A Journalist's Life: Roles and Responsibilities PDF

A journalist's life is an exciting one. In this profession, no two days are the same as the challenges you encounter for each story is always unique like all the people that you will meet in its practice. But contrary to what the others might think, being a journalist is far from the glamor that com...

A journalist's life is an exciting one. In this profession, no two days are the same as the challenges you encounter for each story is always unique like all the people that you will meet in its practice. But contrary to what the others might think, being a journalist is far from the glamor that comes with the name. It is a life constantly toeing deadlines, human intricacies, and innovations. Sometimes, you'd even find yourself risking your safety as well as your life. In this unit, we take a quick glance at how journalists navigate the world of journalism. LESSON 1: Who is a journalist Lesson proper: If we agree that journalism is basically a form of storytelling, then journalists are storytellers. But in this digital era when everyone can tell a story \-- write, report, and comment \-- does it mean that everyone now is a journalist? Discussions about the role of journalists in society can be seen nowadays on social media. Tons of social media personalities get massive followers who soak in everything they share and regard it as news. Perhaps most notable is the rise of personalities called "bloggers," that some people would wonder if they too are journalists. It is true that some of what journalists do in their profession are also present in some bloggers, like writing, publishing and attending media events. The American Press Institute said that asking who is a journalist is the wrong question because journalism can be produced by anyone. On the other hand, anyone who does journalistic activities can not be called journalist, like writing, interviewing and reporting. Aidan White, the director of Ethical Journalism Network, said following the traditional views on who journalists are, it would be fairly simple to identify them: Journalists are those who are working for media organizations in the business of gathering and delivering the news Journalists are those who are specifically trained for the practice after earning college degree in the same field Journalists are those identified members by association or unions of journalism However, the majority of individuals who call themselves journalists today are not full-time employees of traditional news media; they work (sometimes as freelancers, sometimes without pay) as reporters, videographers and commentators on Weblogs, cable outlets and \'zines, locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Also, not all practicing journalists right now possess a degree in journalism. Lastly, not all journalists are members of any association for journalism. Defining a journalist and journalism is both elusive and problematic. It is difficult to figure out who is covered by the term --- and crafting the definition too narrowly excludes certain speakers from the benefits afforded to journalists. So why even try? There are various reasons. One of these directly addresses the issue of the demonization of the media. People tend to disregard journalists nowadays because they believe that they are unnecessary in this age when everyone can gather information and publish them on their own. Little did they know the science and art that journalists deploy in their conduct of the profession. For example, anyone can report about an on-going calamity but only a trained journalist can provide the whole picture of it by providing a better contextualization, 360 degrees reportage of various perspectives, and even the history or background of it. Journalists are also afforded some privileges like access to sources. It is therefore important to distinguish who are the journalists that should be afforded those privileges. Reuters, for example, indicated who they consider a journalist in their organization: There are many different types of journalism practiced in Reuters, across text, television, picture services and online. No one definition of our craft applies to them all. What must unite us is honesty and integrity. We often face difficult choices in the pursuit of better stories and superior images. In such situations there are several \"right\" answers and the rules we use run out. We can, however, guard against damage to our reputation through a shared understanding of the fundamental principles that govern our work. The American Press Institute, citing Gil Thelen, the former publisher and president of The Tampa Tribune, believes the journalist has a very specific role in society. They call this specific role the"committed observer." What he means by that, Thelen explains, is that the journalist is not removed from the community, though at times may stand apart from others so as to view things from a different perspectives. Rather, says Thelen, journalists are "interdependent" with the needs of their fellow citizens. If there is a key issue in town that needs resolution and is being explored by local institutions, "we have a commitment to reporting on this process over the long term, as an observer." The journalist helps resolve the issue by being a responsible reporter who supplies background, verifies facts, and explains the issues involved. Meanwhile, Kovach and Rosenstiel noted that the confusion doesn't serve anyone well. Other professions are much clearer about their role and citizens as a consequence are much clearer about the need for their doing controversial things. People understand and accept, for instance, that doctors serve a Hippocratic Oath that requires them to try to save people they may hate, whether the enemy soldier in war or the wounded gunman who just shot a police officer. Or that lawyers are required to provide a zealous defense for even the worst people in society. Thus, journalists need to be equally clear about their role, both to themselves and to the public. A journalists are not aloof from society. They are citizens. Even patriots. Journalists express their commitment and duty by performing the prescribed role of observer to provide their fellow citizens with the information they need to make judgments and decisions. The blurred and changing boundaries between journalists, bloggers and citizen journalists have received a great deal of attention during the past decade. With so many elements in the mix, it comes as no surprise that scholars are divided over just what distinguishes a journalist from a blogger or a citizen journalist and how distinctions can or should be drawn. In her analysis of the coverage of the Occupy movement in the United States, legal commentator Sonja West (2014) argued that journalists should be set apart from others who were "occasional public commentators", those who might act in a "press like" way. She noted that the press possesses distinct qualities, including how it: \[has\] specialized knowledge about the subject matter at issue\... serves a gatekeeping function by making editorial decisions regarding what is or is not newsworthy\... places news stories in context locally, nationally, or over time \... strives to convey important information in a timely manner \... has accountability to its audience and gives attention to professional standards or ethics \... devotes time and money to investigating \... expends significant resources defending itself against legal attacks as well as advocating for legal changes. West (2014) argues that the press constitutes speakers who fulfill a valuable and unique role in a democracy and it should be defined in a way so as to exclude occasional commentators and embrace"press exceptionalism"; a pathway that is neither "elitist" nor "discriminatory." This should be clear because the distinction between journalists and other communicators like bloggers and citizen journalists should not be seen as discriminatory. This is all part of the democratization of the media and communication process itself. Ugland and Henderson (2007) draw a clear distinction between "egalitarian" and "expert" models of journalism. The egalitarian model rests on the idea that all citizens are equally equipped and free to act as news gatherers, while the expert model sees legacy or traditional journalists uniquely qualified to serve as agents of news procurement and dissemination through education, training and the adoption of a code of ethics. In a very real sense, the critical place of citizen journalism, blogging and journalism has moved through a Deleuzian process of deterritorialization. The idea of deterritorialization focuses on the movement or process by which something departs from a given territory---where a territory can be a system of any kind: conceptual, linguistic, cultural, social or physical (Patton 2007). Johnston and Wallace had this as conclusion in their study "Who is a journalist? Changing legal definitions in a deterritorialized media space," just "who is a journalist" and "what are the news media" remain work in progress, as courts, legislators and policy makers rethink and reframe the answers to these questions, sometimes controversially so and often incorporating fundamental differences of opinion. While the de-territorializing of the media began with the emergence of nontraditional forms of news delivery through blogging and citizen journalism models, where the re-territorializing will go, and how it will vary from place to place, remains in a constant state of readjustment. LESSON 2: Roles of a journalist Introduction: A journalist's main role is to serve the public. All the other functions listed in journalism textbooks and creeds espoused by various news organizations are rooted in this concept. But to understand more the responsibilities in this profession, we need to take a deeper dive into how things are unfolding and how it is affecting the conduct of journalism. Lesson proper: So if journalists now no longer decide what the public should know (the gatekeeping function), what's left of the profession's roles? Could it be that as technology moves further, more journalism functions would be eliminated? Kovach and Rosenstiel highlighted several roles buried within the gatekeeping function that journalists can still perform and must strengthen even to this day. First is the role of "authenticator." Because they are trained to verify sources and information itself, journalists must be able to identify authentic voices among the barrage of contents. In a hot topic with varying assertions, the journalist must work with the audience to provide context so that they may be able to determine facts from mere fabrications for propaganda or sometimes even blatant lies. For example, when U.S. President Donald Trump initially refused to urge people to wear face masks to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, journalists confronted this by presenting facts from the experts like from the World Health Organization on how face masks deter virus infections. In this regard, journalists risk the mistake of "parroting" or "he-said-she-said" journalism if they merely present what was said instead of authenticating. Not processing such information and merely presenting them as facts is not journalism. Next is the task of being a "sense-maker." Journalists must put events in context in a way that turns information into knowledge. Simply narrating what happened should not count as journalism. It is a journalist's job to look far beyond such events. On December 30, 2020, a series of bombings rocked the Philippine capital that resulted in 22 fatalities with over a hundred injured. It would be followed by another deadly bombing in the tourist-haven island of Bali in Indonesia in October 2002 where over 200 died, mostly foreign tourists. By 2003, a twin bombing would occur in Davao where another 38 perished. These bombings would later on bring the conclusion that terrorists have activated cells in the Philippines and terror acts in the country are connected to the terrorism network in Southeast Asia. Enter Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant Islamist extremist group dedicated to establishing an Islamic State in Southeast Asia. The group, later on branded as a terrorist organization by the United States, was the key that tied up those series of bombings and every other violent acts in the region for the following years. Jemaah Islamiyah would later on be identified as the Southeast Asian arm of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. The analysis of such events is what makes good journalism. Reporting about the series of bombings is not the end of the process. It's thinking beyond the event in front of you that would provide context and the notion that a bombing is not just a bombing or a dead body found on a dirt road is not just a simple cadaver. But Kovach and Rosenstiel reminded journalists to make it clear once they have moved forward from authenticating facts to contextualizing them: "The analysis of events crosses into another level of subjectivity, and it requires making that shift clear by sharing different evidence for why this interpretation is likely the best one." The third role is to "bear witness." Cited in Jones and Salter's (2012) book Digital Journalism, Andrew Marr marked 18th century English writer and journalist Daniel Defoe as a significant character in the history of journalism. Marr said Defoe was one of the first journalists who "believed in going and seeing with his own eyes. He wanted to witness with his own ears\... traveled and wrote down and interviewed." This is why journalists are also called "eyewitnesses." A journalist must go where no one dared go to be that lens for people to see things \-- in every war, in every calamity, in every tragedy. Christiane Amanpour, veteran journalist par excellence, once jokingly said that U.S. soldiers once told her that they track their movements in order to know their next assignment. This is a clear manifestation of the importance of journalism because if journalists would not be in the scene, who would tell those stories begging to be told? And as Amanpour has added: "If we the storytellers don't do this, then the bad people will win." Fourth, and perhaps the most classic among journalists' roles, is being a "watchdog." No matter how skeptical the public is towards journalists, even amid constant vilification of the profession, practitioners must constantly watch out to make those who are in power accountable for their deeds. It's not just about the government. It's about any other powerful institution who answers directly to the public. This is why the term "Watergate Scandal" and the names Woodward and Bernstein would be read by countless aspiring journalists everywhere on the globe. It began with a break in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at Washington, D.C. Watergate Office Building for an election campaign, which was in full swing back then, and has led to the arrest of several Republican officials and ultimately the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's work for the Washington Post became one of the finest pieces of investigative journalism. It was through an account of a whistleblower later identified as the former associate director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Mark Felt that Woodward and Bernstein exposed to the people that their government was corrupt and the abuses committed were unimaginable. That Nixon used thousands of dollars in hush money to the burglars and used federal officials to deflect the investigation was only the tip of the scandal, making this moment in American political history synonymous to huge political scandals so that the suffix "gate" would be added to identify similar affairs in the future. Kovach and Rosenstiel also listed five other functions citizens expect from journalists: Intelligent aggregator Forum Leader Empowerer Role Model Community Builder Meanwhile, Reuters listed down 10 absolutes for a journalist: Always hold accuracy sacrosanct Always correct an error openly Always strive for balance and freedom from bias Always reveal a conflict of interest to a manager Always respect privileged information Always protect their sources from the authorities Always guard against putting their opinion in a news story Never fabricate or plagiarize Never alter a still or moving image beyond the requirements of normal image enhancement Never pay for a story and never accept a bribe Summary: Expectations on journalists are higher than ever. But those who are in the profession must not fall trap to what people perceive as their roles. A journalist's role is always anchored in journalistic truth \-- to authenticate, to aggregate, to witness, and to make those in the position of power always accountable. LESSON 3: Challenges to the profession Introduction: Notoriously fast-paced with almost no room for error, a journalist's life definitely has some tough challenges. Not only that, journalists must also confront stiff competition and the constantly shifting media landscape which requires him to be adaptable and always open to learn new technologies and forms of storytelling. But sometimes, the challenge to the profession itself is the threat to the life of a journalist. Lesson proper: Perhaps the most pressing dilemma to a journalist's life is the threat itself to his/her life. While attacks on the press have been consistent since the beginning of journalism, dangers that journalists now meet in the conduct of their jobs is more heightened than ever, especially with the increasing authoritarian governments across the world. A 2018 piece from The Guardian citing a report from human rights organization Article 19 states that journalism is dangerous and more under threat than at any point in the last decade. A year before that, there were at least 78 journalists killed while doing their job. In 2019, the Philippines was ranked as the fifth most dangerous place in the world for journalists by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The Philippines has been among the worst five countries nearly every year since the index was first published in 2008. Below is the full list: Somalia Syria Iraq South Sudan Philippines Afghanistan Mexico Pakistan Brazil Bangladesh Russia Nigeria India The CPJ said the countries included in the list "represent a mix of conflict-ridden regions and more stable countries where criminal groups, politicians, governments officials, and other powerful actors resort to violence to silence critical and investigative reporting." Maguindanao Massacre, the world's deadliest moment in the history of journalism, in 2009 saw the gruesome killing of 58 people, 32 of whom were journalists. Pile after piles of bodies were found buried in a hill in the southern province of Maguindanao killed as ordered by members of the Ampatuan family. The main target was Esmael Mangudadatu, who dared run against the Ampatuan patriarch who was also a previous ally. But sensing the danger, Mangudadatu instead sent women in the family to file his candidacy along with a score of local journalists believing the enemy would not harm them. But the convoy was stopped, signaling the beginning of brutal killings that eventually led to the declaration of martial law in the entire region. Andal Ampatuan, Sr., who died of heart attack in 2015, did not live to get his sentence due to a very long trial. In 2019, 28 were convicted including masterminds Datu Andal Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan. Another problem for journalists is censorship, especially in developing countries like the Philippines. Journalists always toe the line of going straight up against powerful entities in pursuit of truth. First is the withholding of information. In the Philippines, having a Freedom of Information law remains a dream. Talks advocating for such a law began during the Aquino government, but Duterte during the campaign period promised the passage of the said law. In the absence of legislation, Duterte instead signed an Executive Order no. 2 in 2016 which laid down a policy of full disclosure and transparency in government offices. However, the executive order does not cover the legislature, judiciary and local government units. Both cases of how the Duterte government has dealt with Rappler and ABS-CBN are a clear form of censorship \-- charges and the eventual arrest of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, the expulsion of Rappler journalist Pia Ranada from Malacanang to prevent her from physically covering the president, and the non-renewal of ABS-CBN's broadcast franchise. All of these simply because of the two news organization's critical coverage of the Duterte administration. This is a type of punitive censorship. In this case, it's no longer about the media entities affected by such censorship. It creates a chilling effect, a signal to other journalists that if their brand of journalism would not conform to what the government wants, they would be targeted next. But shouldn't censorship no longer be an issue in this 21st century when the free flowing of information is guaranteed with the presence of the internet? Bennet and Naim (2015) in a piece for the Columbia Journalism Review said the opposite actually happened: censorship is flourishing in the information age. This is done by redacting critical news and building state media brands and by creating subtle tools to attack the journalists. Several countries have also started introducing laws that would regulate internet speech which are actually intended to silence dissent and suppress critical reportage on the government. Take China for example. It has the biggest market for internet users but its censorship is probably the strictest worldwide. Bennet and Naim said an estimated 2 million censors police the internet and the activities of users, making sure that everything adheres to the ruling party's standards. Censorships used to be done in stealth. At a certain degree, these schemes still abound. But nowadays, it's more blatant and more relentless in its pursuit to suppress the truth. As Bennet and Naim have put it: "Traditional censorship was basically an exercise of cut and paste\... For dictatorships, censorship meant that an uncooperative media outlet could be shut down or that unruly editors and journalists exiled, jailed, or murdered." Misinformation is also another dilemma that journalists are confronting nowadays. Coupled with the demonization of journalism, the information sphere is now laden with countless contents masquerading as news. And these contents are packaged to look exactly like any normal news piece. A quick check on Facebook and YouTube would show you how unsettling it is that these pseudo-news sites are followed by thousands of internet users. It has become a lucrative business as well. Troll farms have been deployed to shape social media discussions and suede people's perception. Internet trolls working for them are paid on a per hour basis and are done either in a designated place or at the comfort of their homes. A 2017 report from ABS-CBN News Research and Analytics Group revealed how these troll farms create multiple fake accounts and fake sites. The team is also composed of "people who edited digital videos and graphics content. This is no simple operation. The report also revealed that these troll farms are well-equipped with laptops, editing computers and big projectors where they monitor online traffic. This makes it even harder for journalists to reach the public. Not only do people have already grown skeptical of news coming from media organizations, the perpetrators of misinformation also played along with social algorithms to bury the legitimate contents with noises. Meanwhile, other challenges to the profession are less threatening though still concerning nonetheless. Here are some of them: News as business. Like what was previously discussed, media organizations need profits in order to survive. But the need to gain advertisers and sponsors have also affected the quality of journalism it espouses. Newspapers and news programs tend to resort to sensationalism in order to sell. Several organizations have also succumbed to pressures from advertisers to withhold news items that would damage their brand. Technological monopoly. Journalists are now at the mercy of technological giants. Media organizations must conform now to what these tech companies deem important for the audience. While technological inventions remain arm-in-arm with journalism, it has also resulted in massive layoffs among media practitioners. Newspapers and magazines have closed down in a move to embrace digital. Constant deadline. While it has been a problem for journalists since time immemorial, deadlines now have become increasingly demanding now that avenues for news delivery appear to be limitless. People want their news delivered now \-- not on the 6 o' clock news, not on their newspaper the following day. Summary: Being a journalist is already hard with the internal challenges that they have to deal with, including technicalities like the profession still being a part of the business world and the many demands of the job. But these challenges are made even harder with threats from the outside, which sometimes are perpetuated by the government itself. But no matter the difficulties, journalists must stay true to their creed of serving the public and being agents of truth. -End- Application: Case study: The assasination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 Read and understand the events leading up to the killing of Khashoggi at Saudi's consulate in Istanbul. After studying the case of Khashoggi, answer the following questions: How do you think the killing of Khashoggi would affect the work of many journalists not just in the Middle East but as well as in other parts of the world who are reporting on people of authority? Why do you think Khashoggi was targeted? During the early developments of details on how Khashoggi was assassinated, conflicting statements and reports abound. How do you think a journalist should navigate around this difficulty and still be able to provide factual accounts to the public? In December 2019, a court sentenced five individuals to death over the murder of Khashoggi and ordered other accused to imprisonment of more than two decades. Do you think this is the end of journalists\' reportage on the matter? What else do you think journalists should still report concerning this case? LESSON 4: Various fields in journalism Introduction: The world of journalism is a vast one. Alongside technology alone, journalism's evolution appears to be infinite. But the biggest reminder for journalists and for the public in general is that no matter which arena journalism finds itself next, journalism itself will always be about the business of truth. Objectives: At the end of this lesson, students must be able to Gain and understanding and appreciation of the various fields of journalism Learn what makes each field in journalism distinct from one another Know the basic concepts in each field of journalism Activity: Browsing the newspaper, what draws you to read a certain article on it? Who is your favorite broadcast news personality? What is it about this broadcast news personality that makes you look up to him/her? How would you describe his/her broadcast style? What is your main reason for using the internet? How many social media accounts do you have? What makes you share a type of content on the internet? Who are your favorite internet personalities? If you are given the chance to report on a topic of interest, what would it be and why? What do you think are the necessary preparations you need to undergo before covering your chosen topic for a news report and why? Lesson proper: PRINT MEDIA The print media is one of the oldest and basic forms of communication. In journalism, print usually means newspapers and magazines. Many scholars believe that most of the foundation of the conduct of journalism that we know today came from print starting from the strict discipline, style of delivery and organizational structure of newsrooms. In fact, most veteran newsmen of today came from the print media. Print media went through a long history of development and diversification from its size, frequency of delivery, purpose, target audience, language, and even its look. While it is true that the print industry is struggling to maintain a following in this digital age, it has maintained a certain level of superiority due to its core characteristics. For example, print materials remain a top choice for references because of its credibility, as it is trusted that information it contains went through a rigorous process before hitting the press for publishing. This is contrary to digital sources which have been met with authenticity questions because of the perceived notion of its swift delivery. Print media has also the advantage of creating a longer impact to consumers of news with its more in-depth reporting and analysis. In this sense, newspapers remain synonymous with journalism. A newspaper is a serial publication containing news, opinion, images, advertisements, entertainment, public announcements, and other relevant information Categorizing newspapers could be several things like in terms of size (broadsheet or tabloid), in terms of frequencies of release (dailies, weeklies, fortnightlies), and in terms of geographical scope (local papers, regionals, nationals). Broadsheets originally were large, unfolded newspapers and are deemed more respectable and serious. Eventually, this categorization of newspapers became about style and content more than the size of the paper itself. Tabloid, cheaper and easier for people to carry, tends to be more irreverent with its writing. And since it has a smaller space for its stories, it leaned towards bolder delivery and sometimes highly sensationalized. In Britain, tabloids are called "red tops" for their screaming frontpage banners. It has become notorious for publishing scandals involving celebrities, politicians and even the members of the Royal Family. In the Philippines, tabloids are also recognized as more informal while its broadsheet counterpart plays a more serious role. Newspaper sections typically follow classification per content: the front page, news, feature, editorial and opinion, entertainment, sports, business, etc. A typical editorial process for a newspaper typically goes like this: First editors would meet to talk about the editorial agenda and assign stories to reporters. Those from the field would then file their assigned stories as well as those who covered breaking news events. The story copies would then undergo editing from the copy editor to check for possible errors, be it factual, grammar or simple spelling. The copy editor would also edit down the story based on the amount of space allotted for a specific story and would make adjustments accordingly. The section editor would then make final calls on which stories to run as well as layout concerns before submitting everything to the editor-in-chief who makes the ultimate decisions in every aspect of the issue. After the whole editorial process, a newspaper would then undergo another rigorous process of manufacturing. And this is the reason why journalists who work for a newspaper have stricter deadlines compared to their counterparts in other platforms. Here are some newspaper terminologies: Masthead - contains publication information including ownership, publisher, office address, etc. Edition - it can be distinguished by the time of the day (morning edition, afternoon edition, evening edition) or the nature of the issue (special edition, extra edition, presidential inauguration edition, Sunday edition, etc.) Banner story - is the most prominent and was deemed by editors as the most important story of the issue Headline - title of the story Byline - part of an article which identifies who wrote the story Dateline - part of the news article that identifies the date when and place where the story was filed Above the fold - the most important stories of the issue appear on the top half of the paper making it easily visible even on the newsstand Magazines, on the other hand, have more similarities with newspapers. Perhaps most notable is that its contents are more focused for a more specific audience (examples are fashion, sports, automotive, science, pop culture, etc). Magazines also have more complex designs as it tends to be more visual with the use of creative imageries and more colorful layouts. Magazines also employ higher quality papers, making it more expensive than newspapers. As to its content, the magazine has lengthier pieces and is mostly not time sensitive compared to newspapers. Magazines also tend to lean more on special features as opposed to straight news like its newspaper counterpart. It may also contain literature and pieces tackling general topics. Lastly, while newspapers are published more frequently, magazines are mostly on a monthly-based issue or longer as it requires more both in terms of its editorial and manufacturing process. BROADCAST JOURNALISM If the print media is one of the oldest in terms of journalism, broadcasting is currently the most prominent and remains the most influential in the news media. Broadcast journalism refers to the delivery of news to a wide range of audience using electronic means such as radio and television. Its delivery consists of complex variations of audio, images (both moving and static), and text. As opposed to the print media, it is more real-time in nature and has a fast-paced environment. A 2019 SWS survey revealed that television remains king in the Philippines in terms of people's source for news. With an approximate 137 television stations in the Philippines, 60% of the Filipinos tune in to their television sets to get updated with news. However, radio no longer occupies the second position to this. The survey also revealed that 21% of the Filipino audience now subscribe to Facebook as a venue for news, followed by radio with 15%. Meanwhile, only 2% still read the newspaper. While there are only dozens of newspapers in the Philippines, there are still hundreds of radio stations in the Philippines with an audience of 89% listening to FM and 12% AM listeners. In radio broadcasts, they use radio waves which can be microwaves and longer radio waves and are transmitted in two ways: amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM). Radio waves are identified by their: (1) frequency, which is the number of times they pass through a complete every second; or (2) wavelengths, which is determined by the distance that is traveled from the crest of one wave to the crest of the next. The units used in measuring frequencies is hertz, after Heinich Hertz who first introduced radio waves electronically. This refers to the number usually attached to the name of the radio station (ABS-CBN's dzMM used 630 kilohertz while GMA Network's dzBB uses 530 kilohertz). In AM, what is modified is the amplitude of a carrier wave on one specific frequency while in FM the frequency of the carrier wave is modulated rather than the amplitude. This is why AM has static while background noise is reduced in FM. However, AM frequency range is much lower compared to FM. Thus AM covers more areas than FM making it ideal for news broadcast. But because AM us more susceptible noises because noise affects amplitude, FM on the other hand is less susceptible to interference since the signal is transmitted through changes in frequency and thus slight changes in amplitude do not matter. Radio news thrives in description. Veteran radio news editors would often be heard on the desk saying "describe, describe, describe" to his reporter working outside in the field. It is the lack of imagery that makes radio dependent on the journalist's skills to describe the news event and provide a detailed picture for the audience. Action verbs are also of paramount importance in delivering news for radio. In Tagalog news, this is why most news items begin with a strong verb: Pinagbabaril ng hindi pa tukoy na riding-in-tandem ang mayor ng bayan ng\... Nilamon ng apoy ang hindi bababa sa 100 kabahayan sa barangay\... Sumampa na sa 200,000 ang bilang ng mga nagpositibo sa\... Another key characteristic of radio news is that it is mostly shorter and concise. A typical radio newscast only runs about half an hour including the advertisements. Meanwhile, a usual radio news script contains about four to five sentences per news item: Pinagbabaril ng hindi pa tukoy na riding-in-tandem ang isang empleyado ng bangko habang naglalakad pauwi sa kanilang bahay sa barangay Ilang-Ilang, Sampaloc, Maynila. Kinilala ang 24-anyos na biktima na si Hernando Casiguran, bank teller sa Metro Asia Bank. Nagtamo ng tatlong tama ng baril ang biktima sa kaniyang dibdib at idineklarang dead-on-arrival sa ospital. Hindi naman kinuha ng mga salarin ang bag at mga gamit ng biktima kaya inalis na ang pagnanakaw sa posibleng motibo sa krimen. Patuloy ang imbestigasyon at operasyon para madakip ang mga salarin. News commentary is also another notable part of radio broadcast. With an emphasis on differentiating this from the news itself, here the audience is provided more context with commentators dissecting a certain news event or an issue and expressing their opinions to the matter. Sometimes it's a dialogue between two or several commentators but often with a guest resource person relevant to the issue. Television news, on the other hand, follows some of the basic components of radio news like being short and concise and detailed. However, reporting news for TV is more complicated due to the convergence of text, visuals, and audio. TV employs both static and moving images to drive across its message. It also uses graphics to amplify its reportage like news items dealing with figures and complicated systems. Because of this, TV is usually seen as a natural progression from radio (Boyd, 2001). In fact, most TV news reporters came from radio as the latter serves as a perfect training to hone basic journalistic skills. While newspaper and radio reporters can work alone, their TV counterpart comes with a crew, which includes a cameraman, an assistant cameraman, and sometimes a producer. They say good visuals means good TV. And while journalism, of course, must still be about the news, the visuals employed must always be of best quality to effectively tell the story in this medium. If a reporter says the scene of an event is like a warzone, the visuals that must accompany this should exactly show a level of devastation in such magnitude. A typical TV news script looks like this: \[See next page\] A television news script contains two columns: the left part bears the text of the news item itself while the right part has the components of its visuals, including photos, videos, graphics, etc. While a regular TV news report is still shorter compared to the comprehensiveness of a newspaper item, it is a little lengthier compared to a radio news report. The usual length of a regular TV news report is around 1 minute and 30 seconds including soundbites Here are some basic key concepts in television news reporting: VO or voice over package - refers to the typical news item in TV where a pre-recorded report of a journalist is aired, which includes the news item itself side-by-side with the relevant visuals and soundbites SILENT - a news anchor reads a certain news item while relevant images roll on screen and is sometimes ended with a soundbite from a news source Live reporting - the journalist is directly reporting from the scene of a news event. It can be a LIVSilSOT (a combination of live delivery of news but with an insertion of a soundbite) and LIVVO (a combination of live delivery of news an a pre-recorded package by the reporter) Standupper - is when a reporter literally stands before the camera to deliver his spiels, either in the middle or at the end of a VO report MOS or man on street - is when a reporter walks around a specific area relevant to a news report and ask questions to the people In the Philippines, most television newscasts are in tabloid format \-- less in-depth, bolder in delivery, mostly sensationalized, and laden with crime, sex and entertainment stories. Although both radio and TV use conversational language in their delivery of news, radio remains more formal while TV employs the usual language of the streets. Another distinct part of TV news reports is the use of case study. From macro (the larger issue in a news item), reports tackle the micro (a specific case concerning a person or group of persons or a situation). For example, if the news story is about almost half of Filipinos being jobless during the coronavirus pandemic, it is imperative to find a worker who just lost his or her job due to the crisis. A TV news report may go both ways: macro to micro or micro to macro. Audiences tend to understand more the context of a news report once the issue is seen through the lens of ordinary citizens. Issues like poverty rate, inflation, and terrorism are no longer some vague concepts for the audience once it is contextualized in a situation where the audience can see themselves. DIGITAL JOURNALISM As technology has evolved from carved letters and images on stones to printing presses, all the way to electronic media and now in the digital age, so is journalism. Digital journalism is the delivery of news reportage within the digital sphere, mostly through the internet. While it has redefined several concepts within the conduct of journalism, it still employs the same core principles of the discipline. Unlike news reports on newspapers, radio and television that are one dimensional, reporting for digital platforms is multi-faceted. A news report may come in the form of a Twitter post, an artcard, a GIF, a short video clip, or even through a meme. A main characteristic of reporting in digital journalism is that it is multimedia. While the concept came from television, multimedia reporting is more employed in digital reporting and the level of multimedia integration is much higher. This degree of multimedia integration is called convergence. Thornburg \(2011) said this happens when a journalist uses one medium to tell one aspect of the story and other media to tell other aspects of the same story. If the story is about the high number of unemployed adults in the Philippines, the reporter could use text to introduce the issue and then use an interactive chart made of graphics to compare data from the previous years or specific period. Then, a worker's recounting on how he lost his job might be in the form of video clips, followed by several photos of people lining up looking for jobs. In this sense, the story will not move with the absence of one of these components thus making it a multimedia report with a high level of convergence. Meanwhile, the history of the media is also dominated by one-way forms of communication. In this sense, the medium stood between the journalist and the public. The usual process of news reporting goes this way: a news event happens, journalists cover the event, journalists report on what happened, the audience consumes the information, and then reacts to it as a form of feedback. But if the audience wants to direct its feedback to journalists, the older media makes the process tedious and difficult and sometimes almost impossible. But with digital journalism, that is no longer the case. As Thornburg had put it, news is becoming less of a lecture and more of a conversation. This concept is called interactivity. With the rise of internet use, interaction is made possible, not only with a reporter and the audience, but with the subject of the story itself. But make no mistake. Interactivity does not simply mean the audience's response. It is about creating connections between "people in pursuit of a more complete and accurate view of the world." In this sense, the interaction between those involved in the news itself dictate both the presentation and understanding of the news. This is why audience reactions are now included in several news reports and why the reactions itself have become the subject of news. Example to this is how trends on social media are becoming newsworthy items. But Thornburg has a warning in regard to this: "At its best, interactive journalism gives a voice to the voiceless. At its worst, interactive journalism is littered with ignorance, lies and hatred. It is up to you to sort it out." On the other hand, journalists are trained to work around strict deadlines. And in the former, more traditional media, the delivery of news comes with a fixed schedule \-- the publishing of newspapers early in the morning, radio news programs at noon aired as people go to lunch, and a 6 o' clock evening TV newscast. But in digital journalism, the on-demand delivery "allows an audience to control the time, place and subject matter of the news it consumes." In today's landscape, the audience consumes news whenever and wherever they feel like it. It could be on the way to work while on public transportation, or while having coffee in a cafe, or while waiting for the elevator at their office building. News organizations make it so that these news contents are always available in the most convenient way possible. News no longer waits for the audience to come and consume it. This is why the prevalent thinking now in the internet is that if it is something important that you should know, it will surely come to you one way or another. And as a news event broke, the demand for it also fell within that same moment. People will no longer wait for the details to appear in a newspaper the following day or on a newscast that evening. People want it now. They will log on to social media to check out what happened, or browse through websites to gain details of the event, or tune it right away to live video streams to see exactly what was happening. This makes a journalist's battle to beat deadlines even tougher. Meanwhile, writing for digital journalism has been a mix of everything. It contains in-depth reportage on news events like those in newspapers. Sometimes there are even longer pieces because unlike in print, space is no longer limited. It is up to the journalist now to maintain a level of style in reportage and make it interesting enough for readers to browse through it until the end. Perhaps one of the best examples is Pulitzer-winner journalist Alex Tizon's "My family's slave" for The Atlantic. It was a very long narrative about a Filipina who lived in their family for 56 years, essentially as a slave, raising three generations of family members. Despite being too verbose, it was the gripping story exposing the reality of how many Filipinos allow themselves to be enslaved in order to provide for their families resonated a lot with the audience, making it a hot and eliciting discussion across the world. Digital journalists must also learn the extreme of writing quickly for a very limited space \-- sometimes in 280 characters like for Twitter. In this sense, journalists learn to employ a great deal of editorial judgment in their reportage, making sure that the most important elements of the story are not left out. The result is a more direct, less formal style that online consumers tend to favor. But the most appealing aspect of digital journalism nowadays is mobile journalism or commonly referred to as "mojo." It refers to a new workflow for media storytelling where journalists are trained and equipped for being fully mobile and fully autonomous. At the heart of this is a smartphone, used in every aspect of newsgathering and delivery, including the shooting and editing of videos and photos, recording of voice over, editing of texts and graphics, and even sending and airing of the material. Other journalists may use laptops, and DSLR cameras, but at the core of all these remains to be a smartphone. Glen Mulcahy, founder of Mojocon and Mojofest, has this to say about mobile journalism: "Mobile Journalism is about empowering the individual storyteller to use whatever consumer technology they have available to them to make the best possible visual story that they can. I would like to think that Mobile Journalism definition can be extended to other mobile devices beyond smartphones, like DSLR cameras, laptops, GoPros\..." The easy-going nature of mobile journalism is its top advantage. Because everyone practically knows how to use a smartphone, a reporter no longer needs a whole host of equipment or even a crew. And because of its easy use, it's also faster. With the demand of reporting as a new event unfolds, journalists can simply whip out their smartphones and start broadcasting from ground zero. Another advantage of using mobile journalism is that journalists can go unnoticed. With this, reporters can blend in the crowd in intense coverages like riots and mobs without attracting too much attention. Reporters are now able to shoot and go to places that would've been possible if they are armed with a TV camera. Speaking of TV cameras, another advantage of mobile journalism is that it breaks barriers from sources being interviewed. Smartphones are less intimidating and so people tend to share their stories more comfortably and naturally when faced with such devices. OTHER FIELDS There are many other fields in the conduct of journalism that require focus and attention. Here are some of them: Investigative journalism One of the most notorious forms of reportage, investigative journalism is carried through an in-depth probe on a specific subject, such as corruption, crime, for thorough analysis and reportage. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) "Story-based inquiry: A manual for investigative journalists\" define the practice as follows: "Investigative journalism involves exposing to the public matters that are concealed -- either deliberately by someone in a position of power, or accidentally, behind a chaotic mass of facts and circumstances that obscure understanding. It requires using both secret and open sources and documents." While some professionals would often say that investigative journalism is just good, old-fashioned journalism that is well done, the elements some have tend to change. The manual underscores the following: The fifth element of conventional reporting, which is the \"why\" becomes the \"how\" in investigation The "who" is no longer a simple name or a title but a personality with characters traits and styles The "when" is not the present if news but a historical continuum \-- a narrative The "what" no longer a mere event but a phenomenon with causes and consequences The "where" no longer an address but a setting A lot of documentary films in journalism are considered investigative journalism. History will show us how these works helped in exposing abuses especially from those who are in power. This brand of journalism also helps the audience gain better understanding of otherwise too technical issues and helps contextualize them better. In 2000, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism followed the trail of hidden assets of then president Joseph Estrada, detailing how he had amassed luxury homes and held stakes in a dozen companies. This became a triggering point for more investigations among the media and led to Estrada\'s eventual downfall. Ultimately, David Kaplan (2013) in his report to the Center for International Media Assistance noted the following: \"The best investigative journalism employs a careful methodology, with heavy reliance on primary sources, forming and testing a hypothesis, and rigorous fact-checking.\" Data journalism Data journalism is another approach to storytelling where the reporting of facts uses structured data. The The Data Journalism Handbook (Bounegru, Chambers, Gray 2012) underscored how the practice opens new possibilities when you combine the traditional \"nose for news\" and the ability to tell a compelling story with the sheer scale and range of digital information available now. And since journalism is under siege, what better way to report on matters by showing the numbers which are concrete and no longer at the mercy of subjectivity. The handbook added the following on why journalists should see data as an opportunity: Can reveal how some abstract concepts like unemployment can affect people Can create personalized calculators to help people make decisions, like buyung properties Can analyze dynamics of a complex situation like riots or political debates and expose fallacies and present possible solutions to complex problems Mirko Lorenz of Deutsche Welle said the following about the challenge of data journalism to practitioners: "Working with data is like stepping into vast, unknown territory. At first look, raw data is puzzling to the eyes and to the mind. Such data is unwieldy. It is quite hard to shape it correctly for visualization. It needs experienced journalists, who have the stamina to look at often confusing or boring raw data and \'see\' the hidden stories in there." Citizen journalism Also called participatory journalism, citizen journalism taps the public and puts them within the journalistic process of gathering, analyzing and delivering news stories. In this sense, the people are normally consumers of news and become generators of content. They may not be journalists but they employ some journalistic skills and collaborate with journalists in various stories. Since news organizations cannot be in every corner of the globe, journalists now rely on user generated contents to further their storytelling. Reporters get in touch with a citizen who might have been able to shoot a photo or a video or simply be knowledgeable about a news event that took place in order to do a story on the matter. This collaboration democratizes the news process and further eradicates the barrier between the storyteller and the public. In the Philippines, it was the Boto Mo Ipatrol Mo that started to institutionalize this in mainstream media. Eventually, it would become Bayan Mo Ipatrol Mo where citizens can send in leads on a possible news story, which often includes photos and videos. GMA News also followed this with the now very popular hashtag \#YouScoop. But of course, this goes with criticisms. The biggest concern is the reliability of contents being shared, hence journalists must remain firm in their technical knowledge of fact-checking and handling sources. -End- Application: Obtain a copy of a broadsheet and a tabloid published on the same day. Make a comparison of the two using the following criteria: The banner story The headlines The number of stories available The dominant type of news reports The length of news reports What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of broadcast media? List down at least five for each and explain why. Make a comparison of a local Tagalog and English TV newscast. List down at least 5 similarities and 5 differences of the two. What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of digital journalism? List down at least five for each and explain. Watch a TV investigative report and write a review of it. Write down at least five topics that you think are appropriate for data journalism. Find a potential news item for citizen journalism and explain why it is newsworthy. Try to pursue this story either by interviewing the source and getting supporting information to be able to produce a simple but cohesive report. Additional reading material(s): How to Survive the Death of Print Media https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2011/07/15/how-to-survive-the-death-of-print-media The rise of mobile and social news -- and what it means for journalism http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/essays/2015/the-rise-of-mobile-and-social-news/ MODULE V: BASIC JOURNALISTIC SKILLS They say being a journalist means knowing a little bit of everything. This unit will give you a glimpse why it is such. From the ability to talk to all kinds of people the right way to knowing where to dig for various information, journalists must know their way to be able to navigate the intricate world of news delivery. LESSON 1: Editorial judgment Introduction: This lesson will not teach you everything about editorial judgment. It is one of the most crucial skills that a journalist must learn. Honing one's editorial judgment is a long process that would take a lot of experience as a practicing journalist. However, this lesson aims to be the starting point for an aspiring journalist to learn what editorial judgment is and how to develop it to become a better journalist. Objectives: At the end of this lesson, students are expected to: Learn what editorial judgment is Gain an appreciation on why journalists must hone their editorial judgment Know how to start honing their editorial judgment Activities: Watch an interview or speech of any politician or a known personality. Pick out the detail(s) of that politician or personality's speech which you think is/are newsworthy. Explain why you think such detail(s) is/are newsworthy. Lesson proper: Every day in the life of a journalist, he/she would encounter tons of crossroads where he/she has to make various types of decisions. In this process, no decision is too small. Every decision a journalist makes would affect the entire conduct of the profession. The decisions journalists make every day are difficult, involving matters of importance, interest, taste, ethics and myriad other considerations. News is the staple product of journalism, and the judgments that journalists make daily about what might be considered newsworthy have been the subject of critical scrutiny within the academy since before journalism studies began to emerge as a field in its own right. Central to such consideration has been the concept of news values, which can be taken to mean a benchmark of newsworthiness against which journalists measure potential stories and an analytical tool that can be used by scholars seeking to identify patterns of coverage and representation within factual media outputs. News in an everyday sense can be taken to mean freshly received or observed information, but news is more than that; it is also an industry and a construct. As far as the practice of journalism is concerned, news roughly equates to one of two things. News is either information about recent events that are deemed to be interesting, important, and/or unusual enough to be considered newsworthy, or else it is fresh information about something less recent that is similarly deemed to be interesting, important, and/or unusual. There will always be exceptions, just as there will be disagreement over what counts as "information" or an "event," but as a working definition of news, the above is probably as good a starting point as any. Such news is identified, gathered, verified, structured, and presented in accordance with journalistic norms and published or broadcast via one or more media platforms and outlets (Harcup, 2019). Only an infinitesimally small fraction of events happening in the world on any given day are ever likely to become news for anyone beyond those most closely involved in the events in question. Journalists will simply be unaware of most events. Even of the minority of events of which journalists do become aware, only a small proportion will be deemed worthy of being constructed as news stories. To help them decide which ones to select for such treatment, journalists are commonly said to apply criteria known as news values. However, news values are relative. What is considered newsworthy may differ over time, location, and between different media markets. The perceived interests of the (desired) audience have probably always been a consideration as part of news judgment, with some outlets apparently guided more by commercial than civic news values in a quest for audience reach and popularity. In today's online landscape the clicks attracted by individual news items can be measured, analyzed, compared, and even potentially monetized.The influence of "what the people want" has accelerated since the advent of interactive "Web 2.0" platforms, followed by social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Twitter, all of which mean that the potential "shareability" of a news story is now likely to be taken into consideration by many journalists as much as any intrinsic newsworthiness. That is, even if such a thing as intrinsic newsworthiness can be said to exist, which is itself a matter of some contention. All these being considered, it is imperative that a journalist develop a keen sense of editorial judgment. Editorial judgment is the editorial call to select and publish any news is a complex, day-to-day process that analyses what serves public interest best (Panneerselvan, 2015). The selection of news seems like a rather simple and straightforward decision-making process: if the news serves public interest, it should find a place in the publication. But, as the old saying goes, the devil is in the details. Price (2019), meanwhile, had this to say about editing though remains applicable as well with editorial judgment: "an exercise in selection and judgment: what to put in and -- just as important -- what to leave out." It\'s not just about asking what should be the angle of the story, what should be the headline, what direct quote or soundbite should you use, which details should be left out, who should be interviewed, what documents are needed for background. Everyday, journalists ask the why questions. Why this story? Why should people care? Why did you lead with that? Unfortunately, editorial judgment is not something that can be learned by just attending a lecture about it. Editorial judgment is something you learn along your journey to becoming a journalist through experience. That\'s why it\'s crucial that you start early and earnestly now that you are a journalism student. Here are some of the basic steps to start honing your editorial judgment: Read a lot There\'s nothing more tragic than an aspiring journalist who is too lazy to read. You\'re gonna have to read a lot if you want to pursue this profession. The basic of being a journalist is writing and a writer must first be able to read a lot. Notice how I kept on saying \"a lot\"? Because this means you\'ll gonna have to read not just news but practically everything. Don\'t limit yourself with topics you\'re interested in. As a journalist, you need to have a background in everything because stories are practically everywhere. Start with familiarizing yourself with the daily news grind. Make sure you know the day\'s headline. Read long form news stories and don\'t rely on mere social media posts. Observe how the story was presented \-- the headline, the angle, the choice of words, the choice of direct quotes. Try to reason out why do you think the journalist made those particular decisions and then put yourself in his/her shoes and try asking yourself how you\'ll deal with the same concerns. Master the news values Key to such practitioner recognition of the requirements of their craft, as well as to scholarly attempts to explore the news more deeply, is the concept of news values. News values have been described as a device allowing journalists to "translate untidy reality into neat stories with beginnings, middles, and denouements," in the process of which they tend in effect to "reinforce conventional opinions and established authority." Galtung and Ruge (1965) hypothesized the existence of 12 factors---or news values---the presence of which tend to render certain events more likely to become news than others. Their factors were: frequency; threshold; unambiguity; meaningfulness; consonance; unexpectedness; continuity; composition; reference to elite nations; reference to elite people; reference to persons; and reference to something negative. Be critical Critical thinking is crucial in developing your editorial judgment. For some, it means being skeptical --- the time-honored school of "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." That's a start at critical thinking. But according to the Center for Critical Thinking, critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. Sounds complicated, right? Poynter fleshed out this definition and offered some questions that could help encourage critical thinking in the newsroom: What assumptions do you have about the issues or individuals in your story? Is there another plausible explanation we should look at in this case? Have you worked as hard to disprove as to prove your hypothesis? What's missing here? Are we asking the right questions? Are we really challenging ourselves? Are we falling in love with our story as we see it now? Why is this information relevant to the story? Are we assuming that correlation is causation? How closely did we listen to all voices? Are we letting fear drive our thinking? Just because it has always been done this way before, is that a reason not to question? Just because we had a difficult time getting this information, does it make it particularly important or interesting? Do we have the expertise in this subject to form an appropriate conclusion? Is there more we need to learn? Are we oversimplifying or overgeneralizing? How's our logic? Are we falling prey to ad hominem arguments (personal attacks) or false dichotomies (mistaken belief that there are only these two options) instead of examining the issue more completely? Is this really fair? -End- Sources for this lesson: Critical Thinking: What Do You Mean by That? https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2005/critical-thinking-what-do-you-mean-by-that/ Galtung, J., & Ruge, M. (1965). The structure of foreign news: The presentation of the Congo, Cuba and Cyprus crises in four Norwegian newspapers. Journal of International Peace Research, 2(1), 64--91 Harcup, T. (2019). News Judgment, News Values, and Newsworthiness The device called editorial judgment https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/Readers-Editor/a-s-panneerselvan-column-the-device-called-e ditorial-judgment/article7408342.ece Application: For one week, list down things that you yourself will encounter which you think are worthy of being developed into a news story. Observe how you chose these potential news stories. Let's say you are given the chance to report one story which you will write for a newspaper, which among your potential stories will you choose and why? Choose at least 3 stories which you decided to drop and explain why. LESSON 2: Asking the right questions Introduction: A journalist must always be filled with questions. Questioning is a crucial part of journalism, not just through interviews. Also, not just simple questions. A journalist's question must always be tough to get to the nearest possible version of truth that the public deserves. For that, it is crucial that aspiring journalists must learn how to ask the right questions. Objectives: At the end of this lesson, students must be able to: Know why journalists need to ask the right questions Gain an appreciation on the importance of asking right and tough questions when it comes to journalism Learn the basics of how to ask the right question in every stage in journalism --- from news gathering to news presentation Activity: Recall the toughest question which you had to answer, be it from a friend, a family member, or a teacher. Why do you think you had a hard time responding to this particular question? How would you answer the question now? What makes your answer different this time compared to the first time the question was thrown at you? Lesson proper: Asking the right questions is key to good journalism. Hence, it is crucial that a journalist learns how to do this. But no, it\'s not just about asking the right questions during interviews, although that too is important. Everything begins in a question for a journalist --- from coming up with a story, for news gathering, for verification, and even to presenting and getting feedback for your story, all of these require coming up with good questions. Journalism, after all, is about finding answers. Ergo, having an inquisitive mind is an important trait that a journalist must have. In her commentary, Carla Kimbrough of the University of Nebraska said curiosity and courage are essential characteristics for being a great journalist and producing great journalism: "Curiosity allows journalists to ponder the reality of the world around them. By putting aside assumptions of knowing how life is, great journalists can spark their desires to learn or know more about people and their circumstances. Courage enables journalists to ask about all the things they are curious about without fear. Or, to borrow somewhat from Star Trek, to go places no one has gone before. Courage enables people to move outside of their comfort zones to talk with people they might not otherwise interview or to broach subjects that may be sensitive or challenging. That combination of curiosity and courage is what produces great journalism." Questions are a longstanding journalistic resource, although the deployment of this resource has evolved considerably over time. When journalism first emerged as a specialized occupation in the mid-19th century, questions were primarily a tool for gathering information, and the source interview continues to be a central means of generating the raw material out of which news stories are fashioned. The obligation to question is, on the one hand, a pervasive constraint on journalist's conduct such that the vast majority of journalists' contributions are indeed limited to questions. Here are some examples of starting point questions: Why does Politician A keep on choosing this contractor for his projects? (This type of question could lead to a corruption investigative story.) What happens to all the face masks that people use daily since the start of the pandemic? (This could be a potential story about proper medical waste disposal and the strain of COVID-19 in our environment.) How do martial law victims feel now that another Marcos has set foot in Malacañang as the new president? (This could be a potential story about the quest for justice of victims of abuse.) Where are the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu now? (This could be a potential story about the recent ruling in France asking Malaysia to pay the heirs for use of Sabah.) Once confronted with facts, it\'s also the journalist\'s job to challenge them. Your job is not to accept what\'s in front of you, but to investigate it and hold it up to strong light under intense examination. Here are some example questions: How did they become "the facts"? Are there more "facts"? Are "the facts" true? Do other "facts" call the original "facts" into question, or change the perception or the picture, or change the dimension of the question or issue? However, asking the right questions is not an excuse to be disrespectful. There are consequences as well to this type of questioning. Here\'s an excerpt from an opinion piece from SunStar: Some journalists exult over having asked such tough ones as "Did you steal, sir?" or "Did you overprice the land, ma'm?" They get a kick out of sounding mean, the same feeling of a school or internet bully pouncing on a scared prey. Most reporters, though, are reluctant to shoot embarrassing questions to news sources: say, a city councilor, about missing steel bars and expensive beds; or a mayor, about cars donated to the city but had been used as his own; or the BAC chief, about a bidding rigged for a favored contractor. There are questions though that they love to ask even when they shouldn't. Nobody should ask a severely injured ship-sinking victim how he felt: an audit on personal feelings that many, including CNN reporters, can't resist. Which raises the matter of distinguishing what's crucial to the story from what's merely interesting or insignificant. The first must be asked even if it's tough. The second may be dropped or one risks sounding stupidly insensitive. Before asking the tough question, the prudent journalist must assess its necessity. The news source might clam up or shut down the interview and nurse a grudge against the reporter. A squelch on tough questioning is the right of the news source not to be interviewed. Despite routine homage to the government's avowed policy of transparency, a public of icial can refuse media access. He may be candid about the rejection or he can make up excuses but, yes, he can restrict flow of information. Which can be disastrous, especially if the beat is major and reporters are given a daily quota on stories. As Helen Thomas (once the grand dame of the White House press corps who covered nine American presidents as correspondent of United Press/United Press International for 57 years) said, a tough question is not disrespectful. But it can be. The discourtesy comes when the question is blunt and sudden, phrased in crude and of ensive language, with menacing tone, or paced like police interrogation. You don't ask Binay after his speech, "Mr. Vice President, are you corrupt? Did you overprice those buildings by millions of pesos?" What journ teachers advice about cushioning the tough question can be improved in the field, adjusting method to the kind of news source the reporter covers. The art of questioning is a neglected tool that needs regular sharpening. But the tough questions must be raised. Meanwhile, questions can also help you in presenting your story. A journalist must always question the direction of one's story in order to sharpen it and make sure you are giving it enough justice. We know the basic questions that journalists strive to answer when chasing a news story --- questions starting with "who," "what," "where," when," "why" and "how." Here are a few other questions from Poynter they suggest journalists should address --- usually right before they start their reporting, and then right before they sit down to write: How would you tell this story to a friend? This encourages the writer to think about the most interesting and relevant nuggets of the story. We're good at considering the news value of a story, but we're not always as good at pondering the "Why should the reader care?" part. Having the writer imagine telling the story to a friend can help him or her think about why we should care. This approach can also help the writer move away from any jargon and bring a conversational tone to the piece. What would an early headline be for this story, knowing that the headline is not set in stone? This is a variation on the question, "What is this story really about?" Boiling the premise down to five or six words can help the writer sharpen the story's focus. What surprised you? Asking about "surprise" can help the writer shed his or her journalistic mantle, at least for a moment, and just react to the story's events as a human being. Who were the quirky personalities you met? What was a jarring quote you heard? What did you not see coming? What are the unanswered questions? Better to be clear and 'fess up in the story about what remains to be explained and clarified. This question also prompts the writer and editor to compile a list of questions for any follow-up stories. How do we bring something new to this story? What better way to challenge journalists than to ask them to come up with a fresh approach to the story? What's the glimpse of wisdom we can offer? The best stories are those that not only tell readers something they don't know, but also resonate with readers because they touch upon a universal theme. Next of course is the most obvious topic when it comes to asking the right questions --- interview. Journalistic interviewing is tantamount to learning how to have quality conversations with people from all walks of life. It can be the president, lawmakers, crime suspects, convicted criminals, religious figures, pop stars, and many more. And each of these individuals require a different approach in talking to them. But don't worry. Most of the time, it\'s human sensitivity that will tell you the ways of how to deal with them. Then what follows is your editorial judgment and the ability to understand and willing to a wide range of topics. The first lesson, always, in interviewing is to remember that you are dealing with people. All other considerations stem from this fact. It may sound simple, even absurd to some, but this basic concept, sometimes, is easily forgotten especially within the parameters of media competition and the pressure of having a good soundbite. Because you're dealing with people, you are expected to deal with human sensitivities, which are always bound to be complicated and unpredictable. Public officials are (and should be) accustomed to talking to members of the press and they are obligated by the nature of their office to accommodate journalists. Contrary to this, private individuals are in no way obligated to talk to the media, and therefore must be accorded with more sensitivity when interviewing them. Majority of a journalist\'s daily work requires asking people for information and this sensitivity must always be observed. If you take a quick look at today\'s news, you will notice that they are based on information from several kinds of sources: physical sources (files, records, documents), direct observations from reporters, interviews with human sources, etc. It can always be a combination of either of these, but you will find it hard to find a news report that does not have an element of information that came from an interview, brief as that interview may have been. There are two types of interview a journalist typically does: News interview - it\'s purpose being to gather information to be able to explain an idea event or situation in the news Profile - the focus is an individual But in whichever type of interview, there are four principles that journalists must comply with, according to a lecture from Columbia University: Prepare carefully Establish a relation with the source conducive to obtaining information Ask questions that are relevant to the source Listen and watch attentively Let\'s dissect the concepts involved in these: Preparation Preparing for an interview involves the simplest to complex tasks. A.J. Liebling, a master reporter, is quoted in The Most of A.J. Liebling, saying: \"The preparation is the same whether you are going to interview a diplomat, a jockey, or an ichthyologist. From the man\'s past you learn what questions are likely to stimulate a response.\" First is research, which means knowing background information about who you are interviewing (specifically for known-personalities) and understanding the basics of the topic you are pursuing. Research could mean reading library clippings or any published materials relevant to the person or the topic of your story, or asking other people who are knowledgeable about it. Such resources have the following functions: provides the journalist with leads for possible questions, gives the reporter a feel for the subject, and provides a useful background. By taking the time to research, the journalist also gets the chance to study in advance the possible answers the resource person might give. This shows the interviewee, not only that you have taken the time to understand the subject, but also the fact that you can\'t be easily fooled or manipulated. Second, at this early stage you need to identify your focus. Although it is always a possibility that the focus of your story might change during the conduct of news gathering, it is always in the journalist\'s advantage to start with a specific reason for the pursuit of the story to know what kind of information you need to ferret out and the additional resources you need. The questions In preparing your questions for the interview, you are already setting the parameters for the entire conversation. This is why you need to jot down all possible questions you could think of, not to ask all of them but to make sure that you covered all necessary angles and that you are prepared for anything that might sprung up during the interview. Generally, there are two types of questions you can prepare: the closed-ended questions and the open-ended questions Closed-ended questions are typically those that provide response to the what, who, where, and when of the story. These questions are about providing the basic information and typically elicit short responses. Examples are: What was your previous position? Where did you study in college? How many people attended the protest? Meanwhile, open-ended questions are designed to ferret out most of the quotes that you will use in your story. They are mostly for elaborations and anecdotes. There are some \"what questions\" in this type but it mostly about the why and the how details of the story. In writing these questions, it is important that you keep them short and in simple sentences. Never combine two questions in one sentence. Conducting the interview Rich (2010) in his book Writing and Reporting News, he cited the \"Dumb Factor\" when journalists begin their interview. He explained how reporters often worry that they will appear dumb to sources. But what journalists must realize is that you don\'t have to worry about this. After all, a journalist is there to \"listen and learn, not to be the expert.\" Therefore, it is fine to admit when you don\'t understand things during the interview and to request the resource person to elaborate more on the topic. Rich added: \"Acting dumb does not mean forgetting about preliminary background work. It is dumb if you can\'t tell your readers something because you were afraid to ask. It\'s better to feel dumb during the interview than afterward.\" Here are some main points you need to cover within the interview process itself: Start out by using icebreakers. Be friendly. Create an atmosphere of openness by looking relaxed and conversational. Use your notes but don\'t focus on it. Always make sure that you look interested in who you are talking to. That\'s why eye contact is important. Also, don\'t be obsessed with following the chronological order of your questions. What you should follow is the flow of the conversation. Ask follow-up questions. Don\'t settle if you think you are still not satisfied with the answer. You could wait a little longer before bringing up the subject again. In this case, be patient in waiting for the right timing. Frame your questions on the information you have just heard by focusing on key words in the last answer. Keep quiet. Again, remember that you are there not the source, but the one seeking information from your source. Don\'t talk too much and don\'t try to impress your source with your knowledge. Never insert your opinion or comment on the topic. Let your source talk. Don\'t be afraid of the tough questions. Maybe you\'re worried that the question might embarrass or offend the interviewee or the subject is too controversial or personal. But sometimes, there is no recourse but to ask them anyway. Always remember that you are there as a journalist and asking difficult questions is part of your job. Watch the source\'s body language. You can learn a lot from how the interviewee reacts to the questions or the way his body moves during the interview. In some cases, this alone is a story in itself. Remain attentive all the time. Use the silent treatment. Don\'t be too eager to throw your follow up question after the source answered your previous question. Pause for a few seconds between questions to allow your interviewee to elaborate. Using that in-between silence, the source might break that by elaborating that which will give you more context on the information you are seeking. End on a positive note. After the interview, make sure to thank your source. You can also ask if you can call back if you have further questions. Note-taking Taking notes during the interview does not mean jotting down words constantly as the conversation goes along. It only means writing down some important information, observations, or notes to yourself that could help you once you sit down to write the story. It is important that you write this down yourself because it helps you remember crucial details of the interview that cannot be captured by a voice recorder or even a video camera, like thoughts and ideas that might come to you during the conversation. Here are some tips on note-taking (Rich, 2010): Be prepared. Don\'t rely on electronic means of note taking. Make sure you have a notepad, pencil or pen and backups, just in case. Concentrate. Don\'t let your mind wander on what to write next. Your prime goal during the interview is to listen. Use keywords. You don\'t need to write in full sentences. You may also use your own system of shorthand, provided that you can still understand them afterward. Request repetition. Don\'t be afraid to ask your source to elaborate more or even to repeat a quote or a fact you just missed. Just don\'t do it too often, or risk the situation where you appear to be unfocused. Mark that question. While listening to the source elaborate on a certain question, there will be instances when a follow-up question would pop up on your mind. This is one of those crucial details that you need to jot down immediately or you might lose it once the conversation moves on to the next topic. Double check. By checking your notes, you might come across incomplete information that your source has provided. For example, if he was talking about three reasons for something, make sure that you have all three of them on your notes. If not, then you can again do a follow up. Wrap up. Once the interview is done, going through your notes and making sure to elaborate more on words and phrases you wrote down would give you the necessary clarity to avoid confusion. It\'s always a possibility that some of the things you jot down would no longer be comprehensible to you hours after. A big chunk of your daily tasks as a journalist involve interviewing various people, hence learning the necessary skills to do it in high regard to quality journalism is more than necessary. Many things are happening during an interview but the journalist must stay focused on his goal of fleshing out necessary details for the public while making sure that you remain respectful and sensitive to your source. Most of the time, a quality interview would bring you the quality story you're aiming for. There are dozens of things to learn about interviewing but the most important is to always be prepared and persistent in seeking the truth. -End- Application: Watch this press conference from the White House which saw President Donald Trump answering some questions from journalists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdFe-LmFRV8 Write a reaction paper focusing on how the journalists did their job and how Trump dealt with them. Do you think the questions were fair? Do you think the manner of questioning was fair? Do you think Trump\'s manner of responding to journalists was good considering his responsibility as a public official? LESSON 3: Getting the stories Introduction: Stories don't usually just fall from the sky. Unless you're already a veteran reporter with years of experience and a battalion of sources, you'll need to work your way through just to be able to find those newsworthy stories to pursue. This means sharpening your editorial judgment, developing your people's skills, and honing your research ability to be able to present the stories that the public needs to know. Objectives: At the end of this lesson, the student should be able to: Identify the basic sources of news like press releases, police reports, and news wires Gain the basic skills on how to turn news sources to news reports Understand the limitations on using basic news sources Develop basic nose for news and where to get them Activity: Close your eyes and listen carefully to everything around you. One by one, write every sound that you will hear. Out of everything that you've heard, choose at least three of them and try to write a 10-sentence story about it. Lesson proper: So you want to be a journalist. Imagine it's your first day at work. You're all set \-- you have your phone, your notepad just in case, and you even have a crew already. The next question is, where would you go to find a story? Your deadline is 5 hours from now. What should you do? Finding stories to report about is a complex method that journalists master through years of experience. With the overflowing sources of information nowadays especially through digital means, one could easily think that it's easy to find a good story to submit to your editor nowadays. The truth is, this surge in possible sources is a double edged sword. Sometimes it's like a blessing from the heavens, as it makes certain aspects of a journalist's life easier. But sometimes, it can make a reporter's life a lot messier. For this lesson, it's best that we take the traditional route in finding stories. BBC was right when it reminded journalists back in 2017 how original journalism doesn\'t necessarily mean coming up with a brand new story out of the blue. It is true that big scoops and explosive exposes are great and perhaps the pinnacle of high-standard journalism, developing original thoughts through honest assessment of existing stories and picking out a new angle are just as important. Developing a curious mind All stories start with a simple curiosity. That simple nudge in your mind about something is the beginning of the entire process of storytelling. In the activity before the start of this lesson, hearing that sound and following it is a response to curiosity. In this highly complex world we are in, these sounds are everywhere acting as alarm bells that would lead to possible newsworthy stories. Imagine walking along a busy street. Using your curiosity, you should be able to draw up possible story leads just by looking and listening around along that stretch of road and start doing a follow up to those small nudges: Why are there so many cars parked on the sidewalk? Is that even allowed? Are there city ordinances pertaining to this? Traffic build ups are normal here, could these parked cars be one of the major reasons? Where are the traffic wardens? What about the residents nearby? What could be their opinion on these parked cars? As BBC had put it: "Look to develop a mindset that makes it impossible to listen to someone, read a newspaper or walk down the street without thinking \'that looks or sounds odd \-- I wonder what it\'s really about.\'\" A caution though. Curiosity does not end with those little nudges. As with the activity you did before this lesson, you were asked to follow it through. You even wrote about it. This is because curiosity is being persistent. Curiosity may have killed the cat but the lack thereof would certainly kill the journalist. Curiosity is that urge to always find out more, to dig deeper, and get more answers to many questions. And this is what journalism is at its basic core. It's the never ending pursuit of curiosity that leads us to better answers for people. And it's not just about finding the story. This curiosity can also lead us to finding better, more effective ways of telling our stories. With the fast-evolving technology, journalists should not be left behind and must learn new methods to meet the public. Listen carefully Notice how the more you listened intently during the activity before the lesson, the more sounds you recognize? Also, have you noticed more sounds that you never heard before while you were doing your usual activities on a daily basis? Most people might actually think that reporters should be able to talk a lot. But the truth is journalists should be able to listen more. Because only through listening can he actually gain the lead and understand the story that he is trying to pursue. By listening, the journalist forgets about himself to focus on his job. Only by listening carefully can journalists fully understand the context of what he's trying to absorb. The words, tone, and even the silence. All these make up the entire message. BBC has warned that people tend to take in a small percentage of what the other person is actually saying. This is because a lot of us make assumptions and finish the thoughts for ourselves. Only by listening carefully and intently we can make sense of the entire message. You fail this, you fail your essence as a journalist. If being curious points you to the direction of the story and asking the right questions makes way for the newsworthy tales, listening takes you further not just with that certain story but towards more stories of value. The sources While the concepts discussed before this indeed would lead you to where stories come from, in this part we enumerate a more literal concept of news source; more like a physical map on where exactly to look at. Press release. In journalism, this pertains to an official statement from an individual or an institution delivered to members of the press for greater dissemination of what they perceive as something newsworthy. Given its nature, press releases are naturally biased towards whoever sent it. Press releases are a good starting point in looking for a story, especially from notable people or institutions. Statements contained in these statements are binding. Also, a press release can give you information that you are not yet aware of. But remember that the contents of a press release are not always newsworthy. Sometimes, it\'s mere propaganda. Sometimes, it\'s merely an attempt to gain media mileage. Media invites/alerts. It is common practice to send invitations or alerts to journalists to cover certain events, especially those that are downright newsworthy. Usually, these invitations already contain a brief of what to expect in the event; sometimes including a possible story angle to convince the journalist to attend the event. Police reports. Spot reports, blotter, and other police reports are good sources of stories. A lot of cub reporters would usually go around various police stations and check on these reports for possible leads to a story, especially those who don't have a network of sources yet. Government records. Technically, a lot of government documents are open for the public, especially those concerning public welfare. This includes records on infrastructure projects, expenditures, certain types of deals, etc. Competition. Monitoring your competition lets you know the things you might have missed, either within the story that you are pursuing or an entirely different story. This also gives you the opportunity to scrutinize your manner of storytelling and check whatever you need to improve in your reportage. -End- Application: Just by merely observing around your neighborhood: (a) identify a possible story which you think is newsworthy; (b) list down at least five questions to dig deeper in that particular story; (c) listen and write down what the other people in your neighborhood think about that topic or issue. Using the press release below: (a) explain whether its content is newsworthy or not; (b) right down at least 5 questions that you think would expound more on the story: \[See next page\] EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ABU DHABI PHILIPPINE EMBASSY STATEMENT It is with deep sadness that the Embassy shares the latest information that two Filipinos died from the unfortunate accident yesterday caused by a gas explosion at a restaurant at Sheikh Rashid Bin Seed Road, (also known as Airport Road) in Abu Dhabi, as reported by UAE authorities. Ambassador Hjayceelyn M. Quintana has reached out to the families of the deceased to express condolences and to give assurance that they will be provided all necessary assistance. According to Amb. Quintana, the Embassy continues to work with UAE authorities to also obtain details on some injured Filipinos who were brought to the hospital for treatment of minor and moderate injuries so that they can be given appropriate support. The Ambassador advised the Filipino community to remain safe and to be mindful of protocols of the host government. 1 September 2020 LESSON 4: Press conferences, speeches, meetings Introduction: Press conferences, speeches and meetings are news events that journalists constantly cover. In attending these, journalists learn to master their editorial judgment and discern which among the information revealed in such events are worthy of the public\'s attention. There\'s a certain complexity as to the dynamics of these events that requires a certain level of journalistic skill to make sure that the experience will bring out the desired outcome for a valuable reportage. Objectives: At the end of this lesson, the student is expected to: Know how press conferences, speeches and meetings can benefit a journalist Understand the basics of covering press conferences, speeches, and meetings Sharpen editorial judgment that is necessary in covering press conferences, speeches, and meetings Activity: What is your idea of a press conference? Using a word cloud, right down the words that come to your mind when you hear the term press conference. What was the speech that made a mark on you that you still remember it up to this day? It could be because you consider it really good or you remember it simply because it was bad. Explain a certain part of the speech which for you is the highlight of that speech. Lesson proper: Press conferences, speeches, and meetings are that trio that is too familiar for veteran journalists. But for cub reporters, these events are surefire venues to learn the necessary basic journalistic skills. Mostly the situation is contained, the ideas are focused, and almost a foolproof source of stories. All three are considered major sources of news. But while reporters are required to cover the said events, discerning which of the information is newsworthy is crucial. News judgment is the key. Also, most of the types of news that you could get through these are considered hard news. Remember that the majority of times, the events themselves are not newsworthy and therefore should not be the subject of news. No audience would be interested in hearing reports that begin with \"Senator A called for a press conference\...\" or \"The group