COLEGIO DE DAGUPAN

SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Chapter 4. Stairway to News Writing: Techniques and Principles

Sources of News
One should bear in mind that facts are the main foundations of news articles. Hence, a

writer or a journalist must have a high sense of smelling ability to newsworthy issues. This special

ability is dubbed as "nose for news" in journalism parlance. To be able to do so, a journalist must

know the avenues where he can gather data for his news articles.

1. Beat. The beat is the stable assignment of the reporter. For instance, in a school setting,

the chief editor or the adviser is identifying assignments for the writers. Jane, a news

writer is assigned to gather news from the student body. Jane's beat is the student council

only; thus, what she concentrates on is only issues about the student body.

Being confined to only one assignment, the reporter achieves a sense of time

management and a chance to get through all the perspectives of the news. This will also

diminish hodgepodge ideas of the writer, especially a student journalist.

2. Written and Printed Documents. A good journalist is resourceful in looking for

newsworthy issues. One of his/her sets of sources includes public documents - either

electronically or physically posted. For example, if he/ she is gathering data for the newly

imposed rules on wearing the prescribed uniform, he she may look into the minutes of

the meeting or the resolution where such rules are inscribed.

3. Observation. This may be done through a keen empirical observation. It exists as a writer

bears witness using the physical senses to what is happening in the local communities. In
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SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION

the context of school paper, a writer must be wary of the places and goings-on in the

campus. These may be activities that are not visible to the eyes of the many.

4. Tips from Co-writers, Teachers and Students

5. Gantt Chart of Schedule or Calendar of Activities

6. Interviewing Key Informants. This is the gathering of information on ai person-to-person

basis, straight from the experts or any resource person as a credible source.

More Sources of News

The internet has increased the available number of news sources. Audiences can go to general

news sites covering broad topic areas.

1. Blogs. They represent another source of news, free from traditional economic, i corporate,

political, or advertising considerations. There are blogs devoted to all sorts of topics. Blogs offer

alternative points of view to traditional media. i Blogs provide an additional outlet for reporters

to explain why they reported ai story in the way they did.

2. Citizen Journalism. In citizen journalism, ordinary citizens become amateur reporters. This

trend is facilitated by digital and cell phone video cameras and high-speed Internet access.

Traditional news media encourage citizen journalism, and many media outlets ask audience

members to submit photos and video clips. Citizen journalism is popular with the mainstream

news

media in part because it is free content, but it also empowers the audience.
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SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION

3. Hyperlocal News. This is a news referring to news coverage for a very small community. It can

be a single Zip Code or interest group in a defined geographic area. Most hyperlocal news appears

on web sites. Publishers of hyperlocal news hope that the extremely local focus and the coverage

of topics ignored by the traditional media will draw in people who generally do not consume

news. Twitter and Facebook have examples of hyperlocal news, i and visitors can find news of

interest to them and their close circle of friends.

Rules of Thumb in News Gathering

A writer must not only have the nose for news, but also considers the guidelines in

gathering data. Ramirez (2009) has published some of these rules of thumb in data gathering for

news writing.

1. See for yourself. Nothing is more vivid when one sees the event right before his own eyes.

Becoming the first-hand witness, other than gathering through hearsay, keeps the

spontaneity of ideas of the writer.

2. Find the person who knows. The writer should go directly to the person who is

considered as the key participant of the issue. Such a person may give the writer a sense

of confidence that what heshe will write is taken from the statements and ideas of the

persons, rather than surmising the ideas, effects and impacts of an issue. Further, this act

champions objectivity, thus diminishing bias.

3. Compare all versions. A writer must not rely solely on one version. As discussed in the

previous chapter, one should set myriads of perspectives, so as to limit the holes of biases.

Moreover, feel free to question inconsistencies and ensure the veracity of each statement

or information.

4. Be tactful and courteous. A writer is respectful of time. Hence, he should focus only on

the data needed. He should avoid spending the time of the interviewee on futile topics.

Courtesy is likewise seen in acts and words of the writer who gathers data. More often

than not, saying thank you is a good gesture to pay the interviewee the bother fee

incurred.

5. Make and keep friends. Dependable informants are most valued assets, especially when

a writer is assigned in a single beat throughout the academic year. When needed, give

them favorable mention in your stories. Never break their trust in the name of having a

good scoop of the news.

6. Print it. This rule of thumb reminds a writer or a journalist that unpublished news is

wasted. The fact that one has gathered data, the news is now considered a newsworthy

item.

Handling Interview in News Gathering

The interview is the bedrock of information gathering in news writing. It is defined as the

process of "dyadic, relational communication, with a predetermined and serious purpose

designed to interchange behavior involving the asking and answering of questions (Soriano and
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SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Henson, 1995). Sounds brain-cracking? Simply put, the interview is purpose-driven. Its main aim

is to exchange ideas through question-and-answer style. Hence, the interviewer is the person

who asks questions, while the interviewee is the person who gives the answers.

Let us study the key points in such definition to bull's eye the meaning.

a. Dyadic denotes that the interview is a person-to-person interaction between two parties.

b. Relational strongly suggests an interpersonal connection between the interview parties.

c. Predetermined and serious purpose means that at least one of the two parties comes to

the interview with a goal and has planned the interview to focus on specific subject

matter.

d. Interchanging behavior connotes sharing of expectations, roles, feelings and information.

e. Asking and answering questions (taken as a single process) is crucial to the interviewing

process, questions serve as tools to obtain information.

Stages in Interview

Here are some steps in conducting an interview using the formula known as the GOSS, developed

by Rue de Guilleland.

1. Know your Goal or purpose.

2. Present Obstacle encountered.

3. Offer Solutions to these obstacles.

4. Start writing the interview story.

Steps in Conducting the Interview

1. Define the purpose

2. Conduct a background research of the topic you are assigned to.

3. Set an interview appointment.

4. Make preliminary planning by listing down possible questions. There are six questions

beginning with five W's and one H. However, be sure to ask specific who, another who, one

more who and final who. For instance, you are interviewing the principal of your school

regarding the Brigada Eskwela conducted last May. You may ask as many "WHO" questions

as you wish like:

i. Who was the proponent of the program?

ii. Who were the benefactors?

iii. Who were the participants?

iv. Who else attended the activity?

v. Who may be benefitted by the program?

This technique should be practiced by a good data gatherer for a news article so that he she may

accumulate basketfuls of data. In such a way, he/she may diminish subjectivity; subsequently,

he/she presents many perspectives as he/she can.

5. Meet the interviewee.

6. Get down to business. Ask the first question.

7. Establish early rapport, that is, from formal to less formal.

8. Tackle the more sensitive topic with respect and tactfulness.

9. Express some recovery statements.

10. Leave a thank you note.

Structure of News

Since this book is intended for novice writers and those who are skeptical yet whether or

not to join the publication, the structure of news discussed below is the basic news structure. For

advanced reporting, there are more types of news structure.

Newspaper articles are written using the inverted triangle format. Most journalism

experts agree to use triangle not pyramid. The inverted pyramid format is three-dimensional that

is referring to special cases of developmental communication and interpretive journalism or

investigative reportage.

Using the inverted triangle structure, a writer bears in mind that the most important

information is at the top (beginning of article) and the least important information is at the

bottom (end of article). With this format, the story or the news article will have the ability to

undergo cutoff test (removing last section(s) of story to quickly shorten story), without distorting

its gist.
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INVERTED TRIANGLE FORMAT IN NEWS WRITING

Information they must have for your

Additional information that

Be nice if they
had it.

Reasons for the Inverted Triangle Structure

The inverted triangle is used in news writing because it makes reading easier and faster.

It also enables the hurried reader to get all the important facts in a very short period of time. Say,

as he reads the first paragraphs, he knows already the gist of the news. It likewise satisfies

curiosity in a logical way, as it makes page makeup easier. Finally, it makes the work of the editor

easier.