Reporting for the Media

700 Pages·2005·10.47 MB·English

by  Fred Fedler

Reporting for the Media,
Eighth Edition
FRED FEDLER, et al.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
E I G H T H E D I T I O N
REPORTING FOR THE MEDIA
FRED FEDLER
JOHN R. BENDER
LUCINDA DAVENPORT
MICHAEL W. DRAGER
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
2005
REPORTING FOR THE MEDIA
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reporting for the media / Fred Fedler ... [et al.].—8th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-516999-9 (alk. paper)
1. Reporters and reporting—Problems, exercises, etc. I. Fedler, Fred.
PN4781.F4 2004
070.4(cid:1)3—dc22 2004041579
Printing number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
CONTENTS
Preface xi
CHAPTER 1 The Basics: Format, Copy Editing and AP Style 1
Producing Copy 2
News Story Format 2
Copy-editing Symbols 4
The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law 8
Accuracy of Names and Facts 9
The Writing Coach—The Lucky 13 Ways to Become a Good Writer 10
Checklist for Copy Preparation 11
Suggested Readings 11
Useful Web Sites 11
Exercises 12
CHAPTER 2 Grammar and Spelling 29
The Parts of Speech 29
Basic Sentence Structure 36
Active and Passive Voice 38
Agreement 38
Ambiguous Pronouns 40
Plurals and Possessives 40
“That” and “Which” 41
“Who” and “Whom” 42
Misplaced Modifiers 42
Dangling Modifiers 43
Personification 43
Parallel Form 44
“Because” and “Due To” 44
Spelling 44
Grammar Checklist 45
The Writing Coach—Acronyms Lift Your Writing
Suggested Readings 47
Useful Web Sites 48
Exercises 49
v
vi Contents
CHAPTER 3 Newswriting Style 59
Prewriting 59
Simplify Words, Sentences and Paragraphs 62
Remain Objective 66
Checklist for Newswriting Style 71
The Writing Coach–Find the Clear Path to Writing Glory 72
Suggested Readings 74
Exercises 76
CHAPTER 4 The Language of News 90
The Effectiveness of Words 90
Be Precise 91
Use Strong Verbs 93
Avoiding Problems in Your Writing 94
Words to Avoid 94
Other Problems to Avoid 99
Checklist for the Language of News 103
The Writing Coach—Become a Power Lifter When Picking Verbs 103
Suggested Readings 104
Exercises 105
CHAPTER 5 Selecting and Reporting the News 122
The Characteristics of News 123
Two Views of 9/11 126
Types of News 131
Public/Civic Journalism 133
Applying the Principles of News Selection 135
The Concept of Objectivity 135
Details Newspapers Are Reluctant to Publish 136
The Importance of Accuracy 138
Suggested Readings 141
Exercises 143
CHAPTER 6 Basic News Leads 146
The Summary News Lead 146
Sentence Structure in Leads 148
Guidelines for Writing Effective Leads 149
Avoiding Some Common Errors 154
Apply the Guidelines to Other Kinds of Leads 157
Checklist for Writing Leads 158
The Writing Coach—Oh Where, Oh Where Does the Time Element Go? 159
Suggested Readings 160
Exercises 161
CHAPTER 7 Alternative Leads 181
Criticisms 182
“Buried” or “Delayed” Leads 183
Multiparagraph Leads 184
Using Quotations 184
Using Questions 185
Suspenseful Leads 186
Contents vii
Descriptive Leads 186
Shockers—Leads With a Twist 187
Ironic Leads 187
Direct-Address Leads 187
Words Used in Unusual Ways 188
Other Unusual Leads 188
The Writing Coach—Too Many Words Can Muddle Writing 189
Exercises 192
CHAPTER 8 The Body of a News Story 200
The Inverted-Pyramid Style 200
The Hourglass Style 206
The Focus Style 208
The Narrative Style 211
Using Transitions 215
Explain the Unfamiliar 217
The Importance of Examples 219
The Use of Description 219
The Use of Humor 221
The Need to Be Fair 221
The Final Step: Edit Your Story 222
Checklist for Writing News Stories 222
The Writing Coach—How to Find the Endings to Stories 223
Suggested Readings 223
Exercises 224
CHAPTER 9 Quotations and Attribution 239
Quotations 239
Blending Quotations and Narrative 243
Attribution 246
Guidelines for Capitalizing and Punctuating Quotations 253
Checklists for Quotations and Attribution 255
A Memo From the Editor—Descriptive Writing: Turning a Good Story Into
a Great Story 256
Suggested Readings 258
Useful Web Sites 259
Exercises 260
CHAPTER 10 Interviews 269
Why Am I Interviewing? 269
Whom Should I Interview? 270
When Should I Conduct My Interviews? 272
Where Should I Conduct the Interview? 273
What Questions Should I Ask? 274
How Should I Conduct Interviews? 275
Writing the Interview Story 277
The Writing Coach—Figure It: Poetry Can Be in Newspaper Stories 278
Suggested Readings 279
Useful Web Sites 279
Exercises 280
viii Contents
CHAPTER 11 Writing Obituaries 292
Types of Death Reports 293
Jim Nicholson: No. 1 in Obituaries 297
Obituary Writing Considerations 301
Checklists for Reporting and Writing Obituaries 302
Suggested Readings 302
Useful Web Sites 302
Exercises 303
CHAPTER 12 Speeches and Meetings 312
Advance Stories 312
Covering the Speech or Meeting 313
Follow Stories 314
Internet Brings Pornography to Children, Researcher Says 317
Remember Your Readers 320
Adding Color 321
Checklists for Reporting Speeches and Meetings 322
The Writing Coach—Go Beyond the Stick 323
Suggested Readings 323
Useful Web Sites 323
Exercises 324
CHAPTER 13 Specialized Types of Stories 343
Brights 343
Follow-ups 345
Roundups 347
Sidebars 347
Checklists for Writing Specialized Stories 348
A Memo From the Editor—History, Traditions and Culture:
Old Glory and Noodle 349
Suggested Readings 351
Useful Web Sites 351
Exercises 352
CHAPTER 14 Feature Stories 368
Selecting a Topic and Gathering Information 368
Types of Feature Stories 370
Types of Feature Leads 380
The Body of a Feature Story 381
The Ending of a Feature Story 382
What does It Take to Be a Top-Notch Writer? 383
Suggested Readings 384
Useful Web Sites 384
Exercises 385
CHAPTER 15 Public Affairs Reporting 393
Crime and Accidents 394
Covering the Search for a Serial Killer 395
Local Government 403
Courts 410
Checklists for Public Affairs Reporting 416
Contents ix
A Note About This Chapter’s Exercises 417
The Writing Coach—The “Knows” Have It for Police and Court Reporters 417
Suggested Readings 418
Useful Web Sites 418
Exercises 419
CHAPTER 16 Understanding and Using the Internet 446
A Brief History 446
Journalists and the Internet 447
E-Mail 447
Internet Addresses, Web Sites or URLs (Universal Resource Locators) 448
Search Engines and Subject Directories 451
Mailing Lists and Newsgroups 453
Ethical Considerations 456
Suggested Readings 457
Useful Web Sites 457
Exercises 458
CHAPTER 17 Advanced Reporting 467
Using Statistics 468
Conducting Informal Polls 469
Using Computers to Get Answers 471
Converging Media 472
Checklist for Using Statistics 473
Checklist for Conducting Informal Polls 473
A Memo From the Editor—Good Writing’s Great, but It’s Not Enough 473
Suggested Readings 475
Exercises 476
CHAPTER 18 Writing for Broadcast 498
Writing for Your Listener 498
Writing for Your Announcer 501
Leads for Broadcast Stories 502
The Body of a Broadcast News Story 504
Updating Broadcast News Stories 505
Guidelines for Copy Preparation 505
Editing Copy 507
Putting Together a Newscast 508
Sources for Broadcast News 509
The Newsroom Environment 510
Checklists for Broadcast News Writing 511
Suggested Readings 511
Useful Web Sites 511
Exercises 512
CHAPTER 19 The News Media and PR Practitioners 524
What Is Public Relations? 524
Becoming a Public Relations Practitioner 526
Working with News Media 526
Elements of a News Release 527
Types of News Releases 530