REPORTING PRACTICES
A newspaper will have scores of reporters assigned with the responsibility of covering various events,
issues, organizations, celebrities etc. Thus, senior, mid-level, junior and trainee reporters are entrusted
with the task of writing regular reports from various areas on a daily basis. Reporting in general takes
three forms.
1. General assignment
General assignment reporters cover breaking news or feature stories as events and issues unfold. The
editor or the bureau chief (senior most designation among the reporters) of a particular edition directly
assigns these stories. These reports are covered from the spot where the events take place. For example a
flash strike by private bus workers, a police lathi-charge on students picketing the roads or a political
murder.
2. Beat reporting
Beat reporters cover news and features in specific geographic or subject areas such as police stations,
munsiff and district courts, universities, local bodies, political parties. These reporter come up with their
own story ideas based on the inputs they get from a number of resources that they maintain. They usually
write at least one story on their beat. Beats are one of the best methods to catch major news stories. This
practice has become an accepted method all over the world. A person assigned with a beat is media
organization’s primary source of news from that area.
3. Speciality reporting
Speciality reporters cover breaking news and features in more specialised areas than the beat reporters
such as environment, cultural programmes, information technology, law, foreign affairs, education and
medicine. Specialist reporters generally do not cover spot news. But they have to analyse the roots of
problems, the reasons behind the news, the possible solutions, and the future prospectus of the news
events and developments.
Structure of a News Story
A news story is organized differently from any other type of writing. For example, an essay would begin with an
introduction and then move on to the body and then end with a powerful conclusion. But a news story quickly
conveys the main facts of a happening – the climax – and then relates the other facts in the order of diminishing
importance. A diagram of the story would look something like this:
The main advantage of this type of writing is that it is easy to grasp the important points in the first few
seconds of the reading. Let us analyse a typical story in a newspaper.
Abdul Ghani Lone shot dead
Srinagar, May 21 (UNI): Senior Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul
Ghani Lone was today shot dead by unidentified gunmen at a
rally here, dealing a severe blow to the voice of moderates among
separatists.
One of Lone’s gunmen was also killed in the attack while another
injured, they said.
The shootout took place during a ceremony to mark the death
anniversary of the father of senior Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq and former Mirwaiz of Kashmir, Maulvi Mohammed
Farooq, at Idgah ground in Old Srinagar city, they said. The attack
was apparently carried out by two unidentified gunmen who
appeared at the Idgah graveyard....
(The New Indian Express, Kozhikode)
Abdul Ghani Lone shot dead which appears in bold type is the headline. It is put at the head of the story
and gives the reader an idea about the subject of the story.
Srinagar, May 21 is the ‘dateline’. It tells the reader the place and date of the news story.
UNI is the ‘creditline’. The newspaper has published this story which has been supplied by the news
agency United News of India. By putting UNI the paper acknowledges the source of the news story and
gives due credit. Sometimes the name of the reporter or correspondent appears below the headline: for
example, From John Mary, By K K Katyal etc. It is termed byline in newspaper jargon.
The first paragraph of the story is called intro or lead. In the above example Senior Hurriyat Conference
leader Abdul Ghani Lone was today shot dead by unidentified gunmen at a rally here, dealing a severe blow to the
voice of moderates among separatists is the intro/lead.
The rest of the news is called the body of the news story. Intro/lead gives the most important information
contained in the news story. A well written lead/ intro is a prerequisite of a good story.
Inverted pyramid style
Newspapers also adopted the inverted-pyramid form because it summarises the news quickly. It gives readers the
convenience of grasping the news of the day by simply skimming lead paragraphs. The form allows readers to
decide whether they want to continue reading a story or leave it after any one of its paragraphs. An inverted
pyramid can also be trimmed from the bottom, which makes it easier to fit it into the tight news holes of a
newspaper.
The primary advantage of the inverted pyramid style is that it allows someone to stop reading a story
after only one or two paragraph. Doing so still allows that person to learn the story’s most important
details. The inverted pyramid style also ensures that all the facts are immediately understandable. It also
helps the headline writer to grasp the essentials of the story more quickly. Moreover, if a story is too long,
editors can easily delete one or more paragraphs from the end.
The inverted pyramid style has several disadvantages. First, because the lead summarizes facts that later
paragraphs discuss in greater detail, some of those facts may be repeated in the body. Second, a story that
follows the inverted pyramid-style rarely contains any surprises; the lead immediately reveals every
major details.
Hourglass style
Most stories are written in the traditional inverted pyramid. But there are alternatives to this style. In hourglass
style, the reporter provides the major news in the first few paragraphs of the story. These paragraphs are
presented in the inverted pyramid style. The reporter uses a turn, a transitional paragraph is introduced to explain
the chronology of the events. The transitional paragraph may begin with: police gave the following account of the
accident, our correspondent gave the following account, the victim told the jury what happened etc. The details
presented are told in the chronological order.
Hourglass style is suitable for covering trials, accidents news, breaking news etc. The Hindu newspaper
follows this style in some of their lead stories.
/INTRO
The first paragraph or two in a news story is called the lead. The lead is the most important part of a story
and the most difficult part to write. It is the part of the story that attracts the reader and, if it is well-
written can arouse readers’ interest. It should tell the reader the point of the story, not hide the subject
with unnecessary or misleading words and phrases. The important types of leads are listed below.
1. Summary leads
A summary lead, generally in no more than 35 words, tells an audience the most important of the six primary
elements of an event, the five W’s and H. Reporters look for these six elements whenever they cover a news event.
The most important of the six elements go into a summary lead.
2. Narrative lead
A narrative lead is the most popular lead on features and non-breaking news stories. It draws people into a
story by putting them, suddenly, in the middle of the action. It should entice a person to continue reading.
3. Contrast leads
A contrast lead compares or contrasts one person or thing with another, or several people or things with
one another. These “old and new”, “short and tall” or “yesterday and today” leads tell an audience the
way something was and now is. They can be used on any type of news or feature story.
4. Staccato leads
A staccato lead is made up of a short burst of phrases that carry an audience into a story by dangling some
of its key elements in front of them. It is meant to tease readers and to set the mood for the story, as in
these examples:
Friday. The night the music stopped. The first day of his prison term. 3,649 to go.
5. Question leads
Lead that asks a question. The key to writing a question lead is to answer the question as quickly as
possible
Sweating? The mercury is to go up sharply in the days to come.
6. Direct address lead
In a direct-address lead, the news or feature writer communicates directly with the audience by using the
word you in the lead. These leads give writers an opportunity to reach out to their audience, to include
them as individuals in a story.
Beware if you are above 40. One out five Indians suffer from serious respiratory ailments, revealed a study
conducted by....
SOURCES OF NEWS
A newspaper will have hundreds of news stories each day comprising international, national, state and
local news. Besides such straight news, there will also be features, opinion pieces such as columns,
reviews, middles, articles etc. How does a newspaper gather all these stories from across the world?
We cannot pinpoint someone or something as the source of news. We have seen ordinary mortals
becoming great heroes all of a sudden. Similarly, great men and women have become fallen heroes and
heroines instantly. Unknown places become a hotbed of news stories. There are numerous sources of
news for newspaper organization. These are briefly explained below.
Reporters are the primary sources of news for a newspaper. Vast majority of the news that appear on a
newspaper are reports filed by the newspaper’s own correspondents. They are the foot soldiers of a
newspaper. Their reports become news to millions of reading public.
News agencies are professional organizations that collect and distribute news to the newspapers. All the
news that is printed in a newspaper is not gathered by its reporters. A major source of news for a
newspaper is news agencies or wire agencies.
Electronic and new media namely television channels, radio stations and websites, are also a source of
news for a newspaper.
Press release is an important source of news for newspapers. Press conferences and meet the press are
important sources of news.
Parliament, legislatures and civic bodies when in session become major sources of news. Important
decisions are announced, debated and voted in these assemblies. Courts also are sources of news.
Proceedings of sensational cases and important judgments by High Courts and Supreme Court come in
the news.
Conferences, meetings, seminars,, symposia etc. are also sources of news. Important decisions can be
announced in such meetings. Similarly, research findings and discoveries could be put forward in such
meetings.
Internet has become an important online source for all media professionals. Police stations, fire stations, party
headquarters, medical colleges, universities etc. are also news sources. For an alert and committed journalist
anything and anybody could be a potential source of news.
PRINCIPLES OF TRANSLATION
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent
target-language text. Source language/text is the language or text that is translated into another. The
language into which a text is translated is target language. The word translation derives from the Latin
translatio which means “to carry across” or “to bring across”.
Qualities of a good reporter
a) Good knowledge of the language, written and spoken, from which they are translating (the source
language);
b) Excellent command of the language into which they are translating (the target language);
c) Familiarity with the subject matter of the text being translated;
d) Profound understanding of the etymological and idiomatic correlates between the two languages.
