Problems in News Writing

ONE REPORTER may cover a district without finding a single story; a second may gather a dozen from the same area. In seeking a story, one reporter may find barely enough information for a short report; a second may get a full column. In each case, the ability of the individual reporter determines the quality and the quantity of news he can get. Many older newsmen would say that reporters must have a "nose for neews".

Some people say that reporters are born, not made. If it all depends on the talent, then nobody know what he can do till he tries. In facts, many reporters have been highly successful by learning their job as one would a trade or a profession: that is, by working hard, by being alert, and by studying the methods of the most successful men in the field.

No doubt, those best qualified to pass judgement on the requirements of the good reporter are the newsmen themselves. The students of journalism, therefore, should know what qualities the seasoned newsmen looks for in the reporter.

Accuracy

Above all else, a reporter must be accurate, for editors and publishers have little use for material containing factual errors. Consequently, the reporter must first teach himself the necessity of obtaining unassailable information, he must realize that guesses, surmises, carelessly checked material can lead only to disaster. In essence, he must ever live by the popular slogan: "Get it first, but first get it right!"

The importance of accuracy stands unquestioned because:

1. Inaccurate statements may easily stir up libel suits; and

2. A paper which prints inaccuracies loses prestige with its readers.

A single careless reporter can often embroil his employer in a libel suit, or he can alienate discerning readers by making them skeptical of everything carried. Further, he can provide substance for all-too-common misconception that most media are prepared to sacrifice veracity for audience interest or other advantage (such as aiding a political candidate in his fight for office).

Recognition of a story

The Reporter must be a certain that he can always recognize news --- in all its implications. He must be able to spot immediately those stories which belongs to top priority and to place lesser stories in their proper position on the value scale. He must also be able to recognize and assess the stories his medium wants.

To learn his medium's concept of news, a reporter should study successive issues or broadcasts for a prolonged period. This procedure will exhibit rather clearly the stories sought by his editors --- as well as the nature of the treatment accorded the stories. Thus a reporter must be well-informed of the sordid, the seamy, the spectacular, the entertaining, and the other stories which involve a subjective judgement.

In all his endeavors, the reporter must remember that sometimes the real story lies deep beneath the superficial facts --- as, for example, when the real story of a murder lies in the perpetrator's family history. In handling any involved data, the reporter must be able to sense the real story in the manner that a good hunter senses the presence of game.

Handling a Story

When working a story (not doing a story), the reporter must know the facts to seek, their order of importance, and where to find them. He must get all important names -- with correct important names --- with correct spellings, addresses, and occupations (even though these may not be used), as well as any other pertinent details (for example, the hold-up victim is a relative of a prominent judge). All these facts, of course, contribute authenticity and interest to the story.

Further, the reporter must build up a background of knowledge concerning the relative value of people as news subjects. He must know, for example, that professional men are generally stronger news-story material than businessmen, and that mugged clergymen are more newsworthy than mugged steelworkers. These and similar facts he can learn through careful observation.

In addition, the reporter must always know the procedures and the devices necessary to obtain and present the best story.

Clarity of Expression

The reporter must have the ability to express himself well, both in writing and in speech. The need for effective written expression is obvious. The need for effective oral expression exists because the reporter does so much interviewing and because he often gathers news for a rewriter, to whom he must make clear and vivid, usually by telephone, every point in the story. Also, frequently the reporter must give the editor a quick, incisive picture of a situation or happening that he believes to be newsworthy.

Pleasing Personality

Because so much newsgathering involves personal contact, the reporter must have a pleasing personality. The importance of personality, however, is not limited to gathering news; it is also highly important in contacts will fellow newsgatherers. Frequently reporters must work in pairs or in teams, under intense pressure, to get a story, and in such instances a pleasing personality obviously helps to make the team work more smoothly. The reporter, in short, must be one who can "get along" with other persons -- one whose personality "wears well"

Adjusting Approach

The reporter must develop versatility in handling people. He must be able to handle with equal facility the residents of the so-called "though" neighbourhoods and those from the politer sections. Furthermore, he must attempt to speak the languange of the persons he is interviewing --- if he can do so without affectation or other trait likely to alienate the person involved.

This ability to adjust approach must be developed at the beginning, for strange though it may seem, the lowliest reporting assignments (cub reporter, district man, or the like) often require dealing with the widest range of personalities.

Speed

The reporter must be one who can work efficiently at top speed, one who can work efficiently at top speed, one who does not break under under the pressure of time. This ability to work rapidly is indispensable because much news breaks fast and must be handled fast, especially for the electronic media. The reporter, therefore, must be able to handle accidents, disasters, and other spot news in the minimum time, or the story may miss the deadline.

Gaining the ability to work quickly is largely a matter of knowing what to do. For this reason, the reporter must construct a plan of attack for every conceivable kind of story. In covering an apartment-house fire, for instance, he should seek to learn the following in the order stated; the number of people injured, the extent of their injuries, the amount of damage, the cause of the fire, the problems met by the firefighters, any possible deviation from firecode regulations, residents reactions and plans (if the house is uninhabitable), and finally spectators reactions.

By having a plan like this for every kind of story, the reporter decreases immensely his chances of becoming upset and therefore less efficient when the news breaks.

There are still many more skills that a reporter should know. Yet, for the time being and because of the limited time provided, a good reporter must be well-informed of the above qualities.

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Posted in: AccuracyinWriting,Knowledge,News Writer,News Writing,Newspaper,ProblemsinNewsWriting,Reporter,Story,Writer,Writing

Six Basic Rules For Healthy Living

1. If you smoke, quit now.


Smoking is a leading cause of death in the U.S.A. It is a major factor in coronary heart disease and in cancers of the lung, mouth, esophagus, throat, bladder, and cervix. Also, smoking accelerates aging of the skin, bones and lungs.


2. Don't drink alcohol.


Don't drink alcohol if you are pregnant or if you are driving or operating machinery. If you think you have a problem with alcohol, call you physician, or your local hospital for assistance.

3. Find some exercise that you enjoy.


Such as walking or swimming and do it at least five times per week for a total of at least 30 minutes each day. The 30 minutes can be devided into ten or fifteen minutes segments if these are easier to fit into your day.


4. Eat a wide variety of naturally occuring foods


Including plent of whole grains, fresh fruits, and fresh vegetable. Use moderation in your consumption of foods that contain fat.


5. Keep your body trim


Don't let yourself or children become overweight.Obesity is linked with many serious disorder such as heart disease and diabetes mellitus. If you are overweight, try hard to make permanent changes in your eating and exercise habits.


6. Have regular medical checkups


Screening test can detect many diseases in their early stages, when they may be more successfully treated. Your physician can answer any questions you may have about how often a test should be performed.

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Posted in: Alcohol,Exercise,Health,Healthy Living,Lifestyle,Medical Checkup,NaturallyOccuringFoods,Quit Smoking,SixBasicRulesforHealthyLiving,Tips

Healthy Snacks

EATING SNACKS is popular, especially with students. They enjoy snacking while they are studying, because it helps avoid tiredness and boredom. Actually, the habit of snacking can make you fat. However, you are able to have snacks without getting fat.


Fried meals, nuts, chicken noodles, or soft drinks, will make you fat quickly. But here are some fruits and meals which can substitute for fatty meals.


Tomatoes and papayas

Having nuts is nice, but watch out! Nuts do not only contain of protein but also fat.


You can eat fresh tomatoes or papayas. They contain vitamins. Tomatoes are full of vit B dan C; papayas are full of vit C and A.


You can eat tomatoes by chopping them into pieces and adding a little salt. For papaya, add a little lemon.


Bananas


Some of you enjoy having bread while you are studying. Bread is more delicious with margarine, chocolate, and cheese. But don't eat too much, because you will become fat cheap. They will also make you feel full, because they contain carbohydrates, like bread.


Beside that, bananas are full of vit are needed by the body.


Fruit Juice


Studying is tiring. If you have a headache because of studying too much, you might want to have soft drink instead, try fresh fruit juices.


If you don't have a juicer, you can squeeze a glass of orange juice. You will not only enjoy the juice, but also improve your health.


Boiled Corn


The night is getting dark, the house is quiet, and you're not finished studying. You feel hungry.


If you want to be able to study until midnight, you can eat boiled corn.


Why should you choose boiled corn ?
Because corn is a healthy meal. It can make you be full like noodles because it contains carbodhydrates. Corn is also full of vit B and vit C.


If you are smart about selecting your snacks, you won't get fat.

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Posted in: Diet,Food,Fruit,Fruits,Health,Healthy Eating,Healthy Food,Healthy Snacks,Lifestyle,Tips

What is Schizophrenia ?

Schizophrenia is a general name for a group of emotional disorders that are all forms of psychosis, in which the person has problems telling fact from fantasy and therefore behaves irrationally. Schizophrenia alters a person's thought patterns, reaction to others, and behaviour so severely that he or she undergoes a change of personality


FOR A DIAGNOSIS of schizophrenia to be confirmed, the person must show signs of disorganization of the personality for at least six months. Also, the six-month period must include at least one episode of false ideas, hallucinations, or significant thought disorder. Schizophrenia should not be confused with multiple personality disorder.


Some physicians think that schizophrenia is an inherited disorder; others believe that it's the result of a profound disturbance in early mother-child relationships. Symptoms usually appear in late adolescence or early adulthood. The disorder may be lifelong, but acute episode tend to occur at times of emotional stress or personal loss.


The Symptoms


For most people with schizophrenia, an episode begins with a gradual, or occasionally sudden, withdrawal from day-to-day activities. The content of the person's speech may become increasingly vague, and he or she may seem unable to follow a simple conversation. An acute bout can happen unexpectedly. Often the onset is so gradual that it's difficult to know when psychotic symptoms appear. Among such symptoms are seemingly disconnected remarks, along with blank looks.

Schizophrenics often believe that others hear and "steal" their thoughts. Those with schizophrenia may have false ideas, ranging from a single idea such as the conviction they are Theodore Roosevelt to complex systems of related beliefs. Sometimes they fear they have lost control of bodily movement as well as thought, as if they were puppets. They frequently believe they hear voices, often hostile ones. Less commonly, they have hallucinations of odd physical sensations, fearing that they have been poisoned or otherwise attacked by others. In time many people with schizophrenia build up a set of beliefs in a fantasy world. In this way they flee from reality and withdraw from what they perceive to be an overwhelmingly threatening world. They may express exaggerated feelings of happiness, bewilderment, or despair. They may have laugh at sad moment or cry without cause.


In an early phase of schizophrenia the person may have symptoms similar to those of manic-depressive illness. As schizophrenia deepens, however, the person may become very detached toward other people. They detached  person is then more likely to behave strangely and to neglect his or her appearance. There are several types of schizophrenia with similar symptoms, but the only practical distinction that most physicians how make is between paranoid schizophrenia and other types. The main symptoms of a person with paranoid schizophrenia are constant suspicion and resentment, accompanied by an irrational fear that people are hostile or even plotting to destroy him or her.


The Risks


As the most common type of psychosis, schizophrenia usually begins between ages 15 to 30. Males and females are about equally affected by the disorder.


For unknown reasons schizophrenia is more common in certain geographic areas such as inner cities of the U.S.A. Throughout the world schizophrenia has an average lifetime prevalence of almost one percent. It tends to run in families, and chemical changes in the brain may also play a role.


People who have bouts of schizophrenia in its most severe forms may physically harm themselves or others, or may try to commit suicide.


What Should Be Done?


If you suspect that someone in your family is schizophrenic, try to get the person to see a physician. It probably will not be easy. People who are becoming mentally ill often refuse to admit it. But medical care is vital. Don't leave alone a person who at the time seems extremely disturbed. The presence of a relative of friend will reassure that person. Keeping him or her from self-destructive behavior until help arrives may be essential. However, if you feel threatened, leave the person and wait for help. People with symptoms similar to those of schizophrenia may be admitted to a hospital for a preliminary period of observation.


The Treatment


Severe cases are treated in a hospital. Treatment usually involves the use drugs, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation.


The most effective drugs are regular doses of antipsychotic drugs designed to reduce symptoms so that the person can benefit from psychotherapy. As symptoms gradually disappear, doses are reduced. Some people, however, need long-term medication. They may either take oral medication regularly or be given an injection every two to four weeks to ensure compliance.


As soon as the person's symptoms are controlled by medication, he or she is ready to be helped by psychotherapy. Techniques of psychotherapy vary, but the goal is the same: to help the person understand the emotional factor underlying the disorder and how they contributed to the current episode. Medication and psychotherapy play major roles in helping the person get back in touch with reality. For treatment to be effective, the family needs to be closely involved.


The final stage of treatment is rehabilitation, which helps people who are recovering from a bout of schizophrenia to regain normal skills and behavior patterns. In the early stages of hospital treatment, people with schizophrenia are generally given increasingly complex tasks and pressures, which eventually approximate the tasks and pressures of the world outside. Those with schizophrenia need assistance from day centers or other community care once they are released from the hospital, but these resources are not always available.


The Long-Term Prospects


Many people recover from an episode of schizophrenia well enough to return to varying degress of independence. But they may have further episodes, especially if they don't take their medicine as prescribed in some people the condition becomes chronic. About ten percen remain impaired for life. The outlook improves if you follow your physician's advice about medication, and if the family is involved in your treatment.

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Posted in: Emotional Disorders,Emotional Stress,Health,Illness,Medical,Mental Disorder,Psychology,Psychosis,Schizophrenia,Schizophrenia Treatment,Shizophrenia Medication,Shizophrenia Rehabilitation,Stress

Walking For Physical Fitness

Walking is simple. In everyday life, we are always walking. We walk around the room, up the stairs and outdoors. The human body is designed to walk efficiently and easily.

WALKING needs no lessons, except maybe for babies. Though all of us walk every day, very few of us realize that walking is an exercise that maintains physical fitness.

In normal walking the heel strikes the floor. Then the foot rolls inward and pushess off with the big toe. Most people land the foot on the outer side of the heel.

If a person lands on the innerside of the heel, his foot is abnormal because it rolls inward. Usually this kind of abnormality is treated by padding the innerside of footwear.

In normal walking the force on the heel is transmitted to the whole area of the foot, to the ankle, to the knee, to the skin and to the lower back area. The structure and position of the skeleton is designed specifically so that it can absorb all the force and cause no harm to  the body. The muscles of the feet and legs absorbs the force and blows resulting from jarring and jolting during walking.

Many people think they can walk for leisure without paying attention to their posture and body alignment. This is definitely wrong.

By walking carelessly we will put strain on the joints, muscles and ligaments. We will experience sore muscle or sore joints and perhaps also the abnormality of some bones, like the backbone.

If you walk with the chest tucked inside and the back arched of humped, you will have breathing problems. Why ? Because the lungs are compressed and you cannot breath normally.

In the long run, you will likely have an arched back and back complaints. This happens very often with lower back problems. Because of bad spine alignment, lower back pain will occur.

All these complaints and abnormalities can be corrected by walking normally and in a well aligned manner, that is: The chest is pulled up, the shoulders are pushed back, and the head is lifted straight, the eyes look level in front, not down at the floor.

Prof. John Bloomfield, a famous biomechanic specialist from the University of Western Australia said, "One of the best postures is that of Balinese women that carry burdens on their heads.

The kind of walking is physiological and the body alignment is correct. If you pull a line from the center of the shoulder, the hip, the knee and the ankle of the foot."

Proper posture maximizes the natural spinal curves, allows the weight of the body to balance properly and avoids overworking the back muscles. However, poor walking posture allows the entire body to slant forward, and this position makes the back muscles strain to keep the individual from failing over.


The following are a few tips on walking correctly:


1. When walking, relax your face muscles, unclench your jaws.


2. Relax your shoulders and back muscles without letting your shoulders slump forward.


3. Let your arms swing naturally at your sides. Do not swing the arms across the midline, because this can cause an excessive twisting force on the lumbar spine and pelvis.


4. Relax the hands and do not hold any objects such as keys, radios or sticks etc.


5. Stride easily and naturally. Do not try to lengthen the stride because this will put more strain on the back.


6. Breathing should be gentle, even and unforced. If you can't carry on a conversation while walking, then your walking speed is too fast; slow down or walk on level terrain.

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Posted in: Exercise,Health,Lifestyle,Physical Fitness,Sport,Tips,Walking,Walkingforphysicalfitness

Are You a Fitaholic?

Being obsessed with an exercise program can be bad for your health.

FITAHOLICS become addicted to exercise. Like any addition, the exercise program becomes an obsession of the mind and a compulsion of the body.

If you want to know do you suffer from fitaholism, answer these questions honestly.

1. Are you obsessed solely with exercise?

2. Do you exclude other activities?

3. Do you become upset, angry, and anxious if your routine is changed?

4. Do you try to turn your friends into exercise converts?

5. Do you limits your friends to those who are sharing your passionate interest in exercise?

6. Do you ignore any other feelings or thoughts as a result of your exercises?

If you answers "yes" to any of these question, you really need to take stock of yourself.

Your fitness program is alienating you from other areas of your life. You may even be using your obsession with exercise to avoid feelings of anger, anxiety and depression.

A fitaholic may have trouble with relationships. But she may deny she has a problem because exercises help her to cope. To give up this coping mechanism may mean she will have to deal with a painful emotional challenge.

The physical demands a fitaholic puts on her body can cause injuries like stress fractures, shin splints or ligament and tendon inflammation.

Her excessive exercise cause an abnormal loss of body fat, which may halt her menstruation cycle and cause estrogen levels to drop disappear.

And as estrogen is the hormone which makes it possible for bone to absorb calsium, a prologed period where menstruation does not occur may lead to osteoporosis in later years.

So if you are a fitaholic, you should take steps to overcome your addiction to exercise. 

Try one of the following:

Variety: You have to have variety in your life. Occasionally miss an exercise session by scheduling another activity in that timeslot. Do something that does not involve exercise, for instance: reading, watching television or going to a movie.

Holiday: By going to another location, you'll see things differently and your thoughts will be diverted.

Discussion: Talk to someone with whom you feel comfortable to share your inndermost feelings. You do not have to give up exercise, you just need to put it in perspective.

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Posted in: Exercise,Fitaholic,Fitness,Health,Lifestyle,Sport