Citizen Journalism

It is also called participatory or street journalism. A citizen journalist is a common man playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information. Jay Rosen defines citizen journalism as, “when the people formerly known as the audience employs the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another.”

Citizen journalism is the most prominent tool of independent reporting. Here the person who is a citizen journalist enjoys the utmost freedom in editing and publishing the news item. Social networking, blogging, and other new media technologies, in addition to the increased use of smartphones, have raised the popularity of citizen journalism. Occupy Wall Street movement, Arab spring, Delhi rape case, etc., are some notable examples of citizen journalism. 

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Special correspondents

Special correspondents are journalists who report for a news media on special events or a special area of interest. A correspondent may emerge from a rank of the reporter. The duty of correspondent not only includes gathering facts but to interpret and analyses new form all angles. A correspondent is a major medium for ‘important information who can tell the audience about what is likely to happen. For this purpose, the correspondent must know the pulse of the people and should have vast and varied contacts. A special correspondent has supreme loyalty to the audience. Foreign correspondents, Capitol correspondents, War correspondents are some of the examples for correspondents. 

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Qualities or Values of a Reporter

There are certain qualities that make a reporter good at his/her job. Some of them are:

1. Accuracy

Accuracy is very important for a reporter. A reporter must obtain credible and precise information. Carelessness in newsgathering may result in an inaccurate and unreal news story.

2. Clarity

A reporter must attain clearness in expressing a news item. Transparency, continuity, and simplicity are the basic elements that make a news story clear and consumable.

3. Objectivity

A reporter should not be biased, in order to achieve balance in the news report. A reporter must be objective while reporting news, by accepting all different views on the report. Personal biases and one sided views may curb the truthfulness of the news story.

4. Nose for news

It is the basic quality of a reporter to find a news item. A nose for news or news sense refers to the eagerness and interest in searching for news. It helps the reporter to distinguish between news items from non – news items. A reporter should compare various news values and find the relevance of the news item.

5. Awareness

A reporter should be aware of the recent happenings and trending events. He/she should be alert and prepared all the time. This will help in finding exclusive news stories. Awareness of a subject will lead to finding major news stories on various events.

6. Punctuality

Punctuality is an important quality for a reporter. Being late to an event or meeting will cost heavily for a reporter. If a reporter is late, then he/she will have to depend on other sources for the news. Still, there are chances of missing an important piece of information on the event.

7. Speed

News reporting is a rat race. A slow reporter can never sustain in the industry. A reporter must think fast and act fast. If they are not fast enough to deliver information on time, some others will take their place. The news industry is crucial time bounded and works on deadlines. A reporter may lose his/her job only for being slow and not completing their assignments on time.

8. Curiosity

A good reporter must be curious about news items. The curiosity of the reporter will lead to truthful information and facts.

9. Doubtfulness

A reporter should be doubtful about every information and statements they receive. He/she must be sceptic while dealing with subjects and sources. Not all information will be truthful and credible.

So a reporter should verify all the statements and information from other sources before adding it to the news story. Rechecking the information will help to omit false and intentional elements.

10. Honesty

Honesty and integrity are the important ethical values that a reporter must adhere to. Every journalist must follow a code of ethics and be honest to it. A reporter may be exposed to various kinds of temptations by people with vested interests. A dishonest reporter may fall into the hands of corruption and bias.

11. Creating a social circle

A social circle is the group of people a reporter keeps contacts with. A reporter should build widespread contacts in various sections of the society. Maintaining such social circles will help in news gathering.

12. Perception

While reporting an event or happenings the reporter should observe the facts and information carefully and find the inner meanings in it. Good perception will lead to good understating of the event.

13. Courage

A courageous reporter won’t hesitate to go to any extent to find the news. Only a courageous reporter could ask repulsive questions to politicians and higher officials. Reporting styles like sting operations and investigative journalism demand fearlessness and courage for fulfilling the task.

14. Diplomacy and image building

A reporter should be diplomatic and careful to handle sensitive situations and subjects. A flexible and thoughtful reporter could build a good image in the industry. 

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Types of News Reporting

There are various types of reporting practices based on the nature of reporting.

1. Investigative reporting

The term investigative reporting or investigative journalism has come into usage only in recent years. But an element of the investigation was always associated with reporting. Investigative reporting was a form of journalism in which the reporters deeply investigate a case of corruption, crime or any other wrongdoing. Investigative reporting requires enormous patience, hard work and obviously, luck on the part of the reporter to gather the information. It is a long process which may take months and years of research and background study. The investigative reporter will go to any extent in search of a scoop.

Tehelka is a magazine which famous for its investigative reports in India. There are also other journalists like Arun Shourie, AswiniSarin, ChithraSubrahmaniam, etc., who brought into focus several issues like corrupt practices in Tihar jail, women trafficking, etc. The investigative report by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein on the Watergate Scandal is a milestone in the history of investigative journalism.

• Sting operation

A sting operation is a method of reporting, i.e. associated with investigative journalism. It is an act of exposing fraudulent or criminal issues using deceptive methods. Reporters often take false identity or create misleading situations to expose the underlying facts. Reporters use equipment like audio recorders, hidden cameras, etc. during the sting operation. In India, Tehelka was the first media group who used sting operation in reporting news.

2. Interpretative reporting

It is a type of reporting in which reporters find out the further details of an event which is already aired as breaking news. The interpretative reporting goes into the causes and after effects of an event. In the case of a war or a calamity, details of the survivors, the death count, the reasons behind the disaster, etc., will be only reported after the broadcasting happens.

3. Embedded reporting

Embedded reporting or embedded journalism is a term used to represent the journalists while they are attached to a military unit during a war or armed conflict. The reporters signed into the embedded reporting are not allowed to report information that could compromise the mission or other classified information of the military. In this case, all the reports will be published only with the approval of the concerned military officers. Embedded reporting was used widely in 2003 invasion of Iraq and was criticised for manipulation of facts by the US military.

4. Political reporting

It includes coverage of all aspects of politics and social issues. Political reporting’s prime focus is on the government policies and statements by political parties. In a news bureau, the staff reporters will be assigned with one or two dignitaries in political field or ministers of the state.

5. Sports reporting

It is an integral part of most of the news media, including newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, new media, etc. sports reporting requires deep knowledge of the concerned sports event. The emphasis on the accurate description of the performance of the athletes and teams is an integral part of sports reporting.

6. Ambush reporting

There may be individuals who do not wish to speak to reporters. Ambush reporting is an aggressive tactic practiced by the reporters to suddenly confront such people. This type of reporting is widely criticised but still an effective way to gather information.

7. Beat reporting

It is a type of reporting where the reporter is assigned with a subject area to cover. The area assigned to a reporter is called a beat. This area can be hospital, court, police station, state legislatures, Parliament, school, college, scene of crime, etc. it is also called specialised reporting. Beat reporters build up contacts with sources they meet regularly at the assigned area.

There are many other types of reporting such as War reporting, Cultural reporting, Educational reporting, Environmental reporting, Entertainment and Celebrity reporting, etc. 

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What are the principles of News Reporting

Principles of Reporting

• Balance

The report should reflect the positive and negative aspects of the news event. Presentation of the information should be fair. It should not be biased. A good news report provides space for opinions and arguments of all sorts.

• Accuracy

A news report should be precise and concise to every bit of details. All the facts should be correct and rechecked. The inaccurate news report will bring shame to the firm and tarnishes the credibility of the reporter.

• Clarity

The news report should be published in a manner that, it is understandable to the readers. Every fact and information must be clear and easily perceivable.

• Reliability

The news stories reported must be correct and well attributed. Facts in the story and source identification should be clearly identified. If the audience suspects the truthfulness of a news story, it may result in the loss of reliability.

• Objectivity

Objectivity means that while reporting a news story, reporters don’t convey their own feelings, biases or prejudices through their story. They accomplish this by writing stories using a language that is neutral and avoids characterising people or institutions in positive or negative ways. 

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News Reporting

Reporting is the nerve center of journalism. News reporting is a process of gathering and writing news for a newspaper, news agency, radio, TV, online journal or any kind of news media. Reporting is not only just gathering the information, but presenting it in an objective and credible way to the audience. It is a long process which includes newsgathering, opinion hunt, fact-finding, and cross-reference. Soul aim of reporting is to inform the public about various events and issues, enabling them to make a judgment.

A reporter is a person who performs these functions. A reporter is the kingpin of any organization. A reporter is the eyes, ears, and voice of a media organization. Compared to a reporter all the other staffs of the media firm is hardly known to the public. The news materials gathered by the reporter is processed and edited by the staff/sub-editors according to the needs of concerned news media. 

Read more about News Reporting here - News Reporting

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What is Attribution?

Attribution is stating who said something. Attribution is essential in all the media, including radio and television. Attribution is the identification of the source of the information. The attributed source can be a person, publication, government department or an organization. A reporter may receive information from various sources. It is important to disclose the identity of the source for the credibility of information. In some cases, the source may remain anonymous. This happens mostly in the case of investigative journalism. Attributing is similar to quoting. Journalists do it so that the readers or listeners can know who is speaking or where the information in the story comes from. Attribution can be used for both spoken and written information. Information gathered from interviews, speeches, reports, books, films or even other newspapers, radio or television stations can be attributed.

• On the record

It is a journalistic term used to show the source’s willingness to attribute for the statements they made and documents they shared with the journalist.

• Off the record

The information revealed by the source is confidential and it cannot be published. In this case, the source just wants the journalist to know his/her stand on an issue or event.

• Un-attributable

This term is used to represent the info shared by the source, which can be published but not attributed or quoted. In this case, the risk of being credible should be held by the reporter. 

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News Interview techniques

Interviews

An interview aims at providing the audience the experience of being a part of the happenings. Interviews are of various types ranging from the informal one to one chats to roundtable discussions. Giving information is not the sole aim of conducting interviews. Usually, the subjects for the interview are the ones who hit the headlines regularly or people with unusual experiences and hobbies or people who are well versed in the areas of knowledge. The person who conducts an interview is called an interviewer and the subject who is being interviewed is called the interviewee.

Questions are an integral part of an interview. An interviewer should be thorough with all the information on the subject to prepare effective questions. Interview questions are classified under various divisions.

-Open questions and closed questions.

Open questions demand more information and require descriptive answers; while closed questions can be answered with a yes or no.

-Empty questions

These are questions that do not require a specific answer. For example: do you have anything more to say to our audience?

-Contact questions

These are the initial questions that are asked to develop a rapport between the subject and the interviewer. Contact questions are not meant to make any substantial revelations.

-Leading questions

Leading questions are used to start a new session or topic.

-Closing questions

Closing questions attempt to sum up issues that are already discussed during the session.

Interviews are broadly classified under two divisions. Purpose-based interviews and Setting based interviews.

According to BBC, there are three categories under purpose based interviews.

1. Hard exposure interviews: Used for investigating a subject thoroughly. For eg: interviews with politicians or other personalities involved in a controversy.

2. Informational interviews: These are of interactive nature and attract the audience. Film based interviews, entertainment interviews, and personal interviews come under this category.

3. Emotional interviews: These types of interviews aimed at revealing the interviewee’s state of mind. For eg: ‘How do you feel being the first ex-PM to face many charges soon after leaving the office?’

Setting-based interviews consist of seven variations.

A. Eyewitness interview: They are also called spot interviews. At the place of happening, the reporter must identify subjects who are willing to talk in front of the camera. They are conducted under the tremendous pressure of time and focus on gathering facts.

B. Door stepper: The short time interview with a political personality or other dignitaries at an event and which involves a very few questions is called a doorstepper. These interviews focus on such hit or miss affairs. Even capturing a ‘no comment’ reply is adequate for the authenticity of the report.

C. Set piece: These type of interviews are widely used during the occurrence of major events such as annual budget presentation, cabinet formation etc. Such interviews are conducted at the interviewee’s office. It requires much planning for the preparation of questions.

D. Studio interview: These are live interviews where the interviewees are invited to the television studio.

E. Down the line: In this type of interview, the interviewer is connected through telephone or other digital communication devices, to the subject who could be in another place.

F. Car interview: A car interview is commonly used for personal interviews, where the interviewer asks the questions sitting in a vehicle, while the interviewee answers it while driving.

G. Walking interview: These interviews are common when making a documentary or a news report on an individual. It requires great technical skill to shoot and record such interviews. 

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Types of News Sources

There are uncountable news sources that a journalist can rely upon. In the digital age, news sources are limitless and easily accessible.

1. Press conference

The press conference is also called a news conference. It is a formal meeting conducted by any person who wants to reveal specific information through the media. The person who invites media is liable to answer the questions of the journalists on whatever information he disclosed. This also provides a platform for interaction and discussion. The status of the person decides the value of the news. Background materials like brochures, leaflets etc., will be distributed by the individual.

2. Meet the press

In this case, the press association or the press club invites a dignitary to meet the media persons. There won’t be any fixed topics for discussion to meet the press. Brochures or any kind of background material won’t be distributed here. Every arrangement regarding the meeting will be made by the press organization. The individual who is invited by the press authorities can be a celebrity or a person related to a newsworthy event.

3. News releases and hand-outs

News releases are also called press releases. These are authorized statements given by government authorities, political or business organizations and other institutions or individuals for the purpose of publishing through media. A press release is prepared by the public relation officers of the concerned institutions. These are also called press hand-outs and press notes.

4. News agencies

UNESCO describes news agencies as “An undertaking of which the principal objective, whatever its legal form, is to gather news and news material of which the sole purpose is to express or present facts, and to distribute this to a group of news enterprises, and in exceptional circumstances to private individuals with a view to providing them with a complete and impartial a news service as possible against payment, and under conditions compatible with business laws and usage.”

The main news source for news media is a news agency or wire service. News agencies have large networks connecting thousands of places from where their reporters gather news and deliver it to various news media on a commercial basis. News agencies have their network worldwide. Major news agencies of the world are Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP) and Reuters.AFP is the oldest news agency in the world. The Free Press of India (FPI) was the first news agency in India. The leading news agency in India is the Press Trust of India (PTI).

5. Interviews

An interview aims at providing the audience the experience of being a part of the happenings. Interviews are of various types ranging from the informal one to one chats to roundtable discussions. Giving information is not the sole aim of conducting interviews. Usually, the subjects for the interview are the ones who hit the headlines regularly or people with unusual experiences and hobbies or people who are well versed in the areas of knowledge. The person who conducts an interview is called an interviewer and the subject who is being interviewed is called the interviewee.

6. Press brief

A briefing is similar to the press conference. The only difference is that the briefing is done by a spokesperson who is authorized to make statements on behalf of an organization or individual. This spokesperson will address the questions of the media representatives.

7. Public relation departments

Every organization and institution will have a public relations department. It is not always possible to meet the chairman or head of an institution in person. So the information or statement regarding the organization/ institution can be provided by the public relation department.

8. House journals

House journals comprise of the information regarding policies and functioning of an organization/ institution. It is produced for the employees and shareholders of the firm. It is also called house magazines.

9. Non-Governmental organization

NGO’s are non-profit organizations working for social development. They can provide information on various topics on the basis of their area of work. For example environment, water resources, tribal protection, ecology, etc.

There are also many other sources of news such as:

10. Parliament

11. State legislative assemblies

12. Police stations

13. Courts

14. Hospitals

15. Banks

16. Seminars and symposiums

17. Theatres

18. Speech, etc.

In most cases, each type of media will depend on other media as a source of information. For example, regional language newspaper depends on news channel or radio for recent news; or online news portal gathering information on an on-going event from a news channel. 

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The three sources of News

Sources of News

News sources are people, documents or any records that provide a journalist with timely and logical information. In simple words, sources are anything that gives information. Sources of news are uncountable. Sources can be hard or weak on the basis of the information it provides. Sources can be people who are involved with or affected by an event or issue.

There are various other sources like audiovisual recordings, publications, news agencies, records of government or business enterprises etc. news sources can be classified into various categories depending on their feature and kind of information they provide.

The most accepted classification of a news source is primary, secondary and tertiary sources.

• Primary news sources

A source can be someone or something that is directly connected to other event or issue. They are at the center of the issue and are called primary sources. Survivor of an accident or a protest leader can give more accurate and strong information on the happening. Primary sources can be spoken written or recorded. Written documents are the printed and published works or documents by an author. As it includes the material published on the internet, it requires a lot of cross-references. Audio or video recordings from the place of an event are also the primary source of information.

• Secondary news sources

A secondary source passes on the information. They may not be present at the occurrence of an event but they can provide secondary information on the happening. The official police reports, reports from other media, etc., are secondary sources. In some case, the eyewitness reports are also considered as secondary sources as people may interpret an event in various ways. Secondary sources are not always reliable. They can only be used for cross-checking with primary data.

• Tertiary news sources

Journalists refer to many other sources to verify the information given by the primary and secondary sources. They are called tertiary sources. Databases, encyclopedias, dictionaries, guidebooks, survey results, timelines, etc., are considered as tertiary sources. 

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What are the tools for News Gathering?

News Gathering Tools

There are certain elements that help a journalist to collect relevant news from various sources. They are the newsgathering tools.

1. Research

Background research on the news story always helps the reporter in finding the exact news sources. Researching can be done online or by referring to articles and news stories published and broadcasted in various media.

2. Observation

Observing various public events will help to gather news. It is a common practice for the journalists to attend public addresses, speeches and lectures.

3. Contacts

Widespread contacts will always help to reach the sources and to make fact-finding easier. Most often the reporters will make contacts with people who could provide them with crucial information.

4. Interviewing

It is the most effective way of finding the information and facts on the topic. Interviewing completely depends on the ability of the interviewer to communicate. An interviewer is to be careful in selecting the theme and subject for the interview. He/she must be thorough with the subject and well informed about the current affairs. Maintaining an easy flow of the words will makes it easy to communicate with the subjects. 

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News Gathering

News gathering is the initial stage of writing a news story. It is a process of finding news sources and facts and researching news items with a view to come up with a news angle or viewpoint. The essence of news gathering is the collection of useful facts. Every news story should have a focus. Focus gives meaning to the story. News is neither planted nor cultivated. News is found among the general public, organization, history; science etc. Different types of news stories have different newsgathering process. For example, hard news items like public events and elections need to be researched quickly; whereas soft feature stories should take more time and go deep into the facts. 

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What makes a News? Or Importance of News Values/ Determinants

News Values / Determinants

News is an accurate, unbiased account of the significant facts of a timely happening that is of interest to people. It is an account of a recent event or opinion which is important or interesting. But all events and issues are not qualified as news. There are certain indicators that decide the newsworthiness of an event or issue. Some of them are:

• Timeliness

News is a time bound process. A recent event is more newsworthy than an old event. An accident that took place an hour before is timelier than one happened two days before.

• Proximity

How important is the news for the audience is a significant question. A local happening in most cases is considered to be more relevant to a local reader compared to an event taking place in a faraway country. Union election taking place in our country is more newsworthy here than the presidential election happening in USA.

• Impact

Certain issues with social concern and direct impact on the audience’s life are newsworthy. Impact is the importance or significance of the issue. The capability of an event or issue to create a series of events is the impact of that event. Annual budget, controversies on corruption, communal riots, etc., are examples.

• Consequences

All newsworthy events have consequences. But the level and extent of the event decides its news value. An accident in which a number of people died is worthier than an accident without causalities.

• Conflict

Conflicts between individuals, states, and ideologies make news. A physical conflict which leads to injuries and damage is worthier than ideological or mental conflicts. Wars, violent protests, murders, political conflicts, etc., makes to the front page of the newspaper. Audience are interested in elements like tension and suspense, which are essentials qualities of conflict.

• Disaster

Disaster can be classified into natural and manmade. Crime is a manmade disaster while earthquake is a natural disaster. America bombing in Iraq, earthquake in Nepal that killed hundreds of people, is all newsworthy events.

• Human interest

All events that have an emotional impact on the audiences, come under this category. A protest spawned by social media, a demigod caught for cheating followers with magic tricks, a seven year old girl with multitasking skills, etc., are examples for human interest stories.

• Novelty

If a dog bites a man it’s not news, but when a man bites a dog it’s news. I.e., an unusual event, action or statement, which puzzles and wonders the audience, has a novelty element in it. Unusual hobbies, superstitious believes, a child with bodily deformations, a dog with extreme physical skills, etc. are newsworthy.

• Prominence

An event involving a celebrity will attract more coverage than an event involving a common man. Bigger personalities and organisations are certainly newsworthy. Scope for news is always around such people and organisations. For example Apple introducing their new product, a film star inaugurating a textile shop, are newsworthy events.

• Predictability

Certain events like cricket world cup, general elections, and film awards are predictable. Hence the audience will be waiting for the new reports of the events.

• Progress

Any kind of social, political, and ideological changes that lead a society to progress always make news. 

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What is NEWS?

The news is a piece of information on any event or person. It is an accurate, balanced, brief and fair-minded account of happenings with factual information on names and action in which public has a stake. The news is an update on the happening around us. These are some of the definitions of news.

‘News stands for North, East, West, and South’.

The news is a fact or idea that will interest a large number of audiences.

‘When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news’.

(Charles Anderson Dana, American journalist)

‘News is the immediate, the important, and the things that have an impact on our life’.

(Freda Morris, Courtesy Cohler 1985)

‘News is the first rough draft of the history’.

(Ben Bradlee, American journalist)

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