Elements of Journalism

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Elements of Journalism

• Journalism's obligation is to the truth
• Journalism's loyalty is to the citizens
• The essence of journalism is a discipline of verification
• Practitioners must maintain independence from those they cover
• It must serve as a monitor of power
• Journalism must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise
• It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant
• News should be comprehensive and proportional
• Practitioners have an obligation to exercise their personal conscience
• Citizens have rights and responsibilities when it comes to news, especially as they become content creators and news business owners

News - Introduction

• Freedom of the press is a precious privilege
• The newsroom is the central hub of a news organization
• The main objectives of news organizations are to gather, report, and distribute news
• A typical structure of a news organization includes:
  • An editorial team that decides on the editorial line-up
  • A management team
  • A production team
  • A business team that aims to generate revenue from news
• Editorial team roles in news publication (print, online, magazine) include:
  • Editor-in-chief
  • Managing editor
  • Section editors

News - Team Roles

• Production and design teams include:
  • Reporters
  • Columnists
  • Photojournalists (print)
  • Video editors (online)
  • Art director
  • Graphic designers
  • Page layout specialists
  • Web developers for online
  • Multimedia producers, who are flexible and adjust to multiple positions
• Copy editing and proofreading teams include:
  • Copy editors
  • Proofreaders
• Research and fact-checking: This is the most important task, including researchers and fact-checkers
• Online presence and social media teams include:
  • Social media manager
  • Digital editors
• Business and operations teams include:
  • Publisher/CEO
  • Legal and compliance
  • Advertising and sales
  • Circulation
  • Finance and accounting

News Broadcasters

• Executive leadership includes:
  • CEO/President, responsible for overseeing the entire network's operations, including news
  • Chief news officer/news head, the top editorial authority who oversees the network's news content and overall direction
• Newsroom management roles include:
  • Planning and coordination team
  • Assignment editors
  • Newsroom managers
• Editorial roles include:
  • News editors
  • Specialized editors
  • Field reporters
  • Reporters
  • Anchors
• The news team consist of producers
• Production team includes:
  • Video editors
  • Sound engineers
  • News writers
  • Anchors/hosts
  • Graphics and visual effects specialists
  • Directors and technical crew
• Research and fact checkers include:
  • Researchers
  • Fact checkers
• The digital team consist of:
  • Digital editors
  • Social media managers
  • Web developers
  • Multimedia producers
• The business team consist of:
  • Marketing and sales
  • HR and administration
  • Finance and accounting
  • Legal ethics

Ethical Considerations

• Sales and marketing cannot influence news people
• The key purposes of a news organization:
  • Editorial independence
  • Avoid conflicts of interest
  • Preserving trust and credibility
  • Ethical reporting
  • Legal compliance
  • Protecting investigative reporting
  • Advertiser-reader trust

Business Models

• Types of business models:
  • Advertising based (Traditional)
  • Subscription
  • Freemium (free but pay to access premium content)
  • Pay-per-view/download
  • Affiliate marketing (cross marketing)
  • Sponsorship
  • Crowdfunding
  • Content licensing/syndication
  • Event/conference
  • Data monetization

Revenue Models

• Revenue for broadcast media comes from:
  • Retransmission consent fees: Broadcasters make retransmission consent agreements with cable/satellite providers, allowing them to charge fees for the right to carry their broadcast signals
  • Content production: Companies produce original content such as TV shows, radio programs, documentaries, and news programs, generating revenue from syndication, distribution, licensing, and advertising
• Types of models for print media include:
  • Advertising revenue
  • Subscription revenue
  • Single issue sales
  • Distribution sales
  • Print production services
  • Content licensing and syndication
  • Events and conferences
  • Merchandising sales
  • Digital revenue
  • Sponsorships and partnerships
• Print advertising includes:
  • Display advertising (newspapers/magazines on display)
  • Classified advertising
  • Inserts and supplements
  • Sponsorships and advertorials (ads written like a news item)
  • Special sections and supplements (Saturday section, weekend magazine, etc.)
  • Cover wraps and gatefolds
  • Coupon inserts
• Revenue models for digital media:
  • Advertising: Primary revenue stream; advertising sells advertising space on their websites, apps, videos, podcasts, and other digital content including:
    • Display ads (banners, etc.)
    • Video ads
    • Native ads (ads that match the content)
    • Sponsored content
    • Affiliate marketing
  • Subscription: Users pay a recurring fee to access premium content through individual subscriptions, tiered subscription plans, membership programs, and freemium options
  • Digital product sales: Digital platforms may sell products/services like e-books, digital magazines, online courses, webinars, premium content downloads, software applications, virtual events, and digital merchandise, generating revenue from one-time purchases or subscriptions
  • Freemium: Offers basic content for free and charges for premium features, content, upgrades, and additional content and can monetize through premium subscriptions or in-app purchases
  • Subscription and memberships: It provides access to exclusive content, ad-free content, members-only forums, etc.
  • Affiliate marketing: Promoting third-party products/services then earning a commission for each sale or referral generated through affiliate links (often used in blogs, review websites, socmed platforms, online marketplaces, etc.)
  • Sponsored content/native advertising: Revenue comes from collaboration with brands/advertisers to create sponsored/branded content or native advertising that promotes messages into the platform's content
  • Data monetization: User data is collected for targeted advertising and personalized content recommendations, generating revenue from data licensing, ad targeting services, data analytics, and audience segmentation
  • Event and webinar sponsorships: Revenue comes from sponsorships, exhibitor fees, ticket/merch sales, ads associated with digital events
  • Collaboration: Collaboration with content creators, publishers, other companies expands reach and unlocks new revenue opportunities through revenue sharing agreements, licensing deals, and affiliate

Crowdfunding

• Crowdfunding: Contributors donate money to support the creation of projects in exchange for rewards/exclusive content, with platforms like Kickstarter, Patreon, and GoFundMe

Challenges Faced By News Media

• Shift to digital consumption leads to:
  • Behavioral shifts (ex. younger generations are born into digital media)
• Decline in advertising revenue
• Fragmentation of audiences, because different user algorithms mean not everyone gets the same news
• Subscription fatigue
• Content monetization challenges: Creativity doesn't always guarantee good returns/money
• Data privacy and regulation
• Platform dependence
• Fake news and misinformation
• Changing business models
• Economic and market pressures

Strategies

• Strategies to counter the challenges:
  • Attracting and retaining advertisers by;
    • Audience insights and targeting
    • Multichannel advertising packages
    • Cross-promotional partnerships
    • Measurement and analytics
    • Creative ad formats and innovation
    • Customized advertising solutions
    • Content integration and sponsorship
    • Brand safety and ad quality
    • Customer services and support
    • Long-term relationships and value-added services

News Writing

• Headlines:
  • Should clearly convey the essence of the story
  • Be concise and accurate
  • Be attention-grabbing but not misleading
  • Make sure the reader immediately understands what the story is about
  • Prioritize keywords
  • Use as few words as possible
  • Use active voice (e.g., "X does Y" instead of "Y was done by X")
  • Use present tense to make news feel more immediate
• Uses numbers and statistics
  • Ex. “500 dead” instead of “many dead”
• Should consider the tone; formal news headlines will differ from casual blogs/magazines
• For online news, put keywords for SEO

Broadcast vs Print

• Broadcast vs Print
  • Broadcast - Spoken word and linear presentation
  • Print - Printed word and non-linear presentation

Newscasts

• Good newscasts have:
  • Good mix of hard and soft news
  • Visually driven stories
  • Consumer orientation with human connections

Writing Considerations

• Factors that affect editorial judgment:
  • News worthiness
  • Timeliness
  • Relevance
  • Proximity
  • Impact
  • Availability of audio/visual support
  • Program objective, format, and duration
  • Target audience
  • Company values
• Considerations for writing or editing stories:
  • Accuracy
  • Fairness
  • Balance
  • Libel check
  • Video/audio content
  • Grammar
  • Storytelling style
  • Production instructions

Storytelling

• Storytelling in news: Don't write a report, tell a story
• Print stories write inverted pyramid style, having:
  • Lead: Who, what, where, when, why, how
  • Body: More details
  • Tail: Related and extra context
• TV/broadcast stories should write in bell curve style:
  • Hook: Grabs attention
  • Conflict: Builds up interest and sustains attention
  • Climax: High point of the story
  • Denouement: Resolution of conflict

Writing Style

• Organized writing should have:
  • Coherence
  • Clarity of thought
  • A sense of story buildup
  • A note of finality
• Better writing is:
  • Conversational with simple, precise words that are concrete, not technical
  • Understood
  • Interesting
  • for the eyes, ear and the heart Don't forget the human connection
• Writing: Types of leads:
  • Hard Lead – summary lead for immediate info
  • Soft Lead - Lures viewers into complex, difficult stories, has a few words before the hard lead
  • Quote Lead – starts with a direct quote, rarely used
  • Shotgun lead – for tying several stories together
  • Delayed Lead – like a soft lead, but delays the news further
  • Negative Lead – can confuse viewers, used rarely
  • Trivia Lead - for feature stories, not hard news
  • Question Lead – engages viewers, do not overuse

Lead Style

• Leads:
  • Should hook viewers
  • First sentence of a news story
  • Focus of the story, most crucial element of any report
  • Most difficult to write
  • Within seconds, the viewer will decide to read or leave
  • Should not be overloaded; other questions should be answered later in the news

Effective Storytelling

• Effective storytelling involves:
  • Avoiding jargon
  • Explaining technical terms
  • Using figures sparingly
  • Not putting in everything you know
  • Being able to find the telling detail
  • Putting things in context
  • Never losing sight of why the story is important to the viewer or reader
• To maximize powerful video/audio:
  • Video leaves a more lasting impression, more memorable than words
  • They convey emotions; viewers remember what they feel more than what they know