Principles of Journalism

• The first obligation of journalism is to the truth.
• The first loyalty of journalism is to the citizens.
• The essence of journalism is a discipline of verification.
• Journalism practitioners must maintain independence from those they cover.
• Journalism must serve as a monitor of power.
• It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
• Strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.
• News must be presented in a way that is comprehensive and proportional.
• Journalism practitioners must exercise their personal conscience.
• Citizens have rights and responsibilities when it comes to news.
• This is even more so as they become content creators and news business owners.

Introduction

• Freedom of the press is an important privilege.
• The news room is the central hub of a news organization.
• News organization's objectives are to gather, report, and distribute.
• A typical news organization contains an editorial team which decides editorial line-up, a management team, production team, and business team.
• A news organization's business team tries to see how to monetize from news.
• News publication appears in print, online, and in magazines.

Editorial team

• Editor-in-chief.
• Managing editor.
• Section editors.
• Reporters.
• Columnists.
• Photojournalists (print) & video editors (online).

Production and design

• Art director.
• Graphic designers.
• Page layout specialists.
• Web developers for online.
• Multimedia producers are the most flexible/resilient, and adjust to multiple positions.

Copy editing and proofreaders

• Copy editors.
• Proofreaders.

Research and fact checking

• Most important.
• Researchers.
• Fact checkers.

Online presence and social media

• Social media manager.
• Digital editors.

Business and operations

• Publisher/CEO.
• Legal and compliance.
• Advertising and sales.
• Circulation.
• Finance and accounting.

News Broadcast Network

Executive leadership

• CEO/President is the top executive responsible for overseeing the entire network's operations, including news.
• Chief news officer/news head is the top editorial authority responsible for the network's news content and overall direction.

Newsroom management

• Planning and coordination team.
• Assignment editors.
• Newsroom managers.

Editorial

• News editors.
• Specialized editors.
• Field reporters.
• Reporters.
• Anchors.

News

• Producers.
• Video editors.
• Sound engineers.
• News writers.
• Anchors/hosts.
• Graphics and visual effects specialists.
• Directors and technical crew.

Research and fact checkers

• Researchers.
• Fact checkers.

Digital team

• Digital editors.
• Social media managers.
• Web developers.
• Multimedia producers.

Business team

• Marketing and sales.
• HR and administration.
• Finance and accounting.
• Legal ethics.

Conclusion

• Sales and marketing cannot influence news people.
• The chinese wall.

Key purpose of a news organization

• Editorial independence.
• Avoid conflicts of interest.
• Preserving trust and credibility.
• Ethical reporting.
• Legal compliance.
• Protecting investigative reporting.
• Advertiser-reader trust.

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.

Broadcast media (Header)

Retransmission consent fees

• Broadcasters make retransmission consent agreements with cable/satellite providers.
• This allows the former to charge fees for the right to carry their broadcast signals.
• Retransmission fees contribute to broadcaster's revenue.

Content production

• These companies produce original content.
• TV shows, radio programs, documentaries, news programs, other audiovisual content.
• Revenue is generated from syndication, distribution, licensing, and advertising associated with original content production.

Print

Types of models

• 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

• Display advertising (Newspapers/magazines on display).
• Classified advertising.
• Inserts and supplements.
• Sponsorships and advertorials (Ad written like a news item).
• Special sections and supplements (Saturday section, weekend magazine, etc.).
• Cover wraps and gatefolds.
• Coupon inserts.

Digital media

Revenue models

• Advertising is the primary revenue stream.
• Advertisement space sold on websites, apps, videos, podcasts, and other digital content.

Ad formats

• Display ads (banners, etc.)
• Video ads.
• Native ads (ads that match the content).
• Sponsored content.
• Affiliate marketing.
• Users pay a recurring fee to access premium content, etc.
• Individual subscriptions, tiered subscription plans, membership programs, and freemium.

Digital product sales

• Digi platforms may sell digi products/services to customers.
• E-books, digital magazines, online courses, webinars, premium content downloads, software applications, virtual events, digi merchandise.
• Revenue comes from one-time purchases or subscriptions.

Freemium

• Offers basic content, charges for premium features, content, upgrades, & additional content.
• Attracts a larger user base with free offerings.
• Can monetize through premium subscriptions/in-app purchases.

Subscription and memberships

• Access to exclusive content, ad-free content, members only forums, etc.

Affiliate marketing

• Promote third-party products/services for a commission per sale/referral via affiliate links.
• Often used in blogs, review websites, socmed platforms, online marketplaces, etc.

Sponsored content/native advertising

• Collaboration with brands/advertisers to create sponsored/branded content and native advertising that promote messages into the platform's content
• Revenue comes from sponsored content

Data monetization

• User data is collected for targeted advertising and personalized content recommendations.
• Revenue comes from data licensing, ad targeting services, data analytics, audience segmentation.

Event and webinar sponsorships

• Virtual events, webinars, conferences, workshops etc.
• Revenue comes from sponsorships, exhibitor fees, ticket/merch sales, ads associated with digi events.

Collaboration

• Collaboration with content creators, publishers, or other companies.
• Expands reach and unlocks new revenue opportunities.
• Revenue sharing agreements, licensing deals, and affiliate partnerships, co-branding initiatives.

Crowdfunding

• Kickstarter, Patreon, GoFundMe, etc. - contributors donate money to support the creation of projects in exchange for rewards/exclusive content

Challenges

• Shift to digital consumption
  • Behavioral (Ex. Younger gen is born into digital media).
• Decline in advertising revenue.
• Fragmentation of audiences.
  • Diff. user algorithms; 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 to counter the challenges

• Attracting and retaining advertisers.
  • Audience insights and targeting.
  • Multichannel advertising packages.
  • Cross-promotional partnerships.
  • Measurement and analytics.
  • Creative ad formats and innovation.
  • Customized advertising solution.
  • 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.
• It should be concise and accurate.
• It should be attention-grabbing but not misleading.
• The reader should immediately understand what the story is about.
• Prioritize keywords.
• The less words the better.
• Use active voice ("X does Y” instead of "Y was done by X").
• Use present tense to make news feel more immediate.
• Use numbers and statistics.
  • Ex. "500 dead” instead of “many dead”.
• Consider the tone; formal news headlines will differ from casual blogs/magazines.
• For online news, put keywords for SEO.

Broadcast vs print

• Broadcast: Spoken word and linear presentation.
• Print: Printed word and non-linear presentation.

What makes a good newscast

• Good mix of hard and soft news.
• Visually driven stories.
• Consumer oriented; has human connection.

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.

Writing/editing stories and scripts

• Considerations for writing or editing stories.
  • Accuracy, fairness, balance, libel check, video/audio content, grammar, storytelling style, production instructions.
• Storytelling in news.
• Don't write a report, tell a story.
• Print stories write inverted pyramid style.
  • Lead (Who, what, where, when, why, how).
  • Body (More details).
  • Tail (Related, extra context).
• TV/broadcast stories should write bell curve style.
  • Hook (Grabs attention).
  • Conflict (Builds up interest, sustains attention).
  • Climax (High point of the story).
  • Denouement (Resolution of conflict).

End

• Conclusion.

Writing

• Organized writing.
  • Coherence, clarity of thought.
  • Sense of story buildup.
  • Note of finality.
• Better writing.
  • Conversational; simple precise words.
  • Concretize, don't be technical.
  • Write to be understood.
  • Write interestingly.
  • Write for the eyes, ear and the heart.
• Don't forget the human connection.

Writing the lead

• Types of leads.
  • Hard Lead – summary lead for immediate info.
  • Soft Lead - Lures viewers into complex, difficult stories (meant to catch the viewer's interest), 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.

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

• Avoid jargon.
• Explain technical terms.
• Use figures sparingly.
• Don't put in everything you know.
• Find the telling detail.
• Put things in context.
• Never lose sight of why the story is important to the viewer or reader.

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.