What is Newswriting?

By Prof. Mark Grabowskimarkgrabowski.com

Movies create false stereotypes about journalists…

Journalists are part of the media. But not all media is journalism…

Journalism

A license is not required to practice journalism!

Journalists make mistakes, which hurts the profession’s reputation…

Major elements of journalism

• Truthfulness• Accuracy• Objectivity

Truthfulness

• Journalism’s main objective is to tell the truth• It is not the truth in the absolute or

philosophical or scientific sense but rather a pursuit of “the truths by which we can operate on a day-to-day basis.”

• No fiction. No fabrication. No exaggeration. • Process entails gathering and verifying facts.

Conveying that info in a fair and balanced way.

Gathering info

• Go out into the world, observe what’s happening

• Talk to sources: people who have first-hand knowledge or expertise on a topic. People who participated in or witnessed an event you’re covering.

Sources

• Interview people, ideally in person. • Don’t use anonymous sources. Provide full

names of sources and details -- it’s about transparency so readers can make decisions.

• What constitutes a usable source? Most prominently, a person who is an authority or expert on the subject at hand. If it is not obvious that the person is an expert, help the reader understand why he or she is an expert.

Accuracy• As the old journalism saying goes, “If your

mother says she loves you, check it out.”• Just because something sounds or looks right,

doesn’t mean it is.• Double check all names, dates, numbers,

quotes, etc.• Don’t assume anything. Don’t make up info.

Don’t embellish.

Objectivity

• We strive to be objective. Of course no one is bias free. But be aware of your biases and avoid them.

• Talk to both sides. • Gives those criticized a chance to defend

themselves.

Stick to the facts

• While some forms of journalism (columnists, editorial writers, sports to an extent) do allow a journalist to express his/her opinion, newswriting does not.

• Newswriting is just about reporting the news, which means sticking to the facts, getting info from reliable sources and attributing all opinions to qualified sources.

Keep yourself out of story

• As a news reporter, your job is to be an objective observer on the sidelines

• The story is not about you• Write in third person, never first person• Avoid editorializing, which is not acceptable in

newswriting• All opinions must be attributed to qualified

sources

The story is not about you

• No one cares about your personal feelings or thoughts. You’re not writing a first person essay. You’re not blogging for ThoughtCatalog.com.

• In order to be a journalist, you must be interested in more than just your own feelings; you must want to know about the world that exists outside your own head.

Beware: opinion can sneak into stories

Not only in obvious words like good or bad and similar expressions of approval or disapproval, but in characterizations (usually adjectives or adverbs) like many, few, usually, important, effective, influential, overweight, pretty, controversial, fortunately, or even very. A word should be avoided if some people might disagree with it or have a different opinion of what it means.

For example

“Many students” might mean something very different to you than to me. Instead of writing “A great many students attended the speech,” write: “Every seat in the 610-capacity auditorium was filled, and more than 100 more people watched on a video monitor in the lobby.”

Instead of writing that a car was driving “fast,” tell us how fast. Finding out the specifics takes effort and ingenuity. Journalism is not for lazy people.

For example

If you’re writing a profile story about a brilliant student, don’t say “she’s brilliant”. Rather, quote professors saying she’s super smart. Show, don’t tell. Provide evidence – does she have a perfect 4.0 G.P.A.? Was she accepted into Harvard Medical School? Did she get a perfect score on her SAT?

Avoid conflicts of interest

• Your obligation is to the public. To inform the public. It’s not to make your source look good – that’s PR. It’s not covering something because someone paid you – that’s bribery.

• Don’t cover people you are related to, romantically involved with, good friends with. Don’t cover people who have authority over you, such as a boss or current professor.

Be curious

• So how do you find stories and sources? Talk to strangers.

• Be dogged. Don’t just email someone and wait to hear back. Send another email if you don’t get a timely response. Call them. Go to their office. If they don’t want to talk to you, find someone else to interview.

• Don’t be passive in gathering info – it won’t magically land in your lap. Good reporting takes effort.

Writing Style

Another way journalism differs from other types of writing. Some important guidelines to follow…

• Always write in third person, never in first person• Write in appropriate tense (usually past tense,

assuming the events you are describing occurred in the past).

• Don’t use big words, but use strong words and concrete words.

• Avoid cliches.

Writing Style

• Avoid semicolons. • Avoid run-on sentences.• Avoid exclamation points.• Don’t use Oxford or serial commas• Use only one space after each sentence.

Writing Style

Remember: Journalism is not free writing. It is a profession, or at least a craft, and like any craft, the work one does is produced within the confines of a certain framework. And it’s that framework that students must learn if they are to succeed in the course and/or work as a journalist.

Important terms• Story: a particular article (also sometimes

called “piece”)• Pitch: your idea for a story and details about

it.• Headline: the title of a story• Byline: the name of the story’s author• Lead: the beginning of a story (and arguably

most important part)

Important terms

• Sources: people you interview for your stories. Can sometimes also be documents.

• Beat: a reporter’s assigned area of responsibility, e.g., city council, police, education, sports.

• Newsroom: The place, usually a room in a newspaper, magazine, TV station or news site headquarters, where news is produced by journalists.