2 BASIC JOURNALISM T1-4

INTRODUCTION
Do you think you have what it takes to become a journalist? If you have no idea
what it is all about, this topic will help you understand the nature of work in
journalism.
In a nutshell, we can say that the journalistÊs work is all about writing. Yet, before
journalists can even start writing the first sentence, they will have to do a whole
range of interrelated activities. The process of writing begins with a story idea.
After conceiving the idea, journalists will have to know what the relevant
information is and also how to find it. After all the relevant information has been
collected, the journalists will begin to collate and write the news. The news and
all other media writings are then published or broadcast through a media
organisation.

Topic 1 Introduction to Journalism
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Describe the role of a journalist.
2. List the traits of an effective journalist;
3. Identify the structure of a typical media organisation;
4. List the different beats for reporting; and
4. List the principles of journalism.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM

Whatever the media organisations publish or broadcast may have a profound
effect on society. Thus, journalists are responsible for all their writings. The effects
of their writings cannot be retracted once they are published or broadcast.
WHO IS A JOURNALIST?
Who is a journalist? The question underlines the essence of the topic succinctly
and precisely. An interesting thing about the title is that it conjures different
images to different people and across nations. To the people in the United States,
journalists are a rare breed of people. To the Americans, these are people who are
willing to sacrifice their life and limb for the sake of getting news.

SELF-CHECK 1.1
The power of words is immense. A well-chosen word has often
sufficed to stop a flying army, to change defeat into victory, and to
save an empire.
·Emile DeGirardin Goldberg, Jan, (1999), p 3.
What do you think of this quote? Do you believe in the power of the
written and spoken word?

TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, BOB WOODWARD AND
CARL BERNSTEIN

The long list of distinguished American journalists
can be traced back to Benjamin Franklin, one of
AmericaÊs founding fathers. Franklin believed in the
power of the press and Franklin was both a highly
skilled printer and publisher of the Pennsylvania
Gazette. He used cartoons and pictures in his
newspaper so that everyone could understand the
news; even people who had not learned how to read. A
renowned philosopher, Franklin once said: „A lie
stands on one leg, the truth on two.‰
Many other Americans have contributed to the development of journalism in
the United States. One name that should not be forgotten is Barbara Walters.
She has interviewed many world figures, including RussiaÊs Boris Yeltsin,
ChinaÊs Jiang Zemin, Great BritainÊs Margaret Thatcher and LibyaÊs Muammar
Gaddafi. The list of people she has interviewed reads like the WhoÊs Who of
newsmakers.
Other American journalists who have had their names etched in the
chronicle of American journalism are Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of
Watergate fame. The Watergate scandal led to the resignation of Richard Nixon
as President of the United States of America. Woodward and Bernstein wrote the
compelling non-fiction All the PresidentÊs Men which was later made into a
movie.
Benjamin Franklin

TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM

Many people recall the courage and grit of Peter Arnett of
Cable News Network, an international media
organisation, better known by the acronym, CNN. He
continuously reported live, nightly from Baghdad
during the air raids of the Allied Forces during the Gulf
War. Arnett, in an interview with CNN on January 16,
2001 recalled how the bombing on Baghdad began on a
clear and starry night. Actually, Arnett was not the only
one doing the coverage on Operation Desert Storm but
he was fortunate to be the person in front of the camera. The two other
CNN reporters present during the horrifying period of war were Bernard
Shaw and John Holliman. The trio were later dubbed the „Boys of Baghdad.‰
Arnett could very well personify the American journalist who aims to be first
in delivering the news to the American public.
After the end of the Gulf War, many young people who enrolled in
journalism programmes in American colleges dreamed to be like Peter
Arnett. They wanted to be part of the action and to be in the midst of a
ground-breaking event. They wanted to feel the thrill of doing something that
no one else dared to do. Today, Arnett is considered as one of those in the list
of whoÊs who in American journalism.
A full transcript of the interview between CNN and Peter Arnett, titled „Peter
Arnett: A look back at Operation Desert Storm‰ is at www.cnn.com/
community / transcripts/2001/01/16/arnett/
1.1.1 Who’s Who in Malaysian Journalism
Malaysia also has its own list of illustrious journalists. One of the biggest names
in Malaysian journalism is Abdul Rahim Kajai (1894-1943). He is called the Father
of Malaysian journalism. He started several newspapers including Saudara,
Majlis, Warta Malaya, Utusan Melayu, Perubahan Baharu and Berita Malai.
PETER ARNETT
Peter Arnett
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 5
Another Malaysian who deserves mention is Ishak Haji Muhammad or better
known by his nom de plume of Pak Sako. His contribution to Malaysian
journalism was only acknowledged posthumously by the Malaysian Press Institute
in 1999. We are lucky because his writings are still with us. He managed to
complete his Memoir Pak Sako: Putera Gunung Tahan that was only published by
Penerbit UKM in 1996, five years after his death. He died on November 7, 1991.
Another bigwig in Malaysian journalism is Tan Sri A. Samad Ismail. You can
read about his long and distinguished career as a journalist and social activist in
his memoir entitled Memoir A. Samad Ismail published by Penerbit UKM.
During his lifetime, A. Samad Ismail has worked for the New Straits Times group
of newspapers and Utusan Melayu group of newspapers.
Today, the list of journalists who have contributed to the growth of journalism in
Malaysia is too long to be mentioned here. Some of the names that you may be
familiar with are Karam Singh Walia, Rehman Rashid, and Wan Zaleha Radzi.
You could add more to this list.
For further information on American journalists, you may want to read the site
created by Washington Post as a tribute to the daily heroes. The web address is:
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/front.htm.
How about Malaysian journalists such as Karam Singh Walia, Rehman Rashid
and Zainah Anwar? Can you find any information about them on the internet?
PRINCIPLES OF JOURNALISM
The principles of American journalism have been clearly illustrated by McQuail
in Topic 5: Normative Theories of Media: Structure and Performance, in his book,
Mass Communication Theory: An Introduction. McQuail (1987: 115), says that
the principles of the American free press can be seen as in Figure 1.1.
1.2
6 TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
Figure 1.1: Principles of the Free American Press
The Malaysian Press cherishes the virtues of press freedom but they have come
to acknowledge the need for various limitations and restrictions on how they
conduct their profession in this country.
Journalists working for the Malaysian media acknowledge that they play a
pivotal role in nation building. In their quest to become the first in breaking the
news, they must remember at all times that their duty to the nation comes first
and foremost. The job as a journalist working in Malaysia comes with heavy
social obligations. What are the obligations of the Malaysian press? This is best
illustrated by looking at the preamble of the Malaysian Press Canons of
Journalism.
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 7
Whereas the Malaysian Press reiterates its belief in the principle of Rukunegara
and the national aspirations contained therein;
it also acknowledges its role in contributing to the process of nation-building;
it recognises its duty to contribute fully to the promotion of racial harmony
and national unity;
it recognises communism, racialism and religious extremism as grave threats
to national well-being and security;
it believes in a liberal, tolerant, democratic society and in the traditional role
of a free and responsible press, serving the people faithfully, reporting facts
without fear or favour;
it believes that a credible press is an asset to the nation;
it believes in upholding standards of social morality;
it believes that there must be no restrictions on the entry of Malaysians into
the profession; and
it believes that the press has a duty to contribute to the formation of public
policy.
In this respect, we can see the similarities between the main working principles
of mass media in developing countries and the Malaysian Press Canons of
Journalism. The table below, shows the similarities between the main principles
of mass media in developing countries as stated by McQuail (1987: 121) and the
Malaysian Press Canons of Journalism:
Table 1.1: Similarities between the Malaysian Press Canons of Journalism and Main
Principles of Mass Media in Developing Countries
Malaysian Press Canons of Journalism Main principles of mass media in
developing countries
It acknowledges its role in contributing
to the process of nation-building.
Media should give priority to news and
information in linking with other
developing countries which are near
geographically, culturally and politically.
It recognises its duty to contribute fully
to the promotion of racial harmony and
national unity.
Media should give priority, in their
content, to the national culture and
language.
It believes in upholding standards of
social morality.
8 TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
It believes in a liberal, tolerant,
democratic society and in the traditional
role of a free and responsible Press
serving the people faithfully by
reporting facts without fear or favour.
Journalists and other media workers have
responsibilities as well as freedom in their
information-gathering and dissemination
tasks.
Freedom of the media should be open to
restrictions according to (1) economic
priorities and (2) development needs of
society.
It believes that there must be no
restrictions on the entry of Malaysians
into the profession.
It believes that a credible Press is an
asset to the nation.
It believes that the Press has a duty to
contribute to the formation of public
policy.
Media should accept and carry out
positive development tasks in line with
nationally established policy.
The responsibilities of the Malaysian Press are not limited to reporting only the
truth but also covering a whole range of issues as stated in the Canons. To better
serve the public, those aspiring to be a journalist today should acquire a basic
journalism degree. The academic background will provide them with all the
required basic skills so that they may function well, as members of a media
organisation. With this academic programme, they will be able to hone their
writing skills and also to better understand the work of a journalist.
Because of the demanding nature of the job, more and more media organisations
in Malaysia are now hiring graduates. The media organisations do not only
employ graduates from schools of mass communication and journalism but also
graduates from other disciplines such as accountancy, law, computer science,
chemistry, environmental studies, etc.
In other words, the door to a career in journalism is wide open for anyone who
has an interest in writing and it is not limited to journalism graduates only.
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 9
A journalist is one who gathers, writes, and edits the various types of
journalistic articles for a media organisation.
To test your understanding, please answer the following exercise.
To get a better understanding of the workings of the American Press, you should
read the book, All the PresidentÊs Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
(1974).
After reading the book, you should compare American journalists with
Malaysian journalists. Are they acting as the governmentÊs watchdog or merely
for their own organisationÊs interest?
DEFINITION OF A JOURNALIST
Before going any further, we need to define what a journalist is.
Basically, the definition divides the job of a journalist into three broad areas
which are:
1.3
ACTIVITY 1.1
Within 100 words, explain the responsibilities of Malaysian
journalists.
10 TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
1. The journalist has the ability to gather materials to suit the needs of the
various forms of journalistic writings.
2. The journalist writes the story after gathering all the relevant information.
3. The journalist is able to edit all the various types of journalistic writings.
Journalistic writing comes in various forms and types including news,
feature stories, in-depth analysis or even commentary.
A journalist starts his or her career by being a rookie reporter in a media
organisation. As rookies, they will get a chance to cover all kinds of assignments
from court to police reporting, to sports reporting and even the legislative
assembly. Experiences gained while on the job will prove vital for them as they
go higher up in the media organisation.
THE STRUCTURE OF AN EDITORIAL
DEPARTMENT
Many professionals are employed by a media organisation in the process of
producing a newspaper or news broadcast. Different organisations have different
organisational set-ups for its editorial department. The head of the editorial
department of a newspaper is the Editor-in-Chief. For a typical organisation
structure in an editorial department of media organisation, refer to Figure 1.2 for
the set-up of the editorial department of the Utusan Melayu group of newspapers.
The organisational set-up of the editorial division of a broadcasting organisation
is different from that of a newspaper organisation. In the case of TV3, the
editorial division is called the news and current affairs division. A senior general
manager heads this division. For a typical organisation structure in an editorial
division of a broadcasting organisation, refer to Figure 1.3 for the set-up of the
news and current affairs (NCA) division of TV3.
1.4
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 11
1.4.1 Chief Editor
A chief editor heads the editorial department of the media organisation. As an
editor-in-chief, the individual is required to manage and run the whole news
operation of the media organisation.
The administrative powers of the editor-in-chief extend beyond normal editorial
duties. The individual will also be in charge of:
all the other divisions in the media organisation, including the printing,
personnel, sales and marketing and public relations divisions. In other words,
the individual is in fact the chief operating officer of the company; and
determines the philosophy of the newspapers and will ensure that all the
newspapers under the company stable are produced according to the
organisationÊs accepted philosophy.
Due to the heavy responsibilities of the editor-in-chief, the appointee must not
necessarily be from those within the media organisation. The media owners have
total discretionary powers to appoint anybody outside the news organisation to
hold the post. In the case of Malaysian mainstream newspapers, there have been
numerous times when an outsider was appointed to the job.
1.4.2 Deputy Editor-in-Chief
The second in command of the media organisation is the deputy editor-in-chief.
The job entails assisting the editor-in-chief in the day-to-day running of the
media organisation.
12 TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
Figure 1.2: Utusan Melayu's Editorial Department Organisation Chart
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 13
Figure 1.3: TV3's news and Current Affairs Division Organisational Chart
14 TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
1.4.3 Editor
If the media organisation has more than one newspaper in its stable, each
newspaper is headed by an editor. For example, the Utusan Melayu group has an
editor each for Utusan Malaysia, Mingguan Malaysia, and Utusan Melayu
Mingguan. Each editor reports to the editor-in-chief of the group.
1.4.4 Sub-Editor
The editor is assisted by a group of sub-editors. The group of sub-editors is
headed by the chief sub-editor.
The number of sub-editors for a particular newspaper depends on the number of
sections it has. The typical sections of a newspaper are:
the front page;
national section;
foreign section;
editorial section;
business section;
sports section;
lifestyle section;
city or metro page; and
entertainment section.
Each sub-editor is responsible for filling up the various pages in each section
with suitable news items or feature articles. The type of news items selected for
publication must be in accordance with the media philosophy.
1.4.5 Reporters
The sub-editors are assisted by a group of reporters who submit a steady stream
of news items on a daily basis. The news flows not only from the reporters who
are stationed at the head office, but also from from different correspondents in
foreign nations. The media organisation is a hive of activity mainly in the
evening. This is the time of day when the reporters are usually back from
assignments. On arrival, they are required to type in their stories using
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 15
computers. All these computers are equipped with suitable publishing software
to facilitate the process of news production. The software also comes with a
spelling and grammar check to help the reporters in their rush to get the story in.
To test your understanding, please answer the following exercise.
THE NEWS BEAT
In many ways, a day in a life of a reporter can be rather monotonous. A reporter
is given the task of covering a designated beat (the area or subject matter that a
reporter regularly covers). The reporters in a particular beat are responsible for
covering various events. Quite a few regularised news beats can be found in the
local news organisation. The major news beats are shown in Table 1.2.
1.5
ACTIVITY 1.2
Media Organisation
Editor-in-Chief
Previous Current
1. Utusan Melayu Group
2. New Straits Times Group
3. Berita Harian Group
4. The Star
Referring to the above table, identify the previous and current editorin-
chiefs of the listed newspapers groups.
16 TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
Table 1.2: Major News Beat in the Local News Organisation
News beat Explanation
General The beat covers all others areas that is not covered by crime,
court, economics, sports and entertainment beats.
Crime The beat includes police stations at state and district levels,
fire stations at state and district levels, hospitals and
mortuaries.
Court The beat includes federal courts, appeal courts, high courts,
session courts and magistrate courts.
Economics The beat covers the whole range of business activities as well
as the stock and financial exchanges.
Sports The beat covers the various sports association, field and track
activities at the international, national and state levels.
Entertainment The beat covers the various entertainment scenes including
international and national levels.
Journalists throughout their career with a particular media organisation will get a
chance to work with all the various beats. The rotation of journalists will allow
each journalist an opportunity to learn the different types of reporting methods.
Even though the methods of reporting for each beat may differ, all journalists
have the same basic traits.
To test your understanding, please answer the following exercise.
ACTIVITY 1.3
If you are assigned to cover the police beat, which officer in the
police station at the district level would you contact to obtain
information about the latest crime stories?
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 17
TRAITS OF A JOURNALIST
The one skill that comes to mind if you think of a journalist would be a person
with a passion for words. You are right on this point.
Besides being a wordsmith, successful journalists have to have various skills to
help them in carrying out their duties responsibly and effectively.
1.6
SELF-CHECK 1.2
„The duty of the journalist is the same as that of the historian to
seek out the truth, above all things, and to present to his readers not
the truth as statecraft would wish them to know, but the truth as
near as he can attain it.‰(cited in Williams 1957: 8)
Frost, Chris, (2001), p 4.
What are the skills that journalists must have in order to perform
their jobs successfully?
To be successful in their career as journalists, they have to be able to convey
their ideas with words.
18 TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
The various acquired traits of an effective journalist are shown in Figure 1.4
below:
Figure 1.4: Traits of an effective journalist
1.6.1 Writing Skills
All journalists must love to write. If you feel that crunching numbers is easier
than penning a few lines, you should rethink about venturing into journalism.
Love of writing does not mean you have to know all the grammatical rules in a
particular language but this will certainly help you to write effectively. Love of
writing means that you are able to use words to best describe an event unfolding
right in front of your very eyes.
You will be called upon to use this ability at all times, on and off assignments. In
other words, you are expected to be proficient in the language that you are
writing. As you would be writing using a word processor, the ability to use and
adopt the latest information technology gizmo is of great advantage. You may be
provided with a laptop to type your story if you are given an outstation
assignment. In this case, you must know how to file in the story by using a dialup
modem.
A journalist must learn the style of writing of the media organisation that
he or she is representing.
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 19
The media organisation will supply you with a printed version of the style book
of the media company on your first day of work. Learn and understand the rules
and style of writing being used by the company. The journalist will apply all
those rules and regulations that have been adopted by the media organisation so
as to standardise and expedite writing of various news items. Adhering to the
media style of writing does not mean that you will not be able to exercise your
creative skills.
There are some organisations that do not have a printed version of their style
book. In this case, it is prudent and wise if you were to read earlier copies of
news items published or broadcast.
To know more about the way the media handles its stylebook, refer to Table 1.3.
Table 1.3: Printed Version of a Style Book
Styles Explanation
Salutation The name of an office bearer comes after the appointed or elected
position. E.g. Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin or
Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha.
Titles A person who is bestowed with several titles can pose a nightmare to
a rookie reporter. How do you write the name of a person who has
the title of „Tun‰, „Tan Sri‰ and „DatoÊ? In such an event, you are to
refer to his highest conferred title which is the „Tun.‰
For second and subsequent reference to the individual, you are only
to use his or her name only.
What is the proper spelling for datuk, is it Datuk or DatoÊ? To
simplify this matter, Malaysian dailies have opted to spell it with the
„k‰ as in „Datuk.‰
Names Malay names can be rather confusing at times. How do you spell
Muhammad? Is it Muhamad, Mohamed, Muhamed, Mohd and the
list can go on and on. Check and double check the correct spelling.
Acronyms Acronyms can only be used after the full name is given. E.g. Kentucky
Fried Chicken (KFC) or McDonaldÊs (McD).
The exception to this rule in this country is for political parties and
other well known organisations. For political parties, it is expected
that every adult in this country would know the names of various
political parties, thus there is no need to give their full names. Even
though this may be the case, you should take note how these names
are spelt. E.g. UMNO or Umno, PAS or Pas, DAP, etc.
20 TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
Measurements Distances are to be measured using the international standard. You
are required to convert miles into kilometres, yards into metres,
inches into centimetres, gallons into litres. You will have to consult a
conversion table for this purpose.
METRIC CONVERSION CHART INTO METRIC
If you know Multiply by To get
LENGTH
inches 2.54 centimetres
feet 30 centimetres
yards 0.91 metres
miles 1.6 kilometres
AREA
sq. inches 6.5 sq. centimetres
sq. feet 0.09 sq. metres
sq. yards 0.8 sq. metres
sq. miles 2.6 sq. kilometres
acres 0.4 hectares
MASS (Weight)
pounds 0.45 kilograms
short tonne 0.9 metric tonne
VOLUME
pints 0.47 litres
quarts 0.95 litres
gallons 3.8 litres
cubic feet 0.03 cubic metres
cubic yards 0.76 cubic metres
TEMPERATURE
Subtract 32
Fahrenheit then multiply by 5/9ths Celsius
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 21
Currencies Currencies should have an estimated conversion value that is to be
quoted in Ringgit Malaysia. You should consult the business page of
any local daily to obtain the current quoted rates issued by Bank
Negara Malaysia.
Numbers You should spell the number of people involved if it is less than ten.
For example: At least 20 people died in the road accident, five were
children
If a sentence begins with a number, you ought to spell it out also. For
example: Twenty people in a bus were killed.
1.6.2 Creative Thinking
An effective journalist has the ability to think creatively and expediently. You can
never separate thinking from writing skills. Before you start to write anything,
you will have already given some thought to it. Thinking involves a whole range
of activities.
You need to know how to gather materials for your writing.
You must know where the information is available / located.
You have to know how to obtain it.
To think positively and creatively, you may be required to wear different
types of hats so as to enable you to thoroughly explore an issue from various
perspectives.
1.6.3 Interpersonal Skills
An effective journalist has good interpersonal skills. This revolves around how
you would interact with other people. You will interact with a lot of people
during your course of work. The ability to interact with people of various social
status is actually an acquired skill. No university training will fully prepare you
for what is to come. Do not be too worried about this as you will get better as you
go by. Below are some tips relating to interpersonal skills:
Whenever you speak, put on a smile.
You must be able to control your tone of voice and maintain a proper speech
tempo.
You should be able to convey your thoughts both persuasively and
empathically.
To be persuasive, you must have total command of your vocabulary.
22 TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
To empathise, you must be able to put yourself in the other personÊs shoes.
If you are able to do all these, you are on your way to better interaction with
other people and at the same time, you will be conveying a caring attitude.
People of all ages and status will be at ease and comfortable in your presence.
1.6.4 Self-Discipline
To be a good and effective journalist, you should be able to work with the least
amount of supervision. Most of the time, you will be on the field and there is no
one to guide you or check you while you are carrying out your job. The tendency
to procrastinate may creep in when you are off-guard.
Most often you will be asked to attend an early morning function. The event, in
all probability, will end sometime before noon. What would you do then? Go
back to the office to file the story or linger around at the shopping complexes or
catch a few winks at home before going to the office. We will touch on this aspect
when we discuss various ethical issues surrounding the work of a journalist.
1.6.5 Be Organised
You will be meeting a lot of people throughout your career as a journalist. Most
of the time, you will be required to contact anyone at a momentÊs notice. To
persevere and thrive in this challenging media environment, the ability to
organise will be an advantage. Below are some tips on how to be organised as a
journalist:
Update your personal telephone book
To be able to do this effectively, you must have a personal telephone book
that is continuously updated. It is prudent that you ask for a copy of a
personÊs business card and keep it in a proper folder so that you can reach
them later should the need arise.
Keep all the copies of your notepad
You will be required to keep all copies of your notepad even after all the
pages have been used up. You should date your notepad accordingly. If
possible, note all the assignments that you have covered when you are using
the notepad. You may be required to produce your notepad in court should
there be a legal suit with regards to your written item. The notepad will help
you to jog your memory.
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 23
Print and keep a copy of your written news item
Journalists today write their news on a computer terminal. You should print
and keep a copy of your written news item. This is necessary because your
written news copy will be edited by a news editor or several other editors in a
media organisation before it ever gets printed or broadcasted.
1.6.6 General Knowledge
Lastly, a journalist should have a good working general knowledge. Your general
knowledge should include:
knowing who is who in Malaysia, especially each member of the Malaysian
Cabinet and the various states´ executive consultative members;
knowing their backgrounds and other information pertaining to them;
a firm understanding of the workings of the various branches of government
be it federal, state or district level; and
an awareness of the various laws and regulations that circumvent (influence)
your job as a journalist.
24 TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
To test your understanding, please answer the following exercise.
What you have studied thus far should enlighten you to the world of
journalism.
You would know by now what the responsibilities of journalists working in
Malaysia are.
You should also know that the working environment for Malaysian
journalists is different from those in America.
The act of editing should be viewed in a positive note. The purpose of
editing is to polish a story so that it will be well presented. Editing can
sometimes be disastrous if the meaning of the story is changed during
the process. An editor may change words or slant the news item
according to his taste or to the news organisation during the editing
process. Sometimes the edited copy is totally different from what you
have written. The editors can do this without even consulting you and
this is actually not prudent. The editor does not have the full story. The
editor is just making a judgment on what is being written. The judgment
can be flawed. The person who really knows about an event is you, thus
you should be consulted at all times on factual matters.
If you are caught in such a circumstance, it is best that you keep a
printed copy of your news item. The printed copy will serve as your
evidence in the event of a legal suit. All your written news items,
whether it is used or not, must be filed in a safe place. You ought to keep
them for at least a year. If there is any legal suit to challenge the validity
of your story, it will happen within this period of time.

TIPS FOR STUDENTS

ACTIVITY 1.4
How do you differentiate a journalist, a reporter, a stringer and a
foreign correspondent?
TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM 25
At the same time, you would understand the structure of typical media
organisations, different beats for reporting as well as the different traits of an
effective journalist.
Goldberg, J. (1999). Careers in Journalism. Lincolnwood, IL, USA: N T
C/Contemporary Publishing Company.
Frost, C. (2001). Reporting for Journalists. Florence, KY, USA: Routledge.


INTRODUCTION
News is a distinct form of writing. The ability to write news is one of the most
important criteria tested if you are to apply for a job as a reporter with any media
organisation.
Writing news might be easy, but to write news that can interest readers with the
right words and nuances is quite a task. This topic will do just that; helping you to
perceive news in the eyes of a journalist and guiding you to decide which event or
entity is worth covering.
Before you learn how to write news, you should understand how major media
scholars have defined it. Knowledge of what is news will enable you to understand
why certain events are considered as having news value.
Topic
2
News and
News
Writing
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Explain the nature and definition of news;
2. Discuss the six values of news; and
3. Identity the four factors within a media organisation that influence
the differences in news values.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 27
HOW TO DEFINE NEWS
Do you know what news is? You may think you know the answer. Before
answering, please ponder on the question again. Am I asking you to differentiate
news from other forms of writing? Am I asking you to explain the characteristics of
news as a form of writing? Am I asking you to explain the process of writing
news? What is news may sound simple but not everyone will approach the
question in the same manner.
If I were to ask you to show me a piece of news, then it would be easy. You would
have probably read this morningÊs news in todayÊs newspaper. You would not
hesitate to pick up any newspaper and indicate a piece of writing on the front page
of the newspaper or any other pages as news. Below is a snippet of a piece of news
from the front page of The Star:
2.1
SELF-CHECK 2.1
„When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so
often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.‰
Attributed to John B Bogart and Charles Dana
Bogart and Dana gave a thought provoking perspective of news. How
about you? What do you understand by the word „news‰?
Gilbert, Harriett (1999), p 12.
2 8 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
„a story of a recent event that is being written according to journalistic
convention. This definition highlights the importance of story telling in
news writing. The technique of telling the story is strictly journalistic. In
other words, the facts of a story are not fictional in nature as in the case of
a short story or a novel. The chosen facts are slanted according to the
needs of the media organisation and intended audience of a particular
mass media.‰
You will agree with me that the above is news. Most of us know what news is, but
can we define it? To define something, we are forced to use words to describe it.
The task of defining is made more difficult because the subject to be defined is
abstract. Because showing is easier than telling about something, I have given you
an example of a piece of news from The Star.
Let us look at several perspectives on how the word „news‰ is defined and
perceived. We will have to view various definitions offered by mass media
scholars. Before going any further, I would like to caution you that not all media
scholars offer their own definition of news.
Md Salleh Kassim (1984: 27) in his book Kewartawanan: Teori dan Praktis
refers to news as:
KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore showed „lack of good faith‰ when it made
public, documents and letters on the water deal between the republic and
Malaysia, said Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.
„I donÊt know if releasing the letters is a good practice. I donÊt know
what they are trying to prove,‰ he told reporters yesterday after
launching the Non-Aligned Movement Business Forum on South-South
Co-operation, which will be held here on Feb 23 and Feb 24 in conjunction
with the NAM summit.
Syed Hamid was asked to comment on the Singapore GovernmentÊs
decision to release documents, including the 1927, 1961 and 1962 water
agreements and letters over the two years between leaders of both countries
on the issue.
A total of 19 letters were made public, with Straits Times
publishing three on Sunday and five yesterday.
(The Star, January 28, 2003)
TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 29
„information about something that has happened recently.‰
„It is difficult to define because it is a process, not an object and the
process is a complicated one.‰
The Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (2002: 953) defines
news as:
Is the definition sufficient? For someone who is new to the English language,
such a definition may suit his or her purpose. To someone who is studying
about journalism and journalistic writing, such a definition is insufficient. If
we were to accept Macmillan DictionaryÊs definition of news, then everything
that happens around us can be considered as news. Not everything that
happens gets published in the newspapers or broadcast by the television and
radio stations.
William Metz (1991) in his book Newswriting from Lead to „30‰ talks about
the difficulty in coming up with an acceptable definition for the word „news‰.
Metz (1991: 2) concludes that:
The process involves the gathering and disseminating of news. In the process
of gathering and disseminating news, Metz argued that „the power of the
press‰ gets highlighted. A journalist will decide on who gets interviewed and
what gets printed. The journalist also decides how the news will be slanted.
The process of gathering and disseminating news involves a whole range of
decisions to be made. The decision made by a journalist may sometimes, not be
favourable to a particular individual.
Bruce D. Itule and Douglas A. Anderson (2000) in News Writing and
Reporting for TodayÊs Media agree that it is difficult to define news. They
argue that the difficulty lies on the selection of news form: print and
broadcast. Each journalist will have to decide to include and exclude
information at several points during the gathering and writing process. To
overcome this shortcoming, the journalist „consciously or unconsciously,
often relies on time-honoured news elements to help them make these
decisions (Itule & Anderson, 2002:14).‰ In other words, there is an element of
subjectivity in gathering and writing of news. To maintain objectivity, a
journalist relies on news values.
Melvin Mencher offers two general guidelines of news instead of giving a
definition of news. He says that:
3 0 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
„News is information about a break from the normal flow of events, an
interruption in the expected; news is information people need in order to
make rational decisions about their lives (1977: 72).‰
„News is what newspapers print, what newscasts announce. News is made
up of facts, but not every fact is news. News is usually about people, but
not every person is newsworthy. News is an account of what is happening
in the world, but only a tiny fraction of any dayÊs events is ever reported
(1980: 5)‰.
„news is not what happens, but what someone says has happened or will
happen.‰
MencherÊs definition did not look at news as a process of writing news. He
shifts the importance of news from the perspective of a journalist to the
newspaper reader or television viewer. In other words, the reader or viewer
decides what is news. In doing so, the reader or viewer will select what items
to pay special attention to and what items shall be ignored.
Brian S. Brooks, George Kennedy, Daryl R. Meon and Don Ranly (1980) in
News Reporting and Writing define news as:
The above given definition also highlights a judgment call made by a
journalist during the process of gathering and writing news. In todayÊs fast
changing world, journalists are called upon to make numerous decisions.
They will have to make it promptly because they are working on a tight
deadline. Each daily newspaper will have to be printed on time. The
management of each newspaper will decide on the time the last news item
should be in. They cannot hold back the press, unless it is an earth-shattering
event. To hold back on the press will mean that tomorrowÊs newspaper will
not be able to be delivered by breakfast time.
Leon Sigal (1987: 15) in a revealing article entitled „Sources Make the News‰
defines;
This definition highlights on the judgement call made when choosing a news
story. The judgement call is based on who is calling the shots. SigalÊs
definition calls attention to the increasing role being played by public
relations practitioners on the gathering and dissemination of news. The
intrusion of public relations specialists in the news gathering process is to
TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 31
„News as information which is transmitted from sources to audiences, with
journalists · who are both employees of bureaucratic commercial
organisations and members of a profession · summarising, refining,
and altering what becomes available to them from sources in order to
make the information suitable for their audiences (Gans, 1980: 80).‰
make sure that only what is deemed important by them gets printed or
broadcast. A rookie reporter may fall into the manipulative hands of such
public relations specialists. As a highly paid specialist, the public relations
practitioners are hired to protect and preserve the image of their clients.
Herbert J. Gans (1980: 80) in Deciding WhatÊs News defines:
Gans' different perspective of news regards news as the packaging of
information that goes through a full set of filters before it ever reaches its
targeted audience. During each stage of the production process, the news gets
slanted accordingly. In other words, a piece of news may sound and look
differently when it gets printed or delivered over the air.
All the above perspectives on news are correct. As mentioned earlier, all the
media scholars are looking at the same phenomenon · news. Each comes up
with a different definition not to be different but because they are using
different methods of approaching the same subject matter.
To illustrate the point, I would like you to look at a glass of water (as in Figure
2.1), which is half full. Looking at the same glass of water, you can also say that
the glass is half empty. Which is the correct observation?
Figure 2.1: A glass half full of water
3 2 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
The news value of a particular event as judged in the eyes of the journalist, will
determine whether it will ever get printed or broadcast.
NEWS VALUES
From the various definitions of news given, we can deduce that journalists are
forced to decide whether an event has news value before they decide to cover it.
From the discussion, we can conclude that the decision making process of
gathering and writing news can be rather subjective. Decisions will have to be
made quickly and the journalists will have to decide for themselves while they are
on the field. They will be called upon to judge wisely and prudently.
To guide journalists in their decision making process, they are guided by news
values.
With news values, the journalist exerts a kind of an informal test to evaluate the
suitability of an event as news material.
There are several news values that are of importance to the working journalists
who are on the field. The news values can be seen in Figure 2.2.
2.2
ACTIVITY 2.1
SELF-CHECK 2.2
1. Discuss Leon SigalÊs definition of news.
2. Explain in 100 words the role of public relations practitioners
in determining what is news.
Each scholar defines news differently because each of them uses a
different set of perspectives. Look at different types of news in the
newspaper, television and online media. What are the differences in the
news shown? From which perspective do you think the news
organisations approach their news reporting?
TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 33
Figure 2.2: Important news to journalists on the field.
This collection of values is known as newsworthiness. They are not arranged in any
order of significance. If an event has all the above values, it will more likely be
covered. In all probability, an event that has all the above values will be published
on the front page of tomorrowÊs newspaper or will become the lead story on the
television and radio broadcasts.
2.2.1 Proximity (For immediate news item)
Proximity means that an event that occurs within close range of a news media
organisation will most probably be reported. Its close proximity allows media
personnel to get first hand information about the incident. There are two types of
proximity, as shown in Figure 2.3 below.
Figure 2.3: Two types of proximity
SELF-CHECK 2.3
We are bombardedwith a lot of information on the various speeches or
acts made by the President of the United State of America. However,
if we are to go to the United States, we will find little or no coverage at
all being given to Malaysia by the American media. Why?
3 4 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
(a) Physical Sense
Spatial distance is an important factor in determining whether an incident
will be reported or left out. This is a major reason why most events that
occur within 30 miles radius of a news organisation get coverage. Most
news organisations have offices in all state capitals. Thus, it is most likely
that an event happening in these state capitals will be covered. Events
occurring in some remote village will rarely get the light of day in the local
media.
This unfortunate turn of events is inevitable because people in the remote
villages are not readers of newspapers. They may be viewers of television or
listeners to a radio broadcast but the sheer physical distance hinders easy
access to media personnel. Thus, we seldom get to see and hear what is
happening in East Malaysia.
(b) Cultural Sense
Proximity is not only in the physical sense but also in a cultural sense. The
event may be far away but it will still be given substantial coverage in our
local newspapers.
This is the reason why official visits by various Malaysian ministers
overseas get wide coverage even though the event occurs far from Malaysia.
The coverage is possible because Malaysian media personnel are invited on
such trips. The expenses for such trips are usually paid for by the media
companies themselves. See an example below of a story filed from Dubai by
a Bernama journalist.
DUBAI, Tues Rural Development Minister, Datuk Azmi Khalid held
talks with senior Omani officials in Muscat, Saturday and Sunday, to
forge closer bilateral relations.
He delivered a message from Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr
Mahathir Mohamad to Sultan Qaboos Said , at a meeting with Deputy
Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd Mahmoud Al Said, Omani media said.
He is among several Malaysian ministers assigned to visit
Non-Aligned Movement countries to hand letters and official invitations to
their leaders to attend the summit in Kuala Lumpur from Feb 20 to 25.
(New Straits Times, January 29, 2003)
TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 35
If we were to tabulate geographical locations with cultural indicators, we would be
able to know the probability of an event being covered by the mass media. Refer to
Table 2.1.
Table 2.1: Probability of Events Covered by Mass Media Based on Distance and Culture
Using this matrix, we will find that coverage of an event will be highest if it occurs
locally and culturally near. The least amount of coverage will occur if the event
occurs far away and if it is culturally irrelevant. Because of this, we do not read
much about events that are happening in other countries such as South America,
Russia, and Africa.
2.2.2 Currency or Novelty
Currency means that an important event that occurs today will have to be
reported today for it to remain newsworthy. An old adage states that news that
appears in yesterdayÊs newspaper is only fit to wrap fish. What happens today
must be reported today. If an event occurred several days ago, the media is less
likely to cover it.
The least amount of coverage will occur far away and if it is culturally irrelevant.
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3 6 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
For a working journalist, time is always of the essence. That is why it is very
important for them to preserve the currency of news. The journalists will make
sure the facts are gathered quickly and the story is written swiftly. To be able to
report an event, the journalist will have to know about it immediately. The
journalist should also have access to the place of event to gather the material facts
of the story. If everything remains constant, we can predict the probability of an
event being covered by cross tabulating the time of an event with the location of an
event. Refer to Table 2.2.
Table 2.2: Probability of Events Covered by Mass Media, Based on Time and Location
Because of this, we will see that most of the stories that appear in the media are
events that occur within the city limits. This is because here is where all the media
organisations have set up their offices. Events that occurred very far away seldom
see the light of day because a journalist would probably have no knowledge of the
event. In this respect, a journalist is highly dependent on tips from the public about
an event. Without this information, a media organisation would probably have
missed reporting this story. A rival media organisation may report the story
because it was privy to the latest information.
The more accessible the place of an event is, the quicker the facts are
gathered by a journalist.
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TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 37
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TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 39
2.2.3 Impact
Impact is measured by the number of people involved. The higher the number of
people involved, the higher the probability of an event being covered by the
media. Because of this, you will normally see stories about aircraft crashes being
given vast coverage. A collision between two trains will definitely be highlighted.
In other words, an accident will be regarded as having higher news value if the
number of human casualties is high. An old person riding a bicycle who is
knocked down by a passing car on an old kampung road will definitely not be
news, as with other minor accidents. Such accidents will most probably never be
covered unless the individual is related to a member of the media organisation.
The exception to the rule is because the media organisation has a vested interest to
promote the interest of its members.
It is not only human casualties that get highlighted in the media. Economics and
social casualties also generate a lot of interest in the media. The media will
highlight issues such as mass repatriation of industrial workers especially during a
downturn in the economy. High coverage is given about a high rate of joblessness
because this is one of the many indicators to gauge the health of a countryÊs
economy. The impact on a great number of people due to economics and social
casualties will increase the newsworthiness of a story.
To help us predict the probability of an event being publicised, we could cross
tabulate the number of casualties with the location of an event. In this instance,
location is viewed as a geographical or cultural indicator. Refer to Table 2.3.
The higher the casualties with nearness in terms of location, the higher the
probability of an event being covered by the media.
4 0 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
Table 2.3: Probability of Events Covered by Mass Media Based on Casualties and
Location
High
Coverage
Medium
Coverage
Medium
Coverage
Low
Coverage
2.2.4 Conflict
Any form of conflict is a source of news. The conflict can be between two people.
It can also be between two states or two nations. The conflict can be between
humans and nature. A case where two people fought and caused the death of one
or more people will definitely get highlighted in the media. Figure 2.4 highlights
the types of conflicts which can occur.
Casualties
Delayed Immediate
Location
Near Far
ACTIVITY 2.2
Everyone would probably still remember the events of September 11,
2001 when two hijacked aeroplanes rammed into the twin towers of The
World Trade Centre in New York. Why did this receive a very high
coverage by all the local and international media?
TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 41
Figure 2.4: Conflicts that can occur
Conflicts which may lead to a high number of human casualties is definitely
high in newsworthiness. That is why you see the print and broadcast media had
given wide coverage of the US led invasion on Iraq. You will notice that the war
propaganda being orchestrated by the US military had been given extensive
daily coverage in the international media. The Malaysian press had also joined in
the bandwagon in publicising the war between America and Iraq. The wave of
interest in the war between US and Iraq is understandable because of its effect on
world oil prices in the event of any outbreak of a war. A higher crude oil price
would mean higher production cost for all nations across the world. This in turn
would affect the growth of the world economy. You will not find a story about two
neighboursÊ petty squabbling in your local media, except in the grapevine.
By cross tabulating the extent of casualties with nearness in terms of
geographical and cultural space, we will be able to predict the probability of an
event being covered. Refer to Table 2.4.
The higher the number of casualties with nearness in terms of geographical
and cultural space, the higher probability that an event will be covered by the
media.
4 2 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
Table 2.4: Probability of Events Covered by Mass Media Based on Casualties
affected by Geographical and Cultural Space
Referring to Table 2.4, we can now begin to understand why another war in Iraq
can get so much attention worldwide. The tussle over ownership of Pulau Batu
Putih, off Johor also got serious attention by both Malaysia and Singapore media.
Even though the island is just a tiny dot on the world map, the issue of
sovereignty over it is important to Malaysia and Singapore.
2.2.5 Personality
A notable or prominent person is an important source of news. Anything that
happens to them or involves them will get publicised in the media. The higher
the status of the individual in society, the more publicity will be given to the
individual. Below are several prominent people that have to be in the list:
Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister
Everything that the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister do will get
wide coverage in our local media. Almost everything that the Prime Minister
says becomes an official policy. Thus, you will see daily footage on television
of the Prime Minister wherever he goes. His private visits are never left
unattended by the local media.
Cabinet Ministers
The same spotlight is shone on the other Malaysian cabinet ministers. Any
event attended by these ministers will be highlighted and given wide
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TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 43
coverage. Journalists covering these events will take the opportunity to
interview these ministers after the official ceremony. They may follow up on
any issue that is of currency.
Sultans, Rajas or Governors
Even birthdays of prominent individuals in our society get coverage. For
example, we will see in our local press, annual coverage given to a
particular state on the official birthday of a ruling Sultan, Raja or Governor.
The birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is definitely high on the priority
list of coverage.
By cross-tabulating the status of a personality and cultural space, we can predict
the probability of an event attended by the individual to be publicised by the local
media. Refer to Table 2.5.
The higher the status of a person in a society and the nearer he or she is, in terms
of cultural space, the higher the probability that their thoughts and actions will be
covered by the local media.
Table 2.5: Probability of Events Covered by Mass Media Based on Status of Personality
and Cultural Space
The higher the status quo of a person and nearness in terms of cultural
space, the higher the probability that an event will be covered by the
media.
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4 4 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
2.2.6 Human Interest
News can be dramatised and personalised in human terms. To dramatise an
event, a journalist will seek out the persons involved. The dramatised individuals
are usually ordinary members of society. The newsworthiness is seen in the
actions of these individuals.
For example, a group of people picketing outside a company for some form of
alleged injustice. To highlight such injustice, a journalist covering the event will
solicit one individual that personifies the action of the group. Such
personification allows the emotional element within an individual to take centre
stage. Without the emotional aspect, the report on the picket will be treated as
just another industrial action taken by a group of people.
Readers and viewers have always been fascinated to understand why individuals
behave the way they do. We want to know what their thoughts are, what they
are going through and why they behave the way they do. Recently, we read in
the media about a young man who donated a portion of his liver to a child who
was not related to him. We wanted to know what prompted his act of kindness.
We wanted to know how he was getting along before and after the liver
transplant operations. The article on the next page shows another example of
news in which its newsworthiness is based on human interest.
SELF-CHECK 2.4
The death of the popular Princess Diana created uproar among the
public over the actions of the paparazzi or international press
photographers. The readers are now beginning to question the rights
of this group of people to infringe on the lives of celebrated
people. Everything these people do is news. However, they are also
people that need privacy. Where do you draw the line as journalists?
TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 45
Stories such as these are all human dramas. The real life drama is acted out by
ordinary people who did something because it matters most to them. The media
are attracted to them because of their „record breaking‰ feats. These feats may
not be worthy of an entry in the Guinness Book of Records but it allows the
readers and viewers to peep into the life of countless individuals in our society.
To test your understanding, please answer the following exercise.
Rare disease leaves boy blind and bedridden
By SAMANTHA SANTA MARIA
TWO years ago, he was a chubby, healthy, vibrant boy. Now, all eight-yearold
Rizan Raski can do is lie prone on his bed, his blind eyes staring at the
wall. A victim of a disorder called adrenoleucodystrophy (ALD), he has
been cared for by his late grandmother Ês sister and her husband ever since
he was a year old.
ALD is a rare hereditary disease which causes the adrenal gland to
degenerate. It has left Rizan bedridden, blind, deaf and dumb.
Specialists at the National University Hospital said that his condition would
worsen progressively. Dr Choong Chew Thye, a paediatric neurologist at KK
WomenÊs and ChildrenÊs Hospital, said that there are fewer than a dozen ALD
patients here.
„ALD has varying severity. Children who are affected with it generally do not
live into adulthood,‰ she said.
Housewife Hatimah Eksan, 51, and husband Morjid Shamar, 60, a Singapore
Turf Club supervisor, have been looking after Rizan since the age of one,
which is when his parents got divorced.
(The New Straits Times, April 14, 1999)
4 6 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
DISPARATE NEWS VALUES
News values differ from one organisation to the next media organisation. Different
news values practised by the various organisations are important to these
2.3
Read the story below and identify the various news values that are
present in the news item. Does the story have all the news values just
discussed?
Do all the media organisations in Malaysia have the same news
values? If not, why?
SELF-CHECK 2.6
SELF-CHECK 2.5
TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 47
organisations. It allows them to package the news differently so as to cater to the
different types of audiences that are consuming the news. If all media
organisations use the same standard in news values, you will find that all the print
and broadcast media will present the news in the same manner. Several factors
within the media organisations that influence the subtle differences in news values
are shown below in Figure 2.5.
Figure 2.5: The differences in news values
2.3.1 Editorial Philosophy
The news values of a particular media organisation are influenced by its editorial
philosophy. Each media organisation has its media philosophy set by the owners
of an organisation. In setting their editorial philosophy, they are guided by
national aspirations, ownerÊs interests and audience needs.
The editorial philosophy gives each media an identity. The identity of each media is
what attracts readers to a particular newspaper within the print or online mode, or
viewers to a particular news broadcast on television or radio. The media
philosophy of each media organisation is portrayed in their individual slogans.
Table 2.6 shows some of the slogans that are used by the Malaysian print media.
4 8 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
Table 2.6: Slogans Used by the Malaysian Print Media
Malaysia Print Media Slogan
The PeopleÊs Paper
Akhbar rakyat, akhbar anda
Penyebar fikiran rakyat
The Paper that cares
Does not have an editorial slogan, but it
uses the tagline „Established 1845‰ on
its nameplate. As one of the longest
surviving newspapers in Malaysia, the
tagline does indicate the conservative
nature of the newspaper.
2.3.2 National Aspirations
National aspirations guide each media in its daily operations. Media
organisations in Malaysia are bound to the media laws of the country. These media
laws influence operations of media organisations. There are several media laws
but the most important is the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984. The Act
stipulates that owners of any printing presses are required by law to obtain an
official licence issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs before they can own and
operate any printing machines. The owners of such printing presses are bound to
the terms and conditions as specified by the issuing body. They are also required to
submit a deposit which can be forfeited if they are found to have breached the terms
and conditions of the licence.
The Act also covers publishing of all types of newspapers except publications of
federal and state governments or its agencies. Publishers of newspapers are
required to obtain a publishing permit before they can even start a newspaper. To
obtain a publishing permit, the publisher will have to submit a mock-up of the
intended newspaper that outlines the contents of the forthcoming publication.
The publisher will also have to submit details about the publisher, the editor-inchief
and senior staff of the said publication.
TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING"""" 49
The names of senior officials of a particular publication are necessary because the
publishing permit is issued specifically to the individual identified as the publisher
of the newspaper. The publishing permit is non-transferable to another publisher
and a fresh application will have to be submitted, should the media organisation
intend to change the person specified as the publisher in the permit.
For print news media, they can only be published after obtaining a permit to
publish a newspaper. If the media organisations are going to print the
newspapers internally, they will have to have a printing press permit. These
publishing and printing permits which are revocable can only be issued by the
Home Affairs Minister.
For broadcast media, the broadcast license issued to the various television
and radio stations stipulates rules and regulations on how they should
operate. The license determines the time for the primetime news slot on
television. For example, all television news programmes in the Malay language
can only be broadcast at 8:00pm daily. News programmes in other languages
can be broadcast anytime.
2.3.3 Interest of the Owners
The interest of the owners of a particular media organisation also exerts influence on
their daily operations. In Malaysia, the operations of media organisations are
conducted as a commercial entity. As a commercial company, the owners will
have to ensure that their invested capital is used accordingly. If the venture is
unprofitable, the owners will not get any return. Because of this, many
newspapers have to trim their operations or be shut down. An example is the
Utusan Melayu daily that was printed using the Arabic script. On January 1, 2003
Utusan Melayu was no longer published as a daily and the media company that
published this newspaper cited commercial reasons for its decision. As of that
date, the newspaper was published as a weekly using the name of Utusan Melayu
Mingguan. The weekly version of Utusan Melayu called Utusan Zaman was
discontinued.
2.3.4 Audience Needs
Audience needs do influence editorial policies. Audiences can switch media if
they do not agree with the editorial philosophy of a particular media. The
increasing cover price of the print media will definitely influence readers on the
newspaper that they are going to buy. As of January 1, 2003 the publishers of the
New Straits Times and The Star have decided to increase the cover price of their
5 0 TOPIC 2 NEWS AND NEWS WRITING""""
dailies. Both newspapers are now sold at RM1.20 and they have cited increasing
printing cost.
To test your understanding, see if you can do the following activity.
After reading this topic, you should be aware of the decision making process
that journalists go through while covering a news event.
Decisions have to be made because not everything can be covered by the mass
media.
It would not be possible to cover every single event and there will not be
enough space and time to print or broadcast everything.
In such circumstances, media organisations must choose what to publish or
broadcast.
Because the decision making process is very subjective, there will always be
misrepresentations of certain groups of society. After all, journalism is not a
science, it is just another economic activity.
Gilbert, H. (1999). Writing for Journalists. Florence, KY, USA: Routledge.
Identify the various slogans that are used by the television channels
run by Radio Television Malaysia, Syarikat Television Malaysia
Berhad or TV3, NTV7 and TV8.
SELF-CHECK 2.7


INTRODUCTION
News is a specific form of media writing. Journalists are trained to handle this
type of writing from the very first day they join a media organisation. With the
exposure, they are able to write with ease and style.
To be able to write the news effectively, aspiring journalists should be aware of the
subtle characteristics of this form of writing. Knowing the formula for writing news,
journalists are able to gather, write and submit a news story quickly and swiftly.
If you see professional journalists writing the news, you will notice that they do not
give too much thought to it. To them, writing the news is second nature.
Topic
3
Characteristics
of News
Writing
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Discuss the six characteristics of news writing;
2. Explain the process of writing the news; and
3. Identify the points on how to generate ideas for news stories.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
52 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING
News is a specific form of writing. It differs from other forms of writing because
it has to suit the needs of the media industry. The written form of news is readily
identified, but a novice would find it difficult to appreciate the subtle differences
between news writing and other forms of writing. The inherent news writing
characteristics enable media personnel to produce the news quickly. News
writing has several distinct characteristics which can be seen in Figure 3.1.
3.1
SELF-CHECK 3.1
Read the article above. Is it news? If yes, what makes you think that it
is news? What differentiates it from other forms of writing?
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 53
Figure 3.1: The distinct characteristics in news writing
3.1.1 Brevity
The first thing you will notice about the form of news writing is its brevity.
This is an essential quality to consider especially when you are writing news. If
it is going to take more than a minute to read a piece of news, the reader will tend
to move to the next story.
Below are some important points on why brevity is essential in writing news:
(a) Quick and easy to read
The length of a typical news story can be between one and 15 paragraphs.
On the average, a piece of news will not exceed more than 15 paragraphs. If
the news is really important, it will be divided into two separate stories.
This is imperative because it allows a reader to read a piece of news quickly
and effortlessly. It should not take a reader more than one minute to read
an entire piece of news. In other words, the reader should be able to read a
sentence of news in one breath.
(b) Used as fillers
A one paragraph news story is usually called a filler. It is so named because
it is used to fill up any empty spaces on a particular page of a newspaper.
Studies done have shown that the average reader spends approximately 15
to 30 minutes daily to read the news. During weekends, the amount of time
spent on reading newspaper increases by 15 more minutes.
54 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
The use of fillers is unavoidable because the amount of news space
available on any given page is never the same throughout the newspaper.
(c) Quick and easy to write
Brevity also allows a reporter to write it quickly and effortlessly. This is
important because the reporter does not have a lot of time to write the
news. The reporter is working against the clock. If the reporter is late, the
newspaper cannot wait. The newspaper has to be printed at a specific time
to ensure that it will hit the streets at the same time everyday.
(d) Every word counts
In essence, you will notice that every paragraph in a news story is made up
of one sentence each. Each sentence is made up of approximately 25 words,
give and take five words.
Look at the following example:
In the above example, there are 32 words in the paragraph. To count the
number of words, you should count every word as one. For example, „Lt.
Col. Malcolm Campbell‰ should be counted as consisting of four words and
not one. It is counted as four because every word takes up a certain amount
of space in the news hole.
(e) Space is precious
You should always remember while writing news that space is a precious
commodity for a newspaper. The amount of news space available depends
on the amount of advertisements on any given page. Newspapers depend
on advertising revenue to cover a substantial cost of production. Without
the advertisements, the cover price of our local newspaper will be more
than RM1.20.
A veteran of MalaysiaÊs first United Nations peacekeeping mission,
former army officer Lt. Col. Malcolm Campbell, died after being
attacked by a swarm of hornets while jogging at Taman Lake View,
Taiping on Monday.
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 55
3.1.2 Precise
ACTIVITY 3.1
The more advertising space a paper sells, the more profitable the
media organisations. Based on this, you would notice which local
newspaper is raking in the most profit. Do the advertisements in
the newspaper benefit you? If all newspapers have the same
amount of news and the difference is in the number of
advertisements, which paper would you buy and why?
SELF-CHECK 3.2
ÂI keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.Ê
Rudyard Kipling
Gilbert, Harriett (1999), p 15.
I believe that you are familiar with the six honest serving-men?
How can you make use of What, Why, When, How, Where and
Who, to make news writing more precise?
56 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
A news story is written succinctly. To ensure that a piece of news is precise,
reporters are always reminded of the six basic questions in journalism.
Figure 3.2 shows these six basic questions.
Figure 3.2: The six basic questions in journalism
In short, this set of six questions is referred to as the 5Ws and 1H questions. By
sticking to this rule of thumb, reporters will be able to focus on materials that are
relevant. Irrelevant materials are either left out or are kept as a source of ideas for
another news story.
If you recall the example given in 3.1.1, you will notice that the opening paragraph
answers several important questions.
A veteran of MalaysiaÊs first United Nations peacekeeping mission, former army
officer Lt. Col. Malcolm Campbell, died after being attacked by a swarm of hornets
while jogging at Taman Lake View, Taiping on Monday.
(New Straits Times, February 13, 2003)
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 57
All subsequent paragraphs in the story will elaborate further the facts of the story.
Below is the continuation of the news story.
In the article shown on the previous page, all the subsequent paragraphs explained
the details of the story.
The reporter explained the event leading to the death of the retired
Lieutenant Colonel.
The paragraphs elaborated on how many times the retiree was stung by the
hornets.
We were also informed of the time he left his home to jog.
We were also told who found his unconscious body.
We were later told who helped to take him to the hospital.
In writing the news, you would also notice that the deceased is identified only as
Campbell in the second and subsequent references. A vital piece of information you
might miss is the source of the news story. Who is he? He is Michael Manivannan,
the son-in-law of the late Mr. Campbell.
The 67-year-old, who had served with Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin in the Second Reconnaissance Regiment (now
known as the Royal Armoured Corps) in Sungai Udang, Malacca, in the
late 1960s, sustained more than 120 stings.
His son-in-law, Michael Manivannan, said Campbell had left his home in
Assam Kumbang about 9am for his routine jog.
„When he failed to return, his wife Marjorie went to look for him along his
favourite jogging track.‰
Marjorie found her husband lying unconscious on a side road near a
new housing scheme at Taman Lake View at 6.47pm.
Passers-by helped take Campbell to hospital, but he was pronounced
dead on arrival.
(New Straits Times, February 13, 2003)
58 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
3.1.3 Accuracy
All information pertaining to an event has to be accurate and verifiable. Below are
some important points on how to preserve accuracy in news writing:
(a) Cross check for any information given
Reporters are always cautioned to cross check any information given. Any
error, which is defamatory in nature, can lead to a libel suit. You will not
want this to happen. This is something you should avoid at all costs. A libel
suit brought against you and the media company you are working for
shows a lack of thoroughness on your part. The news below shows an
example of a libel suit:
ACTIVITY 3.2
Based on the above news article, can you identify the Who, When,
Where, How and Why of the story?
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 59
(b) Be diligent and cautious
You should be diligent and at all times and take a cautious approach. Never
take anything for granted, even if it is just the name of a person. You should
apply this same approach for everyone irrespective of their position in
society.
(c) Check for any unsubstantiated fact
A reporter will check any unsubstantiated fact before writing it down. If
you cannot verify a claim made by somebody or some organisation, it is
wise to discard it. Unless you can prove the authenticity of something, you
are putting yourself on the line. If someone or some organisation is
accusing someone or some organisation of something, it is best that you
give the other party a chance to defend itself. By doing this, you will
actually be cross-verifying the authenticity of an accusation.
July 24, 1997
Web posted at: 2:07 p.m. EDT (1807 GMT)
NEW YORK (CNN) · Former Centennial Olympic Park bombing
suspect Richard Jewell has filed a $15 million libel suit against the New
York Post. The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan,
alleges that Jewell was libeled in a series of articles in the paper, and that a
published photograph falsely identified Jewell.
The bombing, which remains unsolved, left two people dead and more
than 100 wounded at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta last July. Jewell,
who was working as a security guard at the park on the night of the
bombing, noticed an unattended package there that was later found to
contain the bomb. He helped evacuate people from the area, and was
initially hailed as a hero for his actions.
Following months of intense scrutiny, the FBI cleared Jewell as the
bombing suspect last autumn. He has since settled lawsuits with NBC
and CNN. Jewell still has lawsuits pending against Cox Enterprises,
which owns the Atlanta Journal- Constitution, and Piedmont College,
where he once worked as a security guard.
http://www.cnn.com/US/9707/24/briefs/jewell.lawsuit/index.html
60 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
You should always remember that an unsubstantiated fact can be malicious
or defamatory. Either way you will be caught in a difficult situation. A
malicious story could find you defending yourself in court.
(d) Do not allow yourself to be used by another party
There are cases where people use the media to maliciously defame
someone or some organisation. You should be wary of this. You could be an
innocent bystander and caught in the crossfire. You should not allow
yourself to be used by another party for its own benefit.
3.1.4 Inverted Pyramid
Each news story is written using the inverted pyramid format as shown below in
Figure 3.3 below:
Figure 3.3: Inverted Pyramid
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qh" vjg" uvqt{0"Vjg"hktuv"rctcitcrj"qh"c"pgyu"uvqt{" ku" ecnngf" vjg" ngcf0"[qw"yknn"
ngctp" oqtg" cdqwv" vjku" kp" vjg" pgzv" vqrke0" Vjg" ngcf" qh" c" v{rkecn" pgyu" uvqt{"
eqpvckpu"c"uwooct{"qh"vjg"oquv"korqtvcpv"rqkpvu"qh"c"rctvkewnct"gxgpv0"
Vjg"ugeqpf"rctcitcrj"gncdqtcvgu"hwtvjgt"vjg"vjgog"vjcv"ku"cntgcf{"
ugv"kp"rctcitcrj"qpg0
Vjg"vjktf"rctcitcrj"yknn"uvcvg"vjg"dcemitqwpf"qh"vjg"uvqt{0"
Vjg"tgockpkpi"rctcitcrju"gncdqtcvg"hwtvjgt"vjg"
ockp kfgc"vjcv"ku"eqpvckpgf"kp"vjg"ngcf0
ACTIVITY 3.3
Who should pay if you lose in a libel suit? Should it be your media
organisation or the burden of paying such losses should be shifted to
you? What is your opinion on this?
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 61
Below is a four paragraph human interest story about a boy trapped in a washing
machine that illustrates the inverted pyramid format of writing news.
The first paragraph in the above example summarises the story by telling readers
what has happened. The second paragraph explains further the first paragraph. The
third paragraph gives the background of the story.
The final paragraph gives an account on how the incident happened.
(a) Why the Inverted Pyramid format?
(i) Why news is written in this format is because most readers seldom
read the entire story. They will only need to read the first one to three
paragraphs to grasp the idea of the news. When a reader is interested
in a piece of news, he or she will continue to read the rest of the story.
Readers in general, do not allocate a lot of time reading a newspaper.
(ii) The average reader spends 15 to 30 minutes per day reading
newspaper. This prevents them for reading all the news in a daily.
Thus, readers become very selective and they will only read news that
are of importance to them.
(b) Advantages of the Inverted Pyramid
(i) The inverted pyramid allows the editing of the news items to be done
swiftly. If the amount of space available in the newspaper is limited,
the editor will only need to cut the last few paragraphs. If the editor
has ample time, he or she will rewrite it accordingly. Sometimes the
story is referred back to the reporters who will rewrite it with the
necessary corrections and deletions.
SUNGAI PETANI, Thurs. A five-year-old child was trapped for nearly an
hour in a semi-automatic washing machine at his house in Taman Bandar
Baru, Sungai Lalang, today.
The incident occurred when Muhd Amir Mohd Junid was playing in the
kitchen. The child, who had just returned from the kindergarten, decided to
„venture‰ into the washing machine.
His mother believed Muhd Amir had used a chair to climb into the machine.
(New Straits Times, February 21, 2003)
62 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
(ii) The inverted pyramid is actually easier for the reporter to write. The
important elements of the story are written in the first paragraph.
Depending on the importance of the story to the reader and
newspaper, the reporter will write the item accordingly. An important
story will mean that it will be ten to fifteen paragraphs long. A less
important story may be written in five to ten paragraphs.
3.1.5 Objectivity
Objectivity is an important virtue for a reporter.
The reporter should present both sides of an issue equally and fairly. If one side
gets 10 paragraphs, the reporter must make sure that the other party will also
be allocated 10 paragraphs.
To maintain objectivity, the reporter must also make sure that all relevant
materials are gathered before even writing it. This is sometimes close to
impossible to do as the reporter works with a fixed deadline.
To be objective, the reporter must not only practice fairness during the
gathering of news materials but also in the writing of news.
SELF-CHECK 3.3
For the news article above, the paragraphs are not in their proper
order. Rearrange the article based on the inverted pyramid format.
(To check your answer, refer to The Star
newspaper, 26 February 2003, page 27, STPM
results out on Friday)
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 63
Visit http://www.cnn.com and search the news titled below:
Bush: Ending Saddam Regime will bring stability to Middle East February
27, 2003
Saddam: Iraq will be victorious March 4, 2003
Compare the objectivity of the story presented in both articles. Do they represent
fairness in news writing?
64 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
3.1.6 Sources of News
All published news items have to have an identifiable source. Refer to Table 3.16 for
the types of news sources and what you should do with each source:
Table 3.1: Sources of News
Sources of
News Explanation
Documents The first type of news source is called printed or digitised document and
is the most valuable and reliable source of news.
As a reporter, you are duty bound to verify the content of a document
before publishing it. You should check any controversial content of the
document for authenticity. This is especially important if the document
is subversive in nature. The Malaysian mass media are prohibited from
publishing subversive news.
After verifying the content of the document, it is prudent that you check
whether the documents fall under the purview of the Official Secrets Act. A
document classified as a „government secret‰ may contain relevant and
important materials for a newsworthy news story but you can never use it.
The Act prohibits you to disclose any official government secrets. In fact,
you are required by laws to surrender such documents to the authorities if
you happen be in possession of such documents. You will learn more about
the various laws that regulate the working environment of Malaysian
journalists.
Officials The second type of news source is public and private officials. An official is
defined as anybody who is a holder of an official post or an authority in a
specialised subject area.
When dealing with a government or private official, you must make sure
that the person you are dealing with is actually the holder of the post. You
should check and ensure that the name and job designation of the person
are stated accurately.
Firsthand/
eyewitness
account
People of higher social economic status are the most sought after for
news stories. Anything they say or do is usually used as news items.
Their comments are often solicited when important issues surface.
Because you will have to contact this group of people on short notice,
you should keep and update your personal telephone book all the time.
The final type of news source is the reporter himself. The reporter will act
as the source of a story if he or she is an eyewitness to an unfolding event.
He or she may also be a witness to a horrible accident. In this case, the
reporter will be able to give a first hand account of the incident. The
probability of such an occurrence is rare but the reporter must
nevertheless report the story based on what was seen and heard.
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 65
The source of a story is important because it gives credibility to the printed or
broadcast story. The reporter knows how important the status of a news source is
to a story. A controversial story will be given substantive coverage if the reporter
is able to get a highly credible source to be quoted.
The first two types of news sources (documents and officials) are news written based
on second hand account. In the second hand account, you did not witness the event
and the story is based on the facts gathered by other people who were present.
This does not mean that the event is not newsworthy. If you scrutinise any
newspaper, you will find that most of the time, news is written using the second
hand account. The story will have been filtered twice before it ever reaches the
media audience. It has been filtered by the source once and it is filtered again by the
reporter who selects and emphasises some materials and condenses other details.
EXERCISE 3.1
Read the news item below. Determine what type of source was used to
gather information for the news item. Why do you think the source was
selected for the story?
66 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
PROCESS OF NEWS WRITING
The illustration below shows the process of writing news (refer to Figure 3.4).
Figure 3.4: The process of news writing
3.2.1 Assignments
A news writing process almost always begins with an assignment. A rookie
reporter will usually be assigned to cover an event. The assignment is usually given a
day earlier.
The task of giving out assignments is done by the chief reporter or assistant news
editor. The rookie reporter is also given the liberty to assign a story for himself or
herself based on his or her leads. The decision whether the reporter will be allowed
to do so depends on the chief reporter.
Some media organisations use the title of assistant news editor for their chief
reporter. The chief reporter will assign all available news events a day earlier. The
task of giving out the assignment is usually done in the evening, around 5:00pm.
At least one person will not be given any assignment. The person will have to
come to the office the next day to cover any last minute assignment. If there is
nothing to cover, he or she will have to do a follow up of the lead story of the day.
3.2
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 67
How does the media organisation get the news event to be assigned to its reporter?
One of the most common sources of news events is through news releases.
(a) News Releases
Everyday the newsroom receives a stream of news releases of upcoming
events. These releases are prepared by the public relations section of a
government agency or private organisation. On receiving these releases,
someone in the newsroom will be required to enter them in the news desk
diary. The information that will be entered in the diary includes what the
event will be, who will be attending, where and when it will take place.
The task to update the content of the diary is usually assigned to a rookie
reporter. The diary will be checked by the chief reporter to make sure all the
relevant information is available. How about the senior reporters? Will they
be assigned to cover a particular news event?
(b) Senior Reporters
Assignments are seldom given out to senior reporters. Senior reporters are
required to search for their own news. A reporter will usually attain the
stature of a senior reporter after working for a particular media organisation
for at least five years. Senior reporters are a special breed of people in the
media organisation.
They are accorded certain privileges that are never given to the other
reporters in the organisation. They are usually bestowed with the
opportunity to cover coveted assignments.
The most sought after assignment by any journalist is an opportunity
to attend and report an event attended either by the Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Tun Razak (see Figure 3.5) or the Deputy Prime Minister.
Figure 3.5: Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
68 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
3.2.2 Background of the Event
After receiving an assignment, you as a journalist will be required to know the
background of an upcoming news event. The best place to start is the library of the
media organisation. The library at a media organisation is also called a "morgue". It is
called a morgue because it contains seemingly endless stacks of news cuttings.
Libraries at Media Organisations
Libraries at media organisations are different from the conventional
university or public library. The Library of Congress system of cataloguing is
well suited for cataloguing books and other printed and digitalised media.
The library at a media organisation however does not have a lot of books. To
help expedite your search, you should get acquainted with the librarians on
duty because most of them are well informed on the content of the various
files kept in the library.
Below are some of the important characteristics of libraries at media organisations:
(a) The news cuttings are usually catalogued according to subjects such as
personalities, companies, ministries, government agencies, etc. They are not
catalogued in the same manner as your university library. If you are an
expert user of the Library of CongressÊ system of cataloguing, you would
find it is of no use at all at these media libraries.
(b) Each federal and state minister will have a separate folder. The amount of
content for each ministerÊs file will depend on the popularity of a particular
minister. By reading a ministerÊs folder, you will be able to know all that
you need to know about a particular minister. Some of the media libraries
have converted old press clippings into microfiche.
(c) You can also read back issues of the media organisationÊs newspaper that
most probably have been converted into microfilms or microfiches. The
conversion is necessary to save precious space. You will find that the mass
One of the examples of a morgue is the New York Newspaper
Morgue. To know more about it, visit http://www.cah.utexas.edu/
newspaper/morgues.html
Try to search for other morgues from the website and compare it
with the New York Newspaper Morgue.
ACTIVITY 3.4
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 69
media libraries store a large amount of news material and some of it you
may have never seen or read before.
(d) If you are looking for books in the media libraries, you should forget about
it. These media libraries are not built for that. These libraries are there to
assist media personnel in their everyday work. The only books you may
find in these libraries are titles like WhoÊs who in Malaysia and the various
directories published by government departments and agencies.
(e) The major media organisations in Malaysia have already invested a lot of
money to maintain their own electronic library. Everything that is
published or broadcast will be stored in digital form. The creation of a
digital library by a media organisation to store information will ease and
expedite the process of doing a library search. You should be able to access
any information from any computer terminal within the organisation.
Some media organisations like the New Straits Times group even allow outsiders
access to its digital library. Of course, you will be required to pay a small fee
before accessing them. If you do not have your own computer, you can access the
online media library of the New Straits Times group by using computer
terminals available at all public university libraries. You will be charged for the
duration you are online and any information printed out will be charged
separately. Because of the fees involved, you are well advised to map out your
search before going online. The extra steps taken will ensure that your money is
spent wisely.
70 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
3.2.3 Covering the News Assignment
After doing the entire necessary search and obtaining all the relevant information,
you should be ready to cover the news assignment. Below are some of the
important points that a journalist should remember pertaining to the news coverage
activity:
(a) Get familiar with the place
If the assignment is at the place you are not familiar with, you are well
advised to check out the location a day earlier. This is to allow you to
familiarise yourself with the place and to gauge the amount of time needed
to get to the place. You should arrive at the place at least 30 minutes before
the function starts.
(b) Look for the PR executive
On arrival, you should look for the public relations executive of the
organisation that is organising the event. The executive should inform you
of the programmed itinerary.
ACTIVITY 3.5
Below is the URL for the New Straits Times, Utusan, The Star and
Berita Harian online archives respectively:
www.nstp.com.my
www.utusan.com.my
www.thestar.com.my
www.bharian.com.my
Try to find the news articles listed below from any of the websites
above.
1. Teachers Ready for English
2. Pengajaran Sains, Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris diterima
baik
3. Pengajaran dalam Bahasa Inggeris untuk saingan global
Can you find the news articles from the respective websites? Do the
media organisations charge for it?
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 71
(c) Collect copies of the speech text
You should collect copies of the speech texts of all speakers at the event.
You should not go back to the office after receiving the texts of these
speeches without waiting for the function to end.
(d) Get acquainted with the people around
Take the opportunity to mingle around with the people who
are present at the event. You should identify any prominent
personalities that may be present at the event. You should
acquaint yourself with them. This is useful in the long term,
in case you need to contact them later. Exchange business
cards with them, if possible.
(e) Look out for fellow journalists
You should also look out for fellow journalists from the other media
organisations. It is better that you treat your fellow journalists with respect.
They can be of help to you to get you acquainted with the guests who are
present. You may never know but there are times that you will learn
something from them. If you are new, you should observe the way your
fellow journalists conduct themselves in public.
(f) Try to get into conversations
If possible, try to get into conversations. Should anything interesting strike
you while you are having conversations with these personalities do not take
down any notes. Try to remember everything. You will notice that your
fellow journalists are doing the same thing. Why are they doing this?
Simply, because it is very difficult to jot down and talk at the same. Here is
why a good memory is vital for a good journalist.
(g) Jot in your notebook
When you have finished talking to the person, you should go to a quiet
corner and jot down everything into your notebook. Since everything is still
fresh in your mind, you will be able to remember all the important things
that have been said or done. Do not forget to write down the name of the
person with whom you just had this conversation with. Also, write down
the date, time and place.
(h) Compare the text with actual speech
When the event starts, you should compare the text of the speech with
what is being delivered. If there are major changes to the text, you should
take note. Put your notes in the margins. Do not make a mistake of taking
down word for word that is being said. You will not have enough writing
space to do that. Just take down the main points. You can use your own
72 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
words later to elaborate on the point when writing the news. Sometimes
you will notice that what is delivered by the speaker which is not from the
prepared speech is more important. You would like to quote the person
verbatim. In this case, you will have to take down everything that is being
said. While quoting a person, it is important that you quote exactly what
the person is saying. You may correct the grammar of the speaker to make
the person look good.
3.2.4 Writing the News
After the event is over, you should be on your way back to your
office. While travelling back to the office, you should be
thinking about what you have just covered. This mental exercise
is important because it will help you to write your story. The
event is still fresh in your mind. You will be able to recall
various details about the event now, which you would not be
able to do in a weekÊs time.
If you had done the mental exercise on your way to the office, you will notice that
you can recall all the relevant information instantaneously. You will know how to
write the story by focusing on the most significant information gathered while you
were on the field.
IDEAS FOR NEWS
Ideas on what to write are important for reporters working for a media organisation.
Ideas for news are actually everywhere. You actually do not have to look hard to
find them if you know where to look for them. After reading this section, you will be
on your way to developing new and better ideas for news stories.
3.3
ACTIVITY 3.6
Do you think the ability to remember facts is only important for
journalists? Who else could do with a good memory? How can you
improve your memory, especially your ability to recall facts and
information stored in your mind?
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 73
3.3.1 Why Generate New Ideas
The ability to generate ideas for news stories is an indication of your ability to work
with minimum supervision. You should boost your ability to generate ideas for
news stories. This is definitely a plus for you and for those people who are
working in the private sector.
Why the need to generate ideas? The main reason is that news is not an objective
reflection of our social reality. Not everything that happens everyday is available
on the news. If all the news items published and broadcasted are objective reflections
of social reality, you will not have time to do anything. You will be tied down
reading pages and pages of newspapers or spending hours and hours being glued to
the television or radio sets. There will not be enough papers to print or broadcast all
the things that are happening in our society.
Because of this, the media organisations select what we will be reading or watching
in our mass media. The way they select is also very subjective. We must not forget
that news published by newspapers or aired by electronic media are actually a form
of cultural commodity. Because of this, the media organisations will have to be
selective in what they present to their audience. The news items must suit the needs
of the media audience.
Journalists must develop an innate talent of generating their own ideas for news.
Figure 3.6 below shows the factors that need to be considered while generating
ideas.
Figure 3.6: Factors to be considered while generating ideas
The generated ideas must not only be newsworthy but can help in increasing the
circulation of a newspaper or viewership of a broadcast media. The generated
ideas should also suit the philosophy of a particular media organisation. In
other words, the type of generated ideas being accepted for publication is
74 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
circumvented by several factors beyond the control of journalists. Journalists are
very much aware that they do not have the final say on what will be published or
broadcast.
3.3.2 How to Generate News Stories
When generating news stories, there is a variety you can choose from. Let us check
them out.
(a) Main news
You can do a follow up of the main news story of the day. You can solicit
responses from prominent personalities if the issues of the day have a direct
impact on the life of the general public.
(b) Advertisements
You can find lots of news ideas from the various advertisements that
appear in your media. You should pay close attention to advertisements
that do not correspond to the moral values of your society. For example,
you could do a story if you noticed an increasing number of ads offering
social escort services.
(c) Festivities
In our multiracial society, we tend to celebrate various
ethnic festivities. These festivities are a haven for news
ideas. You can write on the preparations to celebrate a
festival. You can even write on the possible
preparations taken by the police to ensure the smooth
flow of people who will be going back home to
celebrate the festival with families. The list goes on.
(d) Public documents
Every government agency churns out numerous reports annually. These
government reports are often ignored and left unreported. Browse and
look out for any specific project that may have a tremendous effect on
society.
SELF-CHECK 3.4
Recall Topic 2. What are the collections of values known as
newsworthiness?
TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING 75
(e) Press statements
All media organisations are flooded daily with numerous press statements
given out by private and non-governmental organisations. These
statements sometimes contain hints of bigger and greater things that most
often are ignored. For example, an organisation could be organising a mass
rally. You would think it is just another rally but it may contravene public
laws.
(f) Accident sites
You will do a great service to your society if you do an investigative piece
on the number of accidents that occur at a particular spot. The road in
question could be a contributing factor to the high number of accidents.
For example, you could check whether there are sufficient traffic signs to
indicate the place as an accident prone area.
(g) Monsoon seasons
A change to the monsoon season usually starts with heavy
rainfall. This could have a catastrophic effect on the
manmade infrastructure and natural landscapes. You
should be on the lookout for possible mudslides or floods.
You can check on the various measures taken by local
authorities for such natural and unexpected disasters.
ACTIVITY 3.7
The list of ideas given above is incomplete. You can add your own
ideas to the given list of news ideas. Write them down. You will not
know when it will come in handy, especially if you intend to join a
media organisation as a journalist upon graduation.
EXERCISE 3.2
What constitutes an effective news story?
76 TOPIC 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS WRITING""""
After reading this unit, you should know that news is written in a particular
format.
The news format is standardised to facilitate publication of newspapers or news
broadcasts.
The same form of writing the news is used by all the media. In other words,
when you have learnt the format of writing news you can choose to work for any
news organisation.
All media organisations follow the same format of collecting, writing and editing
the news.
Gilbert, H. (1999). Writing for journalists. Florence, KY, USA: Routledge.
Edward De Bono, (1993). Thinking course. London: BBC Books.
Hope, T. (1995). Manage your mind: The mental fitness guide. Oxford University
Press


INTRODUCTION
Grab a newspaper and read one of its news articles. Which part of the news makes
you want to read further? The one that captures your interest and gives you the
whole idea on what the news is all about? I believe that your answer will be the
very first paragraph of the article. In journalistic terms, the first paragraph of a
news story is called the lead (pronounced as leed).
The lead is also called the intro. The purpose of the lead is to reveal the content of
the news to the readers as quickly as possible. The lead has to entice the readers to
continue reading the story until the end. This topic will give you a clear
understanding on how to write a good lead.
To maintain interest among readers, the lead has to be written succinctly and with
style. This can be a daunting task for a new reporter.
Topic
4
News Lead
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Define what a lead is;
2. Differentiate the various types of lead; and
3. Explain the various ways to write a lead.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
7 8 TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD""""
THE LEAD
The lead or the intro refers to the first paragraph in a news story. It is the most
important component of a news story.
Observe the lead in the following news:
4.1
The special aircraft carrying Mahathir and his wife, Datin Seri
Siti Hasmah Mohamed Ali, landed at Doha International
Airport at about 5.15pm local time (10.15pm in Malaysia).
They were met on arrival by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh
Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Also on hand to greet them were
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar and senior
Malaysian Officials.
PUTRAJAYA, Tues. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
has endorsed Kuala LumpurÊs initiative to host an informal OIC
meeting immediately after the Non-Aligned Movement Summit
here next week.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said the current OIC
chaired by Qatar had agreed to support the informal meeting of OIC
members who would be in Kuala Lumpur for the NAM Summit.
SELF-CHECK 4.1
Read the above news article. Can you trace what is missing from the
news?
The lead is defined as the opening paragraph of a news item. In news
stories, the lead summarises the main facts.
TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD"""" 79
From the previous example, we can see what the lead is as shown in Figure 4.1:
Figure 4.1: The lead
(a) The lead summarises the news story.
The lead answers a basic question: What is the story all about? Most news
stories that appear in the media are written in this way. The second
paragraph of the news story explains further the subject matter that is
raised in the first paragraph.
(b) The lead refers not only to the first paragraph but it can be used to denote
other things to journalists.
The lead in this instance is also used to refer to the main idea of a story.
Because of this you will find that an editor will often ask the question:
„What is the lead of the story?‰ The editor is expecting that you will give a
quick summary of the story.
„The Emir of Qatar (Sheikh Hamad Khalifa al-Thani) conveyed
this to Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad) during
their telephone conversation yesterday and the Foreign Minister of
Qatar also rang me up to voice their support. They are also seeking our
support to hold an emergency OIC session in Doha at a date which is
yet to be determined . We have no problem with that‰, Syed Hamid
said in Wisma Putra today.
He also expressed relief that Qatar, which had initially been
lukewarm to suggestions for an informal OIC meeting in Kuala
Lumpur, also considered the threat of war against Iraq and other
pressing current issues.
8 0 TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD""""
(c) The lead can be an idea for a news story.
You would use the word to ask your source: „Do you have a lead for a
news story?‰ You are expecting the source to convey something new that
can be explored further as news.
THE DATELINE
In the example shown on the previous page, you should notice that there
are two basic components in any given lead:, the dateline and the opening
paragraph (which is usually called the lead), as shown in Figure 4.2.
Figure 4.2: Two basic components in a lead
The dateline usually consists of two pieces of information:
(a) the name of a town or city; and
(b) a date (in some newspapers, the date is replaced by the day in a week).
To journalists on the ground, the dateline informs the editor where and when the
story was filed.
4.2
Give a definition of a lead in a news item.
SELF-CHECK 4.2
What kind of information can you gain from the dateline?
ACTIVITY 4.1
TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD"""" 81
To the mass media audience, the dateline serves to tell where and when an event
took place.
In other words, you would already have answered the questions of where and
when the event occurred.
Figure 4.3 explains how journalists determine the name of the town in the
dateline.
Figure 4.3: Determining the name of the town in the Dateline
Determining the name of the town in the dateline
In determining the name of the town to be included in the dateline, there are
three guidelines you should use, as follows:
(a) Choose a town or city that is easily recognisable
In choosing a town or city for your news, you should always
remember that the purpose of writing news is to inform the audience
and not to withhold important pieces of information. Choose a town or
city that is easily recognisable. Observe the following lead:
KOTA BHARU, Tues. Police have detained a couple in connection
with the death of a 14-month-old infant believed to have been a victim
of child abuse.
(New Straits Times, January 29, 2003)
8 2 TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD""""
In the example just given, we know that:
the event took place in Kota Bharu, Kelantan;
we can presume safely that the story was probably filed by a reporter
from this town;
the story happened on Tuesday and that is the day of the week when the
story was filed; and
to determine which Tuesday of the month, you would read the date of
publication.
(b) Similar name of major towns
You will notice that the names of some of the major towns in Malaysia are
used in two states, for example Kepala Batas is found in Penang and
Kedah. Serdang is a name that is also found in Selangor and Kedah. Under
such circumstances, you should use the name of the town followed by the
name of the state in the dateline.
The dateline will be written as follows:
KEPALA BATAS, Kedah or
KEPALA BATAS, Penang
(c) Exception to the rule for the United Nations
The name of the state is written in the dateline so as not to confuse the
audience about the geographical location of the event. There is however
an exception to the rule for using the name of a major town or city in the
lead. The exception is for the United Nations. You know that the United
Nations is seated in New York, but New York is never used as the dateline
for news originating from the offices of the United Nations. You would use
United Nations as the dateline. Any stories originating outside the offices
of the United Nations in New York should use New York as its dateline.
TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD"""" 83
Table 4.1: Styles of Writing the Dateline by Various Newspapers
Newspaper Explanation Example
New
Straits
Times and
New
Sunday
Times
These newspapers use the name of
a town or a city and the day of the
week as its dateline. All the days in
a week are abbreviated as follows:
Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri.,
Sat., and Sun. Both the name of
the city and the day of the week
are printed in bold letters.
KUALA LUMPUR, Thurs. The
Government is studying the best
ways to overcome the problem of
flash floods in Kuala Lumpur,
including building underground
tunnels to quickly channel water
from flood-prone areas to the rivers,
Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad
said today.
(New Straits Times, June 12, 2003)
The Star
and The
Sunday
Star
The Star and The Sunday Star do
not use the date or the day of the
week in its dateline. It uses only
the name of a city or town where
the story was filed. The name of
the city is printed in bold letters.
KUALA LUMPUR: School-leavers
going overseas to further their
studies can choose to take part in the
national service programme at a
later date if they cannot make it for
the first year.
(The Star, June 17, 2003)
SELF-CHECK 4.3
„According to research into reading habits published yesterday,
newspapers are more popular than novels among Britons reading for
pleasure. The average reader spends 17 minutes a day reading a
newspaper, compared to 11 minutes on a novel. They spend a further
seven minutes online, six minutes on non-fiction, five minutes with a
magazine, and two minutes looking up things they did not
understand in a reference book.‰
Guardian, Feb 27 2002
What do you think is the most important factor that makes reading
the newspaper more popular than reading a novel?
8 4 TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD""""
The Sun
Like The Star, The Sun is printed
using the tabloid format. This
newspaper prints only the name
of the town in its dateline. The
name of the town is printed in
bold letters.
KUALA LUMPUR: A lawyer urged
the Court of Appeal to recommend
the setting up of a royal commission
to investigate an allegation of an
attempt by two senior prosecutors to
extort fabricated evidence against
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
(The Sun, March 26, 2003)
Berita
Harian and
Berita
Minggu
Both newspapers use only the
name of the town in its dateline.
The name of the town is not
printed in bold letters.
KUALA LUMPUR: Lebih 250,000
rakyat dari seluruh pelusuk Negara
memenuhi Stadium Nasional Bukit
Jalil di sini malam tadi bagi
membuktikan kepada dunia bahawa
penduduk Malaysia, tanpa mengira
usia, jantina, bangsa dan agama,
menolak peperangan.
(Berita Harian, February 24, 2003)
Utusan
Malaysia
and
Mingguan
Malaysia
Unlike all the above newspapers,
these two newspapers use the
name of the town and the date in
its dateline. The following
months are abbreviated: January,
February, September, October,
November and December. The
months are written as Jan., Feb.,
Sept., Okt., Nov., and Dis. The
months that are not abbreviated
are Mac, April, Mei, Jun, Julai,
and Ogos. The information in the
dateline is not printed in bold
letters.
KUALA LUMPUR 23 Feb. Hampir
200,000 rakyat Malaysia daripada
pelbagai kaum dan agama tanpa
mengira ideologi politik malam ini
membanjiri Stadium Nasional Bukit
Jalil di sini bagi menyatakan
bantahan terhadap keganasan dan
menentang serangan Amerika
Syarikat (AS) ke atas Iraq.
(Utusan Malaysia, February 24, 2003)
SELF-CHECK 4.4
How is the New Straits TimesÊ style of writing the dateline different
from The StarÊs?
TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD"""" 85
4.2.1 Style of Writing Dateline
Each newspaper has its own style of writing the dateline. Each newspaper uses a
specific style of writing the dateline to differentiate itself from the other
newspapers. The following are the different styles of writing datelines for the
various newspapers:
TYPES OF LEADS
If you were to ask journalists the name of a lead that they are using in writing a
particular news story, they may not be able to do so. The name for a particular
type of lead is not important to them. You may think that they write the lead
without giving much thought to it. If you think so, then you are wrong.
Figure 4.4: The categories for leads
The various categories of leads are devised just for the purpose of educating
students who wish to become journalists (refer to Figure 4.4).
Essentially, there are two categories for classifying the various types of leads. They
are:
The 5Ws and 1H is proposed as one of the categories in cataloguing news leads
because it allows students to appreciate the different types of leads used.
4.3
Journalists visualise and think of how to present a news story before even
going to the scene. They would have thought of how to present the facts of
the story in the most interesting manner.
8 6 TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD""""
Table 4.2: Various Types of Leads Based on 5W and 1H
5W and 1 H Explanation Example
The „Who‰
Lead
You will use the „who‰ lead
when the individual is the
important component of the
news. The „who‰ in the lead can
be an individual with social
standing in society or an
organisation. Here is an
example of a lead where „the
who‰ is a prominent individual
in society.
KUALA LUMPUR, Fri. The director
of the Organisational Development
Division of the Public Services
Department, Datuk Dr Mohamed
Yahya Nordin, has been appointed
secretary-general of the Human
Resource Ministry.
(New Straits Times, February 1, 2003)
Here is an example where the
„who‰ is an organisation.
KUALA LUMPUR, Tues. The
Institute of Islamic Understanding
Malaysia (IKIM) will soon publish
articles pertaining to Islam in the local
media to counter the negative image
of the religion portrayed by the
Western media.
(New Straits Times, January 29, 2003)
The „What‰
Lead
When what is being said or
what has happened is
important, it will be used as an
intro. Of all the different types
of leads, this is the most
common form of a news lead.
KUALA LUMPUR, Tues Datuk Seri
Dr Mahathir Mohamad said there is
no necessity to teach other subjects at
school in English, other than
Mathematics and Science.
(New Straits Times, January 29, 2003)
The
„Where‰
Lead
When the place of an event is
important it will be used as an
intro to a story.
KUALA LUMPUR, Tues. Malaysia,
for its relatively low-cost and nonrisky
business environment, remains
one of the best established foreign
direct investment (FDI) alternatives in
the region, said MIDF Sisma Securities
Sdn Bhd.
(New Straits Times, February 5, 2003)
The
„When‰
Lead
When something will occur at a
particular moment in time, it
will be highlighted in the intro
of a news story. The time of
occurrence could be now or in
the near future.
PUTRAJAYA, Tues. Malaysia will
stop supplying raw water to
Singapore when the republicÊs last
water supply agreement with Kuala
Lumpur expires in 2061, Foreign
Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid
Albar announced today.
(The Star, January 30, 2003)
TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD"""" 87
The „Why‰
Lead
The „why‰ lead is seldom used
in news reporting. This is
because a reporter will find it
difficult to explain why
something happened the way it
did. Even though it is seldom
used, it does not mean that it is
never used at all. In fact, this
type of lead is usually used in
court reporting. The lead will
explain why an accused in a
court case is given a heavy
sentence. The news will later
explain why the sentence was
given to the accused.
SHAH ALAM, Fri A self- employed
man was sentenced to four years in
jail after he pleaded guilty to
attempted rape of his mentally
retarded and mute cousin between
3.15am and 3.20am on June 8 last year.
(New Straits Times, February 1, 2003)
The „How‰
Lead
This is another type of lead that is
seldom used in news writing. If
you have to explain a
complicated process, then this is
the type to use. The „how‰ lead
outlines the complicated process
in layman's terms so that
everybody who reads it may
understand the procedure. This
type of lead is suitable when the
subject matter is technical in
nature.
WASHINGTON: With no motors, the
space shuttle tears into the
atmosphere like a meteorite at more
than 27,000 km/h slowing down
gradually by making a series of long
gliding turns, a long hypersonic flight
where there is no room for error.
(The Star, February 3, 2003)
8 8 TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD""""
4.3.1 5Ws and 1H
This is the first of the two types of categories for classifying leads. This
method of classification categorises various types of leads according to each of
the questions in 5Ws or 1H: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.
ACTIVITY 4.2
Read the news leads given below. Try to classify the various
news leads using the 5Ws and 1H method of categorisation.
Type of Lead:
Type of Lead:
Type of Lead:
TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD"""" 89
4.3.2 Single Element and Summary Lead
This is a simplified method of classifying the various types of leads. Instead of
classifying the various types of leads using the basic journalism questions as in
the previous section, this alternative method calls our attention to the number of
elements used in a news lead. Because of this, we can differentiate two distinct
types of lead. They are:
A single element lead; and
A summary lead.
(a) Single element lead
If you were to read any newspaper, you would find that most of the news
items were written using the single element lead. The single element lead is
actually the work horse of journalism.
The lead contains only one important highlighted fact. The reporter chooses
to highlight a particular fact because it represents the most important fact. It
could be something new that the readers or viewers are unaware of.
KUCHING, Sat. Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has
given an assurance to landowners in the State that all land titles which
are due to expire would be renewed unless the Government needs them
for development purposes.
The Land and Survey Department had already renewed more than
90 per cent of land titles which were near expiry, he said yesterday
at the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of
Sarawak Chinese New Year dinner.
Taib was responding to a remark by ACCCIS president Senator
Wee Kok Tiong who said that „quite a number‰ of land titles in the State
was due to expire.
„It is our hope that the State Government could help the affected
landowners in resolving this matter,‰ Wee said earlier in his speech.
(New Sunday Times, February 23, 2003)
The single element lead is the most common type of lead used by journalists.
All the six types of leads classified according to the various questions are
actually single element leads.
9 0 TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD""""
The use of one important element in the lead allows a reporter to
write the news item quickly. The remaining paragraphs in a news item
will elaborate further the material that is presented in the lead.
Below is an example of a news item that uses a single element lead. The
story is about the assurance given by the Sarawak Chief Minister to all land
owners whose land titles are due for renewal. The rest of the paragraphs
elaborate on the assurance given.
(b) Summary lead
The summary lead is used when there are several important events that
occur at the same time. In this case, the reporter covering the news will opt
for a lead that summarises the various things that are happening
simultaneously.
The summary lead is often used to summarise all the points spoken
by several people at a meeting or convention. With a summarising lead, the
reporter will be able to give equal treatment to the various speakers
speaking on the same point.
WRITING THE LEADS
If you have just joined a media organisation, you will find it rather difficult to
write your news. Your heartbeat is faster. You are sweating even though you are
sitting in an air-conditioned office. You feel as though everyone in the office is
looking at you.
If you notice some of these happening to you, you should take a deep breath and
try to relax. This is normal. This happens to a lot of people who are beginning to
write for the first time.
A lot of thinking would have taken place before you begin to write the
opening paragraph of a piece of news. The thinking process depends on
whether you have gathered all the relevant information of any event. If there is
any missing information, you will have to contact the relevant individual or
organisation.
4.4
Never write until you have all the necessary information. You should
remember the maxim; the more information you have, the better you are in
the process of writing the lead.
TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD"""" 91
In order to find an appropriate lead, you should ask yourself the following
questions:
These questions are designed to:
(a) prompt you on an appropriate lead or opening paragraph for your news;
(b) focus on the essence of any given event; and
(c) check and weigh all your gathered facts. The collated facts should guide
you on how to start off the story.
You should notice that I used the phrase finding the „appropriate lead‰ in the
above paragraph. That is because, you should have concluded by now that
writing the lead or news is not an exact science. You are responsible for choosing
what is to be included and excluded.
Go to The Open University Digital Library (ebrary) and look for a
book titled „Writing for Journalists‰ by Harriett Gilbert. You can find
a lot of tips and examples on how to write a good lead.
ACTIVITY 4.4
What was unique or the most important or unusual thing that happened?
Who was involved·who did it or who said it?
3
4
9 2 TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD""""
You will find that sometimes, your news editor will not like what you
have written. You can expect that the editor will ask you to rewrite the
lead. You will even find that the editor will show you how to write the
lead of the paragraph.
The editor will even give you an excuse that this is the style of writing
the lead for their organisation. This is far from the truth. The fact is that
news writing is rather personal. You will inject your own style in the
writing. You will not want another person to rewrite something you
have written. You will argue that what you have written is better than
the rewritten piece of news.
What should you do if you find yourself in such
circumstances? Be cool and do not be angry. If you are
new, my advice would be to allow the editor to show
you how it should have been done. This will go a long
way in building a good rapport between you and the
editor. You are going to see the same editor everyday.
The editor may not agree with your style of writing in the beginning. Be
patient and persevere. You will notice that this will change in a month or
two. After two or more months, you will find that the editor is at ease
with your writing style. The editor will have by then, total faith and trust
in your style. You will notice that the editor no longer imposes his or her
style on you.
TIPS FOR JOURNALISTS
TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD"""" 93
The lead or the intro refers to the first paragraph in a news story. It is the most
important component of a news story. The lead summarises the main facts.
There are two basic components in any given lead: the dateline and the
opening paragraph.
SELF-CHECK 4.5
1. With the facts given below, you are required to write a
lead. You should use Pengkalan Hulu and todayÊs date in your
dateline.
2. With the facts given below, you are required to write a single
element lead. You should use Lumut and todayÊs date in your
dateline.
9 4 TOPIC 4 NEWS LEAD""""
Leads can be classified using the ÂWhoÊ. ÂWhatÊ, ÂWhereÊ, ÂWhyÊ, ÂWhenÊ and
ÂHowÊ questions.
The single element lead is the most common type of lead. All the six types of
leads using the Â5W and 1HÊ questions can be considered as single element
leads.
The summary lead is used when several important events occur at the same
time.