What Is News - JNL-1102, Reporting and Writing I, Professor Austin, National Management College,...

Where Americans get news

TV is still No. 1.

Internet

growing

fast.

Print

newspapers

losing

ground.

Radio 4th

and up

slightly.

Where young Americans get news

Your news 1. Write down your definition of news.

2. Write down a sentence or two about a news

story you remember reading, viewing or

hearing in the last few days. What made it

memorable?

WHAT IS

NEWS? With your audience in mind,

use these questions to

assess the newsworthiness

of a story.

Definitions of news

“News is the first rough draft of history,”

– Phil Graham,

Washington Post publisher

Definitions of news “News is anything that makes a reader say, ‘Gee whiz,’”

– William Randolph Hearst,

American newspaper tycoon

Definitions of news “News is anything that will make people talk.”

– Charles Dana,

editor of The New York Sun

Me

tro

po

lita

n M

use

um

of A

rt,

Ne

w Y

ork

http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/406329

Definitions of news “News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress. All the rest is advertising.”

– Lord Northcliffe,

British newspaper tycoon

Definitions of news “When a dog bites a man, that is not news. But when a man bites a dog, that is news.”

– Charles Dana,

New York Sun editor

Definitions of news “News: stories about events that have just happened and should be told to readers right away”– Writing and Reporting News

Definitions of news “News is information that is important or interesting for a large number of people.”– Writing and Reporting News

News depends on the audience

Students at the National Management College

Audience determines news

Adult Yangon residents

Audience determines news

Younger Yangon residents

Different geography, different audiences

Shan

Herald

By W

ag

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Cassim

iro

"A

ran

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"

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Different geography, different audiences

For a

national,

not

regional,

audience

How is the audience different?

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

8 questions to ask in search of news

1. Is it unusual?


people?


involved?

4. Is it timely?


6. Is it local?

7. Is it useful?


entertaining?

Photo by sskennel


1. Is it unusual?


1. Is it unusual?


people?


involved?

4. Is it timely?


6. Is it local?

7. Is it useful?


entertaining?

Photo by sskennel


2. Does it impact many people?



people?


involved?

4. Is it timely?


6. Is it local?

7. Is it useful?


entertaining?

Photo by sskennel


3. Are prominent people involved?

“I don’t know all the

acronyms that NGO

workers know. But

that’s a good thing

when it comes to the

average Joe watching

TV in America.” –

Actor Matt Dillon

From Coconuts Yangon

NAMES

make

NEWS

3. Are prominent people involved?



people?


involved?

4. Is it timely?


6. Is it local?

7. Is it useful?


entertaining?

Photo by sskennel


4. Is it timely?

“News is

anything you

know now that

you did

not know 15

minutes

ago – or 15

seconds ago.”

Mario Garcia,

news-design

expert 8 minutes after the bombing!


1. Is it unusual?


people?


involved?

4. Is it timely?


6. Is it local?

7. Is it useful?


entertaining?

Photo by sskennel




people?


involved?

4. Is it timely?


6. Is it local?

7. Is it useful?


entertaining?

Photo by sskennel


6. Is it local?

What if

the cruise

ship had

sunk on

the Hlaing

River in

Yangon?

HATCH them.

MATCH them.

DISPATCH

them.

6. Is it local?

HATCH them.

6. Is it local?

MATCH them.

6. Is it local?

DISPATCH

them.

6. Is it local?



people?


involved?

4. Is it timely?


6. Is it local?

7. Is it useful?


entertaining?

Photo by sskennel


7. Is it useful?

NEWS

you can

USE



people?


involved?

4. Is it timely?


6. Is it local?

7. Is it useful?


entertaining?

Photo by sskennel


8. Is it interesting or entertaining?

• Often,

sports

news.

• Also,

well-

written

stories

• “Human

interest”

• “Soft

news”


• Often,

sports

news.

• Also,

well-

written

stories

• “Human

interest

• “Soft

news”

“Hey,

MARTHA” test


By B

en

Ga

rne

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Hard news vs. soft news Hard or breaking news

Timely stories about events that have just

happened or are about to happen.

Examples:

• Crime

• Accidents

• Disasters

• Government reports

• Parliament passes a law

• One company buys another

• Results of a badminton match Photo by Steven Taschuk

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stebulus/5063131410/in/photolist-8HpSz9-e9NmyL-qzLCQ7-q7AX3h-oXmE2n-cic8AQ-rPeMYN-shzXEE-aNjWk-dFgUG-i3pzXG-pMHprW-nTSAZN-6SejnW-ckLaS1-cHpr5q-eyhUaN-kqCUQp-cVpoHS-cCFomh-bdrwDM-dwq1mt-6dapaS-qds5H2-6H38M3-a5FmjS-qzQtVZ-dNYw5a-fFVecc-oyrZ5H-8tbPWo-rujS1s-fDKyuT-cVpnv5-aqs4AP-qioLPR-fHyV3i-9ZDaVo-7SMiiN-r48fcA-d4kNpL-e4vdJC-ddhycN-hDLGto-qZU1QS-hrDFep-eiSfjK-5jLFGG-ozi93v-pxfdqJ

If it

BLEEDS,

it

LEADS.

Hard news

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.

Examples:

• Animals

• Children

• Celebrities

• Humor

• Holidays Photo by Nathan

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gemsling/416891927/in/photolist-CQFrR-3pzwg-4q7TaD-oTyArV-b449Rn-bdhBkc-jktXY5-jnjXDc-sbdB57-qHc1Ks-cvpicS-eWjpL2-kF1wTw-qymNt7-e1EmnW-9xu5a-B44kq-38Ci9Q-iX63Ai-wAge-bCdYYt-955KqK-nhZGYt-rkoAz4-6LVo3u-jZb862-ps34Mb-tJwets-49do4-c5z3aA-riosry-r6tiRW-jmz6ij-Jgxsf-eFXuvP-qS1SCj-9pj6vp-qYb4N1-qSWca2-pTi3uZ-2PYa8-qN4vGS-6CzmYa-neiLPH-5pAp3v-qRB3m3-f7jz7u-jw1sGM-f8xMhc-b4hrwx

Hard news or soft news?

Your turn!

News judgment is the

ability to determine which

stories are most

interesting and important

to readers.

News judgment is a

muscle that you must use

to develop.

Ph

oto

by E

ne

as

De

Tro

ya

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eneas/



people?


involved?

4. Is it timely?


6. Is it local?

7. Is it useful?


entertaining?

Photo by sskennel


Your turn!

A story that tells parents about the elimination of school fees for high school students relies most heavily on which element of news?

a. Impact

b. Timeliness

c. Prominence

Your turn! Last week, a football player in Thailand suffered a

concussion, and he will be unable to play for the rest of

the season. The Myanmar Times ran a paragraph about

him. Now, a football player in Yangon has suffered the

same injury with the same result, and the paper is

devoting a full page to him and his injury.

What element of news is causing this different

treatment?

a. Useful

b. Local

c. Conflict

Your turn! Burma says it has found a rare, white elephant in

the jungles of the western Ayeyarwaddy region.

The story is newsworthy

because it is:

a. Useful

b. Unusual

c. Impact

Your turn! Two celebrities, vocal stars Lynn Lynn and Chit

Thu Wai, get married in Yangon.


because it has

a. Usefulness

b. Conflict

c. Prominence

Your turn! Two celebrities, vocal stars Lynn Lynn and Chit

Thu Wai, get married in Yangon.


because it is:

a. Usefulness

b. Conflict

c. Prominence

Your turn! Myanmar and Bangladesh disagree on where

nearly 1,000 people rescued in May from boats off

the Myanmar coast are from.


because it has:

a. Usefulness

b. Conflict

c. Prominence

Your turn! Myanmar President U Thein Sein promises to set a

minimum wage for workers before the election.


because it is:

a. Useful

b. Unusual

c. Timely

Your turn! Myanmar President Thein Sein promises to set a

minimum wage for workers before the election.


because it is:

a. Useful

b. Conflict

c. Timely

Your turn! Four people died in a landslide following heavy rain

in the ruby-mining town of Mogok.


because it is:

a. Useful

b. Prominent

c. Timely

Your turn! The Irrawaddy does a feature story on the few

dozen photojournalists in Burma and the dangers

they face.


because it is:

a. Useful

b. Interesting

c. Timely

How news judgments get made Every day in newsrooms worldwide, editors make

news judgments about what runs on the front page.

Here’s how those decisions get made at:

Hold your own news meeting • Pick your top 3 stories

based on these elements:

1. Unusual

2. Impact

3. Prominence

4. Timeliness

5. Conflict

6. Local

7. Useful

8. Interesting or

entertaining

1. Thousands of migrants

missing in the Andaman Sea.

2. Strong monsoon forecast for

Yangon in June

3. Villages along the Chindwin

River are disappearing due to

illegal gold mining

4. Disabled Myanmar soldiers

will be entitled to four kinds of

pensions

5. Parliament approves a $138

million loan for a bridge to be

built between Yangon and

Dala

6. Parliament delays 5% tax on

top-up cards for cell phones

in Myanmar

Homework for June 15

• Read Chapter 3 in the text: Basic Story Structure

• Read the news: BBC Burmese Facebook and Irrawaddy

Facebook

• Study for quiz on June 15 on Chapter 4, lectures from this

week and the news from this week.

• Study for vocabulary quiz on June 22 using text and/or

Quizlet. On Quizlet, search “Reporting and Writing

News: A Basic Handbook”

• OPTIONAL: Be a Reporter Game on Newsu.org:

http://www.newsu.org/courses/be-reporter-game Free, but

requires registration.

http://www.newsu.org/courses/be-reporter-game






What Is News - JNL-1102, Reporting and Writing I, Professor Austin, National Management College,...

News & Politics

Transcript of What Is News - JNL-1102, Reporting and Writing I, Professor Austin, National Management College,...