My hometown paper always does a ton of announcements for upcoming events in my community. You’ll find news about everything from church barbecues to the firemen’s dance within its 20 pages. I think this is the way that the newspaper is able to stay in business actually—or fills its columns at least.
“The Beacon” is really in charge of informing people about what’s going on in the community. Even as a kid I understood that if I wanted to find out who was the “Reader of the Month” at the library all I had to do was read. I’m not sure whether or not the news releases are re-written by the newspaper’s staff. I know that once my mom sent in an article for publication about an event she was organizing and it was published word for word.
I definitely understand the importance news releases can hold for the community but they also seem like a slippery slope to me. It’s probably more difficult for news to make it into a broadcast show because time allotments are so small but newspapers use the little blurbs about community events to their advantage. Some of those two-inch releases are just what the newspaper may need to fill a column. One problem with news releases is that if organizations keep getting publicity from a free article they may not look into advertising. Another problem is that the coverage of one event may lead an organization to think that they will receive the same coverage in the future.
I guess I feel that announcements are the best type of news release while information about a cause or information to build an image should be closely edited. The time and place of a meeting isn’t biased but praising someone or a specific organization might cause some problems.
Well, we’ve already gotten a taste of covering a meeting. Of course general-assignment writing requires that journalists be able to write a detailed account of a meeting or speech or meeting…but it’s definitely not fun. Note to self: Don’t become a general-assignment writer.
It’s interesting that whenever I tell someone that I’m a journalism major I usually get the “ah…writing” solemn nod. I appreciate the reporters who diligently go to all of the town board and city council meetings in the world but for me it’s just not going to work.
Even though I don’t PLAN to be a general-assignment reporter, here are the bones of the trade. Research first. Listen intently. Take detailed notes. Get peoples’ names right.
When it comes to writing the piece I always get stuck in the habit of relaying the event in chronological order. I know that the inverted pyramid would have me put the most newsworthy elements at the top of the piece but I feel like the facts get too jumbled when the reader doesn’t know what happened sequentially.
I also need to work on covering the people and scene instead of just the agenda. News conferences are a whole other problem. I can’t stand pushiness or impatience, which translates to a disdain for press conferences.
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