11. Types of news
• What is hard news?
– Police and fire reporting
12. Types of news
• What is hard news?
– Police and fire reporting
– Government
13. Types of news
• What is hard news?
– Police and fire reporting
– Government
– Disasters
14. Types of news
• What is hard news?
– Police and fire reporting
– Government
– Disasters
• What is soft news?
15. Types of news
• What is hard news?
– Police and fire reporting
– Government
– Disasters
• What is soft news?
– Human-interest feature stories
16. Types of news
• What is hard news?
– Police and fire reporting
– Government
– Disasters
• What is soft news?
– Human-interest feature stories
– Not necessarily tied to the news cycle
17. Types of news
• What is hard news?
– Police and fire reporting
– Government
– Disasters
• What is soft news?
– Human-interest feature stories
– Not necessarily tied to the news cycle
– Often aimed at tugging on the emotions
19. Public (civic) journalism
• Listen to our readers
about their concerns
to shape coverage
• Movement died out
under criticism from
traditional journalists
20. Public (civic) journalism
• Listen to our readers
about their concerns
to shape coverage
• Movement died out
under criticism from
traditional journalists
• Reborn as digital tools
empower the
“former audience”
21. Objectivity
• Ideally, it means acting
as a disinterested
observer reporting facts
22. Objectivity
• Ideally, it means acting
as a disinterested
observer reporting facts
• Too often it has come to
mean a mindless
pursuit of “balance”
23. Objectivity
• Ideally, it means acting
as a disinterested
observer reporting facts
• Too often it has come to
mean a mindless
pursuit of “balance”
• We need tough, neutral
journalism aimed at
seeking out the truth
26. Special considerations
• Offensive details, especially in photos
• Sensationalism for its own sake
• Rumors — sometimes yes, sometimes no
27. Special considerations
• Offensive details, especially in photos
• Sensationalism for its own sake
• Rumors — sometimes yes, sometimes no
• Names of rape victims are usually withheld
28. Special considerations
• Offensive details, especially in photos
• Sensationalism for its own sake
• Rumors — sometimes yes, sometimes no
• Names of rape victims are usually withheld
• Names of juvenile offenders withheld
29. Accuracy
• If a person says his name is “John Smith,” ask
him to spell “John” and “Smith”
30. Accuracy
• If a person says his name is “John Smith,” ask
him to spell “John” and “Smith”
• It could be “Jon Smythe”
31. Accuracy
• If a person says his name is “John Smith,” ask
him to spell “John” and “Smith”
• It could be “Jon Smythe”
• Keep asking questions until you understand
what’s going on
– Passing along information that you don’t quite
understand leads to fuzziness and errors
32. Credits
• This presentation is a summary of Chapter 5 in
“Reporting for the Media,” by John R. Bender,
Lucinda D. Davenport, Michael W. Drager and
Fred Fedler (10th edition)