Reporting for various Mass Media

 Reporting for various Mass Media

Same news can be reported in different ways in various media platforms, though they apply the use of the characteristics of news when writing stories. The difference in reporting is not because of the happenstance, but because of the demand of the medium and the target audience. For example, the print media relies more on words and photographs, whereas the television news requires visuals or videos, the radio news is delivered in the form of sound and the online news can present the news using all word, video, audio and photographs. In print news, where space is the concern, a sentence can be about 20-25 words, whereas in broadcast news, where time is a concern, a sentence usually contains 10-15 words. Similarly, People don't read information on the Web in the same way as they read a newspaper or watch television or listen to the radio. Unique nature of the medium and the way in which it is received by the public demand newspapers, radio, television and online media to adopt different reporting style. For example, we receive a newspaper every day and it remains unchanged throughout the day. We can reread the story as much as we want. But in case of Television or Radio, the timing is important. The news need to have immediate feel. Reporting must be done on things that are happening now. Each news medium embodies a unique regime of content creation.

 

REPORTING FOR PRINT MEDIA & NEWS AGENCIES

Print media which includes newspapers, magazines and other printed news source is the oldest media form. Although print media readership is declining across the globe, many people still read a newspaper every day or a newsmagazine on a regular basis. The importance of print media is therefore significant. Regular readers of print media are more socio-politically active. Since print media is used by people who can read and write, the print media readers are mostly educated. Print media gathers, processes, and produces news in a one-way daily delivery. It has fixed frequency of delivery like a newspaper delivered / produced once a day and a magazine is produced / delivered once a week. It has opportunity for geographical selectivity thus covering a particular geographical region intensively. Since people get it physically and have opportunity to reread, print media helps in communicating complex information. On the other hand, print media has the limitation of using sound and motion. Messages in a newspaper compete with each other to draw the readers’ attention.

REPORTING FOR RADIO

Radio is oldest news medium, after print media and us accessible to wider sections of the society. Even people who cannot read or who are staying remote part of the country can access radio news. It is available in villages as well as in cities. According to UNESCO It is “the mass medium that reaches the widest audience in the world”. Compared to newspapers and television, radio is inexpensive to produce and distribute. it is also the easiest form of broadcasting to produce. Anyone with an ability to talk can take part in a radio broadcast. It can transmit on a local level, in regional language, addressing issues of importance to local listeners. It can be interactive using telephone or SMS. However, the radio newscast is consumed sequentially. Listeners have to wait. Evening if, listeners is bored by one part of the newscast, they cannot skip forward to the next segment or news. If they are interested to listen to the fifth story they have to listen the first four stories. it’s like eating in a restaurant in which each dish is served in a sequence. One has to eat each course as it is presented. If one does not like a dish, he or she must wait for the next course to be served. So the stories in a radio newscast need to be chosen and made to be interesting to a significant number of listeners.

REPORTING FOR TV NEWS

Television uses both audio and video to communicate the message. It is important that the words and pictures match and that they don’t give different messages. It is similar to radio news reporting, added with video. Like radio news, television viewer has no control over the pace of reporting. They cannot go back to the story to see or listen it again. As said by former CBS (U.S. TV network) News editor Ed Bliss, “The words are spoken and, once spoken, are irretrievable”. Lack of editing, in comparison to print media, demands short, sharp, succinct language of a more conversational tone in television news reporting. The format for the story always may not be inverted pyramid style; important facts are still reported in the first paragraph. It ends decisively and do not trail off as do print news stories. Like Radio, the most of the viewers watch the news till its end. The average television news story is one minute and 30 seconds long. Read at a pace of 180 words per minute these lengths equate to 90 and 270 words respectively for radio and television news stories.

REPORTING FOR WEB MEDIA

The web or online media combines the features print as well as broadcast media, besides having its own attribute. It allows the users to read a news story, examine its sources, and interact in various ways. An online news report can include audio clips from interviews, text of government records, and interactive maps that all can change the way a reader understands a story. Interactivity is one of the unique features of Online Media. User can give their feedback or choose story to read. Almost all news sites provide space for readers to post their feedback or opinions, which others can also read and respond. Another feature of online media is ‘multimedia’, a form of presentation that uses audio, video, graphics, or other methods to give users different pieces of a story. Interactivity and multimedia capability is integrated features of the online media and significantly influences the news reporting.