Overview

Writing and Reporting for the Media introduces students to what reporters do-engage the world around them, generate story ideas, gather information, and effectively write a wide variety of story types. This classic text's reputation is built on its thorough grounding in the basic skills that aspiring reporters need. Section One introduces students to the current journalism landscape and the foundational tools of journalism, including news judgement, newswriting style, and grammar and language choice. In Section Two, the text explores questions of libel, privacy, newsgathering issues, and ethics. Section Three teaches students to write summary and alternative leads; organize and write the body of a news story; interview sources and integrate quotations; write feature stories; write for broadcast news; and integrate photo, video, and audio elements. Finally, in Section Four, students learn about specific areas of journalism, including covering speeches and meetings; writing brights, follow-ups, roundups, sidebars, and obituaries; public affairs reporting; investigative reporting; and public relations. The text engages students through its use of clear, accessible language and extensive examples, often drawn from recent news articles about important contemporary topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the war in Ukraine. Extensive and realistic practice exercises at the end of each chapter give students the opportunity to apply and master the skills under discussion.

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9780197614853

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Reviews

"The writing style is concise, straight forward, authentic and authoritative. ... This is a must-use text that covers everything you can think of and some that you can't think of."" -Daniel Sipocz, Berry College It keeps students up to date on where today's journalism is, and teaches how to report for traditional media like newspapers or radio, and modern media like blogs or podcasts or online publications. It is conversational and readable and my students have no trouble following it. It has very useful end-of-chapter activities and things to think about."" -Donna L. Halper, Lesley University [I]t provides great application, hands-on exercises, and could also serve as a guide for students entering the industry."" -Mildred F. Perreault, East Tennessee State University"

Author Information

John R. Bender is a William H. Kearns professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Lucinda D. Davenport is a university distinguished professor at Michigan State University. Michael W. Drager is an associate professor at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. Fred Fedler taught journalism at the University of Central Florida for 38 years until his retirement in 2008.

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