Download Journalistic Style Copy 101

Presentation Handout
PresentationTitle
Copy 101
Date
September 3, 2008
Presenter
Kristina Reiber
email
[email protected]
Copy 101
Different types of writing found in journalism
•
Straight News writing
News style or news writing is the particular prose style used for reporting
news items that air on radio and television or are produced in print. News
style encompasses not only vocabulary and sentence structure, but also
the way in which stories present the information in terms of relative
importance, tone, and intended audience.
News writing attempts to answer all the basic questions about any
particular event in the first two or three paragraphs: Who? What? When?
Where? and Why? and occasionally How? (ie. "5 W's"). Most journalist use
the "inverted pyramid" when writing the news. The "inverted pyramid"
places the most important information at the beginning of the story and
the least important information at the end.
•
Investigative Reporting
Investigative journalism is a kind of journalsim in which reporters deeply
investigate a topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption,
or some other scandal. An investigative journalist may spend a
considerable period researching and preparing a report, sometimes
months or years, whereas a typical daily or weekly news reporter writes
items concerning immediately available news. Most investigative
journalism is done by newspaper staff reporters or freelance journalists.
An investigative journalist's final report may take the form of an exposé.
2007H – Copy 101 – handout
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In many cases, the subjects of the reporting wish the matters under
scrutiny to remain undisclosed.
Investigative journalism often requires extensive and numerous
interviews and travel. In some instances, reporters need to do
surveillance and tedious analysis of documents. Investigative journalism
requires a lot of scrutiny of details, fact-finding, and physical effort. An
investigative journalist must have an analytical and incisive mind with
strong self-motivation to carry on when all doors are closed, when facts
are being covered up or falsified and so on.
•
Feature Writing
Feature writing takes an in-depth look at what’s going on behind the news
by getting into the lives of people or explaining why and how a trend
developed. Feature stories do not have to be tied a current event or a
breaking story, but can grow out of something that is reported in the
news.
•
Opinion Pieces & Editorials
Opinion pieces and editorials usually appear on the editorial pages of a
newspaper. These columns typically serve as the official view of the paper
and reflect the views and opinions of the editorial board. Good editorial
writing is clearly written, has a moral purpose, presents sound reasoning,
and possesses the power to influence public opinion in what the writer
believes to be the right direction.
•
Advocacy Journalism
Although advocacy journalism aims to persuade through fact-telling, it is
not confined to the editorial pages of a newspaper. Entire magazines or
newsletters can fall under the category of "advocacy journalism." Advocacy
journalism rejects the notion of objectivity, instead exposing bias to the
reader and expressing explicit opinions on the subject matter. The general
goal is to present facts in such a compelling, well-researched manner that
even a skeptical reader or one who does not share the writer's opinions,
will be swayed to some degree, or at least better informed about the issue
at hand.
• Blogs
Copyright Lynne Thew 2007
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Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is
frequently updated and intended for general public consumption.
Unlike editorial writing, blogs usually reflect the views and opinions of
that particular writer. Many blogs are not clearly written, lack a moral
purpose, lack sound reasoning, resulting in little influence on public
opinion.
Although blogs express opinions, the reader rarely learns anything new. It
usually takes a trained journalist with strong research skills and
objectivity to put all the facts together and create a story that contain the
key components.
Copyright Lynne Thew 2007
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Writing Style: Academic, Informal or Journalistic?
Look at these three passages about accounting. They all say the same thing,
but in different styles. Each style has certain features. A feature may belong
to more than one style; for example, using short forms of verbs (can’t, he’s,
etc.) is common in both informal and journalistic styles but very rare in
academic style.
When you write, it is very important to follow the rules regarding the style
you are using, whether it be academic, informal or journalistic. The writing
style you might use for an English paper might not be appropriate for an
article you write for your school paper. Most students know this, but many
still fall prey to mixing writing styles within a single article.
Passage 1: Informal Style
This style is most like conversation. These features are not usually acceptable
in academic writing. Notice how the writer incorporate first person into his
writing.
When you decide how to account for small things, you have to
think about materiality. For example, really you should call the
tools you buy an asset, but actually I would probably call them
an expense because they don’t cost much compared with
everything the company owns.
Copyright Lynne Thew 2007
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Passage 2: Journalistic Style
Notice how the writer uses personal experience and questions to get the
readers attention.
Accounting for those tiny bits and pieces? The clue is
materiality. Those tools you bought last year are technically an
asset, but, hey, it’s easier to expense them — they’re just a drop
in the ocean compared with the company’s overall worth.
Passage 3: Academic Style
Notice how the writer uses impersonal ways of saying things and avoids saying
who did the action.
Materiality may also influence the treatment of minor items.
The purchase of tools, for example, in theory ought to be
regarded as an asset, but because the cost is small in
comparison with total assets it may be expensed immediately.
(Carnegie et al 1999, p. 307)
Copyright Lynne Thew 2007
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Active Voice vs Passive Voice
•Sentences in active voice are also more concise than those in passive voice
because fewer words are required to express action in active voice than in
passive.
•In journalism, active voice is preferable to passive for the majority of your
sentences. Overuse of passive voice can create long and complicated
sentences, causing readers to lose interest or to become confused. Sentences
in active voice are generally—though not always—clearer and more direct
than those in passive voice.
Examples
Passive:
Active:
Police are being notified that three prisoners have escaped.
The dispatcher is notifying police that three prisoners have
escaped.
Passive:
A new experimental liver-transplant operation was performed successfully
yesterday
Surgeons successfully performed a new experimental livertransplant operation yesterday.
Active:
Passive:
Active:
Traces of ice have been discovered on the surface of Mars (by
scientists).
Scientists have discovered traces of ice on Mars.
Copyright Lynne Thew 2007
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