ESSENTIALS OF NEWS

AND
INTERVIEWING
IN
BROADCASTING
OYAS AKHIGBE
CONTENTS
News and news criteria 1
News writing 5
Reporting the News 10
Interviewing 15
Types of Interview 18
Setting up the Interview/Approach 23
Tone and Tactics of the Interview 26
The questions 28
Discussion Programme 34
Creative writing 38
NEWS AND NEWS CRITERIA Definition of News
The concise oxford dictionary defines news as tidings, new or
interesting information, fresh events reported. News according to
Ben Bradlee is the first rough draft of history. News is the
immediate the important, the things that have impact on over lives.
When a dog bites a man, that is not news but when a man bites a
dog, it is news. In other words it is the unusual that makes news.
For Teel and Taylor (1993:153) News is that which is timely and
of public interest. Former editor of the Nigerian Daily Times, Tony
Momoh says News is any event that can unseat (upset) the status -
quo.
John L. Belter and Rout Paul Nelson on their part jointly posit that
News is anything that interests you and that you did not know.
They also submit that news is whatever the reporter and the editor
decide is news.
Raff Akinfeleye, Professor of mass communication, defines News
as an account of what the public wants to know, what they ought to
know, what they must know and the right to know an important
aspect of press freedom.
From the foregoing definitions, one can surmise that news is an
accurate and unbiased account of a timely event that is of the ,
greatest significance and also of the greatest interest to your
audience. Significance how important is the event? Is it causing or
does it have the potential to cause a great deal of harm or good to a
number of people? etc.
NEWS CRITERIA
There are quite a number of factors that determine the news
worthiness of a story. These imperatives include the following
1.Proximity: This refers to the nearness of an event being reported
to a given audience by the media. People tend to be more
interested in what is closest to them because they can identify
easily with them. For a story to have impact, it has to be relevant.
For news to be relevant it has to have proximity. The impact of a
story is greater if the events are happening close to, the audience.
People are more interested to hear about what is close to them. A
medium should have the ability to disseminate information around
its audience.
2. Immediacy: If it is not new, it isnt news. News is about telling
people things they didnt already know. News is about what is
happening now. To the broadcast journalist, what happened
yesterday is dead and buried. There has to be something new to
say, some fresh angles
3. Prominence This refers to the degree of importance of the
personality involved in the story
4. Magnitude This has to do with size or number. In news
writing,-we are interested in the degree of occurrence or how many
people are involved. The higher the number of people involved, the
more news worthy is the story.
5. Human Interest A human interest story is defined as an
extraordinary thing that has happened to an ordinary person. It also
involves humorous and ironic human related stories. They include
emotional stories: is it sad, funny, uplifting or moving,
6. Conflict Events such as strikes, riots, wars, confrontations,
clashes, violent crime, are usually news worthy because they elicit
worry, anxiety, fear, sadness etc.
7. Drama Tension, power struggle, suspense, love and hate.
8. Interest Broadcast hews should cater for the mass interest rather
than that or a minority. Stories must have a wide appeal or most of
the audience will change channels.
The skill of the news writer comes in drawing out the relevance of
a story and presenting it clearly and factually while making the
most of every scrap of interest. This way the writer can give the
audience what it needs to know as well as what it wants to know.
9. Oddity Strange, odd and unusual happenings or events and are
news worthy.
Entertainment Entertainment stories look at the lighter side o( life,
the things that make us smile.
NEWS WRITING
Hard News and Soft News
Hard news is new and important information about events of
significance. The hard news formula calls for the meat of the story.
There is no room for padding. The information must connect with
the audience in the first sentence.
Soft news and human interest items are stories run for their
entertainment value first and the information second. The feature,
human interest or soft news story is primarily for entertainment, so
the order in which the information is given becomes less
important. What matters most is that he story brings a moment of
light relief to the audience. The introduction paragraph here teases
the audience into wanting to get to the bottom of the matter by
beginning with a tantalizing appeal to emotions. The feature style
leads the audience into the story rather than presenting them with
facts on the first line.
The News Angle In any news story it may be impossible to cover
every aspect of it at once. As a result the reporter will be forced to
concentrate on a certain aspect of the story. Each facet represents
different angle. The angle is the part of the story the reporter
chooses to hold up to the light at any one time.
Hard News Formula
The hard news formula constructs the news story by asking, Who,
What, When, Where, Why, How questions using the inverted
pyramid formula. This ensures that the news story begins with the
most important facts and backs up those facts with detailed
background and interpretation constructed to get the story across in
a logical way that is clear and commands attention. Answers to of
the information required.
What has happened?
Where did it happen?
When did it happen?
Who was involved?
Why did it happen?
What does it means?
Inverted pyramid formula is a style of writing which puts premium
on telling the story as quickly as possible. Its basic principle is that
facts in a news story j are presented in. descending order
importance.
Summary lead most important
2nd most important
3rd most important information,
4th most important information
Etc
Etc
Etc

The Intro/lead This is the first sentence or paragraph of the story

and about the most important. It is also known as the lead.
Its Function is to:
1a. State the most significant point
1b. Summarize the story in a few lines. It transmits the essence of
the story at the beginning of the story.
2. Grab attention
3. Whet the appetite
4. Signpost the way into the rest of the story
Usually the lead wraps the story into a small neat bundle by
attempting to answer all or most of these familiar questions Who?
What? Where? When? Why? How? Since the trend is to make
opening paragraph as brief and to the point as possible, reporters
frequently find themselves evaluating the five Ws & H to
determine
which to place in the first paragraph. However when preparing to
write the lead for your broadcast story, look for the 'Who and the
what. They are the most important part of the story. The basic
rule is that the effective lead should open with a brief sharp
statement of the storys essential part. The lead should limit itself
to one central idea. Open the lead with a brief expression of the
storys strongest element and follow the One to One idea to a
sentence principle. Broadcast leads generally emphasize what is
happening or what has happened.
Qualities of a Good Lead
1. A Good lead must list and foremost be very accurate
2. A good lead must be based on key facts in the story.
3. It must be concise
4. It must be punchy to elicit listenership
5. It must be as much as possible be the summary of the story
6. It must be prevocational, and attractive
7. It must instantly establish the subject in the listeners mind,
show him why the story is worth hearing and signpost the way it is
going.
The ideal lead should be short, no longer than twenty to thirty
words, uncluttered without unnecessary details, direct and capable
of grabbling attention.
Developing the Story
After the intro, the next step in to list the remainder of the
information according to its decreasing importance. In this way at
least each paragraph contains information that is less significant
than that which preceded it
The WHAT Formula
Explanation usually follows the intro and after that comes more
detail and the tying up of loose ends. This is referred to as the
WHAT FORMULAR.
W -What has happened - the intro tells the story in brief
H How did it happen Explain the immediate background or
contest?
A - Amplify the intro - Flesh out the main points in order of
importance.
T - Tie up loose ends - Give additional background material.
In processing the news story, we should try as much as possible to
adhere o the A-C-C-C-S of news processing and management.
These are of course the elements of a well written story:
A - Accuracy of the information the news item is sending out C -
Coherence of information in the news item
C - Conciseness or brevity of information presented.
C - Clarity of information typologies in the news item. Your
audience should be able understand your news item.
S - Simplicity of information.
REPORTING THE NEWS
Who is a reporter - To report is to give a spoken or written account
of something heard, seen, done, studied especially one that is
published or broadcast. A reporter seeks, receives and disseminates
information to his audience. The reporter is the conveyor, the
manufacturer of the most important commodity which the media
sells.
Qualities of a Reporter
1. Strong interest in news and current affairs
2. Language facility - The tools of reporters as writer are words
and they must have a special way with them. Clarity and precision
in word choice for example are essential for the news writer who
must describe events accurately. The skill can be sharpened with
instruction but some innate feel for language is necessary.
3. Good communication skills
4. Ability to generate and develop ideas.
5. Self confidence, initiative, motivation pestilence, adaptability to
cope with change.
6. A good reporter must have the nose for news.
7.A good reporter must be upfront with self confidence, bright and
who knows what a story is; the reporter you send out for one story,
who comes back with two others.
8. A good reporter should have the ability to identify and monitor
information that has news values and in public interest, should
have a lively imaginative mind and a sense of humour.
9. Creativity is important- A reporter should have the ability to find
a fresh way of telling an old story as well as discovering a
complete new one.
10. Ability to interact with a lot of different people in rapid
succession and get them to talk. A reporter must exude confidence.
Shyness and journalism dont go together. A reporter-should be
polite but not ingratiating, friendly but not familiar.
11. A reporter should be a good listener. A reporter must learn
through experience the act of when to chart so as to put a reluctant
interviewee at ease.
12. Accuracy A professional journalist need, to learn to be accurate
fair and objective in reporting events.
Language of Reporting
It is important for reporters to realize that what listeners, viewers
or readers, want is news. Reporters in writing a news item must
clarify light of well used language.
Reporters should able to communicate, a thought, idea or fact. To
do this they must write in a style that is straight forward and
simple. It is writing that has communication as its first goal, with
language serving not as an end but as a means to an end.
Reporters need full and rich vocabularies from which they may
select the proper words 1'jDr jthe proper occasion. They should
strive to use specific, concrete words that emphasis activities and
words that are understood by majority of readers.
In writing, reporters should avoid foreign, highly technical or
jargonistic language.
Avoid words and expressions not likely to be within the general
vocabulary of the majority of the audience and redundancies.
Eliminate redundancies - For example it is redundant to say
consensus of opinion A consensus is opinion agreement,
therefore consensus of opinion means Opinion agreement of
opinion.
Keep sentence simple - clarity is the key to constructing a good
newspaper or radio sentence
Translators -If for instance, the court says in a story that a
defendant plea was nolo contender. It is the duty of the reporter
to translate it to no contest instead of the Latin word.
Avoid Cliches - These are expressions that were once original and
imaginative but that have been used so frequently that they have
lost their impact. Avoid over used term and phrases. Write for your
audience and strive for communication with many levels as
possible. This involves the use of a naturally clear style that will be
understood by those with average word knowledge and not offend
the better educated.
The broadcast story has to be crystal clear the first time of hearing
clutter has to go and convoluted writing has to be ironed out.
Sentences for broadcast need to be clear and declarative contain a
minimum of different idea. Simplicity and conciseness are the
watch words.
Attribution - Information should be attributed clearly to enable
the audience identify the source of the story. However it advisable
to put the facts of the story before the attribution.
The Minister of Health says one Hundred set aside for the payment
of wages in Hospitals It will be better to write About One
Hundred million Naira has been set aside for the
payment of wages in Hospitals. Health minister, Di. Petei told the
Senate that the money. Here the message is more important than
the messenger who is minister.
Broadcast writers are asked to write in present or perfect tenses as
often as possible. This is to heighten the sense of immediacy.
INTERVIEWING
The Oxford Learners Dictionary defines interview as a meeting at
which a journalist asks somebody questions in order to find out his
/ her opinions on an issue. The person who asks the question is the
interviewer while the one who answers the question is the
interviewee. Interviewers are brokers of information. Interviewing
is really conversation but conversation is not an interview.
Conversation tends to be unstructured but interview follows a plan
with an aim. However, good conversationalists are good
interviewers. They are people interested in the views and feelings
of others. They are good listeners, reacting to bits of information
with a good sense of the mood and meaning of what is said or left
unsaid by their guests.
Interviewing can be said to be the most vital skill of any reporter. It
is probably the most important building block of journalism and
also one of the most difficult. Interviewing is all about finding (put
the WHY and HOW of any situation. Interviewing supplies the
missing link in the WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHO. It is
about giving news behind news, in other words the news gatherer
knows the who, what, where and when but to know more interview
has to be conducted.
An interview is designed to extract information or test the validity
of an argument. The act is to tease out the story in the tellers own
words while ensuring that every word will be clearly understood
by the audience. The interviewees own words lend greater
authority to a report than any number of quotations in next days
newspaper. In fact broadcasting great appeal is that the audience
can hear the facts straight from the horses mouth. An interview
must have! a clear and cogent idea of what we want to find out
from the interviewee.
Objectives:
1. To expose the view points of the powerful and influential to
public debate and criticisms
2. To identify the news makers and how best to tap their
knowledge in public interest.
3. To give answers to unanswered questions of a particular story
and satisfy public curiosity.
4. To give out news behind the news.
5. To treat a news report in greater detail
6. To keep the wheel of public debate turning.
Skills Required Of The Interviewer.
1. Considerable knowledge. Interviewers must be imbued with
mental agility.
2. Energy, persistence and often courage.
3. Ability to demonstrate wit, acuteness and professional
competence.
4. Ability to listen and to read the face of a guest allows the host
to register emotional response. Attentive thoughtful listening, is the
key to a good interview.
5. Good memory to draft appropriate questions.
6. Good sense of language, grammar and style as well as ability to
ad lib questions
7. Ability to ask questions members of the audience would raise,
were they in a position to do so.
8. Good public relations - courteous, diplomatic, tactful and
friendly etc.
The technique of ad-libbing the questions and answers has
replaced the scripted questions and answers technique.
TYPES OF INTERVIEWS
1. Hard News - The hard news interview uses extract of an
interview to illustrate the news report. The interview is usually
short and to the point. It deals only with important facts or
comments and reaction to those facts. Important facts will be given
in the cue while more details and explanation will go into the
programme length interview of between two and three minutes.
2. Informational Interview - An information interview aimed at
extracting information from one with a specialist knowledge on an
event Something that is happening now or about to happen. This
interview attempts to seek an explanation of the hows and whys of
a story.
3. Investigative Interview - The Investigative interview aims to
get behind the facts to discuss what really course event and
sometimes what could be done to prevent a recurrence. With
investigative interview it is only sensible not to scare off your
interviewing with your first question.
4. Adversarial Interview - In this type, the interviewer tries to get
the other to admit to things that he /she really does not want to say.
So frequently the adversarial interview turns into a war of words
between the two parties. By nature the
adversarial interview attempts to undermine or disprove an
argument through direct and public confrontation.
5. Personality Interview - It can be a short interview with a
celebrity about their favourite subject, themselves or a longer,
more inquisitive and intentionally revealing personality profile.
They are designed to illuminate their personality and background.
This kind of interview is also biographical. The antecedents and
(genealogy, birth, Schools, I professional experience and work
place, marriage and children and other social achievements are
brought to the fore.
The personality interview also entails asking the subject questions
in his/her personal life, philosophy, and characteristics, his likes
and dislikes etc.
The interview also seeks to find out not what they do but why they
do it. What drives and motivates them and what in their past has
made them the people they are today. Infact what made them tick
i.e. What makes them behave in the way t icy do. The interview is
intimate and penetrating. Interviewers need to know something
about their guest background so they can direct their questions
towards bringing out the information of the greatest interest to the
audience. It is important to consider what the celebrity would like
to be asked.
Questions that relate to common factors of human experiences add
flavour to the interview e.g. You are at the top of your profession,
a position thousands of people would love to achieve. Can you
describe the joys and sorrows that go with that popularity?
The personality interview runs the risk of sounding like an
examination questionnaire or a census report. Avoid that pitfall by
exploring the human interest angle.
6. Emotional - This interview is an attempt to lay bare someones
inner feeling to enable an audience to share in a personal tragedy
or moving event. The emotional interview deals with a subject
inner self.
7. Authority Interview: This interview is designed to bring out
the special information possessed by an expert or a prominent
person in government, business, religion or some other institutions
that affect society. The focus is not on the person but on the
information the expert can convey. The first issue to be considered
is the interviewees introduction. Unless the guest is well known,
the interviewer needs to establish the interviewees position as an
expert. The introduction should, not be long but should centre on
those points that will make the guest most intriguing to the
audience. The second part of the introduction should stimulate the
interest of the audience
8. Interpretative: There are two sides to this interview. The first is
the reaction story - a response either for or against what has |
happened; the second is an explanation of events. Reaction^ is
frequently stronger and more effective when it comes from
someone who is personally involved.
Analysis, explanation and interpretation come from an expert eye
far enough away from the story to remain objective.
9.Vox pop - vox pop is an abbreviation of the Latin word Vox
Populi or Voice of the people. The vox pop is used in broadcasting
to provide a cross section of public opinion on a given subject. In
the US it is called the person in the street interview. The technique
is to get a broad mix of opinion and different voices. Alternate
between male and female, young and old. Begin and end with
strong comments and make good use of humorous remarks.
A single question should be asked which is introduced in the cue
and the reporter puts the question to people in turn with the
recorder kept on pause during the interview.
The key to a good vox pop lies in the choice of location - shopping
precincts, market places, the way we choose our interviewees the
way we physically approach them, the way we ask our questions.
BODY LANGUAGE USE YOUR BODY LANGUAGE TO
ANNOUNCE YOUR INTENTION. Try to make sure, they see
you coming with your MIC. Smile; be relaxed, friendly and polite.
Speak slowly and clearly. Let them know who you are, where you
work, why you are speaking to them. You want their opinion about
XYZ not their name, age, address, telephone number.
The subject or the topic must be interesting. The question must be
easy to understand and provocative to respond to.
10.Grabbed: - This concern interview that people dont want to
give but which reporters are determined to take.
11. Entertainment: This looks at the lighter side of life, the things
that make us smile.
SETTING UP THE INTERVIEW/APPROACH
1. Preparation
(a) Background - Familiarize yourself with the story. Make sure
you know as much as you can about the topic of your interview.
(b) Questions - Get a clear idea of what you want to ask while
deciding on questions for your interview. Decide what you want
the interview to focus on and what can realistically be covered in
the time / space available, Have an outline of what exactly you
want of the interview in your head or paper. You may put your
main questions on paper but never stick to your note. It is
important to anchor your lead paragraph - In essence always
consider your news story while planning your interview questions.
(c) Get your facts right. It is very embarrassing to a reporter to ask
ignorant and ill informed questions
(d) Check Arrangement. Check arrangement before leaving and
allow plenty of time to get there. If you are working for Radio
check your portable recorder before you leave. Check it out before
you take it out.
(e) Dressing - Stations have different approaches to dress. First
impressions matter. What your clothes and manner say about you
in the first two seconds may affect the whole interview. Dress to
suit the occasion.
Approach / Dealing with Interviewee.
A pleasant greeting, a firm handshake and a good deal of eye
contact is a good way to begin., Introduce yourself who you are
and which station you represent.
Almost as important as the interview is the pre-chat when a
reporter and subject establish rapport. Your manner must be calm
and relaxed, polite yet assertive but never aggressive.
Body language is also important. If your interviewee is sitting legs
crossed and arms folded then you know he or she is on the
defensive and needs to be relaxed. Humour can effectively bring
down the barriers, a joke or quip can often relax an interviewee.
Discuss the topic of your interview with your interviewee. This is
to enable the interviewee answer the questions in a way that is best
for you.
It will usually not be proper to submit details of actual questions
nor to give an undertaking about the precise form of questions.
In the event an interviewee refused to grant an interview unless
questions are rigidly agreed in advance, reporters must consider
carefully whether it is appropriate to proceed at all If they decide to
do so, they should make it clear on air, the conditions under which
the interview was obtained. If they say they will only answer from
a set list of questions, politely but firmly tell them you dont
work that way you prefer to be free to respond to the answers. If
they request not to be asked a certain question, then try to steer
around that without making any promise.
Some interviewees request to see what you have written before it
goes in the paper or air. It is Spoor professional practice to agree.
Try to decline as politely as possible. If you are forced to agree
because you are determined to get your story, make it understood
that the only changes you are prepared to make are those
concerning matters of fact - names, ages, address, days etc. Your
words, descriptions, observations and conclusions are yours and
yours alone.
TONE AND TACTICS OF THE INTERVIEW
Reporters must lay aside their own interest, points of views
prejudices. Interview should be searching and to the point.
Interviewer should be well mannered and courteous, not
aggressive, hectoring or rude what ever provocation. Listen
carefully to what your interviewer has to say and respond to it.
You should keep always your independence. Be tough minded,
authoritative and challenging take control of the interview. Never
let the interviewee take control and ask the questions.
The first minute or two of interviewing time generally focus on
making a respondent feel at ease. A little light banter and a clear
explanation of why you ajrej seeding the interview will help hare
Open the interview with a few relatively innocuous, general
unembarrassing questions. Then ask your most important question.
If you have a pertinent embarrassing questions, place them as late
as possible in the interview. Then you will get most of your
information.
Be alert for signs of nervousness like frowns or hand wringing. If
your sense something is wrong, steer clear the conversation to
more routine matters for a time to build report.
Dress and act something like the person you are interviewing but
don t strain to do so. your tone of voice should be conversational
yet business like. Avoid question that attempt to disorientate an
interviewee e.g. are you in this mass because you are dishonest or
just foolish? This is discourteous and foolish. This will often make
the audience hostile to the interviewer and sympathetic to the
interviewee.
Interviewees should be given a fair chance to set out their full
response to the question. However interviewers have to contend
with interviewees who are skilled at filibustering i.e. using
interview as a platform and avoijd the proper issue.! Intenjuption
ma}' be justified but it needs to be well timed and not too frequent.
Evasion should be exposed. This should be done by repeating the
question and explaining to the interviewee and to the audience why
the previous answer did not address the issue.
THE QUESTIONS
It is generally said that good question produce good answers. The
secret is to think a head to the answer you are likely to get before
asking your questions. Attitude, approach and performance skills
are essentially the raw materials from which questions and answers
arise. It must be emphasized that the ability to listen and to read the
face of a guest allows the host to register emotional response. And
as an interview progresses look for ways to link one piece of
information given now with another mentioned earlier.
First strike a balance between open ended and structural questions.
Questions should be open enough so a person can give his or her
own opinion. They should be structured enough to guard against
gaps in your information. Structured questions permit one to state
explicitly where he or she stands. Most interviews require a
combination of an open - ended and structured questions. It is
infact common to lead with open ended items letting the
respondent to reveal deeper in sight and explore the issue. Be alert
to points that require further explorations as they come. Politely
ask probing questions to get the interview on to the specific topic
that you want to cover while, leaving room for meandering.
Using Notes: It is generally agreed that preparing questions is
constructive in planning the interview but sticking closely to a list
of written questions can be unhelpful. The problems are:
1. Eye contact is lost
When the interview is concentrating on the questions, he or she is
unable to listen to the interview. Fixed questions make for an
inflexible interview. You can write out the first question only if
you have to get the interview off to a good start. You can also
make brief notes or headings of important points only to jog the
memory. I j
2. Ask the questions that will get answers
The who, what, when, where, and why and How framework for
writing copy applies equally to the news interviews.
The questions: Who also calls for a name in response What asks
for a description When pins down the timing of event Where
locates it
Why asks for an interpretation or an explanation
3. Design questions requiring comment and interpretation the
authority rather than mere yes or No. Yes or No question is
required to establish a fact that will give way for a new line of
questioning.
4. Avoid questions that call for Monologues
The opposite of the Yes/ No question is the question that is so wide
that its scope is almost unlimited. In effect do not ask question that
are so broad that answering them requires long
unbroken speeches from the authority. The most natural sounding
interview features frequent exchange between the guest and. host.
5- Short, Single idea Questions: If the question is to be
understood by both audience and the interviewee it has to be kept,
simple and straight.
6. Construct questions that permit natural Transition from one
question to another. Each question should arise naturally from the
previous answer. An interview composed of unrelated and
unconnected questions sounds mechanical and artificial. If the
interview needs to refer back to a point, it should be done so neatly
and followed through another question that progresses the
arguments.
7. Avoid Double Questions - Ask one question at a time. Avoid
the so called double barreled question e.g. Are you happy to be
relieved of your duty as Mcee or were you looking forward to
meeting the new years crop of celebrities. A wily subject would
be able to choose which to answer and which to ignore.
8. Avoid Leading Question: A heading question is one designed
to lead the interviewees into a corner and trap them there. Such
question can make a reporter to be accused of allegations of
malice, bias and unfair play.
For example lake the example of an interview with an elderly
farmer who was seriously burnt trying to save his photo album
from the blazing house. ;
Interviewer - Why did you attempt such a fool hardy and
dangerous stunt over a worthless photo album. Surely thats taking
sentimentality too far?
This question like most leading questions was based on
assumptions.
Saving the album was stupid It was dangerous The album was
worthless The farmer was sentimental
And that a sentimental reason was not a valid one But assumption
prove to be false
Farmer: My wife died three years ago. I kept all my most precious
things together. The deed to my house and all my land were inside
that album with the only pictures 1 had of my wife. It was kept in
the living room which was away from the flames. I thought 1 had
time to pull it out but in any hurry. I fell over and blacked out now
I have lost everything.
The scorn of the audience would quickly shift from the farmer to
the callous interviewer. The interviewer was discourteous. This has
made the audience hostile to the interviewer as sympathetic to the
interviewee. Leading questions tend to
disorientate or disorganize |the interviewee, e.g. mass because you
are dishonest and foolish?. If somebody is wrong or stupid or to
blame, draw out the evidence through polite and sensitive
interviewing and leave the audience to judge. Expose the fallacy of
argument not by putting words into a persons mouth but by letting
the evidence and his own words condemn him.
9. Mixing Statements with Questions
Sometimes it is necessary to give some background information
before coming to the question. The question and information
should be kept separate for the sake of clarity anid the question at
the end should be brief.
10. Beware of Questions that would he out of date If the
interview is being prerecorded remember to say nothing that would
render them out of date. If the programme is to go next Thursday
avoid saying well Mrs. Adeniji, what is your reaction todays
events. The safest method is to drop any time reference from a
story or an interview. Broadcast news is about immediacy.
11. Avoid Sounding Ignorant - Always check your facts before
you launch into an interview. Check up details.
Winding up the Interview The words and finally are best
avoided during an interview, as a point, could arise which may beg
a further question or classification.
A phrase such as briefly may also serve as a wind up signal.
Interview should end up in a way that gives the whole performance
a hold and emphatic lull slop. Recorded interview should not end
with Thank you very much Mr. Segun. If during a live interview, a
guest insists on going over his/her time, dont be with a polite
'Well I am afraid to must stop here or that is all were gut time for
Miss Okeke, thanks you very much.
DISCUSSION PROGRAMME
A discussion programme is one which brings together face-face,
speakers representing genuine differences of opinion on an issue,
and are able to argue their points rationally and with conviction. It
is a structured talk between knowledgeable speakers with avariey
of views. The topic should be a matter if genuire public interest or
concern. The spekers should hold strong views based on
knowledge of the subject. They should also be differing views to
make the programme interesting, exhilarating or challenging.
Format
The ideal number of participants depend on the complexity of the
subject, the variety of views and the programme length. Two
guests plus a chairman is the minimum. For longer discussion the
guest list may increase to three, possibly four but rarely more. If
there are too many, there wont be time for speakers to develop
their argumens, nor for the chairman to probe and the result will be
shallow.
The guests should be well be briefed about the programme ahead.
The briefing should include:
1. A reminder of the areas of the subject to be discussed.
2. A reminder of the length of the programme
3. Notice of how the chairman will introduce the discussion; what
the first question will be; and which guest he would like to answer
first.
4. Advice that guests should keep their first contribution brief, so
that each speaker is established in the listeners mind as quickly as
possible.
5. Encouragement that, thereafter, speakers should feel free to
jump in wherever they wish, without always having to be cued by
the chairman. To avoid every one talking at once, the speaker
being interrupted may like to give way: he can always have his
comeback or; if a guest wants to come in but does not wish to cut
across another speaker, he can indicate with his hand that he has
something to say at that point. The one holding the floor can then
draw his attention to a close; if not the chairman can bring the
second speaker in a suitable purse, cueing him either by word or
with a nod of the head.
6. Notes are acceptable to prompt the memory or key points but
written statement and discursive debate do not hand together.
7. Guests should refer to each other, if at all by full names. To say
MR is too formal using first names alone is too informal.
The Programme
The programme begins with the chairmans introduction, making
the subject for discussion interesting and as relevant as possible.
He introduces all the guests, then puts his opening question to one
of them. He names each guest the first time. There after, he names
them only occasionally.
The chairmans job:
1. He ensures a balance between speakers at a roughly equal
chance for them to express their views, by moving the
discussion between them. At times, he may have to curb the more
voluble and draw out| the more reticent.
2. He avoids more than one guest speaking at once, although a
certain amount of interrupting is all to the good. It shows strength
of feeling.
3. He steers the discussion from one aspect of the subject to the
next, according to his planned outline, but needs to stay flexible
enough to digress from the plan to accommodate what is said.
4. He must spot when someone strays far from the point, to bring
them back firmly but courteously.
5. He makes sure that specialist language and complex ideas do not
pass by unexplained so that the listener is hot lost.
6. He keeps an eye on the clock, to prevent too much time being
spent on any one aspect of the discussion.
7. He watches for guests moving too near or too far from, the
micro phone, turning the heads away; making too much noise with
their notes; kicking the table legs or drumming their fingers. He
controls these with a gesture or just a meaningful look in the eye.
8. He brings the discussion to an end smoothly and succinctly. He
may attempt to sum up, but, though this can be a useful way of
pulling all th|e threads together, it! can sound banal ana repetitious.
More satisfactory is to choose in advance a question which needs
only a brief reply from each guest;
something all embracing or throwing the focus towards the future.
What he must never do as give the impression that the programme
simply ran out of time. Phrases such as Well I am afraid well have
to stop it there - are gauche in the extreme and indicate the
programme content was poorly planned to fill the ado wed time.
He achieves all this with authority, with firmness tempered by
courtesy, impartiality without ever allowing his own opinion to
intrude.
CREATIVE WRITING
Purpose of Writing
Writing is an intricate process of reflecting explaining,
substantiating and evaluating.
Writing fulfils a number of functions
1. To Inform- This entails passing general and strategic
information through news, views, sports, special events, interviews
on various facet of life e.g. in News bulleting.
2. To educate - To enlighten the audience on trends, development,
public or corporate policies and programmes. To promote
knowledge and public empowerment.
3. To support a point: to express writers position on an issue of
public interest. To prove that the writers opinion or conclusion on
a subject is valid and correct by substantiating with facts and
figures e.g. News documentary.
4. To judge- To asses or evaluate something as good or bad
according to clearly defined standards or criteria.
5. To persuade- To prevail on the audience to do something or
think about something in the writers way. To press the audience
towards accepting the workers view point(s) e.g. editorial, news
commentary and propaganda.
6. To entertain- To provide relief through music, drama, eulogy,
poem etc.
7. To promote business- Adverts commercially news/reports. The
script strives or attempts to persuade convince and win ever the
audience or consumers.
TALENTS/SKILLS OF A WRITER/ CAPACITIES FOR
WRITING
Experience - All experience, both your own and other peoples,
whether happy, sad, frustrating or tragic should be seen and
examined as potential material for you to use. Writers cannot
afford to let experience merely wash over them. It must mark them
with indelible imprints. This is very important for student who plan
to be novelists or short story writers
Observation - To .provide all of the substance required for
writing, nothing should escape the writers keen observation and
scrutiny. Writer s need native curiosity that will lead them to gain a
sense of what Tain the French historian called the moral
temperature of their times. A writer should become an inquiring
person. Ask yourself questions about why things are being done,
the background to events, the circumstance that surround them and
the reaction of both those involved and those merely observing. A
writer should train him / herself to have a mental note of what the
untrained observer would miss. Put in another way, a writer should
have the ability to
see people, events, situations, circumstances and places from a
unique point of View i.e. perspective from which anyone else
hardly see. Indeed observation plus questions stimulate a writers
imagination into creativity. The keener your observation of the
world, the mo this will help your imagination.
Language Facility - The tool of writers are words and they must
have a special way with them. Clarity and decision in word choice
for example, are essential for the news writer, who must describe
events accurately. This skill can be soaped with instruction but an
innate feeling for language is necessary.
The Ability to Croate - Most forms of writing require) writers to
create something that never existed before. If writers are to bring
new ideas into being, they must be gifted with native
inventiveness. The commercial writer needs it to id a new way of
presenting an old appeal. The documentary writer needs it to
device a frame work for presenting factual material in an
interesting way. Writers therefore need the gift of creative
imagination
The Capacity To Re-Experience
Writers must have; good memories. They should be endowed with
a gilt of almost total recall or recollection of events/ knowledge
and experience. In the words they should have the
ability to bring bank those facts coloured with the emotions and
sensations they originally aroused.
In broadcasting writers should have the ability of moving people
emotionally through drama, the wit to contrive comedy situations,
the ingenuity to influence behaviour and opinions with
commercials, documentaries and editorials.
Writer should be endowed with gift of writing clear expositions in
news cast and in scripts designed to inform. Personal qualities of
writers include: Perseverance, determination, Commitment,
organization, patience, resilience and confidence.
2. The Writing Process
If you are to have scripts to submit you must first write them. The
initial step is the moment of inspiration followed by a period of
reflection and research. Next comes the specific planning of the
script. The writing follows and after that comes a period a
rewriting when you polish your work.
Task Before Working
Warming Up by writing regularly Reading and Research
Listening - Cultivate the habit of paying critical attention to what
people say.
Record Keeping - Open a register of thought provoking and
enlightening quotation, proverbs, idioms and words of wisdom,
which you can adopt to spice your writing.