The first thing you need to realize is that journalistic style is contrary to almost everything we have taught you in the past.
Remember when you were told to develop paragraphs--perhaps even told that no paragraph with fewer than five sentences is sufficiently developed? Well, forget that rule when writing in news style; in newspapers, paragraphs are often a single sentence long, and any paragraph with more than three sentences will probably be broken up by your editor.
Remember when we taught you to develop complex sentences? Forget about that, too--complex sentences can be difficult to handle in the journalistic medium, and they should be used sparingly.
There's a reason for this change in stylistic expectation. And contrary to popular opinion, it's not just because newspapers aim for the eighth grade level of comprehension.
A primary reason for newspaper style is newspaper format: narrow columns of small type make long sentences difficult to follow, and they make long paragraphs look unending and intimidating.
Because space is limited in a newspaper, it's important that every word count. Pare down your style to eliminate the fat; never use three words where you can use one. Be brief, and be clear.
Newspapers contain a variety of story types, each of which will require a different approach to style. We will be starting with the most basic--and in some ways the most difficult: the basic straight news story.
Straight news will teach you the most important principles of good reporting.
Read the news stories on the front page of the Lexington Herald-Leader (or go to the paper's web version). Read not just for the content, but with an eye toward identifying the qualities of news style. As you read the "rules" below, estimate how well the basic news stories in the Herald-Leader reflect these rules.
Rule #1: You must write clearly, simply and directly, using a style that blends with the reportorial voice of the newspaper. It's sometimes hard to accept that your personal voice has no place in straight news reporting. Your articles should be in the same general style as everyone else's in the news section of the paper. This clear, direct and predictable style is less distracting than "creative" style and puts the focus where it belongs--on the news, not on you.
Rule #2: When writing news stories, you must avoid inserting your opinion. A reporter's job is to report, not analyze--and certainly not to slant the news. As a result, there is generally no personal voice at all in straight news writing. A person seeking objective news doesn't want to hear what you think; the reader wants to discover what you can show. When you include opinions, they will be the opinions of sources, and if it is a controversial subject, you will present a balanced view (not just the side with which you agree).
This rule, once absolutely sacrosanct, has been eroded in recent years as newspapers adapt to their changing role in the media community. Newspapers are no longer the place people go for breaking news--they go to CNN and other television or online news outlets that can provide information live, without the delay of print and distribution schedules. As a result, newspapers are now beginning to see their role as providing in-depth news reporting and news analysis, rather than simply "straight" news. When news reporting becomes news analysis, there is a great deal of danger that objectivity will be lost.
Your writing gains credibility when you remain objective and carefully attribute the sources of your information. Look very carefully at the stories in the Herald-Leader to see how information is attributed.
Rule #3: You must strive to avoid vague generalizations and generalizations that draw conclusions. Whenever possible, give specifics; let your audience draw the general conclusions. Often, generalizations are a form of opinion; they are your conclusions, and they fail to give the information your audience needs to draw its own conclusions.
Rule #4: You must be absolutely clear and accurate in every statement of fact. There is widespread public mistrust in the media, yet ironically the prime value in journalism is supposed to be a dedication to truth. Your task as a reporter is to make sure that you don't do anything to justify the public's distrust of the media.
Two recent events, the Jessica Lynch story and the Jayson Blair scandal at the New York Times, have been excellent illustrations of the problem of media reliability. (If you are unfamiliar with the Jayson Blair case, click here.) Blair not only submitted articles with factual errors, but also plagiarized other writers' stories and on occasion simply made things up. When Blair reported an interview with the Lynch family that never took place, the Lynch family never complained--they said they assumed that newspapers made things up all the time.
The Jessica Lynch story shows both the importance of the media and its vulnerability. When the rescue story first broke, the television news programs played it up for all the drama and heroism implied in the story. But as it turned out, much of the story originally released was inaccurate, allegedly the product of government manipulation of the story. (If you are unfamiliar with this element of the story, click here). This story is double edged; on the one hand, it shows the media's susceptibility to error; on the other, it shows how patient and responsible reporting can lead to the discovery of hidden information.
Indeed, the war in Iraq led to many situations that threatened media objectivity. The practice of "embedding" reporters often led to stories that clearly failed the objectivity test; it was "us" vs. "them"--and the reporter was clearly choosing sides.
As a result of all of these problems, the public often doesn't really know what to believe. The confusion has exacerbated an already-existing problem with the public's reaction to the media. Television media, influenced by the need to get information out quickly, can easily make mistakes. And television news has less of a tradition of objective reporting than newspapers have. Yet more and more people get their news from television rather than from print reporting.
Even newspapers, which generally can take a little more time to develop stories, are still tied to deadlines and make errors based on incomplete information, often influenced by the need to keep up with what is being reported in the broadcast media. Journalism is called "the first draft of history" because it preserves and presents factual information. But it's called the first draft because everyone knows that there are likely to be errors that will need revising later.
Errors are inevitable, but they are never acceptable. In the worst circumstances, errors can be criminal (leading to charges of libel). I, as your professor, will do what your editor at a newspaper should do: hold you personally responsible for absolute accuracy. The section on "Errors" will explain the consequences of inaccurate reporting.
Remember--also included in this reading assignment: the links on AP Style, Story Format, and Errors (see buttons on the left at the top of this page).