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3.5: How to find the News

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    294854
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    As a journalist, news blogger, entrepreneurial journalist, or social media news creator, you will need to find newsworthy stories to tell your readers, listeners, viewers, and users.

    The news does not just come to you; you need to take proactive steps to find the news.

    Journalists find news in all sorts of places, but in a very simplified way, we can see that most news flows from some of these basic situations (there are many others):

    • Naturally occurring events, something that happens, such as a storm or a landslide.
    • Planned events, or events caused by people, such as protests, meetings, elections.
    • Unplanned events, such as a train crash, car accidents, violent attacks. These types of events often become major news stories when they display some of the news values discussed previously because they are unplanned and surprising.
    • Things that people do or say.
    • Leaked information, for example, when someone in a government department leaks documents to the media that expose corruption.
    • Research – Often academics and other researchers develop new medicines or new technology; this is also news.

    Some more specific sources of news are discussed below.

    Witnesses and strangers

    Citizens who witness a news event often contact a news organisation. Journalists also learn about these events from emergency services such as the police, fire or rescue officials.

    Sometimes, story suggestions come from strangers who may visit, phone, or e-mail the newsroom with a complaint or a concern. Some news organisations actively ask for ideas from people who live in the communities they serve by providing a telephone number or an e-mail address where suggestions can be submitted.

    Schedule of daily events

    In many newsrooms, the most obvious source of news is a daily schedule of events in town, which includes government meetings, business openings, or community events. News editors and journalists often receive many e-mails with information about scheduled events. These events should be added to a formal list of events that everyone in the newsroom can access. Such a list of activities is not automatically newsworthy, but it provides a good starting point for journalists searching for news. Journalists who regularly cover specific kinds of issues or institutions (“beat” journalists) say they often get story ideas by looking at agendas for upcoming meetings.

    Press releases

    Press releases can be another source of news, but they are just a starting point. Dozens of press releases arrive in newsrooms every day, usually by e-mail. Government officials and agencies generate many of them, but other large organisations like private businesses and non-profit groups also issue press releases to let the news media know what they are doing. Many organisations also post their press releases on their websites, so it is useful to keep a list of important websites and to regularly check these sites for new press releases. A press release may resemble a news story, but because it is produced by someone with a vested interest in the subject, it is not likely to tell the complete story. Press releases may be factually correct, but they usually include only those facts that reflect positively on the person or organisation featured in the release. Even if a press release looks newsworthy, a professional journalist must first verify its authenticity and investigate further.

    Staged events

    Staged events, such as demonstrations, can also produce news, but journalists must be wary of being manipulated by the organisers who want to tell only their side of the story. Politicians have become adept at staging events and “photo opportunities” to attract coverage, even when they have no real news value. This does not mean journalists should ignore these events but only that they need to do additional research to get a complete story.

    Your own observations

    Most importantly, journalists should always keep their eyes and ears open to find news. Often, you will find something newsworthy just by listening to people, observing what is happening around you and in your town, and by constantly being aware of the main issues that affect your users, whether they are website readers or podcast listeners. Know what the audience would like to hear, and then make a point to look for these kinds of stories, everywhere you go. Most journalists say their best stories come from their own enterprise – from looking for stories themselves in the streets and among the community. Sometimes, it can be as simple as overhearing someone telling their hairdresser that the mayor is stealing money. That would be your tip to go and investigate. It is important to remember that tips and hearsay do not provide you with enough information to write a news story; you need sources and facts (discussed in chapter 5).

    Social media

    Social media can be a very good source of news. By following various people on their social media channels, you may be able to find interesting stories when people post about them. Trending topics on Twitter can also sometimes provide you with good ideas for a news story. Always make sure that you verify information that you find on social media. Social media sources can never be trusted 100%; many people post blatant fake news on social media.

    Contacts

    Journalists spend a lot of time building relationships with people who can provide them with information. You will meet many important and knowledgeable people as a journalist. Try to cultivate meaningful relationships with these people so that they trust you and will contact you when they have interesting information for you to write a news story. As a journalist, you can build contacts with sources at the police or the ambulance services by talking to them and building a relationship of trust so that they will inform you about events in your town. This is an important part of being a journalist – you need to create a list of contacts who can help you with information for your stories. Every time you meet someone as a source for a story, you should take down their full details and keep it in an organised space (like a personal phone book in print or online). You never know when you might need to contact this person again.

    Follow-ups

    Another way to find news is to ask what has happened since the last time a story was covered. Follow-ups often lead to surprising developments that are even more newsworthy than the original report. For example, a story about a fire the day after it happened might tell you how many people were killed and the extent of the property damage. But a follow-up several weeks later could discover that a faulty radio system made it impossible for firefighters to respond quickly enough to save more lives.

    Documents

    Documents, data and public records can also lead to good stories. Journalists can use them to look for trends or to spot irregularities. This kind of work requires more effort, but the results are almost always worth the trouble. It is considerably easier when the data are made available electronically, of course, but sometimes you need to go through a process to find the information. You may need to request the information from a government department; sometimes, sources might give it to you, but, surprisingly, there is often a lot of publicly available data on websites or in archives that nobody has bothered to examine. By just looking at the minutes of municipal meetings, you might find clues of mismanagement.

    Summary

    This chapter introduced you to the concept of “news”, the difference between hard and soft news, how to identify news, news values and how to find news. In the next chapter, we will explore different types of newsrooms and the work of a journalist.


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