PRESS CONFERENCES/MEETINGS The press conference or news conference and meetings are the means of obtaining information, opinions and ideas besides the clarification of running events and stories. In a press conference a news source or personality calls together a group of reporters, after briefing the reporters the source/personality answers their questions. When it works well, it is one of the most effective and efficient method or source of information collection, and when it works poorly, it is one of the worst. The meetings 011 some specific matters can provide a bulk of information which is required by the reporter within the shortest possible time. Press conference and meeting have certain advantages and also some disadvantages. The reporting of both requires the news probing skills and all other techniques of interviewing. Necessary preparation for convening a press/news conference and meetings is necessary without which a reporter cannot obtain some exclusive information. […]
Hard News & Soft News
News stories are basically divided into two types: hard news and soft news. Hard new generally refers to up-to-the-minute news and events that are reported immediately, while soft news is background information or human-interest stories. Politics, war, economics and crime used to be considered hard news, while arts, entertainment and lifestyles were considered soft news. But increasingly, the lines are beginning to blur. Is a story about the private life of a politician “politics” or “entertainment”? Is an article about the importance of investing early for retirement a “business” story or a “lifestyle” story? Judging solely on subject matter, it can be difficult to tell. One difference between hard and soft news is the tone of presentation. A hard news story takes a factual approach: What happened? Who was involved? Where and when did it happen? Why? A soft news story tries instead to entertain or advise the reader. You […]
Sourcing Stories in The New Media Age
So far this model has looked at sourcing stories in the new media age, and reporting a news story in the new media age. In this third part I look at what should happen after a news story has been reported, using a familiar framework: the 5 Ws and a H – who, what, where, why, when and how. A web page – unlike a newspaper, magazine or broadcast – is never finished – or at least, can always be updated. Its permanence is central to its power, and relates directly to its connectivity (and therefore visibility). Once out there it can be linked to, commented on, discussed, dissected, tagged, bookmarked and sent to a friend. That can take place on the original news site, but it probably doesn’t. The story is no longer yours. So once the news site has added comments, a message board, ‘email to a friend’ […]
What is Mass Communication?
Mass communication is the term used to describe the academic study of the various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media to large segments of the population at the same time. It is usually understood to relate to newspaper and magazine publishing, radio, television and film, as these are used both for disseminating news and for advertising.Mass communication research includes media institutions and processes such as diffusion of information, and media effects such as persuasion or manipulation of public opinion. In the United States, for instance, several university []] departments were remodeled into schools or colleges of mass communication or “journalism and mass communication”. Mass communications majors undertake a thorough investigation of mass media, from its institutions, history, and laws to the ways in which it transforms our culture. In addition to studying practical skills of journalism, public relations or advertising, they offer programs on “mass […]