Deck 9: Reporting: The Basics and Beyond

Question 1

Reporting on ongoing storm damage is an example of covering a ______.

A) breaking news event
B) speech
C) meeting
D) news conference

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Reporting on a commencement address is an example of covering a ______.

A) breaking news event
B) speech
C) meeting
D) news conference

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Reporting on a city council meeting is an example of covering a ______.

A) breaking news event
B) speech
C) meeting
D) news conference

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Reporting on a new product introduction during an organized event for media at a corporate headquarters is an example of covering a ______.

A) breaking news event
B) speech
C) meeting
D) news conference

Question 5

If you can finish this sentence, "This matters because . . ," then your story has ______.

A) a main assertion
B) a news peg
C) a personality
D) an engaged audience

Question 6

______ help(s) you determine what will happen at the event and who is involved.

A) Postevent interviews
B) Background research
C) Quotes
D) Secondary sources

Question 7

Breaking news events are among the most ______ stories for reporters to cover.

A) simple
B) easy
C) difficult
D) minimal

Question 8

______ can be good events to cover, as you can help share a person's expertise on a key topic with your readers.

A) Breaking news
B) News conferences
C) Meetings
D) Speeches

Question 9

At ______, your job as a reporter is to sit in as a substitute for your readers and distill for them what happened.

A) meetings
B) speeches
C) breaking news
D) news conferences

Question 10

______ help a person or an organization disseminate a single message to multiple media outlets in a single moment.

A) Meetings
B) News conferences
C) Speeches
D) Breaking news

Question 11

______ can include some of the background you gathered, any quotes you got from sources before the event, and optional lead elements, based on the outcome of the event.

A) Background information
B) Post-event interviews
C) Shell information
D) Secondary sources

Question 12

The purpose of any event story is to ______.

A) tell the story in chronological order
B) regurgitate the facts
C) tell the story in narrative form
D) find the most important aspects of what happened

Question 13

A lot of things that make for interesting content happen ______.

A) "outside the lines" of the event itself
B) only during the event itself
C) before the event occurs
D) only after deadline

Question 14

Once the event ends, ______.

A) your work is over
B) your work is just starting
C) you need to get something to drink
D) you should go home

Question 15

Which of the following would limit a speaker's spontaneity?

A) the speaker's thought process
B) asking them to elaborate
C) a predetermined script
D) the "why" elements of your story

Question 16

Which type of localization is a story about a big celebrity that you hear from someone who "knew her back in the day"?

A) big topic, weak reactor
B) a direct local tie
C) a microcosm of a broader topic
D) an indirect local tie

Question 17

Stories about the world ending or a zombie attack are which type of localization?

A) bad topic, no impact
B) big topic, no impact
C) big topic, weak reactors
D) bad topic, weak reactors

Question 18

Many meetings use formal rules such as ______.

A) Ryan's Rules of Order
B) Robert's Rules of Order
C) Rose's Rules of Order
D) democratic process

Question 19

A beat approach allows the reporter to ______.

A) handle all kinds of different assignments
B) cover a variety of fields
C) become a contact point for people in that area who want to see certain things covered
D) work on nonspecific areas of coverage

Question 20

Police news, court coverage, higher education reporting, and religious information are examples of ______.

A) focus groups
B) conceptual beats
C) geographic beats
D) thematic beats

Question 21

With ______, coverage efforts are more about the specific place and what is happening there than any particular aspect of one thematic area.

A) geographic beats
B) focus groups
C) thematic beats
D) conceptual beats

Question 22

______ focus on things that lack a concrete definition or a central junction point for coverage.

A) Geographic beats
B) Conceptual beats
C) Thematic beats
D) Focus groups

Question 23

To give you a head start on the topics you will cover on your beat, you can _____.

A) interview your predecessor
B) read past publications
C) seek secondary sources
D) talk to your boss

Question 24

When starting a new beat, one of the biggest mistakes new reporters make is ______.

A) getting out of the office
B) building sources
C) gathering documents
D) cold calling sources

Question 25

What type of story helps you explore the life of an interesting person?

A) profile writing
B) obituary
C) localization
D) feature

Question 26

______ stories can emerge from trends you notice on your beat, interesting people you meet, or generally intriguing concepts you encounter in your daily life.

A) Breaking news
B) Feature
C) Meeting
D) News conference

Question 27

Not every meeting, speech, or news conference merits news coverage.

Question 28

It is not necessary to assess the news value of an event.

Question 29

Breaking news comes from crimes and disasters that happen at random times in odd locations.

Question 30

Speeches often contain multiple points of view.

Question 31

A meeting is an event where a governing body of representatives comes together to deal with the business pertaining to that group or the people that the group represents.

Question 32

News conferences are not helpful for an organization to disseminate a single message to multiple media outlets in a single moment.

Question 33

If you have never attended a speech or meeting before as a journalist, you should spend some time getting acclimated to what will likely happen.

Question 34

Background research does not help you determine what will happen at the event and who is involved.

Question 35

The purpose of any event story is to find the most important aspects of what happened and report them to people who need to know about them.

Question 36

Just because you hadn't planned for something, doesn't mean that it doesn't matter to your readers.

Question 37

Postmeeting interviews are not helpful.

Question 38

It's often not necessary to seek secondary sources at an event.

Question 39

The first time people are in the paper may be their obituary.

Question 40

Getting contact information is a waste of time.

Question 41

A news peg provides a clear answer to the question "Why are you telling this story now?"

Question 42

What types of beats are there?

Question 43

What are some basic ideas to consider when building feature stories?

Question 44

What are some of the things you should look for in terms of observation?

Question 45

What makes for good localizations?

Question 46

Why are obituaries important?

Question 47

What are some major types of events and how are they covered?

Question 48

How can you prepare to cover an event?

Question 49

What is the best way to cover an event?

Question 50

List and describe the different types of reporting beats.

Question 51

Why do profiles, localizations, and obituaries matter to readers?