After quotes, it is attribution January 29, 2008
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Though quotes add colour to any story, they need to be used very carefully. All the direct quotes need to be attributed to the source.
Oh, then what’s the difference between quote and attribution?
Well, it goes like this – All quotes are attributions and all attributions are not quotes!
If it further complicates the very idea, here are two links to read.
—– On Quotes
Call, talk, report, but quote? January 26, 2008
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It is not just witness an event and report – always!
Many times, we go beyond this and talk to related (sometimes unrelated) persons and gather more info.
But how do we quote them? When do we put their words within a pair of inverted commas?
This was one which popped up as speed breaker during my flow of writing. When I looked up to Google, I could find results for stock quotes and about a software called the quotes! Not of journalism but!
I had to learn it only from the corrected copy of reports..
I had the habit of alternating between reporting in my own words and in quotes throughout the report. Perhaps, to make the report appear to be interesting!
After a few sacrifices to the scissors, occasional and rare pearl-like advices from the editor’s desk, I could come over this dangerous habit of quoting all unimportant facts and writing important points in my words.
Here goes what I learnt after a long struggle on this:
- Do not quote anything unless there is something striking in what the person has said.
- Do quote verbatim, when there is an immediate and strong reaction to your question.
- Do quote if there is an interpretation on any statement or issue raised by the concerned person or issue.
- Make sure that the words go between the pair inverted commas are the speaker’s own. Not a single syllable is added by you!
Getting the facts right January 23, 2008
Posted by Revathi in Journalism basics, Reporting.1 comment so far
WYSIWYR.
Reading it again? Yes, it is not WYSIWYG, the popular computer jargon.
By WYSWYR I mean What You See is What You report! And you report exactly, not approximately.
This is another skill I acquired by default, as I have been writing long credit appraisals.
If the company is 9 years old today, it was started on 20th of January 1999.
If the company is producing undersea cable manufacturers, they are manufacturing undersea fibreoptic telecommunication cables!
I could apply this easily to reporting. When I was assigned to report on a pretty ordinary event of making a gold plated temple chariot, I was also guided to touch on a few details that would interest the readers.
- What is the quantity of the precious metal that goes into the work?
- Where did the artisans come from?
- What was special about the artisans from that particular area?
- How is the malleable metal applied in different tiers of the work?
- How long did it take? At one go or dis any part of the work needed the time for the adhesives to dry up?
- Where can we find the other such works of the arisans?
- Where does the money come from?
- And how was the metal under purchase regulations were bought up?
When I read the published report, I patted myself for filing such a soft report, though it was perfectly guided by the editor as to what should go into the report.
What more can one expect to learn from such a small report, from chemistry to economics!
Ws and H for kids January 22, 2008
Posted by Revathi in writing.Tags: kids, reporters
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We floated a student reporter programme for a kids website last year. As part of the introductory session we gave the prospective cub reporters a Reporter’s notebook.
An extract from the notebook on how to report from their campuses is here. . . .page5.pdf
This is for those who believe that whatever is taught to kids apply to the adults too!
Of 5 Ws and a H! January 21, 2008
Posted by Revathi in Journalism basics.Tags: basic journalism, rhyme
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This is again a very basic and extremely traditional lesson in Journalism.
These letters represent who, what, when. where, why and how.
If you cannot get these basics right in your report or story, you may need to go back to little nephew.
Yes, reporting begins at home like charity!
If you have a little nephew who keeps nagging you for a bed time story and asks you questions at the nd of each sentence, you are lucky you had the right training.
If you start your career in your 30s or 40s, your own kid can come to your rescue.I still remember the day I sang the nursery rhyme ‘Hey diddle diddle. . .’ some sixteen years ago!
- The first question I had to face was – What is a diddle?
- The next was – Where was the cow? On earth or on sky?
- And then – How could it jump over the moon?
- Was that a night?
- Why did the dish run away with the spoon?
Well, if you can write a complete story on this scene, it means you have started off very well.
For curious readers, this rhyme has a satirical theory of Elizabethan scandal and another of astronomy lesson. I still stick to the version of Astronomy lesson, as I have read that all the constellations mentioned in this rhyme as animals are visible during the spring time, which is time for song and dance.
Want to know what is this all about? Read here!
The grand old ‘Inverted Pyramid’ January 20, 2008
Posted by Revathi in writing tips.Tags: inverted pyramid, Reporting, writing news
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Even when I wrote the credit analysis reports, I followed the form of inverted pyramid. But without knowing the journalistic importance.
It was ‘Most Important things First – Least Important things Last’. Just that.
Though the present day newspapers and TV channels tend to present the stories in new and innovative forms, they are with underlying emphasis on this most traditional form of inverted pyramid story telling.
When I was young, I had a small crowd of fans, who loved to listen to my stories whenever I stepped out of home. To a music concert or an exhibition or to a cousin’s home or just shopping with Mom! My stories used to begin from leaving the home till back home! But in between I used to jump sequences and take turns to the original time and location to make the story more interesting
But this way of storytelling didn’t work in my writings, whether business or a news story!
The inverted pyramids came and settled down in the stories.
The first few lines had to hint what the rest of the story was all about. When a credit proposal was to be declined, the first para of my analysis gave the idea. But the rest of the analysis held the reader up to know why the proposal was not feasible according to me and not recommended for sanction of credit.
I found journalism no different from this. The lead or the first paragraph of the report has to meet the norms of ‘5 Ws and 1 H’ (Go to my next post to read more on this), how it makes the reader sit up to read a complete story is what matters.
I went through this page for beginning to write a report, when I started writing reports for a newspaper. The whole list is good. But what stunned me was Point no. 8, the last point. (Perhaps, this is an example of inverted pyramid?)
Journalism terminology January 19, 2008
Posted by Revathi in journalism.Tags: jargons, newsroom words, terminology
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Though I was aware of the jargons – By-line, credit line and date line, when I heard ‘filing a copy’ in the newsroom for the first time, I was looking for someone who is going to place a sheet of paper in a file!
That was because I did not graduate in journalism.Just that one can write a few lines or a put a story into a paragraph or two does not make him a journalist. This is what I learnt on that day.
To me, the words ‘deck’ and ‘bite’ were amusing! But kindled the curiosity in me. How many more such interesting jargons could be in the world of journalism? My first search was on the Internet. To be precise – Google!
In fact the search wasn’t easy. ‘Journalism jargons’ didn’t throw up any good result. ‘Journalism terminology’ did give a few results. But this one is pretty well gathered. You can just replace [your country] Press in the place of Canadian Press. All others apply to the journalists in the countries around the world.
I did learn about ‘jump line’, ‘morgue’ and ‘gate keepers’ in the newsroom through this link.
Read and look for more!
Tips on places to shop for stories January 18, 2008
Posted by Revathi in writing tips.add a comment
I look for practical journalism tips online.
This time I was looking for tips on places to get leads or get story ideas. And I found them.
Here is a map to the 100 places to shop for stories. (A tour around this website will enrich your ideas!)
Get your feet on the ground January 16, 2008
Posted by Revathi in journalism, writing tips.Tags: learning online, writing
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It takes time. At least a few weeks. But having the feet on the ground firmly is important before a starter moves on.
Learning is a process and each story is a step forward.
In the initial days, we do come across challenges, claims and people pointing out the mistakes. To avoid them, a few tips are here:
1. Attend the functions, festivals and get-togethers even if you not covering them
2. Be on the road, after your work too and observe what’s happening around your area of reporting
3. Do some window shopping and small shopping in the big and small businesses. Engage in conversation with the counter and billing staff to know who’s who in the business and around the business
4. Take a quick morning and evening on the beach side or in the parks as often as possible, even if you are not on weight lose programme! Many important people of the area are informally available at these places.
To begin with, this should be enough.
I found online sources very useful to start off. You too can enroll for this course at the News University on beat basics. It’s free!
Journalist? Print, TV or Web? January 15, 2008
Posted by Revathi in journalism, writing.Tags: TV journalism, writing
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When I got published for more than once a few of my close friends started referring me as a ‘journalist’.
It was strange for me as I was really not one. But, for my niece (from who I borrowed a text book in Journalism!) started looking for tips and leads from me I felt elated.
She changed her track later to a TV journalist later.
Times have changed. The journalist is no more faceless. The radio journalist is always identified by the voice. If he appears in front of you, you cannot recognise him unless he opens his mouth and talks to you.
Same way, if a TV journalist writes an article for a newspaper, you cannot make out the style of hers. Talking, rather speaking in front of the camera and writing are two different poles. You talk on the spot, spontaneously and you read again and again your written copy before filing it!
But to me, it was always – writing first. We tell a story. Just report what we see. Add the right facts to it. Ensure all the five ‘w’s and the ‘h’ are perfectly answered. And any useful info readers look for is added. If a box containing the introduction about the subject is included, nothing like that.
Any medium that conforms to the rules of story telling interestingly is good. You just write the story for print, string it with a photo or two. Videograph it for the TV or make it a multimedia story with a set of photographs and narration. All are interesting!
For those who wants to know more on TV journalism (including my niece) here is a source. Happy learning!
