1. In the situation where I must choose between loyalty to my editor or loyalty to a source, I think I would choose to be loyal to my editor, especially in this case where my job could be on the line. Withholding information from an editor can lead to big problems for a journalist, as discussed on page 223 of the text book.
Even if the story I produce within the time limit wasn't as good as it could be, my paper would still be the first with the story, which I think is more important in a world where people are wanting their information faster.
2. I would tell the editor the information I already had about the phone calls and the potential result if the story is published. As mentioned above from the textbook, it isn't a good idea to keep information about stories from your editor.
3. Sub-editors simply review and edit other journalist's work (text book p226). In this situation I wouldn't rely soley on the 'drunken' source's words, but call an authoritative person to make sure the story wasn't going against any wishes of the judge.
4. If I was in an argument wih my editor and a police reporter about the angle of a story I would try to organise a meeting where we could all discuss the issue at hand.
The police reporter would probably know more about the story than the editor so it would make more sense to take the angle suggeseted by the police reporter, however the editor is my boss, so i would probably end up following my editor's wishes.
Points of Interest:
- Like every other career, newspapers have an order of importance of positions in the news room. The news hierarchy: editor in chief, editor, deputy editor, news editor, chief of staff, journalists.
- A media release should be seen as a story idea only, which will be treated like any other assignment, rather than as a ready-made news story. Media releases are more advertising events more than reporting on them, which is what newspapers and journalism is for.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Chapter 14 Week 9
1.
2. I believe people read newspapers primarily for information. Although newspapers are also a form of entertainment, i think their main purpose is to inform to public of events occuring in their world. My opinion of this issue therefore, makes me think that newspapers should focus more on publishing news stories rather than feature articles, which provide a more entertaining purpose. If the readers of newspapers are getting their information in a clear enough way, i don't think increasing the amount of features will increase sales, especially when in today's society people are wanting communication to be more efficient etc.
3. Ideally it would be better for Australia if newspapers increased the amount of Australian writers and Australian news included in them, however, the current content of newspapers is mainly determined by the demand of the public and it seems the public are interested in foreign stories and writers. So until Australians can demand Australian made news, newspapers will continue to provide them with the news that sells papers.
4. I would like to be a full-time feature writer because I enjoy adding flair to my writing, which newspaper reporting does not really allow.
5. Feature writers write in a literary voice, being descriptive, emotive and appealing to the senses while informing about the subject. Journalists must write in a factual, subjective voice, clear of bias language, emotion and descriptive language.
Points of Interest
- There are a number of introductions writers use for their features such as anecdotal, descriptive, situation, essay, chronological, summary, narrative, shocker, ironic and a teaser.
- There are also a number of 'closers' which journalists use to end their stories including circular, summary, poetic, looking ahead, 'that's that' and 'see what I mean'.
- When I was waiting for one of my first communications classes I started talking to a mature age student whose daughter had done the same degree as me and had become a writer of travel features... after talking to this lady about her daughter's experiences I decided that that was what I wanted to do. In the text book it says that travel features involve a great eye for detail, careful listening and the ability to explain things in an interesting way. The text book also mentioned as part of the AJA Code of Ethics, that a travel writer must tell readers of any freebies or deals which make their trip cheaper etc.
2. I believe people read newspapers primarily for information. Although newspapers are also a form of entertainment, i think their main purpose is to inform to public of events occuring in their world. My opinion of this issue therefore, makes me think that newspapers should focus more on publishing news stories rather than feature articles, which provide a more entertaining purpose. If the readers of newspapers are getting their information in a clear enough way, i don't think increasing the amount of features will increase sales, especially when in today's society people are wanting communication to be more efficient etc.
3. Ideally it would be better for Australia if newspapers increased the amount of Australian writers and Australian news included in them, however, the current content of newspapers is mainly determined by the demand of the public and it seems the public are interested in foreign stories and writers. So until Australians can demand Australian made news, newspapers will continue to provide them with the news that sells papers.
4. I would like to be a full-time feature writer because I enjoy adding flair to my writing, which newspaper reporting does not really allow.
5. Feature writers write in a literary voice, being descriptive, emotive and appealing to the senses while informing about the subject. Journalists must write in a factual, subjective voice, clear of bias language, emotion and descriptive language.
Points of Interest
- There are a number of introductions writers use for their features such as anecdotal, descriptive, situation, essay, chronological, summary, narrative, shocker, ironic and a teaser.
- There are also a number of 'closers' which journalists use to end their stories including circular, summary, poetic, looking ahead, 'that's that' and 'see what I mean'.
- When I was waiting for one of my first communications classes I started talking to a mature age student whose daughter had done the same degree as me and had become a writer of travel features... after talking to this lady about her daughter's experiences I decided that that was what I wanted to do. In the text book it says that travel features involve a great eye for detail, careful listening and the ability to explain things in an interesting way. The text book also mentioned as part of the AJA Code of Ethics, that a travel writer must tell readers of any freebies or deals which make their trip cheaper etc.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Chapter 9 Week 9
1. It is usually safer to leave quotes as they are because meaning can change when quotes are 'corrected'. I would probably leave the quote as is, but try to make it sound more clear and consise. Try paraphrasing or using partial quotes in order to make the quotes more effective and useful.
2. Journalists should never resort to making threats to people in order to get information, it is simply unethical.
3. Journalists get their information by relating to their source, so some sort of relationship is formed through this procedure. The extent of the relationship is important to consider though, because journalists can become bias when they become emotionally attached to a story they are writing about. The relationship should remain professional in order to be ethical.
4. Becoming emotionally involved with a source can be bad for a journalist because is can result in a bias araticle.
5.George Bush regularly makes mistakes in his speeches. Whether to correct the mistakes would depend upon the topic of the article being written. Whether is was a serious or not so serious piece for example.
Points of Interest
- Journalists have to be very careful when quoting sources as a mis written quote can result in the journalist going to court having to explain why the edited someones quote etc.
- Journalists have to ensure sources and interviewees understand when things are on or off the record, this concept can become confusing for some people. If a source is unclear on what is on or off the record a journalist can get into trouble if the source sees a public quote that they thought was off the record.
- A good interviewer can put themselves in the interviewee's place without becoming emotionally involved. They can empathise and understand the position of the interviewee. It is important not to express opinion in your writing when you are a journalist. Your writing is supposed to allow the public to decide their opinion for themselves.
2. Journalists should never resort to making threats to people in order to get information, it is simply unethical.
3. Journalists get their information by relating to their source, so some sort of relationship is formed through this procedure. The extent of the relationship is important to consider though, because journalists can become bias when they become emotionally attached to a story they are writing about. The relationship should remain professional in order to be ethical.
4. Becoming emotionally involved with a source can be bad for a journalist because is can result in a bias araticle.
5.George Bush regularly makes mistakes in his speeches. Whether to correct the mistakes would depend upon the topic of the article being written. Whether is was a serious or not so serious piece for example.
Points of Interest
- Journalists have to be very careful when quoting sources as a mis written quote can result in the journalist going to court having to explain why the edited someones quote etc.
- Journalists have to ensure sources and interviewees understand when things are on or off the record, this concept can become confusing for some people. If a source is unclear on what is on or off the record a journalist can get into trouble if the source sees a public quote that they thought was off the record.
- A good interviewer can put themselves in the interviewee's place without becoming emotionally involved. They can empathise and understand the position of the interviewee. It is important not to express opinion in your writing when you are a journalist. Your writing is supposed to allow the public to decide their opinion for themselves.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Chapter 8 Week 8
1. I would chose to b, if the story i was investigating was of personal interest to me, otherwise i would choose a if i wasn't really interested in the story.
2. I think reporting about a crime story etc would be extremely exciting so i would probably take the risk to investigate the story.
3. I would give up my private questions if it meant i could get more information out of the other journalists. I may have a great question, but so might the other reporters.
4. The 'public' technically own the government-held information, although the government have a large say into what is allowed to be shown to the public and what isn't.
5. I would consult the news values and decide which were going to be more important in drawing in an audience and getting an interesting story.
Points of Interest
- Opinion polls are a scientific way of determining peoples viewpoints by questioning a representative sample of the population. However, opinion polls should not be taken too seriously as it doesn't consider all opinions of the public, it only shows a sample of people's opinions which could have been selected according to their opinions.
- Australian FOI laws are modelled on those of the US. FOI is extremely important in the field of journalism because it allows journalists to have access to government documents.
- Sources of news: tip offs, promotional activities, pre-schedualed public events and following up stories.
2. I think reporting about a crime story etc would be extremely exciting so i would probably take the risk to investigate the story.
3. I would give up my private questions if it meant i could get more information out of the other journalists. I may have a great question, but so might the other reporters.
4. The 'public' technically own the government-held information, although the government have a large say into what is allowed to be shown to the public and what isn't.
5. I would consult the news values and decide which were going to be more important in drawing in an audience and getting an interesting story.
Points of Interest
- Opinion polls are a scientific way of determining peoples viewpoints by questioning a representative sample of the population. However, opinion polls should not be taken too seriously as it doesn't consider all opinions of the public, it only shows a sample of people's opinions which could have been selected according to their opinions.
- Australian FOI laws are modelled on those of the US. FOI is extremely important in the field of journalism because it allows journalists to have access to government documents.
- Sources of news: tip offs, promotional activities, pre-schedualed public events and following up stories.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Chapter 7 Week 7
1. Every newspaper aims to attract a different educational level of readers. The Australian aims to attract a more educated audience such as university graduates, while my local paper the Herald, aims to attract an audience of a lower educational level. The Herald uses simple jargon to appeal to its target audience.
2. The job of journalists is to report news to the public. Journalists should not be able to interpret news stories too much as the readers should be able to read a non-bias report and form an opinion of their own. If a journalist puts forward their opinion, many readers will simply agree with that opinion.
3. It is important to be able to differentiate between Australian and American language. While formal language should not be lost to colloquial language such as "g'day", it is important to continue to write and speak traditionally when reporting news.
4. There a many corrections published every day in newspapers proving that newspapers do have some commitment to accuracy.
5. I would contact the people affected by the inaccuracy and appologise and assure them the mistake would be fixed in the next paper to be published.
Points of Interest:
- News stories are usually written in the past tense, while feature articles are usually written in the present tense. News stories are stories which inform readers of things that have happened therefore it is obvious that they should be written in the past tense, because the events being reported have already happened, they are in the past.
- News language is not conversational, news writing requires precision and efficiency. It is important for news articles to be clear, consise and accurate. News articles must give accurate account of events without any hint of the opinion of the writer's opinion on the matter, therefore news writing should not be conversational ie. 'yesterday i saw a fat man eat an icecream', instead it should be written 'yesterday a man ate an icecream'.
- A journalist must know their readers in order to write their stories in a way that appeals to the readers interests. The main aim of newspapers is to sell papers. The writer must know the readers interests etc. Then the writer must use this knowledge to appeal to their potential readers by writing in a style which is relatable to potential readers.
2. The job of journalists is to report news to the public. Journalists should not be able to interpret news stories too much as the readers should be able to read a non-bias report and form an opinion of their own. If a journalist puts forward their opinion, many readers will simply agree with that opinion.
3. It is important to be able to differentiate between Australian and American language. While formal language should not be lost to colloquial language such as "g'day", it is important to continue to write and speak traditionally when reporting news.
4. There a many corrections published every day in newspapers proving that newspapers do have some commitment to accuracy.
5. I would contact the people affected by the inaccuracy and appologise and assure them the mistake would be fixed in the next paper to be published.
Points of Interest:
- News stories are usually written in the past tense, while feature articles are usually written in the present tense. News stories are stories which inform readers of things that have happened therefore it is obvious that they should be written in the past tense, because the events being reported have already happened, they are in the past.
- News language is not conversational, news writing requires precision and efficiency. It is important for news articles to be clear, consise and accurate. News articles must give accurate account of events without any hint of the opinion of the writer's opinion on the matter, therefore news writing should not be conversational ie. 'yesterday i saw a fat man eat an icecream', instead it should be written 'yesterday a man ate an icecream'.
- A journalist must know their readers in order to write their stories in a way that appeals to the readers interests. The main aim of newspapers is to sell papers. The writer must know the readers interests etc. Then the writer must use this knowledge to appeal to their potential readers by writing in a style which is relatable to potential readers.
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