Selecting and Reporting the News Chapter 6 The

Selecting and Reporting the News Chapter 6

The Characteristics of News All news stories possess certain characteristics or news values. Traditionally, journalists have said that newsworthy events are those that possess: § Timeliness—Journalists stress current information—stories occurring today or yesterday, not several days or weeks ago—and try to report it ahead of their competitors. Remember what the first three letters of “news” spell: NEW § Impact—reporters stress information that has an impact on their audience and stories that affect, involve or interest thousands of readers or viewers. § Prominence—Even routine events can become newsworthy when they involve prominent individuals or prominent places, locations § Proximity—The closer an event is to home, the more newsworthy it becomes § Singularity—deviations from the normal—unique, unusual, unexpected events, conflict or controversy—are more newsworthy than the commonplace § Conflict or Controversy—two 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.

“Hard” and “Soft” News § Types of News—Journalists 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.

Details Newspapers are Reluctant to Publish: § Offensive details—too gruesome, obscene or in poor taste § Sensationalism—be careful about over-hyping or exaggerating stories, pandering to emotion, or “beating a dead horse” just to try to titillate or attract an audience § Rumors—news 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 victim’s names—most 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.

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 accurate—all 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 distorted…but 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

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

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 organization’s credibility § Look at Post & Courier corrections… ###