Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Melvin Mencher's News Reporting and Writing with Brush-Up CD-ROM and PowerWeb

by: Mencher, Melvin

Melvin Mencher's News Reporting and Writing with Brush-Up CD-ROM and PowerWeb

by: Mencher, Melvin

ISBN 13:
9780073212760
ISBN 10:
0073212768
Edition: 10th
Format: Paperback
Copyright: 06/27/2005
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
Newer Edition

Rent

Sorry, this item is currently unavailable.

Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.

Extend or Purchase Your Rental at Any Time

Need to keep your rental past your due date? At any time before your due date you can extend or purchase your rental through your account.

Summary

Teaching by example through vivid writing, Professor Mencher shows students the fundamentals of reporting and writing news in this new edition of a classic text.

Preface

The Basics

The Morality of Journalism

Public Service Journalism

xii

Journalism's Tradition

xii

New to the Tenth

xiii

Acknowledgments

xvi

A Personal Word

xix

Part Opener Photos

Cover Photos

xxi

PART ONE THE REPORTER AT WORK

(30)

On the Job

(29)

Journalists at Work

(2)

The Agreement

(1)

Continuous Coverage

(1)

A Tornado Hits Spencer

(2)

School Shooting

(1)

An Announcement and a Fire

(2)

TV Covers a Fire

(1)

A Child's Death

(1)

A Metro Daily

(1)

Longer Stories

(2)

Christmas Fund

(1)

At ``Nightline''

(1)

Investigative Stories

(2)

Using the Internet

(2)

Online Journalism

(1)

The Characteristics of the Reporter

(4)

A Press Release that Needs Backgrounding

(2)

Summing Up

(1)

Further Reading

(2)

PART TWO THE BASICS

(22)

Components of the Story

(21)

Accuracy

(4)

Attribution

(4)

Verification

(2)

Complete

(1)

Fairness

(1)

Balance

(1)

Objectivity

(2)

Brevity

(1)

Selectivity

(1)

Clarity

(1)

Human Interest

(1)

Responsibility

(1)

Summing Up

(1)

Further Reading

(1)

PART THREE WRITING THE STORY

(174)

What Is News?

(20)

Some Answers Past and Present

(4)

News Values

(7)

News Is Relative

(8)

Summing Up

(1)

Further Reading

(1)

The Internet and Other Tools of the Trade

(25)

Tools for Today's New Media Journalist

(1)

Basic Newsroom References

(3)

Using the Computer

(1)

Locating Information

(1)

Finding Sources

(1)

Listservs, Discussion Boards and Online Forums

(1)

Cautions and Warnings

(1)

Crunching the Numbers

(3)

Public Records

(1)

Freedom of Information Act

(1)

Useful Data

(2)

Mathematics for the Reporter

(1)

Basic Calculations

(2)

Means, Modes and Medians

(1)

Analyzing Averages

(1)

Personalizing Numbers

(1)

Public Opinion Polling

(2)

Summing Up

(1)

Further Reading

(1)

The Lead

(21)

Rule Breakers, but Memorable

100

(1)

Great Beginnings

100

(1)

Importance of the Lead

101

(1)

Finding the Lead

101

(2)

Writing the Lead

103

(1)

Finding the Thread

103

(5)

Types of Leads

108

(4)

Leads on News Features

112

(3)

Good Reporting Equals Good Leads

115

(1)

Color

116

(1)

S-V-O

116

(1)

Lead Length

117

(1)

Readability

118

(1)

Summing Up

119

(1)

Further Reading

119

(1)

Story Structure

120

(15)

The Main Idea

121

(1)

The Structure

121

(1)

Eight Steps to the Organized Story

121

(1)

The Single-Element Story

122

(1)

Two-Element Story

123

(2)

Three-Element Story

125

(1)

Story Units

125

(1)

The Inverted Pyramid

126

(1)

Storytelling

127

(2)

Online Writing

129

(1)

The General, then the Specific

129

(1)

DAD: Dialogue, Action, Description

130

(2)

Story Necessities

132

(2)

Summing Up

134

(1)

Further Reading

134

(1)

The Writer's Art

135

(31)

Writers Write . . . and Read, Too

135

(1)

Doing It Right---in a Hurry

136

(1)

Show, Don't Tell

137

(1)

Human Interest Essential

138

(4)

Quotations Are Essential

142

(3)

Styling the Story

145

(4)

Writing for the Medium

149

(1)

Reporting

150

(1)

Conviction

151

(1)

Accuracy of Language

151

(3)

Clarity

154

(5)

Movement

159

(1)

Write . . . and Rewrite

160

(1)

Reading for Writers

160

(2)

Word Choice

162

(1)

Sentences

163

(1)

Advice

163

(1)

Summing Up

164

(1)

Further Reading

164

(2)

Features, Long Stories and Series

166

(25)

The Feature

166

(6)

Planning

172

(1)

Tone and Style

173

(1)

The News Feature

174

(1)

Ideas for Features

174

(2)

Avoiding the Pitfalls

176

(2)

The Long Story

178

(4)

A Television Documentary

182

(3)

The Series

185

(1)

Investigative Series

186

(2)

Summing Up

188

(1)

Further Reading

189

(2)

Broadcast Newswriting

191

(21)

An Early Guide

192

(1)

Rewriting the Wires

192

(5)

Sentence Structure and Language

197

(1)

Tenses

198

(1)

Attribution

198

(1)

Further Reading

210

(2)

Writing News Releases

212

(15)

At an Agency

213

(3)

The Writing Process

216

(4)

The Good Humor Man

220

(2)

In the Newsroom

222

(3)

Summing Up: Checklist

225

(2)

PART FOUR REPORTING PRINCIPLES

227

(126)

Digging for Information

228

(17)

Finding the Lottery Winner

228

(1)

The Reporting Process

229

(2)

Layer I Reporting

231

(3)

Dangers of Layer I

234

(2)

The Internet as Source

236

(1)

Layer II Reporting

236

(3)

Investigative Reporting

239

(1)

Finding Sources

240

(1)

Layer III Reporting

241

(1)

Putting I, II and III to Work

242

(2)

Summing Up

244

(1)

Further Reading

244

(1)

Making Sound Observations

245

(22)

The Art of Observation

246

(3)

Relevant Observations

249

(3)

Individuality

252

(1)

Looking, Listening

253

(2)

Limitations of the Story

255

(1)

The Reporter as Intruder

256

(1)

Unobtrusive Observation

257

(1)

Participant Observation

258

(3)

The Live-In

261

(4)

Problems of Involvement

265

(1)

Summing Up

266

(1)

Further Reading

266

(1)

Building and Using Background

267

(10)

Twain's and Mencken's Complaints

268

(1)

GBS: Two Views

269

(1)

Improvements?

269

(1)

Background Defined

269

(1)

The Contents of the Storehouse

270

(3)

Blunders

273

(1)

Anticipatory Journalism

274

(2)

Summing Up

276

(1)

Further Reading

276

(1)

Finding, Cultivating and Using Sources

277

(16)

Making Nice at the Courthouse

278

(1)

Massive Tire Recall

278

(1)

Reliability of Sources

278

(1)

Human Sources

279

(5)

Internet Reliability

284

(1)

Physical Sources

285

(1)

How Reporters Use Sources

286

(6)

Summing Up

292

(1)

Further Reading

292

(1)

Interviewing Principles and Practices

293

(33)

Types of Interviews

294

(1)

Four Principles

295

(6)

The Interviewer's Ground Rules

301

(1)

Who's in Control?

302

(1)

The News Interview

302

(1)

The Profile

303

(7)

Appearance and Behavior

310

(1)

Role-Playing

310

(5)

Invasive Questions

315

(1)

The Careful Observer

316

(2)

Retroactive Requests

318

(1)

Using and Abusing Quotes

319

(3)

E-Mail Interviews

322

(1)

Anonymous and Confidential

323

(1)

Summing Up

324

(1)

Further Reading

324

(2)

Speeches, Meetings and News Conferences

326

(11)

Speeches

326

(2)

Meetings

328

(1)

Checklist: Meetings

329

(3)

News Conferences

332

(2)

Checklist: News Conferences

334

(1)

Panel Discussions

334

(2)

Summing Up

336

(1)

Hunches, Feelings and Stereotypes

337

(16)

Hunches and Intuition

337

(3)

Einstein's Model for Thinking

340

(1)

Feelings

341

(2)

Stereotypes, Biases, Fears

343

(5)

Patterns and Relationships

348

(3)

Summing Up

351

(1)

Further Reading

351

(2)

PART FIVE FROM ACCIDENTS TO EDUCATION

353

(156)

Part Five: Introduction

354

(1)

Using the Checklist

354

(1)

Types of Beats

354

(1)

Covering a Beat

355

(1)

Know the Beat

355

(1)

Accidents and Disasters

356

(9)

Motor Vehicle Accidents

356

(1)

Checklist: Motor Vehicle Accidents

357

(1)

Airplane Accidents

358

(1)

Checklist: Airplane Accidents

359

(1)

Storms, Floods, Disasters

360

(2)

Checklist: Storms, Floods, Disasters

362

(1)

Human Interest

363

(1)

Writing the Disaster Story

364

(1)

Obituaries

365

(16)

Obituaries Can Enlighten Us

366

(1)

Checklist: Obituaries

367

(1)

Digging Pays Off

368

(1)

Writing the Obit

369

(1)

Find the Theme

370

(3)

Who Is Chosen

373

(2)

Accuracy Essential

375

(1)

Frequently Asked Questions

376

(3)

The Specialist

379

(1)

Summing Up

379

(1)

Further Reading

380

(1)

The Police Beat

381

(23)

The Range and Cost of Crime

381

(1)

Interest in Crime News

382

(1)

The Police

383

(1)

Making Her Rounds

384

(1)

Smaller-City Coverage

385

(1)

Types of Felonies

386

(2)

Sources Are Essential

388

(1)

The Arrest Process

388

(1)

Arrest Stories

389

(2)

Crime Classification

391

(1)

Murder

392

(1)

Checklist: Homicide

393

(1)

Burglary, Robbery

393

(1)

Checklist: Burglary, Robbery

394

(1)

Crime Coverage and Race

395

(1)

Database Reporting

395

(1)

The Victims

396

(1)

Violence Against Women

396

(2)

A Reporter's Perspective

398

(1)

Cautions

399

(1)

Covering Campus Crime

400

(1)

Fire Coverage

400

(2)

Checklist: Fires

402

(1)

Sources

402

(1)

Further Reading

403

(1)

The Courts

404

(25)

The Basics

404

(2)

Civil Law

406

(2)

Checklist: Civil Actions

408

(1)

Checklist: Verdict Stories

409

(1)

Criminal Law

410

(2)

Checklist: Arraignments

412

(5)

The Trial

417

(6)

Checklist: Criminal Trials

423

(1)

Sources

423

(1)

Look for Color, Strategy, Tactics

423

(1)

Appeals

424

(1)

Stories about the System

424

(2)

The Grand Jury

426

(1)

Time Out for a Good Laugh

427

(1)

Further Reading

428

(1)

Sports

429

(24)

Insatiable Demand

430

(1)

Game Coverage

431

(1)

Checklist: Games

432

(2)

Expanded Coverage

434

(1)

Personal Lives

434

(3)

The Beat

437

(1)

Sports Writing

437

(5)

Reporting Is the Key

442

(1)

Starting Out

442

(4)

Two Developments

446

(2)

The Goal: Win at Any Cost

448

(2)

An Overview

450

(1)

Further Reading

451

(2)

Business Reporting

453

(21)

Expanded Coverage

454

(1)

The Scope of Business News

454

(2)

The Human Element

456

(1)

Personal Finance

456

(1)

The Beat

457

(2)

Puff Pieces

459

(1)

The Reporter's Requirements

460

(1)

Sources of Information

461

(3)

Bankruptcies

464

(1)

Reading

465

(1)

Regulatory Agencies

466

(1)

Enterprise

467

(1)

Municipal Bonds

468

(1)

University Bonds

468

(1)

Skepticism and Doubt

469

(2)

Numbers Count

471

(1)

Depth Reporting

471

(2)

Further Reading

473

(1)

Local Government and Education

474

(35)

City Government Activities

475

(1)

Forms of Local Government

476

(2)

The Public Interest

478

(1)

Participants in the Political Process

478

(2)

Auditing the Community

480

(1)

Additional Checkpoints

481

(1)

The Demographics

481

(2)

Guidelines

483

(1)

Politics

483

(1)

The Budget

484

(4)

Checklist: Budgets

488

(2)

Property Tax

490

(2)

Borrowing

492

(1)

Checking Up

493

(2)

Zoning and Planning

495

(1)

Neighborhood Stories

495

(1)

Covering the Schools

496

(3)

Widening Scope

499

(5)

Board of Education Meetings

504

(1)

Meetings Checklist

504

(2)

Knowing the Community

506

(1)

Further Reading

507

(2)

PART SIX LAWS, TASTE AND TABOOS, CODES AND ETHICS

509

(64)

Reporters and the Law

511

(21)

Grounds for Libel Suits

512

(1)

An Incident on a Bus

512

(2)

The Court Acts

514

(3)

Attributing a Libel Is No Defense

517

(3)

Accuracy the Best Route

520

(1)

Libel Online

520

(1)

Privacy

520

(4)

Avoiding the Dangers

524

(1)

The Reporter's Rights

525

(2)

Confidentiality Requires Protection

527

(1)

Shield Laws

527

(1)

Tips and Tidbits

528

(1)

Press Disclosures Affect Freedoms

529

(1)

Summing Up

530

(1)

Further Reading

531

(1)

Taste---Defining the Appropriate

532

(17)

Taste Is Relative

533

(6)

Commercial Pressures

539

(1)

Obscenity and the Law

540

(1)

Limits on Broadcasting

541

(1)

Pictures

542

(1)

Photo Guidelines

543

(4)

Summing Up

547

(2)

The Morality of Journalism

549

(24)

The Dilemma

550

(1)

Guiding Values

551

(5)

Some Case Studies

556

(4)

Something New

560

(1)

Codes of Conduct

560

(2)

Sins of Omission

562

(1)

Morality Underlies Journalism

562

(1)

Past and Present

563

(1)

The Muckrakers

564

(1)

Making Journalism of Injustice

565

(3)

Activist Journalism

568

(1)

A Personal Guide

569

(2)

Summing Up

571

(1)

Further Reading

571

(2)

Glossary

573

(8)

Print Terms

573

(5)

Broadcast Terms

578

(1)

Internet Terms

579

(2)

Appendix

581

(1)

Stylebook

582

(14)

Punctuation

590

(6)

Credits

596

(4)

Name Index

600

(10)

Subject Index

610

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Melvin Mencher's News Reporting and Writing with Brush-Up CD-ROM and PowerWeb

Melvin Mencher's News Reporting and Writing with Brush-Up CD-ROM and PowerWeb

9780073212760

0073212768

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Melvin Mencher's News Reporting and Writing with Brush-Up CD-ROM and PowerWeb

Melvin Mencher's News Reporting and Writing with Brush-Up CD-ROM and PowerWeb

9780073212760

0073212768

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

Related Products