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INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING I:Growth of Interpretative Reporting

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Radio News, Reporting and Production ­ MCM515
VU
LESSON 18
INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING I
Interpretative reporting means a kind of reporting in which reporter finds out the details of the event. It is
done normally after the breaking news has gone on air and people are waiting for other details of the same
news item.
Origin of Interpretative Reporting
Before, during and even after the 1st world war newspaper reporters were restricted to factual reporting
only. While reporting, they concentrated mostly on the following questions:
1)
Who attacked whom?
2)
Where the war was going on?
3)
When the attack was carried out?
4)
The loss of a country.
5)
The gain of a country.
6)
The new advancement in war.
In this kind of reporting the neglected questions to be answered were why & how? Why the world got into
war, how a country got defeated? The reasons and causes of the war were not reported. People were
unaware of the reasons of the war. Associated Press of America was held responsible for keeping people
unaware of expected war and the reasons of war. In 1920s and 1930s reporters were trained to make
Interpretative Reporting out of factual reporting.
Growth of Interpretative Reporting
By late 1920s newspaper readers had grown more demanding and they started expecting something more
than what was used to be given in newspapers in the name of reporting. After the stock market crash in
Europe in 1929 and the depression years of 30s the reporting got a turn. Till then radio had been not
invented but had had popularity as well being a speaking newspaper. News was, the stock market is
crashed to death and in the name of interpretative reporting radio stations started putting on air the
discussions trying to reach the causes and reasons of this tremendous economic collapse, history had ever
witnessed. Economists sat in those discussions and they tried to find out the solutions to this collapse.
Likewise newspapers published articles based on interpretative reporting.
Till the 2nd world war, interpretative reporting got currency in news papers, magazines and on radio, so
much so, the interpretative reporting had grown to this extent that the war was not unexpected for most of
the Americans and after it broke out they did not get surprised as they had been in case of 1st world war.
Now people knew the reasons as well.
It was only because of the interpretative reporting that severe kind of hatred against the war developed
among the people and the peace loving nations sat together, come up with the sublime objective that was to
save the nations from the devastating repercussions of wars, and these discussions lead the world to the
formation of United Nations.
In the present age of media explosion no news channel is expected without interpretative reporting and
discussions; and news commentaries are heard and watched with eagerness and interest.
Reporting is not merely the reporting of facts of any event but it is more about the reasons and purposes of
the happenings, the causes of accidents, the aftereffects of natural calamities and the future prospects of the
on going talks between two leaders as well.
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Radio News, Reporting and Production ­ MCM515
VU
Essentials of Interpretative Reporting
1. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The interpretative reporting builds up structure on the foundations of factual background of any news
story.
Most important 4 Ws in factual background are as under:
What---?
When---?
Where---?
Who----?
Sometimes `What' is more important than other question words.
For instance, what happened---?
The happening may be as follows:
1) Train got off the rails.
2) Earthquake played havoc with people.
3) Pakistan and India signed an agreement of bilateral trade.
Sometimes, who is more important.
Who won the match?
West Indies or Australia?
Who played first?
Pakistan or India?
In some stories where is equally important.
Where did two busses collide?
Where did torrential rainfall come?
Sometimes when is more important.
When is the first match between India and Pakistan?
When are the presidents of two countries meeting?
Most important questions in Interpretative Reporting
Why and How
Why a country attacked on the other one?
There is a raise in salaries so that employees may cope with the price hike. (What & why)
In order to reduce expenditure the organization will go under down sizing.
`How' means details to explain how something occurred.
2. EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS
Eye witness account is the statement of the person who was present at the spot when any accident or event
took place. Eye witness' statement is more important when the news is about accidents, fire stories,
earthquake, floods, etc.
The expressions of eyewitnesses must be recorded with their names and identifications.
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Radio News, Reporting and Production ­ MCM515
VU
3. INTERVIEWS
Interviews of concerned people such as Police officials, fire brigade, social workers, injured ones, relatives
of dead ones, etc. are very important to build an interpretative report.
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Table of Contents:
  1. WHAT RADIO IS:HISTORY OF RADIO, MARCONI –THE INVENTOR
  2. HISTORY OF RADIO:B.B.C. – 1922, Radio in Sub-Continent, PBC SERVICES
  3. OBJECTIVES OF BROADCASTING IN PAKISTAN:Information, Islamic ideology
  4. NEWS VALUES I:CONFLICT, PROGRESS, VICTORY AND DEFEAT
  5. NEWS VALUES II:TIMELINESS, PROXIMITY, NOVELTY, HUMAN INTEREST
  6. NEWS VALUES AND ELEMENTS OF NEWS:MISCELLANEOUS NEWS VALUES
  7. MEASURING THE IMPORTANCE OF NEWS:Intensity of an Event, NEWS STORY TYPES
  8. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES II:SIMPLE TYPES, ILLNESS, DEATH
  9. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES III:Conspiracy, Drug Trafficking, Lunar Months
  10. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES IV:COMPLEX NEWS, Forms of Government, Monarchy
  11. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES V:Education, Research, Religion
  12. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES VI:Lifestyles, Receptions, Entertainment
  13. SOURCES OF NEWS I:Network of Reporters, QUALITIES OF A REPORTER
  14. SOURCES OF NEWS II:MONITORING, NEWS/ PRESS RELEASE
  15. SOURCES OF NEWS III:National News Agencies, HARD NEWS, SOFT NEWS
  16. REPORTING:ORDER OF REPORTING, REPORTER’S QUALITIES, Well informed
  17. A SUCCESSFUL RADIO REPORTER:Briefing, Reporter’s Ammunition, Meeting Deadline
  18. INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING I:Growth of Interpretative Reporting
  19. INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING II:Factual Background, SPEECH STORY
  20. INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING III:FIRES & ACCIDENTS, CRIME STORIES
  21. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING I:Thalidomide Scandal, Watergate Scandal
  22. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING II:Identification of the problem, INTERVIEW
  23. TYPES OF INTERVIEW:Hard News Interview, Informational Interview
  24. ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD INTERVIEW I:Comments and Opinion, Topic must be specific
  25. ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD INTERVIEW II:Preparation of the Interview, Language
  26. RADIO NEWS GLOSSARY:Actuality, Cut, Voicer, Wrap, Hourly, Lead
  27. FUNDAMENTALS OF NEWS WRITING:Inverted Pyramided Style, Telling the Story
  28. FUNDAMENTALS OF WRITING NEWS FOR RADIO I:Language
  29. FUNDAMENTALS OF WRITING NEWS FOR RADIO II:Complex numbers
  30. ESSENTIALS OF A NEWSCASTER:Authority, Credibility, Language, Pronunciation
  31. PRODUCTION AND PLANNING:Principals of Planning a Program
  32. PRODUCER & BUDGETING:Strengths of a Radio Program, Budgeting a Program
  33. JARGONS OF PRODUCTION (Continued):Frequency spectrum, Dead studio
  34. TYPES OF TALK:Qualification of a Talker, Essentials of a talk, Vetting a talk
  35. DISCUSSION:Controlled Discussion, Live Discussion, Current affairs
  36. DISCUSSION:Selection of the TopicKnowledge of the Topic, Narrowing down the topic
  37. RADIO FEATURE:Sound Effects, Narration, Dramatic Feature, Religion, Personalities
  38. RADIO DOCUMENTARY:Commentary, History, Persons, Things, Phenomena
  39. DRAMA:Solo plays, Series, Serial, Soap, Components of Drama
  40. SPECIAL AUDIENCE PROGRAM:Children’s Programs, Women’s programs
  41. SPORTS PROGRAM:Live Programs, Recorded Programs, Preparation of OB
  42. THE MUSIC I:Folk Music, Classical Music, Light Music, Pop Music
  43. THE MUSIC II:Classification of Raga In Terms Of Notes, Aado, Khaado
  44. ETHICS & LIMITATIONS OF MEDIA:Domain of Freedom of Media, Defamation
  45. RECAP:What Radio Is, Timeliness, Elements of news, Types of Reporting, Production