12 THINGS TO

REMEMBER

By Robert Couse-Baker

JNL-1102 Reporting and Writing I

1. GOOD JOURNALISM MOVES PEOPLE

And it can move the world. -- Joe Grimm, journalism professor, Wayne State University

2. PYIRP

Put Yourself in the Readers’ Place

3.NEVER

ASSUME

What does

ASSUME

spell?

ASS

U

ME By horslips5

USE THE ACCURACY CHECKLIST

4. IF YOUR MOTHER SAYS

SHE LOVES YOU,...

By D

in J

ime

ne

z

CHECK

IT

OUT! By Din Jimenez

5. VERIFY

Make sure that the information a

source gives to you is true. This

may involve:

(1) observation,

(2) talking to other sources,

(3) looking at documents.

6. ASK: HOW

DO YOU

KNOW THAT?

7. YOUR

OPINIONS

8. BE BALANCED AND… •Report all sides of a subject without

favoring one over another

By v

aX

zin

e

…AND FAIR •Treat all people and subjects in an

equal, even-handed and reasonable

way.

By T

he

Piz

za

Re

vie

w

9. ATTRIBUTE

YOUR

INFORMATION

10. ALWAYS BE ON THE HUNT

By tinyfroglet

WHY?

10. ALWAYS BE ON THE HUNT

By tinyfroglet

WHO

BENEFITS?

TOP 11 PLACES TO FIND STORIES

6. Facebook

7. People

8. Paper

9. Data

10. Sources

11. Events

By nathanmac87

1. What are you

curious about?

2. What do you see?

3. What are people

talking about?

4. News media

5. Ads

11. EVERYBODY HAS A STORY

Talk to a new person daily.

Take a different path.

11. EVERYBODY HAS A STORY

12. NEVER STOP LEARNING

Read widely, and write daily.

12 THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. Good journalism moves people, and it can move the world.

2. PYIRP – Put Yourself in the Readers’ Place. Audience = #1.

3. Never assume.

4. If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

5. VERIFY using other sources, documents and observation.

6. Ask: How do you know that?

7. Be fair and balanced.

8. Leave out your opinions.

9. Attribute your information.

10. Always be on the hunt for story ideas; ask “Why?” and

“Who benefits?”

11. Everybody has a story. Talk to a new person daily, and take

a different path to work.

12. Never stop learning. Read widely, and write daily.

WHERE TO FIND PRESENTATIONS

http://www.slideshare.net/laustinnc

HOW TO STAY IN TOUCH laustin.nmc@gmail.com OR Facebook group

“Ce-zu tin-ba-deh!”

SPECIFICS TO USE • 8 questions to ask in search of news

• 3 questions to ask at the end of every interview

• How to write a direct lead and structure a hard news story as an inverted pyramid

• How to write a delayed lead and structure a news feature in 6 boxes

8 QUESTIONS TO ASK

IN SEARCH OF NEWS 1. Is it unusual?

2. Does it impact many

people?

3. Are prominent people

involved?

4. Is it timely?

5. Is it about a conflict?

6. Is it local?

7. Is it useful?

8. Is it interesting or

entertaining?

Photo by sskennel

From page 18 of textbook

TOP 11 PLACES TO FIND STORIES

6. Facebook

7. People

8. Paper

9. Data

10. Sources

11. Events

By nathanmac87

1. What are you

curious about?

2. What do you see?

3. What are people

talking about?

4. News media

5. Ads

3 QUESTIONS TO END AN INTERVIEW 1. Is there anything I haven’t asked that you’d like to talk about?

2. Whom else should I talk to for this story?

3. May I please have your mobile number and email in case I have more questions? Please contact me if you think of anything else that might help me with my story.

By Robert Couse-Baker

Hard news vs. soft news HARD OR BREAKING NEWS Timely stories about events that have just

happened or are about to happen.

Photo by Steven Taschuk

Lead

Body

• Usually one sentence

• What the story is about

• Summary of the most

important of the

5 Ws and H

• Info in order of importance

• Explains and supports lead

• Details, quotes, background

1. Collect all the

facts.

2. List the 5 Ws

and the H.

3. Prioritize the 5

Ws and the H.

4. Rewrite.

1. Accurate?

2. 30 words or

fewer?

3. Most important

facts 1st?

4. Strong, active

verb?

5. Attribution?

WRITE A DIRECT LEAD

STEPS CHECKLIST

Hard-news structure

INVERTED PYRAMID Hard-news structure

Story organization in which the most important information is

placed at the beginning, or in the lead, followed by

information that supports the lead, and then less important

information.

Hard news vs. soft news SOFT NEWS OR FEATURES News that entertains or informs with an emphasis on

human interest and novelty and less so on

immediacy. Often, inspires warm and fuzzy feelings.

Lead

Body

• May be a description of a

person or place or a little

story, or anecdote

• Includes so what or nut

graph

• No more than four graphs

• Has a beginning, middle

and end

• Good descriptions and

quotes

Ph

oto

by N

ath

an

USE 6 BOXES TO ORGANIZE

LEAD

• A description of a scene or person that draws people in.

• No more than 3 paragraphs

NUT

GRAF

• The “so what?” graf that answers: What is this story about?

• Why is this important? Why am I reading this story?

POINT 1

• One important point or fact

• Could be context or background or a detail or quote

POINT 2

• A second important point or fact

• Could be context or background or a detail or quote

POINT 3

• A third important point or fact

• Could be context or background or a detail or quote

KICKER

• A good quote or another description of the scene.

• Do not end with your opinion on the situation.

News-feature structure