5 Characteristics of a Good News Report

by Apa News News

Summary: Anything can be news, but not everything is newsworthy. Journalism is a process in which a reporter should use verification and storytelling to make a subject newsworthy.

Journalism is a craft and it needs to be learnt the hard way. To excel it, you should know how to structure a news report, how to write a headline and how to make news pages. There are 5 characteristics that every good news report should have.

1-Fairness and balance

As a reporter, one must learn to get the other point of view, this is the best way to balance the copy. Fairness requires that you do not impute motives. Remember that your report is going to be read by hundreds of people, and you can influence their thinking with the use of loaded words, so, it is always best to use neutral words.

2-Accuracy

One must get all the facts right, starting from the name and designation of the subject to the statements made by him/her. You cannot hide behind the excuse that there was not enough time to cross check the facts.

3-Attribution

All news reports with some exceptions must be sourced. The source can be identified as follows:

· Individual: Who witnessed a murder or survived an earthquake, can be quoted by name as an eyewitness.

· Organization: A spokesperson authorized to brief the media on organization’s behalf.

· Anonymous sources: There are times when a source does not want his/her name to be used. In such cases, the reporter attributes the story to informed sources or well-connected sources or official sources or sources who do not wish to be named.

· Exceptions: The reporter should not worry about attribution in those cases that he/she has witnessed. For example, the reporter can report a cricket match or a rally. This is because these are facts that occurred in the public domain, and have been witnessed by people. The same goes for the swearing in of a new government or any historical facts.

4-Brevity

The importance of this cannot be overstressed. One must learn how to write short stories without missing important facts. Remember that today’s readers are in a hurry and he/she does not have the patience to go through your long news reports.

Brevity does not only mean writing a short story, but it also means using short words, shorter sentences, and short paragraphs.

5-Clarity

It is not easy to achieve, you are required to report an event in as few words as possible. You should use short and simple words and keep out irrelevant facts. The intro must be short and crisp; the body must be made up of a few paragraphs as possible.

APA news agency gathers reports from reputed reporters; it began and continues to operate on the basic philosophy of giving a single objective news feed to all its subscribers. APA Africa press agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire, or news service.