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RadioNews,
Reporting and Production
MCM515
VU
LESSON
14
SOURCES
OF NEWS II
MONITORING
Monitoring
officers listen to the transmissions in
differentlanguages, translate them
into English and make
a
report of it.
Monitorsnormally work in
threeshifts.
Forgood
monitoring a monitormust be
proficient in the language he is
monitoring.
Seniormonitors
scrutinize
the monitoring reports and finally the
news items to be made a part
of news bulletin are sent
to
the
news editors.
Importantchannels
to be monitored
BBC
VOA
(voice of America)
VOG
(voice of Germany)
KabulRadio
AllIndia
Radio
IranRadio
CNN
(Cable News Network)
NEWS/
PRESS RELEASE
A
news release or pressrelease
or press statement is a written or
recorded communication, directed
at
members
of the news media, for the
purpose of announcing something, claimed
as having news value.
Sometimesnews
releases are sentfor the
purpose of announcing
newsconferences.
Means
of sending a
PressRelease
Typically,
it is mailed, faxed, or e-mailed to the
assignment editors at
newspapers,magazines,
radiostations,
television
stations, and/or television
networks.
Origin
of News Release
Thepress
release was firstintroduced
in 1906 by IvyLee who is
often referred to as the first real
public
relations
practitioner. At that time,
Lee'sagency was working
with the Pennsylvania Railroad,
whichhad just
fallenvictim
to a tragic accident.Ivy Lee
convinced the company to issue the first
pressrelease to
journalists,
before other versions of the story, or
suppositions, could be
spreadamong them and
reported.
He
used a press release, in
addition to inviting journalists and
photographers to the scene
andproviding
them
transportation there as a means of
fostering open communication with the
media.
Closing
of a News Release
"30"
is a traditional closing for a
press release. It
startedduring the Civil War when
telegrapherstapped
"XXX"
at the end of a transmission. XXX is the
Roman numeral for
30.Another common
pressrelease
closing
is ###.
Scrutiny
of a Press Release
Everypress
release is not
worthBroadcasting. Shifting of
landedmaterial is time consuming
yetimportant.
Elements
of a News Release
While
there are several types of
press releases (such as
general news releases, event
releases,
productpress
releases,and
more recently socialmedia
press releases),
pressreleases very often
haveseveral traits of
their
structure
in common. This helps journalists
separate press releases
fromother PR communication
methods,
such
as pitch letters or
mediaadvisories. Some of
these common structural elements
include:
·
Headline- used
to grab the attention of journalists
andbriefly summarize the
news.
·
Dateline
-
contains the release dateand
usually the originatingcity of the
pressrelease.
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RadioNews,
Reporting and Production
MCM515
VU
·
Introduction-
first paragraph in a
pressrelease, that
generallygives basic answers
to the questions
of
who, what, when,
whereand why.
·
Body-
further explanation, statistics, background, or
other details relevant to the
news.
·
Boilerplate-
generally a short "about"
section,providing independent background on the
issuing
company,
organization, or individual.
·
Media
Contact Information -
name, phone number,
emailaddress, mailing address, or
other
contactinformation
for the PR or othermedia relations
contactperson.
AudioNews
Releases(ANRs)
Somedepartments
send out audio news releases
(ANRs) whichare pre-taped
audio programsthat can
be
aired
intact by radio stations.
VideoNews
Releases(VNRs)
VNRsare
same as ANRs butthese
are recorded on videotapes
and are sentout to TV
cannels.
EmbargoedNews
Release
Sometimes
a news release is embargoed --
that is, news
organizationsare requested
not to report the story
until
a specified time. For
example,news organizations
usuallyreceive a copy of presidential
speeches
severalhours
in advance. In suchcases, the
news organizationsgenerally do
not break the embargo. If
they
do,
the agency that sent the
release may blacklist them. A
blacklisted news organization
willnot receive
any
moreembargoed
releases, or possiblyany
releases at all.
PRESSCONFERENCE
A
news conference or
pressconference is a media event in
whichnewsmaker (person who
holds press
conference)
invites journalists to hear him
speakand most often,
askquestions.
WhyPress
Conference?
There
are two major reasons
forholding a news/
pressconference.
·
A
newsmaker who gets
manyquestions from reporters
cananswer them all at once
rather than
answeringdozens
of phonecalls.
·
A
person can try to
attractnews coverage for
somethingthat was not of
interest to journalists
before.
In
a news conference, one or
more speakers may make a
statement, which may be followed by
questions
fromreporters.
Sometimes only questioning occurs;
sometimes there is a statement
with no questions
permitted.
A
media event at which no
statementsare made, and no
questions allowed, is called a photo
opportunity. A
government
may wish to open
theirproceedings for the
media to witness events,
such as the passing of a
piece
of legislation from the government in parliament to the
senate, via
mediaavailability.
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