journalistic practices

School of Distance Education

Journalistic practices 1

JOURNALISTIC PRACTICES

III /IV SEMESTER

2019 Admission

BA ENGLISH/MALAYALAM

Complementary Course

(JOU4(3) C01)

UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT, School of Distance Education,

Calicut University P.O., Malappuram, Kerala – 673635.

19702



UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT

SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

STUDY MATERIAL

III/IV SEMESTER

2019 Admission

BA ENGLISH/MALAYALAM

Complementary Course (JOU4(3) C01)

JOURNALISTIC PRACTICES

Prepared by:

Dr. Muhammadali N., Associate Professor, Dept of Mass Communication and Journalism, University of Calicut.

Scrutinized by:

Dr. Abdul Muneer. V., Associate Professor & Head, Dept. of Journalism, EMEA College of Arts & Science, Kondotty.



PREFACE

This study material is prepared based on the syllabus for Journalistic Practices under

the BA Programme of the School of Distance Education, University of Calicut. The

syllabus has six modules such as Print Media Journalism: Organizational Structure

of a Newspaper, Content Categories and Reporting Practices, Editing for

Newspaper, Public Relations, Advertising and Copywriting Practices.

Being a study note for helping students the contents are collected and curated using

different sources. The list of sources from which the contents are

collected/generated is given at the end of this material. Also, some study materials

already published by the SDE of the University for Journalism courses were also

used to collect the content for this note.

Gayatri Baiju, Sikha N and Manjusha PM at the Department of Journalism and Mass

Communication, University of Calicut have contributed to the preparation of the

notes on Module III to VI.

I thank them for their help.

Muhammadali N



CONTENTS

Module I PRINT MEDIA JOURNALISM: ORGANIZATIONAL

STRUCTURE OF A NEWSPAPER

Module II PRINT MEDIA JOURNALISM:

CONTENTS AND REPORTING PRACTICES

Module III PRINT MEDIA JOURNALISM: EDITING

Module IV PUBLIC RELATIONS

MODULE V ADVERTISING

Module VI COPYWRITING PRACTICES



MODULE I

PRINT MEDIA JOURNALISM

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF A NEWSPAPER

Print Media: An Introduction

In 1457, Johannes Gutenberg invented movable metal types. This paved the way for

mass production of printed materials. Resultantly, presses and publications spread

rapidly first across Europe, then in other continents. Mass production of printed

documents led to democratization of knowledge. In other words, it made knowledge

and education accessible to common people. It was exactly a revolution because till then

knowledge was considered the property of the elite.

The print media are different in their binding, regularity, content and timeliness, though

the means and methods for production are similar to certain extent.

Features

Types of Print Media

Books Magazines Newspapers

Binding Stitched /Glued Stapled Unbound

Regularity Single Issue At least quarterly At least weekly

Content Single Topic Diverse Topic Diverse Topic

Timeliness Generally, not

timely

May be timely or

untimely

Timeliness is

important

These are not rigid distinctions. However, they are helpful to understand the features of

each type.

Newspapers

Newspapers are periodically published documents that carry current information about

the society. Earlier newspapers were not daily publications as we see now. They were

published weekly or bi-weekly. This was due to the absence of adequate technology and

newsgathering system. By the early 19th century, power press was invented. This led to



fast printing. Invention of telegraph and teleprinter also helped us gather news from

remote places. This all facilitated the introduction of daily newspapers.

The first newspaper was Publick Occurrences published by Ben Harris in 1690. The first

newspaper published in India was the Bengal Gazzet by James Augustus Hicky in 1780.

It is also called Hicky’s Gazette.

Newspapers are primary mass medium from which people receive news. The research

results show that newspapers reach more people than any other medium do. And, by

every measure, newspaper industry overpowers all other media, be it in advertising

revenue and in the size of audience.

Unlike other mass media, newspapers influence people in a many significant ways. A

newspaper article or news is valued more than television or radio programmes. And,

newspaper content is considered more credible and accurate. Capability to be used for

future reference make newspapers people’s favorable medium, especially for the middle

and working class for they can use it after their working hours. Diversity of content is

another feature of this medium. It can carry a rich mix of news, features, articles,

columns, cartoons, graphics, editorial etc. And, readers can select what they want from

the entire content. Some people prefer sports page and they read it first while others

look for political news and some other for stock market. Selectivity and content

diversity make newspapers a real mass medium. This is not possible in the case of radio

and television.

In any society, the traditional newspapers are part of their culture and social system.

They talk about their newspapers affectionately because they give them information,

education, entertainment, more over ways for socialization and legitimization of new

values. In democratic society, the Press is the Fourth Estate. At primary level, the Press

means newspapers.

Of the print media, newspapers are the most read one. It is assumed that 3 out of every

4 literates read newspapers. In United States of America, daily newspapers reach 185

million people a day. For advertisers, newspaper is a medium of choice since it attracts

more active readers (active audience) when compared to any other media.

Newspapers are printed products created on a regular (weekly or daily) basis and

published in multiple copies, containing mainly updated information about happenings

in the society. Regular newspapers were not in circulation till 17th century because of

the absence of adequate printing or duplication technology.



Role of Newspapers

In their early years, newspapers were centre of debate and they were run by scholars,

political leaders, reformers and revolutionaries. The main mission of the Press in its

infant stage was to argue with government for better life conditions and freedom of the

people. Because of their capability to raise public opinion and alternative thinking, the

Press at that time is called by media historians as adversarial press. During this period,

governments imposed stringent licensing systems and taxes on newspapers. In spite of

these measures, English newspapers continued their battle against colonial policies of

the Britain. The public anger created by the Press culminated in the American

Revolutionary War. The newspapers in other countries may also have same kind of

stories to tell. The early newspapers, both in English and in local languages in India also

formed public opinion against the British policies and at last resulted in the withdrawal

of English forces from Indian soil.

Advances in printing technology encouraged newspapers to adopt new modes of

production and distribution which led to mass circulation of the medium. Circulation

means the number of newspapers people paid for or received free in one publishing

cycle. The steam powered cylinder press invented by Hoe and Company and

development of low-cost newsprint were the innovations in printing sector. These made

it possible to print thousands of copies in a short time and sell them at a price low

enough that even working people could afford. It was then newspapers became the real

mass medium. During 1800s, with their popularity newspapers were sold on the street

at a low price. So, they are called penny papers. Newspaper circulation increased into

tens of thousands due to the popularity they gained over decades and more and more

innovations were introduced in printing sector. Rotary press with revolving types and

offset press are some of them.

Characteristics of Newspapers

Primarily, newspapers are print media even though digital age offers online newspapers

and e-newspapers. That is why it has all the features that any print medium has. Major

features of mass media are given below:

Predominance of news-oriented content: There are three types of content in

newspapers: news, views and advertisements. Of these, news overshadows the others

because newspapers are primarily meant for the dissemination of news.



Regular periodicity: Newspapers may be published daily or weekly. Periodicity may

vary but, regularity should be kept. Every newspaper keeps a particular regularity in

publication.

Future reference facility: Being a print medium, newspapers can be kept for future

use. This archiving ability makes newspapers one of the main sources of historical

research.

Choice of the time of use: Unlike television and radio, we can read newspapers at any

time. Some read in the morning while others in the evening after work. This facility

increases the popularity of newspapers.

The Literates’ medium: Unlike television and radio, newspaper demands literacy from

the part of the audience.

Low cost: Compared to other media, newspaper is a cost effective medium. Anybody

can afford a newspaper as it needs no hidden charges or other accessories. Electronic

media requires power supply and the new media need digital technology.

Multiple Users: Many readers can read a copy of the newspaper simultaneously or

separately.

Textual Medium: Text is the soul of newspapers, though they carry images and

graphics.

Types of Newspapers

Newspapers can be categorized into various types based on their page size/format,

content type, periodicity, time of publication, area of circulation and type of the users.

By Page Size/Page Format

By size, newspapers can be divided into three: Broadsheet, Tabloid and Berliner

Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is

characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches / 559 millimetres or

more). The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single

sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from

ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet newspaper was published in

1618. Most of the Malayalam newspapers are in broadsheet format.

Tabloid is a smaller newspaper format per spread mostly used for a weekly

or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest stories

and entertainment. The tabloid newspaper format is particularly popular in

the United Kingdom where its page dimensions are roughly 430 × 280 mm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_prints

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom



(16.9 in × 11.0 in). Tehelka, well known Indian news weekly is in tabloid

format.

Berliner is a newspaper format with pages normally measuring about

470 × 315 mm (18.5 × 12.4 in). The Berliner format is slightly taller and

marginally wider than the tabloid format; and is both narrower and shorter

than the broadsheet format. The Berliner format is used by many European

newspapers, including dailies such as Le Monde in France, and The Guardian

in the United Kingdom.

Broadsheet

Tabloid

Berliner

By time of publication

Morning Dailies

Evening Dailies

By Content

By content type, newspapers are mainly classified as general newspapers, political

newspapers, and financial/business newspapers. Some other categories are also

possible, but not in currency.

By Periodicity

Dailies and weeklies are two type of newspapers based on the periodicity. Dailies are

newspapers that are published at least five times a week and weeklies are those

published once a week.

In the West, Sunday newspapers are a common scene. But in India, newspapers publish

literary / entertainment/ cultural supplements for leisure reading.

By Circulation Area

National Dailies: Their primary area of circulation is across the nation. Wall

Street Journal, USA Today are national dailies of the USA. Guardian, Sun and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabloid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadsheet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Monde

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom



Independent are British dailies. The Hindu, Times of India and Hindustan Times

are national dailies in India.

Hometown newspapers: Town-centric newspapers focusing issues on that

particular city is called hometown newspapers. Midday of Mumbai is an example.

Metropolitan dailies: Dailies concentrate on the affairs of a metro city.

Examples: Metro Vartha of Malayala Manorama.

By Audience

Community Newspapers: Newspapers published on and by a community. E.g.,

Newsday based in New York. Deepika in Malayalam.

Religious Newspapers: Newspapers published by religious organizations,

focusing on religious news with a mission of propagation. Eg. Punyabhoomi

Immigrant and Ethnic Newspaper: Newspapers published by ethnic groups

living in alien lands as expatriates like Indians in the Gulf countries. Benjamin

Franklin’s Philadelphische Zeitung in 1732 is the first of its kind. Gulf

Madhyamam published from the Middle East is first full-fledged ethnic media in

Malayalam.

Black Newspapers: A phenomenon found in the West. Newspapers by and on

the black people. First black newspaper is Samuel Cornish’s Freedom’s Journal.

A.M. Journal founded by Malcolm X, Chicago Daily Defender and New York Daily

Challenge are modern black newspapers.

Gay Newspapers: Newspapers carrying news about trans-gender groups. The

first Gay Newspaper is Jim Michales’ Advocate started in 1967 in America.

By Language

English

Vernacular

Braille: Newspapers published for the blind.

STRUCTURE OF A NEWSPAPER ORGANIZATION

The organizational structure of newspapers varies according to their size, filed of

operation and volume of the turnover. Generally, newspapers have four major

departments- Editorial, Digital, Business and Mechanical Production.

Editorial Department



It is the most significant of all others as it manages to gather and process news and non-

news content of the medium. This department runs under the control of Chief Editor

and it includes an array of editorial professional with varying designations and

responsibilities. They are Assistant Editors, Associate Editors, News Editors, Chief Sub

Editors, Sub Editors, Bureau Chiefs, Correspondents, Reporters etc.

The Editorial division is segmented into two: Desk and Field. Desk is the general term

for the editorial team that processes and manages news while Field is the term to

denote the news collectors under the leadership of Bureau Chiefs. But, for the successful

operation of the newspaper, both desk and field work together as a team under the

leadership of the Chief Editor.

Organizational Structure of Editorial Division

The chart given above illustrates the organizational structure of the editorial division in

a medium sized newspaper.

Digital Department



Digital Department of a newspaper handles digital services required for the smooth

running of both editorial and other departments in the newspaper organization. It is a

new addition to the traditional newspaper organizational structure to meet the

requirements of the digital revolution. The major services of this department are to

develop software and multimedia platforms for the newspaper. Platforms for running

online version of the media and its operation in a professional fashion is one of the

primary services rendered by this department. Similarly, a good digital department

develops software for other divisions like accounts, human resource management etc.

come under the purview of the Business Department.

Business Department which includes Purchase Section, Accounting Section, Payroll

Section, Human Resources Section, Planning and Development Section. The following

three sub sections also function under Business Section:

o Marketing Section: Market Research Section, Promotion Section and

Public Relations Section.

o Advertising Section: Accounts Section, Sales Section and Customer

Service Section.

o Circulation Section: It manages the prompt delivery of the newspaper

and circulation promotion methods.

Mechanical Department: Design, Printing and Packing Sections come under the

Production Section

How a Newspaper is Produced?

In discussing the production of newspaper, we shall focus on two areas: content

creation and printing.

Content Creation

The process of content creation of a newspaper depends on its periodicity (dailies or

weeklies) and nature of circulation.

In general, publisher of the newspaper is in charge of all of a newspaper’s operations,

including financial matters such as getting advertisements, circulation, legal matters,

human resource management, accounts etc., production issues (procurement of

production materials like newsprints, machinery etc.) and editorial issues (general

policy regarding the perspectives and style of presentation of the non-advertising

matters).



The publisher sets the advertising-editorial ratio subject to the rules and regulations

framed by the governments and controlling agencies. Ad-editorial ratio helps us define

the balance between the amount of space separately available for advertisements and

editorial matters. Typical ratio between editorial/news and advertisements is 60:40 in

most countries. The space allotted for news/editorial content is called news hole and

the space available for advertisements is called pay hole.

Editor is the person responsible to manage all operations to fill the news hole while

advertising manager under the guidance of the publisher will take care of the pay hole.

There will be an array of professionals like Managing Editor, Assistant Editor, Resident

Editor, News Editor, Chief Sub Editor, Sub Editor and Reporters in the field to assist the

Editor in his operations.

The editorial department has two distinct teams working in tandem:

News gatherers (reporters)

News processors (editors)

News gatherers are field staff while news processors as the desk staff.

Reporters gather news independently or under the guidance of the desk. They report

news according to the content types required for the newspapers. In a typical urban

newspaper, the sections based on content types might be entertainment, finance, sports,

fashion, television/radio, politics, culture and foreign news.

Production Process

Once the news is identified, it is reported by the field staff and edited by those in the

desk. Next starts the production stage. The first step in this phase is newspaper design.

In some newspaper firms, sub editors themselves design pages; in others layout artists

do the job. With the Desk Top Publishing (DTP), it has been easy for any computer

literate to design newspaper pages. QuarkExpress and Adobe InDesign are the

commonly used software for page design in Indian newspapers. Pages are set according

to the dummy, a skeleton of the newspaper page, given by the advertising department

after marking the space for advertisements of the day. Designer/Sub Editor arranges

news stories and news photos on the pages according to their importance. To make the

pages visually attractive, pages are arranged keeping:

Symmetry: Visual balance of the text and graphics

Colour balance: Visual balance of the various color used.



Judicious use of white space: To provide enough white space to avoid messy

design

Readability criteria: To make the page functionally readable

Legibility: Clarity and visibility of the text and graphics

Consistency: Standardization of the design for newspaper branding

House style: Standards devised by each newspaper organization should be

followed in design.

Now, the page is ready. It is handed over to senior editors like chief sub editor, news

editor, assistant editor or any such supervising staff for scrutiny and approval. After the

approval, the pages will be sent to plate making section. Earlier the plates were made

after filming the pages. But, advances in technology help skip this step. Now, pages can

be directly transferred to plates (Plates are aluminum sheets on which images of the

pages are printed using special chemicals). These plates are mounted on to printing

machines for printing. Printed newspapers are packed for transportation to the

newspaper agents.

In a newspaper organization, every task has a time limit. Otherwise, we will not get

newspapers early morning every day. The time limit for completing an assignment is

called deadline.

Very good internal communication is essential for better function of a newspaper

organization. Reporters should inform what is up there in the field. Editors should

inform each other about the stories allotted to each page. Designer should consult with

the sub editor about arranging news on a page and with the printer about the

technicalities of printing. Advertising department should give advertisement details on

time and marketing section should inform the editorial section about the market needs.

In short, everybody should go hand in hand for successful functioning of a newspaper

organization.

Editing and Editors

Editing is the most import function in newspaper production. Editor defines the form

and content of the newspaper as well as he proclaims the policy and viewpoint of the

organization on various issues in news. Editing is a responsibility that requires many

skills and values.

Who is a good editor?

For the answer, read this advertisement.



The advertisement lists a range of qualities required for the editor the newspaper

organization searches for. A good journalist must have these qualities. Editors need to

be strong journalists and newsroom leaders. They are involved in the news process

from beginning to end. Editors need good news judgment because they serve as

assignment managers, responsible for deciding what stories will be covered and by

whom. They must be good writers in order to help shape the story as it is developing,

discussing it with reporters in the field and deciding where to deploy more people to

cover additional angles. Editors are directly involved in decisions about story

presentation, writing or choosing headlines, captions, photos, and illustrations. And

they must lead and motivate the employees who report to them, says Deborah Potter,

famous journalism researcher.

Newspaper editors check copy, choose illustrations — either graphics or photos — and

decide how the story will be laid out on the page as well as the headline, she adds.

The major processes an editor should perform are

Editing

Headlining

Writing Captions

Selecting and editing images and graphics

Supervising newspaper design

Editor Wanted

A well-known newspaper wants editors.

The person should have strong writing, editing, and layout skills. … He or she should be accurate, responsible, and able to work well

within a team atmosphere, and possess supervisory skills. He or she should be expert news judgment … superior writing skills … must

have management skills, must be multi-task oriented, and well organized.



Copy Editing

An accuracy check is the first level of copy-editing. Editors look for grammatical and

usage errors, as well as for spelling mistakes. They pay particular attention to subject-

verb agreement and subject-pronoun agreement. Editors make sure that all numbers in

a story are correct: addresses, telephone numbers, ages, date, and time references. They

rework any calculations the reporter may have performed to make sure the math is

correct. They confirm that the reporter has used proper titles for everyone who is

quoted, and they review the use of attribution throughout the story.

Editors also look closely for any errors of fact or issues of fairness. Meticulous editors

read stories with a skeptical eye, with questions like these in mind:

• How does the reporter know this?

• Why should the audience believe this?

• Is the main point of the story supported?

• Are the quotes accurate, and do they capture what the person really meant?

• Are all sides represented?

• Is something missing?

• Is the story fair?

Editors also pay attention to matters of taste and language, which vary depending on

the local culture.

Writing Headlines and Captions

Besides editing stories, editors prepare additional material that accompanies the

stories. In newspapers, editors write headlines for stories and captions for photos.

A headline is both a summary and an advertisement. It gives the audience a quick idea

of what the story is about, and tells readers why they should be interested in reading

the entire piece.

A caption is more of a label, telling readers what the photograph or graphic shows. In

broadcast newsrooms, producers may write headlines and also what are called teases,

short descriptions of stories designed to make listeners or viewers want to stay tuned to

get the full report.

Headlines, by definition, are short and catchy. A print headline summarizes the



story, gets the reader’s attention, helps organize the news on the printed page, and,

through the use of different sizes of type, indicates the relative importance of each story.

Good editors simply do not compress the lead paragraph into just a few words while

writing headlines. They try to capture the central point of the story in the headline, so

they need to understand a story fully before trying to write a headline. The editor has to

read the story from beginning to end, and look at the photographs and graphics that will

accompany the story.

Photo captions also have a different purpose from headlines. Instead of summarizing

content the way a headline does, a caption helps the reader appreciate what’s inside the

visual frame. The photograph and caption together form a small story that the reader

can understand without having to read the text of the story that accompanies it.

Selecting Visuals

How to write good headlines?

The language in headlines should be simple and straightforward. Use proper names and present tense. It’s generally acceptable not to use conjunctions — articles like “the” — and to drop

linking verbs like “is” or “were.” A story that tells how a woman and her boyfriend were arrested for a string of bank robberies might be headlined: “Bandit, Boyfriend Held in Robberies.”

A headline should match the tone of the story. Hard news stories demand a straight

summary.

How to write good captions?

Good captions should clearly identify the main people in a photograph. If several people are featured, it’s often helpful to let the reader know that the

central character is the one “wearing a cap” or “standing on the right.” Captions should not repeat the exact wording of the headline or lift a sentence

directly from the story. And caption writers don’t need to spell out what can be seen clearly in the photo.

“Carlos Fernández smiles as he gets off the plane” is a less effective caption than: “A jubilant Carlos Fernández returns from 15 years in exile.”

Most captions are short, just one or two lines in small type. But on occasion, a

newspaper or online site will carry multiple photographs with longer captions in

a photo essay that tells a complete story. Longer captions can use quotations from

the people pictured.



While selecting visuals for the print media, editors should keep the following advice

given by Deborah Potter. She says:

Every graphic must have a purpose.

Filling empty space or airtime is not a sufficient reason for using a graphic.

A graphic should enhance the reader or viewer understands of the story, which

means the editor must fully understand the story before designing or choosing a

graphic to go along with it.

Graphic artists usually produce the visual images; the role of the editor is to

conceptualize the graphic, find the information it should contain or illustrate,

and ascertain its accuracy.

Graphics can convey basic facts or illustrate a process.

Writing Features

Hard-news stories are typically an assemblage of facts. Some are better-written than

others, but they all exist to fulfill a simple purpose - convey information.

Feature stories, on the other hand, aim to do much more. They convey facts, but they

also tell the stories of people's lives. To do that, they must incorporate facets of writing

often not found in news stories, ones that are often associated with fiction writing.

At the heart of all feature stories is human interest. While try to write features, we

should keep the following characteristics of a feature stories in mind.

Feature stories are descriptive and full of detail. They generally have a strong narrative

line. Feature stories have a strong lead that grabs readers and makes them want to read

on. To prepare feature stories, we often depend on interviews. And, we abundantly

include quotations from the person(s) involved. Feature stories combine facts and

opinion, with a focus on the human-interest side of the story. While they can report

news, the news content is not of primary importance. They both educate and entertain.

They can include colorful detail as well as humor. Feature stories contain the voice of

the writer. They can be organized in a variety of ways (i.e., chronologically, narrative

fashion). Feature stories often put the “meat” on the “skeletal bones” of a news story.

Translation

According to The Oxford Companion to the English Language, translation is the

communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent

target-language text.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_(linguistic)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_and_formal_equivalence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_language



There are three major types of translation

Word-for-word translation: a translation that matches with the exact word

order in the source text.

Literal translation: a rendering which preserves surface aspects of the message

both semantically and syntactically, adhering closely to source text mode of

expression.

Free translation: a translation that modifies surface expression and keeps intact

only deeper levels of meaning.

Free translation is most commonly used method for translating news.

A competent translator has the following qualities:

Very good knowledge of the language; written and spoken, from which he is

translating (the source language);

Excellent command over the language into which he is translating (the target

language).

CHIEF EDITOR

Chief Editor (CE) is one who controls and manages the newspaper in its entirety. Chief

Editor is appointed by the Board of Directors or owner of the newspaper. All important

decisions connected with the publication and editorial view point are taken by the Chief

Editor in consultation with other editors and sometimes with the owners. CE

coordinates the desk and field. Every newspaper should print the name of the editor in

its imprint line as per the PRB Act that regulates the printing and publication of the

newspapers in India.

The success of a newspaper lies in the smooth relationship between the owner and the

chief editor. It is observed that "the relationship between an editor and a proprietor

need not be a smooth one always. We have numerous cases in India where the editor

had to step down on account of disagreements with the proprietors. In some cases, the

proprietors have unceremoniously kicked out the editors. Legendary Malayalam editor

Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai had left the editorship of many newspapers on

account of disagreements with the proprietors". Following are the description of the

other types of editors in newspapers as sourced from one of the study materials of the

SDE at UoC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_language





NEWS EDITOR

News editor is in charge of the newsroom and his major responsibility is in the selection

of news stories. He/she allocates tasks to news team and instructs reporters on the

news angles which are to be highlighted in reports. News editor is directly answerable

to the chief editor.

The news editor in consultation with the chief reporter will decide what news stories

should be covered and in what detail. As the final authority on the news, he has the

power to stop the printing of a newspaper in order to accommodate an important fast-

breaking news story. He/she must scan all incoming news and issue directions for

appropriate editing. Dummy for the first page is finalised by the news editor. He/she

should know the pressure, stress, ordeals and joys of working in the late night as well as

the strain of competitive journalism and news operations.

CHIEF SUB-EDITOR

The senior sub-editor or the chief sub-editor is the captain of the editorial section of the

news desk. It is his/her responsibility to see that copies are distributed among the sub-

editors and to ensure that copies are edited properly, attractive and meaningful

headlines are given and copies are free from libels. The edited copies are handed over to

the printing section before the cut-off time.

SUB-EDITOR/COPY EDITOR

The sub-editor also known as copy editor has been described as the midwife to the

story and the unsung hero of a newspaper. He/she should have a lawyer’s analytical

approach and quick-mindedness which enables him/her to understand a story quickly

and come to the core of the matter.

A sub-editor has to give appropriate headlines and, where necessary, revise and

condense the material to suit the available space. These tasks call for a flair for writing

and mastery over the language. He/she has to check and recheck facts, style, grammar

etc. while editing a story in a newspaper.

A sub-editor’s working hours are more regular than that of a reporter. Unlike a reporter



who can be called to duty at any time, a sub-editor’s duty is fixed like any other office

worker’s. The only difference is that a sub-editor has to work in shifts and his/her work

begins in the late afternoon and goes up to 2 to 3 in the wee hours of the morning.

CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Photojournalism is a form of journalism that creates images in order to describe a news

story. A photojournalist is a visual reporter who must often make decisions instantly

and carry photographic equipment, often while exposed to significant obstacles such as

physical danger, weather, crowds etc.

A good photojournalist is both a skilled photographer who uses the camera and other

equipment to his best advantage. He must also be a creative person who mixes

technique and judgement to capture images as they happen because news events do not

wait for the photographer.

A photojournalist must be prepared to act fast and have his camera always at hand.

Interesting pictures are most often a result of the alertness of the photojournalist who is

at the right place at the right time. The chief photographer coordinates the gathering of

photos.

REPORTER/CORRESPONDENTS

A reporter collects news on behalf of the readers of a newspaper. To a great extent, a

newspaper’s reputation and credibility depends on the reporters. They can make or

destroy a newspaper. A reporter performs the noble task of educating and informing the

reader about what is happening around them.

As in every other profession, specialisation is there in reporting too. Big newspapers

have specialists to report political, legal, business, education, crime, sports, films and

special events. These reporters write authoritative articles in their specialised areas.

ONLINE EDITOR

Online Editor is a new addition to the editorial board of the newspapers as they start to

publish their online versions. Almost every newspaper in India now publishes its online

version in two formats: one is with same content and design of the offline newspaper,



mostly in pdf and the other is specially chosen content on dynamic platforms. Online

reporting and editing need special treatment of the content. Online editors are

responsible for managing the content to maximize the click rate.

STRINGERS AND FREELANCERS

Stringer, part-time or freelance journalist, videographer, or photographer typically

assigned by a news organization to cover areas that are considered less newsworthy or

that are deemed peripheral to the news organization's coverage area. They are not

entitled to regular salary. Instead, they will get payment according to the length and

volume of news pieces they contribute apart from other expenses incurred like

stationary and travelling allowances. Most of the stringers are paid a monthly fixed

retainer fee to ensure their availability.

As newspapers can’t appoint fulltime reporters in every remote and local areas,

stringers are very important to avoid missing important newsbreaks in such areas.

Mostly, newspapers prefer part timers who have other jobs and having journalistic

skills and passion. Though they have much value and recognition in immediate

community, sometimes they have to face threats and dangers in conflict zones from

political parties and other vested interest groups.

Freelancers are journalists who have no fixed employer but rather contribute to one

or many media organisations. They have flexibility to select an organisation where they

want to contribute according to the nature of content they produce. They have freedom

in the choice of subject matter as well. They don’t need to bother about the pressures of

deadline. Majority of the freelancers are reputed journalists who had worked with some

news organisations or writers/columnists who are specialists in some subject areas. So,

they can bargain good remuneration for their stuff. Nowadays, the advent of digital

media have opened numerous avenues for freelancers.



MODULE II

PRINT MEDIA JOURNALISM:

CONTENTS AND REPORTING PRACTICES

INTRODUCTION

Print media are textual representation of ideas. They might be presented in different

forms and styles. Form and content of the media define their credibility and utility.

Creating print media content requires skill and craft. Writing is a most privileged

profession of all time. Good writers have scope and they are handsomely paid in various

industries. But, writing is a creative activity because it is the process of expressing

oneself. Is writer born? Can a writer be trained? The questions are perennial and valid.

Even then the experience shows that rigorous practice can make one a good writer. Let

us learn some tips for good writing.

Types of media content

The fundamental duty of a journalist is to develop content for his or her newspaper.

Newspaper content can be classified into four: News, Views, Features and

Advertisements. While the first three are developed and published without getting any

income, the last one- advertisements are published charging huge amount of money.

Broadly, media content can be classified as fiction and non-fiction.

Fiction is textual expression of imagination. Non-fiction content includes news, features,

articles, columns etc. Non-fiction content in a print media, especially in a news medium

can be further classified as news content and non-news content. News content means

news reports and news-based articles and facts while non-news content includes

columns, articles of general nature or on specialized topics. The primary element of

news media content is news. Other contents are supplementary to the news hole.

NEWS

In this session, we will discuss news and the way journalists source and report it.

Let's start defining news. A plenty of definitions are available for this category of

newspaper content. Dictionary meaning of news is newly received or noteworthy

information, especially about recent events. Yet another definition is that accurate,

unbiased account of significant facts of any event that attract attention of people. News

is any fact or idea that will interest a mass audience. Some definitions are given below:



1 An account a recent event that's not known previously

2 News is the report of recent events, or occurrences brought or coming to one as

new information; new occurrences as a subject of report or talk (Oxford

Dictionary)

3 News is something that somebody somewhere doesn’t want to print, wants to

suppress. All the rest is advertising. (Lord Northcliffe, the famous British editor)

4 News is essentially about people, events, surrounding people, and places.

News is a new fact or piece of information about the events, persons and phenomena in

our surroundings i.e. four sides – North, East, West and South. News gathering is the act

by which reporters and editors collect and organize news they want to include in their

publication.

News has been defined in different ways over centuries by its function, objective etc.,

but no single definition has won widespread acceptance.

Walter Lipmann, famous columnist defined news as what produces from the ordinary….

a picture of reality on which people can act.

According to Leo Rosten, news is the departure from the normal.

A satiric definition is given by Nicolos Tomalin: ‘News is things that people don’t want to

be known’.

‘News is something that helps newspaper sells their product’.

‘Gathering of information by trained reporters’.

‘News is what editor thinks readers want to know or that they did not know

yesterday’.

‘Any information that serves the readers’.

For many, it is the record of current events. Today’s records are tomorrow’s history. In

that sense, news reporters are historians of today. All events are not reported; some get

through while others are discarded. The basic question is what makes an event

reportable. Learning the characteristics of news will answer this question.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS (NEWS DETERMINANTS/VALUES)

Both reporters and editors should know what news is and what is not, when they get

numerous stories from different sources. The ability to recognize a good story makes a

good journalist. Good stories contain most or all of the following characteristics



Timeliness: A reporter focuses on today’s events rather than the ones occurred

weeks ago. And he/she wants to report the story ahead of other reporters. If a

story occurred days ago, journalists try to report it in a new angle which is

appropriate to the present situation, because they know that only new

information or information presented in a new way will attract readers.

Importance: Among the stories of a day, journalists prefer the important events

that affect and interest as many readers as possible. While evaluating the stories

for selection, journalists consider their magnitude. A Tsunami that kills

thousands of people is more newsworthy than a road accident that kills one or

two. An increase in electricity charge is more newsworthy than an increase in

flight charge as the former affects more people.

Prominence: If you are a prominent person, you will always be at the centre of

media’s attention. Most of our news stories are about politicians, writers, artists,

film stars and so on because they have a prominent role in the society or in the

minds of readers. It is a fact that the readers have insatiable appetite for

information about celebrities and a good journalist should consider this since

his/her prime objective is to quench information thirst of the reader.

Proximity: A road accident in Punjab kills ten persons. Another accident in

Kerala kills nine persons. Which one will be prominently reported by the media

in Kerala? Certainly, the second one. Why? People prefer to know what happens

in their neighborhood or locality or in their own communities. Proximity is not

always geographical proximity; it is psychological too. If you have a lot of close

relatives working in the Gulf countries you will be interested to know what

happens to the expatriates there.

Oddities: News should be something unusual, controversial, and unexpected. It

should be something that makes us surprise at least for a while. The fact that two

people died in an accident is more newsworthy than the fact that thousands of

commuters reached home safely.

Consequence: What makes an event important is what would be its effects in

the society. The real event may be a simple court verdict; but, if it results in a

total change in legal view towards an issue that touches millions of people, it

really matters. Then, it’s reported with prominence.



Apart from these features, dozens of other factors also determine the selection of a

news story. Type of the event (whether tragedy or comedy), size of news medium and

nature of the community it serves, type of the technology used and the media are some

such factors.

A good journalist should know these basic characteristics, which are also known as

news values, for judicious selection of stories for publication.

REPORTING PRACTICES

Primary tasks in a news media firm are news gathering and processing. While news is

gathered by the field staff or reporters, it is processed by the staff at desk or editors.

As mentioned earlier a good reporter should be able to recognize the values that make

an event reportable. News must be new, novel, interesting and informative. News must

be about the unusual rather than the everyday. ‘Dog bites man is not news, but man

bites dog is news’.

News writing is a creative activity performed with utmost care, objectivity and fairness.

Over the years, reporters have developed a unique format for news story writing.

Following are the basic formats followed by news writers

Inverted Pyramid Style

Hourglass Style

Diamond Style

Before learning the news writing styles, let us know what are the ingredients of a news

story.

5 WS AND 1 H

Five Ws and One H is a rule of thumb in news writing, irrespective of the target media.

These are fundamental questions any individual may ask once he/she starts to read a

story.

Who? How? Where? Why? When? and What? are those famous questions. And, an ideal

news story is expected to provide answers to maximum number of these questions.

Examples of news stories that emphasizes on each of the questions above are given

here.

Who?: Well-known Malayalam poet A. Ayyappan died yesterday at

Thiruvananthapuram.

How?: A 22-year criminal punched Police Inspector in the back of the head and

then pulled police gun and shot him to death.



Where?: A bomb explosion in a mosque at a village in the north west frontier

area of Pakistan killed 80 people.

Why?: A man was arrested for robbery.

When?: Week after the earthquake, a seven year girl was pulled from the rubble

of a collapsed house.

What?: An estimated cost of rupees three million was earmarked for the

construction of a bridge across the Pampa river is mooted by the government.

NEWS LEADS

The first paragraph or two in a news story is called the “lead”. It is the most important

part of the story and most difficult part to write. Writing effective lead is a painful

activity which needs creativity. Lead is the threshold from where the reader enters the

story. So, the first impression should be the best impression. It should be as much

punchy, crispy and crunchy as to grab readers’ attention. It should tell the reader the

crux of the story without losing his/her curiosity.

In the past, a lead was expected to answer the following six questions: Who? How?

Where? Why? When? and What? Now the system is changing since leads that answer all

the six questions tended to be long and complex. And, answering all the questions does

not seem to be important. What is important is to select the most important questions

and trying to answer them. To recognize the importance, we should find out the main

point or focusing point of the story. And, the rest of the story will be snowballing around

the main point.

More so, good leads are found to be

Concise: Conciseness or brevity makes leads punchy and attractive. Brief leads

help readers consume media content easily and understand the idea clearly.

Specific: Specific information offers accuracy and clarity, by which the reader

confers higher credibility to the story. Specificity also helps ensure the content

error free.

Using strong, active verbs: Strong, active verbs enliven the story. Good

reporters prefer active verbs over the passive ones.

Emphasizing the magnitude of the story: Important point in the story should

be highlighted in the lead itself. For this, reporters shall have a better

understanding of the impact the story has on people.



Stressing the unusual: As mentioned, news should be new and about the

unusual.

Localized: Proximity is an important factor that makes an event reported.

Reports about events in locality attract us more than the stories from remote

place. Any story can be localized by finding out the relation between the focal

point in the story and its impact on our locality or local community. This is how

reporters make the stories attractive to local communities.

Simple: Leads should be simple and clear. Complicated structure of leads will

detract reader from the story. Readers want to get into the essence of the story at

the earliest as he or she wants to decide whether to continue. If not, reader can

skip to another story.

Similarly, we should avoid placing lists in lead and stating the obvious repeatedly. Label

lead that fails to report the heart of the story should be avoided. Exaggeration,

misleading adjectives, sensational description, negative connotation, redundancy

should be kept away from leads.

Lead is the soul of a story. Good report facilitates good leads. If the lead is okay, the

story is fine. And, finally, every one writes for the reader. Remember your readers while

writing media content. If the audience is not in your mind and write for their minds,

your content will not touch them.

Types of Leads

Direct Lead: It tells the story point in direct way. E.g. 10 persons including 2

women and 3 children killed in a road accident at Calicut yesterday.

Delayed or ‘Buried’ Lead: Long leads, that commonly start with description

or interesting anecdote that set the story’s theme.

E.g., It was 6.30 pm. City roads were packed with high traffic. The Mavoor

road junction in Calicut city was unexpectedly shocked with a huge sound.

People ran in panic. Mountain-like flames appeared in the air. It was a

collision between a gas tanker and city bus. 10 people were charred to death

on the spot.

Multi-paragraph Lead: Lead that extends to more than two paragraphs.

Quotation Lead: Leads that starts with quotations. E.g. “New pension

scheme will be implemented soon,” said Finance Minister.



Question Lead: Lead that starts with question/s. E.g. Are you a north Indian

residing in Kerala? If yes, you have good news from Ministry of Culture. The

ministry plans to organize special tour packages for north Indians living in

the State at a subsidized rate.

Suspenseful Lead: Lead that is written to arouse curiosity and suspense in

readers’ minds.

Descriptive Lead: Long lead that describes the most part of the story.

Shocking Lead: Lead indented to make the reader surprised with a twist in

the story.

Gathering News

Reporters collect facts and check it for accuracy. They sometimes witness events first-

hand, but most often than not, they gather facts from others who either witness the

event or have clear understanding of it. At times, reporters collect more information

from other sources also, on the stories they intent to report and check against

documents and records for accuracy. This information collection and cross-checking

process is a vital step in reporting process. While collecting information, a reporter

should try to answer the following questions which are commonly known as 5 W’s and

1 H.

Depending on the complexity of the story, a reporter might ask those questions in

several different ways.

WHO:

• Who is involved in this story?

• Who is affected by it?

• Who is the best person to tell the story?

• Who is missing from this story? Who has more information about this?

• Who is in conflict in this story? Do they have anything in common?

• Who else should I talk to about this?

WHAT:

• What happened?

• What is the point of this story? What am I really trying to say?

• What does the reader, viewer, or listener need to know to understand this story?

• What surprised me? What is the most important single fact I learned?

• What is the history here? What happens next?



• What can people do about it?

WHERE:

• Where did this happen?

• Where else should I go to get the full story?

• Where is this story going next? How will it end?

WHEN:

• When did this happen?

• When did the turning points occur in this story?

• When should I report this story?

WHY:

• Why is this happening? Is it an isolated case or part of a trend?

• Why are people behaving the way they are? What are their motives?

• Why does this story matter? Why should anyone watch, read, or listen to it?

• Why am I sure I have this story right?

HOW:

• How did this happen?

• How will things be different because of what happened?

• How will this story help the reader, listener, or viewer? or the community?

• How did I get this information? Is the attribution clear?

• How would someone describe this story to a friend?

A reporter can use these questions as checklist to ensure that he/she has covered all

aspects of the news.

Asking ‘Five Ws and one H’ questions is considered as part of the research for preparing

the story. The information collected through these questions is to be structured to make

it a news story. News stories should have a structure. Otherwise, they will be a mixture

of facts. It is the structure of the story that makes us read the news.

How to write a news story?

There are some standardized methods which are practically followed by the journalists.

Let us look at those styles of news writing which are famously known as


Hourglass Style

Diamond Style

INVERTED PYRAMID STYLE



Inverted Pyramid Style of news writing is to put most important information at the top,

followed by other information in descending order of importance.


This shape is useful when reporting important or breaking news, when timeliness is of

the essence. If you are the first to report a significant development, you’ll want to tell

the audience what has happened right at the top of your story. A report on a bus

accident, for example, likely would begin with the death toll and the location of the

incident.

In the inverted-pyramid structure, information following the lead expands or develops

the point that is made in the lead. In the case of the accident report, the writer might

describe the scene of the event, and then include a quote from a survivor or an

emergency worker. Supporting paragraphs would elaborate on the topic, filling in

details and providing background on the storm. In a longer story, a reporter might

include secondary information that is related to the primary theme but not directly. See

the Inverted Pyramid structure graphics to know how bits of information are organized

according to their importance.

Information organization in

Inverted Pyramid Style of News Writing



HOURGLASS STYLE

Hourglass structure is a modified form of the inverted pyramid style. Both the styles

begin with most important information about the event. But, in hourglass style, after a

few paragraph, narration of the event in a chronological order begins.

If our bus accident story is written in

hourglass style, it would start with

death toll. Place and time of the

accident follow it. After this kind of

basic facts, the news takes the shape

of a story telling. It may include sentences

like ‘the bus hit the lorry when Raju, who

killed in the accident was crossing

the road through zebra line’.

DIAMOND STYLE

10 persons killed in a bus accident

It occurred in Calicut

7 men and 3 women killed

The accident was in the early

morning



According to Deborah Potter, author of the book “Handbook of Independent

Journalism”, a reporter using Diamond Structure would begin with an anecdote,

introducing a character whose experience illustrates what the story is all about. This

small story would then broaden out to show its wider significance. Toward the end, the

reporter would return to the individual character’s story as a way of concluding the

narrative.

Reporters using this structure often use a device known as a “nut” paragraph (or nut

graph) to explain why the story matters — the word “nut” signifying the hard center of

the story. Jack Hart, managing editor

of Portland’s Oregonian newspaper,

says nut graphs “can answer any

questions raised in

leads, explain why stories are

significant, and place stories in

meaningful contexts.” The nut graph

needs to be early enough in the story

to make clear to the reader why he

or she should bother to keep

reading.

The diamond form is frequently

used in television news and newspaper reports. For example, a reporter might begin a

story about a new AIDS treatment by introducing a patient who needs the treatment,

then describes the experimental drug and how it works, and concludes by noting that

doctors give the patient we met earlier only a limited time to live if the new treatment is

not effective. Whatever form you choose, the middle of the story should keep the

audience engaged and interested. Good writing, a magazine editor once said, makes the

reader want to find out what happens next.

Besides news, a newspaper carries other types of textual content as well.

Following are the significant ones:

FEATURES STORIES

They are newspaper or magazine articles or reports of a person, event, an aspect of a

major event, or the like, often having a personal slant and written in an individual style.

Diamond Style

Important facts

Ends with less important facts

Starts with less important facts



They are pieces of non-fiction writing about news and are normally called soft news or

human-interest stories. Mostly, they appeal to the emotions and feelings of the reader.

Quality of writing differentiates a feature story from other types of newspaper content

because the writer uses special crafting style, creative expressions and brevity to

impress the reader and make it memorable.

Feature writers use narrative style with plot and characters though the content is about

a real event or person. Feature writers rely on creativity and subjectivity to build an

emotional connection with the audience and focus on universal dimension of human

interest. In contrast to straight hard news, feature stories intend to entertain the

audience.

They are truthful, and based on facts, but in detail they are lesser objective than hard

news because of their narrative structure and style. Features stories are written in

various styles: Stories that describe a scene and shed light on its theme in a colorful

style is called colour piece while stories that are written from the perspective of an

observer without the involvement of the journalist is termed as Fly on the wall. Stories

depicted as personal account after collecting information from the field pretending to be

another person is called undercover story. Other major variant of feature stories are

interviews and profiles

INTERVIEWS

Interviews are written based on the face-to-face or online conversation with the source

of news or information. It may be structured as a planned conversation after preparing

questions. Questions can be structured and open ended. Interviewing is considered to

be a significant source of getting information for breaking news. It is hard to get

appointment of celebrities for interview. However, in some instances, celebrities

themselves arrange interviews with journalists to keep their presence in limelight.

Celebrity interviews are essential part of magazines. Getting appointment and

conducting a successful interview for the media is a task that requires skill. following

are the tips for journalists to make the interview successful.

Interviewing tips

Explain the ground rules of the interview to people unfamiliar with how the

media works - this means that you tell them the information they give you can



and will be published. If they do not want any part of what they say published,

they need to tell you it is "off the record."

Tape the interview (so if anyone comes back at you, you have the proof of what

was said).

Build a rapport with the person being interviewed.

Start with easy questions; end with difficult questions.

Read the body language of the person you're interviewing and if they get

defensive, back away from the question you are asking and return later.

Don't attack the source.

Keep control of the interview; don't let the subject ramble or stray from the

subject.

On the other hand, don't let your "opinion" of what the story should be colour the

interview. Always remember that the person you are talking with knows more

about the subject than you do.

PROFILES

An account of a person written in narrative non-fiction style and published in

newspaper or magazine is called profile in journalistic parlance. It is simply termed as a

written portrait of a person. For writing profile, the writer explores facts about the

person through research. Also, the writer conducts interviews with the person as well

as the people in his or her immediate circle. A profile contains stories, quotes and

pictures of the person interviewed.

TRAVELOGUES

Travelogue is a written account of a person's experience of visiting places. In recent

years, travelogues have become an essential part of magazines and Sunday

supplements. The word travelogue is a combination of the words- travel and

monologue. Being a personal account, travelogues is considered to be more truthful in

content and colorful in writing. It carries all the elements to make appealing to the

audience.

COLUMN

It is a recurring piece of article published in newspaper or magazine with fixed interval

to express the views and opinion of a writer. Normally, columnist, who writes columns,

are given a fixed space on newspaper's edit page to express his or her view of the

current issues. Column appears in newspaper on a particular day.



CARTOONS

Cartoon is a significant non-news element in a newspaper. Cartoons normally appear on

newspaper pages belong to political cartoon category. A political cartoon is a visual

representation of the newspaper’s editorial policy on a current event. Political cartoon

includes graphics with caricatures of political leaders or public figures and it represents

the political event in satiric version to question the authority, draw attention to

corruption and other social evils.

Indian journalism has a rich legacy of political cartooning. Sankar, Abu, Kutty, O V

Vijayan and R K Laxman are prominent cartoonists of independent India and they

contributed a lot to form public opinion on political culture of the nations. Interestingly,

most of well-known cartoonists like Abu, Sankar, Vijayan and Kutty are from Kerala and

they worked for national English dailies based in New Delhi.

Yesudasan, Venu, B M Gafoor, Gopikrishnan, Ragesh etc. are well known cartoonists

who contributed or are contributing to the development of cartooning in Malayalam

journalism. It is a practice in Malayalam newspapers to have a pocket cartoon on their

front pages with a regular character. Kunhamman of Mathrubhumi, Kunju Kurupp of

Malayala Manorama and Ramettan of Madhyamam are such cartoon characters.

FINDING STORY IDEAS

Keep your eyes and ears open; listen to what your friends are talking about.

Read everything you can get your hands on; get story ideas from other

newspapers and magazines.

Think of a youth angle to a current news story.

Research a subject that interests you ask yourself what you would like to know

more about.

Talk to people in a specific field to find out what is important to them.

Begin collecting articles on your subject.

Talk to friends and associates about the subject.

Contact any agencies or associations with interest or professional knowledge in

the area.



Create a list of people you want to interview; cover both sides of the story by

interviewing people on both sides of the issue.

Collect government statistics and reports on the subject get old press releases or

reports to use as background.

Information Organization

Gather your notes, interviews and research into a file.

Review your notes.

Look for a common theme.

Search your notes for good quotes or interesting facts.

Develop a focus.

Write the focus of the article down in two or three sentences.

Writing Process

Remember you are the narrator, the story teller.

Don't be afraid to rewrite.

Be as clear and concise in the writing as possible.

Avoid run-on sentences.

Be direct.

Tell a good story.

Tell the reader what you think they want to know.

Always ask yourself what the story is about.

Read the story out loud; listen carefully.

PRINCIPLES OF REPORTING

Accuracy, attribution of source, fairness and objectivity and multi-culturalism are five

factors that enhance the credibility of a news report. They also demonstrate a

reporter’s sense of responsibility.

1. Accuracy

The facts in a story should be correct, down to the minutest detail. A reporter must be

precise with every bit of the details of a story. Readers tend to judge a newspaper’s

credibility by their own experiences with its record of accuracy. News stories with

inaccuracies are a sign of a lazy reporter.

2. Attribution

Source identification should be as specific as possible. Use the person’s name if possible,



not merely a ‘spokesperson’. A reporter should not invent news source or attribute

information to such vague quarters like ‘an informed source’, ‘a confidential observer’

etc. The source from which a story’s information is obtained must be clearly identified.

Failure to do so makes a reporter’s story suspect.

3. Fairness

News stories should be scrupulously fair in their presentation of information. They

should never serve the vested interests of groups or individuals. When a person

criticises the behavior or opinion of another in a story, basic fairness requires that a

person criticised is given an opportunity to respond.

4. Objectivity

Writers should strive to keep their personal opinions out of a news story. In general

readers are unable to detect the reporter’s political beliefs, religious affiliations or social

attitudes. Every reporter will have his/her personal beliefs, interests, and involvements

but these should not be allowed to creep into the story. At times a reporter will cover

events that run contrary to those personal concerns. In such cases, the reporter should

work harder to achieve evenhandedness.

5. Multi-Culturalism

Multi-culturalism means to consider cultural diversity and ensure fair and objective

representation of each culture and cultural groups in any public endeavor including

journalism. A reporter should consider this diversity while reporting public events. He

or she should ensure that no society or group like women, gay, lesbian, minority,

expatriates, migrants are ill represented in news reports. More so, it is the responsibility

of a reporter to ensure that each cultural group and its perspective are fairly

represented in the reports.

NEWS SOURCES

Newspapers gather news from various sources through their reporters, correspondents

and freelance journalists. Press Conferences, Press Releases, Handouts, Press Kits,

Statements by public figures and political leaders are major sources of a newspaper.

More so, reporters collect news from police stations, hospitals, courts, educational

institutions, political party offices, research centres and similar government and non-

government offices.



Beat reporting, also known as specialised reporting, is a genre of journalism focused

on a particular issue, sector, organisation, or institution over time. Beat reporters build

up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity with the topic, allowing them to provide

insight and commentary in addition to reporting straight facts. Generally, beat reporters

will also build up a rapport with sources that they visit again and again, allowing for

trust to build between the journalist and their source of information. This distinguishes

them from other journalists who might cover similar stories from time to time.

Investigative Reporting

Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a

single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, corruption or corporate wrongdoing. An

investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report.

Practitioners sometimes use the terms "watchdog reporting" or "accountability

reporting."

Most investigative journalism has traditionally been conducted by newspapers, wire

services and freelancers. Journalistic investigations are increasingly carried out by news

organizations working together, even internationally (as in the case of the Panama

Papers) or by organizations such as Pro Publica, which have not operated previously as

news publishers and which rely on the support of the public and benefactors to fund

their work.

NEWS AGENCIES

A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to

subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television

stations.

A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire, or news service.

Although there are many news agencies around the world, four global news

agencies, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP), Reuters and United

Press International (UPI) have offices in most countries of the world, cover all areas of

information, and provide the majority of international news printed by the world's

newspapers. Press Trust of India (PTI), Asian News International (ANI), Indo-Asian

News Service (IANS), United News of India (UNI) are major Indian news agencies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reporters

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_agency

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_agency

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agence_France-Presse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuters

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Press_International

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Press_International



MODULE III

PRINT MEDIA JOURNALISM: EDITING

The sub-editor who plays a key role in the editing process has been described as the

midwife to the story, the most useful person in the newspaper and the unsung hero of a

newspaper. The following can be considered as the general rules of editing.

1. Ensuring accuracy: Good reporting is a key ingredient in ensuring

accuracy. But all who edit the story too share this responsibility. Sub-

editors ensure accuracy by checking and rechecking the facts and if

needed they would seek clarifications from the reporters about the

information in a story. Carelessness can lead to blunders and

embarrassing mistakes. These can greatly tarnish the reputation of a

newspaper.

2. Trimming unnecessary words: Unnecessary words, adjectives and

adverbs should be trimmed. If an event is very interesting, it is sufficient

to say it is interesting. Meaningless phrases should also be trimmed. For

example, the following phrases could be replaced with the words given

in brackets: a great number of times (often), a small number of (few), at

regular intervals of time (regularly), made an investigation of

(investigated), placed its seal of approval (approved) etc.

3. Protecting and polishing the language: Editing involves polishing the

language. An editor should have a thorough knowledge of the grammar

and the language usages. He/she plays a major role in protecting the

language against abuse. People at the desk should know how to spell, to

make certain a story is written in proper language, to reorganise and

clarify passages and protect the meaning of words. Clear writing,

correct spelling and grammar contribute to better communication of

ideas.

4. Correcting inconsistencies: Inconsistencies within the story should be

detected and corrected. Inconsistencies in story can confuse the reader.



For example: INSAT - IA launched in 1982 ended its life prematurely.

But INSAT - IA launched in 1983 was a grand success. The sub-editor

should detect the mistake that INSAT- 1A cannot be launched twice. In

the second sentence INSAT-1A should be corrected as INSAT-1B. If

superlatives cannot be checked they can be softened. The most

despicable crime in the world is to be changed to one of the most

despicable crimes in the world.

5. Making the story conform to style: The word ‘style’ in newspaper jargons

refers to the consistency provided by rules of usage in a newspaper.

Newspapers adhere to rules of style to avoid inconsistencies that would

annoy the reader. Adherence to style rules gives the newspaper a sense

of consistency that would be absent if goodbye were used in one story

and goodby in the next.

6. Eliminating libellous statements: Libel is a written defamation. The sub

editor must know the libel laws of the country. Libellous/ defamatory

statements should be eliminated. It is the duty of the sub-editor to

ensure that the stories are free from such statements.

7. Eliminating passages in poor taste: Some newspapers have policies

banning profanity of any types. Others permit the use of some words

but not others. For example, reputed newspapers by convention will not

publish the victim’s names and other identities in a story on rape.

8. Make the story readable and complete: A story that is readable and

complete has the following characteristics.

a) It is precise.

b) It is clear.

c) It has a pace appropriate to the content

d) It uses transitional devices that lead the reader from one thought to the

next.

e) It appeals to the reader’s senses.

9. Writing attractive headlines: A copy editor’s first task is to correct and

refine copy. A second task is to write headline that attracts reader’s

attention, summarises the story, depicts the mood of the story and helps

the tone of the newspaper.



10. Editing pictures and designing pages: An important step in the editing

process is the packaging of news stories in a page. Designing the page

helps the reader read faster and read more of what is written. The

packaging or designing of a newspaper is considered as important as its

contents.

Quality of writing primarily depends upon a reporter, but a sub-editor can improve

writing. Good editing complements good writing. Occasionally good editing can save

mediocre writing. Poor editing can make it worse or destroy it. It is said, ‘an excellent

staff without a copydesk might produce a fair newspaper. A mediocre staff with a

competent copydesk can produce an acceptable newspaper. But an excellent staff,

backed by an excellent desk, guarantees an excellent newspaper.

LINE EDITING

A line edit addresses the creative content, writing style, and language use at the

sentence and paragraph level. But the purpose of a line edit is not to comb your

manuscript for errors – rather, a line edit focuses on the way you use language to

communicate your story to the reader. Is your language clear, fluid, and pleasurable to

read? Does it convey a sense of atmosphere, emotion, and tone? Do the words you’ve

chosen convey a precise meaning, or are you using broad generalizations and clichés?

An editor may draw your attention to:

Words or sentences that are extraneous or overused

Run-on sentences

Redundancies from repeating the same information in different ways

Dialogue or paragraphs that can be tightened

Scenes where the action is confusing or the author’s meaning is unclear due to

bad transitions

Tonal shifts and unnatural phrasing

Passages that don’t read well due to bland language use

Confusing narrative digressions

Changes that can be made to improve the pacing of a passage

Words or phrases that may clarify or enhance your meaning.



CONDENSING STORIES

Summarizing, condensation, or précis writing is an art. It aims at squeezing the meaning

of a text into the fewest words. Condensation means process of making a story shorter

by taking out anything that is not necessary. The process of condensation in creative

writing is synonymous to précis writing. A condensed story must be a concise, complete

or lucid piece of writing

Steps to prepare a condensed story

• Go through the passage to grasp the general idea.

• Prepare a skeleton of basic structure by noting down the main points and key words.

• Exclude all the illustrations, elaborations, figurative comparison.

• Prepare the first draft by joining the underlined words.

WRITING EDITORIAL

Editorial pages are traditionally associated with a newspaper’s sense of dignity and

credibility. Some editors and publishers consider the editorial page the sanctuary of the

publication – an area where little experimenting is permissible. The nature of the

contents makes the editorial page an ideal spot to lure readers through the use of

graphics. The editorial page expresses a newspaper’s opinion. It is its voice, and a strong

one, for persuading the reader to take a course of action. On any given day it becomes

the medium for a variety of opinions on timely or philosophical issues.

What is an editorial?

An editorial is one of the writing styles used to express an opinion or reaction to timely

news, event or an issue of concern. Most editorials are used to influence readers to think

or act the same way the writer does. Not all editorials take sides on an issue but have

one of the following four purposes:

1. Inform: The writer gives careful explanations about a complicated issue.

2. Promote: The writer tries to promote a worthy activity. Get the reader involved.



3. Praise: The writer praises a person or an event.

4. Entertain: The writer encourages or entertains the reader about an important issue.

Organizing it

1. Select a topic that is specific, timely and of interest to readers.

2. Have a purpose in mind. What are you going to tell people to do or think?

3. Be sure you fully understand your topic. Research -- get reliable information. Use

newspapers, magazines, library, Internet, etc.

4. Ask yourself: Has the newspaper run a news story about this topic? Should it,

before we editorialize?

Writing it

1. State an opinion in the first sentence. Editorials have leads, just like news stories.

They tell readers where you're headed. Keep the lead short and concise.

2. Develop the body using facts. Build a strong case. Don't use more details from the

news story than needed to build your case.

3. Document quotes and sources, just as you would in a news story.

4. Avoid a preachy tone. Criticism should be constructive and offer a solution.

5. Remember that the best way to win an argument is to lay out the opposing

argument, then shoot holes in it. Then, tell why your solution is better.

6. Anticipate questions and objections to your argument and answer them.

7. Write in third-person voice.

8. Remember, short editorials usually are more effective than long ones. Readers

stay interested.

9. Suggest a solution, or an action, in the final sentence. If you're telling people to

take action, tell them how. For instance, if you tell readers to write their

congressman, give the address and e-mail address. Don't make them go look it

up.

10. Don't neglect the headline. Think of it as an important part of your editorial.

Other tips



Never write an editorial without research. You might write one in anger once in a while,

but don't run it without letting your anger cool, then reviewing what you wrote. Have an

early enough deadline for editorials that there's sufficient time for another editor to

review what you wrote. Last-minute, hurried editorials tend to be the weakest. Sample

of what could go into the five-paragraph editorial:

a personal experience, the thesis statement

explanation of the other side of the issue

examples to support your point of view

reasons for your point of view

the last paragraph should restate your thesis statement and end on a positive not

Structure of an Editorial

Editorials are written according to a well-established formula.

1. Introduction - state the problem

2. Body - expresses an opinion

3. Solution - offers a solution to the problem

4. Conclusion - emphasizes the main issue

Here are some additional tips on structuring your opinion story.

1. Lead with an Objective Explanation of the Issue/Controversy. Include the five

W's and the H. Pull in facts and quotations from sources which are relevant.

2. Present Your Opposition First. As the writer you disagree with these viewpoints.

Identify the people (specifically who oppose you). Use facts and quotations to

state objectively their opinions. Give a strong position of the opposition. You gain

nothing in refuting a weak position.

3. Directly Refute the Opposition's Beliefs. You can begin your article with

transition. Pull in other facts and quotations from people who support your

position. Concede a valid point of the opposition which will make you appear

rational, one who has considered all the options.

4. Give Other, Original Reasons/Analogies. In defence of your position, give reasons

from strong to strongest order. Use a literary or cultural allusion that lends to

your credibility and perceived intelligence.



5. Conclude with Some Punch. Give solutions to the problem or challenge the

reader to be informed. A quotation can be effective, especially if from a respected

source. A rhetorical question can be an effective concluder as well. While it

ridicules or makes fun of a subject with the intent of improving it.

Four Types of Editorials

1. Editorials of argument and persuasion take a firm stand on a problem or

condition. They attempt to persuade the reader to think the same way. This

editorial often proposes a solution or advises taking some definite action.

2. Editorials of information and interpretation attempt to explain the meaning or

significance of a situation or news event. There is a wide variety of editorials in

this category, ranging from those which provide background information to

those which identify issues.

3. Editorials of tribute, appreciation or commendation praise a person or an

activity.

4. Editorials of entertainment have two categories. One is the short humorous

treatment of a light topic. The second is a slightly satirical treatment of a serious

subject.

NEWS AGENCIES AND HANDLING COPY

News agency, also called press agency/wire service/news service is an organization

that gathers, writes, and distributes news from around a nation or the world to

newspapers, periodicals, radio and television broadcasters, government agencies, and

other users. It does not itself publish news but supplies news to its subscribers. All of

the mass media depend upon news agencies for the bulk of the news, including the big

newspapers and broadcast media that have extensive news gathering resources of their

own.

The basic function of a news agency is to collect and distribute reports, photographs and

video clippings of current events to newspapers, magazines, television channels, radio

stations and other subscribers. News agencies set up their offices, communication

networks and appoint correspondents in important cities around the world. The



agencies’ coverage should be fast, complete and accurate as well as fair, objective and

unbiased.

A brief history and working of the important news agencies are given below.

1. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE (AFP)

AFP, a French cooperative news agency, is the third largest news services in the

world after AP, and Reuters. It is based in Paris where it was founded under its

current name in 1944. In addition to having bureaus in major French cities, it has

bureaus and correspondents in important world capitals. Besides having

contracts with AP, Reuters, and TASS for exchange of news reports, it sells

domestic French news reports to most of the world’s news agencies and also

provides its worldwide reports to many of them. AFP also has a photo service

and a number of specialized news reports, several concerned with African

matters.

2. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP)

The Associated Press (AP) is one of the largest news-gathering services in the

world. AP distributes international, regional and local news to media

everywhere. The Associated Press offers daily reports, features, photographs and

graphics. Its photographs are sent digitally via satellites. Six New York city

newspapers founded the Associated Press in 1848. They began the service to

save money on the gathering of news by telegraph. Today, the Associated Press

has about 230 news bureaus worldwide. Its headquarters is in New York. AP’s

service is available in English, German, Swedish, Dutch, French, and Spanish.

3. REUTERS

Reuters’ services are available in more than 150 countries and it has bureaus in

100 countries. Reuters was one of the first news services to furnish financial,

political and general news to European newspapers. Reuters was founded in

London in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter. In 1849, Reuters began the operation by

using pigeons to carry news between the terminal points of telegraph lines at the

borders of Germany, Belgium and France. The Reuters news agency was an

independent company, Reuters Group until 2008. The Thomson Corporation

took over Reuters Group in 2008 and it became a part of Thomson Reuters. It

transmits news in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese,



Russian, Japanese and Chinese. Reuters’ association with India began from its

inception. The first newspaper to publish Reuters’ news in India was The

Bombay Times (later became The Times of India). Reuters’ operation in India

began on March 21, 1866 with Bombay as its headquarters.

4. UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL (UPI)

UPI is one of the largest privately owned news agencies in the world. It

distributes news, photographs, television news, radio news and cable television

news programmes to about 6000 subscribers. Its clients included newspapers,

radio and television stations, news magazines and cable television stations in

more than 100 countries. During its heyday, UPI had more than 230 bureaus

worldwide. UPI functioned internationally till 1980. Now its major business is

confined to the US.

5. ITAR-TASS

TASS is the acronym for TELEGRAFNOE AGENTSVO SOVETSKOVO SOYUZA

(Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union), the official news agency of the Soviet

Union from 1925 to 1991. TASS was one of the world’s major international wire

services, distributing news throughout the Soviet Union and around the world.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, TASS was reorganized into

two branches: The Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, or ITAR, reporting

news of Russia; and the Telegraph Agency of the Countries of the Commonwealth

or TASS, reporting news of the other countries of the Commonwealth of

Independent States.

Other major international news agencies

1. DPA (Deutsche Presse Agentur) is a German news agency, mainly serving the

German speaking regions.

2. EFE: This is a Spanish news agency with its headquarters in Madrid. It has close

links and influence in Latin America where Spanish is one of the major

languages.

3. NCNA: China’s Xinhua News Agency is also known as the New China News

Agency (NCNA). It was founded in 1931. It has four regional offices in the Pacific

region, Latin America, Africa and West Asia. Presently, it has branches in 100

countries.



4. Kyodo: It is the major news agency in Japan.

Other major news agencies include the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) of

Iran, Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associatea (ANSA) of Italy, Caribbean News

Agency (CANA), Ghana News Agency (GNA), Inter Press Services (IPS) of South

America, Middle East News Agency (MENA) and the Pan African News Agency

(PANA) of Senegal.

Indian News Agencies

1. Press Trust of India (PTI)

Press Trust of India, the leading news agency in the country, is a non-profit

cooperative of newspapers. Established on August 27, 1947, this news agency

took over the Associated Press of India (API) and the Indian operations of

Reuters and began operations from February 1, 1949. PTI offers its news service

in English and Hindi. Subscribers to this agency include 450 newspapers in India

and scores abroad. All major television and radio channels including BBC,

London receive PTI service. It has 150 bureaus across the country and has a staff

of about 2,000 writers spread across the nation. For international news, it

maintains 30 correspondents and stringers around the world.

2. United News of India (UNI)

The United News of India (UNI) was registered as a company on November 10,

1959 and began its news operations from March 21, 1961. At the time of UNI’s

foundation, it was sponsored by a group of 40 leading newspapers of India

including The Statesman, The Times of India, The Hindu. The administrative

headquarters of UNI is in New Delhi. UNI has offices in all the major cities and

towns of India, including all the state capitals. In order to keep pace with the

latest developments, it has more than 325 staff journalists around the country

and more than 250 stringers, covering news events from remote corners. 51%

stake in UNI was bought by Zee TV in 2006. Media West, one of the associates of

Zee TV, bought the shares of UNI for Rs. 32 crores. UNI has been going through a

phase of financial crisis.



WRITING HEADLINE

Most newspaper readers look first at large images — usually photographs and their

captions and other large graphics — and then the headlines. Why? Because they are the

most striking visual elements on a page. When readers select what stories to read, their

decision is usually based on the impact of the headline and the graphics.

Eye track research shows that readers’ eyes go first to photos and display type — the

large headlines. If the display type captures their interest, they may move on to the body

type. Most newspaper readers are browsers because few have the time or inclination to

read every word in a publication. They select what appeals or what they consider

relevant.

The publication’s tone and the perceived audience will also influence the type of

headline. A headline that works for a Sunday tabloid story will look ridiculous over a

similar story in a serious broadsheet, even though both may be well crafted. The role of

a good headline, then, is to:

draw or grab the reader into the body of the story

tell the reader what the story is about

provide information in a digestible and/or entertaining form.

Time and space

News subs are generally always working against the clock to produce ‘live’ pages —

those being prepared for the next edition. The other constraint is space. News headlines

are almost always written to fit an allocated space. Most headlines are governed by

width and depth. Whatever the typeface, the sub-editor is restricted to a certain number

of characters and a certain number of lines (known as decks). Nowadays, page

designers place these details electronically in the format for each story.

How to write effective headlines

As a general guide, headlines need to be written:



in present tense

in active voice

with a personal tone

Because of space constraints, every word must earn its place. You can do that by

keeping your headlines:

simple

precise

positive

Other ways to improve headlines include remembering to:

employ powerful verbs

concentrate on one main point

use key words

Principle 1: Present tense

Most headlines are written in the present tense because it gives a sense of immediacy. It

is the same reason that broadcast news is almost always written in the present tense. It

brings the action to the reader and involves them in the drama. Because of the way

English is constructed, present tense also tends to be shorter.

Principle 2: Active voice

Use the active voice as often as possible. The same principle applies when editing body

copy. Active voice, where the subject performs the action rather than having the action

done to it, has two major advantages — it uses fewer words than passive voice and it

makes the headline more immediate, which implies urgency. It is also more natural

because it sounds more conversational.

Principle 3: Aim to personalize

Newspaper readers are interested in what happens to people. People make news.

Abstracts put readers to sleep. If you can use a person or place name to represent a



general principle, it is generally better to do so. This principle especially applies to

community newspapers and regional dailies because readers identify with their

neighbourhood or community.

Principle 4: Use precise language

Inexperienced or sloppy subs are often happy if the head fits, even though the words are

imprecise. Indeed, there may be times for all of us when we are happy with any

reasonable head because the revise sub is screaming for the page. But you must spurn

vague or imprecise words. Good subs craft headlines in unambiguous language, using

common and proper nouns and avoiding abstract nouns.

Principle 5: Tell a simple story

One of the headline’s jobs is to provide the essence of the story. Some subs try to cram

in too much detail and tell too much. This produces the aberration of the noun–adjective

headline, where nouns masquerading as adjectives produce a string of statements,

usually without a verb. These constipated collections of words confuse readers. You

have probably read these types of heads in papers where the sub had limited space.

Principle 6: Use powerful verbs

If your headline sounds bland, you are probably using bland verbs. The verb is the

engine of a headline. An excellent way to boost a headline is to introduce a more

powerful verb. Vivid verbs create word pictures for the reader. Supply some exciting

images for the picture shows in readers’ heads.

Tips to write a good headline

1. Be Accurate.

2. Keep It Short.

3. Fill the Space.

4. Do not Repeat the Lead.

5. Be Direct.

6. Use Active Voice.

7. Write in Present Tense.



8. Avoid Breaks.

9. Know Where to Capitalize.

DESIGN AND PAGE MAKE UP

Designing a newspaper is a graphic art fort form. It involves certain principles of

graphic design:

1. Balance

Balance means equilibrium or a state of rest. It deals with the visual weight of the

various elements of a newspaper page like the news stories, visuals, etc. Balance in

newspaper means that the pages should not be top heavy, bottom heavy or side

heavy, etc. It means that the pages should not be extremely heavy in any section and

extremely light in another. The things that make a page heavy are headlines, visuals,

and the size if the stories, the use of boxes and screens, use of bold text, etc. Balance in

newspaper design is achieved by visually weighing the elements on both sides of a

page. It does not require precise mathematical weighing. A properly balanced page

has all the elements (headlines, pictures, etc.) so distributed as to give a pleasant look

to the page.

Formal or symmetrical balance involves placing equal-sized objects on either side of a

page to form a mirror image. This kind of a design may be unbalanced from top to

bottom. However, most newspapers use the informal balance. Here the two sides and

the top and bottom halves are not mirror images of each other, but there is a feeling of

equilibrium.

2. Contrast

Contrast in designing means the use of two or more elements that are dramatically

different from each other. This difference could be in size, shape, shade, colour,

etc. So, a headline set in lighter types is in contrast with a bold headline. A bigger

picture contrasts smaller picture. And black and white is in contrast with colour.

Contrast helps in highlighting certain elements. For example, a picture surrounded

by body text would stand out on the page. The ultimate objective of contrast is to



achieve a pleasant look for the newspaper pages. However, too much of contrast

makes a page unattractive and harsh.

3. Proportion

Proportion is the principle of comparative relationships in terms of length, size,

shape, etc. For example, a square shape is rarely used in designing, as it is dull and

uninteresting. It is also monotonous as all the sides are equal. Unequal

proportions are usually more attractive than equal proportions. Accordingly, the

most widely used shape in designing is the rectangle. And this is the reason why

the outer shape of the newspapers, the shape of most news stories, the shape of all

photographs are always rectangular. The most common proportions used in

newspapers are the 2:3 and the 3:5 proportions.

4. Unity

The principle of unity concerns the effect that a page design has over the readers.

A newspaper page should create a single impression rather than multiple

impressions. A single impression makes a page pleasant and interesting. Unity on

a newspaper page can be achieved by visually weighing all the stories and pictures

and then shifting the placement until a satisfactory arrangement has been found

out.

Harmony, rhythm, and direction are the other design principles that are considered

while designing a newspaper page. Newspaper page makeup has always been a tough

task as the makeup people do not have much time for planning and they always work

under the pressure of a deadline. Also, manual makeup, either through arrangement

of composed material or the cut and paste method, is time taking. However, these

days page makeup has become much faster and easier because of computers. Many a

software packages (like the Quark Express have been specifically created for this

purpose. So, makeup people can change the placement and arrangement by pressing a

few keys.

SYSTEMS OF PAGE MAKE UP



For many years, newspapers used traditional makeup practices. However, with

changing times and changes in tastes of people and changing design practices, many

newspapers are adopting modern design concepts. Another major reason was the

new technologies of newspaper production, particularly better printing technologies

and the use of computers. Newspapers are using three basic modern makeup

concepts these days. These are:

Modular, Grid and Total Page Design.

Modular Makeup

This concept is the oldest among contemporary approaches. Here stories are

arranged in modules. Stories of similar type are grouped together into separate units

or modules. A module could have a single story also.

Often each module is enclosed in a box or a lot of white space is used around each

module to separate one module from others. A module clearly separates the story or

group of stories inside it from others. This way the entire page is divided into a

number of modules. Each module can hold one, two, or a greater number of stories.

One benefit of the module system is that it is relatively easy to change the stories

inside a module, as required in case of late-breaking stories.

The modular concept is easy to implement as it can fit into any style of makeup. The

modules are usually marked on the outside with thick lines. Use of white space

around modules makes them more attractive.

Grid Concept

The grid concept is an extension of the modular concept. A grid is a pattern of

intersecting lines forming rectangles of various sizes and shapes. In a newspaper, the

column space (space separating columns and the spaces separating stories (at the top

and the bottom) are used to form the grids. Grid lines are used to divide a newspaper

page into very clear-cut portions. Stories are usually composed into either vertical or

horizontal shapes.

The division of space on a page is always unequal both sideways and vertically. This



gives a contemporary look to the page as opposed to the traditional and formally

balanced pages. Here the placement of stories is on the basis of their importance.

Thus, each story gets a chance of being seen.

Total Page Concept

The total page concept, like the previous two also divides the pages into the different

rectangular portions. But it is much more exciting as it involves dramatization of

content presentation. This overcomes the basic problem of the grid concept which the

mostly dull.

Although dramatization is one of the most important features of the total page

concept (TPC), these days the news stories decide the format. Spectacular or dramatic

news stories demand dramatic presentation, while sober news stories demand sober

treatment. In total page concept, the page is divided into broad portions that are

pleasingly proportional. Only rectangles are used here. Rectangles of various sizes,

shapes, weights (shadowed or screened) provide the required differentiation for an

attractive total design. TPC does not use odd shapes. It also does not use artificial

devices like stories shaped round, oval, triangular, etc.

However, TPC uses a lot of white space to enable the different stories to stand out

without competing with each other for attention. Another attention getting device is

the use of large stories and photographs for dramatic impact.

The Mixed Concept: Many newspapers today are adopting a mixed approach. They

combine the best elements of the grid concept, the modular concept and the total page

concept. This gives them complete flexibility in terms of arrangement of stories and

visuals on the paper.

Some dos and don’ts of design

Dos

Choose your entry point with care and make it the focal point of the page.

Break up long stories into easily manageable articles linked together by design.

Use pictures and graphics wherever possible.



Break type up to add interest.

Consider using subheads and crossheads to add emphasis to sections of the text.

Consider using bold paras, drop letters etc. to add emphasis.

Keep things simple and easy to follow.

Consider carefully how long each article should be, depending on your

readership profile.

Try to avoid clashing with adverts. Ads with large areas of half-tone should be

cordoned off using text. Text-based adverts could be put next to pictures.

Consider how best to get over the information. An annotated aerial picture may

do more to describe the scene of an accident, for instance, than pages of text

could hope to do. It will be the designer’s job to arrange for the text and pictures

to be turned into a diagram.

Consider using just parts of a picture, cutting out the image or overlaying it with

type.

Ensure there is a suitable amount of white space around the headlines and any

other elements.

Ensure a caption always accompanies a picture clearly. Readers become irritated

if they cannot find the caption to a picture.

Emphasise your entry point with larger intro type, bold faces, drop letters and so

on.

Make sure the strength of your stories is reflected in the design.

Make it clear where the story goes to after it has ended in one column.

Be imaginative in how you deal with the elements of a page.

Don’ts

Run headlines over adverts. Always break the space with text, pictures or

whatever. If the space above a run of adverts is too small to be useful, don’t be

afraid to give it up and float the ads to the top or ask the advertising department

to fill the space. Anything less than 6 cm is going to give you problems.

Don’t run a headline next to another headline unless the stories are connected or

you have some way of ensuring they are not connected such as column rules or

by using very different styles and sizes of font.



Don’t cover the page with lots of different typefaces. Too much variation will end

up just looking a mess. Best to limit yourself to one font and its varieties.

Don’t use cut-outs on a picture just for the sake of it. Whether the picture is cut

away from its background or a section is cut out, it will lose context and start to

look isolated. A cut-out without any good reason usually looks ridiculous because

it is clear you are trying to edit the picture and the reader will wonder why.

Don’t turn copy to another page. It’s a great way of ensuring the reader loses

interest in the story.



Module IV:

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public Relations is a distinctive management function which helps establishes and

maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation

between an organization and its publics. Public Relations means exactly what the words

suggest relations with the public.

Human beings can never live in 'isolation, we need someone to talk, and share our

views. In this way we practice public relations from just after we take birth. Public

Relations, simply defined, are the practice of doing the right thing of performing and

communicating the substance of that very performance. The distinctive thing about

public relations is that it is deliberate

ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Thomas Jefferson (1807) used the phrase "Public relations" in the place of "State of

thought" while writing his seventh address to the US Congress. In India, Great Indian

Peninsular Railway Company Limited (GIP Railways) carried on publicity in Public

Relations campaign in England for promote tourism to India through mass media and

pamphlets. During the time of First World War a central publicity board was set up at

Bombay (now Mumbai) for disseminating war news to the public and press. After

Second World War, the public relations activity gained importance both privates as well

as Government started public relations campaigns.

The idea of public relations has been around as long as people have sought to persuade

other people to get them to do something, not do something, or keep on doing

something. But public relations became a formal profession in America roughly between

late 1800s and early 1900s. In the 1800s, public relations techniques were used to

encourage settlement in the American West. Railroad companies – which were laying

down new tracks across America – employed former journalists to create flyers and

pamphlets that described the vast opportunities in the American frontier. And many

believe it was the railroad companies that first used the term “public relations.” While

railroad companies were promoting westward expansion, the very first celebrity “press



agents” were promoting clients such as Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and Davy Crockett.

In public relations history, the late 1800s were known as the Age of the Press Agent. The

characteristic feature of the age was hype – or exaggeration. Press agents were

concerned more about creating legends and selling tickets to shows than truthful

portrayals about their clients. The man who is credited for moving the public relations

profession to its next age was Ivy Lee. In 1906, he published his “Declaration of

Principles” that advocated truthfulness and openness, and thereby ushered PR into the

Public Information Age. The main difference with this new age was the emphasis on the

accuracy and honesty of the information issued by public relations people. Ivy believed

that the best way to practice “public relations” was to make sure the public had truthful

information.

The first big test for this newfound profession was persuading the American people to

enter World War I. To do so, President Woodrow Wilson established Committee on

Public Information (also known as the Creel Committee) in 1917. The committee’s most

famous member was Edward L. Bernays, known as the father of modern public

relations. The committee’s success persuaded Bernays to open a public relations agency

after the war to apply committee’s techniques to commercial interests. Major

corporations such as General Electric, Proctor & Gamble, CBS, and the American

Tobacco Company hired Bernays to conduct a wide variety of public relations activities.

In 1923 Bernays published his landmark book, Crystallizing Public Opinion and

established the profession’s theoretical foundations. Using theories first introduced by

his uncle, Sigmund Freud, Bernays wrote about how to move people to do what you

want them to do. By doing so, he transitioned the public relations profession into its

third major age: scientific persuasion (and the two-way asymmetric model). Using the

tools of social science and psychology, Bernays showed his clients how to tap into their

audience’s deepest needs and wants.

The scientific persuasion age of public relations lasted for about 30 to 40 years until the

1950s and 60s when activism (i.e., public protests about perceived corporate power and

greed) necessitated a shift toward relationship building.

THE COMPONENTS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS



Public

A group of similar individuals; an assortment of persons having the same interests,

problems, circumstances, goals; it is from such persons that opinion emanates. Public is

a varied creature; it comes in many forms and sizes. Public has a multitude of wants and

desires; it has its likes and dislikes, sometimes, strong likes and strong dislikes.

Employers make for a public and employees another public; the government is a public

and citizens constitute another public, and so on, each of these groups is a public of the

sort, tries to attract a different audience with its own tools and techniques.

Relations

Human wants to create the need to establish relations with one another. The

representative wants of the individuals will profoundly affect their relationship. To

understand any relationship, therefore, one must understand the wants of those

involved. 'Relationships are of all possible types. We have relationship by rank-superior

to inferior, inferior to superior, and equal to equal. We have relationship by sentiment-

benevolent, Friendly, suspicious, jealous, hostile. A relationship may be active, or it may

be passive it may be good or it may be bad, or it may be neutral. At any rate, the

relationship is there to be accepted, ignored or altered, as desired.

FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Investing on public relations will help the organisation to achieve its objectives

effectively and smoothly. Public relations is not creating good image for a bad team.

Since, false image cannot be sustained for a long time. Though the organisation’s

products or services are good it needs an effective public relations campaign for

attracting, motivating the public to the product or service or towards the purpose of the

programme. It is not only encouraging the involvement from the public and also

resulting in better image. An effective public relations can create and build up the image

of an individual or an organisation or a nation. At the time of adverse publicity or when

the organisation is under crisis an effective public relations can remove the

"misunderstanding" and can create mutual understanding between the organisation

and the public.’



PUBLICS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

We are all a ‘public’ of one kind or another, whether we are consumers of products,

employees, shareholders, or members and customers of a company, organization, trade

or professional association. ‘Publics’ in the PR language are classified into internal and

external publics.

In Public Relations the term ‘public’ is used for those people or group of people who are

directly or indirectly concerned with the organisation, use its services/products or

benefit from jt in one form or another and/or affected by its policies/programmes. In

other words, it is a group or groups of people who are tied together by some common

bond or interest or concern. The publics of an organisation play a key role in its success

or failure. PubIics are of two kinds — internal and external.

The public relations activities of the company are confined to its internal and external

publics. If internal publics respect the company and hold it in high esteem, directly and

indirectly, they create a favourable environment for the company to approach external

publics. Communication with external publics is the lifeline of the organisation as it

gives identity, image, reputation and credibility and based on which a company will get

their support.

INTERNAL PUBLIC

Internal publics are people employed by a firm or members of an organization and they

are intimately related with the functioning of the organisation. Internal public relations

is a special PR discipline which concentrates on enhancing companies relationships

with the employees by facilitating good communication among the management and the

employees, boosting their morale and giving them the right information at the right

time.

Internal Public of public relations includes Shareholders or Investors, Employees,

Suppliers, Distributors, Retailers/ Dealers and Other business associations: Primary

function of public relations is to facilitate positive and profitable relations between an

organization and its actual or potential audiences.



Shareholders/owners/investors

Shareholder is the legal owner of the company. He provides finances to the company

either as shareholder or as a long-term or short-term creditor. They are entitled to

dividend, rights shares, bonus shares, discount coupons for purchase of companies’

products or concessional usage of its services and gifts on special occasions like annual

conference, anniversary or celebration. Shareholders deserve fair treatment, get

statutory information, transfer of shares to them, information on change of address or

non-receipt of dividend. However, we see that most of the time the company’s PR

function seems to be performed only in rebuttal or quick requital after the complaint

appears in newspapers.

Employees

Employees are the hands and feet of the company. It is through them that the company

fulfils its objectives. It needs their cooperation and understanding on a continuous basis

in all its activities including the public relations activities. The principle of self- respect,

self-determination and self-judgment are to be applied when dealing with employees. If

the company is able to communicate well with the employees and seek their

participation and cooperation, they can act as the best public relations agents of the

company while dealing with their friends, relations, neighbours, and business

associates. The leadership and management styles of our executives, their values, and

attitudinal profile, all have undergone a sea-change in order to effectively deal with the

situation.

Suppliers

Suppliers are the business associates of the company who provide all types of raw

materials for the business activities of the company. Suppliers have a direct and crucial

role in the functioning and profitability of the company. They have to supply the right

quality and quantity of materials for the company. Suppliers need the company and the

company needs the suppliers. When the good gestures of supplier to the company are

not responded with an equally good gesture, relationship gets strained. (Non- payment

or delay of supplier’s bill, high amount of rejection or raw materials, rude treatment

etc.). A good company cannot be happy if its suppliers are not happy because they are



its business associates and they also have to make profit.

Distributors/Dealers/Retailers

“Distributors are the face of the company”. They are the link between the company and

its dealers. The success of the business of a company heavily depends on the

performance of the distributors/ dealers, more so in Indian economy where the

knowledge of the consumer about the company and its product is relatively poor.

Retailer/Distributers/ Traders are the friend, philosopher, and guide of the customers

or clients. In order to build up the company relationship, internal PR needs to announce

the various schemes available for them like prizes, discount, and provide them

alternatives both monetary and non-monetary benefits.

Other Associate Relations

It comprises of promoters, management consultants, lawyers, solicitors, auditors,

friends and family members of the directors of the company and the advisers of the

company. These people may not be in the forefront of the company but their role and

influence on the working of the company cannot be undermined under any

circumstances. Company needs to show care and give them due recognition for their

work and support. Copies of company publications, annual reports, new issues,

preferential issues etc., should be regularly sent to them to give them special feeling that

they matter to the company and they are eligible for these privileges. Congratulatory

letters on their birthdays, marriage anniversary, and special achievement is a good

gesture

Internal publics of public relations share key messages with all the members. Give

recognition to people during birthday or when they receive award. Internal publics

professionals keep the image of the company fly high. Internal publics of an

organisation looks into the goodwill of its collaborators and maintain good relations.

They take corrective actions when problems arise within the company.

EXTERNAL PUBLIC

External publics are people and organizations that are clients doing business with a firm

or agency or company. External public of public relations includes



Consumers/Customers, Community, Mass Media, Government, Financial Institutions,

Action Groups and General Publics. External publics concentrate on issues pertaining to

the values, policies, procedures and attitudes of the company towards various groups of

people in society.

Consumer/Customer

Customer is the centre of today’s business activity. A consumer is a person who

purchases goods and services for personal use. An external PR needs to educate the

audience pertaining to the product or about the organisation and then get the

suggestions of the audience. Present era of management belongs to marketing where

every happening in the company revolves around the customer. A customer or

consumer is not a means of business, but he is the purpose of business. He is not an

intruder on our premises, he is our guest. He is the last inspector of our quality and he is

always right. Customer education, market research, public opinion polls, customer

satisfaction level, after sales services and constant relations are must for company to

public.

PR practitioners use different tools and techniques to communicate with various

entities and to dissolve issues and crisis with the help of these tools and techniques.

These tools and techniques are the ways of communication for the company with the

public concerned.

Community Relations

Looking after and protecting the interest of the community is the essence of community

relations. In gratitude to public companies need to provide various types of services,

education service, sewage and sanitation facilities and others. Participation in

community’s social and cultural functions, making generous contribution towards its

success by giving donation and infrastructural support leads to goodwill and longer

lasting relations between the company and its community.

Media Relations

Mass media gives mass exposure to company’s activity. It includes print media,

electronic media, and digital media. The wining, dining, or gifting image of public



relations practitioners is greatly due to how they interact with media.

Government Relations

The purpose of the relationship with government seems to be disappearing because of

vested interest of individual or corporate. Government and its machinery can be divided

into two categories depending on their characteristics i.e. politicians and bureaucrats

PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGN

Campaigns are usually conducted to achieve specific organizational goals. Likewise,

public relations campaigns are executed to solve the problems or improve the situations

of the organizations. PR practitioners must understand the elements of public relations

campaigns that consist of seven basic elements. First element is situational analysis by

researching. Next, establishing objectives to present the campaign outcomes. Then,

identifying the target public in order to design the key messages and select appropriate

media. After that defining a timetable to arrange campaign activities and allocating the

realistic budgets. Finally, evaluating the accomplishment of a campaign in order to

develop campaign in the next time. These elements provide campaign procedures so

that PR practitioners can create public relations campaigns systematically. Successful

campaigns are described in terms of five characteristics: educational, engineering,

enforcement, reinforcement and evaluation.

Planning for a public relations campaign is essential not only to know the management

process but to increase opportunities for achieving campaign. Even though many public

relations managers or PR practitioners feel they have limited time to plan a campaign,

however planning prevents the loss of time from errors of operating a campaign. Before

planning a campaign, PR practitioners must consider all the elements properly and

understand the overall picture of a campaign clearly.

TOOLS FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS

Companies use a variety of tools for their public relations purposes, including annual

reports, brochures and magazines for both employees and the public, Web sites to show

good things they’re doing, speeches, blogs, and podcasts. Some of the most commonly

used PR tools include press releases, news conferences, and publicity. Sponsorships,



product placements, and social media also generate a lot of positive PR

Press Releases: Through Press Releases, the vital information related to

organisation is communicated effectively to the target audience. The press

releases are then given to be published in various newspapers and magazines.

This escalates the media visibility of organisations, helping them attract

consumers’ attention.

News Letters: A newsletter can be used as an informative PR tool that

provides up-to-date valuable information to the stakeholders of the company to

establish a strong relationship with them and to promote an awareness of

positive organizational behavior. Effective newsletters are published regularly

and consistently, are enjoyable and easy to read and provide timely and relevant

information to the organizational publics to strengthen its connection with them.

The content of a newsletter is presented in a less formal writing style. Use of

opening words can be used to catch the reader or viewer's attention at the most

important angle of the story. It is a very affordable promotional tool that even

small firms can afford.

Annual reports: The annual report of an organisation is usually drafted

by the PR department. This report is accorded publicity and coverage in the

media.

Fliers or handouts: They are unfolded sheets delivered by mail or

distributed by hand, represent the simplest and easiest form of informational

tools used in public relations. They are effective public relations tools as they are

relatively inexpensive and time specific. They can be made effective by

enhancing their visual appeal by adding eye-catching colors, identifying logos,

and a large headline. They are open to use innovative distribution methods, for

example taped to the tops of pizza boxes delivered by the local pizza delivery

business. The logo of the organization can be used on them to establish the

organization identity with well-designed and informative public relations pieces.

Leaflets: It is a small sheet of printed matter, usually intended for free

distribution, can act as an effective tool for publicity. Leaflets are effective tool to



target publics in a small market radius. They present a single message instead of

a series of separate messages. They are economically viable and can provide

instant information to a wide audience.

Brochures: A brochure, a multi-page publication containing more than

one page of printed matter, can be used as a PR tool to convey long messages

which can last longer in the minds of the target audience.

Media Tour: Products and services are often launched by marketers with

a media tour. The company spokesperson or someone hired by the company, an

expert or even a celebrity whoever has credibility with the consumers can be

employed for the purpose. This spokesperson travels to target cities and spreads

the word about a product or service. He is usually booked for T.V, radio shows or

newspaper, internet interviews in these cities. Media tours are very successfully

employed for book releases. The author travels around the country to promote

his book. He may include in his tour events like book reading and autograph

signing.

Special Events: Special events are often performed to catch the media

attention and arouse public interest. Regional agriculture is often promoted by

events like strawberry festival. The PR professional must ensure these events

convey the desired message and not tarnish the company’s image.

Sponsorships: Sponsor is an individual or a group that supports an event,

activity, person etc. through money or some form of product or services.

Sponsorship is used to build goodwill and brand recognition. Companies keep in

mind their target audience and budget before indulging in sponsorship activities.

There are various events happening all the year round, nationally and

internationally which provide marketers with sponsorship opportunities.

Internet as a PR Tool

Companies use internet to conduct their daily business, communicate with and

provide support to their customers and look for valuable information to gain a

competitive advantage. This medium provides PR practitioners a many-faceted



form of worldwide communication, primarily involving message exchange by e-

mail, information delivery and persuasion by its world-wide websites. Social

media networks can also be used by the PR department for communicating with

the target audience.

House journals

The primary objective of a house journal is to create a forum for exchange

of views and visions on various issues concerning an organisation and its

employees. A house journal, if carefully produced, serves as an important link

between a management and its various employees. With corporations becoming

large, multi-dimensional and multi-locational, a house journal reaches employees

belonging to different disciplines, cadres and interests, thus bridging the gap and

creating a fellow-feeling among them. One of the public relations persons in the

organisation ideally would be the editor of the house journal. Before publishing

the journal, decisions about its editorial policies and objectives must be

approved from the management. If a journal is to meet its communication

objectives, it must be attractive enough to grasp attention and must be of interest

to those who read it. A concerted effort in planning, organising, publishing and

distribution is a must to bring out a successful house journal.

PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER (PRO)

Public relations officers, also referred to as public relations specialists, media

specialists or press officers, serve as the communication link between an

organization and the public. They make use of media contacts and their own

creativity to communicate an organization's message and to handle any

potentially damaging circumstances. Public relations officers must have a strong

command of the language and the ability to think on their feet. A public relations

officer (PRO) also known as Media Specialist, is the spokesperson of a company

or any organization. The role of a public relations officer is to convey the policies

and interests of the organization to the public through various forms of media.

The need for public relations officer can be found in almost all sectors, including

advertising companies, government agencies, election commissions, etc.

The main job of a public relations officer is to develop and maintain the



reputation of the company or organization. It is the responsibility of the PR

officer to promote the products or services of the establishment he works in. He

does this by organizing press conferences, exhibitions, publishing articles in the

newspaper or on the official website of the government department / company.

When a company has to launch a new product, it is the job of the PR official to

make arrangements to promote it. He has to plan promotional strategies,

keeping the target audience in mind.

The PR officer should be an outgoing person as he has to interact with lots of

people, like, potential clients and also media persons. It is the responsibility of

the public relations officer to answer the questions of the public and the media, if

some issues arise about products or services of the company.

Role and functions of a PRO

Crafting Press Releases

Public relations officers create press releases and send them to various media

outlets. The releases can provide information on a new product or service or

alert the public about an upcoming event. They may also announce changes in an

organization such as the hiring of new personnel or plans for business

expansion.

Media Liaison

Public relations officers serve as a liaison between an organization and the

media. Any requests for information or media interviews are often directed to

the public relations officer. The officer may consult with the organization's

leaders before giving a response to potentially sensitive or confidential matters.

Strategic Planning

Public relations officer may develop and implement a strategy or campaign for a

specific event. For example, when an organization is planning a campaign to

raise funds, the officer will develop a strategy to make the public aware of the

event. A strategy can involve using media, the telephone, the Internet and

personal contacts to accomplish the task.

Crisis Management

A public relations officer will serve as the spokesperson for the organization

when something negative occurs. For example, when an industrial accident

results in injuries to workers, a company will have the public relations officer



state the company's position and handle media questions. Politicians use public

relations officers to help show a poor public approval rating in a more positive

light.

Community Relations

Public relations officers create ways to strengthen an organization's ties to the

community. They may arrange for company officials to speak to community

organizations or develop a plan to sponsor a charity event. They might also

develop a scholarship program in the name of the organization to help send a

high school student to college.

PUBLIC RELATIONS SET UP IN AN ORGANISATION

Public relations or PR has a very important role in an organization. The PR

function is not exclusive concern of only few PR experts, but the responsibility

and concern of everyone in the organization, from the top brass to the lower

cadre. One of the most important factors that determines and influences an

organizations status and reputation is what its own employees think and say

about it. The role of public relations in an organization is to develop

commitment, motivation and morale among the people to enable them to

function well in different circumstances. The purpose is also to develop an

appropriate work culture and the necessary attitudes and competence with the

ultimate goals of establishing and maintaining a bridge of mutual understanding

and good will between the organization and its various publics.

The status of a Public Relations Department in an organization is very crucial. As

far as the internal communication in an organization is concerned, the PR

department plays a role of an intermediary between the employee and the

employer or, we can say, between the top brass and the other employees

including the lower cadre. The PR department disseminates the various policies

and programmes initiated by the management to the other employees and the

department collects and conveys the reaction or the feedbacks of the employees

and conveys them to the management.

The primary function of the Public Relations department in an organization is to

establish and maintain good relation with its internal as well as external publics.

To maintain this relation with its publics a PR department must take some



initiative of publishing printed materials, producing audio visual materials and

filling the communication gap, if any, among the various groups of the

organization and finally disseminating information to the publics. Besides, the PR

department also plays the role of bridging the communication gap between the

external publics or the target audiences and the organization. The department

also tries to build a good image of the organization before the publics.

Public Relations Department of a medium organisation

The PR department is responsible for the following-

1. Controlling the public relations activities through the presentation and

implementation of agreed policies and strategies;

2. Conveying and interpreting to management information on public attitudes

and views about the company and/or the industry it serves;

3. Preparing all policy and financial statements and on company affairs to the

Press, TV and radio. Handling day-to-day inquiries from the Press, and the

initiation of Press interest in the affairs, services and production of the company,

regularly issuing news material on all company activities;

4. Advising on the preparation of prestige publications, institutional advertising,

films, exhibitions, shareholder relations, house style, community relations, and

other relevant activities;

5. Instructing the company’s financial advertising agents on all matters relating

to financial and annual report, advertising and publicity.

6. Liaison with the company’s department on all matters relating to the



dissemination of internal information and the company’s employee publications.

PR PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Public Relations Society of India (PRSI)

PRSI is the professional body of Public Relations practitioners in the country.

Established in 1958, the Society has individual, associate, corporate and student

memberships. PRSI brings out a quarterly journal Public Relations to promote the

cause of this profession. The Society is affiliated to the International Public

Relation Association (IPRA).

International Public Relations Association (IPRA)

The International Public Relations Association (IPRA) was set up as a para-

national organisation in May 1955 to raise standards of public relations practice

in various countries and to improve the professional quality and efficiency of

public relations practitioners. An early achievement of the organisation was the

adoption of a ‘Code of Conduct’ for the purpose of establishing standards of

professional ethics and conduct in the field of Public Relations for all members of

the association worldwide.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

Corporate communication is an integral part of the strategic management

process in which organizational mission and goals are communicated explicitly

to various stakeholders, including employees. When key organizational leaders

define what the company is about, they forced to clarify and find common

agreement on what the organization’s values are and what differentiates it from

other organizations. Excellent corporate communication lies at the heart of

industry, commerce and governments’ abilities to build a democratic society, but

this critical strategic role in organizational theory and practice rarely receives

the due commitment required for quality assurance in organization life today.



MODULE V

ADVERTISING

Introduction

The purpose of most advertising is to sell products or services. Business firms advertise

to persuade people to buy their products often by creating favorable ‘images’ of their

companies. They want the company’s name to be known and respected so that their

products and services can be more effectively sold. Business concerns also use

advertising to win new customers and to increase the volume of sales. Advertising is the

cheapest and fastest way to inform a large number of people about products or services

for sale and to persuade them to buy. For many consumer goods, the volume of sales

directly depends on the amount of advertising placed in the media. Advertising reaches

people through various forms of mass communication. These media include

newspapers, magazines, television, radio, Internet etc. Advertisers buy space in

newspapers and magazines to publish their advertisements. On television and radio

advertisers buy time to broadcast commercials.

Advertising can be called a game that is played among five key players. They are: The

advertisers, the advertising agencies, the support organization, the media and the

consumers.

DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING

The World Book Encyclopedia defines advertisement as a message designed to promote

a product, a service or an idea. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)

defines an advertisement as a paid form of communication, addressed to the public or a

section of it, the purpose of which is to influence the opinions or behavior of those to

whom it is addressed. American Marketing Association (AMA) defines advertising in

this way: ‘advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of

ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor.’

EVOLUTION OF ADVERTISING

Advertising as a profession dates back to ancient civilizations and has rich history,

although the forms of advertising may have changed over centuries. As languages and

written forms of communication developed with invention of paper in China and



papyrus in Egypt, sales messages began to be displayed as posters. After the industrial

revolution in the United Kingdom, advertising slowly began to emerge as a veritable

industry itself.

Traditionally speaking, Advertising can be traced back to:

a) Trademarks: Skilled craftsmen placed their individual marks on goods like vessels,

pottery, leather goods etc. As the reputation of one particular artisan spread by word of

mouth, his/her goods also became popular.

b) Signs: Few people could read in the ancient days and merchants used symbols and

signs carved in stone, clay or wood and displayed them prominently to inform

customers of the availability of goods. For example, a barrel indicated a wine shop and a

boot indicated a shoemaker’s shop.

c) Town criers: In ancient Egypt and Greece merchants hired town criers, a group of

professional criers, to walk through the streets and announce the arrival of ships and

cargo.

The invention of movable type by Gutenberg of Germany in 1440 led to the first form of

mass advertising. At the end of 15th century, the first posted advertisement began to

appear. These were handwritten announcements and they were posted up on church

and cathedral doors by clergymen looking for work. Lecturers and teachers were quick

to use this medium to announce their services. William Caxton, who introduced printing

in England, produced the first printed advertisement in English in 1472. With the

regular publication of newspapers and magazines, advertising became a standard

feature.

History of advertising in India

History of advertising in India runs parallel to the history and development of press in

the country. India’s first newspaper Bengal Gazette started by James Augustus Hicky

on January 29, 1780 carried a few advertisements.

Advertising agencies began to operate from the beginning of the 20th century. The

Calcutta Advertising Agency (1909) and B. Dattaram (1915) were said to have the first

ad agencies in India. The main functions of the agencies in those days were to secure the

advertisements and get them published in the press. The prominent players in

advertising business were a handful of British advertising agencies that catered to the

needs of the affluent British and Indians living in the urban centers. By the 1920s,

several more Indian advertising agencies began such as Modern Publicity Company in



Madras (1924), The Calcutta Publicity (1924), Central Publicity Service (1925) in

Bombay etc. The proliferation of advertising agencies in the major urban centers of the

country also gave rise to several unhealthy practices in the advertising profession. The

establishment of Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society (1939), consisting of the

owners of newspapers and periodicals, aimed at standardizing of advertising agency

practices. The establishment of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) in

1945 paved the way for professionalization of advertising agencies. Following Indian

independence, several British owned advertising agencies were sold to Indians. The

founding of Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) in 1948 and Advertising Standard Council

of India (ASCI) in 1959 further professionalized the advertising business. The expansion

of television networks from the 1980s and the liberalization policies of 1990s and the

phenomenal impact of information technology from the late 1990s have turned

advertising into a multi-crore business in India.

FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING

The following are the important functions or benefits of advertisements:

1) Source of information: Ads inform people just as news stories. It can be seen as an

essential part of a modern-day, consumerist society and is a very effective way of

informing us about new products. People use advertising to gather information before

making buying decisions.

2) Encourages competition: Advertisements encourage competition by lowering

information cost. It also encourages product quality through clear brand identification.

3) Maintains independence: Advertising enables both print and broadcast media to

maintain independence from government, political parties and other vested interests

through the revenue it generates.

4) Promotes economic growth: Advertisement stimulates demand and encourages

people to spend more. This encourages production and consumption.

5) Encourages invention: On account of stiff competition companies invest a lot on

research and development (R&D). This results in the invention of new products or

upgrading of the existing products.

6) Creates awareness: Over the years advertising has been a very effective way for

government and its various agencies to provide public information about national



integration, pulse polio vaccination, family planning, safe sex, dangers of alcoholism etc.

The government is one of the major advertisers in this country.

7) Provides employment: Advertising is a gigantic business and the turnover exceeds

millions of rupees annually. As a result, advertising provides employment to several

thousands of advertising professionals and allied personnel.

TYPES OF ADVERTISING

Product advertising

As the name suggests, product advertising deals with non-personal selling of a

particular good or service. Most advertising are of this type and designed to promote

the sale or reputation of a particular product or brand or service. This can be made by

manufactures. It emphasises the product itself or some features such as price, service or

quality directly associated with it.

The objective of product advertising is to promote a particular product or service. The

marketer may use such promotion to generate exposure attention comprehension,

attitude change, or action for an offering. Product advertising may be primary demand

and selective demand advertising. In primary demand advertising, appeals are directed

to create demand a particular type of product rather than for specific brand. For

example, demand for scooters in general rather than demand for a particular make of

scooter is generated. In contrast to this, in selective advertising appeals are directed to

promote the sale of a specific make of the product.

Product advertising can be again divided into informative product advertising,

persuasive product advertising and reminder-oriented product advertising.

Informative product advertising seeks to develop initial demand of the product. This

form of advertising lends to the characterize the promotion of a new type of product or

service as the objective of this type of advertising in only to announce its birth and

availability of the product. It is generally and widely used in the introductory stage of

the product life-cycle.

Persuasive product advertising aims at developing demand for a product or brand

already in use. It is competitive type of promotion generally used in the growth period

and to some extent in the maturity period of the product life cycle.



Reminder oriented advertising seeks to reinforce previous promotional activity. The goal

of the advertising is to remind the public for the use of the product brand by keeping the

brand name before them. It is used till the decline of the product life cycle.

Institutional advertising

Institutional advertising also known as prestige or corporate advertising aims to create

favorable attitude or image towards the institution or business in the eyes of

shareholders, employees, suppliers, legislatures or the general public. It does not

attempt to sell a particular product but create a public image of the organization as a

whole. Such ads notify the public that they are responsible entity and patriotic, supports

socialistic pattern of the society. Institutional advertising is designed to:

Provide unified and supportive marketing approach for a combination of

present and future products and services.

Educate the audience on subjects of importance to the company’s future

(profits, economics, prices and govt controls)

Establish company’s concern for environmental and social issues.

Bring about a change in specific attitude of the audience towards the company

or its product.

Institutional advertising is also useful in introducing sales personnel and new product

to consumers.

Industrial advertising

The producers of industrial goods use this kind of advertising which appeals are

directed to create demand for their industrial goods by urging industrial users to

purchase the product advertised or to extend patronage to the advertiser. As the users

are innumerable the industrial advertising executives have little confidence in

advertising. They rely more on personal setting. The objective of advertising may vary

according to the firm and the situation. Some of them are:

To inform the users of of industrial products technological and other

developments.

To speed-up sales of industrial products by announcing several concessions and

discounts on large purchases and thus bringing in large orders.

To induce enquiries about the quality, price etc. of the product from the users.



To get the advertiser’s name on the buyers approved list by ensuring him about

the quality of the product through advertisements.

To communicate to influential persons in the buyer’s firm whom the salesman

cannot reach.

To provide support to the salesman and reduce the costs of personal selling.

To establish recognition for the firm or its products.

To motivate distributors.

Industrial advertisements must be rational and largely factual. The claim made in the

advertisement should be specific and provable. Trade journals, direct mail

communication, exhibitions, general management publications are some examples of

industrial advertising.

Trade advertising

It is addressed to distributers and agents, wholesalers, retailers, servicing firms by

manufactures. The purpose for trade advertising is there for to secure distribution and

make profits. Trade advertising can be direct or indirect. Direct advertising contains the

sales technique of offering, coupons along with the product request customers to

redeem them at once or the advertiser arranges a draw at a fixed date offering certain

prices. Such action advertising generate behavior directly through exposure and

attention. Indirect action advertising does not attempt to bring about immediate

behavior response. It attempts to create favorable attitudes towards sponsor and his

products and services. It builds up the reputation of the institution, branding its services

or products offering through mental associations. It has long un objectives.

Professional advertising

Professional advertising is aimed at professional persons like doctors, lawyers etc. here

manufacturers sell their product either to such professionals or to consumers on their

advices or prescriptions. Such ads are similar to trade ads. Here personal selling plays

key role ie, convince the consumers about the qualities of the product. These may

appear in professional journals. Direct mail and product samples are important here.

Classified advertising

Where publishers print one type of advertisements at one place provided for the

purpose, such advertising are known as classified advertising. They regularly published

at the same page of the newspaper or journal.



There is a specialty at in writing these ads. They are telegram like ads, in a few lines

using intriguing opening to catch the eyes of the readers, squeezing as much

abbreviating but intelligently copy into as few lines as possible. This class of advertising

is very important source of revenue to the publishers.

National advertising

National advertising consists of persuasive words and images generally used by a

business to sell its products to a national market. National advertisers run ads on

broadcast televising and radio, in newspapers and magazines, on billboards and on the

Internet. National advertising is expensive and is normally only used by large, well-

funded organizations. Large national advertisers include national fast-food chains such

as McDonald's and Taco Bell, soft drink bottlers such as Coke and Pepsi and consumer

goods companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Proctor & Gamble. Successful national

ads can transcend advertising and become icons of popular culture.

Regional advertising

Regional advertising is placing ads of any media within a specific geographic location to

influence decision in one locality. A region may be defined in different geographic sizes

or terms such as city, county, state, country, or continent.

Global advertising

Global advertising is nothing more than have your message go out to the major markets

in the world. Companies use their major investments in advertising medium in order to

fuel the marketing worldwide. Largest media corporates took over the advertising

function and they brand company products in a global level.

There are more classifications are available for advertising such as direct appeal,

indirect appeal, local advertising, advertising based on demand influence level etc. The

classifications may vary due to the course of time in accordance with consumer

perceptions.

ADVERTISING AGENCY

An advertising agency is an independent business organisation that develops, prepares

and distributes advertisements in media. The goal of an advertising agency is to make

advertisements succeed in order to improve the performance of a company, its brand

image and its business. Ad agencies are usually divided into departments, the number



determined by the size and service of operation. There are four important departments

in an advertising agency. These are explained below.

1) Accounts department

This department comprises a manager, account directors and account

executives. This group plans, schedules and manages the works in the ad agency.

It also coordinates the art work, gets approval for the art work from the client

and places the advertisements in the media.

2) Creative department

This department consists of creative directors, copy writers, art directors and

production managers. This department gets ready the ideas, layouts, visuals,

texts and thumbnail sketches of advertisements.

3) Media department

This department selects the most effective media to channelise the

advertisement. It also advises the clients about the relative advantages and

disadvantages of various media units. The media department makes the

decisions about where and when to place ads and then buys the appropriate time

or space.

4) Research department

Market research tests product viability in the market, the best venues for

commercial messages, the nature and characteristics of potential buyers, and

sometimes the effectiveness of the ads.

Responsibilities of an Advertising agency

a) To study the product or service in depth.

b) To analyse the present and potential source of business.

c) To know the methods of distribution, sales and operation so as to advise the clients.

d) To study the media and propose those media which will get the message to the right

people at the lowest effective price.

e) To formulate a definite advertising plan that will include distribution, pricing, media

strategy, creative strategy, budgeting etc.

f) To organize periodical research to study people’s attitudes, buying habits, living

standards, spending habits etc. to make the advertising more effective.

ADVERTORIAL



An advertorial is a form of advertisement in a newspaper, magazine or a website which

involves giving information about the product in the form of an article. Usually, a brand

pays the publisher for such an article.

They are used by marketers to educate prospective consumers about the features of a

product. It can be used to target a specific set of people by choosing the right medium to

publish the advertorial. An advertorial is more detailed than an advertisement and thus

helps consumers understand more about the product. Advertorials are usually written

by an ad agency or the client itself. They then purchase the ad space on the website or in

a newspaper or a magazine.

For example, an advertorial in a business newspaper would involve educating a set of

people who are more interested about economy, markets or financial products. It is an

effective medium for a company to connect with its consumers through a story, unlike a

traditional print ad in a magazine, newspaper or on a website as a banner ad.

THE ADVERTISING STANDARDS COUNCIL OF INDIA (ASCI)

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), established in 1985, is committed to

the cause of Self-Regulation in Advertising and ensuring the protection of the interests

of consumers. The ASCI was formed with the support of all four sectors connected with

Advertising, viz. Advertisers, Ad Agencies, Media (including Broadcasters and the Press)

and others like PR Agencies, Market Research Companies etc.

Its main objective is to promote responsible advertising; thus, enhancing the public’s

confidence in Advertising. ASCI thus aims to achieve its own overarching goal i.e., to

maintain and enhance the public’s confidence in advertising. The Board of Governors

(16 members) ensures equitable representation of Advertisers, Agencies, Media and

other Advertising Services, the individual member firms being leaders in their

respective industries or services.

The Consumer Complaints Council is ASCI’s heart and soul. It is the dedicated work put

in by this group of highly respected people that has given tremendous impetus to the

work of ASCI and the movement of self-regulation in the advertising. The Consumer

Complaints Council (CCC) (21 members) has 12 Non-Advertising professionals

representing civil society, who are eminent and recognised opinion leaders in their



respective disciplines such as Medical, Legal, Industrial Design, Engineering, Chemical

Technology, Human Resources and Consumer Interest Groups; 9 are advertising

practitioners from member firms.

In August 2006, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a notification

deeming it necessary for all TV commercials in India to abide by the ASCI code. This

effort of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has made the advertising self-

regulatory movement in India stronger and more effective.

DIRECTORATE OF ADVERTISING AND VISUAL PUBLICITY (DAVP)

DAVP is the nodal agency of the Central Government to inform people about

Government’s activities, policies and programmes and to motivate them to participate

in developmental activities. It was established in the year 1955. This is one of the largest

advertising and public relations agencies in the country with a network of regional

offices, production centres, distribution centres, outdoor publicity units and field

exhibition units. The DAVP is headed by a Director General. Apart from its headquarters

in New Delhi, DAVP has two regional offices in Bangalore and Guwahati. The Directorate

includes 4 Campaign wings, an Advertising wing for Print, Audio-Visual (AV) wing, New

Media & Personal Media wing, Exhibition wing, Mass Mailing wing, Outdoor Publicity

wing, Research wing, Distribution wing and Language wing in addition to an Audio-

Visual Publicity Cell.

ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

The term campaign is applied to systematic efforts to elect a political candidate, to raise

a fund or persuade people to buy soaps, automobiles, mobiles phones etc. The

important principles in all these are the same: planning, management, execution and

evaluation. Advertising campaign is a systematic and sustained effort to boost the sales

or to enhance the reputation of a company. Successful advertising campaigns achieve

far more than the sporadic advertising, and may last from a few weeks and months to

years.

Effective campaigning means using the minimum amount of effort to achieve the

maximum impact. Planning is critical to making your campaign focused and effective.

Consider the following in your campaigning.



1. Research: first step is to do a market research for the product to be advertised.

One needs to find out the product demand, competitors, etc.

2. Know the target audience: one needs to know who are going to buy the

product and who should be targeted.

3. Setting the budget: the next step is to set the budget keeping in mind all the

factors like media, presentations, paper works, etc. which have a role in the

process of advertising and the places where there is a need of funds.

4. Deciding a proper theme: the theme for the campaign has to be decided as in

the colours to be used, the graphics should be similar or almost similar in all ads,

the music and the voices to be used, the designing of the ads, the way the

message will be delivered, the language to be used, jingles, etc.

5. Selection of media: the media or number of Media selected should be the one

which will reach the target customers.

6. Media scheduling: the scheduling has to be done accurately so that the ad. will

be visible or be read or be audible to the targeted customers at the right time.

7. Executing the campaign: finally, the campaign has to be executed and then the

feedback has to be noted.



MODULE VI

COPY WRITING PRACTICES

Introduction

Copywriting is the writing you use in your written promotional materials. This can

include your advertising, website, brochure, catalogs, business cards, sales letter and

more. Copywriting is the skill of choosing the right words and technique of arranging

them smartly to promote business, product, service, idea, or a person. The selection of

words and its presentation largely depends upon the media through which it is planned

to convey. For example, depending on whether it is a newspaper, magazine, hoarding,

radio, television, or internet, the script will vary accordingly. However, whatever is the

type of media, the purpose of copywriting is the same i.e. promotion. Therefore, it

should be persuasive enough to be instantly attention grabbing. Copywriting is what

you use to get your customers and potential customers to take a particular action. For

example:

• Call you for more information

• Place an order

• Sign up for your mailing list

• Get them to refer a friend to your business

Advertising copywriter provides the verbal or written ‘copy’ of the advertisement. This

may include creating slogans, catchphrases, messages and straplines for printed adverts

and leaflets. They are also involved in writing text for web advertising, as well as scripts

for radio jingles and TV commercials. Copywriters also work with media

planners/buyers and the production department to fully develop the advertising

campaign. Copywriters are responsible for generating the words, slogans and audio

scripts that accompany advertising visuals. They work alongside art directors to

conceive and complete effective advertisements. Advertising ideas, which typically

contain an integrated verbal and visual concept, require both the ability to make an

imaginative leap and an intuitive understanding of the public the advert is aimed at.



Copywriters must understand the client’s brief; the concept determines the style and

character of the ad. Copywriters must be able to write at length and paraphrase highly

technical subjects. Advertising copy involves constant detailed revision and rewriting

either at the request of the client or to tune up the communication.

ELEMENTS OF COPYWRITING

Copywriting has some essential elements required to develop a convincing ad.

Following are the significant elements:

Heading

o Headline gives the first impression and lasts on readers’ mind; therefore,

it should be eye-catching. Heading should tell – what it is all about your ad

in a very few words, ranging from 3 to 30 words.

Body copy

o Write body copy in such a way that it seems as the continuity of the

heading. Provide details of all the features and benefits that you are

claiming for. The language should be promising and trustworthy.

Slogans

o Think of “The ultimate driving machine” (BMW);” Just do it” (Nike);”

Because I’m worth it” (L’Oréal), what comes to your mind? The moment,

you hear the slogans, you link it with the respective brand not only

because you have heard it many times, but rather it works. A well-written

and effective slogan is a trustworthy brand representative. However, your

slogan should be small and crispy giving meaning to your brand.

Taglines

o Taglines are usually used for literary products to reinforce and strengthen

the audience’s memory of a literary product. For example, “she went in

search of answers, and discovered a love she never expected,’ Book Name

“Faithful” and Writer - Janet Fox. Thus, tagline tells the gist of the

products for marketing purpose. Like, a slogan, it should be small and eye-

catching.

Jingle Lyrics

o More often accompanied with background music, jingle lyric is a short

slogan, tune, or verse written to be easily remembered (especially used in



advertising). For example, Fanta: “Wanna Fanta, Don’t You Wanna?” It

should be small, crisp, and rhythmic (like a song) so that it registers with

people at once and they remember it.

Scripts (for audio and video ad)

o Scripts are the descriptions of an ad that narrates the dialogues, actions,

expression, and movements of characters. Since, script is a complete

guideline of an ad; therefore, it should be written meaningfully, orderly,

and nicely.

Others

o (White Paper, Press Release, & other written material such as emails,

articles, and blog (for the internet)): These are all promotional write-ups

written purposefully to promote a product/service. So, while writing

white paper, press release, articles, blog, or even an email you need to

focus or emphasize only on one product that you want to promote. You

need to describe all features and offers of the respective product in simple

and plain language.

Advertising design

The three basic components of a Print ad are the headline, body copy, and visual or

illustrations. The headline and body copy portions of the advertisement are the

responsibility of the copywriters, while artists, often working under the direction of an

art director-are responsible for the visual presentation of the ad. Artists also work with

copywriters to develop a layout. The layout involves the arrangement of the various

components of the ad, such as headlines, subheads, body copy, and taglines. The tagline

is a memorable saying or slogan that conveys a selling message.

Television copy consists of, two elements- the audio and the visual. The video visual

elements are what the viewer sees on the television screen. The visual generally

dominates the commercial so it must attract the viewer’s attention and communicate a

key idea, message, and/or image. The audio includes such elements as voices, music,

and sound effects. Broadcast commercials are demanding to make, and they must be

credible and relevant. Research shows that the following techniques work best: the



opening should be short, compelling attention getter, demonstrations should be

interesting and believable; the content should be ethical, in good taste, and entertaining;

and the general structure of the commercial and copy should be simple and easy to

follow.

Radio copy presents a challenge to advertisers and their agencies because it lacks the

visual aspects of both print and television. Successful radio spots usually enable

listeners to visualize the product or something related to it. For this reason, radio

advertising is often referred to as ‘theater of the mind’. One of the most challenging

aspects of writing for radio is making the script fit the time slot. The copywriter should

read the script out loud for timing. With electronic compression, recorded radio

advertisements can now include 10 to 30 percent more copy than text read live. To

appear professional and to be easy to produce, copy must adhere to the appropriate

industry format. All copy begins with the name of the advertisers in the upper left-hand

corner. The size of the print ad or length of the broadcast script followed by

identification of the medium to be used appears on the second line. The name given to

the advertisement appears on the third line. Often a series of advertisements are

created for a specific advertising campaign. In this case, all the ads created for the

campaign may have one name, which unifies the series.

Background of Making an Advertisement

In Print advertising, the key format elements are the headlines, the visuals, subheads,

body copy, slogans and logos. Copywriters can correlate the headline, visual, and

subhead to the attention step of the creative pyramid. The interest step typically

corresponds to the sub-headline and the first paragraph of body copy. Body copy

handles credibility and desire, and the action step takes place with to logo and slogan.

The Headline

Effective headlines attract attention, engage the audience, explain the visual, lead the

audience into the body of the ad, and present the selling message. The headline is the

most important thing as advertiser says to the prospect. It explains or give s greater

meaning to the visual and then immediately dictates the advertiser’s position in that

person’s mind, whether the prospect chooses to read on.

Ideally, headlines present the complete selling idea. Working off the visual, the headline

creates the mood and tells the reader to act through implication and triggers a



recognition response, which reinforces brand recognition and brand preference. Also,

the headline should present product news. Consumers look for new products, new uses

for old products, or improvements on old products. If they haven’t been overused in a

category,

‘Power’ words that imply newness can increase readership and should be employed

whenever honestly applicable. Examples include free, now, amazing, suddenly,

announcing, introducing, it’s here, improved, at last, revolutionary, just arrived, and

important development.

Subheads

The subheads, an additional smaller headline, may appear above the headline or below

it. A subhead above the headline, called a kicker or over line) is often underlined.

Subheads may also appear in body copy. Subheads are usually set smaller than the

headline but larger than the body copy or text. Subheads generally appear in boldface

heavier type or a different colour. Like a headline, the subhead transmits key sales

points fast. But it usually carries less important information than the headline. Subheads

are important for two reasons: most individuals read only the headline and subheads,

and subheads usually support the interest step best. Subheads are longer and more like

sentences. They serve as stepping-stones from the headline to the body copy,

telegraphing what’s to come.

Body Copy

The advertiser tells the complete sales story in the body copy or text. The body copy

comprises the interest, credibility, desire, and often even the action steps. It is a logical

continuation of the headline and subheads, set in smaller type. Body copy covers the

features, benefits, and utility of the product or service. The body copy is typically read

by only one out of ten readers, so the writer must speak to the reader’s self –interest,

explaining how the product or service satisfies the customer’s need. The best ads focus

on one big idea or one clear benefit. Copywriters often read their copy aloud to hear

how it sounds, even if it’s intended for print media. The ear is a powerful copywriting

tool.

Slogans

Many slogans also called theme lines or taglines begin as successful headlines. Through

continuous use, they become standard statements, not just in advertising but also for



salespeople and company employees. Slogans have two basic purposes: to provide

continuity to a series of ads in a campaign and to reduce an advertising message

strategy to a brief, repeatable, and memorable positioning statement. DeBeers’ ads, for

example, still use the famous slogan “Diamonds are forever”. It is a phrase or a sentence

that describes the benefit derived from the product or one of the product’s most

important attributes. The term slogan comes from the Gaelic words sluagh gairm,

meaning battle cry. These days it is the battle cry in the field of sales and marketing. It

consists of a single phrase by which an advertiser conveys an important idea, which will

presumably lead readers or audience to remember and think favourably of this

company. Slogan is thus a short and catchy phrase that gets the attention of the

audience, is easy to remember and comes off the tongue easily.

Slogan can of different types:

a) Slogan that emphasizes product or reward- every product has some reward to offer

consumers. It may have some hidden quality that differentiates a product from the

competitors.

b) Slogans that emphasizes action to be taken- the slogan might urge directly that you

use the product or service.

Logotypes and signatures

sign cuts are special designs of the advertiser’s company or product name. They appear

in all company ads and, like trademarks, give the product individuality and provide

quick recognition at that point of purchase.

White Space

At least 20 % of an ad should be blank white space. Ample white space helps gain

attention, create contrast, and unify the advertisement. White space is probably the

most underestimated element in advertisements.

Logo and Baseline

For promoting or advertising a business, there are various methods that are employed

to ensure maximum exposure. Logos are an integral part of most of the methods which

marketers often overlooked, whereas it can use many times in several forms. The logo

enhances the brand awareness and it can be used in a commercial as well as in a print

ad campaign, which will increase the brand credibility.

This will improve the recognition too. Advertising using the logo can strengthen and

communicate the brand's value, an essence which is said to be symbolic benefits of a

https://www.dreamlogodesign.com/logo-design/



brand. It becomes the point of relating between the sellers and buyers. While your logo

is already a recognized as the symbol of your brand, people already know and trust it, so

advertising with it enhances the trust factor and builds the brand's customer identity.

That is, improving the trustworthiness will lead more business and more revenue

generation.

Simply, baselines are the invisible line your words sit on. Baselines aren’t just a seat for

your words to chill on. They’re also the benchmark measurement for the constituent

parts of letters. To enhance your ad copy design you need to get a grip on the following

terms: ascenders & descenders, lining figures, lower & uppercase letters, X-height,

negative space etc.

INTERNET ADS

Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital

advertising or web advertising, is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the

Internet to deliver promotional marketing messages to consumers. Many consumers

find online advertising disruptive and have increasingly turned to ad blocking for a

variety of reasons. Online advertising includes email marketing, search engine

marketing (SEM), social media marketing, many types of display

advertising (including web banner advertising), and mobile advertising. Like other

advertising media, online advertising frequently involves a publisher, who integrates

advertisements into its online content, and an advertiser, who provides the

advertisements to be displayed on the publisher's content. Other potential participants

include advertising agencies who help generate and place the ad copy, an ad

server which technologically delivers the ad and tracks statistics, and advertising

affiliates who do independent promotional work for the advertiser.

Display ads

Display advertising conveys its advertising message visually using text, logos,

animations, videos, photographs, or other graphics. Display advertising is commonly

used on social media, websites with slots for advertisements, and in real life. In real life,

displace advertising can be a sign in front of a building or a billboard alongside a

highway. The goal of display advertising is to obtain more traffic, clicks, or popularity

for the advertising brand or organization.

Web banner advertising



Web banners or banner ads typically are graphical ads displayed within a web page.

Many banner ads are delivered by a central ad server. Banner ads can use rich media to

incorporate video, audio, animations, buttons, forms, or other interactive elements

using Java applets, HTML5, Adobe Flash, and other programs.

Frame ad (traditional banner)

Frame ads were the first form of web banners. The colloquial usage of “banner ads”

often refers to traditional frame ads. Website publishers incorporate frame ads by

setting aside a space on the web page. The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Ad Unit

Guidelines proposes standardized pixel dimensions for ad units.

Pop-ups/pop-under

A pop-up ad is displayed in a new web browser window that opens above a website

visitor’s initial browser window. A pop-under ad opens a new browser window under a

website visitor's initial browser window. Pop-under ads and similar technologies are

now advised against by online authorities such as Google, who state that they “do not

condone this practice”.

Floating ad

A floating ad, or overlay ad, is a type of rich media advertisement that appears

superimposed over the requested website's content. Floating ads may disappear or

become less obtrusive after a pre-set time period.

Expanding ad

An expanding ad is a rich media frame ad that changes dimensions upon a predefined

condition, such as a preset amount of time a visitor spends on a webpage, the user's

click on the ad, or the user's mouse movement over the ad. Expanding ads allow

advertisers to fit more information into a restricted ad space.

Trick banners

A trick banner is a banner ad where the ad copy imitates some screen element users

commonly encounter, such as an operating system message or popular application

message, to induce ad clicks. Trick banners typically do not mention the advertiser in

the initial ad, and thus they are a form of bait-and-switch. Trick banners commonly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_banner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banner_ad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_ad_server

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_media

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_applet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flash

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_Advertising_Bureau

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop-up_ad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop-under_ad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_media

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch



attract a higher-than-average click-through rate, but tricked users may resent the

advertiser for deceiving them.

News Feed Ads

“News Feed Ads”, also called “Sponsored Stories”, “Boosted Posts”, typically exist on

social media platforms that offer a steady stream of information updates (“news feed”)

in regulated formats (i.e., in similar sized small boxes with a uniform style). Those

advertisements are intertwined with non-promoted news that the users are reading

through. Those advertisements can be of any content, such as promoting a website, a fan

page, an app, or a product.

Some examples are: Facebook's “Sponsored Stories”, LinkedIn's “Sponsored

Updates”, and Twitter's “Promoted Tweets”.

ETHICS IN ADVERTISING

Ethics means “Good Conduct” or “Conduct which is right in view of the society and the

time period”. By common consent, various modes of behaviour and conduct are viewed

as “good” or “bad”. In other word, we can say that ethics are moral principles and values

that govern the actions and decisions of an individual group. Ethics is a choice between

good and bad, between right and wrong. It is governed by a set of principles of morality

at a given time and at a given place and in a given society. Ethics is related to group

behaviour in ultimate analysis, thus setting norms for an individual to follow in

consistence with the group norms.

A particular action may be within the law and still not be ethical; Target Marketing is a

good example for this. There is no law to restrict tobacco companies from promoting

their brands to Africans & American, though it is in India but for Doordarshan only.

Similarly, the alcoholic – beverage companies promote their brands & target not only

college students but underage drinkers as well. These advertisements have increased

alcohol related problems. Advertisements exposing pornography is another serious

issue in advertising industry today. Advertisements promoting permissiveness &

objectifying women are heavily criticized in the society.

Therefore, even advertising has ethical value. The mixing of Art and facts in advertising

communication are subservient to ethical principles. In today’s competitive and buyer’s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click-through_rate



market, an advertisement has to be truthful and ethical. If an advertisement is

misleading, the credibility of the organization is lost. To view the truth in advertisement,

it has to be seen from to consumer’s point of view rather than from legal point. The

advertising industry has been frequently criticized for putting out misleading or

exaggerated claims in respect of product, goods and services advertised. It is also

perceived as guilty of glorifying certain habits or tendencies regarded as undesirable

and encouraging consume rest culture.

However, it is very difficult to demarcate a clear line of difference between what is true

and what is untrue. But the advertisement as such is judged by its impact, and by its

acceptance by the consumers. The product must fulfill its advertised claims.

Advertisements should be decent and not be obscene. It must be truthful. Gambling is

also unethical. Sometimes, celebrities endorsing the product and spreading falsehood is

also criticized. Advertising is a social process; thus, it must follow the time-tested norms

of social behaviour and should not affront our moral sense.

In short, ethics are rules of conduct or principles of morality that point us towards the

right or best way to act in a situation. Ethics vary from person to person, society-to-

society point of view.

Ethical issues of Advertising

1. Misleading claims

In these ads, company claim false regarding the quality, style, history of a

product or service etc. Many steps were taken by ASCI (Advertising Standards

Council of India) to stop misleading ads. Many companies were forced to

withdraw their ads because of misleading claims.

2. Reinforcing stereotypes

Stereotyping is the representation of a group that emphasis a trait or group of

traits that may or may not communicate an accurate representation of the group.

3. Use of sex appeal

Women are often portrayed as sex objects. Representing women in such a way

devalues women’s image and encourage sexual harassment. The main aim of

using sex appeal is to tempt/attract the mind of the viewers esp. the targeted

audience.

4. Hiding of relevant facts



Most of the advertisers conceal important information that is unflattering, i.e.,

they present the brighter side of the story. They ignore to mention those facts

which would make their products less desirable. Concealment of facts results in a

severe ethical concern because when consumers are deprived of comprehensive

knowledge about the product, their choices will be distorted.

5. Manipulate ads

In this type of ads, demand is created through emotions of people. The

companies make use of different emotions to make their product sell.

6. Surrogate ads

Surrogate advertising is a form of advertising which is used to

promote banned products, like cigarettes and alcohol, in the disguise of another

product. This type of advertising uses a product of a fairly close category, as: club

soda, mineral water in case of alcohol, or products of a completely different

category (for example, music CD's or playing cards) to hammer the brand

name into the heads of consumers. The banned product (alcohol or cigarettes)

may not be projected directly to consumers but rather masked under another

product under the same brand name, so that whenever there is mention of that

brand, people start associating it with its main product (the alcohol or cigarette).

7. Puffery

It is a legal term that refers to promotional statements and claims that express

subjective rather than objective views, such that no reasonable person would

take literally. A company may deliver an entertaining message about its product,

compare the product to a similar item, list facts about the product, or make

vague claims about the product which cannot be proved or disproved.

CODE OF ETHICS IN ADVERTISING

Code of Ethics define the legal as well as ethical rules and norms of creating and

broadcasting an ad. It restrains an advertiser to promote any product/service through

unreliable, false, and immoral information.

Such kind of language and information may damage someone’s fundamental right,

business reputation, and can stain their honor and dignity. So, the law prevents any

sort of ad that infringes on public values, norms, and morality. Further, it also

discourages creation of any sort of ad that contains disrespectful comparison with



other similar products (either of same nature or different) to maintain fair

competition.

The purpose of code of ethics is to maintain fair competition and protect the right of

every individual. Code of ethics help advertisers set ethical standards to govern the

ways of communication and develop self-regulatory ads. Ethical norms of advertising

restrict ads that make false claims and are not within the normal standards of decency.

Honesty – to be forthright in dealings with customers and stakeholders. To this

end, we will:

Strive to be truthful in all situations and at all times.

Offer products of value that do what we claim in our communications.

Stand behind our products if they fail to deliver their claimed benefits.

Honour our explicit and implicit commitments and promises.

Responsibility – to accept the consequences of our marketing decisions and

strategies. To this end, we will:

Strive to serve the needs of customers.

Avoid using coercion with all stakeholders.

Acknowledge the social obligations to stakeholders that come with increased

marketing and economic power.

Recognize our special commitments to vulnerable market segments such as

children, seniors, the economically impoverished, market illiterates and others

who may be substantially disadvantaged.

Consider environmental stewardship in our decision-making.

Fairness – to balance justly the needs of the buyer with the interests of the

seller. To this end, we will:

Represent products in a clear way in selling, advertising and other forms of

communication; this includes the avoidance of false, misleading and deceptive

promotion.

Reject manipulations and sales tactics that harm customer trust.



Refuse to engage in price fixing, predatory pricing, price gouging or “bait-and-

switch” tactics.

Avoid knowing participation in conflicts of interest.

Seek to protect the private information of customers, employees and partners.

Respect – to acknowledge the basic human dignity of all stakeholders. To this

end, we will:

Value individual differences and avoid stereotyping customers or depicting

demographic groups (e.g., gender, race, sexual orientation) in a negative or

dehumanizing way.

Listen to the needs of customers and make all reasonable efforts to monitor and

improve their satisfaction on an ongoing basis.

Make every effort to understand and respectfully treat buyers, suppliers,

intermediaries and distributors from all cultures.

Acknowledge the contributions of others, such as consultants, employees and

coworkers, to marketing endeavors.

Treat everyone, including our competitors, as we would wish to be treated.

Transparency – to create a spirit of openness in marketing operations. To this

end, we will:

Strive to communicate clearly with all constituencies.

Accept constructive criticism from customers and other stakeholders.

Explain and take appropriate action regarding significant product or service

risks, component substitutions or other foreseeable eventualities that could

affect customers or their perception of the purchase decision.

Disclose list prices and terms of financing as well as available price deals and

adjustments.

Citizenship – to fulfill the economic, legal, philanthropic and societal

responsibilities that serve stakeholders. To this end, we will:

Strive to protect the ecological environment in the execution of marketing

campaigns.



Give back to the community through volunteerism and charitable donations.

Contribute to the overall betterment of marketing and its reputation.

Urge supply chain members to ensure that trade is fair for all participants,

including producers in developing countries.

SOME PROFESSIONAL BODIES

AAAI (Advertising Agencies Association of India)

ISA (Indian Society of Advertisers)

ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) etc.

SOURCES USED

1. Rob Bowdery, ‘Basics Advertising 01: Copywriting’, Bloomsbury Academic, 2008

2. http://www.nraismc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/304_-

_ADVERTISING_DESIGN_AND_PRINCIPLE.pdf

3. http://www.drypen.in/copywriting/principles-of-copywriting.html

4. https://studiousguy.com/advertising-copy-definition-types-examples/

5. Andy Maslen, ‘The Copywriting Sourcebook: How to write better copy, faster –

for everything from ads to websites’, Marshall Cavendish (11 February 2010)

6. Sandeep Sharma & Deepak Kumar, ‘Advertising, Planning, Implementation and

control’, Mangal Deep Publications, Jaipur.

7. Sanjay Kaptan & Akhilesh Acharya, ‘Advertisement in Print Media’, Book Enclave,

Jaipur.

8. http://www.nraismc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/302_-

_INTRODUCTION_TO_ADVERTISING__2_.pdf

9. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-campaigns.htm

10. http://archive.mu.ac.in/myweb_test/sybcom-avtg-eng.pdf

11. S A Chunawalla, ‘Advertisement an Introductory Text’, Himalaya Publishing.

12. Print Journalism A Critical Introduction: Edited by Richard Keeble

13. Textbook of Editing & Reporting: M K Joseph

14. The Art of Editing: Floyd K Baskette, Jack Z Sissors, Brian S Brooks

15. Digital Sub Editing and Design: Stephen Quinn

http://www.nraismc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/304_-_ADVERTISING_DESIGN_AND_PRINCIPLE.pdf

http://www.nraismc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/304_-_ADVERTISING_DESIGN_AND_PRINCIPLE.pdf

http://www.drypen.in/copywriting/principles-of-copywriting.html

https://studiousguy.com/advertising-copy-definition-types-examples/

http://www.nraismc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/302_-_INTRODUCTION_TO_ADVERTISING__2_.pdf

http://www.nraismc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/302_-_INTRODUCTION_TO_ADVERTISING__2_.pdf

https://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-campaigns.htm

http://archive.mu.ac.in/myweb_test/sybcom-avtg-eng.pdf

journalistic practices

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