By: Ms Sabeen Jamil
WHAT IS NEWS. A DOG BITES MAN OR A MAN BITES A DOG? A CAR KILLED CHICKEN OR A GIRL? A 25 YEAR OLD MAN MARRYING A 20 YEAR OLD GIRL OR A 65 YEAR OLD MAN MARRYING 10 YEAR OLD GIRL?
HOW DO JOURNALISTS DECIDE WHAT IS NEWS?
What is a news story?
That tries to answer 5Ws and H in first two or there paragraphs.
First para is called lead. Text is called body
May end abruptly when the writer runs out of material
Difference between a news story and a feature: A Feature article is a newspaper or magazine article that is written to entertain and inform the reader. It does contain some elements of the short story and is written with a lead to get the reader's attention and then uses conversational tone to present the reader with information to evoke an emotional response.
Needs a proper ending. Links with intro to end.
News feature: gives a news in the form of a feature,In depth analysis & Lots of quotes
Types of news stories
Soft news: a bit non-serious and not necessarily timely: sports, fashion, showbiz,
News value/ News worthiness/ news judgment/ criterion to decide if it is news
1. Timeliness: Is it new? : is it new for your paper? Assassination of Ms. Benazir Bhutto would make headlines one day but not the other day in a daily newspaper. It would be a headline in a weekly newspaper too.
1. Timeliness: Is it new? : is it new for your paper? Assassination of Ms. Benazir Bhutto would make headlines one day but not the other day in a daily newspaper. It would be a headline in a weekly newspaper too.
Some new facts about assassination would be news too. News of the death of Mao Tse-tung, for instance, was not released to the world by the Chinese government for several days; when they did release it, however, it was still very definitely news.
2. Weirdness: Is it unusual? Human interest: We eat breakfast. Nobody ever reported that. It is news. Still won’t get published because it is not unusual. But if you eat dog or cockroaches or glass for breakfast it is news. "Dog bites man" is not news; "Man bites dog" is news. 90 year old marrying 20 year old. 90 year old working in a farm. Boy born with tiger stripes.
3. Impact: Does this affect a lot of people?
Discovery of a new insect that multiplies is not interesting for many. An insect that thrives on rice is a matter of concern for many.
On local pages closing down of a restaurant or a school impacts a lot of people. For a town newspaper criteria is same. Lay off of two people not news. Shutting down of a factory not news. Shutting down of the only match making factory in town is news.
Flue not news. Swine flue news
4. Prominence: Is it significant? A citizen condemning Rehman Malik’s murder in a class is not news. Head of the state condemning is news. A citizen/ local cleric issuing fatwa against Rehman Malik is not news. Imam-e-Kaaba or a big mosque issuing fatwa is news. Show hurled at you is not news. Show hurled at Zardari is news.
5. Proximity: is it close? Flood in Australia is not headline news. Flood in Pakistan is. Elections in finland not news. Election in India is.
6. Currency: PIA pilots refusing to fly one day because they are over worked or tired is not news. They are saying this after Margalla plane crash is news. Something/files etc go missing from a government office is not news. Account files went missing after government had announced audit is news. Things disappear from some office is not news. They disappeared after a rumor spread that the place is haunted is news.
7. Conflict: Disagreements make good news. People are interested in conflicts. Drama. City Council meets on regular basis. But one member walking out over resolution is news. MQM mocking Nawaz Sharif’s hair transplant is news. People questioning Shahbaz Sharif’s suiting is news.
A demonstration for animal rights in which people peacefully march and chant slogans is not a major news story. But if a confrontation develops between the protesters and a fur coat merchant, and someone gets hurt, it becomes a major story because the level of conflict has increased.
SMC becoming a separate university is news. students protesting it is good news. Students hurling stones at VC's office is major news.
Other than these criteria see if the story is interesting? Is it about people? A volcano erupting in a deserted area not news. A sand storm in Sahara desert not news.Killing someone is news. They become news only when they affect people. Lives property. Fire in a bush not news. Fire in Australian bushes creating heat waves, killing animals is a news.
Always revolve story around people in such news.
Ask yourself: How does this affect my readers', listeners' or viewers’ lives?
Good story: A story which is new, unusual, interesting, significant and about people is going to be a very good story indeed. One way of deciding the strength of a story is to check how many of those five criteria it meets.
" If it is not new or unusual, if it is not interesting or significant, and if it will not affect your readers' or listeners' lives, then it is not news. Do not publish it or broadcast it as news.
Whenever you have a story which tells of how something has happened which affects both people and property, always put the people first.
RIGHT: More than 100 people were left homeless after Cyclone Victor struck Suva yesterday.
WRONG: Seventeen houses were flattened when Cyclone Victor struck Suva yesterday.
Nose for news: ability to sniff news
very nice lecture provides all the details