RFTM Chapter 2: Selecting And Reporting The News

There are several characteristics of news to consider. Those include timeliness; that it is current information, fresh angles and new details. (You can't spell "news" without "new.")

Impact: stories that affect, involve or interest large groups of audience members. (For example, a tuition hike at MSU is a big deal to The State News, because so many of the newspaper's readers are MSU students. A tuition hike at the U. of M. means much less to The State News, because the U. of M. isn't its audience.) Reporters must evaluate the impact and/or importance of news, in deciding what to report and highlight.

Prominence: the happenings of people or institutions of great power, importance or influence. (For example, if I get into a car accident it's not a big deal, since I'm nobody special. If the President gets into a car accident, it's a big deal.)

Proximity: events close to home (a murder in East Lansing is bigger news to The State News than a murder in Detroit, because The State News's primary audience is in and around East Lansing) and even events happening to people or in places similar to those of your audience (for example, a college campus shooting in California WOULD be a bigger deal to The State News, since the news involves the same demographic as its primary audience; that being college students).

Singularity: or deviations from the usual, such as unexpected or unusual events, drama or charge, odd twists in otherwise-mundane stories (for example, a car accident caused by a cat driving a car is much more newsworthy than a typical car accident, because cats usually don't drive cars). Journalists must always be on the lookout for this, if singularity is what makes this story different than others.

Conflict or controversy: between entities or people (e.g., a school planning a tuition hike unpopular with students), or between people and societal issues (e.g., college grads dealing with a lousy job market).

There are also various types of news, including hard news, defined as stories on serious, timely and important topics (e.g., tuition hikes, public safety).

Soft news: features or human-interest stories (summer travel options, a look at the life of an interesting person).

Breaking news: news that's happening at the moment (car crashes, house fires).

Is there such a thing as "good news" and "bad news?" Journalistically, no. This usually refers to a source's view of a story, based on whether he or she received positive or negative attention.

(That has no bearing on the work we do. Our duty is to our audience, regardless of whether it makes a source look good or bad or indifferent and regardless of your opinions or even your audience's opinions. Rely on facts -- and fairness to the facts, and your audience's accurate understanding of teh facts -- to guide the tone of your report.)

The importance of accuracy is all-encompassing. Journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right. That includes an accuracy in facts. Reporters must understand a topic before writing about it. If reporters don't understand something, how can they explain it to readers? Make sure you do thorough reporting and ask any and all questions -- even so-called "stupid" ones -- so that you get what you're writing about.

Accurate writing requires specifics instead of generalities. Be sure to double-check and even triple-check all information. Ask for spellings (especially of names; the first time you assume somone spells their name as Jill, you'll later learn it was Jyl or something else) and specifics. Most fact errors are caused by carelessness or laziness.

There are many obstacles to accuracy, primarily that speed (in meeting deadlines) and accuracy (in ensuring our work is correct) don't naturally go together. But that's the challenge of journalism; to make those two get along as well as possible.

Also, there's always the risk of misinformation, by a source either providing incorrect information or lying outright. That's why it's important to talk to MULTIPLE sources, and to seek evidence for statements given to you.

(There's an old saying in journalism that, "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." What does that mean? That if your mom says she loves you, don't just take her word for it; try to verify it using facts and statements. For example, you can cite historical documents that indicate a fondness for you, like birthday cards from your mom and notes she wrote you saying how much she loves you. You can interview subjects who know your mom, like coworkers who say she always brags about how great you are. You can cite historical events, like that she never missed any of your activities as a kid. Then, you share all that with your audience. THAT'S journalism. Again, it's not about writing; it's about getting it right.)

RFTM Chapter 3: Newswriting Style

What do newswriters do? Provide information in a clear and concise manner using simple language. Simple language is important because you are trying to reach an audience with widely varied capabilities and interests. To communicate effectively to a mass audience, you must present information in a way that will allow almost everyone to read and understand it.

(This is the exact opposite of what you've learned in English composition all these years, where teachers encourage you to use big and fancy words. For practical writing, this is an awful habit, as is much we're going to un-learn you from English comp this term. Use simple words and simple terms, please.)

Also, present factual information succinctly and in an impartial and objective manner. You must provide enough information so that the audience understands what happened, and keep your opinion out of stories.

(Again, a big diff between English comp and journalism is that in English comp, we write to express ourselves. In journalism, we write to share facts we've verified. Writing isn't about our self-expression; it's about informing an audience first and foremost.)

The pre-writing process. Ask yourself these questions: what is the story about? Why is it newsworthy? How is its central point unique? Failure to identify a central point risks a story that is incoherent and incomplete. Try to develop one central point thoroughly. A story with several apparent central points may be worth more than one story.

How do you find a central point? Report! What we write and how we write it isn't based on personal expression and opinion; it's based on what we discover in the reporting process, and what we determine is most interesting, relevant and useful to our audience.

The story outline. We start with the lede paragraph. That's the first paragraph of a story, which may contain the central point or a telling anecdote that sets up the central point. Often, the lede goes to end result and ultimate outcome; e.g., how the story ended and what is the latest information.

(Again, this is another big way journalism differs from English comp. In English comp, the ending is the ending. But in journalism, the ending is the lede: who won the football game, what the city council ended up doing, how many people died in the tornado outbreak, ect.)

Use simplifying words, sentences and paragraphs. Avoid long, unfamiliar words (e.g., instead of "homicide," say "murder. Instead of "vehicle," say "car" or "van" or "bus" or whatever. Instead of "inebriated vehicle operator," say "drunk driver.")

Use short sentences and paragraphs. The longer a sentence is, the more difficult it is to understand. You can shorten sentences by using the "normal word order" of subject, then verb, then direct object (e.g., instead of saying "The homework was eaten by the dog," say "The dog ate the homework.")

Write for the ear. Use sentences that do not sound awkward or inappropriate when spoken. (If you're not sure if a sentence flows well, read it out loud. Does it sound choppy or stilted or a hot mess? Then it probably reads the same way. Rewrite it as necessary until it's easy to say and hear out loud.)

Eliminate unnecessary words. Writers who use two words when one would suffice simply waste space. (Again, in English comp you are encouraged to be wordy; in journalism, we want to be efficient with our word use.) Eliminate multiple words that convey the same idea (e.g., "past history." History is the past. Eliminate one of those words.)

Remain objective. Reporters are neutral observers, not advocates or participants. Reporters provide facts and details, not opinion. (Again, journalism isn't about you expressing yourself; it's about informing the audience on what you discovered during the reporting process.)

Avoid stereotypical isms. Like, racism. (Only mention race when clearly relevant to a story, like a detailed suspect description.) Or, sexism. (Avoid occupational terms that exclude one sex or the other, like "fireman." Use "firefighter" instead.) Or ageism and word usage with the disabled, veterans and religious groups, and the poor. ("Old fogey, Bible-beater, bum," ect.) 

RFTM Chapter 4: The Language Of News

Be precise. Understand the words you use, and use words that are clear, concise and accurate. Journalists who do not use words correctly can confuse or irritate their readers. That undermines credibility and questions accuracy. (After all, if you can't get the small things right -- like proper word use -- how can you get the big things right, and why should a reader trust you?) .

Journalists who do not use words correctly can convey a meaning that was not intended. (Here's a real example from my professional career that ended up on the Jay Leno show: I wrote a short story about a man who was arrested, and when he was strip-searched in jail they found he was hiding crack cocaine between his butt cheeks. And here was the headline an editor wrote: MAN HID CRACK IN BUTTOCKS. Hardy har har.)

Use strong verbs. What is a strong verb? A verb that describes the action taking place, in an active tense. (For example, on 9/11 it would be underwhelming to say planes "hit" the Twin Towers. It would be more accurate and contextual to say the planed "slammed" into the buildings.)

(Let me be clear: the verb still has to be accurate, and not an exaggeration. Don't hype up a story without reason; our reason comes from facts. Like in the 9/11 example; the planes didn't just pop into the Twin Towers. They were tons of steel and human life racing at almost 500 mph. striking with such power that the buildings buckled, and eventually fell. The facts cry out for context and to the severity of what happened. It has nothing to do with how I want to write it.)

Avoid adjectives and adverbs. Most are unnecessary, and simply restate the obvious. And it may inject opinion into the story. There's no need to say something horrible is "grim" or "tragic;" the presentation of facts will make that clear.

Avoid cliches, which are words and phrases that have been used over and over again, like someone being "as blind as a bat" or "old as dirt." It's just lazy writing; come up with something descriptive and original instead.

Avoid slang. It can become dated; it can convey alternative meanings; it can confuse readers of certain ages of ethic groups. (For example, if you told your grandma "Whatevs, obvi," would she know what the hell you were talking about? And that's a great test; if your grandma wouldn't understand your word use, then use simpler and clearer language.)

Avoid or translate technical language and jargon. Journalists should translate jargon into plain English. (e.g., instead of "cardiac arrest," say "heart attack.") If you don't know what a layman's term may be for a given word or phrase, ask your source for a translation in plain English or check resources online that could do the same.

Avoid using vague expressions known as euphemisms in place of harsher but more direct terms. (For example, "expecting" is a euphemism for "pregnant." "Downsizing" is a euphemism for "laid off" or "fired." "Passed away" is a euphemism for "dying." Don't use such euphemisms.) Euphemisms detract from clarity and precision in writing.

Don't use first-person references outside of quotes, like I, me, my, our, ect.  Those betray a reporter's neutral bystander role.

Avoid the negative. I don't mean bad news; I mean negative sentence construction, like "the dog did not stay awake," instead of the better "the dog slept." Sentences with multiple negatives can become tough to understand (e.g., "the dog did not stay awake while his owner was not home" can be simplified to, "The dog slept while his owner was away.")

Avoid an echo. An echo is a redundant word. (For example, "frozen tundra" includes an echo, because the definition of "tundra" is frozen ground. So, when you say "frozen tundra," you're saying "frozen frozen ground.")

Avoid gush. This is writing with exaggerated enthusiasm. ("The 5th Annual Spelling Bee was an awesome mega-event that will never be forgotten!") Use facts to substantiate your descriptions. If the spelling bee included the largest fireworks show in history and multiple people are quoted as saying that this was the peak of their lives, then the aforementioned lede may be okay. If your facts don't support it, then it's not. Find words and phrases that accurately set the scene.)

RFTM Chapter 3: Newswriting Style

What do newswriters do? Provide information in a clear and concise manner using simple language. Simple language is important because you are trying to reach an audience with widely varied capabilities and interests. To communicate effectively to a mass audience, you must present information in a way that will allow almost everyone to read and understand it.

(This is the exact opposite of what you've learned in English composition all these years, where teachers encourage you to use big and fancy words. For practical writing, this is an awful habit, as is much we're going to un-learn you from English comp this term. Use simple words and simple terms, please.)

Also, present factual information succinctly and in an impartial and objective manner. You must provide enough information so that the audience understands what happened, and keep your opinion out of stories.

(Again, a big diff between English comp and journalism is that in English comp, we write to express ourselves. In journalism, we write to share facts we've verified. Writing isn't about our self-expression; it's about informing an audience first and foremost.)

The pre-writing process. Ask yourself these questions: what is the story about? Why is it newsworthy? How is its central point unique? Failure to identify a central point risks a story that is incoherent and incomplete. Try to develop one central point thoroughly. A story with several apparent central points may be worth more than one story.

How do you find a central point? Report! What we write and how we write it isn't based on personal expression and opinion; it's based on what we discover in the reporting process, and what we determine is most interesting, relevant and useful to our audience.

The story outline. We start with the lede paragraph. That's the first paragraph of a story, which may contain the central point or a telling anecdote that sets up the central point. Often, the lede goes to end result and ultimate outcome; e.g., how the story ended and what is the latest information.

(Again, this is another big way journalism differs from English comp. In English comp, the ending is the ending. But in journalism, the ending is the lede: who won the football game, what the city council ended up doing, how many people died in the tornado outbreak, ect.)

Use simplifying words, sentences and paragraphs. Avoid long, unfamiliar words (e.g., instead of "homicide," say "murder. Instead of "vehicle," say "car" or "van" or "bus" or whatever. Instead of "inebriated vehicle operator," say "drunk driver.")

Use short sentences and paragraphs. The longer a sentence is, the more difficult it is to understand. You can shorten sentences by using the "normal word order" of subject, then verb, then direct object (e.g., instead of saying "The homework was eaten by the dog," say "The dog ate the homework.")

Write for the ear. Use sentences that do not sound awkward or inappropriate when spoken. (If you're not sure if a sentence flows well, read it out loud. Does it sound choppy or stilted or a hot mess? Then it probably reads the same way. Rewrite it as necessary until it's easy to say and hear out loud.)

Eliminate unnecessary words. Writers who use two words when one would suffice simply waste space. (Again, in English comp you are encouraged to be wordy; in journalism, we want to be efficient with our word use.) Eliminate multiple words that convey the same idea (e.g., "past history." History is the past. Eliminate one of those words.)

Remain objective. Reporters are neutral observers, not advocates or participants. Reporters provide facts and details, not opinion. (Again, journalism isn't about you expressing yourself; it's about informing the audience on what you discovered during the reporting process.)

Avoid stereotypical isms. Like, racism. (Only mention race when clearly relevant to a story, like a detailed suspect description.) Or, sexism. (Avoid occupational terms that exclude one sex or the other, like "fireman." Use "firefighter" instead.) Or ageism and word usage with the disabled, veterans and religious groups, and the poor. ("Old fogey, Bible-beater, bum," ect.) 

RFTM Chapter 4: The Language Of News

Be precise. Understand the words you use, and use words that are clear, concise and accurate. Journalists who do not use words correctly can confuse or irritate their readers. That undermines credibility and questions accuracy. (After all, if you can't get the small things right -- like proper word use -- how can you get the big things right, and why should a reader trust you?) .

Journalists who do not use words correctly can convey a meaning that was not intended. (Here's a real example from my professional career that ended up on the Jay Leno show: I wrote a short story about a man who was arrested, and when he was strip-searched in jail they found he was hiding crack cocaine between his butt cheeks. And here was the headline an editor wrote: MAN HID CRACK IN BUTTOCKS. Hardy har har.)

Use strong verbs. What is a strong verb? A verb that describes the action taking place, in an active tense. (For example, on 9/11 it would be underwhelming to say planes "hit" the Twin Towers. It would be more accurate and contextual to say the planed "slammed" into the buildings.)

(Let me be clear: the verb still has to be accurate, and not an exaggeration. Don't hype up a story without reason; our reason comes from facts. Like in the 9/11 example; the planes didn't just pop into the Twin Towers. They were tons of steel and human life racing at almost 500 mph. striking with such power that the buildings buckled, and eventually fell. The facts cry out for context and to the severity of what happened. It has nothing to do with how I want to write it.)

Avoid adjectives and adverbs. Most are unnecessary, and simply restate the obvious. And it may inject opinion into the story. There's no need to say something horrible is "grim" or "tragic;" the presentation of facts will make that clear.

Avoid cliches, which are words and phrases that have been used over and over again, like someone being "as blind as a bat" or "old as dirt." It's just lazy writing; come up with something descriptive and original instead.

Avoid slang. It can become dated; it can convey alternative meanings; it can confuse readers of certain ages of ethic groups. (For example, if you told your grandma "Whatevs, obvi," would she know what the hell you were talking about? And that's a great test; if your grandma wouldn't understand your word use, then use simpler and clearer language.)

Avoid or translate technical language and jargon. Journalists should translate jargon into plain English. (e.g., instead of "cardiac arrest," say "heart attack.") If you don't know what a layman's term may be for a given word or phrase, ask your source for a translation in plain English or check resources online that could do the same.

Avoid using vague expressions known as euphemisms in place of harsher but more direct terms. (For example, "expecting" is a euphemism for "pregnant." "Downsizing" is a euphemism for "laid off" or "fired." "Passed away" is a euphemism for "dying." Don't use such euphemisms.) Euphemisms detract from clarity and precision in writing.

Don't use first-person references outside of quotes, like I, me, my, our, ect.  Those betray a reporter's neutral bystander role.

Avoid the negative. I don't mean bad news; I mean negative sentence construction, like "the dog did not stay awake," instead of the better "the dog slept." Sentences with multiple negatives can become tough to understand (e.g., "the dog did not stay awake while his owner was not home" can be simplified to, "The dog slept while his owner was away.")

Avoid an echo. An echo is a redundant word. (For example, "frozen tundra" includes an echo, because the definition of "tundra" is frozen ground. So, when you say "frozen tundra," you're saying "frozen frozen ground.")

Avoid gush. This is writing with exaggerated enthusiasm. ("The 5th Annual Spelling Bee was an awesome mega-event that will never be forgotten!") Use facts to substantiate your descriptions. If the spelling bee included the largest fireworks show in history and multiple people are quoted as saying that this was the peak of their lives, then the aforementioned lede may be okay. If your facts don't support it, then it's not. Find words and phrases that accurately set the scene.)

JRN 200: Basic Ledes Practice Story Assignment

For this first writing exercise, you won't need your book. Instead, use the information provided below. 

After reviewing the blog posts below, what I would like you to do is write four ledes -- one for each item, each of which should be no longer than 32 words -- using a Word document, with each lede based on the sets of information provided at the end of this post, numbers 1 through 4. Use the readings and blog posts as your guides in doing this.

For each, please do a basic summary lede. DO NOT do alternative ledes for this exercise; you will get a chance to play with that in the very near future, but for right now I want to see you doing the most basic form of a lede. 

I would like you be be sure to double-space your work (for easier grading on my part), and in the upper left-hand corner of your paper I want you to list the following:

Your name (e.g., Ronald McDonald)
The assignment due date (in this case, it's Sept. 12, 2016)
The assignment page number (this does not apply to this assignment; it will for future work)
The assignment slug

What a slug is, is a one or two-word working title for a news story. In this case, the slug is FIRST LEDES. So, please use FIRST LEDES both for your slug AND for the subject of the email to which you will attached your Word document and send to me at omars@msu.edu.

Let me be clear: it's omars@msu.edu -- with an "s" at the end of "omar." This is important because there IS an omar@msu.edu (with no "s"), and that's not me. YOU are responsible for making sure you're sending this to the right address.

Your deadline will be 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 12. That's a.m., as in the morning. That gives you A LOT of time to do this assignment, which for in-person classes is usually done in-class in about 75 minutes, tops, with no prior warning. If you really need to get it knocked out before the holiday weekend, just do it today (this assignment is designed to be done within a normal class period for the in-class version, so we're talking about a couple of hours, max).

I will not be grading this based on conformance to AP Style (since we just started readings on that), but I will make a note of AP Style usage in evaluating your work.

I, however, WILL be grading you based on accuracy (any fact error automatically gets a 1.0 final grade) and meeting your deadline (anything received by me at or after exactly 9 a.m. Tuesday will get a 0.0 final grade, though I will still evaluate your work so you can at least figure out what you did well and what you can do better next time).

These rules are in place -- and will be strictly enforced -- not because I'm a monster, but to start building in you an absolute respect for journalistic mores. In journalism we must always be accurate, as people count on us for correct information and otherwise wouldn't rely on us. So we must make sure we carefully double-check our work. And in journalism we must always meet our deadlines, as they won't delay the 11 o'clock news by a minute or two to get your script finished.

Plus, I will be strictly holding you to the 32-word limit. You will be severely docked for going over. In journalism, we have to make decisions every day on what information is of the highest and best use to our audiences. In doing that, we have to find and focus on what is most important, interesting, relevant and useful. This is the sort of decision-making I will better see from you by essentially forcing you to decide how to best use an allotment of no more than 32 words. You don't have to make  it 32 words -- if you can do an adequate lede that is less than that, that's great -- just don't exceed that limit. 

So, please make sure that you're giving yourself enough time not just to write your story, but to thoroughly read the information before you start writing (so you are sure you understand the facts behind what you're about to write); and review the story after you finish writing (to make sure you wrote what you intended, and didn't make any typos and such.

Ideally, for every minute spent writing, you want a minute devoted to pre-checking and rechecking. So, if you have one hour to write, ideally you'd want to spend the first 15 minutes going over your gathered facts; then 30 minutes writing your story; then 15 minutes reviewing your work.

Before you start this assignments, please read the chapter lecture summaries, which highlight key points from your latst reading assignments in the Reporting For The Media textbook.

Also, included after those posts are a few posts regarding tips to ensuring accuracy. Please take a look and start working those habits into your routines.

For assignments during the week, I will be available to answer questions during regular business hours, but for this assignment I will NOT be. Please do your best and be sure to meet your deadline. It's better to turn in a so-so story than none at all. In a real-world situation, an editor can fix up a weak story. But an editor can't fix nothing.

Plus, I am fully aware this is your first assignment. It will be a tiny part of your final grade. Mastering it won't guarantee a 4.0 final grade; we have a lot of work yet to do. And tanking it won't ruin your hopes for an Ivy League grad school. It's just a start, so let's have at it. Good luck to all!  

1.   Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control conducted a major study of American marriages and announced their results at a press conference Friday. Of couples that marry, the researchers found that 43% break up within fifteen years, according to their study of 50,000 women. It helps if women are wealthy, religious, college-educated, and at least 20 years old when they marry. They are less likely to divorce. The CDC found that half of U.S. women had lived with a partner by age 30. And 70% of those couples that lived together for at least five years eventually walked down the aisle. But their marriages were most likely to break up. After 10 years 40% of the couples that had lived together before marriage had broken up, compared with 31% of those couples that did not live together. That’s because people who choose to live together tend to be younger and less religious and have other traits that put them at a greater risk for divorce, the CDC concluded.

2.   There’s a new program to help East Lansing's teachers. They aren’t paid much. Many can’t afford a down payment for a house. So local school officials on Saturday unveiled a new program that will offer mortgages with below-market interest rates to teachers and administrators in public schools. Its designed for first-time buyers and would offer eligible educators up to 10,000 dollars to help cover down payments and closing costs. They will not have to repay any of that amount provided they both continue to teach and remain in the home for a minimum of the next five consecutive years. Helping teachers buy or rent is becoming a popular incentive across the nation as teacher shortages and attrition continue to plague schools. Cash for the down payments will come from Federal funds already used to help low to moderate income residents buy homes. Program rules have been tweaked so teachers qualify, said school supt. Gary Hubard. There are limits on applicants income and on a homes purchase price, mostly depending on exactly where a home is located.

3.    Kalamazoo's Fire Chief announced Sunday that the fire department is ending a tradition at least a hundred years old. It’s the tradition of sliding down a pole to get to a fire engine. The city, he explained, is phasing poles out as it builds new one-story stations to replace older multistory firehouses. Going down the pole too fast and hitting a concrete floor can cause injuries and was therefore never a good tradition, he said. He explained that fire department records show over the past 20 years at least 12 firemen suffered injuries, especially sprained or broken ankles or legs. Still, crews improved their response time to fires by bypassing staircases from their upstairs living quarters, by cutting holes in the floors of firehouses, and by installing and using the brass or steel poles. The last multi-story firehouse with a pole is slated for demolition sometime early next year.

4.    There’s a deadly problem at Kennedy High School in Detroit. Two more students tested positive for tuberculosis last week, indicating they likely picked up the germ from a student with an active case of TB, city health officials announced Monday. The two students are not yet ill and can not pass the infection on to anyone else but will be given antibiotics to make sure they never develop TB. The two were among 170 persons tested at the school last week. The tests were necessary because health officials determined that one student has active TB, which is contagious. The Health Department last week tested every student and staff member who was in a class or rode a school bus with the ill student. The ill student is no longer in school, having dropped out for the year. The health officials said there is little danger to the schools nearly 3000 other students. TB is spread when an ill person coughs, but only after prolonged exposure and in poorly ventilated areas. A high school campus isn’t likely to be a place for TB transmission. Those two who tested positive will be given a chest x-ray and medication to be sure they don’t develop active TB.

RFTM Chapter 3: Newswriting Style

What do newswriters do? Provide information in a clear and concise manner using simple language. Simple language is important because you are trying to reach an audience with widely varied capabilities and interests. To communicate effectively to a mass audience, you must present information in a way that will allow almost everyone to read and understand it.

(This is the exact opposite of what you've learned in English composition all these years, where teachers encourage you to use big and fancy words. For practical writing, this is an awful habit, as is much we're going to un-learn you from English comp this term. Use simple words and simple terms, please.)

Also, present factual information succinctly and in an impartial and objective manner. You must provide enough information so that the audience understands what happened, and keep your opinion out of stories.

(Again, a big diff between English comp and journalism is that in English comp, we write to express ourselves. In journalism, we write to share facts we've verified. Writing isn't about our self-expression; it's about informing an audience first and foremost.)

The pre-writing process. Ask yourself these questions: what is the story about? Why is it newsworthy? How is its central point unique? Failure to identify a central point risks a story that is incoherent and incomplete. Try to develop one central point thoroughly. A story with several apparent central points may be worth more than one story.

How do you find a central point? Report! What we write and how we write it isn't based on personal expression and opinion; it's based on what we discover in the reporting process, and what we determine is most interesting, relevant and useful to our audience.

The story outline. We start with the lede paragraph. That's the first paragraph of a story, which may contain the central point or a telling anecdote that sets up the central point. Often, the lede goes to end result and ultimate outcome; e.g., how the story ended and what is the latest information.

(Again, this is another big way journalism differs from English comp. In English comp, the ending is the ending. But in journalism, the ending is the lede: who won the football game, what the city council ended up doing, how many people died in the tornado outbreak, ect.)

Use simplifying words, sentences and paragraphs. Avoid long, unfamiliar words (e.g., instead of "homicide," say "murder. Instead of "vehicle," say "car" or "van" or "bus" or whatever. Instead of "inebriated vehicle operator," say "drunk driver.")

Use short sentences and paragraphs. The longer a sentence is, the more difficult it is to understand. You can shorten sentences by using the "normal word order" of subject, then verb, then direct object (e.g., instead of saying "The homework was eaten by the dog," say "The dog ate the homework.")

Write for the ear. Use sentences that do not sound awkward or inappropriate when spoken. (If you're not sure if a sentence flows well, read it out loud. Does it sound choppy or stilted or a hot mess? Then it probably reads the same way. Rewrite it as necessary until it's easy to say and hear out loud.)

Eliminate unnecessary words. Writers who use two words when one would suffice simply waste space. (Again, in English comp you are encouraged to be wordy; in journalism, we want to be efficient with our word use.) Eliminate multiple words that convey the same idea (e.g., "past history." History is the past. Eliminate one of those words.)

Remain objective. Reporters are neutral observers, not advocates or participants. Reporters provide facts and details, not opinion. (Again, journalism isn't about you expressing yourself; it's about informing the audience on what you discovered during the reporting process.)

Avoid stereotypical isms. Like, racism. (Only mention race when clearly relevant to a story, like a detailed suspect description.) Or, sexism. (Avoid occupational terms that exclude one sex or the other, like "fireman." Use "firefighter" instead.) Or ageism and word usage with the disabled, veterans and religious groups, and the poor. ("Old fogey, Bible-beater, bum," ect.) 

RFTM Chapter 4: The Language Of News

Be precise. Understand the words you use, and use words that are clear, concise and accurate. Journalists who do not use words correctly can confuse or irritate their readers. That undermines credibility and questions accuracy. (After all, if you can't get the small things right -- like proper word use -- how can you get the big things right, and why should a reader trust you?) .

Journalists who do not use words correctly can convey a meaning that was not intended. (Here's a real example from my professional career that ended up on the Jay Leno show: I wrote a short story about a man who was arrested, and when he was strip-searched in jail they found he was hiding crack cocaine between his butt cheeks. And here was the headline an editor wrote: MAN HID CRACK IN BUTTOCKS. Hardy har har.)

Use strong verbs. What is a strong verb? A verb that describes the action taking place, in an active tense. (For example, on 9/11 it would be underwhelming to say planes "hit" the Twin Towers. It would be more accurate and contextual to say the planed "slammed" into the buildings.)

(Let me be clear: the verb still has to be accurate, and not an exaggeration. Don't hype up a story without reason; our reason comes from facts. Like in the 9/11 example; the planes didn't just pop into the Twin Towers. They were tons of steel and human life racing at almost 500 mph. striking with such power that the buildings buckled, and eventually fell. The facts cry out for context and to the severity of what happened. It has nothing to do with how I want to write it.)

Avoid adjectives and adverbs. Most are unnecessary, and simply restate the obvious. And it may inject opinion into the story. There's no need to say something horrible is "grim" or "tragic;" the presentation of facts will make that clear.

Avoid cliches, which are words and phrases that have been used over and over again, like someone being "as blind as a bat" or "old as dirt." It's just lazy writing; come up with something descriptive and original instead.

Avoid slang. It can become dated; it can convey alternative meanings; it can confuse readers of certain ages of ethic groups. (For example, if you told your grandma "Whatevs, obvi," would she know what the hell you were talking about? And that's a great test; if your grandma wouldn't understand your word use, then use simpler and clearer language.)

Avoid or translate technical language and jargon. Journalists should translate jargon into plain English. (e.g., instead of "cardiac arrest," say "heart attack.") If you don't know what a layman's term may be for a given word or phrase, ask your source for a translation in plain English or check resources online that could do the same.

Avoid using vague expressions known as euphemisms in place of harsher but more direct terms. (For example, "expecting" is a euphemism for "pregnant." "Downsizing" is a euphemism for "laid off" or "fired." "Passed away" is a euphemism for "dying." Don't use such euphemisms.) Euphemisms detract from clarity and precision in writing.

Don't use first-person references outside of quotes, like I, me, my, our, ect.  Those betray a reporter's neutral bystander role.

Avoid the negative. I don't mean bad news; I mean negative sentence construction, like "the dog did not stay awake," instead of the better "the dog slept." Sentences with multiple negatives can become tough to understand (e.g., "the dog did not stay awake while his owner was not home" can be simplified to, "The dog slept while his owner was away.")

Avoid an echo. An echo is a redundant word. (For example, "frozen tundra" includes an echo, because the definition of "tundra" is frozen ground. So, when you say "frozen tundra," you're saying "frozen frozen ground.")

Avoid gush. This is writing with exaggerated enthusiasm. ("The 5th Annual Spelling Bee was an awesome mega-event that will never be forgotten!") Use facts to substantiate your descriptions. If the spelling bee included the largest fireworks show in history and multiple people are quoted as saying that this was the peak of their lives, then the aforementioned lede may be okay. If your facts don't support it, then it's not. Find words and phrases that accurately set the scene.)

RFTM Chapter 5: Selecting And Reporting The News

There are several characteristics of news to consider. Those include timeliness; that it is current information, fresh angles and new details. (You can't spell "news" without "new.")

Impact: stories that affect, involve or interest large groups of audience members. (For example, a tuition hike at MSU is a big deal to The State News, because so many of the newspaper's readers are MSU students. A tuition hike at the U. of M. means much less to The State News, because the U. of M. isn't its audience.) Reporters must evaluate the impact and/or importance of news, in deciding what to report and highlight.

Prominence: the happenings of people or institutions of great power, importance or influence. (For example, if I get into a car accident it's not a big deal, since I'm nobody special. If the President gets into a car accident, it's a big deal.)

Proximity: events close to home (a murder in East Lansing is bigger news to The State News than a murder in Detroit, because The State News's primary audience is in and around East Lansing) and even events happening to people or in places similar to those of your audience (for example, a college campus shooting in California WOULD be a bigger deal to The State News, since the news involves the same demographic as its primary audience; that being college students).

Singularity: or deviations from the usual, such as unexpected or unusual events, drama or charge, odd twists in otherwise-mundane stories (for example, a car accident caused by a cat driving a car is much more newsworthy than a typical car accident, because cats usually don't drive cars). Journalists must always be on the lookout for this, if singularity is what makes this story different than others.

Conflict or controversy: between entities or people (e.g., a school planning a tuition hike unpopular with students), or between people and societal issues (e.g., college grads dealing with a lousy job market).

There are also various types of news, including hard news, defined as stories on serious, timely and important topics (e.g., tuition hikes, public safety).

Soft news: features or human-interest stories (summer travel options, a look at the life of an interesting person).

Breaking news: news that's happening at the moment (car crashes, house fires).

Is there such a thing as "good news" and "bad news?" Journalistically, no. This usually refers to a source's view of a story, based on whether he or she received positive or negative attention.

(That has no bearing on the work we do. Our duty is to our audience, regardless of whether it makes a source look good or bad or indifferent and regardless of your opinions or even your audience's opinions. Rely on facts -- and fairness to the facts, and your audience's accurate understanding of the facts -- to guide the tone of your report.)

The importance of accuracy is all-encompassing. Journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right. That includes an accuracy in facts. Reporters must understand a topic before writing about it. If reporters don't understand something, how can they explain it to readers? Make sure you do thorough reporting and ask any and all questions -- even so-called "stupid" ones -- so that you get what you're writing about.

Accurate writing requires specifics instead of generalities. Be sure to double-check and even triple-check all information. Ask for spellings (especially of names; the first time you assume someone spells their name as Jill, you'll later learn it was Jyl or something else) and specifics. Most fact errors are caused by carelessness or laziness.

There are many obstacles to accuracy, primarily that speed (in meeting deadlines) and accuracy (in ensuring our work is correct) don't naturally go together. But that's the challenge of journalism; to make those two get along as well as possible.

Also, there's always the risk of misinformation, by a source either providing incorrect information or lying outright. That's why it's important to talk to MULTIPLE sources, and to seek evidence for statements given to you.

(There's an old saying in journalism that, "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." What does that mean? That if your mom says she loves you, don't just take her word for it; try to verify it using facts and statements. For example, you can cite historical documents that indicate a fondness for you, like birthday cards from your mom and notes she wrote you saying how much she loves you. You can interview subjects who know your mom, like coworkers who say she always brags about how great you are. You can cite historical events, like that she never missed any of your activities as a kid. Then, you share all that with your audience. THAT'S journalism. Again, it's not about writing; it's about getting it right.)

RFTM Chapter 8: Basic News Ledes

There are various types of ledes (which is what we call the start of a news story).

The most basic type of lede is called the summary lede. It's a lede that answers at least one or two of the most important questions among the five W's and one H of journalism (who, what, when, where, why and how). Such ledes get straight to the main point of the story. These are the easiest ledes to write, and a default you can always rely upon with any type of story. And this will be the kind of lede I want us to concentrate on as we start this semester.

In deciding what to put in your lede, you need to ask yourself several questions, including:

What is the most important information?

What's the story's central point?

What was said or done about this topic?

What happened, or what action was taken?

What are the most recent developments?

How did things conclude?

Where are things now?

Which facts are most likely to affect or interest readers?

Which facts are most unusual?

What are the facts that a reader absolutely needs to know about this story, if they read just the lede and nothing else? 

The structure of a lede should be a single sentence, if possible. So you really do have to drill down to just the essential part of the story in your lede. You can't overload it.

There are several points to consider in writing effective ledes, the first of which is: be concise. Make it easy for the public to read and understand. Avoid being wordy, repetitious, and choppy. Eliminate or delay the use of unnecessary or less necessary background information until later paragraphs.

(The proper length of a lede widely varies between news organization and even between different stories. For the purposes of this class, a lede should be no more than 32 words. That means before writing, you need to make decisions on what information is most important for the lede, and leave out other info until later in the story.)

Be specific. Use interesting details. Offer details that allow readers to visualize events. Avoid cliches. 

Use strong, active verbs in the ways we discussed earlier.

Emphasize the magnitude of the story, e.g., note the number of people affected or possibly affected by something (e.g., More than 300 students were hospitalized this week after drinking rotten beer, police said), or the dollar cost or percentage increase or decrease of something (e.g., Tuition will increase 1,000 percent for incoming freshman this fall at Michigan State University), or note any telling statistical measures of what happened (e.g., inches of snowfall in a blizzard, how many feet high was a tsunami wave, the number of cars involved in an accident, ect.).

Stress the unusual, such as deviations from the norm (e.g., A 2-year-old boy who can't yet speak piloted the space shuttle during its launch into space today).

Localize and update. Emphasize your community's role in happenings, whether regional or global (e.g., An MSU student was among three people who stole a hippo from Potter Park Zoo this morning). Emphasize the latest happening or development in a story (e.g., Five more students appeared in court today for their roles in last week's Cedar Fest riot).

Strive for simplicity. Don't overload a lede with too much info. Again,let's keep it to 32 words or less.

Begin with the news, when possible. What I mean is, try to avoid beginning a lede with attribution (the source of information). For example, it's better to lede with, The dog died, police said as opposed to, Police said the dog died, so we can put what happened (the dog died) ahead of who said it (police). The news most often is what happened, not necessarily who said it. But if the source is big enough, then that rule is relaxed (The president said he would okay an invasion of Canada is okay to lede with the source, since the source is making the news by flexing his or her power).

Emphasize the news. Do not necessarily follow chronological order in telling a story. Rarely are the first events in a sequence the most newsworthy. Decide which facts are the most important, interesting, relevant or useful, and write a lede emphasizing those facts, regardless of what occurred first.

(For example, what's most important at a football game; how things started, or how things finished? It's the latter, of course. That's why we lede with who won or lost. Same thing with a city council meeting; the news is what they ended up deciding. That's the material for your lede. Likewise, what's more important: the item the city council first voted on, or the item that most interests or affects residents? It's the latter, so you should lede with the latter.)

Avoid agenda ledes, which are ledes that place too much emphasis on the time and place at which a story occurred. News generally is what happened, why and how moreso than to whom and when.

(For example, in a football story the most important news is who won or lost, and not that a football game was played at a certain time and date. And with a city council story, the most important information is what the council decided, and not that a city council meeting was taking place at a certain time or date.)

Avoid label ledes, which are when you mention a topic but fail to reveal what was said or done. Ledes should report the substance of what happened, and not just the topic. (It's not news that the football team played a game or that the city council had a meeting; it's who won or lost the football game and what the city council ended up deciding to do at the meeting.)

Avoid exaggeration. If a story is weak, it's weak. You're better off doing additional reporting to see if you can find an angle that's more interesting within your topic, than hyping something that just isn't worth the hype.

Avoid misleading readers. Never sensationalize, belittle or mislead. A lede should accurately set the tone for the rest of the story.

Remember your readers. Ledes must be clear, useful, interesting and relevant to be of use to your audience. That's who you're writing to inform. Again, journalism isn't about personal artistic impression; it's about representing the facts in a useful way for your audience to understand.

Rewrite ledes. Writing in and of itself can help focus writing ideas and insights. Don't be afraid to tinker repeatedly with ledes.

(Quite often in my professional career, I would be stuck on writing a lede. What I would often do is start writing the rest of the story, without a lede or with a BS one I knew I'd change. The process of writing the story and laying out facts would often help me crystallize in my mind what the main point of the story was, and once I could articulate a main point, that became my lede.) 

Don't be afraid to break some of these rules! Use your imagination. Try to find something different, as long as it is factual and contextually on par with the facts of your story. If it works and best serves the readers in an accurate and contextual way, then it's okay.

RFTM Chapter 3: Newswriting Style

What do newswriters do? Provide information in a clear and concise manner using simple language. Simple language is important because you are trying to reach an audience with widely varied capabilities and interests. To communicate effectively to a mass audience, you must present information in a way that will allow almost everyone to read and understand it.

(This is the exact opposite of what you've learned in English composition all these years, where teachers encourage you to use big and fancy words. For practical writing, this is an awful habit, as is much we're going to un-learn you from English comp this term. Use simple words and simple terms, please.)

Also, present factual information succinctly and in an impartial and objective manner. You must provide enough information so that the audience understands what happened, and keep your opinion out of stories.

(Again, a big diff between English comp and journalism is that in English comp, we write to express ourselves. In journalism, we write to share facts we've verified. Writing isn't about our self-expression; it's about informing an audience first and foremost.)

The pre-writing process. Ask yourself these questions: what is the story about? Why is it newsworthy? How is its central point unique? Failure to identify a central point risks a story that is incoherent and incomplete. Try to develop one central point thoroughly. A story with several apparent central points may be worth more than one story.

How do you find a central point? Report! What we write and how we write it isn't based on personal expression and opinion; it's based on what we discover in the reporting process, and what we determine is most interesting, relevant and useful to our audience.

The story outline. We start with the lede paragraph. That's the first paragraph of a story, which may contain the central point or a telling anecdote that sets up the central point. Often, the lede goes to end result and ultimate outcome; e.g., how the story ended and what is the latest information.

(Again, this is another big way journalism differs from English comp. In English comp, the ending is the ending. But in journalism, the ending is the lede: who won the football game, what the city council ended up doing, how many people died in the tornado outbreak, ect.)

Use simplifying words, sentences and paragraphs. Avoid long, unfamiliar words (e.g., instead of "homicide," say "murder. Instead of "vehicle," say "car" or "van" or "bus" or whatever. Instead of "inebriated vehicle operator," say "drunk driver.")

Use short sentences and paragraphs. The longer a sentence is, the more difficult it is to understand. You can shorten sentences by using the "normal word order" of subject, then verb, then direct object (e.g., instead of saying "The homework was eaten by the dog," say "The dog ate the homework.")

Write for the ear. Use sentences that do not sound awkward or inappropriate when spoken. (If you're not sure if a sentence flows well, read it out loud. Does it sound choppy or stilted or a hot mess? Then it probably reads the same way. Rewrite it as necessary until it's easy to say and hear out loud.)

Eliminate unnecessary words. Writers who use two words when one would suffice simply waste space. (Again, in English comp you are encouraged to be wordy; in journalism, we want to be efficient with our word use.) Eliminate multiple words that convey the same idea (e.g., "past history." History is the past. Eliminate one of those words.)

Remain objective. Reporters are neutral observers, not advocates or participants. Reporters provide facts and details, not opinion. (Again, journalism isn't about you expressing yourself; it's about informing the audience on what you discovered during the reporting process.)

Avoid stereotypical isms. Like, racism. (Only mention race when clearly relevant to a story, like a detailed suspect description.) Or, sexism. (Avoid occupational terms that exclude one sex or the other, like "fireman." Use "firefighter" instead.) Or ageism and word usage with the disabled, veterans and religious groups, and the poor. ("Old fogey, Bible-beater, bum," ect.)

RFTM Chapter 8: Basic News Ledes

There are various types of ledes (which is what we call the start of a news story).

The most basic type of lede is called the summary lede. It's a lede that answers at least one or two of the most important questions among the five W's and one H of journalism (who, what, when, where, why and how). Such ledes get straight to the main point of the story. These are the easiest ledes to write, and a default you can always rely upon with any type of story. And this will be the kind of lede I want us to concentrate on as we start this semester.

In deciding what to put in your lede, you need to ask yourself several questions, including:

What is the most important information?

What's the story's central point?

What was said or done about this topic?

What happened, or what action was taken?

What are the most recent developments?

How did things conclude?

Where are things now?

Which facts are most likely to affect or interest readers?

Which facts are most unusual?

What are the facts that a reader absolutely needs to know about this story, if they read just the lede and nothing else?

The structure of a lede should be a single sentence, if possible. So you really do have to drill down to just the essential part of the story in your lede. You can't overload it.

There are several points to consider in writing effective ledes, the first of which is: be concise. Make it easy for the public to read and understand. Avoid being wordy, repetitious, and choppy. Eliminate or delay the use of unnecessary or less necessary background information until later paragraphs.

(The proper length of a lede widely varies between news organization and even between different stories. For the purposes of this class, a lede should be no more than 32 words. That means before writing, you need to make decisions on what information is most important for the lede, and leave out other info until later in the story.)

Be specific. Use interesting details. Offer details that allow readers to visualize events. Avoid cliches.

Use strong, active verbs in the ways we discussed earlier.

Emphasize the magnitude of the story, e.g., note the number of people affected or possibly affected by something (e.g., More than 300 students were hospitalized this week after drinking rotten beer, police said), or the dollar cost or percentage increase or decrease of something (e.g., Tuition will increase 1,000 percent for incoming freshman this fall at Michigan State University), or note any telling statistical measures of what happened (e.g., inches of snowfall in a blizzard, how many feet high was a tsunami wave, the number of cars involved in an accident, ect.).

Stress the unusual, such as deviations from the norm (e.g., A 2-year-old boy who can't yet speak piloted the space shuttle during its launch into space today).

Localize and update. Emphasize your community's role in happenings, whether regional or global (e.g., An MSU student was among three people who stole a hippo from Potter Park Zoo this morning). Emphasize the latest happening or development in a story (e.g., Five more students appeared in court today for their roles in last week's Cedar Fest riot).

Strive for simplicity. Don't overload a lede with too much info. Again,let's keep it to 32 words or less.

Begin with the news, when possible. What I mean is, try to avoid beginning a lede with attribution (the source of information). For example, it's better to lede with, The dog died, police said as opposed to, Police said the dog died, so we can put what happened (the dog died) ahead of who said it (police). The news most often is what happened, not necessarily who said it. But if the source is big enough, then that rule is relaxed (The president said he would okay an invasion of Canada is okay to lede with the source, since the source is making the news by flexing his or her power).

Emphasize the news. Do not necessarily follow chronological order in telling a story. Rarely are the first events in a sequence the most newsworthy. Decide which facts are the most important, interesting, relevant or useful, and write a lede emphasizing those facts, regardless of what occurred first.

(For example, what's most important at a football game; how things started, or how things finished? It's the latter, of course. That's why we lede with who won or lost. Same thing with a city council meeting; the news is what they ended up deciding. That's the material for your lede. Likewise, what's more important: the item the city council first voted on, or the item that most interests or affects residents? It's the latter, so you should lede with the latter.)

Avoid agenda ledes, which are ledes that place too much emphasis on the time and place at which a story occurred. News generally is what happened, why and how moreso than to whom and when.

(For example, in a football story the most important news is who won or lost, and not that a football game was played at a certain time and date. And with a city council story, the most important information is what the council decided, and not that a city council meeting was taking place at a certain time or date.)

Avoid label ledes, which are when you mention a topic but fail to reveal what was said or done. Ledes should report the substance of what happened, and not just the topic. (It's not news that the football team played a game or that the city council had a meeting; it's who won or lost the football game and what the city council ended up deciding to do at the meeting.)

Avoid exaggeration. If a story is weak, it's weak. You're better off doing additional reporting to see if you can find an angle that's more interesting within your topic, than hyping something that just isn't worth the hype.

Avoid misleading readers. Never sensationalize, belittle or mislead. A lede should accurately set the tone for the rest of the story.

Remember your readers. Ledes must be clear, useful, interesting and relevant to be of use to your audience. That's who you're writing to inform. Again, journalism isn't about personal artistic impression; it's about representing the facts in a useful way for your audience to understand.

Rewrite ledes. Writing in and of itself can help focus writing ideas and insights. Don't be afraid to tinker repeatedly with ledes.

(Quite often in my professional career, I would be stuck on writing a lede. What I would often do is start writing the rest of the story, without a lede or with a BS one I knew I'd change. The process of writing the story and laying out facts would often help me crystallize in my mind what the main point of the story was, and once I could articulate a main point, that became my lede.)

Don't be afraid to break some of these rules! Use your imagination. Try to find something different, as long as it is factual and contextually on par with the facts of your story. If it works and best serves the readers in an accurate and contextual way, then it's okay.