What is news - How to handle sensitive issues in news reporting in Nigeria?

The nature of news and news gathering

News is an aspect of human communication that has become more or less synonymous with human civilization and every modern society has come to find it an indispensable part of human progress.

The nature of news and news gathering

News has been affirmed to be a necessity in a modern society more so in a democratic society because it allows society to understand itself and comprehend the perils and hazards it is confronted with as it journeys through times and epochs.

The nature of news and news gathering

There have been so many other answers to the question, what is the news? Is it what a reporter finds satisfaction in writing or what a well-trained editor decides to publish? Is the news the report of an event or anything timely? Is it stimulating information?

Some definitions say that it is literature in a hurry; others say it is tomorrow’s history. There are many other glib definitions of news.

One of the most frequently quoted is attributed to nineteenth-century editor John Bogart: ‘when a dog bites a man, that is not news; but when a man bites a dog, that is news.’

The nature of news and news gathering

First, news is a story, report or account.

Second, news is an account of an idea, event, problem or issue that enough men are concerned about.

Third, news is an account of something real and is based upon material facts that are ‘truly material’.

The nature of news and news gatheringFourth, news is current.Fifth, news is an account of something

that interests people even though the level of interest may vary in different kinds of news story.

When we put all of these elements together we arrive at a simple definition: ‘news is an account of a current idea, event, problem, issue or people that interests people’.

Journalists generally agree about what news is not, but they have real problems identifying just what news is.

Deciding what news is usually is not a matter of absolutes but rather it is a matter of the relative newsworthiness of different events, people and issues at any given time.

Timeliness

Impact

Prominence

Proximity

Singularity

Human interest

How to handle sensitive issues?

News gathering, to be sure, is a highly imperfect art, and problems with basic facts, not to mention nuances, are common. But when you are talking about conflicts that are at their root racial, ethnic or religious, the stakes are higher.

This is the stuff riots, wars and deep-seated prejudices are made of, and the news media has an even greater responsibility than it normally does to get it right.

Very little of what the news media does is conspiratorial. Most of the time we're just not good or sensitive enough about the many sides of volatile issues and often we respond to news reporting in a pragmatic way that emphasizes results at any cost.

Here is one checklist:

Is it true? What is the impact of the events or

circumstances surrounding the issue?Is the news story fair to all concerned? Is it a public or strictly private issue? Will the story make a difference? Will the truth quell rumors? How would you justify your decision to

your audience? How would you treat the story if you were

the subject?

Here are 10 tips for reporting sensitive issues:

1: Don’t write in clichés2: Don’t believe everything someone tells

you3: Don’t hunt for the 'definitive truth'4: Don’t get things out of context5: Don’t accept information without question6: Don’t forget the human face of suffering7: Don’t be sloppy with words8: Don’t be led by another’s agenda9: Don’t ignore the local pressures10: Don’t ignore history

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