Newspapers

• The Associate Press, Reuters, and Copley News Service are wire or news services.

• They employ reporters, editors, and photographers to cover national and international news.

• They also send their reports and photos to daily newspapers.

• The term wire service means that the transmission is done over telephone or telegraph. Typically, today, this is done on the internet.

• Reporters write their own stories, and then are reviewed by their editors.

• Reporters write in an inverted pyramid style.

• They arrange their articles so that the most important and essential news items are in the opening paragraph.

• Each of the following paragraphs are have less important information.

• Good reporters can answer who, what, where, when, how, and why in the first paragraph.

• You can see the difference between the pyramid style and other writing styles by reading a front-page newspaper story and stopping after the first paragraph. You should have a good idea what the article is about.

• Reporters’ names appear in what is called the byline.

• The reporter’s job is sometimes exciting but involves many long hours of boring meetings, writing and rewriting, and waiting around.

• Newsmakers are people who make news when they talk, marry, divorce, date, write, or do almost anything.

• They are celebrities, media heroes, people in the public eye.

• Some newsmakers, such as the president, do things that are really actually news.

• Fake news events are manufactured, or made, by an agent or public relations person.

• These can be staged to generate news coverage of celebrities.

Crime and Disaster

• Reporters also cover disasters or crime stories.

• The story of a deadly accident, a fire, or a crime is the staple of the newspaper.

• It is unclear exactly why people enjoy these types of stories.

• Some sociologists claim that people like to read about the tragedies of other people to show that their lives aren’t so bad. It could be worse.

• Others think that people like the excitement of crime and tragedy and it breaks up their ordinary and dull routine of daily life.

Homework: Look up and bring in a crime or disaster newspaper article. You may find one online or in the physical paper.

Answer: Why were you interested in this article? Do you think people like these types of stories because they break up the routine of the day? Or is it because people want to see that their lives aren't so bad? Is it both?

Local News

Newspapers

$1.25

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Vol XCIII, No. 311

Local News

Sources of Editorial Content

• Each newspaper has reporters who handle local events that the national news doesn’t cover.

• Reporters receive assignment in two ways.

• Some reporters will receive stories the day they occur, as they are breaking.

• Other reporters have regular places they cover, called their “beats”.

• Some reporters will only cover city hall, high school sports, or the state government.

Newsmakers

What Fills the News Hole?

• Many people read newspapers for the comics, advice columns, recipes, sports statistics, and pet tips.

• People also read the news for big international and national stories, such as presidential election results and outbreaks of war.