Basic Newswriting & Reporting

Journalism 30

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Twenty Rules of Reporting

1. Accuracy is the first rule of reporting.

2. Be fair. It is not sufficient for an article to be libel-proof. Try to get the other side of the story and tell it.

3. Observe the laws of good taste, something which is impossible of exact definition, but which most civilized and educated people know by instinct.

4. Rarely is there such a thing as too much of a good story.

5. Important stories need not be long.

6. Sentences and paragraphs should be short.

7. The lead should always be clear, provocative and simple. It should promise things to come, and the promise should be fulfilled.

8. News accounts are improved by quotes. Speech should be quoted exactly as spoken.

9. Select adjectives as you would lovers. Too many are dangerous.

10. Do not be overly impressed when you get an important assignment. If you do, it will show in your copy.

11. Go directly to the source on every story. Use your legs. Most so-called Big Shots are ever bit as approachable as a peasant and much more inclined to articulate their views.

12. Leave no reasonable questions unanswered.

13. Do not assume that the reader knows the background of the story.

14. Get everything, including the last small details. If the speaker wears button shoes, that’s news. So is a wig. When you start the writing process you may kick yourself if you’re missing a detail you could have gotten when you were out doing the reporting.

15. Be polite, but do not be servile.

16. Don’t avoid writing facts on the assumption that "everybody knows that."

17. Most stories are improved by a time element. That doesn’t mean you should say an accident occurred at 2:18.5 p.m., but it is laziness to say it occurred "yesterday."

18. Never despise the homely, the familiar, the sweaty. The average reader should be able to identify with the story, and sometimes say, "This could have happened to me."

19. Never insult or stereotype a race. You can mention race when it is necessary to the story, but otherwise be colorblind.

20. Don’t abuse the weapons of your trade.

– Adapted from Stanley Walker’s 1934 message to the staff of
the New York Herald Tribune