Practical Newspaper Reporting, 3rd Edition

Table of contents

1. Cover
2. Half Title
3. Title Page
4. Copyright Page
5. Table of Contents
6. List of illustrations
7. Acknowledgements
8. 1  What is news?
   1. Assessing news value
   2. Good news and bad
   3. Readership
   4. News ideas
9. 2  Gathering the news
   1. The news room
   2. Calls and contacts
   3. Tip-offs
   4. Reading newspapers
   5. Chasing the facts
   6. Tools of the job -Taking notes
   7. Making inquiries
   8. Dealing with people -Being fair
   9. Being thorough
   10. Who to ask and where to look
10. 3  Picture ideas
    1. Working with a photographer
    2. What makes a picture?
    3. Colour
11. 4  District reporting
    1. What makes a reporter
    2. Local geography
    3. Beyond your district
    4. Getting to grips
    5. Nursing your contacts
    6. Organizations
    7. People in the know
    8. The local angle
    9. Diary jobs
12. 5  Interviewing
    1. Preparation
    2. Background
    3. Establishing confidence
    4. Reluctant people
    5. Using your notebook
    6. Let them talk
    7. The bell that rings
    8. Coaxing answers
    9. Checking back
    10. Telephone interviews
    11. Controversial interviews
    12. Finding the hidden story
    13. The second interview
    14. Where interviews can fail
    15. Attempts to vet copy
13. 6  News writing
    1. Where to begin
    2. What is new?
    3. Starting with a quote
    4. Opening sentence
    5. Stick to the facts
    6. Simple and precise
    7. Grabbing the reader
    8. Order of facts
    9. Explanations
    10. Helping the reader
    11. Changing subjects
    12. Handling quotations
    13. The right length
    14. Facts and figures
    15. Entering your text
    16. Presentation
    17. When time is short
    18. Read it through
    19. Complaints
    20. Good taste
    21. A note on short reports
14. 7  Newspaper language
    1. The problem with codes
    2. Sentence length
    3. The right word
    4. Correct English
    5. Words and idioms
    6. Slang and contractions
    7. Technical language
    8. Foreign words
    9. Double meanings
    10. The right word order
    11. Variety and rhythm
    12. Numbers
    13. Political correctness
    14. Loaded words
    15. Worn phrases
    16. References
15. 8  Reporting the courts
    1. 1 Court structure
       1. Magistrates’ courts
       2. Crown courts
       3. High Court
       4. County courts
       5. Coroners’ courts
       6. Consistory courts
       7. Courts-martial
       8. Tribunals and inquiries
    2. 2 How to write up court cases
       1. Notes
       2. Who, where and what?
       3. Court feature articles
    3. 3 Privilege
    4. 4 Restrictions on reporting
       1. Committals for trial, remand hearings and adjournments
       2. Contempt of court
       3. Crime and accident stories
       4. Young offenders courts
       5. Family proceedings
       6. Divorce courts
       7. Rape and indecency
       8. Code of Practice
    5. 5 The probation service
    6. 6 The police
       1. Useful telephone numbers
16. 9  Reporting local government
    1. The local councillor
    2. Council meetings
    3. Writing it up
    4. The council officer
    5. Radical change
    6. The stories to look for
17. 10  Politics
    1. Independents
    2. Electioneering
    3. Election procedure
    4. Party organization
18. 11  Business and industry
    1. Knowing the firms
    2. Trades councils
    3. Disputes
    4. Shop
    5. The employers
    6. Company publications
    7. Employment and industry services
    8. Winning their confidence
19. 12  Reporting religions
    1. Weddings
    2. Priests and ministers
    3. Islam
    4. Hinduism and Sikhism
    5. Judaism
    6. References
    7. Useful telephone numbers
20. 13  Some thoughts on sportswriting
    1. Going to a match
    2. Writing your report
    3. Words and openings
    4. Colour and variety
    5. Vocabulary
    6. Midweek sportswriting
    7. Sporting reference books
21. 14  Summarizing
    1. The short report
    2. The long report
    3. Balance sheets
22. 15  Feature writing
    1. Finding ideas
    2. Illustrations
    3. Interviews
    4. Behind the facts
    5. Comment
    6. Good beginnings
    7. Building the text
    8. Some writing tips
    9. A note on leaders
23. 16  Arts reviewing
    1. Shaping your review
    2. Amateur theatre
    3. Professional theatre
    4. Theatre: basic background
    5. Drama festivals
    6. Music
    7. Singing
    8. Pop, folk and jazz
    9. Films
    10. Television
    11. Books
24. 17  Newspaper structure
    1. Who does what
    2. Copy input
    3. What happens to your story
    4. Page production
    5. Press and post-press
    6. Conclusion
25. 18  Looking things up
    1. The arts
    2. Aviation
    3. The Bible
    4. The churches
    5. English language
    6. Geography
    7. History
    8. Industry and companies
    9. Local government
    10. Local information
    11. National affairs and information
    12. Parliament
    13. People
    14. Press and radio
    15. The services
    16. Sport
    17. World affairs
26. 19  A note on ethics
    1. Press complaints
    2. Accountability
    3. Informants
    4. People in the news
    5. Journalists and their readers
    6. Further reading
27. 20  Careers in journalism
    1. The NCTJ
    2. In-house training
    3. NVQs
    4. Journalism degrees
    5. Other courses
28. Appendix 1 Investigative reporting
29. Appendix 2 Code of Practice for the Press
30. Index