Speak English Now through mini-stories with teacher Georgiana

The pessimist says, 'the glass is half empty.' The optimist says, 'The glass is half full,' and the journalist says, 'You won't believe what's in the glass!'

Hi! I'm Georgiana, and I'm glad you're here with me for a new podcast episode. 

Today, we will discuss the different types of journalism we can find in the media.

Before you start listening to the episode, make sure to get the transcript on my website: SpeakEnglishPodcast.com It's free!

Are you ready?

Let's start with the first one:

The news

News is a crucial and representative category of informative journalism. It covers recent and intriguing political, sports, cultural, and social events.

Objectivity is a vital but often lacking aspect of news. Ideally, a news story should be impartial and unbiased, but this isn't always true.

Brevity is another key aspect of news. A news story should be concise and include only essential data. It should only focus on giving information about the event.

A typical news story consists of several parts:

• Firstly, we have the headline. It has a larger font and expresses the main idea of the news story. It is a short sentence. For example,

"Georgiana launches a new course." That would be a good headline.

• Moving on to the lead, it is a kind of summary where the fundamentals of the news story are discussed. It serves as a summary introducing the main aspects of the news story, answering essential questions like what, how, who, where, when, and why.
• Lastly, we have the body of the news story, where further details and information are provided beyond what's covered in the headline and lead.

Let's uncover another element of journalism:

The report

A report is a more detailed news story that provides various data, background information, and opinions from those involved.

Unlike news stories, reports can include the writer's opinion, making them somewhat subjective.

Traditionally, reporters often went to the story's scene and prepared reports that helped readers understand what was happening.

However, in today's technologically-driven world, this practice isn't always followed. Some reports are created from the newsroom, relying heavily on internet research. While it reduces costs, it can compromise the report's quality since journalists aren't physically present at the events.

I really like this expression: "You have to hit the streets." It emphasizes the importance of journalists leaving the newsroom, immersing themselves in events, conducting interviews, observing firsthand, and gathering relevant information.

Get the transcript on my website: speakenglishpodcast.com/podcast/