Reporting vs. Writing

 

It is important to distinguish between being a good reporter and being a good writer.

 

There are many great writers. There are many great reporters. The most successful people in the news business combine both to deliver accurate information to the reader, listener or viewer that is always comprehensive and easy to understand.

 

Reporting is the process of gathering relevant material through a variety of means (direct observation, interviews, examination of reports and documents, use of databases and Internet sources) and subjecting the material to verification and analysis. - Adapted from Melvin Mencher

 

Writing is the style and method by which you deliver that information to the reader, listener or viewer in a way that is informative and easy to understand.

 

Reporters develop a variety of personal tools to get to the bottom of every story. (The “So What” factor.)

Some suggestions:

   Be inquisitive.

   Leave no stone unturned.

   Ask yourself, if I were the reader, what would I want to know about this story?

 

Writers use the tools of “Journalese.”

1)     Short, sharp and to the point.

2)     Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

3)     The inverted pyramid.

      A) Lede

      B) nut graph

      C) Body

      D) Ending

      E) ###   or     -30-    or     -end it-