what is news - reporting news of sensitive issues

1. issues in news reporting in
Nigeria?

2. The nature of news and news
gathering
News is an aspect of human
communication that has become more
or less synonymous with human
civilization and every modern society
has come to find it an indispensable part
of human progress.

3. The nature of news and news
gathering
News has been affirmed to be a
necessity in a modern society more so
in a democratic society because it
allows society to understand itself and
comprehend the perils and hazards it is
confronted with as it journeys through
times and epochs.

4. The nature of news and news
gathering
There have been so many other answers to the question,
what is the news?
Is it what a reporter finds satisfaction in writing or what a
well-trained editor decides to publish?
Is the news the report of an event or anything timely?
Is it stimulating information?
Some definitions say that it is literature in a hurry; others
say it is tomorrow’s history.
There are many other glib definitions of news.
One of the most frequently quoted is attributed to
nineteenth-century editor John Bogart: ‘when a dog bites
a man, that is not news; but when a man bites a dog,
that is news.’

5. The nature of news and news
gathering
 First, news is a story, report or
account.
 Second, news is an account of an
idea, event, problem or issue that
enough men are concerned about.
 Third, news is an account of
something real and is based upon
material facts that are ‘truly material’.

6. The nature of news and news
gathering
 Fourth, news is current.
 Fifth, news is an account of something
that interests people even though the
level of interest may vary in different
kinds of news story.
 When we put all of these elements
together we arrive at a simple
definition: ‘news is an account of a
current idea, event, problem, issue
or people that interests people’.

7. Journalists generally agree about
what news is not, but they have
real problems identifying just
what news is.

8. Deciding what news is usually is
not a matter of absolutes but
rather it is a matter of the relative
newsworthiness of different
events, people and issues at any
given time.

9. Timeliness

10. Impact

11. Prominence

12. Proximity

13. Singularity

14. Human interest

15. How to handle sensitive
issues?

16. News gathering, to be sure, is a
highly imperfect art, and
problems with basic facts, not to
mention nuances, are common.
But when you are talking about
conflicts that are at their root
racial, ethnic or religious, the
stakes are higher.

17. This is the stuff riots, wars and
deep-seated prejudices are
made of, and the news media
has an even greater
responsibility than it normally
does to get it right.

18. Very little of what the news
media does is conspiratorial.
Most of the time we're just not
good or sensitive enough about
the many sides of volatile issues
and often we respond to news
reporting in a pragmatic way that
emphasizes results at any cost.

19. Here is one checklist:
 Is it true?
 What is the impact of the events or
circumstances surrounding the issue?
 Is the news story fair to all concerned?
 Is it a public or strictly private issue?
 Will the story make a difference?
 Will the truth quell rumors?
 How would you justify your decision to
your audience?
 How would you treat the story if you
were the subject?

20. Here are 10 tips for reporting
sensitive issues:
 1: Don’t write in clichés
 2: Don’t believe everything someone tells you
 3: Don’t hunt for the 'definitive truth'
 4: Don’t get things out of context
 5: Don’t accept information without question
 6: Don’t forget the human face of suffering
 7: Don’t be sloppy with words
 8: Don’t be led by another’s agenda
 9: Don’t ignore the local pressures
 10: Don’t ignore history

21. Thanks for giving me your
attention