MEDIA SUPPORT SERVICES

Media needs to collect feedback, references and background information for various purposes. It simply
means that media needs support from other systems/units to give better coverage to any particular issue.
This help could be of any form like more information in text, images or background information. This is
called as the support system of the media.
Mass media, which has grown as an industry is supported by many support services systems outside their
organization. This proves that one cannot exist without others help. These mass media support services
are known as media support services.
Various media support services- their overview and status
In Nepal and worldwide too, there has been so many support services that has been actively working for
Mass Media demands. Various systems have been developed regarding their service and support. These
external service systems of media organizations are called media support system. Some of the major
support services working as a media support services can be listed as below.
1. Wire services/ News agencies
2. Syndicate services
3. Music Industry
4. Show Biz
5. Distribution system
6. Training institute
7. Advertising agency
8. Public relation agency
9. Research agency
10. Press associations
11. Program production houses
12. Different organizations
13. Advertisers
14. Rating services
15. Miscellaneous support services

Let us explain these various media support services

a. Wire services / News agencies- a supporting services in media.

Wire services mean organizations that distribute news stories and pictures to its members for
publication in newspapers or magazines, as well as in broadcast news production. The development
of news agencies is one of the consequences of the quick development of mass media.
Nowadays, press agencies and associations vary in form and are steady modernized. The most
important advantage of a wire is that you don’t need to have correspondents throughout the world. So,
costs are relatively low. In that way even, poor media houses can survive on the market and Mass
Media can reach everyone. Wire services are used all cross the world; they provide wide range of
shared information to the people of different nations.
Wire services which are also known as News Agencies, at first seems confusing. That is why, now
wire services means News agencies.
 Tradition may be the reason that news services/agencies are still called wire services, which is a term
that clearly derives from their earlier use of telegraph lines. So, we must be clear that wire services
are known as news agencies, or press associations or news services.
Wire services are important information support system services for many mass media. Wire service
distributes news and pictures for its members for publication in newspapers or magazines or in
broadcast news production. Wire services organizations are operated for the collection transmission
and distribution of news to many newspapers, periodicals, television, radio, and other many mass
media.
Basically, wire services play two-fold role: -

 Gather information/news
 Distribute news and analysis
Wire services functions like a central nervous system for different news media. They send and receive
news, process it and channel it to appropriate outlets.
Wire services serves in different ways. Wire services are operated differently. The best-known wire
services operate as worldwide news reporting services providing general news coverage whereas other
wire services provide national or regional news. There are also some wire services which gathers and
distribute specialized news services following one specific beat.

Types of wire services in Journalism

There is nobody who can give the hardcore types of wire services in journalism that is accepted by
everyone and forever. Therefore, it is better to classify types of wire services in different ways:
1. According to working Area: -
a. International
b. National
c. Regional
d. Local
2. According to specialized services:
a. Environment
b. Crime
c. Politics
d. Child issues
e. Women empowerment, Etc.
Role

 Wire service/news service is an organization that gathers, writes, and distributes news from
around a nation or the world to newspapers, periodicals, radio and television broadcasters,
government agencies, and other users. It does not itself publish news but supplies news to its
subscribers. All of the mass media depend upon news agencies for the bulk of the news, including
the big newspapers and broadcast media that have extensive news gathering resources of their
own. The basic function of a news agency is to collect and distribute reports, photographs and
 video clippings of current events to newspapers, magazines, television channels, radio stations
and other subscribers.
 Wire service agencies set up their offices, communication networks and appoint correspondents
in important cities around the world. The agencies’ coverage should be fast, complete and
accurate as well as fair, objective and unbiased.
 Wire support services process information for use by media organizations and not for
consumption of the larger masses of people. The subscribers of news agencies include different
newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and television channels, media institutes. They have to
pay a certain amount as subscription fees on monthly, quarterly or yearly basis.
 In addition to news service wire support services also provide photo service and features service.
Today, their services are available to the subscribers through the internet also. In this system, the
subscribers are allotted a specific ‘password’ or ‘code word’ and the subscriber can access online
the news items, photographs and features from the pool made available by the agency according
to its necessity and download whatever is found to be important.
 They do not issue customized reports to newspapers or TV channels. They distribute the same
account of an event to all its clients. They always try their best to provide demonstrably correct
information.

b. Syndicate services in journalism

Syndicate service is also a most striking supporting service of mass media, which is
somehow different from wire services.

It means, it is a sale of a television series or a radio show for multiple broadcasts, or of a newspaper
column or comic for synchronized publication.

They mostly provide entertainment and opinion-based material for medias, which are privately held
companies in nature. That means, syndicate is sale of television series, radio show or newspaper
column or comic things for multiple media.

This sort of service provider organizations collects/ distribute features, comic strips, cartoons, cross
word puzzles or other columns for their subscriber. As mass media like newspapers, radio, television
etc. subscribe to wire services, they do also subscribe to syndicate services.

Both wire services and syndicate services are important support services of mass media. But, there
are some differences between these two. The major difference is that, wire services deal with hard
and soft news whereas syndicate services mainly deal with entertainment and opinion-based
materials.
Hence, Media syndication is the process of making stories available to multiple news outlets, usually
by subscription. The Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg, Tribune Services, Scripps-Howard and
King Features are all examples of these syndicates.

Sometimes, Syndicate also called Press Syndicate, or Feature Syndicate, agency that sells to
newspapers and other media special writing and artwork, often written by a noted journalist or
eminent authority or drawn by a well-known cartoonist that cannot be classified as spot coverage of
the news.
 Its fundamental service is to spread the cost of expensive features among as many newspapers
(subscribers) as possible. Press syndicates sell the exclusive rights to a feature to one subscriber in
each territory, in contrast to the wire news services (see news agency), which offer their reports to all
papers in a given area. Some syndicates specialize in such entertainment features as comic strips,
cartoons, columns of oddities or humor, and serialized novels. Typical syndicated features are
columns of advice on child rearing, health, running a household, gardening, and such games as
bridge.

 Television syndicates- Television syndication is such syndicate, where individual stations buy
programs outside of the network system. In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to
broadcast radio shows and television shows to multiple stations, without going through a
broadcast network. It is common in countries where television is organized around networks with
local affiliates, notably the United States. In the rest of the world, however, countries have mainly
centralized networks without local affiliates and syndication is less common. Shows can also be
syndicated internationally.
 Print syndication- where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or
comic strips. Print syndication is a form of syndication in which news articles, columns, or comic
strips are made available to newspapers and magazines whey they offer reprint rights and grant
permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own copyrights. Syndicated
columnist for print syndication, are that journalist who appears in numerous publications. In
broadcast formats such as television or radio, syndicated columnists host regularly scheduled
segments with particular topics or themes which are carried by multiple stations within a network,
usually also nation-wide or world-wide.

Difference between wire services and syndicates service.

Both wire services and syndicate services are important support services of mass media. Still there are
some differences between these two services.
The difference between wire services and syndicates is that, Wire services deal with hard and soft news
whereas syndicate services mainly deals with entertaining and opinion materials.
Another difference between these two media support services is that wire services distribute their
materials to both print and broadcast media but syndicates mainly deals and distribute to the print media.
As mass media like newspapers, radio, television etc. subscribe to wire services, they do also subscribe to
syndicate services.

c. Music industry
Music industry is one of the most prominent industries that work as a major tool for media support
services as it attracts the attention of wide range of audiences. Many people who believe music as a part
of life are engrossed in music whether it is on radio, TV or feature film.

d. Show Biz
It is another important development of program production in the media. It has become another support
system for mass media industry because, the development of entertainment industry wouldn’t be possible
in the absence of these Show Biz.
e. Distribution system
It is directly related to print media with the development of print media a large network of distribution
channels has been developed. The distribution system is related to the media print where a large number
of distribution channel has been developed. It helps mass media industry to reach the audiences more
directly.
f. Advertising agency
Advertising agency on the one hand can be understood as content of mass media support services which
appears as commercial message in paid space or time. The ad industry is based on a system of interacting
organizations and institutions in which advertisers represent its heart. That kind of industry manages huge
amounts of money. Ad campaigns are very expensive and extensive. The agency is often represented in a
position between the advertiser and the media.
g. Public relation
The public relations (PR) as a media support services involve deliberate, planned and sustained effort to
establish and maintain mutual understanding between organization and its public which includes
specialized body of knowledge, skills and methods and has been understood by promotional mix in
contemporary marketing context. Propaganda, publicity, press agency and lobbying are all tools of PR
industry but it should never be confined just for that.
h. Research agency/ organisations
The media have to keep in touch with their audiences to sell themselves to advertisers. For this purpose,
they seek help of measuring services such as research agencies through rating, market research, and polls-
help mass media in this regard.
i. Media ratings
A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination
of both.
In media and advertising, rating is a measurement of a program’s listening or viewing audience. They are
expressed as a percentage of a specific target audience. Networks and stations that offer programs that
draw high ratings could gain advertisers and earn higher revenue.
In media research, ratings refer to the percentage of households or of people in an area who have tuned
their television or radio sets to a specific station, program or network. Ratings differ from shares which
refer to the number of people or households tuned to a station, program or network correlated with sets in
use. It can be defined as the percentage of television households with their sets tuned to a specific station
in relation to the total number of television households. Hence rating can be defined as the percentage of
people or households in a population with a television or radio tuned to a specific station, channel or
network.

Nature and functions of media support services

Media needs to collect feedback, references and background information for various purposes. It simply
means that media needs support from other systems/units to give better coverage to any particular issue.
This help could be of any form like more information in text, images or background information. This is
called as the support system of the media. As Mass Media demands such a high attention in society
various systems have been developed regarding their service and support.
These external service systems of media organizations are called media support system. We distinguish
several media support services like advertising, public relations (PR), news agencies (wire services),
syndicates, music industry, show business, distribution system and measuring services which functions
can be listed as below-
1. The media support services act as ad agency. The ad industry is based on a system of
interacting organizations and institutions in which advertisers represent its heart. That
kind of industry manages huge amounts of money. Ad campaigns are very expensive and
extensive. These media support services is often represented in a position between the
advertiser and the media.
2. Media support services include communication process that evolved to solve specific
social needs. Furthermore, it includes specialized body of knowledge, skills and methods
and has been understood by promotional mix in contemporary marketing context.
Propaganda, publicity, press agency and lobbying.
3. Media support services include wire services. The role of the wire services has basically
2 functions: -
 to gather and
 to distribute news and news analysis.
Nowadays, press agencies and associations vary in form and are steady modernized. The most
important advantage of a wire or a syndicate is that you don’t need to have correspondents
throughout the world. So, costs are relatively low. In that way even, poor media houses can
survive on the market and Mass Media can reach everyone. Wire services are used all cross the
world, they provide wide range of shared information to the people of different nations.
4. They mostly provide entertainment and opinion material for newspapers, unlike wire
services, which distribute their wares to both print and broadcast media. They are
privately held companies.
5. Music industry as part of media support services are intertwined in case of radio, TV and
feature film. The music industry sells composition, recording and performance of music.
6. The distribution system as part of media support services is related to the media print
where a large number of distribution channel has been developed. It helps mass media
industry to reach the audiences more directly.
7. A similar function is formed by measuring and research services. They also help mass
media giving a frequent feedback through ratings, market research and polls. After
collecting data, they sell themselves to the advertisers.
Challenges of media support services in developing countries

In the world, Domination or hegemony is exercised by largest transnational news agencies/ press
association/ wire services. World’s largest great news media corporations dominate the production of
radio sets, TV sets and print media sets including printing devices, radio and TV communication satellite,
paper ink and other elements of mass media technological infrastructure. The statistics provide the details
of disparities that exists, and the dominance of north in the field of information. Thus, making the south
depend on north

 E.g. 1. During the British war with Argentina, over their claim on Falkland Islands, several
developing countries supported the Argentinian claim, but their newspapers were receiving the
stories put out by the transnational news agencies, which were biased in favor of Britain. The
newspapers in the developing countries could not afford to send their own correspondents to
cover the war.
  E.g. 2. The gulf war provides the e.g. of how dependency for news on the west can destroy the
content of third world media. During the gulf war, Nepalese’s language dailies did not have the
capacity to cover war events with their own correspondents. Almost all the newspapers depended
upon the news originating from the western news agencies. The usage of words in the news
dispatches became a form of psychological warfare during the so-called gulf war.
Information is power and the most critically sought commodity in today’s world. Those that control the
information are usually seemed to be the most powerful in our contemporary society. Therefore, for the
past many years, there has been a controversy resulting from accusation and counter accusation of
imbalance flow of information from the west to south. So many developing countries like Nepal depend
on various mass media support services for news. The purported victims which are the developing nations
like Nepal have been raging bitterly over the news coverage of events in their continent and have
denounced western newspapers, journals, and television outlets for their alleged sensationalism and anti-
development bias. Due to this controversy, on several accounts, developing nations have attempted to
engage the western nations through different channels to address the issue of global information
inequality. They decided on what news items/information must be consumed by the people of the
developing countries. Through the International information networks, the West had retained their
hegemonic power over the third World. Even after decades of independence, they still dominate and rule
over indirectly) the Third world countries. The information set up in the international arena reflects a very
strong political, economic, and cultural colonialism opposed to the aspirations of the people of developing
countries. The mass media have replaced the armies of the colonial powers in this era.
The developing countries had no financial resources to establish and maintain their news and information
network.

 Due to their lacking at the financial front, they could not establish their media and information
infrastructure at domestic as well as at abroad level. Since they did not have that much power and
say in the International organizations as the Western countries had, their demands were boycotted
by nations of the global North.
 Due to the unity of colonial powers and differences among nations of the south, for example India
–Pakistan, India-Nepal, India-China etc. Mutual co-operation could not be established between
all of these.
 Due to geo-political expansion during the colonial era, the Western nations spread their media
network, media support services and resources in large part of the World which gave them a
readymade monopoly over the collection and transmission of news and information among and
between the nations.
 Significant happenings in the developing countries were paid scant attention, and wherever done,
those were half-truths colored by the Western perceptions.
 Their struggles to make the lives of their people better went unreported and never appreciated,
whereas their weaknesses, shortcomings and failures get prominence in World media. Since, the
Third World nations like Nepal did not have resources to counter the domination of the Western
Media, they had no choice but to consume what was being disseminated.

Developed countries should foster exchanges of technical information on the principle that all countries
have equal rights to full access to available information. Developing countries should adopt national
informatics policies as a matter of priority. These should primarily relate to the establishment of decision-
making centers.
Similarly, there should be a huge amount of investment for media production like news, songs, music and
other programs. Due to lack of economy for news and program production, developing countries like
Nepal, they should rely upon theses media support services. Hence, theses productions by media support
services may not be always fair in their content or might be biased in nature.
Likewise developing countries like Nepal cannot spend huge money for mass media research. There are
least number of press association in Nepal which are not sufficient enough to gather news and distribute
to the Medias. Hence, we have to depend or compelled to rely upon international media support services
wherein their research result or findings may be one sided or may not be in our socio- cultural context.
Status of media support services

As Mass Media demands such a high attention in society various systems have been developed regarding
their service and support. These external service systems of media organizations are called media support
system. We distinguish advertising, public relations (PR), news agencies (wire services), syndicates,
music industry, show business, distribution system and measuring services.

Advertising on the one hand can be understood as content of mass media which appears as commercial
message in paid space or time. On the other hand, it is a profession of advertising agencies. Nowadays,
wherever we look or whatever we listen to advertising is present. It has been fairly institutionalized and
become increasingly global phenomenon. The ad industry is based on a system of interacting
organizations and institutions in which advertisers represent its heart. That kind of industry manages huge
amounts of money. Ad campaigns are very expensive and extensive. The agency is often represented in a
position between the advertiser and the media.

The public relations (PR) involve deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain
mutual
understanding between organization and its public. PR can also be used to describe a group of
professional communicators who called themselves as PR practitioners. It can also be considered as type
of communication process that evolved to solve specific social needs. Furthermore, it includes specialized
body of knowledge, skills and methods and has been understood by promotional mix in contemporary
marketing context. Propaganda, publicity, press agency and lobbying are all tools of PR industry but it
should never be confined just for that.

News agencies or wireless services mean organizations that distribute news stories and pictures to its
members for publication in newspapers or magazines, as well as in broadcast news production. The
development of news agencies is one of the consequences of the quick development of mass media. The
role of the wire services has basically 2 functions: to gather and to distribute news and news analysis.
Nowadays, press agencies and associations vary in form and are steady modernized. The most important
advantage of a wire or a syndicate is that you don’t need to have correspondents throughout the world. So
costs are relatively low. In that way even poor media houses can survive on the market and Mass Media
can reach everyone. Wire services are used all cross the world; they provide wide range of shared
information to the people of different nations.

Syndicates are the sale of television series or radio shows for broadcasts or of newspaper column for
synchronized publication. They mostly provide entertainment and opinion material for newspapers, unlike
wire services, which distribute their wares to both print and broadcast media. They are privately held
companies.
Music is one of the most prominent industries today as it attracts the attention of wide range of audiences.
Many people who believe music as a part of life are engrossed in music whether it is on radio, TV or
feature film.
The development of mass media has also led to the rise in show business. So development of
entertainment industry is directly linked with the mass media is also using business to attract audience.

The distribution system is related to the media print where a large number of distribution channel has
been developed. It helps mass media industry to reach the audiences more directly.

A similar function is formed by measuring and research services. They also help mass media giving a
frequent feedback through ratings, market research and polls. After collecting data, they sell themselves
to the advertisers.

Origin and evolution of mass media: print, broadcast and new media

Development of Printing
Press One of the technologies that became important historically in the development of print as a medium
was the manufacture of PAPER. The Chinese had started making inked impressions from carved blocks
shortly after 175 A.D., when they first developed paper. Whole books developed by Koreans and
Japanese during eighth century still survive today. Gutenberg refined the technique in 1440 with the first
widespread use of movable type, where the characters are separate parts that are inserted to make the text.
Gutenberg is also credited with the first use of an oil-based ink, and using "rag" paper introduced into
Europe from China by way of Muslims, who had a paper mill in operation in Baghdad as early as 794.
Development of Newspapers In mid-1500s, leaders of Venice regularly made available to the public
printed News sheets about the war in Dalamatia. In early 1600s, Corantos were being published
periodically for the commercial community in several countries. The newspapers of modern times have
several characteristics not found in early publications. Edwin Emery, a distinguished historian of
journalism has defined newspaper in the following terms. A true newspaper:  Is published at least
weekly.  Is produced by a mechanical printing process.  Is available (for a price), to people of all walks
of life.  Prints news of general interest rather than items on specialized topics such as religion or
business.  Is readable by people of ordinary literacy.  Is timely.  Is stable over time. By this definition
the first newspaper was Oxford gazette, later called London Gazzette. It was first published in 1665 under
the authority of King Charles II. The first daily newspaper in English, the Daily Courant began publishing
in London on March11, 1702. In 1631 The Gazette, the first French newspaper was founded. In 1690,
Publick Occurrences in Boston became the first newspaper published in America. It was important both
because It was first in time and because it spoke against the government. However it does not really fit
DeFleur’s definition of newspaper. According to definition the first American paper was The Boston
NewsLetter which first appeared in April 1704. In 1803, just 15 years after the first British penal colony
was established, Australia's military government published the Sydney Gazette and the New South Wales
Advertiser, Australia's first newspapers. In 1721 James Franklin, started his paper, the New England
Courant. It was something of a departure from restrictive colonial tradition because it was not published
by authority and had no connection with post office. It was aimed at well-educate and prosperous elite
and appealed only to those who likes literary essays and controversial political opinions. Freedom of
Press Of great importance in the unfolding struggle to establish a free press was the conflict that
developed between John Peter Zenger and William Cosby, Governor of New York. Zenger started a
newspaper in 1733, The New York weekly Journal with an idea to have a paper in opposition to the
officially authorized New York gazette. He was jailed on a charge of seditious Libel. However Zenger
won the case at the end, significance of Zenger’s trial was that it set an important legal precedent: the
press should be allowed to criticize the government. Penny Press On Sept. 3, 1833 Benjamin Day started
a paper from New York with the name The New York Sun. it was designed to appeal not to everyone but
to the less sophisticated people. He for the first hired salaried reporter in his newspaper and therefore set a
tradition. Another important feature was that it was sold on streets by newsboys for only a penny. The
paper was an instant success soon selling more than 8000 copies per day. The Sun spurred a revolution in
newspaper publishing. Within a few months it had competitors and the mass media was a reality.
Together all the competing newspapers were known as the penny press. Particularly noteworthy was the
New York Herald founded in 1835 by James Gordon Bennet. He also added many features like financial
page, editorial comment and more serious local, foreign and national news. The penny press were vulgar,
sensational and trivial in many respects. But publishers like Bennet began to put some worth reading
material as well. Yellow journalism During the last decade of 19th century the competition for readers led
to a trend towards sensational journalism. The penny press took the first step with their emphasis on
crime, human interest and humor. Then in early 1890s, Joseph Pulitzer succeeded in building the
circulation of New York Sunday World to over 300,000. To do this he combined good reporting with
Crusades, with an emphasis on disasters and melodramatics, sensational photographs, and comic strips –
all to intensify reader intensity. He pioneered the use of color printing of comics in newspapers, which did
much to spur the circulation of his Sunday editions. One of the famous cartoons published in this paper
was a bald-headed, toothless, grinning kid, clad in yellow sack-like garment. It was called yellow Kid and
it depicted life in the slums of New York and the cartoon became very popular. This new style came to be
called Yellow Journalism. Historians believe that label was derived from the cartoon character
symbolizing the newspapers’ mindless intellectual level. Origin and development of broadcasting media
Broadcasting media consists of radio and TV. Let us discuss their origin and evolution in detailsa. Origin
and Development of Radio Starting in 1840s the new technologies came quickly one after the other,
within a span of about fifty years. The first was the electric dot and dash telegraph (1844), followed by
the telephone (1876), the wireless telegraph (1896) and finally radio telephone (1906). With the
adaptations of radiotelephone technology in early 1920s, radio became a mass medium for household use.
A German Scientist, Heinrich Hertz, had been experimenting with some curious electromagnetic
phenomena that had produced in the laboratory. By 1887 he had demonstrated the existence of what we
know today as radio waves. This discovery became the foundation of radio broadcasting. Later, in 1895
Marconi succeeded in sending coded messages over a considerable distance across his father’s estate. He
took his invention to London in 1897 and obtain a patent as well as financial backing to develop his
“wireless telegraph” further. In 1897 he established the world's first Radio Station on the Isle of Wight,
England. By 1901, he had built a much more powerful transmitter and succeeded in sending a message
across the Atlantic. On Christmas Eve, 1906, Reginald Fessenden (using his heterodyne principle)
transmitted the first radio audio broadcast in history from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. Ships at sea heard a
broadcast that included Fessenden playing the song O Holy Night on the violin and reading a passage
from the Bible. He founded the American Marconi Company in 1809 and by 1913 it had a virtual
monopoly on the use of wireless telegraph in USA. The world's first radio news programme was
broadcast August 31st 1920 by station 8MK in Detroit, Michigan. The world's first regular wireless
broadcasts for entertainment commenced in 1922 from the Marconi Research Centre at Writtle near
Chelmsford, England, which was also the location of the world's first "wireless" factory. Early radios ran
the entire power of the transmitter through a carbon microphone. While some early radios used some type
of amplification through electric current or battery, through the mid-1920s the most common type of
receiver was the Crystal set. In the 1920s, amplifying vacuum tubes revolutionized both radio receivers
and radio transmitters. After World War I, in increasing numbers, amateur radio fans were attracted to the
medium. Before radio broadcasting could be a Mass medium, it had to make the transition from a long-
range rather cumbersome device for maritime, commercial and governmental communication to an easy-
to-use system that would bring program content to people in their homes. In 1916, David Sarnoff, had
gone to work for the American Marconi Company and wrote a now famous memorandum to his boss that
outlined the way that radio could become a medium for home use. However his proposal was rejected by
his authorities. A sort of amateur version of broadcasts started in Pittsburgh in April 1920 by Dr. Frank
Conrad. Westinghouse, seeing the growing public interest in home radio decided to establish a radio
station for regularly scheduled broadcasts in Pittsburgh area. b. Origin and Development of Television
The history of TV goes a lot further back than people suppose. In 1884 a German an experimenter, Paul
Nipkow, developed a rotating disk with small holes arranged in a spiral pattern that when used with a
light source had unusual properties. Although the scanning disk was unique to early TV experiments, the
entire histories of radio and television are closely intertwined. All of the inventions and technologies that
made radio broadcasting possible are also part of the history of television. In addition the social and
economic organization of the industry was already set before TV became a reality. Early in 1920s,
corporations as General electric and RCA allocated budgets for experiments with TV. The idea seemed
far-fetched and futuristic to many in the industry, but television research was authorized in the hope that it
would eventually pay-off. Ernst Alexanderson had developed a workable system based on Nipkow Disk.
However, it was not to be the system that the industry finally adopted. The inventor of television, the
device responsible for receiving voice as well as images, is John Logie Baird of Scotland. But obviously
the new invention has been the result of the extensive work done by scores of other scientists as well.
Although Logie Baird had been developing his own methods of televised images for many years it was in
1924 that he first demonstrated a mechanically scanned television system which transmitted objects in
outline and went on the following year to show the head of a dummy, not just in outline but as a real
image. First Pictures were shown on Sept 7, 1927. By 1935, mechanical systems for transmitting black-
and-white images were replaced completely by electronic methods that could generate hundreds of
horizontal bands at 30 frames per second. Vladimir K. Zworykin, a Russian immigrant who first worked
for Westinghouse, patented an electronic camera tube based on the cathode tube. Philo T. Farnsworth and
Allen B. Dumont, both Americans, developed a pickup tube that became the home television receiver by
1939. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) had entered the color TV fray and battled with RCA to
perfect color television, initially with mechanical methods until an all-electronic color system could be
developed. Rival broadcasts appeared throughout the 1940s although progress was slowed by both World
War II and the Korean War. Commercial color television broadcasts were underway in the United States
by 1954. By 1946, FCC had issued 24 new licenses for television transmitters. 1948-1952 is considered as
the Big Freeze in USA when FCC ordered a freeze on the issuance of new licenses and construction
permits. The reason was that the signals of one station sometimes interfered with those of another. During
the freeze FCC developed a master plan that still governs TV broadcasting in USA. The system prevents
one station from interfering with the broadcasts of another thus avoiding the chaos that characterized
early radio broadcasting. The freeze was lifted in 1952. In 1953 FCC approved a system developed by
RCA. In Dec. 1954, RCA introduced their 21" color TV. Although the number recorded in history books
is 5,000 units sold, the common belief (amongst collectors) is that the actual number sold to the public
was considerably less. 1950-1959 was an exciting time period for television. In the USA, B&W television
exploded onto the scene at the beginning of the decade, mid-decade saw electronic color television and
remote controls launched, and at the end of the decade the public witnessed some interesting styling
changes and the introduction of transistorized television. c. New media Origin New media can be seen to
be a convergence between the histories of two separate technologies: media and computing. These
technologies both began back in the 1830s with Daguerre's daguerreotype and Babbage's Analytical
Engine. Computers (for performing calculations) and modern media technologies (e.g. celluloid film,
photographic plates, gramophone records) started to become inter-connected during the 20th Century and
these trajectories began to converge by the translation of existing media into binary information to be
stored digitally on computers. Therefore, new media can now be defined as "graphics, moving images,
sounds, shapes, spaces, and texts that have become computable; that is, they comprise simply another set
of computer data." New media not only be defined by things you can see such as graphics, moving
images, shapes, texts, and such. It is also things that cannot be seen, such a WIFI connection. It is a
concept, no one can see the waves in the air floating through the air. We cannot forget that New media is
also concept based while also being a solid object. The earliest forms of the Internet, such as
CompuServe, were developed in the 1960s. Primitive forms of email were also developed during this
time. By the 70s, networking technology had improved, and 1979’s UseNet allowed users to
communicate through a virtual newsletter. By the 1980s, home computers were becoming more common
and social media was becoming more sophisticated. Internet relay chats, or IRCs, were first used in 1988
and continued to be popular well into the 1990’s. The term 'new media' gained popular currency in the
mid-1990s as part of a marketing pitch for the proliferation of interactive educational and entertainment
CD-ROMs. One of the key features of this early new media was the implication that corporations, not
individual creators, would control copyright. The term then became far more widely used as the mass
consumer internet began to emerge from 1995 onwards. The term 'new media' can be traced back to the
70s when it was described more as an impact on cultural studies of different aspects such as economic as
well as social, it is only within the last 15 years that the term has taken on a more advanced meaning. By
the year 2000, around 100 million people had access to the internet, and it became quite common for
people to be engaged socially online

Chapter 3
Reporting and writing on special issues

Contents
 Reporting on social issues, environment, climate change, women, children and
minorities, development, disaster, pre-disaster, during disaster, post disaster status, key
issues for disaster, disaster management for Nepali Context.
 Reporting on the issues of migration, labor communication and crisis management in
Nepal.

CONCEPT OF REPORTING
Reporting is the journalist’s word for research, for the collection of data, for the gathering of facts. In
every news organization, there are reporters whose task is to go to the field and collect information. When
an incident occurs in a place, the reporter is sent to gather facts relating to that incident. He then comes
back to the office and finally makes a report or news story by compiling the gathered information.
The reporter, while on field, collects information that he or she finds on the spot, interviews the people
who probably have seen the event that happened and if the need be, goes deeper to find out more
information so that an interesting news report can be produced. Therefore, in other words, reporting may
also mean an act of research. The way a researcher does extensive study on any given topic and finally
comes to a conclusion, the reporter, too, has to make an exhaustive study of the event before coming to a
conclusion in the form of news. But what is important to remember is that this research has to be
manifold. Until the facts are rigged out and all the points are established the reporter must carry out his or
her investigation before arriving at finality.
News Reporting (Reportage) sometimes refers to the total body of media coverage of a particular topic or
event, including news reporting and analysis. Reportage is also a term for an eye-witness genre of
journalism: an individual journalist’s report of news, especially when witnessed firsthand, distributed
through the media. This style of reporting is often characterized by travel and careful observation.
Literary reportage is the art of blending documentary, reportage style observations, with personal
experience, perception and anecdotal evidence, in a non-fiction form of literature. This is perhaps most
commonly known as creative nonfiction and is closely related to New Journalism. The prose of such
reporting tends to be more polished and longer than in newspaper articles.

Basic facts about reporting

Reporting on various subjects or beats from the field is the best practice of journalism. A reporter
specialized in a particular field should go for reporting in that field. While writing for a news story, the
reporter should keep in mind that a gripping news story will consist of facts which will answer the - who,
what, when, where, why and how of the news story. However, it is the responsibility of a reporter to
verify the facts for its accuracy. Another point to remember here is the use of active voice while
reporting. Use of words in active voice makes it more understandable and effective.

The language should be simple and there should not be inclusion of extra words. The
sentences should be short and concise. Inverted pyramid style of writing should be practiced where the
most important facts should be included in the lead and less important in the body. However, in case of
soft news which may be a human interest story or a background information, facts can be put in the body
of the news story.

A reporter should keep in mind a few important points while going to field for reporting as given below.
a. A reporter must be conscious to never repeat a story which has been told to him or her in
confidentiality or in good faith, unless prior permission is taken to make the story public.
b. While collecting the local news, a reporter should keep in mind the great value of giving names
of persons in his or her stories.
c. Each and every reporter must try to develop the qualities of a descriptive writer. In this way he or
she can elaborate on any topic or issue if need arises.
d. A reporter must always try to improve his or her method and style of reporting. This goes a long
way in bringing out the best of the creative ability of a reporter.
e. A reporter, as far as possible must try to avoid ambiguous and technical jargons which might be
difficult to comprehend. In other words, he or she should enable the reader to visualize the scene
as described in the news story as though the event had unfolded in front of their eyes.

Types/ Forms of reporting practices

A newspaper will have scores of reporters assigned with the responsibility of covering various events,
issues, organizations, celebrities etc. Thus, senior, mid-level, junior and trainee reporters are entrusted
with the task of writing regular reports from various areas on a daily basis. Reporting in general takes
three forms.

Forms of reporting are:

1. General assignment reporting
2. Objective reporting
3. Interpretative reporting
4. Investigative reporting
 5. In-depth reporting
6. Beats reporting
7. Special reporting.

Each of these areas has distinct characteristics, but their borders are tricky and over lapping. News stories
do not fall into a single category. They spill over into both.

1. General assignment reporting

General assignment reporters cover breaking news or feature stories as events and issues unfold.
The editor or the bureau chief (senior most designation among the reporters) of a particular
edition directly assigns these stories. These reports are covered from the spot where the events
take place. For example, a flash strike by private bus workers, a police lathi-charge on students
picketing the roads or a political murder.

It ranges from crime to crops, from weather to workers. The most successful General Reporters
are excellent workers. They always ask themselves how valuable it is for audience. They go as
close to the gross roots as possible in an attempt to generate original material.

Reporter is an explainer of complicated issues and the General reporters are supposed to report
the facts in simple and communicative manner. While doing general reporting you must know
that true, new and interesting factors make news. Always look for new pitch. Every reporter has a
different I.Q and style.

2. Objective Reporting

Objective reporting presents news in a straightforward, factual and distinct manner. It does not
provide news in a distorted, analyzed and biased way. It is balanced and even handedness in
presenting different sides of an issue. There is accuracy and realism in reporting news stories. It
presents all the main relevant points which separates facts from opinions, but also treats opinion
as significant. Objective reporting minimizes the influence of the writer’s own opinions, attitudes
or involvement. It avoids slant, malicious or devious purposes.

The following points can well summarize the concept of objective reporting:
 Balance and even handedness in presenting different sides of an issue
 Accuracy and realism in reporting
 Presenting all main relevant points
 Separating facts from opinions, but treating opinion as relevant
 Minimizing the influence of the writer’s own opinions, attitudes or involvement.
 Avoiding slant, malicious or devious purposes.

3. Interpretative Reporting

Interpretative journalism goes beyond the basic facts of an event or topic to provide context,
analysis, and possible consequences. Merely reporting of facts of any event sometimes does not
serve the purpose. It demands more about the reasons and purposes of the happenings, causes,
after effects of natural calamities and the future prospects of certain ongoing talks between two
leaders or authorities as well. It is based on the ability of the journalist how it provides meaning
to news stories and its causes and effects.
 Interpretative reporting combines facts with interpretation. Many a time the reporter has to
interpret certain events for better understanding of the readers. It means providing background
information relating to a particular incident or happening. Apart from the facts gathered from the
field, the reporter, sometimes, needs to make the news more illuminating by providing
background information so that the readers can perceive it better and understand the meaning of
it. As such, the reporter delves into reasons and meanings of a certain development and gives
information along with an interpretation of its significance.

The entire event may not unfold in a day. It is a continuous process and often one event leads to
another. In order to understand the occurrence of an event we need to understand the previous, or
the course of events that led to the latest one. And it is the reporter, who interprets the event by
telling the readers about the past history or the course of action that led to the happening of the
event. This adds more insights into events and the reporter has to keep a track of all the events of
the past, present and also at times should be able to forecast the future. Thus, interpretative
reporting brings out the hidden significance of an event and separates truth from falsehood.

4. Investigative Reporting

DEFINITION
 Investigative Reporting is an act of discovering the truth and to identify lapses on media
such as Print, Electronic or Web.
 Investigative reporting is an alternate interpretation of the public right to know.
 Investigative reporting is to uncover what officialdom does not wish to make public.
 Investigative reporting highlights the wrong doings and helps to shape the things
positively in future.
 Investigative reporting reveals scandals and violations of law and rules.
 Investigative reporting exposes unethical, immoral and illegal behavior by individuals,
businessmen or Government agencies.
 Investigative reporting is complicated, time consuming and expensive. It requires months
of research, interviews and long-distance travel.
 Investigative reporters deeply investigate a topic of crime, political corruption or some
other scandal.
 Investigative reporters may take the investigation through his own initiative or have a
clue by someone else.
 Investigative journalist is a person who does investigation like a police, lawyer, auditor or
a regulatory body and derives facts for public consumption to present on media.
 Investigative reporter has to do the extensive scrutiny of documents, fact finding and
physical efforts to interview a person.

To be a successful investigative reporter, the reporter must have an analytical and incisive mind
with strong motivation.
 Chapter 4
Legal and Ethical Consideration for Media

ETHICS

The term ‘ethics has been derived from Ancient Greek word ‘ethos’ which refers to character, guiding
beliefs, standards and ideals that pervade a group, a community or people. A major branch of philosophy,
it is the study of values and customs of a person or group. It covers the analysis and employment of
concepts such as right and wrong, good and evil, responsibility etc. According to the Church of
Scientology, “Ethics may be defined as the actions an individual takes on himself to ensure his continued
survival across the dynamics. It is a personal thing. When one is ethical, it is something he does himself
by his own choice.” Ethics is a choice between good and bad, between right and wrong. It is governed by
a set of principles of morality at a given time and at a given place.
Ethics is defined as "that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with
respect to rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and
Ads of such actions". By dictionary definitions ethics and morality are inter-changeable. Both are
concerned with conduct that is right or wrong, according to the accepted standards or principles.
To elaborate further, it is the consequence of a conduct that determines ethicality e.g. when the
consequences range from being harmless to being beneficial. We consider it ethical or right. If the results
are harmful, it is considered wrong or unethical. However, the concept of right or wrong varies with time,
place and situation. They evolve over period of time and cannot be applied uniformly as they are relative
concepts. Behavior that is considered un-ethical by one society or a generation may be quite acceptable to
another. However, ethical conduct remains of significance to the society ultimately.
Ethics means “Good Conduct” or “Conduct which is right in view of the society and the time period”. By
common consent, various modes of behavior and conduct are viewed as “good” or “bad”.
In other word, we can say that Ethics are moral principles and values that govern the actions and
decisions of an individual group. Ethics is a choice between good and bad, between right and wrong. It is
governed by a set of principles of morality at a given time and at a given place and in a given society.
Ethics is related to group behavior in ultimate analysis, thus setting norms for an individual to follow in
consistence with the group norms.
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.