Full Description
Writing and Reporting for the Media introduces students to what reporters do-engage the world around them, generate story ideas, gather information, and effectively write a wide variety of story types. This classic text's reputation is built on its thorough grounding in the basic skills that aspiring reporters need.
Section One introduces students to the current journalism landscape and the foundational tools of journalism, including news judgement, newswriting style, and grammar and language choice. In Section Two, the text explores questions of libel, privacy, newsgathering issues, and ethics. Section Three teaches students to write summary and alternative leads; organize and write the body of a news story; interview sources and integrate quotations; write feature stories; write for broadcast news; and integrate photo, video, and audio elements. Finally, in Section Four, students learn about specific areas of journalism, including covering speeches and meetings; writing brights, follow-ups, roundups, sidebars, and obituaries; public affairs reporting; investigative reporting; and public relations.
The text engages students through its use of clear, accessible language and extensive examples, often drawn from recent news articles about important contemporary topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the war in Ukraine. Extensive and realistic practice exercises at the end of each chapter give students the opportunity to apply and master the skills under discussion.
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Journalism Today
Chapter 2: Selecting and Reporting the News
Chapter 3: Newswriting Style
Chapter 4: The Language of the News
Chapter 5: Libel, Privacy and Newsgathering Issues
Chapter 6: Ethics
Chapter 7: Basic News Leads
Chapter 8: Alternative Leads
Chapter 9: The Body of a News Story
Chapter 10: Quotations and Attribution
Chapter 11: Interviewing
Chapter 12: Feature Stories
Chapter 13: Writing for Broadcast News
Chapter 14: Visual Journalism
Chapter 15: Speeches and Meetings
Chapter 16: Brights, Follow-Ups, Roundups, Sidebars and Obituaries
Chapter 17: Public Affairs Reporting
Chapter 18: Introduction to Investigative Reporting
Chapter 19: Journalism and Public Relations
Appendix A: City Directory
Appendix B: Summary of AP Style
Appendix C: Rules for Forming Possessives
Credits
Index
