So you want to be a journalist? / Bruce Grundy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Grundy, Bruce.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Journalism--Vocational guidance.

Journalism.

Physical Description:

x, 358 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Summary:

So you want to be a Journalist? is a practical hands-on guide to the world of journalism, particular for the beginner. It contains step-by-step instructions on writing for the news media and practical advice and suggestions on all facets of reporting. It covers the basic skills in: research and investigation, interviewing, writing news and feature material, basic subediting and layout and design, the essentials of grammar, spelling and punctuation, relevant laws, understanding and calculating data print, radio, television and online reporting, ethical and professional behaviour. The book demonstrates its points with many examples of fine writing and reporting in the very best traditions of journalism by some of the hundreds of students who have worked with the author over many years. It also shows what excellent work student reporters can produce, despite not having the resources of large news organisations behind them. It not only reveals how to do it, but also shows what can be achieved. So You Want to Be a Journalist? is the book no student or novice journalist can afford to be without.

Contents:

Part 1 Getting started in journalism

1 Writing news for newspapers 7

Where to start? 7

The inverted pyramid 8

How to tell a (news) story 11

The formula 12

Checking your story 49

Sample news story 50

2 Writing news for radio, television and the internet 53

Radio and television 54

The internet and online journalism 66

3 Writing stories for the reader 73

An out-of-the-pyramid rationale 74

Structures and tools 78

Sample stories for readers 96

4 The fundamentals of reporting 107

There is more to journalism than reporting other people's lies 107

Journalism is an essential part of democracy 108

You can't know too much 110

The ink never washes off the page 110

Keep shaking the bush 111

Check your maths 111

Don't believe everything you hear, but don't disbelieve it either 112

Assumptions are necessary but dangerous 113

Thinking vertically is fine; so is thinking laterally 114

Luck is good, but effort is more reliable 115

Contacts are vital...in their place 116

There is no such thing as a free lunch 117

Know your technology 117

Ask others to ask questions 118

Part 2 Writing skills

5 Grammar 127

Why should you care? 128

Nouns 129

Sentences 131

Verbs 132

Pronouns 140

Adjectives 144

Adverbs 146

Prepositions 147

Conjunctions 149

Exclamations 149

The mood you are in 150

Phrases 150

Clauses 152

Sentences and paragraphs 154

6 Spelling and punctuation 155

Spelling 155

Punctuation 159

7 Subbing 171

Making a story fit the space 172

Pulling several stories together 173

Ensuring the structure of a story is right 173

Rewriting a story 173

Spelling, punctuation and grammar 174

Ensuring the facts are right 174

Writing headlines 175

Writing captions 176

Subs, defamation and contempt 177

Out damned sub! 177

House style 178

Try it...be a sub 180

Problems and solutions 192

8 Basic newspaper layout and design 197

Typography 198

Reading and design 206

Part 3 Understanding the law

9 Australian law 217

How does the law affect journalists? 218

Origins of our legal system 218

Criminal cases, civil cases and the role of the jury 220

The British model 221

The law and the journalist 227

10 Contempt 233

Common law contempt 233

Are juries swayed by the media anyway? 238

What can be published when? 239

Statutory contempt 246

11 Defamation 255

What is defamation? 256

Defences 261

Other features of the new defamation law 267

Myths, misconceptions and mistakes 268

One last word 269

12 Knowing your rights 271

"Publicity is the soul of justice" 271

The public interest 273

Accessing court records 274

Part 4 Research skills

13 Research and finding things 283

Using the internet 283

Old-fangled v. new-fangled research 287

Documents, documents, documents 293

14 Facts and figures 297

Percentage error 297

Being mean can be pretty average 298

Raising the standard (deviation) 299

Problems with polls 302

Try it...use a spreadsheet to calculate data 311

15 Questions and interviews 317

Preparing for interviews 319

At the interview 323

Other advice for interviewers 329

Part 5 Being professional in journalism

16 Ethics and choices 335

Ethical issues 336

News selection 340

17 News bulletin transcripts and stories 343.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 351-353) and index.

ISBN:

9780521690492

0521690498

0511271050

9780511271052

0511273487

9780511273483

OCLC:

72699501

Online:

Publisher description

Contributor biographical information