Reporting

Reporting
One of the most fundamental differences between journalism and

other forms of writing is the way journalists obtain the information
they write about. Journalists obtain information through a variety of
reporting techniques, which can include interviewing sources, looking
through government documents, researching old articles, and
observing events firsthand.
Good news writing begins with good, accurate reporting. Journalists

perform a public service for citizens by presenting truthful facts in
honest, straight-forward articles.
News Values
Journalists commonly use six values to determine how newsworthy a

story or elements of a story are. Knowing the news values can help a
journalist make many decisions, including:
 What information to give first in a news article, and in the lede
 Which articles to display on a newspaper’s front page
 What questions to ask in an interview
The six news values are:
1. Timeliness- Recent events have a higher news value than less

recent ones.
2. Proximity- Stories taking place in one’s hometown or

community are more newsworthy than those taking place far
away.
3. Prominence- Famous people and those in the public eye have

a higher news value than ordinary citizens.
4. Uniqueness/oddity- A story with a bizarre twist or strange

occurrences. “Man bites dog” instead of “dog bites man.”
5. Impact- Stories that impact a large number of people may be
more newsworthy than those impacting a smaller number of
people.
6. Conflict- “If it bleeds, it leads.” Stories with strife, whether it’s

actual violence or not, are more interesting.
The newsworthiness of a story is determined by a balance of these six

values. There is no set formula to decide how newsworthy a story is,
but in general, the more of these six values a story meets, the more
newsworthy it is.
Libel
Libel is defined as the published defamation of a person’s character

based on misleading or inaccurate facts. Newspaper reporters can
often run into issues of libel because it is their job to write truthful
articles about people that might not always be flattering.
Even though we live in a country with a free press, journalists cannot

write anything they want. Reporters do not have the right to state
something about a person that could damage their reputation and that
is untruthful.
One of the easiest ways to protect oneself from libel is to make sure to
always do accurate reporting and to attribute all information in an
article. If you write something about someone that you’re unsure
about, just ask yourself if it’s true, and how you know it’s true. Rumors,
gossip, and information you received from an anonymous or unreliable
source are all dangerous to report, and they could run you the risk of a
libel case.
Lede
The lede (or lead) of a news article is the first sentence, usually
written as one paragraph, that tells the most important information of
the story. When writing a lede, it is helpful to use the “tell a friend”
strategy. Imagine you had to sum up to a friend, in one sentence, what
your story is about. How would you sum up quickly what happened? A
story’s lede answers the “Five W’s” in a specific order: Who? What?
When? Where? Why?
For example:
The Atlanta Police Department will hold a memorial service

Wednesday at Holy Christ Church in Buckhead for fallen officer Lt.
James Montgomery.
WHO: The Atlanta Police Department

WHAT: will hold a memorial service
WHEN: Wednesday
WHERE: Holy Christ Church in Buckhead
WHY: for fallen officer Lt. James Montgomery
Other Examples:
Gwinnett County Public Schools was awarded $250,000 early

Wednesday as a finalist for what’s considered the Nobel Prize of public
education.
A man beat an Army reservist in front of a Morrow Cracker Barrel,

yelling racial slurs at her as he kicked her in the head, Morrow police
said.
Examples courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Inverted Pyramid
News articles are written in a structure known as the “inverted

pyramid.” In the inverted pyramid format, the most newsworthy
information goes at the beginning of the story and the least
newsworthy information goes at the end.
After you have written your story’s lede, order the information that
follows in terms of most important to least important. There is NO
formal conclusion in a journalism article the way there is in an essay
or analysis paper.
Attributing information
ALL information in a news article MUST be attributed to the source

where the reporter got his/her information. The reporter must indicate
in his/her article where material was obtained from – from an
interview, court documents, the Census, a Web site, etc. Direct quotes
and paraphrasing can be used to attribute information obtained in an
interview with a source.
For example:
According to a police report, the suspect threatened the cashier with a

gun before running away with the money.
In a 500-page government report, investigators reported evidence that

the army had committed crimes against humanity.
Integrating quotes
The first time a source is introduced in an article, you should use that
source’s full name and title. After this initial reference, use the last
name only.
For example:
“The swine flu vaccine is an incredible advance in modern medicine,”

said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
When attributing a direct quote, always use the verb “said” and never
any other verbs such as “explained,” “whispered,” etc. It is also more
common to use the format “XXX said” instead of “said XXX.”
For example:
“The housing crisis is growing out of control,” Bernanke said.
Even when information from a source is not used in a direct quote and
is paraphrased instead, it still must be attributed to that source.
For example:
Bernanke said the recession is probably over.

The recession will most likely begin to recede in six to eight months,
Bernanke said.

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Reporting

One of the most fundamental differences between journalism and

Good news writing begins with good, accurate reporting. Journalists

Journalists commonly use six values to determine how newsworthy a

 What information to give first in a news article, and in the lede

 Which articles to display on a newspaper’s front page

 What questions to ask in an interview

The six news values are:

1. Timeliness- Recent events have a higher news value than less

2. Proximity- Stories taking place in one’s hometown or

3. Prominence- Famous people and those in the public eye have

4. Uniqueness/oddity- A story with a bizarre twist or strange

6. Conflict- “If it bleeds, it leads.” Stories with strife, whether it’s

The newsworthiness of a story is determined by a balance of these six

Libel is defined as the published defamation of a person’s character

Even though we live in a country with a free press, journalists cannot

The Atlanta Police Department will hold a memorial service

WHO: The Atlanta Police Department

Gwinnett County Public Schools was awarded $250,000 early

A man beat an Army reservist in front of a Morrow Cracker Barrel,

Examples courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

News articles are written in a structure known as the “inverted

ALL information in a news article MUST be attributed to the source

According to a police report, the suspect threatened the cashier with a

In a 500-page government report, investigators reported evidence that

“The swine flu vaccine is an incredible advance in modern medicine,”

“The housing crisis is growing out of control,” Bernanke said.

Bernanke said the recession is probably over.

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