Overview

Learn the skills you need to find sources, fact check, and write trusted articles Since the advent of the internet and the birth of social media, it has become difficult to wade through the massive amount of information out there. Every day we see—and believe—news articles that are released then debunked the very next day. Journalism For Dummies will provide you with the tools you need to become a savvy interviewer, writer, and fact checker. If you're a journalist, a journalist-to-be, or just someone who wants to be smarter about what you read, this book can help. You'll learn how journalism has evolved into what it is today, how to utilize different media platforms, including social media, and how to produce work that people can trust. This book is a comprehensive and approachable entry point for anyone who wants to produce pieces with journalistic integrity. Consider how journalism functions in society, and why trustworthy journalism matters Become media literate and identify sensational or misleading stories and articles Learn about the reporting process, including newsworthiness, sourcing, fact-checking, and interview best practices Discover the ethics and laws associated with being a digital and print journalist This is a great Dummies guide for students majoring in or taking journalism courses, freelance journalists looking to improve their sourcing abilities, and teachers hoping to increase their students' journalistic skills.

Full Product Details

Author:   Arionne Nettles
Publisher:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Imprint:   For Dummies
Dimensions:   Width: 15.00cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 22.60cm
Weight:   0.318kg
ISBN:  

9781394279593

ISBN 10:   1394279590
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   30 January 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 3 Part 1: Getting Started with Journalism 5 Chapter 1: Becoming a Journalist 7 Exploring the Many Roads to Journalism 8 The traditional road 8 Forging new paths 10 Understanding the Responsibility of a Journalist 12 Being truthful 13 Being accurate 14 Being fair 15 Identifying the Essential Skills You Need 17 Researching 17 Reporting 18 Interviewing 19 Fact-checking 20 Working in a Newsroom versus Working Independently 21 Barriers to entry 21 Having an editor 21 Having editorial control 22 Being flexible 22 Working on Different Platforms 22 Print 23 Digital 23 Television 23 Documentary video 23 Radio 23 Podcasting 24 Social media 24 Chapter 2: Defining Journalism 25 What Journalism Is 25 The “fourth estate” and democracy 26 Journalism beats 29 News versus opinion 30 What Journalism Isn’t: Blogs, Tabloids, and Gossip 32 Who Sets the Standards for Truth 34 Becoming a Journalist 35 Applying for a job 35 Interviewing 36 Taking writing and editing tests 36 What to Expect in a Journalism Job 37 The structure of a newsroom 37 The business goals of a media business 38 Chapter 3: Media Literacy: What It Is and Why It Matters 39 Understanding Media Literacy 40 Recognizing How Media Affects You 42 Your right to be informed 43 Your right to find the information you seek 43 Your right as a citizen to monitor those in power 44 Identifying Fake News 45 Seeing where fake news crops up 46 Distinguishing among the different types of fake news 47 Distinguishing what’s true from what’s false 49 Part 2: Understanding the Reporting Process 51 Chapter 4: Identifying Different Types of Stories 53 Looking at the Traditional Story Types 54 Breaking news 54 Meetings and events 56 Enterprise stories 57 Investigative work 58 Features and profiles 60 Obituaries 61 Editorials 62 Exploring Emerging Digital Forms 63 Aggregated stories 63 Listicles 64 Explainers 65 Interactive stories 65 Chapter 5: Determining What’s Newsworthy 67 Standards for Approving a Story Idea 68 The impact of the idea or event 68 The proximity of the occurrence to the news audience 69 The timeliness of the idea 70 The prominence of the people involved 71 The trendiness of the idea 71 How unusual a story is 72 How much conflict is present 72 What Drives Newsroom Decisions 73 Executive editors 73 Midlevel editors 74 Overall newsroom culture and interest 76 Working through Disagreements 77 Chapter 6: Finding Sources for a Story 79 What Is a Source 79 Types of Sources 81 Official and unofficial 81 Unofficial sources 82 Primary and secondary sources 84 People as Sources 85 Finding sources 85 Vetting sources 86 Developing long-term sources 87 The Voices Your Story Needs 88 What to include when reaching out 89 On or off the record? What it means 90 Chapter 7: Conducting Interviews 93 The Interview Process 94 Doing your research 94 Preparing questions 96 Taking care with vulnerable sources 97 After the Interview 100 Synthesizing interview discussions 100 Choosing quotes 101 Following up 102 How to Quote Interviewees 103 Paraphrase 103 Direct quote 104 Partial quote 105 Dialogue 105 Chapter 8: Doing Your Math 107 Getting Good Data 108 Finding the Average 111 Mean 112 Median 112 Calculating Change 114 Percent change 114 Percentage point change 115 Chapter 9: Fact-Checking a Story 117 Getting Everything Right While Working 118 Verifying during interviews 118 Recording and transcribing 119 Cross-checking sources 121 Finishing Up Correctly 122 Knowing what should be fact-checked 122 Referring to interview tape 124 Calling sources back 125 Finding reinforcement 125 Annotating a Finished Story 126 Making Corrections 127 What can and cannot be ethically corrected 127 Who is responsible for fixing mistakes 128 How to make corrections with transparency 129 Part 3: Working Within the Bounds Of Ethics and the Law 131 Chapter 10: Getting Clear on the Journalism Code of Ethics 133 Knowing Why Journalists Should Abide by a Code 133 Considering journalists’ responsibility to inform the public 134 Recognizing the importance of audience trust 135 Identifying Common Principles across Codes of Ethics 136 Truthfulness and accuracy 136 Impartiality and fairness 136 Independence 137 Looking at the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics 138 Seeking truth and reporting it 138 Minimizing harm 139 Acting independently 140 Being accountable and transparent 141 Chapter 11: Knowing Your Rights as a Journalist 143 Understanding Your Rights as a Journalist to Cover the Government 144 Covering Trials and Courts 146 Official proceedings 147 Court records 147 Accessing Government Documents through the Freedom of Information Act 148 Understanding the law 149 Making a request 151 Knowing the legal limitations 153 Chapter 12: Coping with Common Legal Considerations 155 Identifying the Most Common Legal Issues Journalists Face 156 Privacy 156 Trespassing 156 Copyright infringement 157 Defamation/libel 163 Breach of contract 166 Contempt of court 166 Plagiarism 166 Sedition 166 Protecting Yourself as an Independent Journalist 166 Looking into your state’s reporter’s shield laws 167 Turning to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press 167 Chapter 13: Using Artificial Intelligence Tools 169 Looking toward the Future with AI 170 Seeing How Newsrooms Are Currently Using AI 172 Research and reporting 172 Writing 173 Creating audio and video 174 Identifying Potential Issues to Look Out for with AI Tools 176 Inaccuracies and false sources 176 Plagiarism 177 Intellectual property 178 Part 4: Using Different Media Platforms 179 Chapter 14: Print and Digital 181 Working in Print: The First Form of Journalism 181 Seeing How Digital Differs from Print 183 Identifying the Traits of Top Print and Digital Journalists 184 Writing in Print Style 187 Following the inverted pyramid 189 Writing features and profiles 191 Using style guides 192 Looking at the Roles and Responsibilities in Print and Digital Journalism 196 People who write 196 People who edit 197 People who run the website 199 Chapter 15: Television and Documentary Video 201 Seeing Where Video Journalists May Work 202 Identifying the Traits of Strong Video Journalism Storytelling 204 Exploring Onscreen News and Long-Form Storytelling 205 Identifying the Traits of Top Video and Documentary Journalists 208 Making Great Video 210 Structuring a video story 210 Looking at news package forms and lengths 211 Working on longer-form videos 214 Identifying the Roles and Responsibilities of a Video Journalist 216 People who are on camera 217 People who are behind the camera 218 People who run the website 219 Chapter 16: Radio and Podcasting 221 Seeing Where You Can Work as an Audio Journalist 222 Understanding How Audio Differs from Other Forms of Journalism 222 Listening on the Dial and Long-Form Audio Storytelling 223 Identifying the Traits of Top Audio Journalists 225 Structuring a Story for Audio 227 News stories on the radio 228 Podcasts and long features 231 Looking at the Roles and Responsibilities of Audio Journalists 233 People who are on air 234 People who are behind the scenes 236 People who run the website 237 Chapter 17: Social Media 239 Looking at How Newsrooms Use Social Media 239 Seeing How Journalists Use Social Media 242 Identifying What Top Journalists Do Well on Social Media 246 Telling Stories Online 250 Starting a strategy for social media stories 250 Thinking through the differences in social media platforms 251 Considering whether the platform prioritizes visuals or text 252 Posting Online for Your Newsroom 256 Chapter 18: Working on the Margins 259 Writing Digital Marketing Content 260 Creating Social Media Content 262 Working in Public Relations 264 Part 5: the Part of Tens 267 Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Covering a Beat 269 Writing a Beat Report for Yourself 270 Meeting Other Journalists Who Cover Your Beat 270 Introducing Yourself to the Spokespeople of Small to Midsize Organizations 271 Getting on the Press Lists of Large Organizations 272 Going to Events Before You Need a Story 272 Getting Familiar with Past Stories 272 Learning Special Acronyms, Terms, and Other Language 273 Creating Google Alerts to Keep Up 273 Signing Up for Newsletters 274 Picking Up the Phone 275 Chapter 20: Ten Tips for Writing on Any Platform 277 Thinking through Your Structure 277 Writing an Outline Before You Write a Word 278 Using Words That You Would Use in Everyday Conversation 278 Giving Yourself More Time Than You Think You’ll Need 279 Getting More Information to Help with Writer’s Block 279 Editing Yourself First 280 Stepping Away and Coming Back Later 280 Using Style Guides 281 Reading Examples 281 Trusting Your Gut 282 Index 283

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Author Information

Arionne Nettles is a professor, culture reporter, and audio aficionado who serves as the Garth C. Reeves eminent scholar chair and instructor for digital journalism at Florida A&M University. She is also host of the HBCU history podcast Bragging Rights and Is That True? A Kids Podcast About Facts. Previously, Nettles worked as a digital producer at WBEZ and a multiplatform editor at the Associated Press.

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