FOURAH BAY COLLEGE
(F.B.C)
UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE
FACULTY OF COMMUNICATION MEDIA, AND INFORMATION STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM, AND MEDIA STUDIES
INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
DMAC 114
Lecture
Notes
By Joseph Joe. Sesay
WHAT IS JOURNALISM
Definition by Robert Niles
According to Robert Niles, Journalism is a form of writing that tells people about what really
happened, but they might not have known about already. people who write journalism are called
" journalists." They might work at newspapers, magazines, websites or for Tv or Radio.
One of the most important characteristics shared by a good journalists is curiosity. Good
journalists love to read and always want to find out as much as they can about the world around
him.
Types of Journalism
There are basically four types of journalism and they are as follows:
1. Print media Journalism: Print media journalism is a type of journalism that presents
various information through newspapers, magazines and books. Print media journalism
keen or requires the attention of the audience sense of seen, and imaging, it appeals to the
readers sense of seen and imaging. Print journalists usually tries to create a mental picture
to the readers, so that they can be able to visualize the event while reading. The ability of
a journalist to write effective enough to get somebody to actually see what happened,
even when they where not their is refers to as a better Print Journalism.
print journalism are more detailed than those of Tv and Radio journalism. Tv and Radio
is said to give the readers the "first test" while the print media give readers the "most",
The print is able to do that because it has a longer production deadline which permits the
journalists to go beyond what the Radio, Tv, have done or for better treatment of stories
so that people can actually see what the Radio and Tv journalist can't report on.
Professionals of print media journalism are news editors, chief - editors, political
commentators. cartoonists, columnists, feature writers, content writers for magazine etc.
Like the the other types of journalists, print professionals must also be efficient in digital
data recording, operations or the net, audio systems and computers. This is Because
almost all newspapers now have online presence, print journalism alos comprises internet
or cyber journalism. Journalists with the print must also be persons who are skilled to
create messages to be displayed on the web sites that are to be read, view or listened to by
a very large audience.
2. Radio Journalism: Radio journalism works for broadcasting news and various
information through an important medium of mass communication among workers and
householders. this type of journalism requires the attention of the audience sense of
hearing. Radio journalists always explain when reporting, for their audience to
understand what they are reporting on, and they also get people to talk or use sound bites
for accuracy in their reporting. for eg a riot. A good radio journalism begins with the
ability of the journalist to craft the language or ability of crafting the language, not just
using it. That is telling stories in ways that will grab attention, impact information and
leave listener with the impression of loving been at the event themselves. Radio journalist
are well versed with the operations of sound recording equipment, microphones and
public address systems. They must also be efficient in digital data recording, operations
of the net, audio systems and computers. professionals of this stream are reporter, station
manager, news editor etc
3. Tv Journalism: is an audiovisual communication tool or an audio visual medium that
requires the attention of two senses of the targeted individual, that is audio and visual. Tv
journalism blends pictures with sound to produce a communication experience exhibited
on the screen, it uses sound to explain the visuals presented on the screen, it addresses the
emotion and intellect in a remarkable way or pattern to express thought and feelings in
an excisting and appealing manner. Tv journalists usually get their audience to see the
people talking on the story or event they are reporting on for accuracy. they don't do all
the talking, so that they don't appear to be piece to camera, which is something that is
usually done live, unless they want to narrate something. for instance if a protests is
going on and a journalist get to cover that event, you will see the journalist explaining
what is happening and at the background you will see the people protesting or the
protesters. Tv Journalist does not only give pleasing music, voice, or other audio signals
to the targeted audience but also has to mesmerize them with the help of his personality,
mannerism, video footage and appropriate colour combination. professional of this
stream are Reporter, news editor, correspondent etc
4. Cyber or Internet Journalism: Internet is a source of all kinds of information. cyber
journalism combines all the three types of journalism method, what can be put out for
Radio, Tv, and Print journalism can be combined by an internet journalists to put it in a
multimedia form. An internet journalist is a person who creates messages to be displayed
on the web sites that are to be read, viewed or listened to by a very large audience. When
people go to the web sites to access news, They can see something that is suposed to be
on a Newspaper, Television, and Radio. they get to see a long text, graphics of the
news story that that they are reporting on, which is something is suposed to be seen on a
news paper. They can also see a short video and audio. cyber journalists do not write as
if they are writing for a local Radio, except other wise, because they write for people both
in and outside of the country to know what is happening in relation to what they writing
on or reporting on .
Professionals of this new stream are
web masters; multimedia specialists, HTML ( Hypertext Makeup Language) and
XHTYML (Extension Hypertext Markup Language) programmers, Java specialists and
other professionals who creates and modify advertisements for the NET. They also create
web sites which are communication tools.
FORMS OF JOURNALISM
There are different forms journalism or we can say that journalism comes in different
forms and they are as follows:
News Form
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Breaking news:
Feature stories
Enterprise or Investigative stories
Opinion Forms: Opinion is refers to writers point of view. opinion writing allows writers to take
stand on issues that are important to them and make recommendations. Their are usually three
types of opinion. Editorials, Columns, and Reviews.
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Editorials: This are the official opinion of the newspaper, so they represent the point of
view of several people, rather than one. Editorials are unsigned articles that express a
publication's opinion or point of view. In professional publications editorials maybe
chosen by the publisher, editorial board or leaders of the news paper. Writers are
sometimes assigned to write editorials that they don't personally agree with. editorials are
unsigned because they reflect more than one person's opinion but rather the newspapers
official opinion.
Columns: A column gives the writer the view point of just the person writing. The
columnists got to choose the topic and how to write about it. Column is signed articles
that express the writer's reporting and his conclusions. It is signed because it express only
the writer's point of view.
Reviews: Review focus on things readers may want to try, such as movies reviews,
video games, resturants activities, and new products, while a review wants to make a
point, a good review gives enough information for readers to make some of their own
judgments.
Online journalism or cyber journalism can alos come in the above and below form
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Blogs
Discussion boards
wikis
Responsibilities of a journalist
Below are some of the roles and responsibilities performed by journalists.
1. make people aware of their contemporary world.
2. Inform and educate the people
3. Promote art and culture
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Entertain the mass
Instill good moral values
Make people aware of their rights
Make people sensitive to burning issues
Help people in decision making
Help people in comparative study of past and present and predicting future
Ethic of journalism
Truthfulness/ accuracy
Journalists cannot always gurantee "truth" but getting the facts right is the cardinal principle of
journalism. As a jouranalist we should always strive for accuracy, give all the relevant facts we
have and ensure that they have been checked. when we cannot corroborate information we
should say so.
Impartiality/ fairness
Most stories have at least two sides but however there is no obligation for journalist to present
both side in every piece, story should be balanced and add context. Journalistic objectivity
requries that a journalist must not be on either side of an argument. The journalist must report
only the facts and not a personal attitude toward the facts, Essentically reporters should not only
approach issues in an unbaised manner, but also with a disapassionate and emotionless attitude.
objectivity is not always possible, and may not always be desiable ( in the face for example of
brutality or humanity ) but important reporting builds trust and cofidences
public accountability
A sure sign of professionalism and responsible journalism is the ability to hold ourselves
accountable. when we commit errors we must correct them and our expressions of regret must be
sincere not cynical. we listen to the concerns of our audience. we may not change what readers
write or say but we will always provide remedies when we are unfair. A press council, on the
assure responsibility, Global forces make it important for the mass media to explore the virtures
inheret in media accountability systems such as press councils.
News writing and Reporting
News story structure
News story structure is different from other formats of writing like drama, essay, poetry, novel,
etc, which usually begins with the minor details to the major one. In news writing, the major
details comes first before the minor details, The story structure begins from the most important
elements contained in the Lead until the least important which is found in the last paragraphs, in
the last paragraph's there may be element of background information as well. This style of news
story writing is called the Inverted pyramid.
The Inverted Pyramid
The inverted pyramid format is a news story writing format that is mostly used by Journalists. It
is known as the traditional form of news writing. Here. the most important fact is presented first
and then gradually, other facts in decreasing levels of importance follows to the end. This
method originated during the American civil war days when correspondents feared that all
information may not be transmitted to the receiving situations before the unexpected strikes, The
Inverted Pyramid is valuable till up to date or till today as it was then because it facilitates
reading, satisfies curiosity, facilitates make up, facilitates headline writing.
Keys to writing and Reporting good journalism
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Get the facts. All the facts you can .
Tell your readers where you got every bit of your information you put in your story.
Be honest about what you do not know.
Don't try to write fancy. keep it clear.
ways to access information before writing a story
Basically their are three ways to access information before setting out to write a news
story, they are: Reading documents, doing some observation and conducting interview or
you can also start by observing, read documents on what you are reporting on, and then
conduct interview.
Writing your story
In writing your story, you should start with the most important thing that happened in your
story.This is called your "lead"
The " lead'
The Lead is simply refers to as the first paragraph or sentence of a news item and it summarizes
a story in such a way that after reading it, will help the readers knowns at a glance what the story
is all about. A lead which is sometimes spelt as led in the british way, and lead in the American
way. The lead is usually written in the active voice , and it can be written in a form of quoation,
number, data, and statistics.The lead ,should be clear enough as to suggest what the head should
be. The lead should try to answer to the five " 5Ws" and one " 1H" questions
The "5Ws and "1H" questions
The first person associated with the "5Ws" and "1H" is Rudyard kidling. He says " I keep six
honest serving men, they taught me all I know and their names are " what, why, where, when,
who, how, the question the question these "men" raise is what happened, who was involved and
how, where it happened" it may be that not all of these questions can or should be answered in
connection with a story but it will be unfortunate and unprofessional for a reporter not to make
attempt to find answer to these questions.
Example of a Lead:
Five student were short dead, yesterday in a clash between two club rival groups at Fourah Bay
College main Campus, report " The Daily newspaper".
Analysis
who: Five students
what: where short dead
when: yesterday
why: clash between club groups
The " How ' is to be explained in the body of the story
, but you should not attempt to answer all the "5Ws" and "1H" question in the lead because it
makes your lead to be very long and sometimes sounds boring. The intro or lead should attempt
to answer only three out of the "5Ws" and "1H" question. And their is sometimes the question of
"And so what?"
The question of "And so what"
The question of "and so what?" is a question that usually comes most times at the end the story,
is like a background. sometimes when we tell a story we may think that it is new to people, and
then some body reading the story says how is this news anyways?. After you would have written
our story and thinks that it is news, someone would look at it and says what is this, how is this
anyways? . i mean this things happens everyday.As far as you are concerned as a Journalist, it is
the newness of the story that matters to us. Now for example, if a journalist is sent to cover a set
piece and on his or her way he or she suddenly witness an Okaka man or motor bike rider, range
roading someone, he collects the person's phone, bag and ran away. So is this news to people?.
Yes it is news because the okada guy actually still's the person in a broad day light at Fourah
Bay College Airport or bus stop, in full gear of students and passer - byes and nobody was able
to do anything. the journalist now deciides to collect all the fact and source about the story and
bring it in newsroom for it edited and publish. The editor would get to read it and the say's " how
is this news anyways? these things happens every day, I am just coming from model where I
also saw an okada guy range road two ladies and ran away". But however the question of "and so
what" comes in when your story emphasis the fact that this okada guy actually collected the
phone and the bag, and did'nt run away immediately but he stayed around for a time before ever
he ran's away. The the news editor will now see why the story should be on the news, because it
takes alot for a thief to collect somebody's phone,bag at Fourah Bay College Airport or Bus stop
in a full gear of people in a broad day light and stay their for a while.
Elements of News Writing
News Elements are also called News value, Determinants, or News Characteristics. For the fact
that there is no concrete agreement as to what news is, or Journalists cannot easily defined news,
does not mean that there is no criteria of determing why an event should be or should not be
considered as newsworthy. In any case majority of the media practioners have agree on the
things or criterial that makes an event to be considered as newsworthy.stories that are likely to be
printed or broadcast are likely to posses the following qualities or elements:
1. Timeliness: Timeliness as an element of news talks about currency, it answers the
questions the question when, when did it happened. Journalists always stress on current
information or stories that occured today or yesterday, not several days or weeks ago.
Their is a well known axiom within the world of journalism which say's that "Nothing is
as dea as yesterday's news", moreover Journalists usually or always compete to report on
stories ahead of their competitors. If a Journalists repeat the previous day's event in the
morning broadcast or report on stories that might have occured one or two days ealier.
The Journalists will however look for a new angle or development to emphasis in their
leads.
The element of timeliness suggest some form of
currency or immediacy in reporting an events. It emphasizes speed in the output of the
media institution so that in response to the appropriate time frame, because people need
information urgently to make their political or business decisions, so therefore , it must be
made accesaible to the as fast as possible. In order that the "freshness" of an account is
not lost totally, some - observers are of the view that the Journalist should avoid the use
of " yesterday" in their reports, unless it is very nessary to do so, for example a report on
bomb blast in Bo this morning appears fresher and current than a report of the same bomb
blast in Bo last month.
2. Proximity: Proximity refers to the nearness of news sources. "where did it happened"
sometimes news maybe of value in one place and not of news value in another place
based on where it occured or depending on where it happend. Proximity as a news
determinant always has to do with the nearness or farness of news in terms of
geographical location, what ever that happens near a person will always has more weight
than something that happen far away from them, this is why Journalists consider local
news more newsworthy than stories that occur in distance places, Proximity is always
important since people are more interested or generally interested in news about their
environment, their districts, their country, negihbourhood, local council, etc than things
or events that happened far away from them. for instance, when the first covid 19 case
was recorded in China, Sierra Leoneans discussed about it, but it was not for long, and
nothing changed in Sierra Leone, why? Because it was so far far from us , even though it
was news, But when we first time recorded some cases in sierra Leone, Sierrra Leoneans
became frighten and when several cases emerged in Sierra Leone, their was now a lock
down, now it was acting on us, it is now newsworthy. so whatever happens near you has
more weight and we considered that as news compared to something that happens far
away from us.
3. Prominence: Usually people are interested in major events and prominent people than in
trival occurences and ordinary people. Prominence is a news element answers the
question who? who is involved?. and it is refers to the degree off importance of the
personality involved in the news. prominent people always make news,
Their is a common saying that says " All men are equal but some are more equal than
others" this may also pass for prominence as a news determinant. But here one can re phrase the statement to read: All men are " news worthy" but some are " more news
worthy" their others. The difference in the status of news worthyness can eithier be
attributed to the position, rank, and class people occupy an instance here is when the
president of a country shakes hands with children on the street, an event of this sort is
very likely to attract a news paper's front page banner, compared to the many hand shake
of a man or a woman who is not prominent enough to be recogized. another eg if an
ordinary person's car breaks down and he has to wait for ten minutes on the roadside till
the vechicle is reparied. its makes no news. But if a minister's or the first lady 's car
breaks down and his motocade has to stop for five minutes, it makes news.
In any case, what is true of persons is also true of a place, organisations, institution etc, a
gun short at pademba road prison makes news
4. Consequence: Consequence is an important element of news. Consequence as a
determinant of news event means that the interest of the public is upper - most in
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weighing the implications or effect of an event reported. The numerical strength of those
affected by an event also fits into this report. for instance if an accident involves 80
people in number, the report is likely to be considered for publication than an accident
that involves a person or two. other stories that are often selected using this criterion
include those of fuel price change epidemic, national strike, pestilence etc. The more
peolpe affected by a news event the greater consequence it has for readership. for eg
Many Sierra Leonean suffer from malaria, but it does not make news, if a Sierra Leonean
contacts, Ebola or Covid 19, it will be a screaming headline on the front page of the
dallies because of the consequence on the generality of the people.
Oddities: Which is also called novety or Bizarreeness as a news element talks about
unsual happens. The deviations from the normal - unexpected or unsual events, conflicts
or controversies, drama ir change are more newsworthy than commonplace or happens. if
a 6 year old boy is doing a Phd at Fourah Bay College is newsworthy because it is new
or unsual for a six year old boy to be doing Phd. Journalists must always be alert for the
the unsual twists in otherwise
Human Interest
Action and Conflict
Trends and Tendencies
Health and Sex
News Reporting
The reporter must report the news accurately and fairly without prejudice and personal
opinion, To sum up, the essentials of good reporting and Accuracy, attribution, fairness,
and objectivity. A reporter is a person who report the news accurately using Attribution,
Objectivity and explain Fairly.
1. Accuracy: This is the state of the reporter being precise , or exact in terms of name calling and / or data presentation in the news, words correctly spelt, the correct middle
initial in names, A reporter should report stories that is based on facts. the reporter
should strive to make the person story as precise. In Accuracy, the virtue of truthfulness
and exactness does not only put a sportlight on the journalists or reporters understanding
of his or her profession, but also puts to test the confidence and intergrity of the reporter
2. Attribution: Attribution is important in all news media to let readers and listeners know
where the information came from. that is to say, Attribution in news writing involves the
disclosure of the identity of the information source, Attribution functions to give
credibility to the news report. It removes doubts from the readers mind about the
authenticity of the report. reports are attributed to legitimate and credible sources often
make such reports reliable. A newspaper or a reporter may avoid mentioning the source
of its information, if such disclosure may endanger the source and if the report is sourced
from documented materials reports are expected to be disclose them too. Attribution
should be made clear and should be placed before the person said eg , failure to do so
make a reporter's story suspect.
3. Fairness: the recognition of the importance of fair and balanced reporting, in which
opinions that differ from those of the writer, or the newspaper or government officials is
one of the important principles of good reporting. Fairness and balance mean doing your
best to reflect the range of the views in a story and giving people under attack to chance
to respond. Reporters will cover news stories where a wide range of issues will be
discussed. They will cover stories where people will have to make accusations against
one another and against groups, agencies , and governments. in telling those kinds of
stories requires the reporter to be fair, balanced and accurate. the reporter is like a referee
in those kinds of situations. they are involved , but have to be fair to all sides.
4. Objectivity: