LADY VOLTA RESOURCE CENTRE

RSH, Journalism and Creative Writing Club

Basic Rules & Advices For Writing as a Journalist

 

In general terms, Journalism is the profession of writing or communicating for the benefit of a particular community of people.

The writer or journalist is expected to use facts to describe events, ideas, or issues that are relevant to the public.

Radio and television reporters often compose stories and report "live" from the scene. Some journalists also interpret the news or offer opinions and analysis to readers, viewers, or listeners. In this role, they are called commentators or columnists.

How does the process works?

In a print publication, the first phase of presenting a story finds the reporter involved in investigation, observation of events, research on the topic and interviews with people.

Reporters take notes and also take photographs or shoot videos, eit

her on their own, or through a photographer or camera person.

In the second phase, they organize the material, determine the focus or emphasis (identify the peg), and finally write their stories.

The story is then edited by news or copy-editors, who function from the news desk.

The headline of the story is always decided by the news desk, and p

ractically never by the reporter or the writer of the piece.

Often, the news desk also heavily re-writes or changes the style and tone of the first draft prepared by the reporter / writer originally.

Finally, a collection of stories that have been picked for the newspaper or magazine edition, are laid out on dummy (trial) pages, and after the chief editor has approved the content, style and language in the material, it is sent for publishing.

The writer is given a byline for the piece that is published; his or her name appears alongside the article.

News can be published in a variety of formats (broadsheet, tabloid, magazine and periodical publications) as well as periods (daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly).

 

Therefore the process consists of the following stages. Each stage has a different responsible person controlling it.

The process:

Opening meeting – when the “news room” decides what will be on the edition

INVESTIGATION - Reporter

INTERVIEW - Reporter

WRITING – Reporter

EDITING – Copy – Editor, editor (in this process, the editor adds the headlines or correct the headline made by the reporter)

REVIEWING – reviewer

DIAGRAMMING – designer and editor

PUBLISHING - publishing company

 

RULES FOR WRITING!

In journalism, the information is reported using the inverted pyramid model. The main information goes on the 1^st paragraph of your text, while the least important goes on the bottom.

Usually the first paragraph answers 6 main questions about the event/ fact/ subject your article is about:

Who?

What?

Where?

When?

How?

Why?

This paragraph is called the “LEAD”. It is called lead because it is the paragraph that will lead/ conduct your text.

Sometimes the “how” is implicit in the text and other times the “how” and the “what” are the same thing.

****

When writing in journalistic style, you have to be CONCISE and PRECISE. For that remember:

 - Do not use many adjectives;

-  Use SIMPLE and OBJECTIVE words, sentences and structures;

-  Always, when quoting someone for the FIRST time on your text, state the person’s full name and title. Ex: “….”, says the former UN president, Kofi Annan;

-  When using an acronym for the FIRST time you have to write down what the acronym means. Ex: The UNFPA is the United Nations Fund for Populations. So, in your text you should write, for example, “according to the United Nations Fund for Populations (UNFPA), the …”;

-  Then, for the following quotes of the same person or repetition of the acronyms, you must state only the persons last name and the acronym. Ex: “….”, said Annan, reassuring the UNFPA position;

-  Using poll and research results is always a good idea to back up your ideas;

-  Avoid using slangs and expressions that are too regional;

-  BE ON TIME! For the interviews and TO HAND YOUR FINAL PRODUCT!

Let’s look at an example of a local journalistic text:

96% Ghanaian-Americans in favour of Obama ------headline or "hed"

Only 50% are likely to vote -------- deck or "dek"

An overwhelming 96 per cent of Ghanaian-Americans will vote for Democratic presidential nominee (first reference) Senator Barack Obama, however only 50% of "Boggas" are likely to vote in Tuesday’s US elections, an opinion poll suggests.

The Graphic Ghana (GHP) (acronym) Poll found 96 per cent of those surveyed back Obama, while 1 per cent say they would vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin and 3 per cent were undecided or unwilling to to say.

The poll was conducted Sept. 22 to Nov. 2 by telephone with 63 registered likely Ghanaian-American voters.

The survey also shows that only 50 percent of Ghanaian-Americans are likely to vote in Tuesday’s US elections, compared with 82% among Japanese-Americans, 73% among Indian-Americans and 72% among Korean-Americans and 67% among the Filipio-Americans. (poll data)

Pollsters were not able to confirm if those polled were really citizens and thus had a right to vote

The Ghanaian-American community has grown from 65,700 people in 2000 to close to 80,000 in 2005, according to the US Census Bureau .

                                                                                    Source: GHP

 

Principles & Ethics 

Over time journalists have developed nine core principles to meet the task.

They comprise what might be described as the theory of journalism:

 

1. JOURNALISM'S FIRST OBLIGATION IS TO THE TRUTH

Democracy depends on citizens having reliable, accurate facts put in a meaningful context. Journalism does not pursue truth in an absolute or philosophical sense, but it can--and must--pursue it in a practical sense. This "journalistic truth" is a process that begins with the professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Then journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of their meaning, valid for now, subject to further investigation. Journalists should be as transparent as possible about sources and methods so audiences can make their own assessment of the information. Even in a world of expanding voices, accuracy is the foundation upon which everything else is built--context, interpretation, comment, criticism, analysis and debate. The truth, over time, emerges from this forum. As citizens encounter an ever greater flow of data, they have more need--not less--for identifiable sources dedicated to verifying that information and putting it in context.

2. ITS FIRST LOYALTY IS TO CITIZENS

While news organizations answer to many constituencies, including advertisers and shareholders, the journalists in those organizations must maintain allegiance to citizens and the larger public interest above any other if they are to provide the news without fear or favor. This commitment to citizens first is the basis of a news organization's credibility, the implied covenant that tells the audience the coverage is not slanted for friends or advertisers. Commitment to citizens also means journalism should present a representative picture of all constituent groups in society. Ignoring certain citizens has the effect of disenfranchising them. The theory underlying the modern news industry has been the belief that credibility builds a broad and loyal audience, and that economic success follows in turn. In that regard, the business people in a news organization also must nurture--not exploit--their allegiance to the audience ahead of other considerations.

3. ITS ESSENCE IS A DISCIPLINE OF VERIFICATION

Journalists rely on a professional discipline for verifying information. When the concept of objectivity originally evolved, it did not imply that journalists are free of bias. It called, rather, for a consistent method of testing information--a transparent approach to evidence--precisely so that personal and cultural biases would not undermine the accuracy of their work. The method is objective, not the journalist. Seeking out multiple witnesses, disclosing as much as possible about sources, or asking various sides for comment, all signal such standards. This discipline of verification is what separates journalism from other modes of communication, such as propaganda, fiction or entertainment. But the need for professional method is not always fully recognized or refined. While journalism has developed various techniques for determining facts, for instance, it has done less to develop a system for testing the reliability of journalistic interpretation.

4. ITS PRACTITIONERS MUST MAINTAIN AN INDEPENDENCE FROM THOSE THEY COVER

Independence is an underlying requirement of journalism, a cornerstone of its reliability. Independence of spirit and mind, rather than neutrality, is the principle journalists must keep in focus. While editorialists and commentators are not neutral, the source of their credibility is still their accuracy, intellectual fairness and ability to inform--not their devotion to a certain group or outcome. In our independence, however, we must avoid any tendency to stray into arrogance, elitism, isolation or nihilism.

5. IT MUST SERVE AS AN INDEPENDENT MONITOR OF POWER

Journalism has an unusual capacity to serve as watchdog over those whose power and position most affect citizens. The Founders recognized this to be a rampart against despotism when they ensured an independent press; courts have affirmed it; citizens rely on it. As journalists, we have an obligation to protect this watchdog freedom by not demeaning it in frivolous use or exploiting it for commercial gain.

6. IT MUST PROVIDE A FORUM FOR PUBLIC CRITICISM AND COMPROMISE

The news media are the common carriers of public discussion, and this responsibility forms a basis for our special privileges. This discussion serves society best when it is informed by facts rather than prejudice and supposition. It also should strive to fairly represent the varied viewpoints and interests in society, and to place them in context rather than highlight only the conflicting fringes of debate. Accuracy and truthfulness require that as framers of the public discussion we not neglect the points of common ground where problem solving occurs.

7. IT MUST STRIVE TO MAKE THE SIGNIFICANT INTERESTING AND RELEVANT

Journalism is storytelling with a purpose. It should do more than gather an audience or catalogue the important. For its own survival, it must balance what readers know they want with what they cannot anticipate but need. In short, it must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant. The effectiveness of a piece of journalism is measured both by how much a work engages its audience and enlightens it. This means journalists must continually ask what information has most value to citizens and in what form. While journalism should reach beyond such topics as government and public safety, a journalism overwhelmed by trivia and false significance ultimately engenders a trivial society.

8. IT MUST KEEP THE NEWS COMPREHENSIVE AND PROPORTIONAL

Keeping news in proportion and not leaving important things out are also cornerstones of truthfulness. Journalism is a form of cartography: it creates a map for citizens to navigate society. Inflating events for sensation, neglecting others, stereotyping or being disproportionately negative all make a less reliable map. The map also should include news of all our communities, not just those with attractive demographics. This is best achieved by newsrooms with a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. The map is only an analogy; proportion and comprehensiveness are subjective, yet their elusiveness does not lessen their significance.

9. ITS PRACTITIONERS MUST BE ALLOWED TO EXERCISE THEIR PERSONAL CONSCIENCE

Every journalist must have a personal sense of ethics and responsibility--a moral compass. Each of us must be willing, if fairness and accuracy require, to voice differences with our colleagues, whether in the newsroom or the executive suite. News organizations do well to nurture this independence by encouraging individuals to speak their minds. This stimulates the intellectual diversity necessary to understand and accurately cover an increasingly diverse society. It is this diversity of minds and voices, not just numbers, that matters.

In 1997, an organization then administered by PEJ, the Committee of Concerned Journalists, began a national conversation among citizens and news people to identify and clarify the principles that underlie journalism. After four years of research, including 20 public forums around the country, a reading of journalism history, a national survey of journalists, and more, the group released a Statement of Shared Purpose that identified nine principles. These became the basis for The Elements of Journalism, the book by PEJ Director Tom Rosenstiel and CCJ Chairman and PEJ Senior Counselor Bill Kovach. Here are those principles, as outlined in the original Statement of Shared Purpose.

  Source: Elements of Journalism

Now it is your turn! Can you think of a 10^th principle?

 

Exercise

 

Man Chopped To Pieces like “corned beef”

Joseph Agyeman Atta, a 25-year-old worker of Suhuma Timber Company Limited at Dwinase near Sefwi-Wiawso in the Western Region, who was allegedly chopped to pieces last Tuesday by a veneer Hogger milling machine he was operating, has been buried. According to information gathered by Daily Guide newspaper, which was corroborated by the Sefwi-Wiawso Police, there was a huge hole where plywood passed to the Hogger milling machine for processing into sawdust for power generation.

On that fateful day of 13th October, 2008, it was gathered that Atta was operating the Hogger machine alone as was the routine at the factory’s premises, while another worker was at the other end. The worker at the receiving end of the milling machine observed that the incoming sawdust was abnormal because it was a mixture of blood and something akin to “corned beef”. He immediately alerted the company’s management who went to where Atta was supposed to be operating the machine from, but he was nowhere to be found. They then examined the sawdust and realized that it was actually mixed with something that looked like human blood and flesh that had been chopped to pieces, which made the company’s management lodge a report with the police.

The police therefore came to the scene and took samples of the “mixed sawdust substance” into a sack and sent it to the Sefwi-Wiawso Government Hospital for examination. When Dr. Brobbey, Medical Superintendent at the Hospital was contacted on phone, he told Daily Guide that he identified some ground finger, human flesh and blood mixed with sawdust. "It was flesh, blood and sawdust ground up. It was bad," Dr. Brobbery said.

The relatives of Atta were then called in and informed about the development, after which they took the sack containing the “mixed sawdust substance” for burial. According to DSP Joseph Anneh, Sefwi-Wiawso District Police Commander the Police were carrying out large-scale investigation into the case.

Among the indigenes of Sefwi Wiawso and Dwinase however, it was believed that Atta’s mysterious death was the handiwork of the gods of the river near Suhuma Timber Company. ome of the people, particularly the traditionalists, indicated that ever since Gliksten Ghana Limited was handed over to Suhuma Timber Company Limited, the current management had not sacrificed even a cock to the river god beside the factory, though the former company performed the necessary rites annually through the fetish priest. A native of Sefwi-Wiawso therefore told the Daily Guide newspaper that the god’s were angry and therefore used Atta as a "sacrificial lamp" and that unless the company pacified the gods, more workers would die later.

                                                                                                 Source: Daily Guide

1. Read the text carefully.

2. Find the Lead paragraph and answer the 6 questions.

3.  Find who are the sources the reporter interviewed.

4. Do you like the headline? What would be another possible one?

5. In which “desk” does this article belongs?

6. Can you create a "dek" (or deck) for this story?

7. Is this hard news or soft news? Is this a feature? Why?

8. Now it is your turn. Rewrite this article using only 2 paragraphs.

Bibliography:

The independent media center (www.indymedia.org) 

Pew Reserach Centre for Excellence in Journalism (www.journalism.org)

Cromwell, Clarence.The Four Commandments of Citizen Journalism, 2008. Article Base. (www.articlebase.com) 

Kovach, B. and Rosenstiel, T. Elements of Journalism, 2007. (www.journalism.org)