N

EWS SOURCES

In its infancy, news gathering was primitive by today's standards. Printed news hadto be
phoned in to a newsroom or brought there by a reporter where it was typed and either
transmitted over wire services or edited and manually set in type alongwith other news stories
for a specific edition. Today, the term "Breaking News" has become trite as broadcast
and cable news services use live satellite technologyto bring current events into consumers'
homes live as it happens. Events that usedto take hours or days to become common knowledge in
towns or in nations are fedinstantaneously to consumers via radio, television, cell phones, and
the Internet.Most large cities had morning and afternoon newspapers. As the media
evolveda n d n e w s o u t l e t s i n c r e a s e d t o t h e p o i n t o f n e a r o v e r s a t u r a t i o
n , a f t e r n o o n newspapers were shut down except for relatively few. Morning
newspapers have been gradually losing circulation, according to reports advanced
by the papersthemselves.Commonly, news content should contain the who, what,
when, where, why, andhow of an event. There should be no questions remaining.
Newspapers normallywrite hard news stories, such as those pertaining to murders,
fires, wars, etc. ininverted pyramid style so the most important information is at the
beginning. Busyreaders can read as little or as much as they desire. Local stations and
networksw i t h a s e t f o r m a t m u s t t a k e n e w s s t o r i e s a n d b r e a k t h e m d o w n i n t o
t h e m o s t important aspects due to time constraints. Cable news channels such as Fox
NewsChannel, MSNBC, and CNN, are able to take advantage of a story, sacrificin
other, decidedly less important stories, and giving as much detail about breakingnews as
possible.
One study after another comes up with essentially the same observation.the s t o r y o f
journalism, on a day-to-day basis, is the story of the interaction
o f reporters and officials.- Michael Schudson
Sources of news are everywhere
. A j o u r n a l i s t i s s u r r o u n d e d b y s o u r c e s o f potential news stories ore features. A
conversation with a friend, a poster on a wall,an unexpected juxtaposition-all might result in a
story if you keep your eyes, earsand mind open. Some sources will be routine points of contact
for journalists whileothers may be one-offs, some will be proactive, approaching
journalists becausethey want news access for their views or events, while other sources may
not even be aware that they are sources. A journalist should maintain a contact book havinglist
of people categorized and carrying vital information. Sources of news can be listless,
some sources are:
1.
Academic journals
- R e s e a r c h b y a c a d e m i c s , p u b l i s h e d i n j o u r n a l s i s a frequent source of news
stories. Here the journalist job is to spot a potentialstory among qualifications and to render
the story intelligibly to the readers.

2.
Armed forcesin peacetime the armed forces can generate stories throughmysterious deaths or cases
of bullying that comes to light. During times of conflict military briefings become events
in their own right.
3.
Art groupsapart from providing information about forthcoming events, artgroups can generate rows
about funding or controversial subject matter.
4.
Campaignscampaigners who want to influence public opinion on subjectsr a n g i n g f r o m a n i m a l
r i g h t s t o e n v i r o n m e n t a r e l i k e l y t o c o m e u p w i t h opinions or events that might
generate news stories.
5.
Commerce & Tradebusiness organizations can be useful source of newsstories or comments about anything from
interest rates, shares to shopping.Also, consumer stories are a valuable source of
information for evaluatingthe image of an organization.
6.
Council press officeslocal authorities employ teams of press officers.
Theyr e a c t t o j o u r n a l i s t s q u e r i e s , c o m i n g u p w i t h i n f o r m a t i o n , q u o t
e s a n d contacts while acting as buffer between decision makers and
journalists.Council press officers with an eye for a good story should be able to
getdaily page leads in local evening newspaper because they know what turnson the
common people.
25
7.
Court hearingscourt reporters dip in and out of several courtrooms lookingfor cases that fit the news
values. Hence, the importance of good
contactsw i t h c o u r t s t a f f , p o l i c e , s o l i c i t o r s a n d o t h e r s s h o u l d b e r e a l i z e d . S
o m e reporters will also go after background material like quotes from victims andtheir relatives.
8.
Entertainment industryi t i s a n i n c r e a s i n g l y i m p o r t a n t s o u r c e f o r todays
media and celebrities gain immensely because of popularity throughmedia coverage. Films,
serials and various other programmes gain only if media has been highlighting them.
9.
Government News Networkthe government news network produces vast

numbers of news release on behalf of the government departments andagencies on a regional and
national basis. It also handles ministerial androyal visits.10.
Health authorities & hospitalsoutbreak of serious disease, funding crisis,hospital closures and health promotion are all
examples of news stories thata r i s e f r o m h e a l t h a u t h o r i t i e s . H o s p i t a l s a r e s o u r c e
of good news
storiescarrying news about cures, new treatments and general triumpho v e r - tragedy.11.
Librariesthough it is hard to believe but the truth is that not everything isavailable on the Internet.
Libraries retain a useful role in providing access toreference books, company reports, local
history achieves, indexes of localsocieties, community notice boards and so on.12.
News Agenciesthey are the foot soldiers of journalism at a national andinternational level, allowing
media organizations to cover stories in areas where they have few or no staff. Agencies
keep a check on offices and local bodies and look out for news stories here. Newspapers, radio,
television, bignews media houses, depend largely on the news agencies for general
newscoverage. Some famous news agencies are AP (Associated press of America print), Reuters
(UK), PTI (Press Trust of India), etc.13.
News Releasesn e w s o r p r e s s r e l e a s e s a r e p o i n t o f r e f e r e n c e f o r t h e journalists
w h i l e c o v e r i n g a n e v e n t . B a d l y w r i t t e n p r e s s r e l e a s e s c a n b e waste of time
both for the journalist as well as for the organization.14.
Notice boardsNotices in shops, offices, libraries, colleges and elsewheremay also become a source of news.15.
Other medianewspaper monitor other papers plus TV, radio, news sites onthe web. And, in turn, each medium
monitors other media.16.
Peoplep o t e n t i a l s t o r i e s c a n b e s u g g e s t e d b y p e o p l e y o u m e e t w h i l e a t work, rest
and play. This can range from somebody mentioning that
theyh a v e j u s t s e e n a p o l i c e c a r p a r k e d i n t h e i r s t r e e t t o o t h e r s u b s t
a n t i a l information provided by the common people.
26
17.
Political partiescontacts within parties can be a fruitful source of stories about rows and splits, while
party spokespeople will be more keen to let youknow about the selection of candidates or launch
of policy initiatives.18.
PR companiesthis industry provides the journalists and us a peek into themedia world everyday. So it is a major
source for the journalists.19.
Press conferencespress conferences are likely to be held to announce ther e s u l t s o f o f f i c i a l
i n q u i r i e s o r t o u n v e i l n e w a p p o i n t m e n t s . F e w e r p r e s s conferences take place

these days, as most journalists are too busy to go andcollect information that could be faxed
or emailed.20.
Universitiesuniversities are a source of a huge range of stories, whether
iti s g r o u n d b r e a k i n g r e s e a r c h , a n u n u s u a l d e g r e e s c h e m e o r a n e t h i
c a l argument. They are also where you will find experts in everything
f r o m aeronautics to the zodiac