact on their audience and stories that affect,
  involve or interest thousands of readers or
  viewers.
• ProminenceEven routine events can become
  newsworthy when they involve prominent
  individuals or prominent places, locations
• ProximityThe closer an event is to home, the
  more newsworthy it becomes
• Singularitydeviations from the normalunique,
  unusual, unexpected events, conflict or
  controversyare more newsworthy than the
  commonplace
• Conflict or Controversytwo people arguing about
  their divergent philosophies on a social issue is
  more newsworthy than two people who agree on
  everything. The tension between the subjects
  creates the conflict that often makes a story
  dramatic and interesting to read, hear or watch.

3
Hard and Soft News

• Types of NewsJournalists recognize two major
  types of news hard and soft.
• Hard news usually refers to serious and timely
  stories about important topics government,
  education, crimes, fires, accidents, speeches,
  politics, etc. Hard news can also be called
  straight, spot, or breaking news.
• Soft news usually refers to feature or
  human-interest stories, profiles, etc.
• Soft news entertains, humors, informs and may
  evoke emotional responses. Such stories may make
  readers/viewers laugh or cry, love or hate, envy
  or pity.

4
Details Newspapers are Reluctant to Publish

• Offensive detailstoo gruesome, obscene or in
  poor taste
• Sensationalismbe careful about over-hyping or
  exaggerating stories, pandering to emotion, or
  beating a dead horse just to try to titillate
  or attract an audience
• Rumorsnews organizations are reluctant to report
  rumors, especially harmful ones. Normally
  journalists will investigate rumors and, if they
  find no evidence the rumors are true, conclude
  there is no story
• Rape victims namesmost news organizations
  refuse to identify rape victims, even though they
  have a legal right to do so (names of other
  victims of crimes are usually reported). Many
  journalists believe publishing the names of
  sexual victims would be too harmful, a second
  wound to the victim. It could also discourage
  other women from reporting rapes.
• Names of juveniles accused or found guilty of
  crimes are generally not reported unless they are
  tried as adults for a serious offense like murder
  (or some other high profile crime or incident)
• Trade or product names such as Coke, Xerox, and
  Kleenex are generally not used by reporters
  unless they are important to the story for some
  reason. They represent a form of free
  advertising. Instead use generic names such as
  soft drinks, copiers, and tissue.

5
The Importance of Accuracy

• Accuracy, objectivity, fairness and balance are
  the cornerstones of all journalism (print,
  electronic, online)
• Mistakes hurt the reputations of reporters and
  their news organizations. Carelessness and
  laziness cause most errors.
• After finishing a news story, reporters must
  recheck their notes and copy to be sure their
  stories are accurateall names, addresses, facts
  and details must be correct, spelled correctly,
  etc.
• Many perceived errors are judgmental rather than
  factual sources says comments taken out of
  context or distortedbut only about one-third of
  the errors that sources point out are
  typographical or factual errors
• Studies show most factual errors involve
  misspelled names and inaccurate times, dates,
  numbers, addresses, locations and titles

6
Have Sources Review Copy?

• This could be a way to avoid errors to give the
  people named in news stories an opportunity to
  read and correct those stories before they are
  published or broadcast
• The idea surfaces most often among science
  writers and other journalists who deal with
  complex issues
• However, editors generally prohibit the practices
• They fear that it will consume too much time and
  that sources may try to change the statements
  they disagreed with, not just factual errors

7
Corrections and Clarifications

• Most journalists agree a correction should appear
  in a paper or on the air as quickly as possible
• By correcting errors, journalists show their
  willingness to respond to public concerns
• That corrections improve their relationship with
  the public and improve their credibility
• Others argue that admitting all errors, including
  the most trivial, harms a news organizations
  credibility
• Look at Post Courier corrections