A young radio reporter is coming to the end of his first month on the job. He’s just been approved to drive the radio station’s news car, which means he can now go out on stories and broadcast live from the scene. He’s very excited.

He looks out of the newsroom window and sees a thick plume of smoke rising from the east of the city centre. He alerts the news editor who agrees he should take the radio car, get as close to the scene as possible, and report live into the next bulletin at 4pm.

The reporter arrives at the scene at 3:50pm. He parks behind two fire engines at the corner of a building which is ablaze.

The reporter has 10 minutes before he has to go live into the bulletin. He tries to find someone for a comment, but all the firefighters are busy trying to control the flames, while the police are trying to control the crowd.

However, one of the engineers operating the fire engine pump will talk. When asked whether there are any casualties, he says “Not that we know of, but there are still people in the building.”

The reporter sees a group of people carrying items out of the burning tenements. He presumes they are trying to salvage what they can from the flames.

He lives in a similar part of the city and in similar accommodation. He feels sorry for them.

At that point he decides on the top line for his live report – that people are still in the building trying to salvage what possessions they can.

He hasn’t even considered that he could be at a crime scene where looters are stealing items as residents flee their burning homes.

He raises the radio car mast. The vehicle is new. It has the radio station’s logo plastered all over it in red, white, and blue. The reporter can see the car is attracting attention.

A group of men, some with their faces covered, gather round the vehicle. Three police officers approach and try to block their way.

By now the reporter is sitting in the radio car ready to broadcast. It’s one minute to the 4pm bulletin.

He leaves all four windows half-open to try to capture the sound effects of the chaos outside.

The 4pm news jingle starts to play.

The news reader announces that there is a major fire at a city centre tenement block. He then says, “We are now going live to our reporter on the scene.”

The light on the reporter’s microphone goes green. He’s live. He starts his report…

“The fire has now spread to four floors of this five-storey building. Dozens of firefighters are trying to contain the blaze. Residents are still in the building. Many are trying to salvage what they can from their burning homes. Working together they’re stacking their possessions on the street.”

One of the police officers, who had been protecting the radio car while the reporter was broadcasting, bangs on the window and shouts, “They’re looting, you’ve got to move, it’s not safe here.”

Emotions and assumptions take over

What we have here is a situation where an inexperienced reporter, faced with a breaking news story, is expected to report live from the scene with little knowledge of what is really going on.

That is a common situation.

But the reporter has been carried away with the excitement of the event, and, in the absence of any credible information, and with no time for proper news-gathering or fact-checking, relies solely on his own emotions and assumptions.

And that is not good.

The fact that he lived in a similar inner-city area meant that he was unable to be objective; he immediately assumed those gathering possessions were similar to his own neighbours.

His emotions were high when he thought they were salvaging what they could. He made a false assumption and that polluted his report.

The story he had built in his mind from the moment he arrived at the scene was wrong. Not only was it wrong, but it was missing the importance of the event.

He was witnessing rioting and looting, not local residents working together to salvage what they could from their burning homes.

In such situations reporters must detach themselves from events, broadcast what they see, and avoid any assumptions.

If they are unable to find out what is actually going on from a reliable source, they should offer a situation report about what they can see in front of them.

There was enough eye-witness material to fill a 30-second report without adding guesswork.

Guesswork, assumptions, and emotionally charged observations are not part of breaking news reporting.

The report should have been limited to describing the flames, the smoke, the number of fire engines, the size of the crowd, and the number of police at the scene.

The reporter’s mistake was letting his imagination take over.

He was broadcasting false information to the station’s listeners.

This was before social media, but in today’s age of Facebook and Twitter, such an error could lead to a rapid spread of misinformation which would take on a life of its own as raw emotion and ill-informed reaction is added.

Lessons from this scenario

• A breaking news reporter’s job is to describe what is happening at the scene, you are not there to interpret without evidence. If you have facts that are sourced and verified, you should include them.
• It doesn’t matter what you think might happen next. Guesswork about the future has absolutely no value.
• You must avoid all assumptions when compiling a report. Assumptions are fine when you are trying to work out what the story is during the research stage, but they then must be verified or discarded during the fact-checking process – they have no place in live situation reports.
• Adjectives and adverbs have little value in live breaking news reporting. The facts are strong enough on their own. The audience doesn’t need your subjective take on things, or your own personal value judgements.

Related modules

Accuracy – scenario

Accuracy in journalism

How to avoid make-believe journalism

Photojournalism and ethics

The post Emotional assumptions – scenario first appeared on Media Helping Media.

In this scenario we look at how a journalist should act when they witness a tragedy unfolding and have to decide whether to help, or to stand by and report.

The scenario also looks at how senior editorial managers could, and probably should, support their journalists working in difficult conditions.

Becoming part of the story

Imagine you are a local radio news reporter working in a city whose football team has qualified for a major European final.

Your editor holds a planning meeting a month before the game. Three sports reporters are sent to provide commentary and gather interviews, while you are assigned to cover the news angles.

The brief is to travel with the fans, stay with them in the city where the match is being played, mingle with them at all times, and file regular reports on the atmosphere before, during and after the game.

You are also asked to gather enough material in order to produce a half-hour documentary to be broadcast in the station’s news and current affairs programme a week after the game.

You arrive in the European capital, where the game is being staged, a day early to soak up the atmosphere.

On the morning of the game, the fans invite you to join in a football match with the opposition fans in the street close to the stadium. The fans are enjoying themselves. You record some of the atmosphere and a short piece for your programme. You find a phone box to send a 40-second news report on the build-up to the match.

At 4pm the police usher the fans into the stadium – more than three hours before the kick-off.

It’s cramped, the stadium is in a poor state. The concrete terracing is crumbling. The barriers are unsafe.

The fans become bored. Fireworks are thrown. They start to taunt each other either side of a thin wire fence separating the two sets of supporters. It starts to buckle under the pressure.

The police move in. Some in the crowd try to escape, others surge forward. The fence collapses, then a wall. Fans are crushed under the weight of the concrete. You hear screaming.

Many fans are trying to exit the terracing as more police arrive. You pass the wall which has fallen. Fans from both teams are trying to dig people out of the rubble. Some beckon to you to help them.

What should you do?

1. Help those who are trying to rescue the injured fans.
2. Try to capture some of the noise for your programme and record a situation report.
3. Keep moving, you need to find a telephone in order to contact the news desk.

Suggested response

Reporters are often caught up in events. Most of the time we are just witnesses to incidents which we observe and report.

Occasionally, what we are seeing could be a matter of life and death. We have to make a decision, sometimes split-second, on whether it’s more important to report on the news, or whether we can offer assistance and help save lives.

It might be possible to do both, but sometimes the journalist becomes part of the story, making reporting difficult. In those cases their news priorities might have to come second.

Of course, each case has to be judged on its merits. In this particular case the reporter decided that his immediate job was to assisted fans and later paramedics in the rescue operation (and got hit with batons by police who misunderstood his motives).

He knew that his colleagues in the commentary box would be able to report on the unfolding scenes below them, and that the newsdesk would be supplied with updates – if not the first-hand experiences he was going through.

And he also knew that he might get reprimanded for not finding a way to file a live report about what was happening. But in that moment he had to decide.

He was still able to file a report three hours later about what he had witnessed that day (the only eye-witness account of what happened on the terraces to be broadcast), and he was still able to complete his documentary.

But he wasn’t first with the news, despite being the closest journalist to the tragedy that was unfolding.

Sadly, 39 people died that day; 600 were injured.

Reaction

In the scenario set out above the reporter’s actions were appreciated by his managers both locally and nationally. Not once was he reprimanded for his failure to update the newsdesk.

Three messages of support are embedded below.

These are important, and a reminder for today’s senior editorial managers, because they show that those who manage the news understand the decisions reporters have to make, and the issues they often face, during the course of their newsgathering.

Image of memorial stone at the top of this scenario is by Rodhullandemu and is released via Creative Commons BY-SA.

The post Covering a tragedy – scenario first appeared on Media Helping Media.

This training module was written for a journalism training course in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Those attending were seasoned broadcast journalists.

Knowing who does what, why, when, and how

I was asked to create a training module for a 24-hour TV channel in an Asian country where competition is fierce, and where being last with the news isn’t an option.

Prior to the training they sent me a wish-list of what they wanted fixed in their news organisation. The issues they wanted help with were around the issue of how to handle breaking news:

1: Speed – a faster response to breaking news alerts
2: Planning and logistics – better coordination of staff and resources
3: Improved communications – who is doing what and when
4: Organising output – roles and responsibilities
5: News management – orchestrating operations

So I shared with them the example of how a commercial international TV and digital news organisation I had worked with in the past dealt with breaking news.

1: Confirmation

A breaking news story has to be confirmed by two of the following: A news reporter, a member of the bureau staff in the area concerned, and/or any other independent sources.

2: Action

The news programme producer or senior supervisor in charge of the news desk liaises with the international and domestic desks and the interactive team.

Regional specialists are alerted. A decision is taken to go live.

3: Collaboration

The international desk and the domestic desk discuss how they can each bring different elements to the coverage.

The interactive team meanwhile start to piece together the first elements of the story.

Depending on the location, one desk covers the main story while the other desk looks for angles that help explain events to their audience.

Resources are shared wherever possible.

4: Convergence

At the same time the social media team slips into top gear and moves into a well-rehearsed routine which includes updating the online news ticker and providing regular social media updates.

Chronological live updates are created along with a live blog.

And all this from a team that is sitting in close proximity to the team producing the TV output.

They have to be breathing the same air; it is no using having them in a different room, floor, or building.

5: Depth and added value

The main news desk lines up its (regional bureau) contacts and correspondents; often this is supported by bookers who help out with research the best experts to talk to and arranging interviews.

Social media plays a major role when it comes to finding good sources and info snippets or even video and pictures related to the news story.

6: Roles & Responsibilities

In the early minutes of a breaking news story the TV anchor plays a crucial role when it comes to asking the right questions and keeping flow of the output going.

The initial news-gathering time varies and depends on good sources – which most major news organisations tend to have.

Planning, booking, research work together in order to add depth and new angles.

7: Building on Breaking News

Based on the growing set of information, the elements of a breaking news show can be built up.

They are ordered and arranged by the news programme’s producer or senior supervisor and include support from those running the live output and any specialists on the international desk specialists. T

he standard elements are interviews or reporters updates with clips, graphics, pictures, social media, witness accounts etc etc.

8: Revising & Refreshing

Then starts a continuous process of updates.

Material is arranged and re-arranged as needed by the production teams – producers, writers, graphic artists etc – the usual TV and online production specialists.

The challenge is to stay with the main story, but also to weave in fresh elements.

9: Breaking becomes developing

After a while, breaking news transitions into a developing news situation.

In exceptional cases, teams on various continents have to take over and keep the story going.

This is when the international desk becomes particularly important and busy as it then turns into a logistics and resources management exercise.

10: Developing returns to regular

Planners and editors on the main news desk discuss resources with senior management.

Depending on the state of the budget – and based on the strength of story – resources are allocated or withdrawn based on cost and the likely reach/impact.

Teams are scaled down or built up case by case.

11: Maximum ongoing exploitation

As soon as breaking news happens, planners are in action working on follow-ups, studio debates and related programmes.

Most news organisations will try to extract and exploit every piece of content for the maximum benefit of the audience and the news brand.

Nothing goes to waste, everything is reworked and reused in different output areas and for days ahead, as well as in pick of the week, month, year, etc, etc.

12: Online story development

The online news team will have set aside resources in order to build fact-files, timelines, and info graphics which, in a converged news operation, will be created in such a way as to be able to be used online and on air.

These interactive assets need to be promoted via the TV anchor in a way that encourages those who want to read about the issue in-depth to remain with brand and move from TV to the online coverage and back.

The post How to handle a breaking news situation first appeared on Media Helping Media.

The News Manual’s definition of news

Here we consider what makes one thing worth reporting, while another thing is not. We offer a test for news which can work in all societies. We consider what makes some news stories stronger than others. Finally, we look at how news comes to journalists, and the areas of life where we most often find it.

Life appears to be a shapeless jumble of events, falling over each other, elbowing and jostling each other.

Journalists each day structure this chaos, so that the public receives it sorted out and neatly packaged into stories, the same day on radio, television or online and the next day in newspapers.

It will have been evaluated. The biggest news will be given first in the bulletin or on Page One of the paper, in detail; lesser news will be given in less detail later in the bulletin or on an inside page; and the rubbish will have been thrown away.

How do journalists decide what is news and what is not? How do they distinguish between a big news story and a small one? The answer is that they do it in exactly the same way as everybody else. Everybody makes those same judgments whenever they decide to talk about one event rather than another.

For example, which do you think is more interesting:

a) A girl going to primary school, to high school, or to university?
b) A man aged 25 marrying a girl aged 20, or a man aged 55 marrying a girl aged 15?
c) A car killing a chicken, a pig or a child?

Every one of these events might be news for the community in which it happens, but some are more newsworthy than others.

You very likely answered that the most interesting things were a girl going to university, a man aged 55 marrying a girl aged 15, and a car killing a child. If your answer was different, though, it does not necessarily mean that you were wrong.

The same event can have different levels of interest in different societies, and will be talked about in different ways. If a farm wall has collapsed, killing a cow and a pig, which is more important? Clearly, the answer will vary from one society to another, depending upon the relative importance of cows and pigs.

For this reason, the content of the news can be different in different societies. The way in which the news is judged, though, is the same everywhere.

Criteria of news

The criteria by which news is judged are:

Is it new?
Is it unusual?
Is it interesting?
Is it significant?
Is it about people?

These elements make up what we call the “news value” of information. The stronger the elements are, the higher the news value.

Is it new?

If it is not new, it cannot be news. The assassination of Mrs Gandhi is unusual, interesting, significant and about people, but it cannot possibly be reported in tomorrow’s papers, because it is not new.

If some facts about that assassination became known for the first time, however, that would be news. The assassination would not be new, but the information would be.
Events which happened days or even weeks earlier can still be news, as long as they have not been reported before. If you are telling a story for the first time, it is new to your readers or listeners and therefore it can be news.

News of the death of Mao Tse-tung, for instance, was not released to the world by the Chinese government for several days; when they did release it, however, it was still very definitely news.

Is it unusual?

Things are happening all the time, but not all of them are news, even when they are new. A man wakes up, eats breakfast and goes to work on a bus; it has only just happened, but nobody wants to read about it because it is not unusual. Ordinary and everyday things do not make news.

Of course, if that same man was 90 years old and was still catching the bus to work every day, it would be unusual!

The classic definition of news is this: “Dog bites man” is not news; “Man bites dog” is news.

This definition, though, is not universal. If dogs are eaten in your society (at feasts, for instance) then it will not be news when a man bites a dog – so long as it has been cooked.

What is usual in one society may be unusual in another. Again, we will expect the content of the news to vary from society to society. In every society, though, whatever is unusual is likely to be news.

Is it interesting?

Events which are new and unusual may still not be of general interest. Scientists may report that an insect has just been found living on a plant which it did not previously inhabit. The discovery is new, and the event is unusual, but it is unlikely to interest anybody other than a specialist or enthusiast.

In a specialist publication this could be big news, but in a general news broadcast or paper it would merit at most a few words.

Is it significant?

However, if that same insect was one which had a huge appetite, and which had previously lived on and eaten bush grass and if the new plant on which it had been found was rice, then the story becomes news, because it is significant.

People may not be interested in bugs, but they are interested in food. If this insect is now threatening their crops, it becomes a matter of concern to them. It is news because it is significant.

Similarly, if a peasant farmer says that the Roman Catholic Church should ordain women priests, that is not news. If an archbishop says it, it is news, because what he says on the subject is significant. It is the views of people such as the archbishop which help to form the policy of the Church.

Once again, what is interesting or significant in one society may not be interesting or significant in another. The content of the news may be different, therefore, in different societies, but the way it is identified will be the same.

Is it about people?

Most news is automatically about people, because it is the things people do to change the world which makes news.

However, news can also be made by non-human sources, such as a cyclone, a bush fire, a drought, a volcanic eruption or an earthquake. It is when reporting these stories that it is important to make sure that the story is centred on people.

The cyclone would not matter if it blew itself out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, away from any inhabited islands; the fire could burn for as long as it likes in bush where nobody lives; the Sahara Desert has a near-permanent drought, but in most of it nobody is there to rely on rains; a volcanic eruption or an earthquake which damages nobody’s property and injures nobody is really not news.

All these natural disasters only become news when they affect people’s lives. Every story can be told in terms of people. Always start by asking yourself the question: “How does this affect my readers’, listeners’ or viewers’ lives?”

Whenever you have a story which tells of how something has happened which affects both people and property, always put the people first

RIGHT: More than 100 people were left homeless after Cyclone Victor struck Suva yesterday. WRONG: Seventeen houses were flattened when Cyclone Victor struck Suva yesterday.

How strong a story?

A story which is new, unusual, interesting, significant and about people is going to be a very good story indeed. One way of deciding the strength of a story is to check how many of those five criteria it meets.

There are other factors, though, which make stories strong or weak:

Closeness

The same event happening in two different places can have two quite different news values. A coup d’état in your own country is as big a story as you can ever have (although you will probably not be at liberty to report it as you would wish!). A coup in the country next door is still a big story, because it may affect the stability of your own country.

However, a coup in a small country in another continent is unlikely to merit more than a few paragraphs.

The appeal of local news is that your readers or listeners might know the people or place involved.

The word “local” means different things to different people. If you broadcast to a wide area or sell your newspaper in many different towns, you must realise that a small story which interests readers in one place, because it is local, may not be of any interest to readers elsewhere.

Personal impact

The average reader, listener or viewer may be a parent, a person wanting a good education for the children, dreaming of buying a car, looking forward to going home on leave, anticipating the next big community feast or festival. You will need to have a very clear understanding of what your own readers or listeners are like.

So stories about bride-price or dowries, children, land disputes, new schools, cheaper or dearer fares, or whatever else is important and may affect your average reader, will have personal impact.

People can identify with stories about other people like themselves. So those stories with which many people can identify are stronger than those which only apply to a few.

How do we get news?

A lot of news will come to you as a journalist without any real effort on your part. Government handouts, Ministers’ speeches and announcements of new developments come into the newsroom after being processed by press officers or public relations officers.

Passing on such information, as long as it is genuinely interesting and informative, is an important function of the media, to provide society with the hard facts of what is happening in the country.

It is part of your job as a journalist to sort out what is interesting and informative from the millions of boring words which may be sent to you.

There is also news which journalists find for themselves and reveal to the public. This need not be a subject which somebody wants to be kept secret. Many people have a story to tell but do not know how to write a media release. It is part of your job as a journalist to find these people and report their stories.

There are also some stories which people want to keep secret but which the public ought to know about. When you hear about such a situation, it is your duty to investigate fairly but fearlessly.

Where does news come from?

Now we know what makes news. The following are the main areas of life in which we expect frequently to find news stories. For each category below, think of at least one event or situation which could make a news story in your own society.

Conflicts: This category includes wars, strikes, revolutions, secessionist groups, tribal and clan fights, elections and the power battles of politics.

Disaster and tragedy: This may include air crashes, train crashes, ships sinking, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, or human tragedies like children falling down deep wells from which they cannot be rescued.

Progress and development: Development is always news in a developing country. The report should be always of how the changes affect people’s lives, for better or for worse. New ideas or progress in one area may stimulate ideas in another. Development stories may include education, the development of new technology, improvement of farming techniques, road building and irrigation schemes. Citizens of more developed countries may also appreciate stories about developments in things which affect their lives or well-being, such as medical breakthroughs, new technologies or initiatives to make transport easier, quicker or cheaper.

Crime: Any crime can be news, whether it is a road traffic offence, break and enter, corruption, forgery, rape or murder – but more serious crimes or unusual crimes generally make bigger news stories.

Money: These stories include fortunes made and lost, school fees, taxes, the Budget, food prices, wage rises, economic crises and compensation claims.
It is not only large sums of money which make news; the little girl who gives her only ten cents to a huge fund-raising event is more interesting than the businessman who gives $100.

The underdog: This is one of the great themes of literature and drama (David and Goliath, the Hare and the Tortoise, Cinderella). One traditional role of the journalist is to defend the rights of the little person – the soldier against the unjust officer, the innocent man against false charges, the poor against exploitation.

Religion: There are two types of religious news story. First, there are events involving people’s religious lives, such as the building of a new church or a pilgrimage. Second, there are statements by religious leaders on moral and spiritual affairs, such as contraception or salvation. It is important for the journalist to be aware of the relative numerical strengths of Christianity, Islam and other religions – including traditional local beliefs – in his or her country. The importance of a statement by a religious leader in your society depends both upon the news value of what he has to say and upon the size of his following.

Famous people: Prominent men and women make news. What people in the public eye do, the lives they lead and what they look like, are all of interest. It is especially newsworthy when they fall from power, lose their money or are involved in scandal.

Health: Many people are concerned with their health, so they are interested in stories about traditional remedies, medical research, diseases, hospitals and clinics, drugs, diet and exercise.

Sex: All societies are interested in sex, even if they do not talk about it openly. Many news stories about sex involve behaviour which goes outside society’s generally accepted standards.

Weather: The weather may affect the daily routine of people and is of interest when it behaves unusually, with exceptionally high or low temperatures, or exceptionally high or low rainfall.

Food and drink: The rich person plans feasts, the poor person wants enough to eat and drink. Shortages and gluts, crop diseases and harvest sizes, prices of food in the market or the launch of a new brand of beer – these all make news.

Entertainment: Stories about music, dance, theatre, cinema and carving keep us informed of developments in the arts, who is doing what, who is performing where, and what it is worth going to see or hear.

Sport: Many people participate in sport and many others are spectators. They all want to know sports results, news of sportsmen and sportswomen and their achievements.

Human interest: There are often unusual and interesting aspects of other people’s lives which are not particularly significant to society as a whole. Stories about these are called human interest stories. Examples might be a child going abroad for surgery; a pilot recovering from injuries received in an air crash and determined to fly again; or a man with a collection of a million picture postcards.

News and entertainment

Most people agree that the purpose of the news media – newspapers, magazines, radio and television – is to inform, to educate and to entertain. However, the purpose of the news itself is to inform and to educate your readers, listeners or viewers.

The entertainment can come from other areas – music and drama programs on radio; cartoons and crossword puzzles in newspapers. It is not the job of news to entertain.

This does not mean that news should be dull. If a news event has an element of humour, you should always try to write the story in a way to amuse your readers or listeners.

Nevertheless, the news should only be reported if it is real news. Do not report non-news as if it was news only because the story is entertaining.

As you gain more experience, you may be able to write things which are purely entertaining – such as a humorous look at current events. This is not news, however, and should not be presented as if it was.

Make it clear to your readers or listeners what is news and what is not.

The source of this training module is The News Manual’s Chapter 1: What is News?

The post What is news? first appeared on Media Helping Media.