DPC 2109 Group 5 E-booklet

University of Guyana Faculty of Social Sciences Centre for Communication Studies DPC 2109 – Reporting & Writing Tier 3 Specialised Journalism (Science & Health) Lecturer – Mrs. Rhonda Hamilton-Weekes Group Members Kayla Alexander - 1034672 Shena Henry - 1034612 Earl Smart - Antonette Gonsalves - 1037269 Cheyenna Khan - 1031256

Table of Contents Introduction Content on preparing and conducting live and edited broadcast interviews and interviews for Print Media Examples Embedded links Graphics References

Introduction Journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information. It is also the product of these activities. There are many types of Journalism. For example; Investigative Journalism, Education Journalism, Sports Journalism, Business, Political etc. This e-booklet however, focuses and presents on the Health and Science aspects of Journalism including how one goes about writing for health and science, gathering information, conducting interviews as well as tips and tricks for overall success.

Content on preparing and conducting live and edited broadcast interviews and interviews for Print Media. Print – Be Responsive – In TV and radio, interview times are pre-arranged. However, print and online journalists typically have daily and weekly deadlines. When they call you, they need you right then! In many cases, journalists will reach out to several experts on a news item and then choose the one who is the better interview or whoever responded quickest (or a combination of the two). The more reliably you respond, the more likely they will call on you again. It’s Not About You – Most journalists are not interested in you, but rather the expert commentary you can provide. The more you use the words “I” and “my” the less likely they will use you as a source. When speaking to a reporter, keep in mind you are speaking to their audience, so keep your remarks centered on what their audience cares about and you’ll be quoted early and often. Read Before You Talk – If you get a call from a publication, take five minutes to go online and read a few of their stories. Look for their tone and approach, so your tone and approach will match. Also look for articles they wrote on your topic, so you can avoid duplicating what someone else said. Finally, read articles written by the journalist you’ll be speaking with. There is no better way to prepare for a print or online interview than to read the writings of the reporter interviewing you. You can discover his or her focus, audience and philosophy. The reporter can tell if you’ve read his or her articles through your comments and will respect you for having made the effort to prepare for them. Don’t Empty Your Notebook – Beat reporters – journalists who cover a particular topic or industry – tend to be experts in that field from their time covering it for their respective publications. They don’t need, nor do they want, your soup-to-nuts take on that topic. They need only a few quotes and opinions to round out their stories. Answer direct questions with direct answers, and get to the point quickly. There’s no need to tell the reporter everything you know, emptying your notebook of all your collected knowledge, in order to have a good interview. Allowing an interview to devolve into you talking about your total philosophy on a particular topic or business will result in your interview landing in the discard pile, and the reporter will likely seek a comment from your competitor instead. Be Professional – Reporters don’t call you to talk about the weather, last night’s TV, your kids, etc. If they engage you, that’s one thing. It’s entirely another if you waste their time with unwanted “schmoozing.” Most have deadlines to meet and their time is valuable. Many outlets are working with significantly smaller writing staff than a year ago. Respect their time and they’ll respect you.

Radio – Radio Interview: Preparation: Researching the topic and making a clear outline of what you wish to achieve. Identify the best person to interview. Set date, time, and location for the interview. Do the necessary background checks on the interviewee. How to interview people who are used to be interviewed? Politicians, celebrities, spokespersons, etc. Don’t let them ‘waffle’ or avoid answering the questions. Be alert to keep control over the interview. How about people who don’t want to be interviewed? Anyone has the right NOT to be interviewed. Explain why it is in their best interest to inform the public. Be courteous at all times. You can also mention over the radio that a certain person did not want to give an interview on this topic. How to interview the person in the street or community? These persons might be intimidated by the microphones. Give them the feeling that their opinion is important. You might begin the interview with a “throwaway question”. How to interview a friend or people we work together with? Be careful that the interview does not sound boring. Don’t use insider language. Ask critical questions or raise arguments of the opposition. Interview Checklist: ✓ Prepare the interview. ✓ Research the topic and possible interviewees. ✓ Contact the interviewees, set date and time and place for the interview. Questions:

Clear and short questions. Use the 5Ws + H. No yes/no questions. No double barrelled questions. No either/or questions. No non - question questions. Act as devil’s advocate. Equipment: Check equipment before leaving. Bring headphone and microphone. Bring extra tape, extra batteries. Conduct a sound check in the location before starting the interview. Label your tape, “MD” or “MP3 track”. Location: Studio – - The advantage: sound proof best recording quality. The disadvantage the interviewees might be intimidated by all the equipment. Make the interviewee feel comfortable and at ease in the studio. On Site - – at the home or work-place of the interviewee, your interviewee will feel more relaxed. But there might be unwanted sound and distraction on site. So make sure you got a quiet corner. The telephone Interview is quick and bridges distances. But is impersonal and the sound quality is bad. Try to keep telephone interviews short, 3 – -5 minutes. Prepare the interviewee: Clarify name, organisation and position of interviewee. Explain length and context of the interview. Depending on the type of interview, discuss the questions for the informative interview. Discuss what can and what cannot be discussed in the emotional interview.

During the interview: Sound interested. Don’t make excuses for asking a question. Dare to interrupt but do it at the first and only attempt. Hold on to the microphone and the question paper. No “yes”, “mmh” or other affirmative sounds. Use non-verbal communication. Watch the time of the interview. Winding up the interview: Announce the end with a “last” question. Repeat the person’s name position, organisation and the topic of the interview. After the interview: After the completion of the interview, make sure to thank the Interviewee. Check if the interview is recorded in radio quality. Depending on the topic and whom you are interviewing, journalists can craft their questions. Tips for Crafting Questions: ➢ Keep it positive. While a question with a slightly negative spin can prompt creative answers, you don't want to ask more than 1-2 seemingly negative questions. ➢ Ask open-ended questions using words like “who”, “what”, “when”, “where” and “why”. Avoid using words like \"Are you”, “did you”, “would you”. ➢ Focus on asking relevant and engaging questions. ➢ Tap into what your guest is passionate about. ➢ Ask questions that you genuinely want the answers to. ➢ Always include a variety of questions to keep it interesting. ➢ Be mindful of sensitive or emotional topics. ➢ Let your topic and research guide your questions.

➢ Think about what your audience wants to learn. ➢ Remain unbiased. ➢ Don't forget about follow-up questions! You shouldn't put everything into 1 question. Break long questions into smaller ones and use them as follow-up questions. ➢ Promotional questions are very important in most interviews, but it's best to really personalize those questions and get creative. Promotional questions can become repetitive for interviewees and audiences, so catch everyone off guard with a unique question. Television – We see things on the television pertaining to our health, environment, etc. but never quite wonder as to how the information is being made available to us on the television. It is all thanks to science journalists, for it is their job to go out and get the information from reliable sources in order to inform the public. Science journalists have to know how to format the information they receive in such a way for the public to understand, gain the knowledge that is intended to be shared and not be lost or bored, to know how to keep the story both informative and entertaining at the same time. The facts, data, experiments, etc. are what science journalists looks for when covering/ researching a story. For television, a science journalist will interview a person who has ‘on hand’ dealings and experience with whatever the study or research might be e.g. as we’re dealing with COVID-19, science Journalists will interview a Doctor from the Georgetown Public Hospital or the Minister of Health, Mr. Dr. Frank Anthony on ways on how persons can avoid contracting the virus and steps to take if in contact with an infected person. When a science journalist is conducting an interview on television with a Doctor on a specific topic e.g. effects of smoking, some of the technical information and terms given can also be shown with images, diagrams, statistics, illustrations, animation, etc. making it easier for the public to understand and see how the information relates to what is being shown, along with the consequences/ effects. It is important that the journalist conduct research prior to the interview to “brief” themselves, know how to go about doing the interview and how to structure their questions. In some cases, as science journalists, it is necessary to ask the ‘hard questions’ in order to get the information, since some can try to ‘sugar coat’ the information which can be misleading to the public. A typical example of this was earlier in the year in the United States of America when President Trump addressed the public many times and was caught ‘downplaying’ the COVID-19 virus. With misinformation like that given to the public, the cases were increasing by the numbers each day. That is why it is a science journalist’s job to go after the truth in order to help keep the public safe and informed.

Examples – Some open examples of questions can be: \"What's a common myth about [insert topic here] and can you debunk it?\" \"What advice would you give to someone wanting to enter [insert profession here]?\" \"Are there any resources or even advice that have really helped you on your journey?\" \"What has been your biggest accomplishment in your career thus far?\" Personal kinds of questions also tend to resonate with the audience more because they can potentially apply the things being said to their own lives and futures. “What do you wish you had known when you started out?” \"What led you to this [insert project, profession, etc. here]?\" \"What do you think your unique skill(s) is that has helped you become successful?\" \"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?\" \"How was your journey to what you do now?\" “How did you start researching that?” “What do you enjoy most about that type of research?”

“What is most interesting about the research to date?” Embedded Links – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTjTaR748eg&ab_channel=WashingtonPost

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References – .” Dictionary of American History. . Encyclopedia.com. 17 Oct. 2020 . (2020, November 26). Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries- thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/science-journalism-and-television Friedman, M. (2010, October 12). How to Give a Great Print Media Interview: Five Tips You Don’t Want to Miss. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://newsandexperts.com/give- great-print-media-interview-tips/ https://www.nicepng.com/ourpic/u2w7o0a9t4y3y3i1_man-reading-paper-royalty-free-vector- clip-art/ Nautiyal, D. (2020, April 24). Types of Journalism – Which is Right for You?: CollegeDekho. Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://www.collegedekho.com/articles/types-of-journalism/ Ruoff, M. (2019, March 22). Crafting Questions for Your Radio Guests. Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://live365-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/live365.com/blog/crating- questions-for-your-radio-guests/amp/?amp_js_v=a6

What is journalism? Definition and meaning of the craft. (2017, July 18). Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism- essentials/what-is-journalism/ The Radio Interview (n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://www.isiswomen.org/index.php?option=com_content Tynan,L.(2008).Part 1 Introducing Media and Journalism. Tools 1: Print Media and Broadcast Interviews. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from http://lib.oup.com.au/he/media_journalism/bainbridge2e/bainbridge1e_tools01.pdf