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NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

COURSE CODE: JLS 711

COURSE TITLE: PRINCIPLES TO JOURNALISM

 

 
JLS 711

Course Guide

COURSE
GUIDE

JLS 711
PRINCIPLES TO JOURNALISM
Course Developer

Idorenyin Udoesen Akpan, Ph
...
D, Mnipr, Rpa,
Department of Communication Arts,
University of Uyo

Course Editor

Mrs
...
Oloke
National Open University of Nigeria,
Victoria Island
Lagos
...
Ofulue, Ph
...
edu
...
nou
...
ng
National Open University of Nigeria 2006
First Printed 2006
ISBN: 978-058-626-1
All Rights Reserved
Printed by ……………
...

Course Aims
...

Working through this Course
...

Study Units
...

Assessment
...

Final Examination And Grading
...

Course Overview
...

Tutors and Tutorials
...

Introduction to Journalism is a foundation course for students and
practitioners in the field
...
Although particular attention
is given to the practice of journalism in Nigeria, the basic principles still
retain their universal meanings
...
The guide also specifies the amount of time
you are required to spend on each unit of the assignments
...
You are
advised to attend the tutorial classes to discuss your difficulties with your
tutorial facilitators
...

(ii) Introduce the locus on the core business of journalism practice
...


COURSE OBJECTIVES
There are objectives to be achieved in unit of the course
...
It is expected that by the time you
have finished studying this course, you should be able to:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

Demonstrate their understanding of the history and development
of journalism in Nigeria;
Identify and know the basic principles of journalistic writing;
Write news stories of any kind by applying the principles of
journalistic writing;

(iv) Describe how news is gathered, processed and disseminated to
readers; and

(v)

State the relevant laws that affect the journalism practice
everyday
...
Each unit contains self-

JLS 711

Introduction to Journalism

assessment exercise
...
Remember, all components of this course contribute
to your total success
...


COURSE MATERIALS
The main components of the course are:
1
...

Study Units
3
...

Assignment file
5
...

ii

JLS 711

Introduction to Journalism

The second module, comprising seven units of study, focuses on the core
business of journalism practice
...
Each unit is designed to engage you for one week (seven
days) and includes: specific objectives, reading materials, self assessment
exercise, together with tutor-marked assignments
...


TEXTBOOKS AND REFERENCES
Each unit has a set of recommended textbooks for references for study
...
In addition, you can visit the
Internet to enhance your chances of achieving your learning task
...

In doing the assignments, you are expected to
apply all the information gathered during the course
...

The work that you submit for assessment will altogether account for 30%
of your total course mark
...
You are
required to attempt all the questions, and you will be assessed on all of
them but the best four performances from the (TMAs) will be used for
your 30% grading
...
A greater
weight is placed on module 2 because it reflects the core content of
journalism practice
...
Make sure each assignment
reaches your tutor on or before the deadline for submissions
...


iii

JLS 711

Introduction to Journalism

FINAL EXAMINATION
The final examination for this course will be three hours duration and
will attract 70% of the total course grade
...
And all
aspects of the course will be assessed
...


COURSE MARKING SCHEME
Here is a breakdown of how actual marking will be done
...


MARKS

Final Examination
Total

70% of overall course marks
100% of course marks

Four assignments, best three marks
of the four count for 30% of course
marks
...
The
advantage is that you can read and work through the study materials at
your pace, and at a time and place that suits you best
...
Just as a lecturer
might give you in-class exercise, your study units provide exercises for
you to do at appropriate times
...

The first item is an introduction to the subject matter of the unit and how
a particular unit intergraded with other units and the course as a whole
...
These objectives let you know what
you should be able to do by the time you have completed the unit
...
When you have
finished the units, you should go back and see if you have achieved the
objectives
...
Self Assessment Exercises are
interspersed throughout the units and answers are given at end of the
course
...


v

JLS 711

Introduction to Journalism

You should do each Self Assessment Exercise as you come to it in the
study unit
...
Work
through these when you have come to them
...
You
will be notified of the dates, times and location of these tutorials, a
together with he name and phone number of your tutor, as soon as you
are allocated a tutorial group
...
So, you should try as much as possible to attend tutorials
...

We wish you a successful course work
...
Idorenyin Udoesen Akpan, MNIPR, RPA
University of Calabar
Calabar

Course Writer

Dr
...
A
...
Christine I
...
hD
National Open University of Nigeria
Lagos

vii

JLS 711

Introduction to Journalism

NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA
National Open University of Nigeria
Headquarters
14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way
Victoria Island
Lagos
Abuja Annex
245 Samuel Adesujo Ademulegun Street
Central Business District
Opposite Arewa Suites
Abuja
e-mail: centralinfo@nou
...
ng
URL: www
...
edu
...

For
National Open University of Nigeria

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JLS 711

Introduction to Journalism

TABLE OF CONTENT

PAGE

Module 1
Journalism Development and Structure
Unit 1 The Development of Journalism: A Historical
Approach ………………………………………
...


Module 2
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4

1

1 - 10
11-18
19-26
27-31

32
The Nature of News ………………………………
Writing the News …………………………………
...


Module 3
Unit 1 Essentials of Journalistic Style ……………………
Unit 2 Elements of Good News Reporting ………………
...

Unit 4 Defamation Law ………………………………
...
0
2
...
0

4
...
0
6
...
0

Introduction
Objectives
Main Body
3
...
2
Nose for News
3
...
4
3
...
6
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor Marked Assignment
References/Further Readings

1
...

There is also a view of the development of journalism in relation to the
political and economic situation peculiar to the societies under which the
discussion is made
...


2
...
0

MAIN BODY

3
...
The
media of dissemination are usually the print or broadcast channels
...
For both
them, the journalist follows the same principles and is guided by the
same determinants/values in gathering news materials
...
For instance, a news story
for transmission in the radio medium should use words, which are
simpler and mostly conversational
...

Good journalism consists of the intelligent assembly of relevant facts
...
Yet, it is the most
important responsibility of the reporter
...
To achieve all this, demands
the special skill of nosing for news
...
2

Nose For News

This is a journalistic parlance that describes the pulling force, zeal,
anxiety and sensitivity of a journalist in the process of newsgathering
...
It does not call for
any invention of facts, instead, an ability to assess or weigh the
usefulness of answers from questions, especially when people, of today
are particularly observant to help a journalist give answers that they
think the journalist wants, rather than the ones he needs
...
1
State three primary roles of the journalists that have also given direction
to the practice yesterday and today
...
3

The History of Journalism

3
...
1 Technological Developments
Strictly speaking, the word technology does not refer to mechanisms,
but the way mechanisms are used
...
This should be borne in mind
when studying the text by a journalism historian Robert Desmond
(1978:1 - 12)
...
Rain
or shine, soldiers in Caesar’s garrison in the freezing Alps or burning
Sahara were lined up in the parade ground at least once a week to have
the Acta Diurna read to them
...
News of fresh conquests by their colleagues in
other parts of the Empire, plans by the government to increase soldiers’
pensions, gossip about the famous, and sports reports all helped
convince them they were remembered and would get fed today and paid
next week
...
The phonetic writing used
here is based on a 26-letter Latin alphabet, and an Arabic numbering
system
...

Originally, these systems used stylised drawings of objects
...
For instance, the abstract
notion of a home could be written down by melding the pictographs for
a house, with those for a man and a woman
...

The three great early civilisations in India, Egypt, and China probably
developed their own ideographic systems of writing independently
...
To those of us who
only have to learn 26 letters and nine figures, the survival of an
ideographic system in which people have to learn literally thousands of
characters may seem strange
...
The Latin alphabet is taught in schools in China and used in
many forms of public communications such as street and shop names
...

The ideographs are the same for all languages
...
The word for house may be very different
in each language, but the ideograph is the same
...


b)

Paper and Printing

Desmond (1978) further outlines the development of writing surfaces,
from animal skins to woven papyrus; then to the invention of paper
about 1800 years ago
...
Almost simultaneously, chemists
discovered how to break the strong bonds of lignite that hold wood
fibres together so all the tree – not just the bark – could be used for
paper-making
...
(Up to this point paper had been made out
of fibres, such as cotton and linen that were also used to make cloth)
...

For a start, the evidence has grown stronger that Coster (or Koster) was
using movable type before Gutenberg
...

This pre-dates the available evidence as to when
Gutenberg started using movable type
...

Third, Caxton is unlikely to have carried out much printing himself
...
The foreign assistants he brought with him back from
Europe, headed by Wynkyn de Word, were the real printers
...

Caxton used his knowledge of the
contemporary public service to get legislation passed by Parliament that
could be described as the world’s first guarantee of the Freedom of the
Press
...
3
...
This is probably an appropriate view because,
after the steam-powered rotary press was invented by Walter Koenig in
German, and first used in 1811 (three years earlier than in America),
most of the significant new journalism technologies emerged in
America
...

This list, however, should only be used as a guide
...
For example, the
town of Schenectady is credited as being the place from which the first
regular television schedules were broadcast
...
The most
widely accepted of these claims is that the honour goes to the British
Broadcasting Corporation in London in 1936
...
It is not significant if John Logie Baird invented television
...

What
matters is that Olympic officials time high points in the Games’
schedules to coincide with prime-time viewing in the Americas
...

However, the present dominance of the mass media by America is not
something that will last in perpetuity
...

Already there are signs this is happening
...
Even today it normally takes
many hundreds of people to bring an overseas item of news to the front
pages of American daily newspaper, radio newscasts, or television
screens
...
Since then, satellite
technology has been improved, and the cost of digital video has been
reduced so that it can now come within many family budgets
...
Such a situation might lead to a new
type of less-restricted, independent journalist, covering the world’s news
without political and economic interference
...


3
...
3 Politico-Economic Developments
The history of journalism in England is the next step
...
Even when Parliament gained ascendancy
over the monarchy there was little inclination by the elected government
to relax the controls on publishing
...
This lapse in government control
meant England was the only country in Europe at that time where the
publishing of newspapers was unlicensed
...
He even tolerated attacks
on himself in books, plays, pamphlets, and especially in the newspaper
he ordered to be established in Berlin
...
One of his first edicts
was the granting of unrestricted freedom of the press
...
After a sustained press campaign, Struensee was
put on trial and beheaded in 1772
...
In 1997, the world’s first
law to specifically guarantee the freedom of the press – including
limitations to this freedom – was introduced in Sweden
...

In the United States and the former Soviet Union such a guarantee is
enshrined in each nation’s constitution; although the Soviet guarantee
differed from its Western counterparts by guaranteeing freedom of
access of its citizens to the columns of the press
...

China was one of the last places to introduce masscirculation newspapers
...
The author outlines four
stages before the nineteenth century in the European development of
publishing news
...
These contained a description of a single event that
was written long after the event occurred
...
The
first English prototype of a daily newspaper was the Daily Courant (or
Coranto) which appeared during the latter part of this stage, in 1702
...
These dealt
with more recent events and were published weekly – provided a
sufficient number of significant events had occurred during the previous
week
...

The fourth stage was the mercury
...
For instance, for the time
information was selected and ordered in ways that would most interest
or influence the readers
...

The Politics of information, he quotes the
nineteenth century poet Rev
...

Some sturdy patriots sworn to pull them down; some
neutral powers, with secret forces fraught
...
”
A pessimist might say that, in the intervening years, the role of
journalists has not changed, only the technology
...
After running the gamut of stories on local sex, crime
and scandal, the World began to highlight often fictitious stories about
the cruelty and excesses of the soldiers in the Spanish colony of Cuba
...
After several months one of the artists
telegraphed Hearst asking to come home because there was no war
...
I’ll supply the war”
...


c)

The Fourth Estate

Like Smith, Jeremy
Tunstall in
Newspaper History from
the
Seventeenth Century to the present Day, identifies four stages in the
development of journalism
...

The first of these mythical stages was “the heroic struggle against state
control of the press, culminating in the establishment of the fourth
Estate”
...
This
was created by Lord Macaulay for journalists when he suggested that
they were a fourth-part of government – after the estates, or classes, of
the Lords Temporal (peers of the realm and members of the House of
Lords), Lords Spiritual (archbishops and bishops of the Church of
England, also sitting in the House of Lords), and the Commons
(members of the lower house)
...

The third stage was the alleged transformation of journalist from venal
hacks into socially responsible people committed to the ideals of
“objectivity, accuracy, and truth”; and fourth, “the contest within the
press between commercial and non-commercial goals, between
conceptions of the press as an industry and as a public service” (1978:
17)
...

He sees the needs of trade and the economy of particular
societies dictating the rate of development and spread of journalism
...
There was no commercial or economic need for newspapers
8

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

for the common reader in the highly-bureaucratised, pre-nineteenth
century China
...
2
Discuss how technology, politics and economy have significantly
influenced the growth of journalism practice today
...
0

CONCLUSION

The newspaper is not just the oldest of the popular mass media; it has
also tended to serve as the training ground for many journalists
...

It is the greatest public service, which hinges its
performance on investigative journalism, a tool used to perform the
watch dog function of the press
...
What sort of future does
the newspaper have in the new dispensation?
Answers to these
questions will be found by communication researchers
...
0

SUMMARY

In this unit so far, you have learnt that:
Journalism is not just an art of news gathering and selecting, but of
processing and disseminating of intelligence to the public;
Good journalism consists of intelligent assembly of facts which can
be enhanced and facilitated by the journalists development and use
of the skill of ‘nosing for News’;
Technology makes easy the work of the journalist at all levels –
newsgathering, news professing and news dissemination;
Technological developments in the field of journalism cuts across
the globe with each continent of the world wielding dominant power
as time and chance permit it;
The good journalism is significantly influenced by the political and
economic support given it by any society
...

9

JLS 711

6
...


7
...
A
...

Desmond, Roberts (1978) ReportingtotheTwentiethCentury:ASearch for
understanding
...
(1979) TheNewspaper:AnInternationalHistory
...
(1978) NewspaperHistoryfromtheSeventeenthCenturyto the
PresentDay
...
0
2
...
0

4
...
0
6
...
0

Introduction
Objectives
Main Body
3
...
2
The Period of Alien-Dominated Press
3
...
0INTRODUCTION
In this unit, the issue of press development is revisited but this time, the
Nigerian society before independence in 1960 is given special attention
...
While you will read about the kinds and number of papers that
sprang up at every stage of our discussion, you would also notice that
such developments are discussed side by side with the propelling
political and economic interest of the participants of those periods or
eras
...
0

OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of this unit, you are expected to:
Identify the major publications of the eras under study
List the key personalities/players during such era
Describe the major roles and contributions played by the owners and
participants in the press business

3
...
1

The Period of Missionary Journalism

The history of Print Journalism began in Nigeria with the installation of
the Printing Press at Calabar by the Presbyterian Mission in 1846
...
Although, this development did not last long and has often
11

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

been left out in the chronicles of print development in Nigeria, other
missionaries and religiously inclined business conscious men took a cue
from the Calabar experience
...
Henry Townsend, a
missionary journalist, established a printing press in Abeokuta in 1854
...
e
...
The newspaper translated
into English Language means “Newspaper in Yoruba for Egba and
Yoruba people”
...
“Iwe Irohin” was purely a religious newspaper,
publishing news about church activities, particularly, the establishment
of new churches, the arrival and departure of missionaries and even the
death of religious dignitaries and traditional rulers
...
As a result of this, the newspaper expanded its news coverage
to cover non-religious events such as those about trade and commerce,
exhibitions, sports, health, hygiene, moralistic, educational and other
news items of national consequences, crime reports, immoral news
abstracts, alcoholic promotions, etc
...
Omu (1980) writes that IweIrohin was the best organised of the
mission papers at the time
...

Rev
...

The characteristics of Townsend’s “Iwe Irohin” were equally
remarkable
...
Its layout was crowded and dull, and without
pictures
...

The Iwe Irohin regularly carried anti-slavery editorials and many of its
religious publications were either slanted or coloured to promote the
12

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

crusade against slavery
...

However, other publications of the early missionaries as documented by
Nwuneli (1985) were:
The African Gleamer published in 1917 by the African Church
Organisation of Nigeria (ACON) - English Language
...

Leisure Hours (1918) by CMS – English Language
...

Nigerian Methodist (1925) by the Methodist Church – English
Language
...

African Christian (1930) by African Church Organisation - English
language,
African Chronicles (same as in No
...
)
Catholic life (1936) by the Roman Catholic Church – English
language
...

The contributions of these missionary papers were summarized by Fred
Omu (1978), as having significant influences on West African Society
...
Their examples gave inspiration to Africans who then
exploited the business (news papering) and employed it as the chief
weapon of exercising power as well as participating in government
...
1
What are the main features of ‘Iwe Irohin’ that you have read?

13

JLS 711

3
...
The first
recorded impression of this era was initiated by Robert Campbell on
June 6, 1863
...
As a
weekly newspaper, Anglo-African had a circulation figure of between
30-50 copies and was sold for three pence
...

Robbert Campbell’s publication was Nigeria’s second
newspaper to be launched after Townsend’s attempt
...
It carried local and overseas news, and a
lot of editorials dealing with the issues of those years
...
The
newspaper later ceased to exist on December 30, 1865 due to some
financial constraints
...

In fact, certain
conditions or factors engendered greater interest and zeal in the minds of
the aliens
...
This was
primarily evident in the increasing difficulty to reconcile missionary
protestation of Christian ethics or doctrines with the evidence of
glaring hypocrisy exemplified in Henry Townsend’s desperate fight
against Ajayi Crowther
...

The rapid growth of printing industry in urban centres in the
progressive enterprise of newspaper publication
...
The channels for such marketing goals
and publicity were no doubt the organs of the press
...
The LagosTimes was published
fortnightly and sold for six pence
...

Because of the stance, it was not patronized by the colonial government
...

Prior to the exit of LagosTimes, Blackall Benjamin had established the
Lagos Observer on February 4,1882
...

N
...
King and Robert Campbell to run the paper
...
Benjamin continued single-handedly with the
paper until 1890 when the possibilities of the paper’s survival was
questionable
...

Its death notwithstanding the Lagos Observer was noted for its success
in terms of its longer life span and remarkable effort in political
emancipation
...

Other newspapers founded by aliens in Nigeria included the:
IweIrohinEko founded by Andrew Thomas in 1888, November3
...

The Lagos Weekly Record founded by John B
...

This newspaper became one of the most popular press having the
greatest continuity and long life in the history of early newspapers in
Nigeria
...

TheStandard paper by George Alfred Williams on September 16,
1894
...
S
...


Self Assessment Exercise 2
...
3

The Period of Indigenous Press

One of the early indigenous newspapers was the NigeriaPioneer
...
The newspaper was pro-governmental
15

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

and so, did not encourage radicalism of the nationalists
...
It died in 1936
...
He is said to
have been the first man outside Yoruba land to emerge into prominence
in Lagos politics
...

Being a gentleman agreement between Adeyemo Alakija and Richard
Barrow, the AfricanMessenger transformed into the DailyTimes, was
headed by Ernest Ikoli as the first Editor under the management of
Nigerian printing and publishing company, NPPC
...
The DailyTimes was later made a subsidiary of the
London DailyMirror in 1948
...
Notable among such
development was the general treatment of news and page planning
which witnessed remarkable improvement from what had existed before
in the publishing scene then
...

As a result to this relationship, the DailyTimes was solidly supported
financially culminating in a highly equal competition with other
newspapers of that time
...
It also
expanded greatly and increased its circulation capacity to about 62,000
in 1956, when the SundayTimes was introduced
...
It
relatively lost the respect of the general public and was not of any
significant consequence in the aggressive pursuit of national
independence for the country
...

The NigerianDailyTelegraph by Akin Fagbemo Beyioku on
November 12,1927
...
B
...


16

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

The NigerianDailyMail by Ernest Ikoli in 1930
...
Nnamdi Azikiwe
...

It was well
positioned and could be compared to a local training school for
journalists, because it produced great future journalists – amongst
them were Chief Anthony Enahoro and Chief Tony Momoh
...

The West African Pilot was the most popular nationalist newspaper of
all times in Nigeria
...
It was
noted for its tremendous use of pictures and modern headline forms
...

Azikiwe also owned and edited other papers such as the Eastern
Nigerian Guardian, The Eastern Sentinel, and the “Northern
Advocates”
...
This resulted in the
formation of Allied Newspapers of Nigeria, a new body that absorbed
the former Amalgamated Press of Nigeria
...
3
Briefly outline the major policy thrust of the West African Pilot and the
Nigerian Daily Times
...
0

CONCLUSION

The early press in Nigeria set the pace for today’s journalism
...


5
...
Azikiwe, thus:
If we analysed the earliest newspapers Published in this
country in the first 70 years of existence, the following
will emerge; The newspapers were mainly periodicals,
published weekly, fortnightly or monthly; The
17

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

proprietors were invariably their editors, With the
exception of Iwe Irohin, the Nigerian Pioneer and the
African Messenger, the Journalist were mostly aliens, the
period of survivals of these papers were very short;
Indeed averaging three and half years
...
0

TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Compare and contrast the major features of the following newspapers in
terms of their objectives, contents and format:
(i)
Iwe Irohin
(ii)
Anglo African
(iii) West African Pilot, and
(iv) Nigerian Daily Times

7
...
Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publisher
...
A
...

Nelson Publishers Limited
...
A
...

Umanah, Ahaziah (1991) “An Evaluation of Nigerian Press From the
Colonial Era to the Present “in Udofia, Calix(ed) African
JournalisminPerspective, Abak, Nigeria: Itiaba Publishers
...
0
2
...
0

4
...
0
6
...
0

Introduction
Objectives
Main Body
3
...
2
The Press in Civil War and Military Nigeria
3
...
4
The Post Republic Press
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor Marked Assignment
References/Further Readings

1
...
Just as
it was stated in the previous unit, the direction of our discussion will
reflect not only the significant newspapers and events of the different
periods, but also the political, social and economic issues that formed
the basis of their existence
...
0

OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of this unit, you are expected to:
Know the major publications during the period of Nigerian
independence;
Know the key personalities/players during such period;
Understand the character of the press at periods shortly after
independence
...
0

MAIN BODY

3
...
And for the Nigerian Press then, it was
once nationalistic in nature later very regionalistic
...

These confused and
20

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

provocative roles of the press at that time gave the independent press a
rather justified and severely limited success
...
A
social observer, Dr
...
It seems apparent that the ‘fragmentary’
and parochial nature of the press of this period paved way for all
government information apparati, both at the regional and national
levels assuming new dimensions to the general information
communication activities
...
It was the partisanship of the press operation
mostly visible at the regional level that perhaps spurred the federal
government to establish its own newspapers – TheMorningPost and the
Sunday Post, in addition to Nigerian Daily Times
...
Perhaps, it may be reasonable to mention a few or allude to
little of the Press activities of Independence
...

The Tribune, once the mouthpiece of Action Group now ‘replaced’ by
the DailySketch later became the mouthpiece of Akintola’s NNDP
...

It was used as a weapon in the
political vendetta between Nigerian National Democratic Party NNDP
and the Action Group that ensued after Awolowo’s conviction and
imprisonment on a charge of treasonable felony
...
Ayo Ojewumi, the
Editor of Tribune was also sent to jail after the newspaper commented
on possible irregularities in the budget of Western Nigerian government
...


21

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

In Eastern Nigeria, various newspapers were published to serve the
people’s interest
...
There
was also the CORAdvocate, a paper printed in Ikot Ekpene and serving
as a mouthpiece of the minority states of the Eastern Region
...
Its regional partisanship was said to be unquestionable
...
The
NigerianCitizen, a bi-weekly, subsidised by the Northern Nigerian
Government acted as the principal mouthpiece of the Moslems and the
leadership of the NPC
...

There were also minor ethnic media
challenges such as the Daily Comet, the Northern Star, all of Kano and
the MiddleBeltHerald of Jos
...
Al
of them ceased to exist by early 1968
...
1
Outline the character of the press at independence
...
2

The Press in Civil War and Military Nigeria

The press during the Civil War period can be said to have been
characteristically propagandistic, partisan and subjective; and in terms of
a national sense of purpose/decorum, very mischievous as well as
destructive of the individual human personality
...

Col
...
The central reason behind the
eruption of the war is attributed to the pogrom committed by the
Northern Moslems against Southern Christians, more especially the
Christian Ibos
...
Col
...

The press at this period was said to be exercising the highest degree of
propaganda in the Northern scene
...

22

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

In 1968, Ojukwu had sought the services of a foreign-based Public
Relations firm, Markpress in Geneva, to improve on his propaganda
machinery
...
At one time, the
figure was inflated to 30,000 Ibos (being killed)
...

Taking advantage of Biafran claim that, it is the Ibos that mainly
controlled or perhaps exist in the East and thus were subjected to
inhuman conditions of acute starvation resulting from the war, the
federal mouthpiece (Radio Nigeria) took side in preaching against the
assumed dominance of the Ibos in the East and indeed elsewhere
...
No doubt, that same task kept the military in politics
for long
...
Its
character was indeed Laurelistic’
...

The press also became blind to the pervasive social ills, oblivious of the
erosion of individual and corporate rights of citizens and uncaring of, if
not participants in the corruption that infested the Nigerian body
politics
...


3
...
A
fresh opportunity for the masses to have a say and exercise their
potentials in the governance of their country
...

In spite of these modifications, the cankerworm of partisanship and
regionalism of the first republic thought to have rested in ‘pieces’ raised
its hideous structure again
...
These features were that:
A correlation existed between political parties of the first republic
and the second republic
...

No lesson seems to have been learnt from the military regime
between 1996 – 1978
...
In this direction Peter Enahoro’s observation of
the status of the mass media towards the close of 1968 as lacking men of
status as well as vision to recognise danger and oppose wrong was
factually matured during the second republic as opposed to its
prematurity at the time of observation
...
The journalists allowed themselves to be used as tools for
self-satisfaction
...
The media, instead of classifying political issues
for public evaluation, resorted to darkening them or proving ignorant of
their dedication to independence, truthfulness, decency, impartiality and
objectivity
...
It was an era that the NPN
press, NPP press, GNPP press, PRP press, etc
...

For the few ethically and professionally conscious
journalists, the time was not right for ‘saintly manners’ as their cajoled
and corrupted colleagues battered them with harassments while the
government and every instrument of the state clobbered them
...


Self Assessment Exercise 3
...
Discuss those lessons
that ought to have been learnt
...
4

Principles to Journalism

The Post-Republic Press

A flashback to the welter of decrees that the Federal Government felt
strong to promulgate, ostensibly to facilitate the task of rebuilding the
economy with the minimum diversion, the era of Buhari and Idiagbon
must rank as the most hazardous for the practice of journalism
...

This is because, the death of the Nigerian press, the resurrection and its
revitalisation were to be realised during the Buhari/Idiagbon regimes
...
In the same vein, the radio and TV stations were almost
broadcasting the same thing at the same time slot and almost at the same
length of time
...
The journalists
themselves became once again truly reflective of their profession and
became dedicated to the ideals of journalism
...
4 and Decree No
...

The decline of the Buhari/Idiagbon regime gave birth to existential
government of President Ibrahim Babangida
...

The regime’s promises were appreciated by Nigerians who heaved a
sigh of relief from the draconian years
...
4 and released from
jail of some of the press actors that were detained, etc
...

Although at the initial period of the administration, the promises and
vows for the preservation of a libertarian press committed to a more
investigative, advocative, agitative and provocative journalism seem
utterly realistic, events in the later years of the regime punctuated the
25

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

original intents of the government to promote a libertarian press
...

The press in Abacha’s regime apart from bringing back the memories of
colonial censorship, again promoted the ideals of controlled social
responsibility on the part of surviving journalists
...


4
...
It is fair to say that the primary motivation for
producing a newspaper in Nigeria is political rather than commercial
...
The mass media report politics, they
are also political institutions of central importance to the functioning of
Nigerian democracy
...
0

SUMMARY

The more the harassment, the bolder the press
...


6
...


7
...
Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers
...
A
...

Nelson Publishers Limited
...
A
...

Umanah, Ahaziah (1991) “An Evaluation of Nigerian Press From The
Colonial Era To The Present” in Udofia
...
Abak, Nigeria: Itiaba Publishers
...
0
2
...
0

4
...
0
5
...
0

Introduction
Objectives
Main Body
3
...
2
The Editorial Department
3
...
4
The Business Department
3
...
0

INTRODUCTION

In this unit, the structural make-up of journalism industry is discussed
...


2
...
0

MAIN BODY

3
...
The structure or organisation
depends mainly on the resources available to the owner
...
Where the size of the
organisation does not accommodate all of the key staff, then some
functions are easily combined for adjunct personnel to perform
...

28

JLS 711

3
...


(i)

Reporters: These are people or specialist who see and report
events for the public
...
They are
the basic set of journalist
...
The
reporter’s main function is to be at the scene of event, whether
assigned by the editor or a regular beat
...
Modern art of reporting has narrowed down the
areas of reporters’ specialization
...
In each of
these fields, there are always a techniques and ways in which the
report must follow in order to attract readers
...
His job ends when he
sends in his report to the editor
...
They are many kinds of editors
...

For example, sub-Editors or Copy Editors
...

Editors make corrections in facts, spellings, grammar, names,
dates, and claims
...
An editor therefore is a
manager as well as a supervisor
...
And all these must be in addition to
being a good policy maker, being creative and dynamic, being a
good team leader and worker and being responsible ethically and
professionally
...
3

The Production Staff

The production staff are the inhabitants and operators of the second
level of news processors
...
A
production manager usually heads the production department
...
The manager also
ensures that the plate making process is in order
...
4

Compositors: Those who typeset by hand
...

Proofreaders: Check the gallery proofs side by side the original
copy for errors
...

Stone hands: Arrange the pages in proper sequence
...


The Business Department Staff

The business department is the third and the last stage of the tripartite
structure of the newspaper process
...

The circulation manager along with his team does the marketing job
...
He must
therefore strategize on how the copies of the newspaper can be
distributed to the readers
...
Most newspapers have a managing
director whose function is that of an MD in any business i
...
he is to see
that the business is run efficiently, that it makes the most economic use
of its resources to manufacture a saleable product, and finally to see that
the business makes a profit
...
Vendors form a large clunk of the circulation
manager’s personnel pool
...
It is important to note that
the circulation manager is influenced by time, in the same manner as
other editorial and production staffs are circulation people
...


3
...
While the personnel manager is responsible for all
administrative functions including staffing, remunerations and
promotion, the public relation expert manages the various relationships
between the organisation and the various units and groups within and
outside the organisation
...
1
How do the staff and functions of the editorial departments differ from
those of production and Business?

4
...
Hence, all the departments in the news
industry are important
...
0

SUMMARY

In this unit, you have learnt that:
The business of journalism revolves round three major
departments/units, namely: editorial, production and business
...

The three principal departments parallel the three key interests of
journalism which are (1) news gathering (2) news processing and (4)
news disseminating
...


6
...


31

JLS 711

7
...
(1999) Introduction to Mass Communication: Media
Literacy and Culture
...

Dominic, Joseph (1990) The Dynamics of mass Communication New
York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company
...
A
...


32

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

MODULE 2
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4

The Nature of News
Writing the News
Editing the Copy
Headline Writing

UNIT 1

THE NATURE OF NEWS

CONTENT
1
...
0
3
...
0
5
...
0
7
...
1
Introduction
3
...
3
News Determinants
3
...
1 Timeliness
3
...
2 Proxibility
3
...
3 Prominence
3
...
4 Consequence
3
...
5 Human Interest
3
...
4
...
4
...
4
...
5 News Values
3
...
1 Objectivity
3
...
2 Balance
3
...
3 Currency
3
...
4 Accuracy
3
...
5 Brevity, Conciseness and Clarity
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor Marked Assignment
Reference/Further Reading

1
...
This is why the
newsroom is the first port of call for all cub-reporters
...

33

JLS 711

2
...

Explain the values of good News Reports
...
0

MAIN BODY

3
...
In this unit, you are
led to understand the concept of news
...
The nature of news is further
explained in the discussion of news types
...


3
...
However, it is worthy to note
that the term has over the years been understood as “something which is
extra – ordinary, a rare occurrence or, something different from what is
believed to be normal
...
In this case, it is
believed that the second sentence (that which is unusual) qualifies to be
addressed as News
...
Or what the “opinion leaders” say it is
...

That news is any event that concerns the audience because it is closer
to them than events that happen far away from their territory,
community, state or nation
...

That news is an account of event as covered by the media
establishments rather than the event itself – at least given that there
are multiple number of events that always occur around us
...


3
...
In any case, majority of media
practitioners have come
to
embrace the
following criteria or
determinants of news
...


3
...
1 Timeliness
A well known axiom within the world of journalism is that “Nothing is
as dead as yesterdays news”
...
It emphasizes speed in the
output of the media institution so that the citizenry may be informed and
make decisions in response to the appropriate time frame
...
Therefore, it must be made accessible to
people as fast as possible
...
For instance, a report of a bomb blast in Lagos state
this morning appears fresher and current than a report of the same bomb
blast in Lagos last month
...
3
...
As a news determinant, it is in the
judgment of the media worker, a criterion for selecting, those news
events that are situationally and locally relevant to the audience
...
For
example, reports about Nigerians in Nigeria, are likely to be of interest
to readers in Nigeria than reports about Americans in Nigeria
...


3
...
3 Prominence
The common saying that “All men are equal but some are more equal
than others” may also pass for prominence as a news determinant
...
The
difference in the status of newsworthiness can either be attributed to the
position, rank or class people occupy, their entertainment, an instance
here is when the president of a country shakes hands with children on
the street
...
In any case,
what is true of persons is also true of places, organizations, institution,
etc
...
For example’ a news story that claims that ‘a
man was shot dead in Aso Rock, Abuja’ does not attract as much
attention as reporting that ‘The President of Nigeria has been shot dead
in Aso Rock Villa, Abuja
...
3
...
The numerical strength of those affected by an event also
fits into this report
...
Other stories that are often
selected using this criterion include those of price changes, epidemic,
pestilence, national strike like NLC, and ASUU strikes in Nigeria
...


36

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

3
...
5 Human Interest
This refers to interest in human beings and events because they concern
men and women in situations, which might confront anyone else
...
Thus,
the extremes of “pathetic” and “humorous” experiences of life are
inclusive
...


Self Assessment Exercise 1
...


3
...
This is simply because all the
noticeable types of news share certain common characteristics that do
not permit any clear direction
...
In broad terms; there are three major types of
news reports namely:
The straight forward news
Investigative news reports
Interpretative news reports

3
...
1 Straightforward News Reports
These are the products of the conventional answer to five Ws and H
...
In this kind of report, reporters are not
expected to inject their opinions
...

Straightforward news story may be based on hard, soft / human-interest
events
...

They are usually filled with facts and figures
...
Soft news stories
deals with social and ceremonial events in the society, like investitures,
37

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

coronation, birthdays, marriages etc
...


3
...
2 Investigative News Reports
An investigative report is a better quality reporting that is distinct from
the straightforward news type
...
It normally deals with reports on serious
subjects and normally, involves obstacles that are common on the
straight news type
...
The
reporter is tied up to rewards It is
time consuming
It calls for handwork
It cost much money
It demands more patience; persistence yet, may be frustrating
...
These facts
are not to be twisted or fabricated but must be based on information dug
from many sources
...
In order that the much-needed
details are accurately sourced for, the investigative reporter relies
heavily on such techniques as:
(a) Direct observation of an event in order to get first hand experience,
without the intrusion of other peoples (eye witness perceptions or
biases
...
e
...

(b) Searching for primary and secondary documents from record keepers
or institutions
...

(c) Reliance on unsolicited information from informants, government
and other publicity seeking interest groups
...
Interview is the bedrock of
newsgathering business
...

Preparation: This involves a reporter’s knowledge of the
background of the subject matter or topic, the people involved
in the interview or story: the list of questions, sorting of and
arrangement of facts and opinion in order to extract or
separate the neutral information from the factual one in a
controversial issue
...
It calls for a direction
of purpose and a sense of responsibility that does not reveal
the ill preparedness of the reporter or his lack of knowledge of
the subject matter
...
It demands a sound and careful listening skill
and attitude
...
4
...
This is
the thrust of interpretative reporting
...

Like the
investigative report, the interpretative reporter requires additional facts
for easy clarification, detailed explanation and logical analysis
...
These include:

(a) Side-bar short: supplements or pieces of information that highlight
the main feature of an issue
...


(b) An interpretative article developed from the views comments or
opinions of experts
...


(d) Speculative or predictive analysis of the event by the reporter
...
It is normally
unreliable as the future is usually not understood firmly by anyone
...


3
...

The fundamental and
philosophical components of such a sound journalistic practice are:
Objectivity
Accuracy
Balance
Currency and
Brevity, conciseness and clarity
...
5
...
Objectivity not only concerns the individual
journalist but also the institution of journalism practice
...
When
considered as a goal, objectivity is seen as that impossible idealistic task
that cannot be attained
...
However,
for the purpose of journalism practice, objectivity is the ability of the
reporter to bridge the knowledge gap between the thing/ event he/she
reports and the (real) event/thing itself
...
Dennis, Ismach, and Cilmor (1978)

3
...
2 Balance
Balance derives its essence from objectivity
...

40

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

3
...
3 Currency
Currency is a virtue of news just as anyone who asks for news wants to
know the status of an event he either did not know about or wants to
know about
...


3
...
4 Accuracy
Accuracy as a news value connotes exactness and truthfulness
...
Accuracy stresses that all the facts about persons, their ages,
address, their duties etc are correctly reported
...
5
...
The entire
essence of a report stands to be defeated if meaning is not shared
...


Self Assessment Exercise 1
...


4
...
The
primary goal of such report is to convey information accurately, briefly
and clearly
...


5
...


41

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

That the criteria for determining what is news and what is not news
are: timeliness, proximity, consequence, prominence and human
interest
...

That good news report must expressly reflect the values of
objectivity, balance, currency, accuracy and brevity
...
0

TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Write an interpretative news report on the issue “Aids and your life
style”
...


7
...
Ismach,
A and Gillmor D
...

New York: West Publishing Company
...
A
...
Ikeja, Nigeria:
Nelson Publishers
...
0
2
...
0

4
...
0
6
...
0

Introduction
Objectives
Main Body
3
...
2
Writing the News
3
...
0

INTRODUCTION

This unit is about news writing
...
The practical experience is to be gained from the exercises
provided for your review
...
Then the common
elements of the news content are explained before the types of lead are
discussed
...
0OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
Identify the major structures of news writing
Explain what they are and also the types of lead
Describe how to write and analyse the lead of a story
Write a simple news story

3
...
1

News Structure

It is conventional to have presentations, whether spoken or written,
follow the process of introduction, body and conclusion
...
But in practice, three styles
of news presentation are known
...

The Pyramid: The pyramid style is a kind of structure in which the
least important idea is presented first to the most important and then
43

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

followed by others in ascending order of importance
...


The shape

Lea st im por tan t point

1
2
3
4
The Inverted Pyramid: This is the style mostly used by the
journalist
...
Here,
the most important fact is presented first and then gradually, other
facts in decreasing levels of importance follows to the end
...
The inverted
pyramid is valuable today as it was then, because it:
Climax

4

M ost import ant point

3

Facilitates reading
...


2
1

Least important point

The Modified Inverted Pyramid: This style of structure is
developed from both the pyramid and the inverted pyramid styles
...
i
...
the result is presented before the steps taken to
reach the result are subsequently reached
...
2

Principles to Journalism

Writing the News

Ordinarily, news writing begins from the time that a reporter sets out to
gather facts
...
Conventionally, news writing starts with the introduction
...

The Lead: The lead is the first paragraph or two or any news report
...
The lead usually gives or
provides answers to the basic questions of 5 Ws and H
...

Make the reader want to read the rest of the story
...

Be based on the key features of the story
...
In most cases, not all the Ws are found in the lead
...
The how is normally left for
the body of the story
...

Five students were shot dead, yesterday
In a clash between two rival cult groups
At university of Lagos main campus, reports
“TheCampusTimes”
...

University of Lagos main campus
clash between cult groups
...

3
...
The few notable ones are:
Cartridge Lead: presents the gist of the event in the fewest possible
words
...
g
...

Punch Lead: This is usually called the blind lead because it presents
a non-specific angle of an event e
...
politics in Akwa Ibom House of
Assembly took a new sour today
...
This usually occurs when
several aspects/angles (who, what, when, where, why) are of equal
importance
...
g
...

The Shirt-Tail Lead: This is a lead that is broken into two sentences
expressing two related ideas
...
It is brief and deals with only the key points of the
story, e
...
a bank clerk returning home from work last night was
robbed of N10,000
...

Effect Lead: This focuses on the effect/consequences of an event
...
g
...


Self Assessment Exercises 2
...

2
...
0

Search through your national daily, identify and photocopy
examples of the leads mentioned in this unit
...


CONCLUSION

The teaching of the lead is so emphasised in this study because it is the
“window” of a news story
...


5
...

the ways news reports are arranged or presented
...
They are
pyramidal structure from least important item to the most important;
inverted pyramid – from the most important to the least important
news item and, modified inverted pyramid
Presentation of the most important item followed by the least
important and gradually leading to the penultimate important item of
the news
...
A lead is the opening
paragraph of the news story
...


6
...

Your copy should not be more than two and a half pages,
typewritten or typeset on an A4 paper
...
0

REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Macdongall, Curtis (1977) Interpretative Reporting
...


New York:

Ogunsiyi, M
...
(1989) IntroductiontoPrintJournalism
...


47

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

UNIT 3

EDITING THE COPY

CONTENT
1
...
0
3
...
0
5
...
0
7
...
1 Copy Editing Functions
3
...
1 Creative function
3
...
2 Managerial function
3
...
3 Policing function
...
2 Copy Editor Tools
3
...
1 Equipment
3
...
2 Reminders
3
...
3 Copy editing symbols
3
...
4 References
3
...
5 Intellectual tools
...
3 Editing Symbols
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor Marked Assignment
References/Further Readings

1
...
In
journalism, it means to remove unwanted matter in the news
...


2
...

Explain the functions and why editing is done in journalism
...

Identify and use the Proof reading symbols
...


48

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

3
...
1

Copy Editing

Copyediting can be variously described
...
They all mean the same thing
...
He must be current as well as be an
expert in the language being used
...
He should be
that person who is capable of appreciating the work of other people
...

Editing is done to eliminate unnecessary details
...
Such editing are often carried out
in an editing room, using a specially designed table known as copy desk,
with a slot man at the helm of affairs
...
The slot man controls the activities of the team
...
They need editing despite the fact that they took
pains to read through such work
...

An expert in language use
A flexible and tolerant person capable of appreciating values in
the work of others
...
They are often written in haste
...
Consequently, are prone to
mistake or bound to make slips and need some help in verifying and
organising their facts
...
The copy desk is the heart of the newspaper
and the character of the newspaper is determined by its copy desk
...

Creative function
...
1
...
Second, it assembles single stories and spreads from
materials originating from a variety of sources
...
Such write-ups carry peculiar phrases like: “in a similar
development or” in another development “or” in another development”
...

Copy editors write headlines, captions and outlines
...
Another area of creativity deals with space
management, which is the major problem of print media as against the
problem of time in the electronic media
...
1
...
One, the
desk directs the work of the compositors and printers
...
Managerial function can also be called administrative
function
...
In the editorial
division are the editor, copy desk, editorial writers and photographic
section
...
This relationship forms the major link between the two distinct
divisions namely the editorial and production divisions respectively
...
They also prepare fillers and time
copy
...
These stories must as a
matter of necessity, be fresh and timely
...

Managerial function aims at avoiding waste and instead cries to adjust
the volume of copy to the available space before it is sent to the
composing room to be set in type
...
In this way there are hardly open spaces
...
1
...
It is the most important of all the functions because it safeguards
the paper against errors and libel
...
Sometimes this policing function may slip the copy desk or it
may decide to undermine the consequence in which case the newspaper
may face libellous suits
...

Secondly, it guides the newspaper’s position against being sued for libel
and other legal difficulties
...
Finally, it
improves the flow and corrections of language so as to clarify the news
and make it more meaningful
...
Among those things he must do are:
He must eliminate errors of spelling, grammar and sentence
structure
...

He must guard against unwarranted reportorial bias, verbosity,
repetition, incongruity, wearisome details, overlooked facts,
zealous statements, and advertising in disguise as well as old and
a grinding news
...
2

Copy Editor Tools

In a bid to do his work effectively and efficiently, the copy editor needs
a set of tools namely: Physical and Intellectual tools
...


3
...
1 Equipment
The copy reader’s obvious physical tools comprise the following:
A special editing pencil with broad and soft lead and slightly
bigger than the normal ordinary HB pencil
...

Scissors and paste which are supposed to be used only when
necessary

51

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

A typewriter that will be used only when it will do the job
quicker than the other tools
...


3
...
2 Reminder
Besides other physical tools the copy editor has certain reminder within
reach
...
Also included is a detailed headline count system, which
serves as a guide for the headline writing
...
2
...
The copy reading symbols vary slightly from
newspaper to newspaper and depends on what each organisation is used
to
...
Here are some
examples adapted from two sources
...
2
...
The extent and appropriateness of
reference materials like books available on the editing desk vary from
one desk to another
...

Webster Dictionary with its rich information
Other general references
...
2
...
It
is assumed and rightly too that the present day copy editor is an
educated and literate person putting all the available tools to work for
the purposes of producing an accurate, dependable, well written and
grammatically correct as well as interesting and sound newspaper
...

In any case, the following may be assumed as the list of intellectual
tools a copy editor often needs
...

Thorough knowledge of the copy desk current routine
...

Proper knowledge of the community the newspaper is expected to
serve
...

Common sense and even disposition as well as good sense of
continuity of news
...
Generally, the copyreader must have respect for the
viewpoints and special problems, of his co-workers and the reading
public
...
He should have a sense of balance in all major
decisions he makes
...
The phrase “Sub this story” means
“edit the story”
...
3

Editing Symbols

Typing Errors (known as typos):
If you wish to capitalise a letter or word, underline it with two
parallel lines, thus:
Bob hawke condemned the usa
...
If,
as is usual, you wish the space thus created to be ignored, place a
bridge above and below the line to signify that you wish the
space to be closed, thus:
He says the bomb should not have been dropped
...

To insert space between words place an insertion mark, like this
between the words
...
She said
...
The
whole of the incorrect word should be deleted with a horizontal
line and the new word written out in full above
...

In the haste to get a story down on paper journalists sometimes
transpose letters, words or phrases
...
g
...
Others say this reversal should
54

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

only happen when single letters are to be transposed
...
)
Most publications use abbreviations, particularly for titles
...
What is acceptable and what is not acceptable
on a particular publication is part of the publication’s house style
...

A journalist, particularly one recently arrived from another
publication, can make a mistake on abbreviations
...

(NOTE: The rule is that when an abbreviation ends with the same
letter as the full word, then no full stop should be used
...
John Brainstorm criticised Dr
...

The use of numbers in copy is also subject to house style
...
If the wrong style has
been used, circle the offending materials, thus:
He accussed the 2 teenagers of stealing one thousand
worth of valuables

naira

Punctuation Errors: While typos can be corrected in ink, punctuation
corrections should be made in pencil
...
If it is in pencil they can rub out
the reporter’s mark
...
Above the mark draw in a dot and circle it, thus:


...
This is probably because
the Pitman’s shorthand symbol for a full stop is a cross by itself
...


For a comma, place an insertion mark at the relevant place and
draw in a comma above the line, with a small slash above it, thus:
,
“It is over/” he said
...

;
His uncles are/ Baba, Shalolo, Danjuma
For an apostrophe, use the same procedure as for comma, but
place the small slash below, thus:
,
A journalists/ duty is to be accurate
...
If, however, they
must insert one, an insertion mark should be placed at the
relevant place and a short vertical line, followed by two short
horizontal lines and another short vertical line should be drawn
above, thus:
Journalists with some exception are good writers
...

Paragraphs should be indicated in a reporter’s copy by placing a
blank line between each paragraph
...

However, there are exceptions to this rule, so to indicate a new
paragraph an L should be drawn in at the beginning of the first
sentence, thus:
“Newspaper reporters who mark the start of paragraphs
are bad news”
...

“They do not realise that paragraphs are sometimes broken
up or combined to suit the design of a page”
...

Note:
If your correction is wrong and you have used a pen, or, for any
reason, you want the subbing mark to be ignored, place a row of
horizontal dots below the offending correction, and write STET
above the line and circle it, thus:
Journalists who hand in inaccurate copy STET
Willbeboiledinoil
Source: University of Southern Queensland Study Book, JRN 1000)

ProofReading Symbols: Sub-editors are responsible for editing news
stories, so proof readers are responsible for proof-reading typeset
stories
...

The sub-editors are free to use pencils to write editing symbols
anywhere in the copy
...

57

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

Some of the common proofreading symbols are:
(1)
Use lowercase letter
(2)
Use capital letter
(3)
Transpose
(4)
Close u p
(5)
Use boldface
(6)
Insert space #
(7)
Use hyphen (-) here
(8)
Leave it as it was
(9)
Take it out; delete
(10) Use a dash _ / _
(11) Use light face If
(12) Use question mark - ?/
(13) Use a comma if it is necessary
(14) Use a semi-colon -
...
or x
(17) Use an apostrophe ‘ ‘
(18) “ Use quote marks “
(19) // Begin a paragraph
(20) No // Do not paragraph
...
#/30
Source: Ogunsiyi (1989:82-83)

4
...
or x
‘ ‘
“ “
//
No //
#/30

CONCLUSION

Editing function in the media house can be viewed as a watchdog role,
and, the life of a newspaper especially, depends on it
...


5
...

We edit primarily to remove unwanted bits of information in the
copy
...


6
...
3
...

58

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

The price of oil in international markets showed signs of stabilizing
today, though they were still sharply lower after a week’s fall caused by
a world surplus of supplies
...
S
...
50 a barrel, down 32 cents from
the previous day’s $19
...

a barrel is the equivalent of 42 gallons,
making the $19
...
43 cents per gallon of
unrefined oil
...
65 a barrel, up 45 cents from the previous day’s $18
...
That
$18
...
The
price of heating oil was down again, but gasoline prices rose slightly
...
15 and 30 percent less than
they were nine months ago when a barrel cost $31
...
Most of the
decline from that $31
...
15 occurred in 10 days, rather
than as a steady slide
...
The 12 cartel members said they would pursue their “fair
market share” instead
...
Although
the world was already awash in oil, supplies swelled, pushing prices
downward amid O
...
E
...
warnings of a price war
...
OPEC members are Algeria, Gabon, Indonesia, Iran, Iraw,
Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Quatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,
Venezuela and Ecaudor
...
0

REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Gibson, Martin and L
...

IOWA: IOWA State University Press
...
C
...
A
...
Ikeja; Nigeria:
Nelson Publishers
...
0
2
...
0

4
...
0
6
...
0

Introduction
Objectives
Main Body
3
...
2
Functions of the Headline
3
...
4
Guides for Headline Writing
3
...
6
Headline Order and Headline Copy
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor Marked Assignments
References/Further Readings

1
...
Practical experience on casting
headlines is gained from the exercises provided at the end of the unit
...


2
...
0

MAIN BODY

3
...
Such a headline
has the following attributes
...
It distinguishes a
headline from a binder or label head
...
g
...
The first is
a label head, the second is a typical headline
...

A headline is fashioned to save space
...
e
...

A good headline uses a language symbols, singly and in groups, to
convey or maximise meaning
...

A headline uses the present tense to convey immediacy and to save
space
...

The generic term, ‘headline’ comprises many specified terms including:
jump heads, kickers and sub- heads
...
A binder or label head is a display line
identifying but not summarizing special material not handled as a news
story
...
It also does not tell what the President says
or what happens
...


3
...

The headline tells the news to the reader by way of conveying
mandatorily the accurate information
...

Headline convey to the reader the relative seriousness of the news
using type families such as italics and other decorative typographical
devices like dashes, stars, boxes etc
...

The headline beautifies the newspaper and makes it attractive
...
Such headline
accompanied with their variety in size and typefaces do a lot to make
modern newspaper pages quite attractive
...
Present day headlines introduce
contrast by bringing side by side, black type and white space as a
relief to the dull grey of body type
...

Headlines give the newspaper character and stability through
consistent use of familiar headline structure thereby giving a
newspaper the relatively familiar and welcome personality
...

Headlines to some degree are often employed to sell newspapers on
the newsstand
...


3
...
Every newspaper has its own headline
schedule as distinct from others
...

Headline writing does not and should not use a language of its own
...
The writer must take into consideration the exact and
special meaning respectively in the light of their immediate meaning
...
A headline writer must be able to
recognize what parts of the story are newsworthy, dramatic, and
significant
...
The layman’s vocabulary is not enough for
accomplishing such task
...
Viewed closely, synonym would imply word
of the same meaning as another in the same language but often with
different implications and associations
...
The headline writer depends on
flexibility not only in choice of words but also in choice of sentence
structure so that the writer can switch word order quickly without
alerting meaning
...

A keen eye for ambiguity
...
He should be able to put
himself in the place of many potential readers
...


3
...
In headline writing, the writer is expected
to tell the essentials just as the lead story does since most headlines
are based on the lead
...
The
lead of a straight news story often summarizes the essential facts
...
The implication therefore
is that the headline writer usually finds his best material on which to
peg the headline at the top of the story otherwise called the lead
...
It may be
noteworthy to point out that in some cases the lead paragraph may be
lacking in substance as the larger story may be buried in the
specified details contained in the body of the story
...
Getting at the heart of the story is a not a
simple task as most people would think
...
Such stories put headline writers on high jump
trying to exempt themselves from the tasks
...
Should the headline be of two
desks, the most important one would be at the top to be followed by
the less important headline
...

63

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

Marshall the facts in sentence form
...
The point has since
been made that headline are skeletonized sentences
...
In
most cases, it goes to the extent of doing without non essential
modifiers including personal pronouns
...

Build around a strong verb
...
The writers know that the
ideas in the headline are propelled by the verb
...
Rich in vocabulary and an ear for
words are invaluable assets to a headline writer who, as a matter of
fact should listen to what he writes
...

ACCUSE
allege
involve
arraign
name
blame
change
indict
link

BEAT
bow
pound
sink
spank
upset
win

BELITTLE
ignore
malign
shun
spurn
shirk

CHOOSE
elect
pick
select
vote
name

ESCAPE
elude
dodge
bolt
flee
slip
get away
hide

FLOOD
cover
inundate
sink
wash
overflow
submerge
deluge

AQUTT
absolve
clear
defend
free
release
vindicate
uphold

DAMAGE
cripple
destroy
harm
injure
mar
wreck
ravage
raze

FALL
collapse
decline
deflate
depress
drop

MEETING
assemble
confer
meet
gather
unite

ARREST
capture
catch
hold
jail
net

DENY
disclaim
disown
refute
renounce
retract

64

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

reduce
slash
slump
dip

rally
unite
mobilize
reunite

FIND
detect
digout
discover
unearth
show
prove
discern

LOSE
bow
fail
give in
give up
submit
surrender
yield
slump

seize
trap
take
roundup
RESIGN
abdicate
depose
desert
retire
quit
expel
flee
abandon

KILL
die
drown
execute
murder
perish
slay
stab
succumb

recount
refuse
withhold
reject
PROBE
delve
scan
study
analyse
pry
sift
plumb
weigh

HONOUR
award
cheer
cite
exalt
greet
name
salute
welcome
receive
extol

MISSING
abduct
depart
disappear
elope
kidnap
vanish
fade
go
quit
drop

PEACE
agree
arbitrate
conciliate
pacify
settle
reconcile
harmonize
heal
patch
sign

STEAL
cheat
defraud
dupe
embezzle
rob
swindle
seize
take
loot
get

PROMISE
assure
pledge
swear
vow
shake
agree

FIGHT
argue
assail
attack
battle
blast
clash
contest

SAY
address
affirm
claim
chat
declare
feel
hint

STOP
abolish
avoid
ban
bar
block
cease
check

RIDICULE
boo
jeer
insult
jest
joke
mock
scorn
tease

DIFFER
dispute
slap
jolt
disagree
hit
quarrel
rebuff
rebuke

PROCLAIM
quote
insist
declare
charge
contend
maintain
hold
regard

CLOSE
cripple
forbid
halt
impede
limit
repel
refrain
curb
65

JLS 711

laugh

SEEK
beg
appeal
ask
plead
pray
solicit
implore
demand
call for
urge
bid

Principles to Journalism

reject
repel
protest

RITE
greet
hail
hold
mark
fete
perform
read
recite
say
stage
observe

cite
decide
deem

PERIL
brave
caution
concern
dare
defend
fear
frighten
guard
imperil
risk
threaten

avert
end

PLAN
agree
aim
arrange
decide
design
draft
draw
fashion
fix
map
outline

PUSH
act
goal
impel
jog
press
prod
push
rush
speed
stir
urge

GET
acquire
earn
enlist
given
grab
take
steal

RISE
add
arise
ascend
broaden
climb
develop
enhance

STORM
break
grip
lash
pound
rage
smash
strike

VIOLENCE
battle
brawl
clamour
clash
fight
mutiny
parade

PUZZLE
amaze
awe
baffle
bewilder
confound
confuse
perplex
surprise

RISE
enlarge
extend
mount
lift
rocket
soar
swell
widen
jump
exceed

STORM
sweep

VIOLENCE
protest

SHOW
bare
display
list
issue
expose
publish
reveal
test
unfold

START
act
begin
create
enter
found
move
open
set

No repetition of words
...
Any key word can
just be used only once in a given headline and, in a single form
...
It is highly advisable that the
headline writer strives at all times to be specific to avoid ambiguity
...
He should always be vivid and avoid
being vague
...
5

Headline Counts

The essence of headline counting is to determine the amount of space to
be earmarked for the headline in page planning
...
The decks in the
headline should not vary more than two units in length
...
Horizontal space in
newspaper is always measured in pica, points and units while depth is
measured in inches
...

As pointed out by Crowell (1969) the general rule to obtain a
dependable line count is to count the heads as follows:
LETTERS
Cap M Q W
Cap I J
All other caps
Lower case m w
Lowercase f l i r t j
All other lower case letters
Figure 1
Other figures
Punctuation
S#%?&
- (Dash)
Space between words

UNITS
2
½ (1)
1½
1½
½
1
1
1½
½
1½
2
½

It should be pointed out that while some authors say that the unit for
uppercase I and J should be ½ , others say it should be I
...
The data include;
the maximum unit count per line
the number of decks in the headline to be cast and
67

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

the type of letters (whether uppercase or lowercase or a combination
of both) to be used in casting the headline
...

The same thing applies to the number of decks the headline must be
counted in line with the units already universally assigned to each letter
(or figure, space, symbols or punctuation marks) whether set in
uppercase or lowercase
...
That
is, if the head is to be placed on a three column story, the length of the
three column measured horizontally in units would definitely give you
the maximum unit count per line for the headline
...

For example, if the maximum unit for a particular head is 20 (i
...
20
units), no line in the headline must exceed 20 units precisely because
that is the total length of space any deck in the headline could go
horizontally
...
That is, if the maximum unit count
per line is 20, any line of the headline should not be shorter than 18
units
...

Typical Assignments on Headline Count with Necessary Data:
(1)

Write a headline of 2 – 18 – 1 in lowercase (maximum unit count
per line: 21½) on the lead below:

“Top seed David Imonitie came back from a set down to outstroke rival
Abubakar Sadiq 4 – 6, 6 – 4, 6 – 4 last night to become the new AllNigeria men’s Lawn Tennis singles champion”
...

Answer:
W
2

O
1½

R
1½

L
1½

G
O
V
E
1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 1½
=25 Units

D
1½

½

RN
1½

M
2

E
1½

N
1½

T S
1½
1½

R
1½

E
1½

C
1½

O
1½

R
1½

D
M
1½ ½ 2

O R E
1½ 1½ 1½ ½

D
1½

E
1½

F
1½

I
1

C
1½

I
1

= 26 Units

T
1½

Experience, people say, is the best teacher
...


3
...
Each headline on a page must get
its own separate head copy
...
First, it tells the number of
columns in which the head is to be set
...
And thirdly, it tells the number of lines
...
g
...

Heads to be set in all capitals must be written in all capital letters on the
headline copy while those to be set in capitals and small letters are
written in upper case and lower case
...
g
...
0

Edition: 2

HEAD COPY
Slug: accident Page: 5
Edition: 2
Size: 2 – 30 – 2
Five girls die in road crash

CONCLUSION

The job of casting appropriate headlines is another specialised area of
news writing that demands technical skill in perception of the story and
in the use of language
...


5
...

Writers choose vigorous, active, positive as well as colourful words
...

There is headline order, and, each headline on a page must get its
own separate head copy
...
0

TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENTS

1
...


2
...


3
...

The new
admission policy which took effect from this session exempts
candidates seeking admission for both pre-degree and degree
program from written and oral interviews
...


7
...
Crowell (1969)
...
C
...
A
...


71

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

MODULE 3
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3

Essentials of Journalistic Style
Elements of Good News Reporting
Interviewing and News Sources

UNIT 1

ESSENTIALS OF JOURNALISTIC STYLE

CONTENT
1
...
0
3
...
0
5
...
0
7
...
1
Meaning of Style
3
...
2
...
2
...
2
...
3
Essentials of good journalistic writing
3
...
1 Clarity
3
...
2 Conciseness
3
...
3 Cautiousness
3
...
4 Candidness
3
...
5 Concreteness
3
...
6 Completeness
3
...
7 Coherence
3
...
8 Concord
3
...
9 Simplicity
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor Marked Assignments
References/Further Readings

1
...
It examines different types of style
in writing and zeroes on elements that make good style
...
0

Principles to Journalism

OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Define the meaning of the word, ‘Style’;
Explain the various kinds of style and the style suitable for
journalists;
Identify and make use of the elements essential for good
journalistic writing
...
0

MAIN BODY

3
...
Its meaning ranges from the way a
man lives to the latest in the world of fashion
...

According to McCrimmon (1974), style is a product of all the choice a
writer makes in working out the implication of his purpose
...

His view of readers
...

The kind of material he selects
The way he structures, restructures and expresses his ideas, including
the tone of his writing
...

In essence therefore a description of any piece of writing is an
explanation of the means by which the writer works out his purpose
...
Purpose controls style
while style reveals purpose
...
2

Types of Style

There are basically three types or kinds of style in writing
...


3
...
1 The Formal Style
It is often called the academic style
...
The sentences are usually long,
complex and refined in structure
...
The vocabulary is usually extensive,
largely drawn from foreign and specialized/technical fields of learning
like law, medicine, psychology
...
Other characteristics of
formal style include avoidance of contractions (I’ve, can’t don’t) and
clipped words like (exam, auto, ad)
...
This kind of style is not mostly
embraced by the journalist or popular in journalism practice
...
2
...
It can be used for occasions like
lectures, newspaper, broadcast etc
...
So, the popular diction is normally
emphasized
...
Compare
the following learned and popular words:
Learned
Abdomen
Capitulate
Corpulent
Myopic
Facilitate

Popular
Belly
Surrender
Fat
Short sighted
Make easy
...
That is, the diction of the informal style
easily allows one to smell, see, touch or taste the object described
...
The paragraphs,
the tone and social distance between the writer and the reader is not
wide, rather the reader can be addressed personally by using words such
as ‘you’, ‘me’
...


3
...
3 The Colloquial Style
This is a style of writing that is basically conversational
...
Such a style is used in writing when the writer wants to give
the impression of talking directly and intimately to his reader
...
The sentences are usually
very short, mainly the S-V-O (Subject-Verb-Object) sequence
...
This kind of writing is not common in
journalism practice, except for special effect or used by a notable
columnist
...
3

Principles to Journalism

Essentials of Good Journalistic Writing

News writing is an art whose skills have to be acquired
...

It is these forms that are broadly expressed as the “essentials of good
journalistic writing” or, the 9cs and S
...
3
...
A word or groups of expression with
more than one meaning should be replaced with a simple and clearer
one
...
A news story that is open to
more than one interpretation is dangerous to the reader, writer or
society, because the multi-phase of such interpretations can lead to a
confused society
...
3
...
A concise write-up is
that which has to be written in a succinct way, avoiding pointless
elaboration, exaggeration, tautology or circumlocution
...
If he does this, he
ends up using unnecessary jargons or clichés
...

Conciseness in
writing has the merits of:

75

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

(a) Saving space especially in newspaper where available pages are prescheduled
...

(b) It spares much effort and achievement as well as give vigour and
directness to writing
...
3
...
It is one of the most
important commandments of news writing
...
Correctness means checking and crosschecking figures, names of persons, town/cities, facts, spellings, maps
etc
...
The dictionary, in its various forms can also be
very useful in this connection
...
3
...
This attitude readily offends the reader and is
sometimes classified as one of the features of “low-brow journalism”
...
Many of them are those that depict sexual desires, racial
slurs or profanities that are utterly against religious personalities or
beliefs
...
The reporter must therefore empathize with his society
and present only those aspects of language, which his culture does not
frown at
...
Although these
words may pass for slang, they are sometimes fuzzy, imprecise and lack
courtesy
...


3
...
5 Candidness
Being candid means that a report must be fair, frank, straight-forward,
objective, and sincere in purpose
...
This doctrine can also be seen as an aspect of the social
responsibility view of mass media practice
...
Thus, it is not
enough for a reporter to say “when I called in his office to get his side of
the story, he was not on seat”
...


3
...
6 Concreteness
This concerns writing about actualities or particular events, persons,
rather than generalities or abstractions
...
Although the writer can report events in other context or in
abstraction, as metaphors for explaining his own situational problem in
the country
...

3
...
7 Completeness
This calls for a reporter’s readiness to present a total picture of an event
i
...
the whole story, complete with all the essential parts
...
This has an added advantage of making a
story clearer and leaving no room for guesses that might open pathways
to misinterpretations
...
If stoppages become unavoidable, then a report should be
serialised
...


3
...
8 Coherence
A report may have unity but lacks coherence
...
It
means every part in terms of ideas, facts, or details should have
connection with the central idea of the story
...


3
...
9 Concord
Concord ordinarily means “agreement or harmony”
...
Although there is no distinct line
between what makes coherence different form concord, it can be said
that agreement or concord starts from the construction of sentences
...
It includes the subject-verb agreement or pronounantecedent agreement
...


3
...
10 Simplicity
The purpose of news writing is to communicate meanings through news
and not to confound or confuse
...
A good reporter must always replace difficult words with
simpler ones
...


4
...
Obey the listed rules
and the result will be obvious
...
0

SUMMARY

In this unit, you have learnt that:
Journalism writing is one of the known styles of writing
...

Journalism writing, depending on the subject matter and editorial
policy of the establishment can use a blend of the three styles or
confine itself to formal or informal styles
...


6
...


7
...


78

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

UNIT 2

ELEMENTS OF GOOD NEWS REPORTING

CONTENT
1
...
0
3
...
0
5
...
0
7
...
1
Identification
3
...
3
Capitalisation
3
...
5
Numbering
3
...
0

INTRODUCTION

This unit is about good news reporting
...


2
...

Use each of the elements in news writing
...
0

MAIN BODY

3
...
But names, by their very
79

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

nature of common meaning within a culture, are no exclusive reserves of
any person
...
Such other
forms of identification include: age, addresses, professions/jobs, titles,
positions of authority
...
(age)
...

(c) The defendant, Mr Okonkwo Ifeanyi, of Nos 3 Adebayo
Street was yesterday arraigned before… (address)
However, it is uncommon to identify a juvenile in a court or police case
except when the crime is serious as in murder, rape, drug pushing
...
But small unpopular towns will need to be identified
along the nearest big city or capital
...


3
...
Attribution functions to give credibility to the news
report
...
Reports attributed to legitimate and credible sources often
make such reports reliable
...

And if the report is sourced from documented materials, reporters are
expected to disclose them too
...
3

Capitalisation

To capitalise means to set a word in upper case
...
As a rule in English language
constructions, all proper nouns, trade names, names of association,
clubs’ organisation, religious, and their appellations (e
...
Him, Thou,
Lord,), nations, races must be capitalised
...
4

Abbreviation

Abbreviated words are often the shorter versions of their full forms
...
Abbreviation also reduces
the cost of production or reproduction of news items
...
g United Nations (UN)
...
The tradition for
abbreviation of date is that the months of the year must be abbreviated
when they come before the figures except for the months of March,
April, May, June and July, e
...
Jan
...
It is
wrong to use ‘st’ ‘nd’ or ‘th’ when writing news
...
2, 2005 or June 12, 2005
...
5

Numbering

This is based on the house style or convenience and space saving
purposes
...
Usually, it is expected that
figures one to nine (1-9) should be spelt out while ten and above can be
written in figure e
...
10, 12, 15
...
g
...
Avoid beginning a sentence with a
figure, if you do, the figure must be spelt out
...
g
...
5

Punctuation and Word Division

The rules of punctuation are the same as for any other type kind of
composition
...
As for
word division, it is important that reporters avoid the division of words
between lines
...
g
...
Do not begin a line
with hyphen nor divide words between pages
...
0

CONCLUSION

The news story aims at conveying to readers the salient aspects of an
event, hence the reporter’s duty is to let the reader into the picture with
as little effort on the reader’s part as possible
...


5
...


6
...

From the story, further extract aspects of the report that best exemplify
the elements of good news reporting discussed in this unit
...
0

REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Sonaike, Femi (1987)
...
1st Edition:
John West Publications Ltd
...
0
2
...
0

4
...
0
6
...
0

Introduction
Objectives
Main Body
3
...
2
Types of Interview
3
...
4
News sources
3
...
1 Government News
3
...
2 Business and Labour news
3
...
3 Sport news
3
...
4 Court and Police News
3
...
5 Accident and Natural Disaster News
3
...
6 Foreign News
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor Marked Assignment
References/Further Readings

1
...
Interviewing is a
reporter’s basic tool, central activity in his daily job
...


2
...
0

MAIN BODY

3
...
It is the
journalist’s tool also, for digging out facts
...

By way of definition, an interview is “any planned and
controlled conversation between two or more people which has a
purpose for, at least, one of the participants”
...

But you can learn a great deal about the art of interview by learning how
to interview
...

The purpose of an interview may be specific depending on the type of
interview
...


3
...

very familiar types are:

The

Exclusive interview: This is conducted by a reporter representing a
single media house without any other reporter participating in it
...

Panel Interview: This occurs when more than one reporter is seated
to throw questions at an invited guest
...

Vox Populi or Man-in-the-street Interview: “Vox Populi” means
the voice of the people
...
It could be anybody in the street irrespective of the status or
age
...

Personality Interview: This is an interview conducted by a reporter
concerning an individual’s life, activities, views, character or
personality, etc
...
g
...
A personality can also be out
of the news stream but news worthy, by a special trait of oddity,
84

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

habit, play, hobby, etc
...

New Interview: An interview with one source is just the beginning
of reporting
...
g
...
People to interview can include:
bank clerks, security men, eye-witness (customers) etc
...

He must ask right questions directed at the right
persons
...
It presents a deeper insight into events than in
news reports
...
Reporter would talk to more sources than for
news story
...
of
a fatal road accident that claimed many lives
...
g
...
what about the Tsunami Disaster? Hurricane
Katrina etc?
Sport News Interview: Reporters interview police officers on
crime, fire marshals on causes of fire outbreaks; sports reporters talk
to coaches, players for background materials for games stories
...


3
...
Successful interviews are the result of careful
planning and preparation on the part of one or both participants
...
They practice
the skill until they appear to be able to do it without much effort
...
It requires that the
85

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

reporter must read, research and know much about the person or
subject to be discussed in the interview
...
It
all boils down to preparation
...
The approach must
not be rigid
...
g
...
Allowance
should also be made for supplementary questions
...
The
natural informal and conversational order would then prevail
...
The person might feel unsafe and exposed to give out
information that is recorded
...
A
reporter must be well dressed for an interview
...
Remember, there is no second time first impression
...

Be on Time: This calls for an avoidance of African time syndrome
...

Eye Contact: Good interview involves good observation of what is
happening around the interviewee
...
This does
not mean that one should stare or gaze at the other person to the
point of causing an embarrassment
...
If he does not know the formal shorthand writing, he can
develop the abbreviated long handwriting, for his purpose
...
Excessive scribbling/writing
should be avoided, although it is better to be on that part of “too
much”, than being on the part of “too little”
...
At
the end, express your gratitude to the interviewee
...
4

News Sources

The ‘where’ of news refers to the sources of information opened to the
journalist
...

The diary contains all the expected events of the day as perceived and
recorded by the editor
...

Here, the reporter has access to
newspaper clippings, journals, periodicals, concordance, magazines and
other confidential publications of the government
...


3
...
1 Government News
Government gazettes, daily press releases, etc
...
4
...
g
...
g
...
4
...
g
...


3
...
4 Court and Police News
Court Proceedings, Tribunals
Police Stations and Military Offices
Ministry of Justice
Judges and Lawyers
Secret Investigation Bureau e
...
FIIB, SSS, CID
Media Reports
Special commissions e
...
EFCC
...
4
...
6

-

Disaster/Relief Commission
Airways, Transporters
Embassies
International Health
Servitors

Foreign News
Ministry of External Affairs Embassies
and High Commissions Nigerian Institute
of International Affairs
International Organisations, UNESCO, ILO, WHO
Foreign Media Outlets
Ministry of Information
National, Regional and International News Agencies e
...
NAN
(News Agency of Nigeria), PANA (Pan African News Agency),
Reuters, UPI (United Press International), AFP (Agence France
Presse) TASS (Telegratnoise Agenstvo Sovietskano Soyusa), etc
...
0

CONCLUSION

Interviewing is an art that allows the reporter to bring into play all the
writing skills at his disposal, especially of personality interview
...


5
...

The best interviews are those which the techniques of interviewing
are applied effectively
...


6
...


7
...

Macmillan
...
Lagos: Department of
Mass Communication Press
...
0
2
...
0

4
...
0
6
...
0

Introduction
Objectives
Main Body
3
...
2
Types of Contempt
3
...
0

INTRODUCTION

With court reporting, it can be a matter of your career sinking or
swimming with each report
...
It can also be your very freedom
...
If you infringe it in the magistrate’s court you
can find yourself in jail that very day
...
This is because one day, when you are sitting in jail, or
standing in the dole queue, you may just regret the fact that you did not
complete the required reading
...


2
...

Identify the broad types of contempt of court
...


3
...
1

Contempt Of Court: What It Entails

Contempt is the law that concerns people who disrupt legal proceedings,
insult judges, disobey court orders, publish written or broadcast material
which may interfere with the outcome of a trial, or – most
controversially – try to undermine public confidence in the judicial
system
...


3
...
They are:
Publication of words that tend to “pollute the stream of justice”, such
as:
- Revealing details of a crime which might influence a potential
jury after an arrest has been made
...

- Publishing a photograph or likeness of the accused if
identification may be an issue in the trial
...

- Publishing reports on proceedings in closed courts or where
restrictions on publishing apply
...

This arises if your newspaper unfairly
criticises the courts or the judicial process in a way which might
undermine the public’s faith in the administration of justice
...
It is vague because
judges disagree on what constitutes fair criticism
...
0
90

OBJECTIVES

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

wishes to expose the fraudulent activities of a judge or magistrate
...
If you proceed without such advice
and you are found guilty of contempt you may well find yourself
behind bars
...

In a nutshell, to err on the side of safety, your behaviour in court should
be impeccable
...
Some examples of things which
have been found to be contempt in the face of the court are:
Smoking, and rolling a cigarette in preparation for smoking
...

Reading a newspaper (since people in a court are supposed to give
their whole attention to the proceedings, yes, even during the boring
bits)
...

Walking into or out of the court in anything but the most unobtrusive
fashion
...
(In other words, do not cover courts in
your thongs and body hugs)
...

Throwing an egg or stone at the judge
...

-

In 1773 a man of “ferocious and terrible disposition” was
prosecuted for contempt because he forced a clerk to eat the

91

JLS 711

Principles to Journalism

-

In 1900 a newspaper description of an English judge as “the
impudent little man in horsehair, a microcosm of conceit and
empty headedness” was held in contempt
...
But he could not be dealt with for contempt because
he had already just been sentenced for the same offence for
releasing laughing gas into the air conditioning system of the
court
...
You will
probably never be called upon to address a magistrate or judge
...
Always bow (a significant nod of the head
constitutes a bow these days) as a mark of respect to the bench (not
necessarily to the judge or magistrate) when entering or leaving the
courtroom while in session, and always stand when the magistrate enters
or leaves the room
...
All you may publish is a strictly factual account
of public steps taken publicly in the litigation
...
In this area,
examples of contempt’s have been:
Publication before a hearing of pleadings, interrogations, answers, or
evidence
...

Comments suggesting one party is in the right, whether original or
quoted from another source
...
, suggesting the accused is guilty or even innocent
...

The contempt of court committed here are dealt with
summarily by the court i
...
the contemnor need not take any plea nor
be put in the witness box for his defence and cross-examination
...

92

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

Disobeying the lawful order, decree, injunction etc
...

Here, the
contemnor is allowed to take plea to a charge preferred against him
...
Even material seen as being in the public
interest in helping police has been found in contempt
...
1
1
...


What are the types of contempt you know?
Without referring to this unit, list the major points that reflect the
checklist for reporting summary trials
...
3

Check List for Reporting Summary Trials

The writer should always read through copy of court reports at least
twice before handing them to the editor to check that the following are
included
...


Exact identification and titles of:
(a)
the defendants and their representative if applicable
(b)
the magistrates
(c)
the prosecutors
(d)
the places and days where the proceeding occurred
(e)
the witnesses

2
...


3
...
These can be paraphrased, but must be accurate
...


The results of the proceedings – dismissal, adjournment, or
sentence
...


If there was more than one charge, do the fines, jail terms or
community service orders, on each charge add up to the totals
you have reported
...
0

CONCLUSION

The study of media laws is a must for all would-be journalists in order to
avoid infringement
...
0
94

SUMMARY

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

In this unit, you would readily agree that you have learnt the following;
(i)

That knowledge of the principles guiding the operation of law of
contempts is a sine = qua – non for reporter/journalist
...


(iii)

That three types of contempt have strong bearings
with
journalistic practice
...


(iv)

That factual straight account of proceedings in the court is not a
drive towards contempt unless the facts upon which the reports
are based are not exact and do not originate from the recorded
accounts of the court records
...
0

TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Attend a court session of not less than a Magistrate Court of justice
...


7
...

Griffith, Geoffrey (1974)
...


ed
...
Sydney:

95

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

UNIT 2

COURT REPORTING

CONTENT
1
...
0
3
...
0
5
...
0
7
...
1
Court Reporting: General background information
...
2 Rules of writing a good court report
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor Marked Assignments
References/Further Readings

1
...
In studying this unit, the reporter
arms himself with a weapon that allows him practice unhindered
...
0

OBJECTIVES

On Successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Explain why reporters are allowed to accurately report court cases
Apply the standard rules governing court reporting
Explain what contempt of court is

3
...
1

Court Reporting: General Background Information

As a reporter you have no special rights in a court of law
...
Any provision of special seating for the media should be
seen as a courtesy of the magistrate or judge involved – there is no right
to such accommodation
...
It clearly
shows that a court cannot be closed just to save witnesses or parties
from embarrassment or ridicule
...
It does not apply to matters heard in chambers, which are
usually procedural items
...

The judge or magistrate has the power to prohibit publication of all or
part of any proceedings, even if the court is sitting in public
...
An example would be the case of
someone giving evidence against a blackmailer, who may have to
outline embarrassing personal details about the substance of the
blackmail
...
Otherwise, as you could imagine, there
would be few offers to testify against extortionists for fear of wives or
husbands reading about their partner’s exploits
...
For such an order suppressing identity to be binding, it
must normally be clearly expressed by the judge or magistrate, or the
judge must be maintaining such an air of confidentiality in the
courtroom that any fool would get the message that it should not appear
on the front page of your paper
...
A challenge to such a restriction can be safely made
only from the Bar table, by fully briefed legal practitioners
...
Your editor may
wish to legally challenge such orders when you are assigned to cover a
High Court Case, but for most provincial and regional cases, it is just as
well or err on the side of courtroom etiquette and to keep on the right
side of the judge or magistrate
...

When juries are sent from the courtroom, the court remains open, but
publication of proceedings while they are absent is prohibited, as is any
publication, which could intimidate or ridicule them
...
Even disruptions and incidents may be reported,
although these must be intrinsically connected with the matter at hand
...
But, for instance, if the murder trial of a
rebel cricketer was interrupted by a demonstrator rising and yelling
“racist pig”, the publication could prove both contemptuous and
defamatory
...
This was further reinforced by Chief
Justice Jordan in Ex parte Terrill, Re consolidated Press Ltd
...

“So long as any account so published is fair and accurate and is
published in good faith and without malice on, one can complain that is
publication is defamatory of him notwithstanding that it may have
injured his reputation, and no-one can in general be heard to say that is a
contempt of court notwithstanding that it may in fact be likely to create
prejudice against a party to civil or criminal litigation”
...
For a report to be protected from defamation or contempt
rulings it must be contemporaneous, which means you cannot dig up
reports of old proceedings, which might prejudice an upcoming trial
...
Rebuttals of such evidence must also be clearly
stated in your report
...

The report loses protection if it is partial, if it claims something
happened when in fact it did not, or if it withholds facts, which put a
different complexion on facts, which are truly reported
...
You
can even highlight some aspect of the case, which was not given
prominence by the judge or magistrate
...
2

Rules of Writing Court Stories

Avoid the formula approach to reporting court stories, unless
specifically instructed to do so by your editor-in chief or editor
...


98

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

In normal circumstances there is no reason to make your story as boring
as the proceedings may seem to be
...

Your readers will not be interested in the 30-minute legal debate
between counsels over whether a generalia specialibus non-derogant
applies in that particular instance
...
Of course, you will
remember, to outline the defendant’s rebuttal of the witness’s
accusations
...
I
would strongly recommend you write that phrase in capital letters in
your study notes and doubly underline it, because it goes to the heart of
good court reporting
...

Refer to the legal glossary in the court booklet provided, or to the
glossary in the back of Professor Sawer’s book
...
Always rest on the side of caution, and do not let
your adjectives and adverbs run wild with vivid subjective
description of parties or events
...

Of course, a keen sense of news comes naturally to many of you
anyway
...
But
again, be cautious, because as you know news does not
necessarily equate with sensationalism, and just because a
witness takes all his clothes off in the particular case does not
necessarily make that an automatic angle on the story
...
In court, as on any round, news is
relative
...


iii)

Take the utmost care with names and addresses: Check them
with the official court papers and never rely on information
99

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

supplied by court officials or other reporters
...
There are sad examples of journalist who rely on
the outside sources for their stories, with dire consequences
...
Do not trust any information volunteered to you
by parties outside the court
...
The
procedure for your court reporting assignment will be for you to
get all spellings and addresses and other particulars from the
police prosecutors, clerk of the court or other responsible court
official
...
You always check and recheck the spelling of
someone’s name
...
In a
normal story such a mistake is bad enough, but in a court story
you can leave yourself wide open to defamatory action by
committing such an error
...

At this point it is essential that you get all of the essential information
for the case from the police prosecutor
...
(Yesterday is not good enough,
because the story might he held over for a day
...
) You will find that often newspaper reports of
judicial proceedings are only protected from defamatory action if
they are contemporaneous
...


iii)

A balanced account of any evidence and its rebuttal
...
This is vital to protecting your own
neck in any future inquisition into an expensive defamation or
contempt action
...
Always read and reread your own stories, and

10

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

particularly court ones
...
No matter
how pressed you are for deadline, it is better that you miss that
deadline than submit a court story you have not personally
checked for corrections
...

Again, if in doubt, don’t leave out-check it with someone who
knows
...
You are being grossly
negligent and contemptuous by publishing false or misleading
information just because you were too embarrassed to
demonstrate your ignorance of legal term
...
It is better to miss the story than
to play guessing games with points of law or court procedures
...
If you still don’t understand a
point after it has been explained to you, ask for it to be explained
again
...
But get it right before
you write
...
If still in doubt, leave out
...
They are only allegations and may not be
subsequently proved in evidence
...
The word “alleged” should always preface the
statement of an offence
...
Such a statement is only alleged
...
It is impossible to cover a superior
court adequately without being able to write shorthand
...


x)

Learn to write clearly and accurately about court proceedings
without the slightest tinge of bias
...

xii)

Never be afraid to ask for information
...


xiii)

Always accede to the direction of the presiding judge or
magistrate that certain facts and allegations must not be
published
...


xiv)

If in doubt about some aspect of a court story, always inform the
chief sub-editor
...


xvi)

Always record the adjournment of a case and never leave a case
half reported
...
The half you do not report could be just the half
important rebuttal evidence and your readership and jury could be
falsely left with the impression of guilt or innocence
...
Otherwise use “said”
...
A good rule is to
include them in your copy and let the subs cut them out if they
want
...
A
newspaper is liable if it publishes an error in a court deposition of
evidence
...
Play a court case straight
downs the line
...
As Professor Sawer says: “The newspapers which
have made a fashion of slick and humorous journalese in the
reporting of police court cases are able to do so only as a result of
great experience and under constant supervision of legal advisers;
for this style it is also desirable to pick victims who will probably

102

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

relish such treatment or will not have the money to take action
against it
...
”
xxi)

Report with caution the opening addresses of counsel
...
It is hard then to back down and tell you
readers that evidence, which was promised, has not been
forthcoming after all
...
1
Buy a newspaper in your locality
...
Cross
check the principles and rules of court reporting in those reports you
have read
...


4
...


5
...

The judge reserves the right to allow or disallow the publication of
any part of the trial, including names of witness and their address
...


6
...


7
...


UNIT 3

KNOWING THE COURTS IN NIGERIA

CONTENT
1
...
0
3
...
0
5
...
0
7
...
1 The Courts in Nigeria: Major Types
3
...
2
...
2
...
2
...
2
...
2
...
2
...
2
...
2
...
2
...
2
...
2
...
0

INTRODUCTION

Court reporting can be one of the most exacting fields of journalism for
the reporter
...
It is exacting
because reporters are expected to report only factual aspects of events
they witness or giving account of
...
Thus, this unit provides you
with the basic information about Nigerian courts that should make your
reports more exacting and rewarding
...
It could be compared with two people sitting
down to the same crossword puzzle
...

Court cases are the same
...
Once inside the
court, contacts do not come into it, because you can only report what
happens in the courtroom
...
Do that and
you may find yourself in contempt of court
...

BEING
ACCURATE, BEING FAIR, BEING ON TIME, and DEMONSTRATING
NEWS SENSE
...
When you arrive
at the courthouse, you are faced with the very same listings as the senior
reporter
...
There are always thousands of cases, which reflect our
society’s need for rules to govern the conduct of everyone and for the
benefit of the majority
...
0

OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to:
Describe the system of courts in Nigeria
List the types and hierarchy of courts
Describe the types or kinds of cases handled by each of the courts
Describe basic composition of such courts

3
...
1

The Courts In Nigeria

Court in Nigeria may be divided into several forms:
Superior and inferior court
...

For the first form of classification, superior courts are courts of
unlimited jurisdiction and in the strict sense of the term “Unlimited
jurisdiction”
...
But superior courts are
so described because the limits to their jurisdiction are minimal and they
have the minimal jurisdiction limit depending on the subject matter
...


10

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

Inferior courts are courts, which has jurisdictional limit with respect to
the type and value of the subject matter
...

For the second type of court classification, a court of records was
formally a court which kept a record of items, acts and judicial
proceedings and had the power to punish a person for contempt
...

A court of record may be a superior or inferior court e
...
High Court and
Magistrate Court respectively
...
The punishment may
be in the form of a fine or an immediate imprisonment
...
2

Hierarchy of Court in Nigeria

3
...
1 The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court was established in 1963 by the constitution of the
Federation, which provides that the judges of the court should include:
The Chief Justice of Nigeria and 6 other judges known as justice of the
Supreme Court
...
The appointment of a person as the
chief justice of Nigeria can only be done by the head of state
...
e
...

The Supreme Court is the final authority for court matters in Nigeria
...
It can listen to and consider both civil and
criminal cases
...

By the provision of section 117 subsections 2 of the constitution of
Nigeria (1963) the Supreme Court has the right to try cases of appeal
already decided by the federal court of appeal particularly in the
following cases:
i)

102

Decisions in any civil or criminal proceedings on questions
concerning the interpretation of the constitution of the federal or
any state law
...

Decisions in any criminal proceedings in which the federal court
of appeal has affirmed a sentence of death impose by another
court or tribunal
...


The Supreme Court of Nigeria as the highest court for Nigeria has
contributed in no small measure to the development of law
...


3
...
2 The Federal Court of Appeal
The Federal Court of Appeal is a superior court of record established in
October 1, 1976 by the constitution of the federation
...
The judges are appointed by the highest ruling body then the
supreme military council after consultation of the advisory judiciary
committee
...


3
...
3 The Court of Resolution
This is a kind of court that exists in each of the ten or more Northern
state in Nigeria
...

Others including the grand Khadi, a judge from the High Court
nominated by the Chief Judge and another judge from the Sharia Court
of Appeal nominated by the grand caddy (Khadi)
...
The court has jurisdiction
to resolve conflicts arising between the high court and the Sharia Court
of appeal
...
It
should be noted that no occasion has ever arisen for the convening of the
court of Resolution in the country
...
2
...
It is seen as the superior customary court of
records, which consider cases from the upper area court
...
By definition, Moslem personal law
consists of the Muslim Law of the Maliki school governing the
following matters:
i) Moslem laws concerning marriages constituted according to that law
and including the dissolution of such marriages
...

ii) Moslem laws regarding gifts, will or succession where the endower,
donor, testator or deceased person is a Muslim
...
It equally deals with the
maintenance or the guardianship of a Muslim who is physically or
mentally infirm
...

The quorum for the sitting of the court is limited to two Judges and the
eligibility of persons to be appointed, as a judge must include the
following:
(a) Must be a Moslem
...

(c) Must have been in adviser on Moslem law in the service of a
native authority for not less than 10 years
...

(e) Must be a distinguished scholar in Islamic study
...


3
...
5 The Federal Revenue Court
This was established by the Federal revenue court decree of 1973 as a
federal High Court of Justice
...
Judges of the court are so
appointed after consultation of the advisory judiciary committee
...

The court has civil and criminal jurisdiction referring to the revenue of
the federal government connected with or pertaining to the taxation of
companies, payment of custom, excise duties, banking, foreign
exchange, currency and other fiscal measures
...

The three other court that come after the Federal Revenue court are:
a) State High Courts
b) Magistrate Court
c) Customary and Area courts
...
2
...

Similarly the constitution of Northern Nigeria as amended by the 1967
Decree established a high court for Kano and another for Kwara State
...
On creation of the
new states, a High court for Bendel State was established by the court,
for the Mid Western Nigeria as amended by the state Decree 1976
...

By that same decree a high court for each state of Anambra, Cross
River, Imo and Rivers were established by the constitution of Eastern
Nigeria and High court for the states of Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gongola,
Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Niger, Plateau and Sokoto was established by the
constitution of Northern Nigeria as amended by that same decree
...
The High Court of each of the Northern states
consists of the Chief Judge of the state and at least five other judges
...


10

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

Concerning jurisdiction, the High court of each of the Northern states is
not empowered to issues in relation to any proceedings in any area court
or in the Sharia court of Appeal an order of “Mandamus Certiorari’ or
prohibition or an injunction in lieu of ‘quo warranto’
...
In all the
states where customary or area courts exist, the high court has no
original jurisdiction to try customary law cases
...

In each state, the high court in the exercise of its original jurisdiction is
constituted by a single judge
...

In Southern states, High court constituted by a single judge in its
jurisdiction but in Lagos State, it may be constituted by 3 judges
...


3
...
7 The Magistrate Court
It is constituted by a single Magistrate
...
Magistrates are divided into any of these classes, in
each state i
...
the basis of defining the jurisdiction and powers of each
magistrate
...
Appointments
to grades of Magistrate that are legally non-existent are irregular and do
not confer any jurisdiction on appointee
...

Under the law in force in some states, a person is not eligible for
appointment as a magistrate unless he is qualified to practice as a
barrister and solicitor in a court of unlimited jurisdiction in civil and
criminal matters, and he has attained a specified minimum of postqualification experience expressed in terms of years
...
Civil Jurisdiction in
every other state varies from state
...
There is no provision for authorising any magistrate to
impose punishment greater than the maximum prescribed in relation of
his grade
...
They do not cover capital offences and so Magistrates
have not jurisdiction for the summary of trial of capital offences
...
2
...
Its jurisdiction is similar
to the civil jurisdiction of a magistrate court in any of the Southern
States
...
By virtue of the states Decree
1976, similarly each of the present 10 Northern states have district
courts established by the district court law
...
The district court judges
are divided in 4 classes namely Senior District Judge, District Judge
Grade I, District Judge grade II, and District Judge Grade II
...

The district court has jurisdiction subject to prescribed monetary value
limits where the subject matter is money or is capable of estimation in
terms of money
...
2
...
In the then 19 states this court was established in 17
states but exceptions were in the then Bendel and Imo state
...
Under the law Attorney General for the state is empowered to
establish by warrant customary courts of a single grade outside the city
of Lagos
...
Section 2 of the law provides that a customary court shall
consist of a president and at least two or four members as the case may
be (The president and 3 other members to telling (4)
...
e
...

Customary Court members including the president, are appointed by the
interim customary courts judicial service committee for the state
...

b) He possesses at least primary and standard IV certificate or its
equivalent and suitable experience
...

A customary court in a state has civil and criminal jurisdiction in 2
classes of cases:
a) Matrimonial cases and other related matters between persons
married under customary law
...

Jurisdiction over the following cases provided the monetary claimed or
the subject matter claimed does not exceed N100
...


The customary court has no jurisdiction in such cases, homicide,
treason, any other capital offence, rape, procuration, defilement of girls
and offences against the enactments relating to official secrets
...


Customary court has jurisdiction over all Nigerians under the general
supervision and control of the Ministry of Justice of the state
...


3
...
10 Area Court
Area Court exists in most Northern States of the Federation
...
They
particularly have unlimited jurisdiction in Matrimonial cases between
persons married under customary laws as well as issues concerning
guardianship
...
2
...
These courts exist in the southern part of the country,
they do not exist in Northern state, what exist in the northern states is
normally treated under the children or young person’s law, it has as it
substance the protection of the young person
...

The juvenile court is constituted by the Magistrate sitting with other
members appointed by other appropriate authorities
...
Those
that are permitted to be there should have the permission, for
example, the journalist
...

b) No publication is expected to be made, but if it must be, the
authority responsible do this should avoid exposing the
identity of those involved (the children)
...

d) No death sentence is permitted
...

Self Assessment Exercise 3
...

11

JLS 601

4
...


5
...
It is hoped that this exposure would
help the journalist approach his/her assignments responsibly
...
0

7
...


Account for the kinds and scope of jurisdiction of courts
operating in Nigeria
...


Discuss why the knowledge of these courts is essential for
journalism practice

REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Elias, Teslim
...


112

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Introduction to Journalism

UNIT 4

DEFAMATION LAW

CONTENT
1
...
0
3
...
0
5
...
0
7
...
1
The Tort of Defamation
3
...
3
Exceptional Cases in which Slander is Actionable per say
3
...
5
The Innuendo: Meaning and Types
3
...
6
...
6
...
6
...
6
...
6
...
0

INTRODUCTION

The tort of defamation occupies a prominent place in Nigerian law as it
does in the laws of most African countries in which the common law
applies
...
It is significant that the plaintiffs in defamation actions in
the early ‘60s’ included most of the leading political personalities of the
time and that there was barely a national newspaper which was not a
defendant in at least one of such actions during the period
...
0

OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Define defamation law
Identify the types of tort of defamation
...

Study some cases
...
0

MAIN BODY

3
...

A defamatory statement may be defined as one, which tends to:
i) Lower the plaintiff in the estimate of the right thinking
members of the society or
ii) To expose him to shame, contempt or ridicule or
iii) To cause other persons to shun or avoid him or
iv) To discredit him in his office, trade or profession
v) To injure his financial credit
...
Any written or spoken words which fall
within one or more of the five definitions listed above may be
defamatory
...

ii) That a public official was corrupt or had been arrested on
suspicion of corrupt practices
...

iv) That a university lecturer had committed adultery with a
female student
...

It may be noted at this point that there is an initial presumption that a
defamatory statement is untrue; but if the defendant can prove that the
statement is substantially true, it will have a complete defence to an
action for defamation
...


Libel and Slander
There are two types of defamation:
(a) Libel
112

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

(b) Slander
Libel is defamation in a permanent form – the most common being
written or printed words contained in a newspaper, a book, a letter, a
notice and etc
...
Also by the
defamation law of 1961, section 3 CAP 32 Laws of Lagos State,
which is identical to Sec
...

Television broadcasts are also within the ambit of the sections,
which define words as including pictures, visual images, gestures
and other methods of signifying meaning
...

Slander is defamation in transients form most often through the
medium of spoken words or gestures
...
The
differences between libel and slander is that, whereas libel is always
actionable per say, and that is, without the need to prove actual or
special damage Slander is not actionable per say except in special
cases
...
2

Libel Actionable Per Say

This means that whenever a libel is published, the law will presume that
damage has been caused to the plaintiff’s reputation and will award him
by way of compensation
...
ALADE reported in 1974, 4 East Central
State Law reports (ECSLR) page 470, the plaintiff brought an action
against the proprietor, the editor and a reporter of the Lagos weekend
newspaper alleging that an article published in the newspaper was
defamatory of him
...
Judge rejected this contention
saying that in an action for libel, the plaintiff need not prove malice in
law and need not prove that he has suffered any actual damage as a
result of the publication
...
In case of WILLIAMS VS
...
See also the case of CARONER VS
...
276)
...


3
...
This means
that no action will lie unless the plaintiff can prove that he has suffered
some actual loss
...
However, slander is actionable per
say in the following cases, and so will have the same effect as a libel:

i)

Imputation of Crime: It is slander actionable per say to allege
that the plaintiff has committed a criminal offence punishable by
imprisonment
...
g to call the plaintiff a thief
...
EJIOFOR, reported in 1972, 2 ECSNLR, Pg
...

in that case for instance the defendant falsely accused the plaintiff
in a village gathering of having stolen his cocoyams
...
Note that to be actionable per say,
there must be a direct assertion of the guilt
...
e by imprisonment etc
...
Actual damage was not proved but
the court said: “It is well settled law that damage need not be
proved where a person is accused of a crime”
...
Since this will tend to cause other persons to shun or
avoid him
...


112

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Introduction to Journalism

iv)

Imputation Affecting Professional or Business Reputation e
...


3
...
He
will be able to recover only if he can prove that he has suffered some
special or actual damage
...

It is well established that words spoken as mere vulgar abuse or insult
are not actionable in slander
...
In the case of BENSOH VS
...
Monthly Law Report III,
IKPEAZU (J) rejected the contention that a report in the contention that
a report in the defendant’s newspaper to the effect that the plaintiff was
an idiot was mere vulgar abuse and not actionable
...
5

The Innuendo

Innuendos in the law of defamation are of two types:
i) The True or Legal Innuendo
ii) The False or Popular Innuendo
...

11

JLS 601

Introduction to Journalism

For instance, a statement that Mr X was a frequent visitor to a
house at No
...
10
was the special Headquarters of prostitutes or armed robbers etc
...
g
...
A false innuendo goes beyond the literal
meaning of the word
...
6

Defences to Defamation

3
...
1 Justification (Truth)
The defendant should not plead justification unless he has good reason
to believe he will succeed as failure to establish the defences will
usually inflate damage awarded
...
6
...


3
...
3 Absolute Privilege
This is a complete defence to an action for libel or slander however false
or defamatory the statement may be and however maliciously it may
have been made
...
Where public policy demands that
persons should be able to speak or write with absolute freedom without
fear or liability for defamation
...


3
...
4 Qualified Privilege
Both absolute and qualified privilege exists for the same fundamental
purpose and that is to give protection to persons who make defamatory
statements in circumstances where the common convenience and
welfare of society demands such protection
...

The main difference between the two is that a plea of qualified privilege
will be defeated if the plaintiff proves that the defendant in publishing
the words complained of was actuated by express malice whereas in
absolute privilege, the malice of the defendant is irrelevant
...
6
...
See the case of OWEN VS
...
, reported in 1997, Lagos
Law Report, Page 6
...
1
1
...

3
...
0

Distinguish ‘defamation’ from ‘libel and slander’
What are the three basic essential element of defamation?
Why are there exceptions in slander that is actionable per say?

CONCLUSION

The role of the editor is relevant here
...
Care must therefore be taken to avoid infringements
...
0

SUMMARY

In this unit, you have learnt that:
Defamation generally covers any statement made by someone
towards another person or what the person does, with the established
intent to disparage, or cause a person to be demeaningly estimated in
the perception of right thinking people
...


6
...
Not more than three pages, typewrite
or typeset on an A4 size of a paper
...
0

REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Elias, T
...

Momoh, Tony (2002) Nigerian Media Laws
...


Lagos: Efua Media

Pember, Don R
...
New York: McGraw Hill
Company
Umoh, Peter (1990) “The Nature and Scope of Mass Communication
Law” in Emmanuel Akpan (ed) CommunicationArtsPrinciples,
PracticeandApplications, Uyo: Modern Business Press
...
0
2
...
0

4
...
0
6
...
0

Introduction
Objectives
Main Body
3
...
2
Who is Entitled to Copyright
3
...
4
Conditions for Entitlement
3
...
6
Action for Infringement
3
...
0

INTRODUCTION

The law of copyright is one of the most important legislature provisions
that affect the journalists
...
This unit,
therefore, takes you, the reader, through the basic provisions of the law
of copyright in Nigeria
...


2
...

Identify situations in which copyright is infringed
Describe action for infringement
Determine duration of copyright

12

JLS 101/601

3
...
1

Copyright Law: What it Means

Introduction to Journalism

The law of intellectual property protects things, which are created by
people’s skill, labour and investment of time and money
...
The law of copyright
protects two kinds of copyright in books script, etc
...
Copyright is the exclusive right to use materials in
certain ways
...
It is also
important to establish what rights a journalist, newspaper or television
has to prevent others from exploiting their own work and prevent other
from taking the benefit of it
...
Today it is
governed by the copyright Acts, CAP 68 1990 laws
...
It
is therefore the exclusive right of the owner of certain works, which
qualify, for protection to reproduce, communicate to the public or
broadcast / translate, or adapt the whole work or a substantial part of the
work either in any other form, recognizably derived from the original
...
g
...
Copyright however, does not extend to ideas
...


3
...

These include; the owner, the author, the assignee, the likeness and the
government
...

He is the person who actually writes, compiles, composes or draws the
work in question
...
Where the work is that of a joint authorship
...

By Section 9 sub-section 2 of the Copyright Act of 1988, if the author of
a work was in the employment of some other person under a contract of
service, or apprenticeship, and the work was made in the course of his
employment by that persons, he is nevertheless entitled to copyright as
the first owner of copyright
...


3
...
These are:i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)

3
...


Conditions for the Entitlement

By the Act, both published and unpublished literary, musical or artistic
works are covered, but such works must first be:
i)
ii)

3
...


Infringement of Copyright

By Section 14 of the copyright act, copyright is infringed by any person
who without the license or authorization of the owner of the copyright:
(a)
(b)

(c)

Does or causes any other person to do an Act, the doing of
which is controlled by copyright
...

Exhibits in public in respect of which copyright is infringed
under (a)
...
6

Introduction to Journalism

Distributes by way or trade, offers for sale, hire or otherwise,
or for any purpose prejudicial to the owner of the copyright
any article in respect of which copyright is infringed under (a)
Makes or has in his possession, plates, master tapes,
machines, or used for the purpose of making infringed copies
of the work
...
Where the
performance constitutes an infringement of the copyright in
the work; unless the person permitting the place to be so used
was not aware and had no reasonable grounds for suspecting
that the performance would be an infringement of the
copyright
...


Action for Infringement

Section 15, sub-section 1 of the 1988 Copyright Act says “subject to this
Act, infringement of copyright shall be actionable at the suit of the
owner, assignee or an examine licensee of the copyright as the case may
be in the Federal High court, exercising jurisdiction in the place where
the infringement occurred
...


3
...

For cinematograph films and photographs, it lasts for 50 years after the
end of the year the work was first published
...
For broadcast, it is 50 years after the end of the year the
broadcast first took place
...

A reported case on Civil Remedies (as opposed to Criminal Remedies),
a civil course of action on infringement of copyright arose in a Nigerian
case named, Plateau Publishing Co
...
Adophy Reported in
122

JLS 101/601

Introduction to Journalism

1986 for Nigerian Weekly Law Reports, Parts 33 & 34
...
In
this case which was finally decided by the Supreme Courts, originated
from the Federal High Court in Sokoto and was equally heard by the
Court of Appeal
...
000 being damages for the infringement of his
copyright and N50,000 as special damages for the same infringement of
copyrights
...

The work which was allegedly infringed in an article titled “After Tarka,
what Next”
...
The plaintiff
alleged that he sent the article to the first appellant Plateau Publishing
Co
...
The plaintiff again
alleged that the same article was subsequently published by the first
appellant under a different name of one Ymasin as the author and
without any license or authority from him at all
...
So the defendants were sued jointly
by the plaintiff/respondent
...
Pleaded in the statements of Defense that the publication
was not a reproduction of the article written by the plaintiff and that the
publication was not the work of the plaintiff, and that they did not
publish the plaintiff’s work
...

They sought refuge under Section 12 of the
Copyright Act 1970
...
The perpetual injunction
sought was also granted
...
On further Appeal to the Supreme Court, it
was held unanimously dismissing the Appeal among others that the
relief available to the owner of the copyright for an infringement of the
Copyright under Section 12 of the Copyright Act 1970, is not damages
but an account of profits in respect of the infringement whether any
other relief is granted under the Section or not
...
1
1
...


What are the different kinds of works covered by the copyright
law?

4
...


5
...

That originality of the creative work and, the fact that it is expressed
in a recognizable and validated medium of expression like article,
drama etc
...

That for a number of reasons, copyright is infringed when a person
(like the journalists) uses someone else’ work without the
authorization of the owner
...


6
...


7
...
O
...
Lagos: Unilag Press
...
Lagos: Etua Media
Associates Limited
...
(2002) MassMediaLaw
...


122

New York: McGraw Hill



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