An introductory course in consumer journalism

121 Pages·04.989 MB·English

by  Lalane, Henry Albert

AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE
IN CONSUMER JOURNALISM
A P ro ject
P resented to
the F aculty of the School of E ducation
The U n iv ersity of Southern C a lifo rn ia
In P a rtia l F u lfillm en t
of the Requirem ents fo r the Degree
M aster of Science in E ducation
by
Henry A. Lalane
June 1950
UMI Number: EP45921
All rights reserved
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This project report, written under the direction
of the candidate’s adviser and approved by him,
has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty
of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science in Education.
Date ..........................
Adviser
Dean
ii
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
LIST OP EXHIBITS..........................................................................................v ii
PREFACE TO TEACHERS................................. . . .................................v iii
PREFACE TO STUDENTS............................................................................. x
PART I , ACQUAINTING YOURSELF
HOW TO “TACKLE* YOUR NEWSPAPER
1. EXPLORING: HOW TO PUT YOUR WHOLE PAPER TO WORK ♦ . 2
1. NEWS* How to keep up w ith lo c a l and. w orld
events . . . .... . ........................................ . • . . • . 2
2 . SPECIAL HEWS: How to keep posted on things
lik e schools, churches, autom obiles, and re a l
e sta te . . . . s . . . . . . ............................... . . . 5
3. FEATURES: How to follow the “human side* of
the news . . . . . . . ............................................. 5
4 . SPORTS: How to “run the team* from your
arm chair . . . • • • .......................................... . . . . . 6
5. SOCIETY: How to follow fam ilies and fash io n s . 8
6. FINANCE: How to get help in in v estin g your
money w isely ......................... 8
7. EDITORIALS: How to seek guidance fo r your
actio n s • • 9
8 . COLUMNISTS: How to match w its w ith the e x p e rts. 10
9 . CRITICAL REVIEWS: How to get Introduced to
good books and en tertain m en t .............................. 10
iii
CHAPTER PAGE
10. COMICS: How to escape from re a lity . . . . . . 11
11. ADVERTISING: How to shop fo r the th in g s you
want • . . • • • • • • • • • • • • • ..................... • 11
2 . SAVING TIME: HOW TO MAKE YOUR MINUTES COUNT . . . . 15
1. GLANCING QUICKLY: How to "scan" a paper fo r
sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2. PICKING UP SPEED: How to read r a p id ly ...........................16
5 . EXTRACTING MEANING: How to get a t the "meat*
of a s t o r y .............................. 17
4. USING THE INDEX: How to fin d sp e cia l sectio n s
quickly 19
PART I I . PROFITING
HOW TO REAP REWARDS FROM NEWSPAPER READING
5. SOCIAL LIVING: HOW TO LIVE A MORE EFFECTIVE LIFE . 25
1. ACTING WISELY: How to a c t lik e an in te llig e n t
c itiz e n . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2. HELPING OTHERS: How to be a good lead er . . . . 27
5. GAINING STATUS: How to win resp ec t . . . . . . 28
4 . ECONOMIC LIVING: HOW TO HAVE MORE MONEY.................................32
1. BUYING: How to shop In your p a p e r .......................... • 32
2 . AVOIDING LOSS: How to avoid buying fa ls e
“bargains" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3. SELLING: How to s e ll through c la s s ifie d
advertisem ents • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . 35
4 . EFFECTIVE SALESMANSHIP: How to w rite a good
c la s s ifie d advertisem ent . . . . . . . . . . . . ’ 37
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
5. THRIFTY ADVERTISING: How to save money on
d isp lay a d v ertisin g 39
6, HAVING FUN: How to shop w isely fo r your
entertainm ent . . .......................... . . . . . . . . . 40
PART I I I . INFLUENCING
HOW TO HELP CONTROL YOUR NEWSPAPER
5 . PARTICIPATING: HOW TO AIR YOUR OPINIONS . . . . . . 46
1. SOUNDING OFF: How to get the kind of paper
you want .......................... • • • « • • • • • • • • • • 46
2. EXPRESSING YOURSELF: How to w rite le tte r s to
the e d ito r . • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • « . 47
3. EXERCISING CAUTION: How to e ffe c tiv e ly c a ll
an e d ito r’s a tte n tio n to u n e th ica l p rac tic e • . 48
4 . PROTECTING YOURSELF: How to g et an e d ito r to
c o rre c t e rro rs • • • • • • 50
6. DEBUNKING: HOW TO AVOID BEING MISLED BY YOUR
NEWSPAPER ................................................................. 55
1. JUDGING IMPORTANCE: How to expose aplayed-upM
t r i v i a .................................................................................. 55
2 . DEFEATING PHONY APPEALS: How to expose v icious
propaganda . . . . . ............................... . . . . . . . 58
3. REFUSING TO STAMPEDE: How to expose p o licy
m asquerading as n e w s..................................................... 60
4 . DETECTING PREJUDICE: How to expose p reju d ice . 62
V
CHAPTER PAGE
5. DETECTING LABELSs How to expose the use of
l a b e l s .............................................................................................................64
6 . DETECTING OVEREMPHASIS: How to expose the use
of undue em phasis ................................... 65
7. DETECTING OMISSION: How to expose the crim e
of om ission . . . . . . . . ............................................... 68
PART IV. INVESTING
HOW TO BXJY A GOOD NEWSPAPER
7. EVALUATING: HOW TO BUILD A YARDSTICK FOR SPENDING
YOUR NEWSPAPER DOLLAR.................................... 76
1. MAKING MEASUREMENTS: How to c re ate a u n it of
measurement ............................................... . . . . . . . . 76
2. MEASURING COVERAffi: How to m easure a
new spaper’s com pleteness ............................................... . . 77
5. MEASURING HONESTY: How to m easure a
new spaper’s o b je c tiv ity . . . . . . 82
4. DETERMINING IDEALS: How to discover an
e d ito r’s p o lic ie s . . . . . . . . . . 84
5. CHECKING ON RELIABILITY: How to ev alu ate a
new spaper’s sources and a u th o rity . . . . . . . 86
6. USING JUDGMENT: How to be reasonable about
newspaper "crim es” . .......................... . . . . . . . . 88
8 . BUYING: HOW TO SELECT A GOOD NEWSPAPER................................93
Vi
CHAPTER PAGE
1. COMPARING: How to grad© newspapers w ith your
new wy a rd s tie k * * .............................. . 93
2 . SELECTING: How to buy the paper th a t w ill
serve you b e s t ............................................................. 95
SOURCES.........................................................* .................................................103
vii
LIST OP EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT PAGE
A. FEATURES OP A NEWSPAPER............................................. 7
B. SAMPLE CLASSIFIED A D S ...........................................................................38
C. SAMPLE HEADLINES..........................................................................................57
D. EXAMPLES OP LABELS.....................................................................................66
E. EXPLANATION OP COLUMN INCHES............................................... 78
viii
PREFACE TO TEACHERS
This course lias been w ritte n because the need seems g reat
fo r a journalism course at the high school le v e l th a t does not
take fo r its m ajor prem ise the assum ption th a t a ll high school
journalism stu d en ts are going to be e d ito rs.
A ctu ally , few high school stu d en ts are ever going to
w rite fo r, e d it, or p u b lish new spapers, but we may assume th a t
a ll w ill read them . To aid students in developing the a b ilitie s
th a t they a c tu a lly w ill need, th is course has been prepared as
an in d o c trin a tio n in NEWSPAPERS, ra th e r than in NEWSPAPER PRO­
DUCTION.
For those stu d en ts who evidence in te re s t in jo u rn a lis tic
w ritin g , or who want to work on the s ta ff of the school paper,
second- and th ird -sem ester courses can continue w ith the tra in ­
ing of those s k ills .
Maybe your school is in a big c ity , or maybe i t ’s in a
sm all town. E verything said here c a n 't apply to the kinds of
newspapers th a t w ill be a v ailab le In a ll s itu a tio n s . You’l l
have to use your own judgment th ere and see what re a lly m atches
your lo c a l co n d itio n s. A nother word of w arnings don’t take
the word " e d ito r” too se rio u sly as i t has been used throughout.
For convenience, the term has been used very fre e ly a t tim es,
to sig n ify anybody w ritin g fo r the paper, or making d ecisio n s
fo r i t , from p u b lish er to g eneral re p o rte r.