INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING I:Growth of Interpretative Reporting

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Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

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:

Who attacked whom?

Where the war was going on?

When the attack was carried out?

The loss of a country.

The gain of a country.

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.

Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

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.

Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

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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