SOURCES OF NEWS I:Network of Reporters, QUALITIES OF A REPORTER

<< TYPES OF NEWS STORIES VI:Lifestyles, Receptions, Entertainment

SOURCES OF NEWS II:MONITORING, NEWS/ PRESS RELEASE >>

Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

LESSON 13

SOURCES OF NEWS I

News sources are the ways and routes through which a news channel gets news. Given below are the

important news sources:

Reporters / correspondents

Newsroom diary

File

Check Call

Monitoring

News/ Press releases

Media contact

Politicians

Press conference

REPORTERS / CORRESPONDENTS

The biggest source of news for any radio station is its reporting staff. The reporters live in the community

to which they are broadcasting through everyday contact with people in the area, from there observations as

they move in the society and from their informers they get news for their organization. So the chief

assignment of the reporter is to get news for the channel he or she is attached with.

Network of Reporters

The news channel has a galaxy of reporters for gathering news. Their network, according to the size of the

channel, works on local, national and international levels.

Local Reporters

Local reporters or correspondents are from towns and villages and their assignment is to find from their

vicinity and send them to the organization they work for. If needed, they record the impressions of the

people or the recording of any important function or ceremony and dispatch it. If it is crucial to get the

news in the bulletin immediately, the same recording and the news details may be sent to the newsroom on

telephone lines as well.

City Correspondents

These reporters are deputed in big and important cities and perform as local reporters do.

International Reporters

These reporters are specially deputed in the important cities of the important countries. They keep a vigilant

eye on the happenings in the country they are deputed in and keep their channel updated.

Special Reporters

These are the reporters who are assigned news items of great significance to cover. For instance there is an

inauguration of motor-way and the chief guest is president or the prime minister himself. Special reporter

will be assigned the coverage of this event. Likewise the coverage of the press conference of any minister to

make public government's point of view on certain matter will be assigned to special reporter.

Senior Reporters

These reporters are also assigned important and sensitive happenings and functions to cover.

Chief Reporter

Chief reporter is the one who administers the junior reporters.

QUALITIES OF A REPORTER

Besides proper education of journalism, a reporter must possess following qualities if he strongly wishes to

Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

be a figure in the field of journalism.

Nosy/ Curious

A good reporter is one who has an ability to smell the news in any apparently normal and ordinary event.

He needs to be curious and nosy about the things behind the curtain.

Sharp Observation

Unless a reporter's observation is sharp and outstanding, he is unable to smell something newsworthy in any

happening.

Public Relations

A good reporter is the one who enjoys a good repute in the society and cultivates healthy relations with

officials of important status in almost all important departments and walks of life. His strong relations make

him obtain news in time and without applying extra efforts.

Active; Dynamic

A reporter is the one who is always active and ready to be assigned any task of news gathering. A sluggish,

lethargic and inactive kind of person can be anything on earth but can never be a reporter.

Well informed

A reporter is a man of knowledge. He is not only supposed to have information about important

happenings in the world, capitals of different countries, facts and figures of different national and

international issues, national and international economic trends, but also it is imperative for him to have

knowledge of the basics of almost all social sciences. A good reporter though can not be master of all, but

he has to be the jack of all trades.

Shrewd yet well behaved

The profession a reporter has opted for, demands him to be sharp, active, shrewd and sometimes cunning

as well but it does not imply at all that he is required to display ill-mannerism. He needs to be polite, well

behaved, courteous, lively, refined and easygoing kind of person.

NEWSROOM

Newsroom is a specific area in a newspaper office or a radio or T.V. station where news is received, treated,

processed and prepared for printing or Broadcasting.

NEWSROOM DAIRY

Newsroom diary is a kind of diary or register in which information about coming important events to be

covered are logged in. every page of this diary is divided in different columns containing important

information about the function, ceremony, workshop, seminar, or symposium. Normally following

information about following five Ws is put in these columns:

What

Nature of the function/ gathering.

a) Seminars

b) Workshop

c) Opening of any project

d) Laying down of foundation stone

Who

Name of the Chief Guest

When

Time & date of the event to be covered

Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

Where

Venue--complete address of the place where the event has to be held.

For instance:

Function.

Chief Guest.

Date.

Time.

Venue

Symposium on the

Political Thought

Chief justice

November 09

4:30 pm.

ABC Hall, XYZ

of Allama

Javed Iqbal.

Hotel, Mall Road,

Muhammad Iqbal.

LHR.

The first thing that a reporter deputed on covering city events does on reaching newsroom in the morning

is to look up the newsroom diary and to get the information of the event he is to cover on that day.

Question arises, where this information about the coming events to be covered comes from. This

information, as a matter of fact lands on the newsroom table in shape of Press Release which is also a news

source and will be discussed in detail later.

FILES

In newsroom there is a cabinet that contains files with titles showing different captions. Each file is about

any national or international issue and is updated as and when there is any progress in the issue. The

purpose of these files is to provide the reporter with the factual background of any problem. For instance if,

in the city, there is a secretary-level conference of SAARC countries, the reporter will be at ease while

making the news of this conference by looking up the file containing all the history and development of

SAARC from its inception to date.

Some Important National Issues

a) Political issues

b) Social issues

c) Religious issues

d) Kala Baagh Dam, pollution

e) Ethnicity, Sectarianism

Some Important International Issues

1) Non proliferation treaty (NPT)

2) CTBT (comprehensive test ban treaty)

3) Nuclear experiments made by different nations

4) Signing countries

5) Cuba crisis

6) World war-1

7) World war-2

8) Pre-Cold War Era & Post Cold War Era

9) Gulf crisis

10) Iran-Iraq war

11) Lebanon-Israel war

Some Important International & Regional Forums

1) League Of Nations

2) United Nations

3) NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

4) CEATO

5) SENTO

6) SAARC

7) RCD

Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

8) Commonwealth Countries

9) European Union

Kashmir Issue

1. Historical background

2. Kashmir issue

3. UNO's resolutions on the issue

4. Pakistan's efforts towards normalization with India

5. India's response

Pak-India Relations

1. Indus water basin treaty

2. Wars with India---reasons

3. Kargil issue

4. Buglehar Dam

5. Pak-India talks on different levels

CHECK CALL

For hunting a story that is happening right now such as an armed robbery, fire, or air crash is breaking

news. Main sources of breaking news are emergency services fire brigade, police station, PRO of different

ministers and ministries, coastguard.

These enquiries are called "CHECK CALL."

Breaking news------ British English

Spot story------------ American English

Just in

News flash

The news story that has happened right now, or is still happening and is of immense importance needs to

be broadcast immediately; even a program can be interrupted for the purpose is called as Breaking News.

Table of Contents: