Week 7: Chapter 8, 'Small path, big story'.

Reading: Chapter 8 - Small path, big story in The Daily Miracle: An introduction to journalism / David Conley & Stephen Lamble. Melbourne, Victoria. Oxford University Press, 2006. 3rd ed.

• Which type of story would you rather do and why:

1. a 'paper chase' conducted entirely by computer and telephone that takes half the time it would have taken if you had left the office
2. a 'paper chase' involving visits to half a dozen government offices and in-person interviews that puts you under extreme deadline pressure?

The paper chase that gets me out of the office is the one I'd prefer to do. One of the most important things a journalist can do is develop reliable, trustworthy sources for information. Networking and getting out of the office is the only way to do this. The chances of developing these contacts staying in the office are definitely a lot more slim.

As for the extreme deadline pressure, similar to above, if you were afraid of a few deadlines, this is the wrong industry to be getting involved in.

• Would you be willing to pursue a corruption investigation or an investigation in organised crime if it included many unpaid hours of extra work and personal risk?

Definitely. IS there anyone doing this course that wouldn't? I think this is hands-down the best sort of work in journalism. The ability to break something of great significance to the world is more than worth extra unpaid work. As for the injury, working on something that could potentially save hundreds of lives is definitely worth a few injuries.

• Would you be willing to act together as a unit with competing reporters at a media conference in an effort to get maximum information if it meant giving up your best best question, which you had intended to ask privately after the conference?

Again, the key to journalism is developing contacts and gaining peoples' trust. Keeping questions on public record is also a much better idea so people can't dispute the facts and they know exactly what was asked and the subsequent response. 

• Who really owns government-held information: the government or the people? Why?

The people. The government is elected by the people, for the people. The government acts in every way, on behalf of the people. Therefore government held-information is information for the people.

• If you were assigned to report on the proceedings of a conference and you had to choose between attending different sessions being conducted at the same time, how would you decide which to attend?

Research. Research allows a journalist to have a much better idea of what is going to be addressed in each different session of any conference. Having a better idea of what will be going on in each different session allows a journalist to adequately prepare for the session and also allows the journalist a chance to know which session will be most useful for their story.

Week 6: Chapter 7, 'A word's worth'.

Reading: Chapter 7 - A word's worth in The Daily Miracle: An introduction to Journalism / David Conley & Stephen Lamble. Melbourne, Victoria. Oxford University Press, 2006. 3rd ed.

• At what educational level of readers should newspapers be aiming? Do you think your main metropolitan newspaper is hitting the mark? Why or why not?

I think the education level of newspaper readers should be almost irrelevant. Although people need to be able to read to get any use out of a newspaper, a newspaper should essentially use the most basic, easy to understand and clear language to convey its message.

There is room for more sophisticated writing, editorials and opinion pieces often need to use more sophisticated language to make their point.

The Newcastle Herald is a very popular paper. It serves the entire Newcastle and Central Coast regions and has a circulation of approximately 153 000 people Monday to Friday and 225 000 people on Saturdays.

I think the Herald actually does a good job at reaching as many people in its demographic as possible. It may sometimes lack in quality, sophisticated journalism as that of a paper like The Australian, but overall it serves its purpose of providing news to the people of the Hunter and Central Coasts. The education level of a Herald reader could be anywhere from late primary school onwards.

• To what extent do you think reporters should be able to interpret news events and inject their thoughts into news stories?

This question is directly mentioned in the text under the Style and substance sub-heading. "A journalist without style is a journalist without substance, and a journalist without substance is, in effect, not a journalist".

There should be a house style at most publications, this is only to ensure the paper is consistent throughout and flows well.

Injecting thoughts into the news should be left to the opinion columns. Newspaper news should be simple, flow well and avoid cliches and unnecessary adjectives.

• English is a growing and ever-changing language as new words evolve and old ones fall into disuse. What then of the idea of a global language? Does it really matter that our language is being tainted with Americanisms and US spelling?

Newspaper journalism should be the highest example of Australia's style and prose. Americanisms and US spelling is never acceptable in Australian newspapers. News Limited produced a generic industry standard on usage to satisfy the aim of keeping readers comfortable wherever they are, be it at home, or traveling overseas.

Australia has a unique style and history all of our own, we should preserve its uniqueness.

• Based on your own experience and your reading of newspapers, do you think newspapers have a serious commitment to accuracy?

In terms of usage, Newspapers seem to be very accurate. I don't think I've come across a spelling mistake or poor grammar, although I've probably missed the poor stuff. In other areas, I'm not as convinced. Journalists are increasingly under pressure to work faster, with less staff and to produce a product of an increasingly high quality and standard. Accuracy when working under such conditions is bound to happen. Following up and checking sources to ensure accuracy will surely suffer under these circumstances.

• What would you do if you made a serious mistake in a story you wrote but no one contacted the paper to complain?

You have to fess up to your mistakes. Even if no one reported the mistake, people still appreciate when somebody honestly owns up to stuffing up. We're all human after all.

Week 5: Chapter 6, 'Upside Down Pyramids'.

I was a little late with this post due to the birth of Noah Rigby Allen Murray. He's my son and he's pretty handsome, thats him up there!


Reading: Chapter 6 - Upside down pyramids in The Daily Miracle: An introduction to Journalism / David Conley & Stephen Lamble. Melbourne, Victoria. Oxford University Press, 2006. 3rd ed.

• Would you include balancing comment (in the form of a source's statement) in a story if you knew that the statement was untrue but could not say so or prove that it was untrue, and the source insisted that the comment be included?

No. Publishing an untrue statement is very damaging for the individual reporter and the publication. An untrue statement leaves the publication open to be prosecuted under defamation laws. An untrue statement also affects the fairness and balance of a story, unfavorably slanting a story in a certain direction.

• Because you could not locate a source for balancing comment, would you withhold a story on which you have worked hard? Would your decision change if you knew that an opposing newspaper was planning to run a similar story, reducing the value of your effort?

It is possible, depending on the circumstances of the story, for a reporter to write a follow up piece the next day. If an opposing paper was to publish a similar story with the same amount of knowledge that I had, it might be a good idea to wait until a balancing comment is found and make my story more legitimate.

• You are sent to report from the scene of a major uncontrolled fire in a high-rise building. People are trapped inside. What dangers should you look out for? Who would you interview? When would you start writing the story?

Dangers at a fire scene would firstly include the fire. Structural damage and the ensuing chaos a fire brings with it are all very dangerous elements. Keeping clear of all emergency workers so they can get on with their jobs and save lives is imperative. Taking a calm, collected and unaggressive approach to the situation is very important. The text states that '[r]eporters who are too aggressive in such circumstances risk becoming the targets of people experiencing anger, fear, shock, or anxiety' (Conley & Lamble, 2006, p. 130).

Fire, police and medical officers are all high priority people to interview they can provide authoritative comment on injuries, structural damage, the fire's trail, and suspected causes.
Witnesses are also very significant people to interview. Witnesses are often easy to identify, and they often stick around to the end of an incident. The main use of witnesses is to allow the reporter to get a grasp of the facts.

Due to the circumstances of the incident, it would be very important to see the outcome of the event. The story could either be a recount of a tragedy, or a tale of heroism from the brave personnel who saved people from an inferno. Writing after the event also allows for the reporter to check the facts and write an accurate story.

• From your reading of news stories, do you think the inverted pyramid remains the most effective method of structuring material?

For straight up newspaper news, the inverted pyramid is definitely the most effective method of structuring material. Readers have become very accustomed to having their news presented in this fashion. It attracts the readers with the most important facts in the lead and allows sub editors to quickly and effectively tailor a story to fit, without loosing any of the important, newsworthy facts.

Week 4: Chapter 4, "A 'know' for news".

Reading: Chapter 4 - A 'know' for news in The Daily Miracle: An introduction to Journalism / David Conley & Stephen Lamble. Melbourne, Victoria. Oxford University Press, 2006. 3rd ed.

• How did Australian news outlets gives proximity to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami?

Proximity is the 'where' element of a story. It relates to whether something happened with a newspaper's circulation area or if it is of sufficiently wide interest to attract readers in the circulation area. The latter is how Australian news outlets gave proximity to the 2004 Tsunami.
Firstly, Australia's population is clustered around its often low-lying coastline and we are very close neighbours to the worst hit nation, Indonesia. This gives great proximity value to the Tsunami story.
Additionally, some of devastated areas like the waterfront tourist areas of Thailand, are very popular amongst Australian tourists. I think we can all say that someone we know has travelled to Thailand for a holiday.
That's how Australian news media gave proximity to the Tsunami, virtually everyone could relate to the disaster because we have all either been to the places most significantly affected, or we know someone who has been there.

• If you were a reporter covering a story about a mentally ill Australian woman who was found by Queensland police in Cairns talking what they thought was German, who was subsequently arrested and found herself locked up in an immigration detention centre in South Australia for 10 months, what main news value would you focus on when writing the story? In order of importance, what would be the next two subsidiary news values?

1. Currency, when the story was first reported, Asylum seekers and the rights of illegal immigrants was one of the most popular and controversial topics in the news. Even now, when the debate arises, it features very prominently in the news. It would definately be a prominent news story today due to the Rudd Government's changes to immigration laws. If this situation happened now, many would be asking how it happened and why. It would definately spark some editorial and public debate.
2. Timeliness, this is a companion to Currency. Timeliness gives a story an edge to outbid competing stories for publishing and readership. If this scenario came up, no matter when reported, it would still grab the attention of an editor or reader, it would be timeless. The story would definately stand up for the next days publishing.
3. Human Interest: Although Human Interest is commonly associated with 'soft', feature style articles, it does arise in news stories. Human interest stories can 'inspire empathy, spark curiosity, or arouse community concern' the scenario does all of those things. Like children in human interest stories, an elderly woman locked up for 10 months instead of getting the help she needed, will command the interest of any reader. Human Interest elements can also be tied to basic needs of people and to emerging social issues, both of which are in this scenario.
   

• As a reporter, which information would you feature more prominently:

1. a mayoral announcement about an urban renewal plan to resolve inner-city crime problems; or
2. a comment by Prince Charles, in Australia on a visit, who says after the mayor's speech that such problems can often be attributed to building regulations formulated by city councils?

By definition alone, 'Prominence' "generally relates to a person who is highly recognisable on a local, state, national, or international basis". Prince Charles ticks all of those boxes, a local mayor does not.

• Define 'news' in 20 words or less.

News is something that breaks the flow of normal events, it is something that interests the audience of the publication or program that it is written for.

• Should Kipling's Six Strong Serving Men be assigned equal value when writing a news article?

I don't think that in every piece, the who, what, when, where, how and why should take equal precedent. The majority of the time, they should at least all be mentioned to give context to the story. The time of an event may be the most important factor of a story, or who did something may be more important. It all depends on the individual story at hand. As the text states, each of the W's and H should be mentioned as close to the beginning of the story as possible and be naturally linked with associated news values.