More on Newspaper Management

Journalism Lectures, Day-17

Newspaper Management is surely an interesting subject to study. The energy and enthusiasm of the lecturer further adds to the fun of learning newspaper management. Different forms of ownership of a newspaper publication were discussed in class. I wasn't aware that learning journalism would also include finer aspects of management theories. But then, as my lecturer repeatedly says, "the business of business is to do business" and the print media is not an exception!

Different forms of ownership:

1) Sole Propritership;
2) Partnership;
3) Joint Stock Company;
4) Co-operative Firm;
5) Mass Organization;
6) Political Parties.

The interesting part about today's lecture relates to the information that was provided on publications owned by mass organizations and political parties. Mass organizations are bodies like Student's Federation of India, commonly known as SFI which are in one way or another affiliated to political parties. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) is another mass organization body in India. Both the organizations bring out publications that deal entirely in matters related to their area of work and concern.

Many of the political parties in India also have their own mouthpiece through which they propagate their ideologies and activities. Shiv Sena's Saamna is a much read newspaper in Maharashtra. Some of the editorials in Saamna are known to create a lot of debate within the country. The bottomline is- publications owned by mass organizations and political parties are bound to focus on their own activities and interests. More blogs on newspaper management to follow in the coming days!

Journalistic Writing

Journalism Lectures, Day-16

More details related to journalistic writing were discussed in class. "A newspaper writer must enjoy a growing love affair with the printed word", proclaimed my lecturer. "It's next to impossible for you to develop journalistic writing skills without having a fascination for the printed word". The hunger to learn new words and phrases must be cultivated in order to increase your vocabulary. So how to go about it?

Whenever you come across any new word, remember to enquire about the meaning of the same. To make the task more interesting, you could also find out about the origin of the word and how best to form sentences with it. All these would help you to sharpen your journalistic writing skills.

In journalistic writing, one should avoid using words that could be unfamiliar to the readers. The use of unfamiliar words could leave an impression of pompousness on the reader. Cliches, jargon and officialese should be avoided at any cost. Journalistic writing also demands economy of words. Use of short sentences helps the journalist to achieve clarity, brevity and precision in his writing.

Main advantages of economy of words

1) It allows a reader to comprehend and understand a story and create the desired impact;

2) It saves space so that a newspaper or magazine can pack in more information in one issue;

3) Brevity and clarity assist a journalist to develop an easy to understand writing style;

Lots more to come on journalistic writing in the next few days!