A field experiment tested different reporting and writing techniques against standard practice. The underlying purpose of the project was to explore whether new techniques of writing might make the news more interesting to those who are "aliterate" (they can read but do not read). On each of four days, four reporters reported and wrote…

This paper examines the paratextual structure of news texts, i.e., the headline system (superheadline, main headline, and subheadline) and the lead. In the first part of the paper T. A. van Dijk's interdisciplinary theory (1988) of "news in the press" is reviewed with special reference to the status and function assigned to the paratext.…

American "New Journalism" of the 1880s and 1890s--a blend of the popular press and the elite political and literary journal creating a comprehensive general interest newspaper that informed, entertained, and editorialized on politics--became the model for the modern daily newspaper in the Western World. The American emphasis on news and…

Arguing that educational research rarely makes it into print, this paper discusses what is wrong with educational research, what is wrong with the press, and offers suggestions for improving the relationship between educational research and the press. The paper argues that (1) education research is badly underfunded; (2) the most pressing…

Noting that past local media coverage of environmental topics, including those dealing with radiation topics, has often been superficial, a study assessed press coverage of the radon problem in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania during the first nine months of 1985. The study explored whether local media coverage of radon--a colorless,…

A study analyzed the coverage by 15 American newspapers of a single foreign news story, the assassination of Sweden's Prime Minister Olof Palme on February 28, 1986. Issues of the newspapers for the first week after the murder were examined and total coverage of the event, measured in number of words, was calculated for each paper. In addition,…

Specific procedures for planning, producing, distributing, and evaluating newsletters are provided in this guide intended for the staff of voluntary organizations who have limited or no prior editing experience. Topics covered include the functions and purposes of a newsletter; staff qualifications and duties, and the organization of a newsletter…

Focusing on economic and business issues that affect the press and on topics related to the coverage of business and economic news, this booklet begins with two articles by Robert Burdick about understanding opinions of newspaper managing editors and media coverage of the Manville Corporation's bankruptcy petition. The third article, by Mark…

This occupational simulation booklet on the newspaper reporter is one of several units resulting from the rural southwestern Colorado CEPAC Project (Career Education Process of Attitude Change). The purpose of this unit is to help students understand the kinds of writing that are contained in a newspaper while acquainting them with the type of…

This collection brings together 58 news stories by professional reporters who wrote of their own involvement in newsworthy events. Part One, "Reporters Are Like All of Us and Can Be Newsworthy Too," features accounts written by reporters who were employed by newspapers that went out of business, were victims of crimes, were accused of…

A survey of religious news in American newspapers from 1849 through 1960 shows a number of changes in the way such coverage was carried out. Some 1,018 daily and weekly newspapers representing different sized communities, different geographical areas, and different times in the church year made up the sample used for a content analysis of…

The author develops students' appreciation for accuracy in reporting by having them write correction notices for stories in which they made mistakes in the facts, and by withholding assignment grades until corrections have been submitted. (RL)

The author gives journalism students practice in "finding" news by requiring them to write a "hard news" story for a self-imposed deadline during each week of the course, thus creating the atmosphere of actual on-the-job news reporting. (RL)

Points out the advantages to journalism students of working on student newspaper staffs and discusses principles of news reporting. (GW)

Provides guidelines for implementing R.I.O.--research, interviewing, observation--for improving yearbook and newspaper copy. (KS)