News Shopper: Facebook News Shopper: Young Reporter 2014

This year we are encouraging all our young reporters to try out a range of different types of stories, and the final awards will go to the best entries in each of these categories. Our top tips below, written by highly experienced journalists and photographers, have been specially compiled to help you tackle each category with confidence and produce your best work. Good luck!

News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013 News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013

1. This is an article about something which is going on in your local community. It might be a fire in a nearby street, a smashed shop window, the opening of a new restaurant, a stolen bike, a controversial plan to build a new hotel in your neighbourhood, a charity fundraising scheme, etc, etc
2. Try to establish the facts (Who, what, when, where, why)
3. Try to speak to at least one person who knows what happened or is going on. This will allow you to include the information they give you in the article as well as a quote to bring the story to life (the exact words they said inside quotes marks “ ”)
4. Put the most interesting thing in the first sentence of your article.
5. Do your best when writing the article to distinguish between what is a confirmed fact and what is someone’s opinion.
6. Take a photo to illustrate your story
7. Use your best/most interesting quote early in the story – certainly no later than the fourth line.

News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013

1. Decide what event you want to cover. This could be a fair, campaign meeting, scout/cub/brownie event, local festival, sports event, etc, etc
2. Go to the event armed with notebook, pens/pencils and camera/mobile phone.
3. Try to speak to an organiser and spectator when you are there. Ask them about the event, why they are involved, and what they think about it. Include one or two quotes from them in the article to help bring it to life.
4. Get the key facts, where it took place, when, who organised it, why it is held and roughly how many people attended and ensure you include them in your article.
5. When you are at the event look out for quirky/interesting things going on that you will be able to describe in the article. These will help to bring the event to life in the reader’s mind.
6. Include the most interesting/important thing about the event in the first sentence.
7. Don’t forget to upload your best pictures of the event with the article.

News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013

1. This is a chance to find out what people think about an issue. You might choose something that is the news that week, or something happening in your local area such as plans for a new youth club, the amount of dog poo on the street.
2. When you have chosen your topic then ask friends, family for their views on it. Have a smile on your face and a pen and paper in hand to record their answers. You will need four or five people to talk to you and you only need a few lines from each.
3. Ensure that you take down what they say carefully. Just to ensure it is accurate, read it back to them and get them to initial it.
4. Get photographs of the people you speak to.
5. When writing up the vox pop you should include a few lines about the topic. Then include a few lines of the exact words from each of the people you spoke to. Put their name, age, occupation and which town they live in before their quotes.
6. Here is an example of an imaginary vox pop: The Monster Raving Loony Party has just announced that it would cut the school week to four days if it gets into power at the next election. It believes the extra day would be better spent by young people focusing on whatever is most interesting to them. Rachel Smith, 16, Croydon, said: “I think this is a great idea. It will work on so many levels. Not only am I thrilled by the idea of having school for just four days a week, but so are all my friends.” Marty Brown, 27, Bromley, said: “........ Etc.

News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter

1. Decide who you want to interview – this might be a teacher, neighbour, shop keeper, club leader, local politician, MP, athlete, policeman, youth leader......
2. Decide what you want to talk to them about – but be prepared to change this later if something more interesting emerges during the interview.
3. Get them to agree to do an interview. You can often enlist the help of parents, friends, teachers etc who may know them to help get them to agree to an interview. This would ideally be face-to-face, but could also be done over the phone if they are very busy.
4. Prepare a list of questions in advance, which should be open questions (ones that encourage people to give an answer that will not just be yes or no). But do be prepared to ask extra questions in the interview if they say something which is particularly interesting or needs further explanation.
5. Have several pens/pencils and a pad to take notes during the interview. You could also use a small tape recorder (though you should clear this with the subject at the start and also take notes just in case the machine malfunctions!)
6. During the interview make sure you get the key personal details right - their name, age, job title and the town where they live/work
7. Take a picture of them on your mobile or camera as this will help bring the interview to life.
8. Don’t forget to thank the interviewee who has given up their time to talk to you.
9. When writing up the interview put the most interesting fact in the first sentence, then concentrate on the key issue/s that you have selected. Put any other interesting, but less relevant information that emerged during the interview at the bottom.
10. Include several direct quotes from the interview in speech marks (“.....”) as this will help bring the article to life. NB For safety reasons never interview a stranger on your own – always take a responsible adult with you. Always ensure your parents/guardians are fully aware of what you are doing, where and with whom – even if it the interview is with someone you know well.

News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter

1. Choose a subject that really interests you and you think will interest other people. Issues such as unemployment, crime, alcohol etc can work well as features. So do ones which relate to your own experiences of things like dieting, joining a garage band, surviving an illness, training for a half marathon etc. The subject should ideally also relate to something which happened recently or is about to happen(you may be passionate about Roman London, but unless archaeologists have made a new discovery, or a historian has written a new book about it, writing about it is unlikely to have widespread interest.)
2. Do your research so you can include facts in your article in addition to opinions (perhaps even include some facts in a small, separate piece, to go with the main article).
3. If you can find any local examples/links to your subject including them in your article will make it more interesting to the local people who are likely to read it.
4. Getting comments from one or two other people involved in the issue will improve your article. You can do this by quoting something they have already said in an online article/newspaper etc, or by contacting them by email, twitter etc and asking them about it.
5. If there are different views on your chosen subject (there usually are!) feel free to argue for those you support, but don’t forget to make reference to the other side.
6. A feature is not a dry, perfectly balanced, school essay. This is a chance to let rip and put some passion into what you write!
7. Features tend to be longer than other articles – but there is no need to write a blockbuster. Five hundred to seven hundred words should be fine.
8. Take several pictures to illustrate your article, maybe even some of yourself if you get involved with the subject.

News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013

1. If you are taking a picture in sunlight shoot with the light behind you, but make sure your subjects are not squinting. Try the light coming at an angle of 45 degrees from behind you, side lighting gives a bit of mood, it sculpts the person's face giving depth to the photo. If the light isn’t good enough where you are, move! Find a nice big window or go outside. If the sun is too harsh, use the shade of a tree or building. When photographing a group, make sure everyone is in the same light, not some in shadow and some in direct sunlight.
2. Go in close or use the zoom function to fill the shot with your subject/subjects. A photograph where the main subject is far away, or where there is a lot of empty space around them will have a lot less impact. If you prefer, take a wider shot and crop it later using photo-editing software.
3. When composing your photograph always think about what is behind your subject. Watch out for bushes or street signs growing out of the top of people's heads. Find a suitable backdrop for the shot, something not too distracting.
4. And before you press the button think about what is in front of your subject too. Remove the half eaten sandwich and dirty coffee cup - they will only distract the viewer.
5. If you're photographing a group of say 4 to 10 people, get people to turn slightly side on, so they face towards the centre. Sounds boring, but it will give a bit of shape to the photo, and make it look tidy and professional.
6. Try to convey the emotion of the story. For example, if the subject is devastated or angered by a recent event, it may not be appropriate to use a picture of them smiling. Try to photograph the interviewee with the subject matter to add context.
7. When taking a portrait of someone ask them to face you. Then get them to turn to their right so their feet are pointing at 45 degrees to you. Now ask them to turn back to you at the waist so their feet stay still but their face and shoulders are facing you again. You will be surprised how much this improves your photograph.
8. When doing voxpops go in close and just include their heads in the shot. Make sure they are happy to have a photo taken before you ask them your voxpop question. You’d be surprised how many people want to give their opinions but then refuse to have a photo afterwards.
9. Always shoot at the highest file size you have available on your camera. You never know when you’re going to take a shot that will need to big blown up big. Remember you can always make large files small, but you can’t make small files big. Invest in a good, fast and large capacity memory card, and if you’re using your phone, empty it daily so you have the space if you need it.
10. Make sure you make back-up copies of your pictures. Don’t just save it all to your desktop, have a second copy of everything on an external hard drive or an online storage space to avoid the heartbreak of losing it all when your computer crashes.

News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Social Media

Social Media

Reporting the news online is not just about writing a great story and publishing it on a website.
The popularity of social media means that readers like to get stories in lots of different ways: Facebook, Twitter, email, forums, and blogs.
This means reporters need to think about how to share their story. After you've published a story online, ask yourself these questions:

1. Where should I share this story? What kind of readers are interested in what I'm writing about?
2. How should I share this story? Should I flag it up to certain Twitter users or Facebook pages?
3. What reaction am I looking for? Will this story encourage debate and how can I best achieve that?
4. How am I going to get a follow-up story? In news, there is no such thing as a story being 'closed' - how I can get online readers to help me get more information? Have I given them a way of contacting me?  
 

News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013
News Shopper: Young Reporter

1. Do not take images from Google or other websites - you must own the copyright on any image you use or ask permission of the original owner.
2. Images must be more than 1200 pixels wide, in RGB colour and JPEG format.
3. Clearly caption any photos of people or places.
4. Do not alter the sort date on any articles you upload.
 
 
 

News Shopper: Young Reporter 2013