Key Ideas of Journalism
In 1969, when astronauts landed on the Moon, people all over the world found out within hours because journalists were there reporting live. Today, a rumor can spread across the internet in minutes -- true or not. The difference between a rumor and real news comes down to a handful of rules journalists follow, and once you know them, you will never read a news story the same way again.
What You'll Learn
- The Five W's and How -- the questions every news story must answer - The difference between a fact and an opinion in reporting - What it means to verify a source before publishing - Why headlines can be misleading even when the article is accurate
The Five W's and How
Every solid news story answers six questions: Who is involved? What happened? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Why did it happen? and How did it happen? A story about a school fundraiser, for example, needs to name who organized it (Who), what it raised money for (What), when and where it took place, why the school needed the funds, and how the fundraiser actually worked. Miss even one of the six, and the reader is left with real gaps.
Facts vs. Opinions
A fact can be checked and proven: "The fundraiser raised $2,340" is a fact you could verify by checking the school's records. An opinion is a belief or judgment: "The fundraiser was the best event of the year" cannot be proven true or false -- it is someone's feeling. Reputable news reporting keeps these separate; opinion pieces are usually labeled clearly as "Opinion" or "Editorial" so readers know the difference.
Verifying Sources
A source is a person, document, or record a journalist uses as evidence. Professional journalists try to confirm information with at least two independent sources before publishing, especially for important claims. This is why you'll sometimes see phrases like "according to two officials familiar with the matter" in real news articles -- it signals the reporter checked the claim with more than one person rather than trusting a single tip.
Headlines Can Trick You
Headlines are written to be short and grab attention, which sometimes means they leave out important context. A headline like "Local Team Wins Championship!" might be accurate, but a headline like "Scientists Shocked by New Discovery" could be exaggerating a fairly normal finding just to get clicks. This is why careful readers check the full article -- and ideally more than one news source -- before forming an opinion, rather than reacting to the headline alone.
A headline designed mainly to make you click, rather than to accurately summarize the story, is called clickbait. Always read past the headline before deciding what a story actually says.
Before believing a surprising claim, ask: has more than one reliable source reported this the same way? If only one unclear source mentions it, treat it with caution.
Match the journalism term to its meaning.
Terms
Definitions
Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.
Which of these is a FACT rather than an opinion?
Why do professional journalists try to confirm information with at least two independent sources?
Write a Five W's News Brief
Choose a real recent event at your school or in your neighborhood. Write a short news brief (4-6 sentences) that clearly answers Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. Then write one separate sentence labeled 'OPINION' giving your personal reaction, kept clearly separate from the factual brief. Deliverable: a labeled news brief with facts and one clearly separated opinion sentence.
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