WHAT IS NEWS?

News is one of the best known commodities in today’s world. Everybody who understands a language and has access to mass media can easily recognize it. The concept of news must have existed even before the beginning of the era of mass media.

                When two friends meet after some time they exchange information, which can be called personal news. If a person dies of a disease or an accident it makes news. The importance of this news is related to the importance of the person or disease.

                The four letter of the word NEWS is taken from four directions NORTH, EAST, WEST and SOUTH. News can come from any of these directions. But as we see everyday all event, do not make news. Only important and interesting event make news. Further an event itself is not news unless its account is available. Thus, BHAGALPUR JAIL blinding made news several weeks after the event.

                Not only event, but opinion also makes news. Opinion of Indian leader RAJIV GANDHI about the arms race in the world made news. Editorial comments by important newspapers can also make news for other newspapers. What the US PRESS wrote about the BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY was news for the Indian newspapers.

                Therefore by keeping these factors in mind we can attempt a definition of news:= ”News is an account of a recent event or opinion which is important or interesting”. Importance and interest are two factors that present unlimited variety.

                              EDITOR

                   NEWS EDITOR 

                                                               REPORTING DEPARTMENT EDITING DEPARTMENT  

                              

CHIEF REPORTER                            CHIEF SUB-EDITOR

          REPORTER                                  SUB-EDITOR

REPORTING DESK           ALL THE NEWS DELIVERED IN THE OFFICE ARE KEPT HERE.

                                                                                 

NEWS SOURCES:=

1.    DISTRICT CORRESPONDENT- Village news, district news etc.

2.    FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT- Foreign or international news.

3.    SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT- Special news.

4.  NEWS BEAT- Obvious source of news.

5.    SYNDICATE- Bureau, sources.

6.  NEWS AGENCY- PTI, UNI

7.    COMMON SOURCES- U and me.

8.   STAFF REPORTERS- Reporters of the respected house.

=: NEWS STRUCTURE: =

                                             

                                  INVERTED PYRAMID

5W+1H:-      

1.    What?

2.    When?

3.    Where?

4.   Who?

5.    Why?

6.   How?

ELEMENTS OF NEWS:-

1.  IMMEDIACY OR TIMELINESS-is of great importance. The new thing or the latest information makes all the difference. As news ages it loses its potency. The nearness of an event in time is vital to daily newspapers.

2.  TRUTH AND OBJECTIVITY: - is another quality of news. The balanced picture of an event or accuracy in reporting events enhances the value of news.

3.  NEARNESS/CLOSENESS IN SPACE:-is yet another  element of news. The news worthiness of an event is in direct ratio to its physical nearness to the public serves by the newspaper appraising it. An accident or a crime near at home has much importance than an accident or a crime abroad.

4.  NAMES OF INDIVIDUALS: - also makes news. The person may be widely known for his wealth or status. Even an unknown person can make news because of some oddity, eccentricity or unusual occupation or some other factor.

5.  NUMBERS AND SIZE: - make news. An accident in which a large number of people have died or injured makes news. If very few are involved in the accident and nobody died, the news value becomes less important.

6.  SUSPENSE AND MYSTERY:- adds to the value of news. It holds readers interest. The more the suspense, the greater is the curiosity of the readers in the news.

7.  INTEREST: - News should be of interest. The interest however differs. It may be of local, regional, national or international interest.

8.  TIMINGS AND PLACE OF OCCURRENCE: - Of an event are also important elements of news. The hour of an event may decide its news importance, so also where the thing happens is important.

NEWS VALUE:-

Importance and interest are often described as news value but infact these represent the sum total of news or intrinsic characteristic that distinguish news from non news. Identifying and measuring these values is usually called news sense. It is commonly believed that reporters identify news by intuition. In other words it is said “NOSE FOR NEWS”.

1.    CHANGE: - Is a basic news value. If nothing happens there will be no change. But the world is not static. Every moment things are different from the preceding moment. The bigger the change the more important it is from the news point of view.

2.   CONFLICT: - Actual conflicts and even the danger of conflicts make news as they tend to bring about major change. Conflicting ideas and resulting debates make up news. Tension and suspense often associated with conflicts are also regarded as news.

3.    DISASTER: - Be it a result of natural calamity like earthquake, volcanic eruption or manmade like Bhopal Gas tragedy, disaster always make news.

4.   PROGRESS: - as it is a positive result made by society. It improves the quality of life.

5.    EMINENCE AND PROMINENCE:-involvement of eminent personalities in an event adds to it news value and it is directly proportional to the prominence of the person. When MULK RAJ ANAND fainted while speaking at Lucknow, it became national news.

6.   CAUSE:- like consequence, the cause of a newsworthy event also make news. Every event has consequences and has cause also.

7.    TIMELINESS: - As old news is no news, in highly competitive world of journalism every medium tries to be first with news. It is highly perishable no one serves news on platter.

8.    PROXIMITY:-    News is meant for human beings.The prime concern is man himself,then he is interested in his neighbourhood.If other things are equal proximity becomes the key news value.A traffic jam in Mumbai will be more important for a newspaper published from Mumbai but may not find a place in Delhi newspapers.

9.   HUMAN INTEREST:- Almost everything in news concerns human being, but this particular news value is the emotional context of the news event.Human interest is the element with which the reader identifies anything familiar that stirs his feelings, ex- KALKA MAIL TRAGEDY.

10. NOVELTY:- If a dog bites a man, its not news.But if a man bites a dog,it becomes news.This old newspaper saying recognises the news value of the unusual-NOVELTY.

  DEROZIO AND DEROZIAN’S

Derozio a young brilliant anglo-indian youth of Calcutta joined the Hindu College as a teacher.He electrified the students during his short and memorable stay,with his teachings based on rationalism and it revolutionised their ideas.He encouraged free thinking and urged on his students to remove all obstacles that lay on the path of freedomto pursue the truth and to evolve a way of life within a short time to leave the college as the Orthodox opinion demanded his blood. He was dismissed from his service and died a premature death but the impressins he left on the minds of his students created upsurge among themwhich helped in starting a new atmosphere in bourgeois society.

                                                                           Derozio’s band of students were later known as ‘YOUNG BENGAL’ but they took pride in styling themselves as ‘DEROZIANS’.During the whole period of ‘BENGAL RENAISSANCE’ they were the only men who developed a secular outlook,free of any religious bias.Materialistic philosophy,Bentham’s teachings and Thomas Paine’s ‘AGE OF REASON’ created a deep impression in them.Dr. Alexander Buff said at that time one shipment alone brought one thousand copies of ‘AGE OF REASON’ to Calcutta.They were first sold at one rupee per copy but its price went up as its price increased.Within a short period cheap editions of all the writings of Thomas Paine’s were published.

                                                It is a fact that many of them revolted against Orthodox and superstitious Hindu religious practices and indulged in taking wine and prohibited food openly.It has been said that Rammohun Roy and the Young Bengal,both tried to crave out a new life for the people and bright future for the land they lived in.But Rammohun had sound grounding in hindu philosophy and hindu traditons which produced a balanced synthesis in them,while the Derozian’s were a wonderful combinations of revolutionary radicalism,humanisn,rationalism and also scepticism.They therefore broke a way from the old mornings a moved between two worlds, one dead and another full of dazzling possibilities.

                        Their critics say that they were confused between the fundamentals and externals and so some of them indulged in excess and embraced christianity also.But the critics do not appear to be either impartial or well founded.The Derozian’s may be termed as ‘Radicals’ while Rammohun’s disciples were ‘Moderates’.But both had great faiths in the “benefits” of British rule.

                                                If Renaissance was something that gave regeneration,these stalwarts  of ‘Young Bengal’ fought courageously to regenerate the society as well as the prevailing ideas.They believed that unless old traditions and beliefs could be pulled down new ideas could not be built up.They, therefore, invoked new ways of life and had the courage to follow them with determination and vigour.There might have been excesses and deviations but the revolutionary struggle that they waged against the old-superstitious, socio-religious beliefs and practices had no parallel in contemporary history.They should therefore be regarded as high priests of the social upsurge that came over urban Bengal.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH & EXPRESSION

   Constitution of India adopted on January 26, 1950 has ensured freedom of speech and expression as fundamental right under Article 19 (1)(A). Though there is no special mention as freedom of the press or any special provision in the fundamental rights on the freedom of press, the fourth state that is the press draws its strength from various Supreme Court and High Court judgements. Constitution, legislature and courts together  play a crucial role in safeguarding freedom of speech and expression. Article 19 (1) guarantees 6 fundamental rights to the citizens of India or we, the people, freedom of speech and expression is first among them. According to Supreme Court of India, there was no need for separate mention of freedom of the press other than freedom of speech and expression given to all citizens. Therefore, the press can not claim it has got any special privileges. Similarly, it cannot be subjected to any special restrictions which are not applicable to common citizens. In the US constitution, there is special and separate mention and provision of the freedom of the press. UK which has no written constitution has a long tradition of freedom of speech and expression of the press. It has been the foundation of all philosophy concerning freedom of speech, expression and the press. British Parliament also made a large amount of laws to protect the freedom of the press. The rights of free speech, expression, and the press are in a constant process of   evolution. Our constituent assembly had debated on whether freedom of the press should be clearly mentioned in Article19 (1)(a), but finally decided not to do so. There is no doubt; it could have been easier to understand this Article. There has been no need to drag judiciary more often to define this Article. Freedom of the speech and expression is guaranteed to citizens not to companies which are running the news papers. But Supreme Court of India has clearly stated in so many judgements that without freedom of the press the fourth state cannot provide comprehensive and objective information on all aspects of the country’s social, political, economic and cultural life. In Sakal newspaper pvt. Ltd vs. Union of India case the Supreme Court gave a landmark judgement. The apex court held that the right to propagate one’s ideas was inherent in the concept of freedom of speech and expression. Every citizen had the right to propagate and publish his/her ideas, disseminate and circulate them. In so many other cases also courts upheld the freedom of the press. In Romesh Thapper Vs. State of Madras case the Supreme Court quashed an order issued by Madras government prohibiting entry of ‘Crossroads’ published in Bombay. The court said, “Freedom of speech and propagation of ideas were possible only if circulation was guaranteed”.While Article 19 (1) ensures freedom of speech, Article 19 (2) puts restrictions on freedom of speech and expression in those cases there is danger to public security involved. To elaborate this in 1951, Article 19 (2)was amended to put some more restrictions on the rights conferred by Article 19 (1). This was done in the interest of the state, friendly relations with foreign state, public order, decency, morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. There has been tussle with judiciary, legislature and executive in this regard (19 (2)) and 1975 is a classical example of this.The Sakal case was basically regarding the Price and Page Schedule Act and Order which puts some restrictions on pricing of a newspaper by a paper establishment. The question before Supreme Court was whether the restrictions imposed by this Act and Order were an attack on the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution. This Act empowered the government to regulate the price of the newspapers particularly that of language (vernacular) newspapers. It also empowered the govt to regulate the space allotted for advertisement besides amount of supplements that could be brought out by the newspapers. The argument of the newspaper concerned was that this was an outright infringement on the fundamental right of freedom of expression. The court upheld this argument and declared the Acts concerned void as they violated the Article 19(1) (a).Article 19 (1) (a) was not protected by Article 19 (2). According to Supreme Court, fixation of the minimum price by govt was not to ensure a reasonable price to the buyers of the newspaper but for cutting down volumeof circulation by making price unattractively high for the class of readers who regularly subscribe to the news papers. This will deter them from purchasing newspapers.

Restrictions on publishing supplements also found to be violative of freedom of expression. The government argument was that the Act was aimed at preventing unfair competition and monopoly which will kill newcomers in the profession. It will result in destruction of freedom of expression and free press. A free press was not composed of a few powerful groups so state intervention was necessary to ensure level-playing ground. Supreme Court held that this could not be justified unless it has validity under clause 2 of Article 19.Though there are enough provisions for freedom of expression in the Constitution of India what is provided inone place is taken away by a sub-clause some where else in the Constitution itself or through an Act. This is acommon complaint by journalists and newspapers.

Defamation law and free speech
The law of defamation is supposed to protect people's reputations from unfair attack. In practice its main effect is to hinder free speech and protect powerful people from scrutiny. This leaflet provides information about legal rights and options for action for people who may be threatened by a legal action or who are worried about something they want to say or publish.
The basic idea of defamation law is simple. It is an attempt to balance the private right to protect one's reputation with the public right to freedom of speech. Defamation law allows people to sue those who say or publish false and malicious comments.
Types;
 There are two types of defamation.
* Oral defamation -- called slander -- for example comments or stories told at a meeting or party.
* Published defamation -- called libel -- for example a newspaper article or television broadcast. Pictures as well as words can be libellous.

HOWEVER THERE ARE CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS

-It is not defamation to impute anything which is true concerning any person, if it is for public good that the imputation should be made or published.

-It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion whatever regarding the conduct or character of a public servant in discharge of his public function.

-It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion regarding the conduct or character of any person touching any public question.

-It is not defamation to publish a substantially true report or result of a Court of Justice of anysuch proceedings.-It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion regarding the merits of any case, whichhas been decided by a Court of Justice, or the conduct of any person as a party, or the witness or the agent, in such case.

-It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion regarding the merits of any performancewhich an author has submitted to the judgement of the public.

-It is not defamation if a person having any authority over another person, either conferred by lawor arising out of a lawful contract, to pass in good faith any censure on the conduct of that other in matters to which such lawful authority relates.

-It is not defamation to prefer in good faith an accusation against any person to any of those whohave lawful authority over that person with respect to the subject matter of accusation.

-It is not defamation to make an imputation on the character of another person, provided it ismade in good faith by person for protection of his or other's interests.

-It is not defamation to convey a caution, intended for the good of a person to whom conveyed or for public good. Eg. A few yeas ago, former Union Law Minister & Senior Janata Party leader, called a senior BJP leader of a rival party ‘ignoramus’  and a Court summoned the offender for defamation. The alleged offender had to prove that the rival politician was really ignoramus, or would have to face the punitive measures (jail/fine). In contesting the case, the offender had to visit the law courts for at least 5 years and pay hefty money to the advocate.

. It is answerable in damages to the person against whom the act of defamation is committed. If a libel is published by a newspaper / media tends to incite a riot, that would be a criminal defamation punishable by the State for the protection of public safety & public good. Publication of obscene, seditious, blasphemous, words are punishable under the criminal  law of defamation.

 Media power and defamation
One of the best responses to defamatory comments is a careful rebuttal. If people who make defamatory comments are shown to have gotten their facts wrong, they will lose credibility. But this only works if people have roughly the same capacity to broadcast their views.
Only a few people own or manage a newspaper or television station. Therefore it is difficult to rebut prominent defamatory statements made in the mass media. Free speech is not much use in the face of media power. There are cases where people's reputations have been destroyed by media attacks. Defamation law doesn't provide a satisfactory remedy. Apologies are usually too late and too little to restore reputation, and monetary pay-outs do little for reputation.
Most media organisations avoid making retractions. Sometimes they will defend a defamation case and pay out lots of money rather than openly admit being wrong. Media owners have resisted law reforms that would require retractions of equal prominence to defamatory stories.
By contrast, if you are defamed on an electronic discussion group, it is quite easy to write a detailed refutation and send it to all concerned the next hour, day or week. Use of defamation law is ponderous and ineffectual compared to the ability to respond promptly. This suggests that promoting interactive systems of communication as an alternative to the mass media would help to overcome some of the problems associated with defamation.
CONCLUSION
Defamation law doesn't work well to protect reputations. It prevents the dialogue and debate necessary to seek the truth. More speech and more writing is the answer to the problem rather than defamation law, which discourages speech and writing and suppresses even information that probably wouldn't be found defamatory if it went to court. Published statements -- including libellous ones -- are open, available to be criticised and refuted. The worst part of defamation law is its chilling effect on free speech.
The most effective penalty for telling lies and untruths is loss of credibility. Systems of communication should be set up so that people take responsibility for their statements, have the opportunity to make corrections and apologies, and lose credibility if they are repeatedly exposed as untrustworthy. Defamation law, with its reliance on complex and costly court actions for a tiny fraction of cases, doesn't work.
Defamation actions and threats to sue for defamation are often used to try to silence those who criticise people with money and power. The law and the legal system need to be changed, but in the meantime, being aware of your rights and observing some simple guidelines can help you make informed choices about what to say and publish.
EXAMPLES
It seems safe to assume former Black Caps all-rounder Chris Cairns isn’t familiar with the adage that lawyers are the only winners in defamation cases. Cairns has spent the past few weeks in the High Court in London pursuing a libel action against an Indian businessman and cricketing entrepreneur who tweeted to the effect that the New Zealander’s abrupt departure in 2008 from the Indian Cricket League (ICL) team the Chandigarh Lions was because of his involvement in match fixing.
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) Chairman Aslam Goni will file a defamation suit against his predecessor Mehboob Iqbal and three news channels claiming that they “falsely” linked him to the scam in the state’s cricket body.
“Goni is all set to file a defamation case against former JKCA Chairman and retried IAS officer Mehboob Iqbal and some media houses for unleashing a baseless and frivolous character assassination campaign against him,” counsels for the JKCA chairman said in a statement.
Advocates M A Bhat and Ahtsham Bhat have served legal notices to Iqbal and the news channels for directly linking Goni to money embezzlement scam in the JKCA.
“Goni was whistleblower in the scam and had detected it. It was Goni who lodged an FIR in Police to investigate the matter ... how can he be blamed as the culprit without any basis?” the counsels asked.
Goni is currently in South Africa as manager of the Indian cricket team for a one-off Twenty20 match