So You Want To Be A Journalist?

✍ Scribed by Bruce Grundy

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 370
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book is a practical, hands-on guide to the world of journalism, particularly for the beginner. It contains step-by-step instructions on writing for the news media, and practical advice and suggestions on all facets of reporting. It covers the basic skills involved in finding information, interviewing, writing news and feature material, research and investigation, basic subbing, layout and design, the essentials of grammar, the law, and ethical and professional behaviour. The book uses numerous examples to demonstrate its points. It relies almost exclusively on the excellent work of student reporters to show what young people can achieve, despite not having the resources of large news organisations behind them. The book also highlights the efforts of some of the hundreds of students who have worked with the author over many years to produce fine examples of writing and reporting in the very best traditions of journalism.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Acknowledgments......Page 10
Introduction......Page 13
PART 1 Getting started in journalism......Page 17
Where to start?......Page 19
The inverted pyramid......Page 20
Reason 3: The production process......Page 21
How to tell a (news) story......Page 23
1 Accuracy......Page 24
3 The lead......Page 25
Finding the lead......Page 29
Angles......Page 31
The summary lead......Page 32
4 Sources......Page 35
How many sources?......Page 37
Anonymous sources......Page 38
On or off the record......Page 39
5 Logic......Page 40
6 Background......Page 43
7 Attribution......Page 45
Direct and indirect speech......Page 47
The use of “said”......Page 50
No adverbs, please......Page 52
8 The serious issue of tense......Page 53
A trap for the unwary......Page 54
9 Voice......Page 56
Quotation marks......Page 57
Hyphens......Page 58
Colons......Page 59
11 Sentence length......Page 60
Checking your story......Page 61
Sample news story......Page 62
2 Writing news for radio, television and the internet......Page 65
Radio and television......Page 66
Writing......Page 68
Tense…and being there......Page 69
Clarity......Page 71
Delivery and presentation......Page 72
Dos and don’ts for radio and television......Page 74
Choose a strong lead......Page 75
Clarify pronunciation of names......Page 76
Checking your story......Page 77
The internet and online journalism......Page 78
Rewrite your stories......Page 81
How do you look?......Page 82
Present tense......Page 83
3 Writing stories for the reader......Page 85
An out-of-the-pyramid rationale......Page 86
Non-pyramid news......Page 87
Do you have something to say?......Page 88
Structures and tools......Page 90
Structures......Page 91
Get the beginning right......Page 92
Examples......Page 93
The suspended lead......Page 94
The end......Page 96
The middle......Page 97
Observe, observe, observe......Page 98
Choose your words......Page 99
Create imagery......Page 100
Rise and fall......Page 102
Punctuation......Page 103
Humour......Page 104
No licence to kill......Page 105
Overwriting......Page 106
Helpers......Page 107
Sample stories for readers......Page 108
There is more to journalism than reporting other people’s lies......Page 119
Journalism is an essential part of democracy......Page 120
The ink never washes off the page......Page 122
Check your maths......Page 123
Don’t believe everything you hear, but don’t disbelieve it either......Page 124
Assumptions are necessary but dangerous......Page 125
Thinking vertically is fine; so is thinking laterally......Page 126
Luck is good, but effort is more reliable......Page 127
Contacts are vital…in their place......Page 128
Know your technology......Page 129
Ask others to ask questions......Page 130
Putting it all together......Page 131
PART 2 Writing skills......Page 137
5 Grammar......Page 139
Why should you care?......Page 140
Nouns......Page 141
Number......Page 142
Sentences......Page 143
Tense......Page 144
Compound verbs......Page 145
Being “perfect”…or “imperfect”......Page 146
Problems with participles......Page 147
Verbs, number and subject–verb agreement......Page 148
The infinitive…to split or not to split......Page 150
Pronouns......Page 152
The trouble with “its”......Page 153
A case for knowing about “case”......Page 154
Adjectives......Page 156
Comparative adjectives......Page 157
Adverbs......Page 158
Prepositions......Page 159
Prepositions ending sentences......Page 160
Exclamations......Page 161
Phrases......Page 162
Kinds of phrases......Page 163
Clauses......Page 164
The trouble with “that” and “which”......Page 165
Sentences and paragraphs......Page 166
The right word in the right place......Page 167
Troublesome word pairs......Page 169
Punctuation......Page 171
Commas......Page 172
Colons......Page 174
Semicolons......Page 175
Hyphens......Page 176
Apostrophes......Page 178
Quotation marks......Page 180
Exclamation marks......Page 181
7 Subbing......Page 183
Making a story fit the space......Page 184
Rewriting a story......Page 185
Ensuring the facts are right......Page 186
Writing headlines......Page 187
Writing captions......Page 188
Out, damned sub!......Page 189
House style......Page 190
Exercise one: Subbing pars......Page 192
Exercise two: Subbing a story......Page 193
c. It is quite clear…......Page 194
e. He said he…......Page 195
g. Persistant poor litaracy…......Page 196
“Answers” to exercise two......Page 197
First par......Page 198
Second par......Page 199
Fourth par......Page 200
Sixth par......Page 201
Eighth par (final)......Page 202
Complete subedited version......Page 203
The only way to go......Page 204
“Like”......Page 205
“Over” is overused......Page 206
You should have taken more care......Page 207
8 Basic newspaper layout and design......Page 209
Typography......Page 210
Common newspaper fonts......Page 211
Choosing fonts and typefaces......Page 212
Readability......Page 213
Type size......Page 215
Leading......Page 217
Design aids......Page 218
Type size......Page 219
Subheads and crossheads......Page 220
Pulls and pull quotes......Page 221
Write-ins or intro boxes......Page 222
Colour......Page 223
Pictures and illustrations......Page 224
White space......Page 225
PART 3 Understanding the law......Page 227
9 Australian law......Page 229
Origins of our legal system......Page 230
Terms......Page 231
Criminal cases, civil cases and the role of the jury......Page 232
Trial by jury......Page 233
The common law and the hierarchy of authority......Page 234
Rules of evidence......Page 235
The accused’s right to silence......Page 236
Exclusion of evidence illegally or dubiously obtained......Page 237
Federal, state and territory law......Page 238
Confidences......Page 239
Recording conversations......Page 240
Copyright......Page 241
Moral rights......Page 242
Freedom of information......Page 243
Common law contempt......Page 245
Packer v. Peacock(1912) 13 CLR 577......Page 247
The Sunday Timescase: A-G v. Times Newspapers Ltd(1974) AC 273......Page 248
The Bread Manufacturers case: Ex Parte Bread Manufacturers Ltd; Re Truth and Sportsman Ltd(1937) 37 SR (NSW)......Page 249
Are juries swayed by the media anyway?......Page 250
Pre-arrest......Page 251
Arrest/charges......Page 252
Committal......Page 253
Fairness and accuracy......Page 254
Open court......Page 255
Off the record......Page 256
Appeal......Page 257
Statutory contempt......Page 258
Non-publication orders......Page 259
Bail......Page 260
Children......Page 261
Sex offences......Page 262
Jurors......Page 263
Penalties and sentencing......Page 264
11 Defamation......Page 267
Publication......Page 268
Defamatory imputation......Page 269
Identification......Page 270
How?......Page 271
The meaning of words......Page 272
Absolute privilege......Page 273
Qualified privilege......Page 274
It might be true, but can you prove it?......Page 275
Honest opinion......Page 276
Fair report......Page 277
Innocent dissemination and triviality......Page 278
The “newspaper rule”......Page 279
Myths, misconceptions and mistakes......Page 280
One last word......Page 281
“Publicity is the soul of justice”......Page 283
If that is what the judges have said, what do the statutes say?......Page 285
Files......Page 286
Problems accessing files – an example......Page 287
Open courts…open government?......Page 289
Problems accessing files – another example......Page 290
Recording devices......Page 291
PART 4 Research skills......Page 293
Using the internet......Page 295
Who wrote it and when?......Page 296
Which engine to fire up…or fire?......Page 297
The invisible web......Page 298
Old-fangled v. new-fangled research......Page 299
Electoral rolls......Page 300
Documents, documents, documents......Page 305
Freedom of information......Page 306
Other sources of documents......Page 307
Percentage error......Page 309
Being mean can be pretty average......Page 310
Raising the standard (deviation)......Page 311
Kinds of samples......Page 314
Confidence levels and sampling errors......Page 315
Accuracy and errors......Page 317
How were they chosen?......Page 321
Are there any relevant comparisons?......Page 322
Try it…use a spreadsheet to calculate data......Page 323
Exercise......Page 324
Calculating percentage increases......Page 325
Other calculations......Page 326
Less or more than......Page 327
Extending your capabilities......Page 328
Questions......Page 329
Know the news......Page 331
Prepare a structure or a strategy......Page 332
Make yourself a notebook......Page 333
Get the details up front......Page 335
Listening is just as important as asking......Page 336
Don’t leave your mind behind......Page 337
Beware “double-barrel” and “scattergun” questions......Page 338
Don’t ignore hypothetical and even “silly” questions......Page 340
Are you ready for the hard questions?......Page 341
Children – proceed with caution......Page 342
Is there another side to the story?......Page 343
PART 5 Being professional in journalism......Page 345
16 Ethics and choices......Page 347
Is it honest?......Page 348
Is it fair?......Page 349
Is it skewed?......Page 350
Is it what it seems?......Page 351
News selection......Page 352
The right story in the right place......Page 353
17 News bulletin transcripts and stories......Page 355
Bibliography......Page 363
Further reading......Page 365
Index......Page 366