`News Writing & Reporting Final Review

Relationship between democracy and free press

Democracy- a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a
state, typically through elected representatives

Free press- a body of book publishers, news media, etc., not controlled or restricted by
government censorship in political or ideological matters

· “Fake news” – different meanings/usages

Fake news- False or inaccurate stories that are on the news. They are false stories that appear to
be news, spread on the internet or using other media, usually created to influence political views
or as a joke.

· Opinion v. objective reporting, and where each is located in a newspaper (columns,

editorials v. news articles, etc.)
- Opinion- biased, usually found in columns or editorials/features
- Objective- hard facts, cannot argue with what the person said; found in news articles

· Ways to identify/avoid actual fake news

1- Make sure the document you are viewing has an author and date.
2- Check your sources and see if it is accurate.
3- See if it is accurate
4- Make sure your source is not biased and has a good rep
5- See if it has other sources cited
6- Ask an expert

· News criteria. What makes news “news”

- It must be relevant, useful, and interesting to qualify as news
· Six news elements and their meaning
1. Impact- people affected, degree, etc.
2. Conflict- of people, ideas, countries, institutions
3. Novelty- universal or bizarre
4. Prominence- leaders, celebrities, etc.
5. Proximity- nearer to the audience
6. Timeliness- has to be “newsworthy”

· Accuracy, fairness and objectivity (relationship, meaning of)

- Accuracy- the most important element of a news story
- Fairness- covers all parts of the story; hears from each side
- Objectivity- cold hard facts; unbiased without any opinions
 SPJ Code of Ethics (the four principles, and their meaning)
1. Seek truth and report it
2. Act independently
3. Be accountable and transparent
4. Minimize harm

· Inverted pyramid structure

- Able to gain the reader’s attention within the first three seconds
- Descending order of importance of information
- Includes the who, what, when, where, and why

On record/on background/off record/not for attribution

- On record: you may report the information
- Off the record: you may not use the information at all
- Not for attribution: do not attach a name to the information
- On background: paraphrase only

fewer is only to be used when discussing countable things, while less is used for singular
mass nouns
Fewer- Something that can be counted (fewer items, fewer phones)
Less- Something that can't be counted (less stress, less air)

Misplaced participles
 - Wrong: moving from flower to flower, I watched the honey bee
- Right: I watched the honey bee moving from flower to flower

Types of Leads in Features:

● Descriptive
● Suspenseful
● Shock/twist
● Ironic
● Direct address
● Anecdote
Feature: an in-depth, elaborate, detailed story of something
Types of features:
● Profile
● In-depth overview of a feature
How to find story ideas:
● Be curious
● Talk to people
● Research
Features:
● Asks questions, no spoilers, very descriptive
● Lots of imagery
● Certain tone of the writer
● Emotional yet neutral
● Irony/contrast
● More creative with word choices
Nut Graf: Focus/main point of the feature; usually a paragraph down from the feature lead
How to handle press releases:
● Find the main point
● Ask:
○ Is the main point newsworthy?
○ Is this a contrived event or a spontaneous genuine one?
○ Is action involved or just opinion?
● Why to rewrite a press release:
○ Legal issues
○ Lead is buried; fluff; wordy
○ Story isn’t localized
○ Biased
Media Law & Ethics:
● First amendment abides by the freedom of speech and press
● Free people govern themselves and must have access to a free flow of accurate
information
○ Educates the public on what their government reps are doing
● Libel: Based on the idea that everyone has the protection to his/her reputation from
unjustified invasion and wrongful hurt
○ Defamation, damage to a person’s reputation through written or broadcasted
words that are false
○ Slander- Spoken words of limited reach
○ Most laws limiting free speech have dealt with libel
○ Libel reaches more people than slander
● Four categories of statements:
1. Accusing someone of a crime
2. Damaging a person in his/her reputation/public office, profession, or occupation
3. Accusing a person of serious immorality
4. Accusing someone of having a contagious disease
● Libel plaintiffs have to prove six elements, including FAULT:
○ Fault- The most important issue in a libel case
○ Public officials & figures who sue for libel have to prove actual malice
○ Private individuals have to prove negligence
● Defenses against libel:
1. TRUTH is the best defense. Only report what you know is true!
2. Privilege: Absolute and qualified
a. Legislators, judges, and government executives have an absolute privilege
to say anything- true or false- when acting in official capacity.
b. Reporters have a qualified privilege at the federal level and in some states,
to report what public level officials say when acting in their official
capacity
3. Fair comment/criticism
a. Journalists are protected when commenting or criticizing someone who is
in the public eye, such as actors, sports figures, public officials, etc.
b. Includes play/book/movie reviews, hotel and restaurant reviews
c. You are protected as long as you don’t misstate any of the facts in which
you are basing your opinion
● Twitter libel = “twibel” lol
○ Journalists active on twitter must be careful about posting/retweeting libel
● Invasion of privacy: any public records online, or knocking on their door is NOT an
invasion of privacy
● “False light”: publishing a story in a misleading way, which can get you sued
● Unwanted publicity: morbid or sensational in a way that is not newsworthy
○ Ex: details going into sexual assault
○ Disclose something which is true but is offensive to an ordinary person
● Source protection: You can be confidential with your sources, but only in extreme
circumstances
○ Should let your editors know who they are so they know you aren’t lying
● Shield laws: Police are not legally allowed to search news rooms, even with a warrant,
unless they suspect a reporter is involved in a crime (40 states are covered by the shield
laws, including TX).

● Basic AP rules:
○ Street- st.; boulevard-blvd.; avenue- ave. abbreviated only with number in front
○ Road, drive, circle and terrace are NOT abbreviated
○ No commas in addresses
○ Always use $, cents is written out
○ Minus 40 degrees
○ Time: 4 a.m. 4 p.m.
○ Midnight or noon
○ CDs or 1990s
○ FM/AM radio
○ email: no dash or capitalization
○ website and internet: lowercase
○ Regions are capitalized, directions are lowercase
○ No. 1
○ OK, TV
○ One-nine
○ 10,11,12, etc.
○ Always use numerals for age
○ Never start a sentence with a numeral
○ Never use Mr. Mrs.
○ The Rev. not father
○ Rep.
○ Mass is always capitalized
○ “Celebrate” mass
○ Long calendar months are abbreviated (Sept. 3)
○ Realtor *important*