BSEE 38

Understanding News

• A news is any oral or written report on an event that happened, is happening, or will happen.
• News pertains to events in the North, East, West, and South (NEWS) that are of interest to the reader and should be reported.
• There are three primary considerations:
  • News is reported through airwaves and in written form.
  • News covers events that are already done, being done, or shall still be conducted.
  • News should consider the interest of the reader when accepting the impact of the news.
• News is basically from an event, idea, or reaction that is presented factually and simply in written form.
• News gives the reader an idea of what is currently happening, particularly on matters of interest to the community.
• News is generally written and based on facts.
• News is a timely factual report of events, ideas, or situations interesting or significant to people.
• News is any information that is significant to a particular set of readers.
• News is qualified by its relevance and interest to the readers.
• News is a reportage of accurate facts, events, and ideas of interest to a large number of readers.
• The newer the angle of a story, the more interesting it is to the readers.
• News is information that has a meaning for a set of readers.
• Facts, interest, and readers are the bases of all news.

Characteristics of Good News

• Timeliness or Immediacy: Important characteristic of news that underscores the newest angle of a story.

  • A changing of grading system announced yesterday in a school is of more interest to a student than the Christmas party of last December.

• Conflict: The physical and mental struggles of persons.

  • Competitions like oratorical contests and quiz bees are newsworthy due to the mental conflicts.
  • Sports events during intramural or foundation days are newsworthy, as they have physical conflicts.

• Proximity or Nearness: Refers to geographical location, as well as the nearness of interest and appeal.

  • News in Batanes State College will interest students more than what is happening in Western Mindanao State University.
  • The imposition of a "no cellphone policy" in Batanes State College will interest the Batanes readers more than the zero-tuition scheme of Aklan State University.

• Accuracy: Journalism is anchored on facts, thus contents should be accurately reported.

• Significance: If something is important to the reader, they will surely read the news.

  • Topics like new rules imposed by the administration are highly significant in a campus setting.

• Prominence and Names: News about popular names can yield a high degree of newsworthiness, thus becoming more readable.

  • For campus papers, prominent personalities include the president of the student body, the principal, and students who have won in a national competition.

• Oddity or Unusualness: A theory explains that when persons are curious about a phenomenon deviating from a natural course, they will be interested.

  • Writing about a forty-year-old student who has just finished their fifth bachelor's degree may be newsworthy.

• Numbers: Statistics or figures have the power to shake the conviction of the audience.

  • If the Alumni Association donated one computer set last January, and the Parent Teachers Association donated 57 computer sets, the latter yields a higher degree of newsworthiness.

• Progress: Attaining breakthroughs and achieving scientific discoveries are given much attention by readers.

  • Progress may be in the form a newly constructed building and newly donated laboratory equipment from alumni abroad.

• Drama: Writers should bank on any story that can lead to crying or laughing. Such stories are packed with color.

  • A story of a student leader who managed to graduate as magna cum laude despite his five-year term as the College student Government President.

Types of News Stories

• According to Chronology or Sequence:

  • Spot News: A news story that gathers information as it is broadcast at the same time.

    • Demands immediate publication and the reporter is often a first-hand witness.

  • Coverage News: Is written based on the given assignment to the reporter or news writer.

    • Assignment is sometimes called a "beat," meaning the writer knows how to write about the specific topic.

  • Advance News: Is a news story that tells about a future occurrence where a writer creates new perspectives on a subject to craft the climax when the event happens.

  • Follow-Up News: Investigates the upshot to an event or situation. While advance news is predicted.

    • Follow-up news looks into the upshot to shoot an event or situation.

• According to Range and Reach:

  • Local News: Refers to a news story that happens in one's community where the paper originates.

  • National News: Refers to a news story that impacts the people of a certain country.

    • Most national news is published in dailies.

  • Foreign News: Traces its origin from outside the borders of the country.

  • Dateline News: Is an out-of-town news story introduced by a dateline, which states the place from which the story was reported.

• According to Structure/Construction:

  • Straight News: Typically answers the 5Ws and 1H in the first paragraph, elaborating details in the body using an inverted triangle structure.
  • News Feature: Presents human interest stories, published in the feature sections of newspapers or magazines.
    • Though having elements of timeliness and immediacy, they differ in important respects from the straight news.
  • Single-Feature or One-Incident Story: This may be an account of a speech, an interview, an election, that deals with an isolated event. In writing a news feature story with this kind of structure, include the one-feature in the lead and add body details.
    • Ensure that the story breaks logically at every paragraph and is flexible enough to be cut if space dictates.

• The Several-Feature, Multiple-Angle or Composite Story: Consists of units, each one made up of fresh spot news frequently with reference to the future.

  • In a composite story, two or more divergent aspects of a news topic are drawn together for the sake of space and coherence.

  • It may resemble a follow-up story by aiming to consolidate component parts, but differs in that a follow-up story ties into a past story, whereas a composite story made up of fresh spot news frequently with reference to the future.

  • Fact Story: Is a plain exposition of a simple situation of a series of closely related events arranged according to their importance.

  • Action Story: Is a narrative involving nor merely simple facts but dramatic actions – incidents, description of persons, perhaps testimonies of witnesses, as well as explanatory data.

  • Speech, Report, Quote, and Interview: Presents the message of a certain individual using a summary-quote-summary arrangement. The quotations can be direct, indirect, or a combination.

Minor News Forms

• News Brief: A short item of news interest, written like a brief, telegraphic message giving mainly the result with few details.
• News Bulletin: Similar to the lead of a straight news story, aiming to give the gist of the news.
• News Featurette: A short news feature used as filler.
• Side Bar: A news item or feature placed side by side its mother story, related to it but under its own headline.
• Flash: A message giving the first brief news of an event, usually boxed.