Deck 6: Writing for Print Journalism

Question 1

As opposed to just a few years ago, most newspapers are losing money.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Magazines are likely to have a more well-defined audience than newspapers.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Information that may not need attribution in a news story includes

A) context or background information
B) direct quotes
C) indirect quotes
D) information from stored sources

Answer 3

context or background information

Question 4

Define attribution.

A) Attribution means listing various related websites.
B) Attribution means listing survivors in an obituary story.
C) Attribution means telling the reader where the information in that story comes from.

Question 5

When we say that information should be attributed, we mean that it should

A) conform to the rules of some stylebook
B) be clear to the reader what source the information has come from
C) be read by an editor before publication or broadcast

Question 6

The most common structure for a print news story is the inverted pyramid. That means:

A) the most important information should be in the last part of the story
B) the most important information should be somewhere in the third to fifth paragraphs of the story
C) the writer should not make any judgments about the importance of the information but should tell what happened in chronological order
D) the most important information should be in the first paragraph of the story

Question 7

What is the preferred verb for attribution in print news stories?

A) says
B) states
C) said

Question 8

List two technical guidelines for writing a lead for a news story.

A) One sentence long and a maximum of 30 to 33 words long.
B) Two sentences and at least 50 words.
C) A subject and a verb in the proper sequence.

Question 9

Which is correct if you are writing for print?

A) He rushed for more than 10,000 yards last year.
B) He rushed for over ten thousand yards last year.
C) He rushed for over 10 thousand yards last year.

Question 10

The most important part of a news story is the:

A) lead paragraph
B) 2nd paragraph
C) body paragraph
D) concluding paragraph

Question 11

Almost all media writing is a collaboration; usually it's between a writer and an editor.

Question 12

Writers should never edit their own copy - it's too painful.

Question 13

The when element in the lead should be

A) included at the very beginning of the lead most of the time
B) included in the lead, preferably near the verb, but NOT at the beginning of the lead
C) excluded from the lead whenever possible
D) ALWAYS left at the very end of the lead

Question 14

What should the second paragraph of a news article contain?

A) it should answer questions raised in the lead paragraph.
B) it should never contain more than 25 words.
C) it should contain no more than five sentences.
D) it should contain the most important element of the news story

Question 15

A writing device used to tie different pieces of information together is the

A) conjunction
B) transition
C) attribution

Question 16

In any news story, if these are present, they are considered the most important facts of the story:

A) death and injury
B) high winds and rain
C) financial transactions

Question 17

The lead paragraph in a speech story should include

A) the age of the speaker
B) only general information about the speech
C) something specific that the speaker said

Question 18

Information that reflects badly on the deceased should be omitted from an obituary.

Question 19

One of the reasons that journalists like courtroom stories is that

A) there is built-in conflict
B) they don't have to use any direct quotes
C) the outcome is pre-determined

Question 20

A feature story about some aspect of a person's life is called a

A) anecdotal feature
B) suspended interest feature
C) profile

Question 21

College students should not think about writing a book; it's too early in their careers to do so.