How Effective Journalism Can Improve a Resort's Success

An important part of journalism, is knowing your audience and understanding how to appeal to the mass media. This relates to the success of a business because without the support of the public, a business will always fail. For example, a way to appeal to the audience could be to show prospective customers, instead of simply telling, all the wonderful things that your resort has to offer. An audience will react to something that sparks their interest because they can relate to it.

Always remember to recognize who your audience is. If you aren't aware of who you are talking to, the odds of capturing their attention is against you. The writing styles of teenagers, parents, families all fluctuate and so should a writer as the audience changes.

Another aspect that is crucial to any resort, is press releases. In brochures and information about the resort, it is important to use credible sources. It will have a bigger impact to have a great review about the resort written by a world-renowned travel agent than a past customer who once stayed at the resort.

For more tips, visit this website:

http://jmc.ou.edu/classes/jmc2033/goodwr.html

Writing For a Reader

One of the most important aspects of journalism is to make sure you are writing for a reader.  A journalist’s main goal in writing is to inform, but it is also vital to entertain the reader.  A writer can present the best facts and most important information, but if the writer can’t put those ideas together in an entertaining way, few readers will be willing to take the time to go through what the writer has to say.

There are several keys to effective writing:

The first key is to understand the assignment you are writing about.  It’s hard to convince the reader you know what you are talking about if you really don’t understand the topic you are writing on.  This includes doing research and educating yourself on the topic you will be writing on.  You need to become an expert on the topic you are covering, so you can present the information in a factual, interesting and informative manner.

Knowing the audience you are writing for is also a key in effective writing.  Being knowledgeable about a topic is great, but will do little if the writer is writing towards the wrong demographic.  If you are writing for readers who know about the topic, you might not need to go into as much background information as you would if you are writing for someone new to the subject.  Always remember to respect the reader, and writer to the reader's knowledge of a subject.  An example would be writing about golf.  If the writer is writing for a golf magazine, there is a strong chance the readers know who Tiger Woods is, so going into his background and accomplishments might not be necessary.  If the writer is writing about Woods for readers not familiar with golf, it might be a good idea to explain why Woods is so great and highly respected in his sport.

While being knowledgeable about a topic is important, it is also important not to use too much jargon in writing.  Just because a term might be commonplace in some circles, everyday people reading an article may not be aware of that language.

Eliminating extra words is critical in effective writing.  In today’s world, people don’t have a lot of time to spend on reading an article.  Editing out extra words or phrases not only saves space, but also it helps keep the reader interested in what you are saying.

Making sure you ideas transition together is another way to help keep the reader involved in your writing.  A writer needs to make sure his or her writing has focus and progresses in a linear fashion.  Writing that jumps from topic to topic and back again can be hard for a reader to follow.  Transitioning ideas in an effective manner can do wonders in keeping a reader interested in what you have to say.

Always remember that what you have to say is important, but it is also important for people to care about what you have to say and want to read it.

Here are two Web sites that can give you more information about writing for a reader.

http://www.grad.ubc.ca/gradpd/guides/executivewriting.html http://freelancewriting.suite101.com/article.cfm/writing_for_the_web_vs_writing_for_print

- Dennis Culver

Journalism Ethics

Journalists must keep ethics into consideration when writing for the public eye to see. There are a number of things journalists must watch our for. Plagiarism is a huge offense in the journalism community and it is very important to give credit to any source used to gather information and to use quotes and not steal others work as your own. If a journalist plagiarize someones work and makes money off of it they can get in legal trouble.

Journalists should try their best to take an unbiased side in whatever they are reporting. This can be very difficult because every person has their own opinions on different topics and when reporting on a controversial topic a journalist can persuade readers to take their own personal opinion by leaving out the other side of the story or by twisting words to favor their view. Journalist's are supposed to report both sides and be unbiased but all too often you will find reporters reporting the news from their own side. A great example of this is fox news generally reporting the news from a right wing point of view and NBC generally reporting the news from a left wing point of view. Only when journalist report the news in an unbiased fashion can the public take their own personal view on the report.

Journalists must also be careful who they mention in their articles, you can not mention names or post pictures of children under the age of 18. Journalists should also double check their sources before reporting news on somebody because if the information is incorrect you could tarnish someones name and reputation that does not deserve it.

Journalists need to be politically correct, you can not use racist terms or inappropriate language in your articles. Journalists should do their best to research their topics report thoroughly and double check sources along with getting all sides of the story before beginning to write their report. Then when writing the report they should be sure to be honest and unbiased and give credit to any sources that contributed to the report. The report should be written in a professional matter that allows readers to take the presented information and form their own views on the subject. When all of these ethics are applied in journalism, your final report will be fair and unbiased journalism at its best!

An interesting article on Journalism Ethics I found written by Ellen Hume lists the following:

Because journalists are not licensed in the United States, and anyone can pretend he is a journalist, how can you tell if the journalism you are reading is worth your trust? Look for:

Accuracy.

The first rule of journalism ethics is to strive for accuracy: names are spelled correctly, and events are described as they actually happened, not as the journalist, advertiser or publisher hoped they would be.

Both sides of the story.

There is a balanced and comprehensive view of what is happening or has happened. The journalist should be open-minded and let the news emerge from fact-finding.

News dictates what is news.

The journalist is not working to make someone happy, to win advertisers, flatter her friends or to get revenge. The journalist writes about things that are important, informative or interesting. She is independent of the factions she is covering, and loyal first to the public, not to her commercial or political sponsors. Advertisers and publishers should recognize that independence and honesty are necessary for the credibility of the news organization.

News is labeled honestly.

There's nothing wrong with opinions -- except when they are sneakily placed inside stories presented as “news.” An opinion column or editorial should not be called a news report. Let the facts speak for themselves.

(http://www.ellenhume.com/articles/ethics.htm)

-Troy Mashburn

The Future of Newspapers

Over the past few months, we've seen several major newspapers fail throughout the United States.  This decline for the newspapers has been a few years coming, but has escalated with the struggling economic recession.  An interesting and shocking article appeared in Time Magazine documenting "The 10 most Endangered Newspapers in America."  While it has been obvious newspapers have been declining over the last few years, a new decline of some of the most historic papers in the country has displayed how troubling this new trend is.  Staples like the Rocky Mountain News in Colorado and the Baltimore Examiner have gone under, and some of the country's great regional dailies like the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Time, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Philadelphia Inquirer are in bankruptcy.

There is not an easy solution to prevent the decline of the American newspaper.  One major issue is the fact that classified sections, which generate a good portion of the income for newspapers, is not bringing in as much money as it used to.  Since readership in newspapers is dropping, advertisers are getting less 'bang for their buck' and are less willing to spend money.  While online news has exploded in popularity, newspapers have yet to find a way to generate the same income they could in print media.

One solution that is starting to rise across the country is converting resources to online.  Since most younger people get their news from Websites or television and the fasting growing demographic of people using the Internet is in the 45-and-up age group, it makes sense for newspapers to begin focussing resources online.

Some papers have stopped publication of the print product all together.  Others have slowly but surely transferred resources to online.  Since having a presence online means a paper has global reach, actual readership has the potential to significantly rise.  The question remains... How can newspapers earn money from suppling information on the Internet?

The key is to begin minimizing costs.  This can be done by obtaining and keeping employees that have several skill sets.  Instead of paying a reporter to write a story, a photographer to take pictures, a videographer to shoot video and an online publisher to post content online, newspaper should train employees to be able to complete all of these tasks.  In essence, newspapers will have one person paid to do the work it previously took five people to do.  This will impose a greater burden of more work on employees, but it is a needed sacrifice to help ensure the survival of the journalist.  The negative to this is newspapers will have a 'Jack of all trades' on staff, but that person could never master any single job.  This means the overall product delivered by the newspaper has the potential to decline.  

At this point however, I feel having journalists perform several duties might be the only way to save journalism.  When newspapers are able to find a way to make enough money off the Internet to support the news operation, having specialized employees is the way to go. Until then, newspapers have to do what they can with what they have.  That includes saving jobs, producing the best product possible with limited resources and keeping the industry alive to perform the watchdog and informative jobs that are essential to our way of life.

Here are two links that discuss the troubles facing American newspapers.  The first is a Time article discussing 10 major newspapers that might fail in the near future, and the other talks about the death of today's newspapers and some ways companies might be able to save the product.

Time article on papers likely to fail:  www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1883785,00.html

Article on the death of newspapers and how to save journalism: www.reclaimthemedia.org/journalistic_practice/death_and_life_great_american_2012

- Dennis Culver

The Importance of Language in Journalism

The way a reporter uses language has a significant impact on the way that the information is percieved. For example, a reporter for a newspaper. A formal-style of writing would be unneccessary because the goal is to cut out any flowery words and to simply cut to the hard facts. It's best to put yourself in the reader's shoes and think, "What would I want to read?" Many people don't have time in their busy schedules to search through an article for a particular fact, so all important information needs to be clear and accessable.

The best advice I was ever given in journalism was to write as if I were talking to a friend. This "casual" language gets the information across, and builds a sense of trust between the reader and the author. In some cases, there may be a limited amount of room in a newspaper for a story. That space would need to be utilized by cutting to the chase and reporting on only the most important information.

Another important tool in relevance to language, is the inverted pyramid. The inverted pyramid was designed to prioritize vital information of a news story, to keep the interest of the readers. A standard inverted pyramid newspaper should be designed as follows:

Writing a Draft

when writing a paper, no matter what the subject is, the draft is one of the most important steps in order to get a good result.
Always have in mind that the draft is not the finish product, it is just a guide or idea to finish the product with good results; that is why it is important to mange the time you put into the writing of the draft, most of the times what comes to your mine at first is better than if you think it many times, remember you just need the main idea no the entire full well develop paper.
A second think to have in mind at all times is your audience, when writing do it in the perspective of the reader, this will allow the reader understand easier the concept or the point that you are trying to get across. Don't forget that there is more than one reader, many times the paper are going to be read by a diversity of persons all of them with different knowledge on the subject, one more reason to think about the possible readers of your paper and the difference between them, this way will be easier to develop a more clear paper.
One more thing to consider during the drafting process is the purpose of the paper you are writing. When you when you identify the purpose it can be easier to get your point across to the reader.
Establishing the voice is key in order to get the attention necessary from the readers, most of the time the purpose will identify the right voice.
At last but not least are the openings and closings of you paper; crafting the right opening is key to get the audience to read the rest of the paper, is the opening is not strong enough or if has not attraction the reader will not get trough the rest of the paper. The closure is as important as the opening, most people will remember most of the closure of what they read and are more likely to be receptive to the message if it is reinforce in a persuasive way at the closure of the paper.