Reporting and Writing
Basics for the 21st Century
ISBN13: 9780195155235ISBN10: 0195155238
Paperback, 656 pages
May 2002,
In Stock
Retail Price to Students:
$97.95 (04)
656 pages;
49 illus.;
7 x 9-1/4;
ISBN13: 978-0-19-515523-5ISBN10: 0-19-515523-8
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Foreword by Donald M. Murray
The Coaching Way: How to Get the Most Out of This Book
Chapter 1. News Thinking in a Changing World
What's the News?
What Is News?
Developing Critical Thinking Skills
A Life in Journalism: Rhea Borja, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Three Basic Elements of News
First, the Bad News
Developing Your News Senses
Where News Comes From
How to Find News
Knowing Your Audience
How Audience Affects Content
Seeing News as Culture
News in the Information Age
News Thinking: The Coaching Way
Chapter 2. The Reporter's Toolbox
Introduction
Part 1: Reporting and Writing Tools
Competence in the Newsroom: Visual Literacy
Working with Photos and Photojournalists
Part 2: Reporting and Research Tools for Today's Wired Journalist
A Reporter's Best Friend: A Librarian
Part 3: The Reporter's Mind-Set
An Accuracy Checklist
Sacred Texts: What Prize-Winning Journalists Read for Inspiration
Tool Sharpening: The Coaching Way
Chapter 3. A Process Approach to Reporting and Writing
A Life in Journalism
Reporters at Work: The Process Approach
News Thinking I: Getting Ideas
Idea Generators: Creativity Skills for Today's Journalists
Brainstorming the School Budget Story
Collect: Reporting the Story
Reporting by E-Mail
Story Example
Developing a Reporting Plan
News Thinking II--Focus: Thinking of Stories
Story Example
Checklist: Finding a Focus
Focusing Your Story
Student Example
Order: Mapping Your Story
Checklist: Mapping Your Story
Student Example
Draft: Writing the Story
Checklist: Discover by Drafting
A Word About Voice
Revise: Rewriting the Story
Student Example: Revising the Story
Guidelines for Revision
Student Examples
Checklist: Rewriting for Readers
Riding the Roller Coaster: The Ups and Downs of Reporting and Writing
Writers at Work: The Coaching Way
Chapter 4. Finding and Writing a Lead
Introduction
Mastering the Five W's, an H and SW
Breaking Down the Lead
The Two Types of Leads: "Tell Me the News," "Tell Me a Story"
The Lexicon of Leads
"Tell Me the News" Leads: Summary and Analysis Leads
"Tell Me a Story" Leads: Anecdotal, Significant Detail, Round-Up and Emblem Leads
Story Example: An Anecdotal Approach
How I Wrote the Story
Exploding the Myths of Lead Writing
Discovering the Point: How to Write a Lead
Finding the Tension
Choosing the Right Lead
Avoiding Clichés of Lead Writing
Revising Your Lead
Testing the Anecdotal Lead
Tips for Revising Leads
Writing Workshop
Notes from the Scene: From a Reporter's Notebook
Lead Writing: The Coaching Way
Chapter 5. Story Forms: Shaping the News
Introduction
Story Forms
Inverted Pyramid Example
Hourglass Example
Student Example
Nut Graf Example
The Narrative: The Way We Tell Stories
Narrative Example
How I Wrote the Story
Five Boxes Story
The Serial Narrative: "To Be Continued . . . "
A Serial Narrative Glossary
Conclusion
Birth of the Inverted Pyramid: A Child of Technology, Commerce and History
Shaping the News: The Coaching Way
Chapter 6. Learning to Listen: Building Interviewing Skills
Introduction
Interviewers at Work: The Process of Interviewing
Deadline Reporting: How Telephone Interviews Become Stories
Red Light, Green Light: Asking Questions That Start and Stop Conversation
The Craft of Interviewing: Learning to Listen
Advice for Interviewers
Getting It Down, Getting It Right: The Importance of Note-Taking
To Tape or Not to Tape
How People Talk: Getting Quotes, Using Them Effectively
Using Quotes: Do's and Don'ts
Keeping Confidences: On or Off the Record
Interview Ground Rules
Tips for E-Mail Interviews
Interviewing: The Coaching Way
Chapter 7. Making Connections: Diversity and the News
Introduction
Minorities in the Newsroom and the News
Tips for Better News Coverage of Minorities
Stereotypes and Other Clichés of Vision
The Case for Cultural Competence in Journalism
Reporter's Toolbox: The Five W's of Diversity
Reporter's Toolbox: Talking Across Difference
Reporter's Toolbox: Guidelines for Racial Identifiers in News Stories
Reporter's Toolbox: Resources and Strategies for Connecting with Diverse Communities
Reporting and Writing About Difference: Story Examples
Student Example 1
Student Example 2
Professional Example
Making Connections: The Coaching Way
Chapter 8. Reporting and Writing Broadcast News
Introduction
Working Fast
A Life in Journalism: Tiffany Murray, KIVI-TV
Broadcast Style
Newspaper Version
Television Version
How I Wrote the Story
Teases and Tags: Starting Off, Ending Right
Advice from a Television Newsroom
Broadcast Interview Tips
Writing for Broadcast
From Print to TV: Making the Shift
On-Camera Preparation/Performance Tips
Broadcast Quality: The Coaching Way
Chapter 9. Writing Online News
Introduction
Storytelling and News in the Electronic Age
A Life in Journalism: Jonathan Dube, Charlotte Observer
How I Wrote the Story
As We May Write: Hypertext and the Future of Writing
Tips from an Online Newsroom: Q&A with Michael Rogers, Editor and General Manager, Newsweek.com
Roads to "Way New Journalism"
Writing the Online Story: A Process Approach
Think Links
Tips from an Online Newsroom: Q&A with Glenn McLaren, Assistant Editor, Internet Edition, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
Multimedia: Reporting Live on Your Computer
News Forms for a Digital Age
Tips from an Online Newsroom: Q&A with David Ho, The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition
Electronic Ethics: Brave New World
A Final Word
Online Writing: The Coaching Way
Chapter 10. First Assignments
Introduction
Tips for Success for Beginning Journalists
First Assignment: Writing About Accidents
First Assignment: Writing About Fires
First Assignment: Writing About Festivals, Fairs, Parades and More
Story Ideas for Fairs, Festivals, Parades and More
First Assignment: Writing About Meetings and Hearings
A Life in Journalism: Heather Svokos, Lexington Herald Leader
First Assignment: Writing About Speeches
Writing the Speech Story
First Assignment: Writing Obituaries
A Life in Journalism: Greg Toppo, The Associated Press
How I Wrote the Story
First Assignment: Writing About News Releases
Writing Workshop: Writing a Police Brief
First Assignments: The Coaching Way
Chapter 11. Doing the Right Thing: Libel, Privacy and Ethics
Introduction
Libel
A Life in Journalism: Frank Greve, Knight Ridder Newspapers
Privacy
A New Trend: Reportorial Conduct
Taping Phone Calls
Copyright and the Journalist
Ethical Decision Making
Doing Ethics: Ask Good Questions to Make Good Ethical Decisions
Guiding Principles for the Journalist
Conflict of Interest
Ethics in American Newsrooms: A Brief History by Robert Haiman
Fabrication: The Legend on the License
The Ethics of Reconstruction
Where Credit Is Due: Avoiding Plagiarism
Doing the Right Think: The Coaching Way
Chapter 12. Storytelling on Deadline
A Life in Journalism
The Clock Is Ticking
What's a Story
The Process of Storytelling on Deadline
Enterprise: A Broadcast Storyteller's View: John Larson, NBC's "Dateline"
Finding Stories in the News
Reporting for Story
Reporting Techniques
Focusing in the Field
Planning on the Fly
Drafting on Deadline
Rewriting for Readers and Viewers
Story Example
How I Wrote the Story
A Conversation with Mark Fritz of The Associated Press
The Clock Ticks: How a Deadline Storyteller Works
How I Wrote the Story
Storytelling on Deadline: A Writing Workshop
Deadline Storytelling: The Coaching Way
Chapter 13. On the Beat
Ingredients of Successful Beat Reporting
Getting--and Staying--Organized
The New Beats
First Beat: Covering a Community
Story Example 1
Story Example 2
Covering a New Frontier: The Suburbs
Beginner's Beats: Covering Government
Beginner's Beats: Covering Council Meetings
Student Example
Beginner's Beats: Covering Cops
A Life in Journalism: Karin Fischer, Charleston Daily Mail
Tips for Covering Cops
Essential Terms for Police Reporters
Covering Cops: From News Release to Brief to Story
Beginner's Beats: Covering Courts
Glossary: Essential Terms for the Court Reporter
Beginner's Beats: Covering Education
A Life in Journalism: Holly Kurtz, Orlando Sentinel
Beginner's Beats: Covering Sports
Story Example
How I Wrote the Story
Working a Beat: The Coaching Way
Chapter 14. Numbers and the Beginning Journalist
Introduction
Why Math Matters
Numbers in the News: A Random Sample
The Basic Math Skills You'll Need
Rates and Percents
Math Workshop: Percentages
Changing Decimals to Percents and Vice Versa
Percent Of
Rates
Per-Capita Rate
A Life in Journalism: Making News Sense of Numbers
Reporting on Budgets
Advanced Math Skills
Vital Statistics: Birth, Death, Health, Disease
Polls and Surveys: Numbers That Tell Us What We Think
Writing with Numbers
Tips from the Experts
Reporter's Toolbox: Calculators
Getting Smarter
Making Sense of Numbers: The Coaching Way
Chapter 15. Getting--and Keeping--a Job
Introduction
Job Hunting: Step by Step
Frequently Asked Questions About Job Interviews
Job Prospects, Salaries and Benefits: What You Can Expect
Jim Naughton's Rules for Job Hunting
Start at a Small Paper
Keeping a Job
A Life in Journalism: Lessons to a New Reporter (From an Almost New One)
Top 10 Ways to Survive Your First Year in Journalism (And Every Year After)
Getting--and Keeping--a Job: The Coaching Way
Appendix
Credits
Index
Every chapter ends with a Glossary of Important Terms, Exercises, Readings, and a Hotlist
