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As a writer, editor or publisher you have a reputation to keep. Not only for your own publication, but for all journalists. Part of your job as a reporter is to ensure that your actions are both responsible and ethical. Your motivation for being an ethical journalist should be the same motivation you have for writing in the first place. In the end, it is about a need to expose information in such a way that it engages readers and earns their respect. Journalistic codes of ethics frequently share a number of common elements including truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability (Rich, 2015; Ryan, 2001)
UNIT 2.2: JOURNALISTIC ETHICS As a writer, editor or publisher you have a reputation to keep Not only for your own publication, but for all journalists Part of your job as a reporter is to ensure that your actions are both responsible and ethical Your motivation for being an ethical journalist should be the same motivation you have for writing in the first place In the end, it is about a need to expose information in such a way that it engages readers and earns their respect Journalistic codes of ethics frequently share a number of common elements including truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability (Rich, 2015; Ryan, 2001) OBJECTIVITY Objectivity implies a standard But if a standard exists, then why don’t two newspapers ever have the same angle on a breaking story? If they’re all writing objective stories, how can they all present the same story differently? From the very moment a story is assigned, there exists bias An editor wants one story over another story because they think it’s a better story They then run with a particular angle because they think that it’s more interesting The writer decides who to interview and, equally importantly, who not to interview They decide what to ask and what not to ask, what research needs to be done and what doesn’t They then decide what the lede should be, what the angle should be (unless it’s already been decided from above), who should be quoted first and who should be quoted longer Editors then decide what to change, what to cut, what to add and what headline should go at the top More editors decide where the story should be placed and which pictures should should appear alongside it If you’re writing a story with conflict, there will be decisions made by a number of people that will affect the way the story is written Those decisions will affect the way the story is perceived by the reader This ability to influence perception is very powerful It’s your job to find out everything you can from all sides of any issue you write about Always find out what different sides have to say (there are always more than two) If the research shows that your stand on an issue is wrong, then it’s wrong If the facts don’t back up your opinion, your opinion needs to change (Rich, 2015; Ryan, 2001; Whitaker et al., 2013) BALANCE While objectivity might be a fanciful flight, balance is not Balance is the devil’s advocate and the lynchpin of credibility for your story Without a balanced representation of all viewpoints, your story ends up serving the goals of those people you chose to interview rather than representing an accurate spectrum of opinion and dissent One of the more difficult, and hotly debated, aspects of balance is that it’s necessities change story by story Balancing one story may be as simple as asking a few students what they think of dining hall food But often it’s more difficult than that Balance means fair representation If there is a voice of dissent or assent, they deserve to be represented in your story There is an element of judgment to balance, though Representing racist or homophobic views that are poorly informed on the topic of your article doesn’t serve to inform anyone Your responsibility as a journalist extends to interviewing people who are knowledgeable in the field you are investigating; who are not reactionary message pushers; and who can legitimately debate issues at hand To balance this story, we also need to interview other users of the food bank Do they feel that the students are legitimate users? Have long-term users of the food bank noticed an increase in the number of students using the service? Has it changed the way they use the service? A reporter might also nationalize the story by contacting researchers at the Canadian Association of Food Banks as well as students in other provinces who are facing similar problems Balancing the story does not include interviewing someone who argues, without research and facts to back up their claims, that the only people who use food banks are lazy Since research and survey work has shown that welfare recipients and the working poor are the highest sector of food bank users in Canada (Canadian Association of Food Banks) Balancing a story involves asking the hard questions about who you are interviewing and the quality of their responses Remember that when you interview someone, you are under no obligation to use that interview in your story If your source clearly has no idea what they’re talking about, discount them and move on Inform your readers through informed sources with a variety of backgrounds and concerns (Ryan, 2001; Sloan & Parcell, 2002) ACCURACY Accuracy can have a huge effect on the credibility of your paper, your article and you as a journalist It is imperative that you fact-check and ensure that what you’ve written is, in fact, true Before, during, and after you have finished writing a piece, you should go back and check everything that is considered a fact This includes: - Nouns (names and places) - Dates and times - Job titles, duties - Literary quotations - Interview quotations - Statistics - Sequence of actions - Contact information A reporter must judge what is important or unimportant The news must give an accurate portrayal of an event or situation, and poor selection of details or improper emphasis of details can distort the truth In general, accuracy is difficult because reporters are dealing with many facts; they must gather information and write quickly, and many people are involved, from source to reporter to editor (Sloan & Parcell, 2002; Study Lecture Note, 2015) Truthfulness Journalists need to make a commitment to telling the truth This includes not giving false or made-up reports, and telling truthful stories that are not intended to deceive the audience This may require reporters to provide not only the facts but also the context surrounding them Truthfulness requires a commitment not only from the journalist but also from the organization he or she works for (Ethical Journalism Network, n.d) Accountability A sure sign of professionalism and responsible journalism is the ability to hold ourselves accountable When we commit errors we must correct them and our expressions of regret must be sincere not cynical We listen to the concerns of our audience We may not change what readers write or say but we will always provide remedies when we are unfair PRACTICAL EXERCISES Exercise 1: News Judgment If a 15-year-old boy in your community was charged with killing his mother and stepfather, which of these details would you include in your story and which would you discard? A B C The boy was an Eagle Scout The boy had twice run away from home and twice been arrested by police The boy never knew his father, a construction worker who disappeared shortly after his D E F birth The boy told friends that he hated his stepfather Friends said the boy shoplifted, usually beer, and was sometimes drunk Friends said they thought, but were not certain, the stepfather beat the boy, since while G H swimming they noticed bruises the boy refused to explain The boy was 60 to 80 pounds overweight and a poor athlete Psychoanalyzing him, an English teacher who knew the boy said he seemed to be full I of hostility he tried to repress Social workers investigated—but were unable to substantiate—suspicions that the boy was sexually molested by an uncle Patricia Richards, a 52-year-old business woman in your city, today announced that she is running for mayor You know and can prove all the following facts, but have never reported them because she was a private citizen Mark the facts you would report today A Richards has been divorced three times B At the age of 17, Richards and two friends were charged with stealing a car The charges were dropped because the car was recovered undamaged and the car's owner, a C neighbor, declined to prosecute Richards has diabetes D E F Richards has had two abortions Richards is a recovered alcoholic; she has not had a drink in 20 years Before going into business for herself, she was fired from two other jobs because of her G drinking Her campaign literature says she attended the University of Iowa, yet she never H I J K graduated She established, owns and manages the city's largest chain of furniture stores Various tax and other public records reveal that her chain of furniture stores is valued at $20 million and, last year, earned a profit of $2.3 million Each year, Richards donates more than $1 million to local charities that help troubled young women, but always avoids publicity, insisting that the charities never mention her donations Exercise 2: Avoiding Unnecessary words The following sentences not have to be rewritten; simply cross off the unnecessary words The city council voted to go ahead and sue the builders The accident occurred when a pickup truck collided with a car There is a possibility that the sign may be installed sometime later this month When police arrived at the scene, they found only an empty box, not a bomb Police responding to the call found that the assailants had kicked him in the face, head and neck Exercise 3: Remaining Objective The following sentences not have to be rewritten; simply cross off the opinionated words and phrases Lucky to be alive today, the 20-year-old man walked away uninjured from a car accident that could have been fatal What began as a routine day ended tragically for Albert Wei when he was shot in the face during a daring daylight robbery The mayor's speech was well received, as he was interrupted more than 20 times by hearty applause When they got home, the young couple had a big surprise They found that burglars had taken all their lovely wedding presents, leaving only the wrapping paper and ribbon behind Forty-five people miraculously escaped injury when the bus they were riding in overturned on a perilous stretch of interstate highway near Philadelphia Exercise 4: Simplifying Sentences Rewrite the following sentences more simply and clearly Gladys Ann Higginbotham said she is not alone in her beliefs since other people also think the children are currently in danger As far as the safety is concerned, Thomas Haskell said he is not concerned about the airline's safetybecause it has a good record The driver of the vehicle then sped away, driving north through the parking lot at a speed estimated to be in the vicinity of 60 mph An ambulance then rushed the girl to Mercy Hospital for treatment of her injuries by doctors who said she is now in critical condition The plans have not been finalized, but tentatively it is possible that at this time the program could begin to serve a total of approximately 20 schools in the nearby vicinity Exercise 5: Identifying the news features Take some news from any English newspaper and remark the features of news writing appeared in them Unit 2.3: TECHNIQUES NEWS WRITING IDEAL LENGTH PARAGRAPH LENGTH The newspaper paragraph does not have the same form as the paragraph used in traditional essay-style writing, or composition Classical composition form will be reviewed briefly here merely to provide a contrast The traditional essay has three parts-the introduction, the body and the conclusion The introduction is one or two paragraphs that establish the thesis, the main idea of the essay The body of the essay is a series of paragraphs that break the thesis into parts, each paragraph beginning with a topic sentence that identified the main point of the paragraph The conclusion is usually a one-paragraph summary Here is an example of a body paragraph beginning with a topic sentence: Built on the Acropolis overlooking the city of Athens in the fifth century B.C., the Parthenon is an excellent example of Greek architecture It was a temple of the gods and was very important to the people Although at first glance its structure seems to be perfect, on closer examination it becomes clear that it is a static, tow-dimensional object As long as you stand in the center of any of its four sides to look at it, its form will appear to be perfect The strong Doric columns seem to be equally spaced, one next to another, along all four of its sides But if you take a step to the right or left, the Parthenon’s symmetry is destroyed Notice that this paragraph is six sentences long and is highly unified In sharp contrast to this, however, the newspaper paragraph has no topic sentence, it is usually only one or two sentences long, and it infrequently exceeds three sentences This is much different than the writing you have done for your composition and English classes, which emphasizes four or five sentences per paragraph Here is an example of newspaper paragraph style: Depressed people who display "risky behaviour", agitation and impulsivity are at least 50% more likely to attempt suicide, a study has found Research by the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) concluded that the behaviour patterns "precede many suicide attempts" The study said effective prevention measures were "urgently needed" The World Health Organisation estimates that there were more than 800,000 suicides worldwide in 2012 The ECNP study evaluated 2,811 patients suffering from depression, of whom 628 had previously attempted suicide Researchers "looked especially at the characteristics and behaviours of those who had attempted suicide", and found that "certain patterns recur" before attempts RULE: Strive for a paragraph length of to 1.5 sentences (McIntyre, 1996; McKane, 2013; The Associated Press, 2012) SENTENCE LENGTH Writers tend to be more intellectual than the populace as a whole This lets them craft long, compound- complex sentences that may be brilliantly executed, but are as tough as walnuts The average length of sentences in English has shrunk dramatically over the centuries In Elizabethan writing, the average sentence length was 45 words The Victorian sentence was 29; the contemporary sentence is less than 20 According to research done by Prof Wayne Danielson at the University of Texas, the average sentence length of contemporary American novels is slightly less than 15 words Research by United Press International and the Associated Press has clearly established that shorter sentences are easier to understand than longer ones UPI distributed a table to remind writers of the value of short sentences Sentence Length and Readability words or less Very easy to read 11 words Easy to read 14 words Fairly easy to read 17 words Standard 21 words Fairy difficult to read 25 words Difficult to read 29 words Very difficult to read RULE: Strive for a sentence length of 17 words or less Do not string together, with commas and conjunctions, several sentences into one long sentence The best way to shorten sentences is to use periods, not commas and conjunctions (McIntyre, 1996) IMPERSONAL REPORTER Another aspect of journalistic writing is the impersonal reporter Now, because everyone can communicate with their target audiences, anyone can be a “reporter.” To be a good reporter, though, you should follow these guidelines Reporters should be transparent in their writing They should avoid using first-person pronouns (I, me, we, our, my, us) or second-person pronouns (you, your) outside of a source’s direct quote Examples: 1st person: I walked to school this morning and because I was hungry I stopped at the local dairy to buy a peanut slab 3rd person: Auckland secondary school student John Marsters, travelled to school on foot early Tuesday morning He was seen purchasing a peanut slab at the local dairy Reporters also should set aside their own views and opinions Allowing the writer’s opinions, prejudices, and biases to enter a story is called editorializing News reporters should report only what they see and hear How a reporter feels about that information is not relevant to the news story To avoid editorializing, a writer should present only facts and limit or eliminate most adjectives, except in direct quotes For example, instead of writing, “He was sad,” describe what the person did that made you think he was sad Instead of writing, “He was sad,” you could write, “He placed his head in his hands and wept.” Present what you see and hear; let the reader make the connection that the person was sad How you know something is “interesting,” “impressive,” “tragic,” or “avoidable”? That is your opinion Just present the facts Leave the value judgment to your readers (University of Florida, 2015) VOCABULARY AND GRAMMARTICAL STYLES Active and Passive Voice: Voice is that inflection of a verb that shows whether its subject is the doer of the action indicated or is acted upon If the subject performs the action, the verb is in the active voice If the subject is acted upon, the verb is in the passive voice Active voice is dynamic Passive voice is static Active voice is vigorous and emphasizes the actor Passive voice is evasive about naming the actor News writing should almost always be in the active voice because news is about action and actors To test for the active voice, find the subject and verb in the sentence Put the subject before the verb so that the subject takes action: Jill hit the ball, not: The ball was hit by Jill Nouns and verbs: Place emphasis more on nouns and verbs than on adjectives and adverbs Overusing adjectives and adverbs will cause you to editorialize Action verbs keep a story moving and grab the reader more than “to be” verbs (be, is, are, am, was, were), which show little action Use action verbs to describe what you observe Simple writing: Use simple words and simple sentences Not every sentence should be in the simple-sentence format (subject−verb−object), but the simple sentence is a good tool for clearing up muddy writing Precision: Use the right word Say exactly what you mean Be specific Avoid sexism in your writing Use generic terms: firefighters instead of firemen, letter carriers instead of mailmen Transitions: Transitions tie together what you have written Each sentence in a story should logically follow the previous sentence or should relate to it in some way New information in a story should be connected to information already introduced Transitions include the following: • Connectors help unify the writing For the most part, they are conjunctions such as and, but, or, for, thus, however, therefore, meanwhile, and others They not have great value in terms of the content of the writing, but they are necessary for its flow • Hooks are words or phrases that are repeated throughout an article to give the reader a sense of unity For example, in a story about the city council, the word “council” used throughout the story would be a hook • Pronouns are one of the best transitional devices for writing about people Instead of using a person’s name each time, use a pronoun about every other time the person is mentioned in the story Jargon and clichés: Avoid jargon and clichés Jargon is technical language used in specialized fields or in specific groups Clichés are overused words and phrases, such as “it cost an arm and a leg,” “a drop in the bucket,” and “on the cutting edge.” (Mencher, 1983; University of Florida, 2015) ABBRIVIATIONS Titles Some titles are abbreviated, but only in front of someone’s name The abbreviated titles are “Dr.,” “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Rev.” (reverend), “Sen.” (senator), “Rep.” (representative), “Gov.” (governor), “Lt Gov.” (lieutenant governor), and military ranks For example, “Gov Adams said he liked the presentation.” Titles are spelled out if they are not in front of a person’s name (“Adams, the governor of Georgia, said he liked the presentation.”) Street Addresses The words “street,” “avenue,” and “boulevard” are spelled out unless they are part of a full street address “Road,” “alley,” “circle,” and “drive” are not abbreviated He lives on Main Street He lives at 1245 Main St She lives on Bamboo Avenue She lives at 405 Bamboo Ave They live on Citrus Boulevard They live at 80 Citrus Blvd The box was delivered to Boone Road The box was delivered to 890 Boone Road (University of Florida, 2015) NUMNBERS Months and Dates Months are spelled out unless they come before a date Months that are five letters or shorter are never abbreviated (March, April, May, June, and July) She moved last February She moved in February 2014 She moved on Feb 6, 2014 She moved on March 15, 2014 (University of Florida, 2015) Numbers • In general, spell out whole numbers nine and below (The nine boys) • Use figures for 10 and above (The 25 boys) • “Million” and “billion” are used with round numbers (2.3 million 250 billion) • “Thousands” are numbers (186,540) • Ages are always numbers (The 2-year-old girl John is 21 years old.) • Measurements and dimensions are always numbers (25 percent yards He is feet tall.) • Years are always numbers (He was born in 1990.) • However, spell out any number—except for a year—that begins a sentence (Four-year-old Tom Adams won an award 2007 was a good year.) (University of Florida, 2015) CONCISE AND CLEAR News must follow the news form developed over a period of many years It must be unite, concise, clear and simple A story that is diffused, disorganized and ambiguous in meaning does not have the characteristic quality of news It should be well-paced, unified and abuse all written so clearly that the meaning of the story is also absolutely plain Also think in terms of eliminating any unnecessary words, any words not absolutely essential to the meaning Students sometimes complain that if they write too concisely, the take away creativity and interest It will be boring, the protest However, concise writing is more crisp, immediate and interesting Think about your textbooks Nothing is worse than reading book, say students, because they are usually long winded and overwritten (Study Lecture Note, 2015) PRACTICAL EXERCISES Exercise 1: Sentence Building Use the provided words and phrases to write the news You may add words and change forms of the verbs given figure - the difference/ number/ enter/ country/ those leaving/ is more/ three times/ higher/ government's target …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… 2014, 13% /people /UK/ born abroad/ taking the foreign-born population/ 8.3m …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… fifth consecutive quarterly/ rise/ net migration figure/ ONS say/caused by/ increase/ number/ EU citizens migrating/UK …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… Net migration/EU citizens/ 183,000/ 53,000/year end/ March 2014 …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… number/those arriving/countries outside/ EU/larger/ net migration/ measured/ 196,000/But/ year-on-year/ increase/ smaller/ 39,000 …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… 2011/ Prime Minister David Cameron/ say/ speech/ he/ give/"no ifs, no buts"/ promise/ he would/ bring/ immigration numbers down/ "levels our country can manage" …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… After/ latest set/ figures/ government/ insist/ it/ acting/ control immigration/ but/ say/EU/ need/ more/ help/ ease/current migrant crisis/Europe …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… Rewrite the news using provided words and phrases You may add words and change forms of the verbs social experiment /show/ many local residents/very kind ……………………………………………………………………………………… Residents/Da Nang/ ancient town/ Hoi An/show/ their kindness and integrity/ “wallet drop” social experiment …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… experiment conduct/ youth group Black or White/ crowded places/ including supermarkets/ cinema/ parks/ August …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… young man/ pretend/ drop/ wallet/ see how people around him/ react …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… total 40 wallets/dropp/ which 34 ones/ return immediately/ man …………………………………………………………………………………………… remaining wallets /take / some residents/ only returne/ wallets/ checking what's inside …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… group conclude / honesty rate /residents / 85 percent ……………………………………………………………………………………………… It/the first experiment / Da Nang/ carryout/ Black or White/ form/ group / Vietnamese students/ say/ the/ interested/ transparency and life values …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… Exercise 2: Active and Passive In the sentences that follow, mark each sentence as either active or passive If the sentence is passive, rewrite to make active The strawberries were picked at their peak of ripeness ………………………………………………………………………………… Prince Evan will lead the procession ………………………………………………………………………………… A peck of peppers were eaten by Peter Piper ………………………………………………………………………………… Using his battle axe, Clyde smote the approaching goblins ………………………………………………………………………………… Jenny wrinkled her nose when she ate the soup ………………………………………………………………………………… I was flustered by my seeming inability to get a good grade in her class ……………………………………………………………………………… 7. The ball whooshed by the goalie’s outstretched fingers ………………………………………………………………………………… The salad dressing was comprised of oil, vinegar, mustard and honey ………………………………………………………………………………… Exercise 3: Take some news from newspapers, find and correct any mistakes basing on news writing style UNIT 2.4: STRUTURE OF NEWS & INVERTED PYRAMID FORMAT News stories in all media share some common elements Every news story is based on one main media-the focus The basic news story structure includes a headline and three general parts: a beginning, called the “lead”; a middle, called the “body” and an ending PARTS OF A NEWS REPORT Headline Byline Placeline Lead US to Investigate Deadly Strike in Somalia October 01, 2016 2:11 AM Carla Babb KO OLINA, HAWAII — The U.S military will investigate conflicting reports on Wednesday’s deadly U.S airstrike in Somalia, U.S Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said “In this instance as in all instances, when questions are raised about the actions of U.S airstrikes, we pursue them,” Carter told reporters during a news conference in Hawaii Carter said the U.S had not yet looked into this particular airstrike, but would share the results once an investigation is complete He added that there was no other military more committed to the “principles of openness and transparency and accountability” than the United States Body quotation “That also acknowledges the fact that there have been mistakes made over time and we try to stick to, stand up and hold ourselves accountable when that happens,” he said Somalia's government has demanded an explanation from the United States for the strike, which Somali officials said killed 13 members of local government forces in Galmudug, a Somali federal state The structure of a news report follows a specific structure The parts of this structure are identified and defined below: Headline: It catches your eyes and sums up the story It is usually in larger font and often bolded Byline: This tells you who wrote the article and sometimes gives you the journalist’s specialty Placeline: It tells you where the story originated Lead: This gives the most important information very briefly (usually who, what, when and where) Body: It supplies additional information Tells the rest of 5W’s if they were not included in the lead, elaborate on the lead, expands on information introduced in the lead It is divided into small paragraphs Facts: Every news article includes simple, true statements about what happened, such as “The flooding set the building’s security system off at 5:15 a.m.” Quotations: These retell, word for word, what someone actually said Usually these quotations come from witnesses at the scene, or experts on a subject Photograph and caption – sometimes articles have a photograph, and a sentence explaining the photograph THE INVERTED PYRAMID Most of the stories we will consider will be written in the inverted pyramid structure, although three kinds of stories follow a slightly different formula As you learn to write these basic newspaper stories, keep in mind the news values, those criteria of news worthiness that always guide journalists in choosing what readers want and need to know, and help reporters select what information to include in their stories and how to put that information into an inverted pyramid order Advantages of Inverted Pyramid Offers quick reading Features less repetition Offers easier editing (easier to cut and paste) Offers faster headline preparation Easier to add to a story (as well as cut it) Allows for faster writing of a story (can it in your head, from a phone booth even) Offers a quick organizing tool (Hicks et al., 2016; Sloan & Parcell, 2002; Whitaker et al., 2013) PRACTICAL EXERCISES Exercise 1: Writing a news report Writing the news story from the information below Remember put your key points in order of priority then write in the system of the inverted pyramid Assume that all these events happened within the area served by your newspaper, radio or television station A school bus ran off City Road in Suva, narrowly missed an electricity pole and came to rest in a garden Most of the bus windows were smashed There were more than 30 children on the bus They were going to Martyr School It was a 36-seater bus All the children escaped serious injury Some of them jumped out of the bus and grazed themselves Eye-witnesses said the children were helped from the bus screaming and shouting and in a state of panic This happened this morning Exercise 2: Writing a news report Writing the news story from the information below Remember to write the headline, lead and put your key points in order of priority then write in the system of the inverted pyramid Assume that all these events happened within the area served by your newspaper, radio or television station In July last year, Mr Sione Tuanuku went to work for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Nuku`alofa, cleaning out the dog pound and caring for the dogs Yesterday he was sacked by the manager of the dog pound, Mrs Anita Chan She said that he had mistreated one of the dogs Mr Tuanuku said: "The dogs always barked at me and sometimes they tried to bite me I didn't like it Yesterday I got fed up with one dog that tried to bite me, so I bit the dog in the leg to teach it a lesson Now I have been dismissed from my job."