Deck 6: Basic News Stories

Question 1

What are the strengths of print journalism?

Answer 1

Detail and thoroughness.

Question 2

Print stories are much more dominated by timeliness and a concern for brevity than broadcast stories.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

How much information should be in a print story?

Answer 3

Include as much information as you deem relevant If you write long, the story can always be cut Do not overwrite or provide trivial detail Exercise news judgment of a story's newsworthiness and give editors all the information needed to effectively edit the story.

Question 4

What are transition words and why are they important to the flow of a news story?

Question 5

Journalistic writing not only uses long leads, but it also favors long paragraphs because this gives readers a sense of substance to the subject, making it clear that the reporter really knows what he or she is writing about.

Question 6

How do subheads and "chunks of text" aid story flow?

Question 7

Information graphics have been welcomed by reporters, because they are a way to get out of writing a story (or having to understand a complicated subject).

Question 8

What kind of stories are the basic "what happened" hard news stories of print
journalism?

Question 9

Given the material nature of today's society, lead with information about monetary loss in composing a story, even if there is serious injury or loss of life.

Question 10

Like it or not, a journalist's ultimate goal is to generate readers or viewers. Thus, reporters should hype stories for publicity's sake. Dress up a story to build your reputation as a tough investigative reporter. Go after public officials, suggesting misconduct even where there is none by playing "gotcha" with a politician you dislike. After all, you're doing it for those same readers and viewers.

Question 11

How should arrests be reported?

Question 12

In reporting fires, accidents and crime, your story becomes more interesting if you quote extensively from witnesses. They were there and saw what happened and are in the best position to make judgments and speculations about events and interpret them for readers.

Question 13

Using words such as allegedly or reportedly shields a reporter from a libel suit should the facts in a story later turn out to be untrue.

Question 14

In accident stories, always include a complete account of what happened and precisely where it happened, as well as information about the extent of injuries or death, and the exact offense with which any suspect is charged.

Question 15

Gather the names, ages and addresses of victims, arrested suspects, and witnesses in accident, fire and crime stories, even though newspapers have guidelines that would preclude printing some of this information.

Question 16

Newspapers are concerned about "victimizing the victim." What are general policies to prevent this from happening?

Question 17

At times a reporter has questions about what should be reported, especially in criminal proceedings. What should they do?

Question 18

True journalists are stoutly loyal to the inverted pyramid and scorn narrative writing; there is no better way to tell a news story than to put as much of the traditional who, what, when, where, why and how into that lead paragraph!

Question 19

Every news story is written in the same way: prioritize your material and organize the
topics you want to write about in the order of their importance.

Question 20

An obituary and a death notice are different names for the same thing.

Question 21

Obituaries are the basic stories almost all new reporters are required to write because they test a beginning journalist's ability to be accurate and thorough.

Question 22

Obituaries are basically found in print journalism. The public relations practitioner never has occasion to write obits.

Question 23

Obituaries are routine, boring assignments; they are treated as routine by the family of the deceased as well.

Question 24

On most newspapers, obituaries are written according to a predetermined formula in order to avoid the appearance of favoritism.

Question 25

Reporters never have any contact with the family of the deceased because basic information for the obituary is supplied by family members, who complete information forms at the mortuary.

Question 26

A first day lead for an obituary story begins with:

A) Information on funeral arrangements.
B) The name of the deceased and the fact of death.
C) Either of these is appropriate in first day lead treatment.

Question 27

Reporters must exercise news judgment in writing obituaries in the following ways:

A) Deciding what information to include that fits each topical area of the formula.
B) Determining what to include from family or outside sources.
C) Choosing what to emphasize in the lead.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above. Reporters follow the formula; after all, they don't have the time to make follow-up calls.

Question 28

There are a number of judgment calls a reporter must make as to what information to include in an obit, such as address, cause of death or criminal record. Ultimately, it comes down to a matter of what information the public needs to know, and for what reason.

Question 29

Since newspapers increasingly try to give readers what they want, obituary writers follow family wishes in listing the survivors, even including family pets.

Question 30

The surviving spouse (if there is one) is referred to as a widow or widower.

Question 31

Be careful of potentially libelous information received from funeral homes, neighbors or friends, especially in small communities. Gossip is common, but it becomes libelous if you put it in the paper; don't print information unless you can prove that it is true.

Question 32

Rewrites fall into several categories. They are:

Question 33

Rewrites require that decisions be made about a story's news value. What are some of the questions reporters should ask?

Question 34

Assuming you want to use a news service story or news release, you must primarily concentrate on organizing new material, not merely making cosmetic changes and updating information.

Question 35

In rewriting a news service story, keep changes to a minimum because you want your version to sound like that being broadcast or carried by other newspapers. It adds the sound of credibility to the news report.

Question 36

What does localizing a story involve?

Question 37

What is an enterprise story?

Question 38

In preparing news releases, a good public relations professional studies the styles of the various publications in the market, then tailors news releases to fit those formats.

Question 39

Public relations practitioners generally write news releases to minimum length because they know that the editor is not going to waste time cutting or editing the story. If it has to be edited, it won't be used.

Question 40

News releases from individuals with no journalistic background are generally a joy to work with. Because they lack formal training, they've followed the style of your paper and are unusually attentive to accuracy and detail, leaving little rewriting to be done on your part.

Question 41

The best public relations practitioners know that they can get the news to readers of what their organization does by writing like trained professional journalists and by giving editors stories of true news value.

Question 42

Journalists realize that one of their responsibilities is to pass along news that helps an organization in the form of free advertising or publicity.

Question 43

As a reporter, do not take a news release at face value, even if it comes from a public relations practitioner you have worked with often, regard highly and trust. Try to approach whatever the news release tells you with an open mind and a nose for news.

Question 44

Roundups are:

A) A collection of brief articles, some rewrites, some new stories.
B) Found in routine police, highway patrol or sheriff's department news.
C) Items about church or social activities.
D) All of the above.
E) Newspapers no longer bother with roundups; too time consuming.

Question 45

For news briefs on page one, the primary consideration is:

Question 46

Most of the time, in the interest of fairness, all the parts of a roundup are done similarly, with an evenness in tone, sentence structure and language.

Question 47

Obituaries, rewrites and roundups are considered "safer" for the inexperienced reporters. Why? And what can a novice learn from these assignments?