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TYPES OF NEWS STORIES II:SIMPLE TYPES, ILLNESS, DEATH

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Radio News, Reporting and Production ­ MCM515
VU
LESSON 08
TYPES OF NEWS STORIES II
SIMPLE TYPES
These are the news items which require a reporter to be bit interpretative while writing the story.
It implies that these stories need a little more interpretation and explanation about the personality or
accident or incident the story pertains to.
The following are the simple types of news stories.
ILLNESS
As is obvious, this news is about the illness of a personality who is enjoying prominence in a society. Since
the rapid and extensive emergence and growth of media has shrunk the whole world into a village, some
personalities are blessed with worldwide prominence and importance.
To quote the examples of such celebrities the apt names are of mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Jahangir
Khan, Imran Khan, Michael Jackson, André Agassi, and many more. So if any of such universally
acknowledged personalities or any of their close ones get ill, the news of their illness would be a part of
news bulletin.
While covering the stories of illness, following points must be given importance.
Name & identification of the person who is ill
Cause of illness
Nature of illness
Condition (fair, serious, critical)
Name of hospital ("local hospital" if private)
DEATH
Following are the essentials of death stories to be covered carefully:
Name and identification of the person died
Age of the person at the time of his death
Place of death
The Time and Date the person died
Cause of death
FUNERAL
Stories about the funeral of any person may be the Follow-up of illness story of the same person but not
always.
The following are the essentials of a death story to be covered by the reporters.
Time and date when the funeral ceremony is to be performed
Place of burial
Pallbearers
FIRES & ACCIDENTS
The essentials of the stories of fires and accidents are as under:
Place where the fire or accident took place,
Causalities
Injured persons
Damages to property
Escapes (experiences of escapes)
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Radio News, Reporting and Production ­ MCM515
VU
CRIME STORIES
No such society exists on earth that is free from crimes. So to keep people informed, the coverage of crime
stories is very important.
The crimes normally found in a society are as under:
Homicide (Killing a Person)
Homicide is an act of killing any other person that is in contrast with suicide, that is, to kill oneself
intentionally.
Killing someone else may be of the following types:
Manslaughter
Murder
Assassination
a) Manslaughter
It is the crime of killing a person by someone who did not intend to do it. In Urdu it is called katl-e-
khataa.
For instance, you must have come across news such as an old man is run over by a car. Now the driver of
the car did not intend to kill the old man, so this is manslaughter. In court of law the driver will not be
sentenced to a punishment that is specific for planned killing of a person.
Or, someone was cleaning his gun and it worked itself killing a person present nearby. This killing, also,
cannot be termed as planned killing.
b) Murder
Murder is the crime of killing a person by someone who did it deliberately and knowingly. This killing is
with the intention of the person who did it and the responsible, if proven in the court of law, will be
sentenced to the punishment that is specific for a person who does so. In Urdu, this is called katl-e-amd.
Since killing a person is an established crime and this is something that creates disruption in the society, the
news of this incident will be covered in the news bulletin.
c) Assassination
Assassination is the crime of killing a famous or important person in a society for any of the reasons; may
be out of jealousy, or for money, or to accomplish some other interests.
It is normally a paid murder and the person who commits this crime is called assassin.
As it is a kind of murder in which an important person in society is killed, the news becomes of reasonable
magnitude and importance and it must appear in media, whether print or electronic.
Assault
Assault is a crime in which a sudden violent attack is made on someone. It may be for any reason.
Kidnap
Kidnap is the crime in which the criminal takes someone away by force, usually in order to demand money
in exchange for releasing him or her.
The one who commits this crime is called kidnapper and the money he or she demands for the kidnapped
one or ones is called ransom.
Larceny
Larceny is the crime of taking something that does not belong to the person who commits it; and it is done
without getting illegally into the place where the property, movable or immovable, is taken from.
Larceny is normally performed by altering the instrument of ownership. It is altered to change the
ownership of the property. It is to be noted that the instrument of ownership is the legal document showing
the legal ownership of a person or persons over any movable or immovable property.
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Radio News, Reporting and Production ­ MCM515
VU
Burglary
It is a crime the committer of which enters a building illegally, especially after making a hole in the wall or
roof of the building, to steal things. The person who does it is burglar.
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of depriving someone of his belongings by the use of force or threat, physical harm
may also be given to the victim especially when resistance is offered to stop the robbers from the act of
robbery.
The person who performs the robbery is robber.
Embezzlement
It is a crime committed by people who or in business or in influential jobs. The person who commits it
secretly takes some of the money illegally that is officially in his control and care and that belongs to the
organization or business he works for.
Forgery
Forgery is the act of making an illegal copy of any document in order to deceive someone or law.
Arson
The act of putting someone's property deliberately on fire with an intention to damage or destroy the
property is called arson.
The person who does it is an arsonist.
Mugging
The depriving someone of his belonging forcibly in a public place is mugging and a person who does so is
called mugger.
Perjury
The act of giving false statement in court of law after promising formally to tell the truth is perjury.
Perjurer is the one who gives false statement.
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Table of Contents:
  1. WHAT RADIO IS:HISTORY OF RADIO, MARCONI –THE INVENTOR
  2. HISTORY OF RADIO:B.B.C. – 1922, Radio in Sub-Continent, PBC SERVICES
  3. OBJECTIVES OF BROADCASTING IN PAKISTAN:Information, Islamic ideology
  4. NEWS VALUES I:CONFLICT, PROGRESS, VICTORY AND DEFEAT
  5. NEWS VALUES II:TIMELINESS, PROXIMITY, NOVELTY, HUMAN INTEREST
  6. NEWS VALUES AND ELEMENTS OF NEWS:MISCELLANEOUS NEWS VALUES
  7. MEASURING THE IMPORTANCE OF NEWS:Intensity of an Event, NEWS STORY TYPES
  8. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES II:SIMPLE TYPES, ILLNESS, DEATH
  9. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES III:Conspiracy, Drug Trafficking, Lunar Months
  10. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES IV:COMPLEX NEWS, Forms of Government, Monarchy
  11. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES V:Education, Research, Religion
  12. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES VI:Lifestyles, Receptions, Entertainment
  13. SOURCES OF NEWS I:Network of Reporters, QUALITIES OF A REPORTER
  14. SOURCES OF NEWS II:MONITORING, NEWS/ PRESS RELEASE
  15. SOURCES OF NEWS III:National News Agencies, HARD NEWS, SOFT NEWS
  16. REPORTING:ORDER OF REPORTING, REPORTER’S QUALITIES, Well informed
  17. A SUCCESSFUL RADIO REPORTER:Briefing, Reporter’s Ammunition, Meeting Deadline
  18. INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING I:Growth of Interpretative Reporting
  19. INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING II:Factual Background, SPEECH STORY
  20. INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING III:FIRES & ACCIDENTS, CRIME STORIES
  21. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING I:Thalidomide Scandal, Watergate Scandal
  22. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING II:Identification of the problem, INTERVIEW
  23. TYPES OF INTERVIEW:Hard News Interview, Informational Interview
  24. ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD INTERVIEW I:Comments and Opinion, Topic must be specific
  25. ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD INTERVIEW II:Preparation of the Interview, Language
  26. RADIO NEWS GLOSSARY:Actuality, Cut, Voicer, Wrap, Hourly, Lead
  27. FUNDAMENTALS OF NEWS WRITING:Inverted Pyramided Style, Telling the Story
  28. FUNDAMENTALS OF WRITING NEWS FOR RADIO I:Language
  29. FUNDAMENTALS OF WRITING NEWS FOR RADIO II:Complex numbers
  30. ESSENTIALS OF A NEWSCASTER:Authority, Credibility, Language, Pronunciation
  31. PRODUCTION AND PLANNING:Principals of Planning a Program
  32. PRODUCER & BUDGETING:Strengths of a Radio Program, Budgeting a Program
  33. JARGONS OF PRODUCTION (Continued):Frequency spectrum, Dead studio
  34. TYPES OF TALK:Qualification of a Talker, Essentials of a talk, Vetting a talk
  35. DISCUSSION:Controlled Discussion, Live Discussion, Current affairs
  36. DISCUSSION:Selection of the TopicKnowledge of the Topic, Narrowing down the topic
  37. RADIO FEATURE:Sound Effects, Narration, Dramatic Feature, Religion, Personalities
  38. RADIO DOCUMENTARY:Commentary, History, Persons, Things, Phenomena
  39. DRAMA:Solo plays, Series, Serial, Soap, Components of Drama
  40. SPECIAL AUDIENCE PROGRAM:Children’s Programs, Women’s programs
  41. SPORTS PROGRAM:Live Programs, Recorded Programs, Preparation of OB
  42. THE MUSIC I:Folk Music, Classical Music, Light Music, Pop Music
  43. THE MUSIC II:Classification of Raga In Terms Of Notes, Aado, Khaado
  44. ETHICS & LIMITATIONS OF MEDIA:Domain of Freedom of Media, Defamation
  45. RECAP:What Radio Is, Timeliness, Elements of news, Types of Reporting, Production