Practical Journalism: How to Write News Book

Acknowledgements     xi
Introduction     xiii
The Journalist     1
Being a journalist     2
What makes a good journalist?     3
The digital newsroom     15
Is journalism for you?     16
Case study: My career as a journalist by John McIntyre     18
Summing up     20
Review questions     21
Exercises     21
Further reading and resources     21
Notes     21
What is News?     23
Some thoughts     23
News values     24
Other influences     30
News is relative     32
Objectivity     33
News sources     34
Case Study: News agenda at BBC Radio 4's World at One     37
Summing up     38
Review questions     38
Exercises     38
Further reading     39
Notes     39
Telling the Story: Grammar and Style     41
Putting the message across     42
Good writing - some rules     42
The do's     42
The don'ts     46
Common grammatical errors     50
Poor spelling     54
Summing up     55
Review questions     55
Exercises     56
Further reading     56
Notes     56
Structuring the Story     57
The intro/cue     57
Identifying the intro     58
Writing the intro     62
Breaking stories and breaking the rules     64
What to avoid     66
The ideal intro     68
Structuring the story     68
Case Study: A reporter's thoughts on structuring a story     68
The news triangle     70
News questions     73
Transitional words     73
Paragraphing     74
Attribution     76
Balance     77
Laying out copy     77
Summing up     78
Review questions     78
Exercises     78
Further reading     79
Notes     80
Writing for Broadcast     81
Introduction     81
The purpose of broadcast news     81
The language of broadcast news     82
Writing the cue     86
Read your copy aloud     87
Going live     88
Radio     91
Using sound     91
Radio audiences     92
Types of programmes     93
Building a news bulletin     94
Case Study: Building a local news bulletin     94
Writing for radio     96
Case Study: Writing radio news     97
Script layout     100
Sounding the part     101
Editing sound     102
Television     103
Using pictures     103
The television audience     103
Radio stories vs television stories     104
Writing for television     104
Case study: Writing for television as a foreign correspondent     107
Pieces to camera     112
Making the most of the pictures     114
Technology     117
How impartial?     122
Looking and sounding the part     124
Case study: The television reporter at work     125
Summing up     132
Review questions     133
Exercises     133
Further reading and resources     133
Notes     134
Online Journalism      135
News on the internet     135
The online journalist     138
The audience     140
Writing online     142
Selecting the facts     146
Newsgathering and researching using the web     146
Summing up     152
Review questions     152
Exercises     153
Further reading and resources     153
Notes     154
Effective Interviewing     155
How important?     155
Types of interview     156
Two famous examples     157
Preparation     160
Case Study: The television interviewer     162
The interview     163
Taking notes     173
Covering news conferences     175
Doorstepping     176
Telephone interviews     177
Email or submitted question interviews     179
Ethical issues     179
Case study: The radio interviewer     182
Summing up     183
Review questions     183
Exercises     183
Further reading     184
Notes     134
Finding the News      185
Sources of news     185
Gathering the facts     195
Handling a news release     197
Case study: How to handle a press release     199
Human interest stories     202
Journalism by numbers     203
Case study: A radio reporter tracks down a story     206
Summing up     207
Review questions     207
Exercises     208
Further reading     208
Notes     208
Local Government Reporting     209
Why local government is important     209
Local government structure     211
How councils work     212
The role of the councillor     214
Reporting local government     216
The Local Government Act and council meetings     217
Writing your report     219
Case study: Unearthing news stories from council planning agendas     220
Freedom of information     222
The nations and regions     223
Summing up     223
Review questions     223
Exercises     224
Further reading and resources     224
Notes     224
Court Reporting      226
The structure of the court service     227
Covering the criminal courts     230
Restrictions on reporting     232
Contempt of court     233
Other ways of falling foul of contempt     237
Reporter's rights in court reporting     238
Ethical issues     238
Contempt in civil proceedings     240
Examples of crime reporting     240
Summing up     242
Review questions     243
Exercises     243
Further reading and resources     244
Notes     244
Reporters and the Law     245
Law and the media     244
Defamation     246
Libel and the internet     257
Data Protection Act 1998     260
Human Rights Act 1998     261
Law of breach of confidence     263
Injunctions     265
Official Secrets Acts 1911 and 1989     265
Freedom of Information Act 2000     267
Trademarks     269
Summing up     269
Review questions     270
Exercises     270
Further reading     270
Notes     271
The Moral Maze     273
An ethical job     273
Objectivity/impartiality     276
Regulation in the industry     279
Regulating the broadcasters     279
Regulating the press     282
The Press Complaints Commission     283
Some practical issues and how to handle them     284
Summing up     295
Review questions     295
Exercises     296
Further reading and resources     296
Notes     297
The Editors' Code of Practice     299
Glossary     304
Index     313