Sources & Contacts:
- broadcast journalist relies on wide range of sources and contacts - find new news
- best journalists go out and find it
Where to find sources:
- newspapers
- viral / social media
- word of mouth / whistleblower - anecdotal stories may have reliability issues
- news agencies e.g. reuters
- pressure groups
Make sure they are verifiable
Primary sources:
- own contacts
- original sources direct from source material
- public appeals
- press releases / stats / official statements (question the statements and figures)
Secondary sources:
- stringers (freelancers)
- other platforms / media
How journalists find stories with news value:
- Fishman (1997) - 'beats' - patrolling like a police officer on recognised chains of info to supply potential stories with news value.
- many beats are exclusively accessed by news journalists e.g. calling police stations / press offices
- question what's in it for them (the interviewee)
Wires:
- newsrooms trawl the wires for tip offs on news stories:
- (P.A) Press Association - provide a range of news stories and content
- Reuters
Correspondents:
- subject specialists work in newsrooms and have a depth of knowledge and well honed contacts - invited to confidential lobby briefings with politicians & on mailing lists of important relevant bodies.
- 'lobby' politics - influential groups lobby the government in such meeting to get their views across and attempt to influence policy.
Foreign news sources:
- journalists, editors and correspondents based permanently abroad for news networks
- sometimes pooled foreign news bureau with other broadcasters
- valued for their local contacts and on ground knowledge and access
- long hours, lots of travelling, special training. good language skills, can be in dangerous / politically unstable areas
- international news agencies and large scale news organisations e.g. abc, nbc, sky have deals with bbc
- Eurovision News Exchange - facilitates the exchange of stories between Eurovision countries.
Archives:
- many broadcasters have their own archived material which is a rich source of pictures, as well as independent archives which sell on their material under license.
e.g. getty images
Beware of fake news
- look like news packages but often propaganda
- where does it come from / who is sending them and why?
- blurring the lines between marketing and news
- how do you verify and check these stories
User Generated Content (UGC)
- encouraging people to film first in an attack? (Paris)
- Russian meteorite
Communication:
- whichever source of information and stories - need to be a consummate communicator in order to access these.
- get used to using the telephone
- emails are good for exchanging information
- build a rapport
Be tenacious and have stamina
- be creative in order to get what you need
- being ethical, find ways of negotiating obstacles to gain access you need
- when people are reluctant - give good reason - their chance to put their side of the story
Being creative with your methods:
- tracking people down - do research - identify key contacts
- sometimes have to think about the obvious
- find people who will talk - someone outside direct arena of your story - credible association
Deadlines:
- some stories take time
Finding your angle:
- the news angle is key to developing your story
- the angle can be defined as the main significance of the story to your particular audience - it is a particular viewpoint of any story.
- there will inevitably be several angles on any story, your job is to decide the angle which best suits and sells your story and will engage your audience.
What makes a story newsworthy:
- relevance
- resonance
- controversy
- peg - dates, events - time story to intersect with important dates and events e.g. princess diana
- who / what / when / where / why
- choosing the lead story is key in determining most newsworthy
- lead story might vary at different times of day
Recent leads:
- North Korea Missiles
- McCanns lie detector
Newsworthiness is subjective
- deciding what's important and putting it in order
- typically 15-20 news stories per 30 mins news programme
- balance tone of the news - from hard news, breaking stories to human interest pieces
- journalistic instinct plays a strong part in decision
Key areas:
- locations
- timeliness
- impact
- prominence / importance
- conflict
- simplicity
- broadcaster's values
Developing your story:
- Copious research needs to be matched with note taking
- be organised - lots of info
- whenever delivering information - ensure you attribute the information to reliable sources - simply saying 'allegedly / apparently' is not enough without saying where the info is from
Setting up the story:
- proof of journalistic skills is when you try to set your story up to shoot it
- what is your story (what is it not?)
- who is in your story? (who is not)
- where is it? (location)
- when is it to be shot? (schedule)
- how you will tell it (treatment / style / angle)
- why you are making the story (why now, why this, why here, why them?)
Following up leads:
- the contacts you make in the early stages of research should lead you to the final elements which you will include in your news story.
- decisions will be made on availability / location / cost etc but these decisions frame the story for the audience
- be sure to include elements which are a fair and reasonable representations of the facts
- stay objective
Dont burn your bridges:
- never know when you might need them again
- public interest
- respect - be open and fair, honest and direct, aware of the intrusion, respect their time
- treat other people how you would expect to be treated
- thank contributors and let them know when / where the piece they feature in will be aired / published.
Television news story forms:
5 basic types:
- readers ('tell' stories) - a short story they read out with no video to accompany it - shorter stories
- OOVS / VO (out of vision / voice overs) - there is video material but the presenter is live reading over the video. Often quite short. Annotated as VO / g. OOVs add variety and pace to the newscast. Very good when covering an event where you do not need to hear from someone. Late breaking story. May also depend on whether there are many other more 'important' full packages already in the bulletin.
To make an OOV - source story and relevant info. Script. Boil down to essentials and find angle. Can use archive. Graphics, statistics, data, quotes, charts, graphs, maps etc. Add sound - natural atmos.
- VO / SOT (voice overs / sound on tape) - Combination. SOT made up of interview clips. Good for varying pace of programme and allows a more in depth news report but not as in depth as full news package. Useful when covering an events and need someone there to comment (preferably someone directly affected)
- reporter packages - news packages are fully formed and self contained news pieces. Unlike OOVs and SOTs the news presenter is not involved in the story telling itself, but rather in introducing and wrapping up the story. Usually introducing and thanking reporter at end). Reporter takes lead in story.
There are a variety of elements available in a news package. These include:
- interviews
- PTCs
- sequences and actuality
- GVs / cutaways
- set ups
- graphics
Therefore the story needs to be worked out before the shoot to include elements such as the piece to camera.
This can be done either on paper or if time pressure does not allow then it will have to be worked out on the spot prior to shooting. 3 words a second.
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