Lists alternative ways to present the same story: traditional, narrative, radical clarity, and point of view. Presents a four-step plan to assess what readers want to see and how to meet that need. Provides a cautionary note about how to avoid "bad" text. Explains that readers like variety, and suggests different ways to present visual…

Notes the difficulty in writing a newspaper column and gives several questions and responses to consider. Discusses what a column should do, how a column should be written, and questions to consider. Presents a sample page with an explanation of several different columns. (SC)

Describes a high-school journalism adviser's experience working at the Sports desk of the "Sacramento Bee" during one summer. Suggests the short-term job helped the author flesh out what it means to be a working journalist, and helped him take some of the passion, energy, and excitement of the professional newsroom back to his classroom.…

This study analyzed writing in prominent British newspapers concerning homosexuality and lesbianism, focusing on these elements of discourse: discourse themes and assumptions underlying their choice; information treated as given or implied in the text; relationships with other discursive formations and texts; signification about the writer's…

The three papers in this publication analyze a newspaper article on "economic politics," or more specifically, the devaluing of the Danish kroner. The papers all examine some linguistic or structural feature of the language used in writing the article. Specific focus is on relevance theory and relevance in the article, the use of text…

A study analyzed the readability of seven central Florida newspapers (one of which is a college newspaper) and "USA Today.""Rightwriter," a grammar checker and readability computer program, was used to evaluate front page articles for each of the eight newspapers. The readability formulas invoked in the readability program…

A study examined coverage of Alger Hiss's trial for spying for the Soviet Union in the conservative Los Angeles "Times" and Chicago "Tribune," and the liberal Washington "Post" and New York "Times." It was hypothesized that (1) the liberal newspapers would favor Hiss, especially in their editorials; (2) the…

A 1977 Court of Appeals decision, "Edwards v. National Audubon Society," outlined the principle of "neutral reportage": the press is not required to suppress newsworthy statements by public officials merely because the truth of those statements is doubtful. The author outlines this court case because it illustrates so well the consequences of the…

Noting that the impressions left by the large, bold type of newspaper headlines have frequently resulted in libel suits, a study explored the individual and interactive roles played by defamatory headlines and news articles in a reader's perception of the contents. Four separate versions of a news article and its headline were prepared by the…

This guide is intended to teach members of Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) to write a news release. Discussed first are the content and purposes of a news release. The mechanics of writing news releases are outlined. Provided next are guidelines for selecting photographs to include with a news release. Concluding the guide is a brief…

To compare the ways staff and free-lance writers handle ethical issues, several writers were interviewed for personal experiences, and several daily and weekly newspapers and regional magazines were surveyed. Results indicated that the shield laws protecting staff writers do not apply to free-lance writers. Neither do the rules governing conflicts…

Because little scholarly or industry research has reviewed the position of sports journalists on the matter of professionalism, a study analyzed newspaper sports journalists' evaluations of their professional orientations and their perceptions of the orientations of their colleagues who write "hard" and "soft" news. The study…

Intended as a resource book for journalism instructors or school publication advisers, this booklet encompasses the basics that apply to all scholastic journalism endeavors. The first section, "Teaching Journalism--The Total Program," covers official guidelines and editorial policies, interviewing, gathering news, feature writing, editorial…

Most journalism textbooks begin with lists of what have been called "news values." These are criteria to be used to judge the newsworthiness of issues, events, and persons. The list of news values that most journalists have memorized can be replaced with a single concept--vividness. Vividness is a characteristic of the information…

Professional journalists need to be encouraged in their quest for objectivity if the news media are to be saved from degenerating into political journals and propaganda organs. Sociologist Karl Mannheim's theory of relationalism could be the basis for an improved approach to journalistic practice and should be required reading for journalism…