Reporting for the media /
Fred Fedler, John r. Bender, Lucinda Davenport and Michael W. Drager
- New York : OUP, 2005.
- xvii, 679 p. ill. ;
CHAPTER T The Basics; Format, Copy Editing and AP Style i Producing Copy 2 News Story Format 2 Copy-editing Symbols 4 The Associated Press Style book 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 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 Longuage 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 I8I Criticisms 182 "Buried" or "Delayed" Leads 183 Multiparagraph Leads 184 Using Quotations 184 Using Questions 185 Suspenseful Leads 186 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 ond 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 St(M les 278 Suggested Readings 279 Useful Web Sites 279 Exercises 280 CHAPTER n 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 Spcdolized 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 PublU 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 r 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 The Journalist's Perspective: Working with Press Releases 533 The No. I Problem: Lack of Newsworthiness 534 The No. 2 Problem: Lack of Objectivity 536 Other Problems with News Releases 538 Some Final Guidelines 540 Checklist for PR Practitioners 540 Checklist for Handling News Releases 541 Guest Column—Transparency Is Paramount 541 Suggested Readings 543 Exercises 544 CHAPTER 20 Communications Law 561 Libel 561 12 Steps for Avoiding Libel Suits 572 Privacy 572 Newsgathering 578 Bar-Press Guidelines 583 Checklists 584 Suggested Readings 586 Useful Web Sites 586 Exercises 587 CHAPTER 21 Ethics 593 Media Credibility 594 Ethical Decision-Making 594 Ethics Issues 596 Codes of Ethics 610 ~ Checklist for Improving Media Credibility 610 A Memo From the Editor—Some Thoughts on Plagiarism 611 Suggested Readings 613 Useful Web Sites 614 Exercises 615 CHAPTER 22 Careers 622 A Journalist's Attributes 623 Be the Applicant Who Gets Hired 624 The Industry Needs More Women and Minorities 628 Freelance Writing 629 Checklist for Finding the Right Journalism Job 629 Suggested Readings 630 Useful Web Sites 630