1. Interpretative
(Interpretive)
Reporting

2. What is interpretative reporting?
• . It is reporting news depth and with care, news refreshed with
background materials to make it comprehensive and
meaningful. - Lester Markel, editor, The Sunday New York
Times
• It is objective judgment based on background knowledge of a
situation or appraisal of an event which are essential parts of
news. - Lester Markel

3. What is interpretative reporting?
• . It is about telling the reader everything he needs to know
about a given development, and all the essential facts in a way
that brings the story to the reader's environment. - Robert
Bolorf, executive editor, The Wall Street Journal
• It is giving the reading public accurate information as fully as
the importance of any story dictates. - Catledge, editor, The
New York Times

4. Based on the following definitions,
interpretative reporting is more than
the recital of bare facts but reporting
news refreshed with background
materials to make it comprehensive
and meaningful. Interpretive
reporting uses skills in explanation,
analysis and description.

5. Interpretive (or interpretative)
journalism goes beyond the basic
facts of an event or topic to
provide context, analysis, and
possible consequences.

6. Interpretive journalists must have
unusual familiarity with and
understanding of a subject, and
their work involves looking for
patterns, motives, and influences
that explain what they are
reporting.

7. Interpretive journalism overlaps with
other forms of reporting
( Investigative Reporting ; Advocacy
Journalism ), in which journalists
themselves, after interviews and
reviews of documents and data, assert
who committed wrong or what
caused failure.

8. Here are the major phases that are
involved in interpretative
reporting:
• Factual or fact-gathering phase - the first and, personally, the
crucial stage, since, this stage will be the foundation of all the
reports. With enough facts gathered, verified and rechecked,
the reporter can then have more assurance of making a story
stand.
• Prophesy phase - the writer, like a scientist, makes an
“educated guess” or like a hypothesis in science, where he can
somehow predict, based on the FACTS, where his / her story is
leading. Information from experts can verify if the “guess”
may lead to something concrete.
• Interpretation phase - this phase is the “fruit” of the two
previous phases, where the reporter concludes on the
MEANING, IMPORTANCE or EFFECT of all the reports. The
reporter’s interpretation can be highlighted on this or an / the
expert/s opinion on the matter.

9. In contrast to the opinion journalism,
which takes position to the topics
themselves, the interpretive
journalism tries to report objectively
and to quote therefore several points
of view. The journalist knows
however by selection and order of
these points of view under-smolder-
lies nevertheless a certain opinion to
represent.

10. As a result of adding extended
information from different
sources arises the interpretation
of the journalist, who is as
objective as possible and for who
readers arrange the background
of the event.

11. In interpretive journalism the
selection of the sources is
particularly important.

12. A high-quality interpretive article
contains sources of various kind and
particularly from various points of
view. Here the opinions of
Protagonist, in addition, of experts,
entangled into the message, who are
familiar with the respective topic, play
an important role.

13. what is the distinction between
objective journalism and
interpretive journalism?

14. Interpretive reporting takes the
facts from objective journalism
and adds context and analysis

15. Interpretive Writing should
Provoke, Relate, and Reveal!

16. Types of Interpretive Stories
• Wall street journal format
• Multiple-element story
• Trend Piece

17. The Inverted Pyramid
Lead
Supporting
Paragraph
Secondary
Information
Background
Information

18. THE TREND PIECE
Anecdote that
Illustrates trend
Statistics that
Clearly establish
Trend.
Speculation by experts
On probable causes and
Significance of trend
Kicker, preferably
Alluding to original
Anecdote

19. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL FORMULA
1
Focus on
Individual
Return to Transition to
4. original focus Larger Issue
2
Developmen
t of Larger
issue
3

20. The Multiple Element story
Multiple element Element A
Lead
Element B
Development of
Element A
Development of
Element B
Bullets Element C
Element D
Element E
Element F

21. The full flowering of interpretive
reporting, however, occurs in
stories that are not based on
events

22. These are enterprise stories:
trend stories, backgrounders,
analyses, “think” pieces,
investigative reports: that are
increasingly becoming the
hallmark of newspaper
journalism

23. They seek to identify the causes
of events rather than report on
their occurrence. Such stories
give the causes and
consequences of events.

24. Reporters are expected to keep
their personal opinions out of
print, although this often a
matter of form than of substance.

25. The control that reporters exert
over the content of interpretive
stories, both sources and facts,
makes it impossible to claim that
personal opinion is absent.

26. Professional acceptance of interpretive
reporting since the 1960s has brought
with it a number of variations in
journalistic style and method – the new
journalism, activism and advocacy,
adversary journalism, investigative
journalism, etc