directness, therefore, depends on the size of the group, the place where it meets and also the relationship

of the members of the group to one another.

Group communication is considered effective as it provides an opportunity for direct interaction among
the members of the group and it helps in bringing about changes in attitudes and beliefs.
Mass Communication
Mass communication involves communicating with mass audiences and hence the name mass
communication. The channels through which this kind of communication takes place are referred to as
mass media. Both mass communication and mass media are generally considered synonymous for the
sake of convenience. Mass communication is unique and different from interpersonal communication as
is evident from the following definition.
Any mechanical device that multiplies messages and takes it to a large number of people simultaneously
is called mass communication.
The mechanical devices can be newspapers, magazines, radio, television, websites, social media networks
etc.
The act of mass communication is much more complex than that of face to face communication. It is
addressed to an extremely large audience.

Public Communication
Have you ever attended an election meeting of a political party? Or heard a religious or spiritual leader
giving a discourse? Such meetings and discourses are part of our public life today. Generally, there is a
stage or a platform or the roof of a vehicle for such a speaker to stand and speak. A microphone and a
loud speaker are essential for communication here.
Many people may be hundreds or even thousands can be seen waiting for the speaker to begin. When the
leader speaks a large number of people will be listening. One person here is speaking to a large number of
people. Such communication is called public communication. The speaker can see or identify only those
who sit in the front rows. But messages are given not to just one or two persons but to many.
Unlike interpersonal communication, here, the speaker cannot see the audience. So, it generally lacks the
personal touch. Of course, there are public speakers who can build immediate rapport or personal touch
with the listeners. But unlike in group communication, here, people may not know each other. Public
communication may be defined as a situation where many people receive messages from one person. The
skills of the person are very important here in this situation. We can think of a number of political and
spiritual leaders as excellent communicators. Again, unlike group communication, to reach out to a large
number of people, microphones and loud speakers may be used.
Process and Elements of Communication
Communication is a dynamic process involving a series of actions and reactions with a view to achieving
a goal. How does it work? Think that you are in conversation with your friend. You, as a sender or
communicator, formulate (encode) an idea or message as best as you can and pass on the message to your
friend, who to the best of his ability receives or acts on the message (decodes). He responds by
formulating his own message and communicates to you (feedback). If you think your message is
understood or well received by your friend, then you go ahead with the next idea that you have in mind
and the conversation goes on and on. Communication is therefore, a two-way process: the ability to
receive is as important as the ability to send.

Elements of communication refer to the basic components involved in an act of communication. These
elements are also called the universals of communication because they are present in every
communication act.
These elements are briefly mentioned below:
 1. Source: A person who sends a message or a signal is the source in communication.
Communication by definition demands that someone send signals and someone receive them.
2. Receiver: A person who receives the message or signal is the receiver in a communication
process.
3. Context: Communication always takes place within a context. It can either restrict or stimulate
the communication process. Communication in a funeral home, a public park, a cricket stadium
and in a church will be entirely different.
4. Message: Message is anything that is sent and received. Generally, we think of communication
messages as being verbal (oral or written). We can also communicate nonverbally.
5. Channel: It is the route or vehicle along which the message is transmitted from a sender to
receiver. When you talk to a friend, the sound waves that carry your words constitute the channel.
When you write something, the piece of paper becomes the channel. Newspapers, magazines,
radio, television and internet become the channels in mass communication.
6. Noise: Noise in communication refers to anything that distorts or interferes with the message. The
screeching of a passing car, sun-glasses a person wears, prejudices, bias, poor grammar etc.
interfere with the effective and efficient transmission of messages from the sender to the receiver.
7. Encoding: Two important elements in communication are ‘encoding ‘(at the sender end of the
model) and ‘decoding’ (at the receiver end). Encoding means that the message is translated into a
language or code suitable for transmission to the intended receivers.
8. Decoding: The act of understanding or comprehending a message is referred to as decoding.
When we speak we are putting our ideas into sound waves (encoding). By translating sound
waves into ideas, we are taking them out of the code they are in and hence decoding. Similarly,
when we read a text, we are decoding the written symbols of a language.
9. Feedback: The information that is fed back to the source is known as feedback. Feedback, in
general, refers to any process by which the communicator obtains information as to whether and
how his/her intended receiver has received the message.
10. Effect: The consequences of communication are referred to as effect. Communication has always
some effect on one or more persons. The effect could be on the source or on the receiver or on
both of them.
Functions of Communication
We have now familiarized ourselves with some definitions of communication. Communication needs a
sender, a receiver and a channel, be it language, paint, song or anything. Just imagine what would happen
if you are asked not to communicate with anyone for a period of one month: no talking or writing, no
singing or shouting, no painting or anything else which may enable you to give expression to your ideas,
attitudes and emotions. You may discover that life is meaningless. You may feel that your survival is
threatened.
Being at the heart of all social action and interaction, communication functions as a relating tool that
creates understanding, facilitates work and strengthens collective living among people.
Essentially, the primary function of communication is to inform, instruct/educate. Entertain and
influence/persuade people to make them function smoothly and effectively. Besides, communication has
a secondary function to perform as well; through debates and discussion, cultural promotion and
integration, it fosters consensus, creativity and understanding among people, groups and societies so that
they live in peace and harmony.
Following are the functions of Communication.
1. Education: To transfer knowledge for the progress of the society (Example: class room
communication)
2. Information: To find and explain something new (Example: News media)
3. Cultural promotion: To help foster social values and pass them from generation to generation
(Example: Festivals, parties, celebrations)
4. Social contact: To help make enjoyable companionship (Example: Friendship, clubs,
organizations etc.)
5. Integration: To create harmonious relationships among various social groups (Example: Political
parties, conferences, meetings etc.)
6. Stimulation: To create interest and develop positive thinking /behavior (Example:
Advertisements)
7. Counseling: To alleviate anxiety and lead to better ways (Example: guidance, consolation etc.)
8. Expression of emotions: To communicate feelings or give vent to one ‘s pent up feelings
(Example: crying, smiling, Writing poetry, fiction, etc.)
9. Entertainment: To help pass time and enjoy life (Example: drama, song, films, etc.)
10. Control function: To get someone to behave in an appropriate way (Example: management,
censorship etc.)
Types of Mass Communication
Mass media can be categorized according to physical form, technology involved, nature of the
communication process etc. Given below are the major categories of mass media.
1. Print Media
Johannes Gutenberg ‘s invention of the moveable metallic type in the fifteenth century paved the
way for proliferation of the print media. The printing press using moveable types introduced the
method for mass production of texts. Before the invention of the printing press, books were
expensive materials affordable only for the aristocrats and royal families. Printing reduced the
cost of books and made them available to the common men also. Rapid duplication of multiple
copies of handy texts led to the innovation of modern newspapers.

Print Media include

 Newspapers
 Magazines
 Books
 Other textual documents
2. Electronic Media
The history of electronic mass media starts with the invention of radio by Marconi. The first radio
station was set up in Pittsburg, New York and Chicago in the 1920s. Following the USA,
European countries also started radio stations for broadcasting news and entertainment content.
The colonial powers like Briton and France set radio stations in Asian and African countries in
the early years of 20th century. The next step in electronic communication media history was the
invention of cinema. Following cinema, television broadcasting was initiated in the US on
experimental basis during 1920s. But, the dramatic impact of television as a mass medium began
in 1950s. Parallel to these, recording industry was also boomed in the western countries.

In short, the term electronic media mainly include:

 Radio
 Movies
 Television
 Audio and Video records
 3. New Media
Online and digital means of producing, transmitting and receiving messages are called new
media. The term encompasses computer mediated communication technology. It implies the use
of desktop and portable computers as well as wireless and handheld devices. Every company in
the computer industry is involved with new media in some manner.

The forms of communicating in the digital world include

 CD-ROMs
 DVDs
 Internet facilities like World Wide Web, bulleting boarding, email etc.
Functions of mass communication

The popularity and persuasive influence of the mass media can only be maintained by its significant
functions.
Mass communication performs the following functions in society.
1. Inform: Mass media carry a lot of information which are essential for our day to day life. We
know exam results, weather forecasts, current affairs, traffic regulations, last dates, precautions,
government policies etc. from mass media. The core of media’s information function is
performed by the media content called news. The place or time dedicated for news in a mass
media is called news hole. News is the most consumed item of any media. News can be defined
as reports on things that people want or need to know. Information should be accurate, objective
and complete. Biased or incomplete reports will keep the audience away from the media.
Advertising is also mass media’s information function. We get much useful information from
classified advertisements.
2. Entertain: Irrespective of their type, mass media are wonderful entertainers. All media have
entertainment content. Newspapers publish cartoons, comics, puzzles, special weekend
supplements for amusing people. Lion share of magazine content such as short stories, novels,
satires and cartoons are for entertainment. Movies are another big stock for entertainment. Audio-
Visual media such as television and radio are also primarily concentrating on entertainment
function through their programs based on sports, film, and fashion shows etc.
3. Educate: Education is systematically organized information with predefined objectives. The
primary source of education in our society is schools or colleges. Media also perform the
functions that educational institutions do. Media is a great teacher and educator. Media are life-
long educators for the society. They give us comprehensive knowledge of selected topics. Non-
news content or news-based content like editorials, articles, columns in newspapers provide us
with complete idea of a subject. Health Magazines, IT magazines are also exampling for
education through media. We have a number of television channels dedicated for mass education.
4. Reinforce: Media function to reinforce or make stronger our beliefs, attitudes, values and
opinions. For example, the communists will expose themselves to communist publications and
programs and they will emerge ideologically reinforced from such experiences. Similarly, the
anti-communists will expose themselves to messages in line with their ideology and will emerge
reinforced or stronger in their convictions.

5. Socialize: Socializing is a process in which an individual adopts the behavior, norms and values
of a society. One of the main functions of any media system is to socialize its viewers, readers
and listeners.
6. Activate: Mass media can activate audience or move people to action. They function to get the
audience to channelize their opinions and pressurize the government and other civic bodies to act.
7. Persuade: Persuasion means influencing attitudes or opinions. Mass media have many ways to
persuade people. Most people form their opinion from information they get from mass media.
Media have direct and indirect methods for persuasion.
For public opinion formation, mass media use editorials, news analysis and commentaries. In
such cases, the purpose is clear and direct. The most obvious method of persuasion is advertising.
Advertisements are direct methods to influence purchasing behavior of the public. Some media
report events hiding their vested interests in news. Such biased, subjective reports are for
persuading people to form favorable attitudes towards them or their interests. Opinionated news
is an undirected method of persuasion. It‘s against the ethics of responsible journalism.

News and opinion should be given separately.

8. Confer status: If you list the 100 most important people in the country, they would undoubtedly
be the people who have been given a great deal of mass media exposure. Media confer status to
people with great media exposure.
9. Focus attention: Mass media have the ability to focus public attention on certain problems, events
and issues at a given time. The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Northern Japan in March
2011 and subsequent Nuclear radiation in Fukushima were the lead stories in most of our media.
10. Ethicize: By making public certain deviations from the norms, the media can arouse people to
change the situation. It provides people with a collective ethics or ethical system.
Values & Ethics of Journalism
Ethics needs to be a part of all the profession. It is even more needed to be followed by media
professionals to keep the image as ‘fourth estate’ intact.
According to Webster ‘s New World Dictionary, ‘ethics’ is a system or code of morals, of a particular
person, religion, group, profession, etc. Ethics, according to the Macquarie Dictionary, is a system of
Moral Principles, by which actions and proposals may be judged good or bad or right or wrong. Ethics
ask what we should do in some circumstance, or what we should do as participants in some form of
activity or profession.
Ethics is the difficult practical task of applying norms and standards to ever new and changing
circumstances. Ethics is the process of inventing new and better ethical responses to problems and
conflicts.
Law is imposed on journalists by the government of a nation similar to how it is imposed on all the
citizens of the nation. Laws like defamation, contempt of court, contempt of parliament exist to check the
excesses and errors of the journalists. Principles of Journalism deal with how news should be received
from various sources and reported. Ethics are the moral principles involved in news reporting and
coverage.
A journalist needs to have certain moral principles to be followed in his/her profession which could be
termed as ‘professional ethics’. Ethics could not be forced on any one but each profession carry a ‘Code
of Conduct’ to be seen as rules of practice. Ethical guidelines are peculiar to each profession and are
designed to prevent abuse and unrestrained use of the powers and privileges of that profession. Many
Newspapers have formulated their own code of ethics for their employees to follow.
Those are the days when journalism was considered to be an idealistic profession and pen’s mightiness
over sword was well maintained. Now the journalist as well as the society has accepted that journalism is
just another profession and media organizations are considers being business ventures that compete with
each other to win the race and be ahead in ratings. The rising popularity of electronic media and their
giving utmost importance to entertainment aspect has paved the way for this sort of unhealthy
competition. Even in such a scenario, some basic ethical considerations need to be kept in mind by the
journalists.
Code of Conduct in Journalism
Every profession function by certain norms of conduct evolved by years of practice with objective to
improve its standards prevent its abuse and above all contribute to the society and social development.
Journalism requires a high degree of public trust. To earn and maintain this trust, it is morally imperative
for every journalist and every news segment to observe the highest professional and ethical standards.
These standards or known as professional code of ethics in journalism. The principles of Journalistic
codes of ethics guide the journalists in difficult situations. It serves as a companion of the practicing
journalist provides ethical guidelines by which practitioners can judge and be judged.
Adoption of a code of ethics by a news medium helps to safeguard the public trust given to journalists.
Professional media, including print and online newspapers as well as broadcasters, commonly adopt
codes of ethics and other policy guidelines to govern their journalistic pursuits. Such codes give
uniformity to the newsgathering process and serve to remind all staff members that they operate under
standards of honesty and performance
Various organizations have set their own code of conduct for journalism. Some media organizations have
their own code of conduct for their reporters. In this unit lets discuss the commonly practiced code of
conduct in journalism.
Evolution and purpose of codes of journalism
The principles of Journalistic codes of ethics are designed as guides through numerous
difficulties, such as conflicts of interest, to assist journalists in dealing with ethical
dilemmas. The codes and canons provide journalists a framework for self-monitoring and
self-correction.

Codes of Practice
While journalists in the United States and European countries have led in formulation and
adoption of these standards, such codes can be found in news reporting organizations in
most countries with freedom of the press. The written codes and practical standards vary
somewhat from country to country and organization to organization, but there is a
substantial overlap among mainstream publications and societies. The International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) launched a global Ethical Journalism Initiative in 2008
aimed at strengthening awareness of these issues within professional bodies. In 2013 the
Ethical Journalism Network was founded by former IFJ General Secretary Aidan White.
This coalition of international and regional media associations and journalism support
groups campaign for ethics, good governance and self-regulation across all platforms of
media.
One of the leading voices in the U.S. on the subject of Journalistic Standards and Ethics is the Society of
Professional Journalists.
The Preamble to its Code of Ethics states:
Public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the
journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of
events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with
thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility.
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), an organization exclusively centered on
electronic journalism, maintains a code of ethics centering on—public trust, truthfulness, fairness,
integrity, independence and accountability ―Professional electronic journalists should present the news
with integrity and decency, avoiding real or perceived conflicts of interest, and respect the dignity and
intelligence of the audience as well as the subjects of news.
The RTDNA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct specifically cities the need for avoiding conflicts
of interest, whether real or perceived. The act of reporting and presenting the news often puts journalists
in the position of working very closely with sources. This is where conflicts of interest can occur.
Electronic journalists have an obligation to carry out their jobs—and their private lives—with no real or
apparent conflicts of interest.
RTDNA strongly encourages journalists to ask the following questions when covering stories or beats
that may produce real or perceived conflicts of interest.
Principle and practice of Journalism
Curiosity is one of the major traits of human beings. He/she wants to know, wants information. It can be
about his/her community, locality, state, nation or the world. He/ she are interested to know what is
happening around. For this every day we read newspapers and watch television for. Now-a-days mobile
phones also bring such information to us. Many things are happening around us. Many events are taking
place. But these newspapers, television, radio or websites, which we collectively call ‘media’, give us
only certain information, not all. Neither they have space to give all information nor we have time and
interest for all information. Then how do they decide what should be published or aired? Obviously, they
follow certain criterion. In this unit we shall go through the concept and elements of news. We shall
further discuss about various styles used for news writing as well as different types of news reporting.

CONCEPT OF NEWS
Let’s us consider the following information.
a) A girl from your village attends high school
b) A person opens a cycle store in your village
c) A woman gives birth to a triplet in your village hospital
Now, which of the above information is interesting? A girl attending high school is a normal thing. It
does not generate any interest. But if she is the first girl of your village to attend a high school, this will
definitely create some interest, at least among people in your village. Similarly, opening of a cycle store
may not be a big thing now. There are several stores, and this is one of them. However, if this is the only
store in your village, it will attract attention. On the other hand, a woman giving birth to triplets will
definitely attract anyone’ s interest. Because, giving birth to triplets is not a very usual thing. It rarely
happens. It will be interesting information for people not only in your village, but also in your district or
state. Information about such unusual happening is often packaged as news by the media.
The basis criteria by which news is judged are:

 News is new: News is always new. Death of renowned singer is news on the day it happened or at
the very best the next day newspaper. However, it is not going to be published in day after
tomorrow’s newspaper, because it is no longer ‘new information’. However, if some new
information about his death is found, it can be reported. Events happen earlier can still be news, if
it is not reported before. If the information is in public domain, it cannot be news. If it is reported
for the first time, irrespective of the time when it affected, it will be news.

 News is unusual: Every time things are happening around us. But all of them are not news. As we
discussed above, a girl going to the school is a usual thing; nothing special about it. But if the girl
is the first girl from the community or region to attend a school, it is unusual and will make news.
The classic definition of news is this: ―Dog bites man‖ is not news; “Man bites dog” is news.
 News is interesting: Even if an event is new and unusual, it may not be news, if it lacks people’s
interest. One boy from your village gets first class. This might be a new and unusual thing in your
village. But it is unlikely to interest anybody other than your villagers or family members of the
boy. However, if the boy is a state topper, it will generate interest of entire state and can be
covered as news by the media.
News is significant: In addition to be new, unusual and interesting, news is always significant.
Let’s consider, a member of a political party announces that rice would be provided at one rupee
per KG in villages. This has least significance and will not be news. But if the same
announcement is made by Chief Minister of the State, it will be news, because, an announcement
from a Chief Minister is always significant.
 News is not always about people: Most news is automatically about people as most of the events
always involve people, directly or indirectly. Human beings are not always the prime actors in all
events. Sometimes non-human things like a cyclone, a bush fire, a drought or an earthquake also
happens. However, when such natural disasters or nonhuman events happen, it becomes news
when it affects people’s lives. News is always reported in terms of people.
  News is a dynamic concept. It changes with time. It also varies from society to society. A girl
going to the school in a capital town may not be news. But a girl from a tribal community going
to school may be news. Prior to advent of internet and TV Channels, an event happened yesterday
was news. But in the present era of twenty- four-hour news channels, what is news in the morning
is stale by the afternoon.

Definition of News
There is no universal definition of news. The Oxford English Dictionary defines news as’ the report or
account of recent events or occurrences, brought or coming to one as new information, new occurrences
as a subject of report or talk’. Charles Dana, who ran the New York Sun from 1869- 1897, said ―news is
anything that interests a large part of the community and has never been brought to its attention before.
According to William Rivers, News is the timely report of events, facts, and opinions that interests a
significant number of people. For him, the two key elements of news are ‘timely’ and ‘interest a
significant number’. A report may be timely, if it lacks interest of the audience is it not news and vice
versa.
Stanley Walker of the New York Herald Tribune did not think there was a definition of news. According
to him, news is more unpredictable than the winds. Sometimes it is the repetition with new characters of
tales as old as the pyramids, and again, it may be almost outside the common experience‖. Joseph Pulitzer,
Founder of Pulitzer Prize has instructed his editors and reports to look for stories that were ‘original,
distinctive, dramatic, romantic, thrilling, unique, curious, quaint, humorous, odd, apt to be talked about’.
Several other scholars and practitioners have given definition of news. Some of the definitions are given
here: -

 Willard G. Bleyers: News is anything timely that interests a number of people and the best news
is that which of greatest interest to the greatest number of people.
 Spencer Crump: News is the breakdown of human relationship and the occurrence of events
which are unexpected and even surprising
 Turner Cat ledge: News is anything you can find today that you did not know yesterday.
 John Chancellor: News is a chronicle of conflict and change.
 Kurt Loder: News is anything that’s interesting, that relates to what’s happening in the world,
what’s happening in areas of the culture that would be of interest to your audience.
 John Hulteng and Roy Paul Nelson: News is anything that interests you and that you did not
already know. Both elements are typically present in an item of news.
 William Randolph: News is something someone somewhere wants suppressed. All the rest is
advertising.
According to George Huge of the University of Georgia, ―News is both a product and point a view. As a
product, news is gathered, processed, packaged and sold by the newspapers, news services, news
magazines, radio, television and cable station and networks. News is also whatever people think is news.
What a reporter or an editor feels interesting, exciting or important. News is something that a particular
moment happens to attract and hold the interest of the reader or listener.

Elements of News Reports

From the above discussion we can say that News is basically

 Information about a break from the normal flow of events, an interruption in the expected.
 Information that creates interest among people
However, some of the other determinants/ elements of news are:
a) Proximity: What is near is dear. Proximity in news refers to the nearness of news events to the
readers. Geographic location of a news event can be more or less attractive to a reader. Suppose a
car accident is happened in a Foreign Country might not be interesting to us. Media in
Kathmandu may not carry news about this. But we will be definitely interested to know about a
car accident in your town. Media in your town may carry this news. But media in Dhangadi may
not carry any news about this. Readers always want to know what happened in their locality,
town rather than thousand miles away.
b) Prominence: Big names make news. Stories about reputed person have higher readership than
those about persons in the lower rank. More popular the personality, the more the story will be
news worthy. Some places, things and events also have their own prominence. If you fall down in
your bathroom it won’t be covered by any media. But if a Bollywood actress falls down in
bathroom, it becomes news. Hence, activities of celebrities, political leaders, sports and
entertainment figures, heads of states etc. always attract media attention. Even the prominence of
infamous has news value.
c) Timeliness: Timeliness relates to the newness of facts. The more recent the event or situation, the
more likely it is to be newsworthy. News is a perishable item. It should be presented fast and first.
Current news has more impact than something that happened yesterday or last week. People lose
interest in past events because there is always fresh news somewhere. Media organizations
compete with each other to report the story first. If there are two similar events, then the most
recent one is preferred to be covered as news.
d) Oddity: If something is unusual, it makes it news worthy. News is something new and unusual. It
is not ordinary events in our life. A monkey breast feeding a puppy is news. Unusual habits and
hobbies, superstitions, unusual ways of living etc. attract readers’ attention.
e) Consequence: This element refers to the importance of the event and how it affects People’s
lives. If what has happened or will happen will have an effect on a large number of people, then it
has more consequence and hence will get priority in news reporting. Infection of a computer by a
virus may be covered as small news report in inside pages of a newspaper. But if the same virus
attacks banking system and whole system is paralyzed it will be published in front page. Higher
the consequence, bigger the news is.
f) Conflict: Conflicts like disagreements, arguments and rivalries always make news. Conflicting
ideas and even debates also make news. Most conflicts become newsworthy to some extent
because they disrupt the existing situation and have consequence over several people. The
conflict can be a war in the border or political contest in an election. If an event has a
conflict attached to it, many readers will be interested on that basis alone. Let‘s not forget that it‘s
human nature to choose sides and stand up for that choice. Stories that involve conflict include
 those about religion, sports, business, trials, wars, human rights violations, politics or even
struggles against nature, animals or outer space.

g) Human Interest: If a situation or event draws any sort of emotional reaction, then it might contain
the news element of a human-interest story. Such news draws human attention and touches their
emotions. Typically, these news concerns ordinary people who find themselves in circumstances
with which the audience can identify. For example, a vegetable seller has been selected in IAS
exam, against all odds is a good story.
h) Disaster: Disasters, both natural and manmade always finds space in media, because disasters
cause destruction and damage. A bigger disaster affects higher number of people. People are
always interest to know about disaster and its impact. Stories that involve disaster include
cyclone, bomb blast, flood, drought, earthquake etc.

i) Progress: Progress or development in any field or area also makes news. Progress can be of any
kind. It can be in the field of education, information technology, health, economy or development
in the society. An example of news related to progress can be increase in women representation in
local self-governance.
These elements help in determining the newsworthiness of the event. Journalist use one or more element
in reporting their story. The more elements a story contains, the more newsworthy it is, and the more
interested readers and listeners will be.

News structure
In previous sections we have discussed about what news is and what are its elements. Once news is
selected, the journalist writes the news report. Though individual style of news presentation varies
organization to organization or individual to individual, all news reports contain a headline, a by-line or
credit line, a dateline, a lead, a body and conclusion.

Headline: It is the most visible part of a news report and often is either the summary or the major point of
the story. Usually headline is written in a font few sizes bigger than the rest of the news story. A reader
decides to read the story after reading the headline. Sometimes headlines try to create curiosity through
interesting use of language and prompt the reader to read the full story.
By-line / Credit line: This identifies the source of the story or the writer. It could be the name of the
journalist who has filed the story or the agency from which the story has been sourced. In the first
example it is M Saraswathy. That means M Saraswathy has filed this news story. In the second example it
is written as ‗Statesman News Service‘. That means it is sourced from the Statesman‘s Bureau. When a
person or journalists name is mentioned, it is called by-line and when there is no mention of the person‘s
name it is called credit line. The credit line could be the ‗agency‘ from which news is taken or ‗by our
correspondent‘ or ‗our bureau‘ or ‗by our special correspondent‘ etc.
Dateline: In both the news examples, name of a place and a date is mentioned below the credit line or by-
line and before beginning of the actual news. This is called dateline. This informs the date on which the
reporter has filed the story and the place from where the reporter has filed the story.
Lead: This is the opening paragraph of a news story. This gives the most important information very
briefly. It is always short and crisp and reflects the mood of the story. If the lead is not effective, the
reader may skip the story. Generally it answers 5W (Who, What, Where, When and Why) and 1 H (How).

Body: It gives the additional details or elaborates the event. In this part actual story is narrated. The body
describes what the story is all about in order of importance of information, whereas the lead provides just
the gist of the actual event. It is divided into several paragraphs and written in inverted pyramid style. We
shall discuss about inverted pyramid style later.

Types of News
News is often categorized into two types on the basis of importance;
a) Hard News and
b) Soft news.
Hard News
Hard news can simply be described as accounts of event that has happened or are about to happen,
impacting large part of the society. This specific type of news has to bare often referred to by journalists
as ‗breaking news‘. Such news stories emphasize facts
as it has happened, not opinion or analysis.
Hard News consists of basic facts: Who, What, Where, When, How. It is news of important public events,
such as government action, crime, international happenings, social conditions, the economy, environment
and science. It has significance for large number of people. The front sections of a newspaper and the lead
stories of a radio or TV newscast are usually filled with hard news.
Normally, a standard technique is followed while writing hard news. In case of print media, the inverted
pyramid style is followed, i.e., the most important information is placed towards the beginning of the
story and the less important ones are placed thereafter. In the broadcast media, the less important
information is simply left out.
Soft News
News which doesn’t depend much on the time element is often called soft news. Many journalists define
soft news as news that entertains as it informs, with more emphasis on human interest, novelty and
colourful writing and less of facts and events that have just happened. It does not mean that soft news lack
factual foundation.
Such news has much importance o the lives of the audience. It depends upon human interest for its news
value and appeal people‘s curiosity, sympathy, skepticism or amazement. Features, editorials, articles, etc
fall under this category. Reactions and views are also included in soft news apart from the plain facts.
Such news stories usually deal with human interest angles.
Most of the soft news originates from the hard news. Normally the follow up stories of a major event,
highlighting the angles not covered in the hard news items, mostly the human-interest angle are such type
of news. For example, when you read that a severe cyclone has killed thousands of people in an area,
that’s hard news. However, when you read about the personal stories of a team of volunteers digging out
the victims, that’s soft news.
The idea of such news stories is to arouse curiosity among the readers or viewers and heighten emotional
appeal by presenting it in an interesting manner. The conventional inverted pyramid style of news writing
is not applied while dealing with soft news stories.
The writer has the liberty to be extremely innovative and creative. He or she can write a little longer, use
more dramatic language, reach for a laugh, may even include some opinion in the story. Longer soft news
stories are often called “features” or “feature stories.”