Chapter 1 Exercises
1. Conduct an online search for World Wide Web sites created by different types of news media. Locate anewspaper Web site, a magazine Web site and a broadcast network Web site. Compare the news selections,the layout and design, the amount of advertising, and the way headlines are written. Then search for acorporation’s Web site and compare it with the others.
2. Observe the copy editors at your campus newspaper, or interview a staff member in your university’smarketing and communications department. How does their work compare with the work of professionalcopy editors, as described in this chapter? Make notes on the differences so you can discuss them in class.
3. Define the following:
a. HTK
b. Slot editor
c. Rim editor
d. Assigning editor
4. Try to get an interview with a copy editor at your local newspaper and ask about his or her role and
responsibilities in the newsroom. From your discussion, develop your own list of the virtues of a good
copy editor.
5. Try to line up an interview with a newsletter editor or an editorial assistant at a local public relations agency and ask about his or her role and responsibilities within the organization. Do the editing functions differ from those at a print publication? If so, how?
6. On weekends, large metropolitan dailies contain inserts that are not produced locally but are transported in and inserted in the mailrooms as newspapers come off the presses. Find a Sunday edition of the largest daily in your region and identify inserts that were not produced by the newspaper’s regular staff. What characteristics suggest these were produced out of town? Does this Sunday edition also contain inserts that were produced by the newspaper’s regular staff? How can you tell?
7. Review the news values listed in this chapter on page 00. Applying those news values, plus others that your instructor may add to the list, consider whether each of the following items is suitable for publication in the news section of your hometown newspaper. Tell which news values apply for each item.
a. Meteor showers will crackle across the night sky through the weekend, streaking to their fiery
demise. The meteors— some the size of a grain of sand, others the size of a baseball— will crash
into the Earth’s atmosphere as fast as 165,000 miles per hour. (story from science beat)
b. An effort to contain a 62,000-acre fire pays off, but a second blaze ignites just miles away and forces even more evacuations of weary residents. The fires are 60 miles away from your town. (wire story)
c. The local professional football team is playing its first exhibition game of the season tomorrow, and the quarterback position is still up for grabs.
d. For the second time since the economic downturn began, mortgage rates have dipped to historic
lows. Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.5 percent this week. (wire story)
e. Tiny blankets and booties knitted by a legion of volunteers keep premature babies and their parents
comforted.
8. Review the news values listed in this chapter. Applying those news values, plus others that your instructor may add to the list, consider whether each of the following items is suitable for publication in the news section of your hometown newspaper. Tell which news values apply for each item.
a. After a successful run on Broadway, the cast of an award-winning musical is beginning a tour of the
United States. The nearest performance to your hometown will be in a city 200 miles away. (wire
story)
b. Scientists working in Washington, D.C., think they may have made a breakthrough in cancer research. The National Science Foundation awarded them a $2.5 million grant this week. (National Science Foundation press release)
c. This is the right time for gardeners in your area to get their tulips and other bulbs into the ground.
(material from local agricultural agent)
d. Business analysts expect a bullish market for mining stocks in the next few months. (business wire
story)
e. “Tiger,” a German shepherd owned by a local woman, won “best in show” yesterday at the annual dog show in MadisonSquareGarden. (wire story)
9. Review the news values listed in this chapter. Applying those news values, plus others that your instructor may add to the list, consider whether each of the following items is suitable for publication in the news section of your hometown newspaper. Tell which news values apply for each item.
a. A student from the local junior high school placed second in the national spelling bee, conducted yesterday in Washington, D.C. (story from education beat)
b. A train derailed 30 miles away. Emergency rooms at local hospitals were crowded with injured passengers. (story from police beat)
c. Fashion designers say that unisex clothes will be in vogue next year. (wire story)
d. The local school board decided last night to build a new high school in town. (story from education
beat)
e. A city official says that property taxes will increase dramatically to pay for the costs of building a new high school in town. (story from city government beat)
10. Review the news values listed in this chapter. Applying those news values, plus others that your instructor may add to the list, consider whether each of the following items is suitable for publication in the news section of your hometown newspaper. Tell which news values apply for each item.
a. A 75-year-old man was the first customer at a new bungee-jumping attraction that opened yesterday on the outskirts of town. (story from business beat)
b. To mark its 100th anniversary, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City performed the classic
“Madame Butterfly,” and thousands of opera fans attended.
c. The local museum announced it would receive a traveling exhibit of ancient Chinese stone warriors
from the Denver Museum of Natural History next month.
d. Environmentalists warned owners of new beach homes along the North Carolina coast that the structures were built too close to the sea and would not withstand another hurricane season.
e. The local chapter of the League of Women Voters announced yesterday that it would sponsor the first senatorial debate between Republican candidate Elizabeth Dole and her Democratic challenger.