SPOT AND CREATED NEWS

Most Navy news (and all other news as well) can be classified as either spot news or created news.

Spot news just happens. A ship runs aground. A plane crashes. A heroic rescue takes place in a storm-tossed sea. These are just a few examples. Your job is to provide a full account of a spot news story as soon as possible - even in cases where the general effect is unfavorable to the Navy.

Created news is generally concerned with something the Navy has done or plans to do which the public should know about. Examples include air shows, command public visitation, change of command, unveiling new ships, planes or weapons, construction programs, special achievements, ship arrivals and many of the other daily events of Navy life. Your job is to bring

the information to the attention of news media, usually through a Navy news release.

CLASSES OF NEWS STORIES

Most Navy news stories fall into four main categories - hard news, feature, sports and social. They are described in the following text.

Hard News

The hard news story is designed primarily to inform.

It usually concerns a news item involving or affecting the readers, listeners or viewers. The hard news story has usually taken place since a previous issue of a newspaper or a radio or television newscast. Much of the material found in daily papers (especially front-page items) or newscasts are in the hard news category.

Figure 2-2. - Identifying dominant news elements.

Feature News

The feature news story is about an event or situation that stirs the emotions or imagination. The event mayor may not have taken place, or the situation may or may not have arisen since the last issue of a periodical or delivery of a newscast. The feature story is designed primarily to entertain, but it also serves to create interest or to inform the reader. It may be about such subjects as a sailor with the unusual hobby of collecting 18thcentury etchings, a command that has adopted a stray goat as a mascot, a Navy cook who worked in a leading French restaurant before enlisting or, in a serious vein, the plight of a child who has been orphaned by an automobile accident.

Sports News

The sports news story may be handled as either hard news or a feature. These stories chronicle the activities accomplishments of sports figures. In most cases of Navy sports, unless teams are prominent (such as that of the U.S. Naval Academy), the material is aimed at ship and station publications.

Social News

The social story, which may also be handled as either hard news or as a feature, primarily concerns wives; daughters and family activities. Most often Navy social stories deal with the activities of officers and enlisted wives' clubs, the happenings of the teen-age set, weddings and local charity events.

Other Categories

Other categories of stories frequently used in metropolitan newspapers include interpretive, science, consumer and financial.

INTERPRETIVE. - In an interpretive story, the reporter attempts to give an in-depth analysis and survey of the causes or possible consequences of important news events.

SCIENCE. - With this story, the reporter attempts to explain, in layman's language, scientific and technological news.

CONSUMER. - The writer of a consumer story attempts to help his audience buy more wisely, maintain products and homes better, cook or garden better, and so forth.

FINANCIAL. - Writers of financial news focus on business, commercial or investment stories.

Writers of these stories are usually expected to have an academic background or experience in their subject matter, as well as the ability to observe and write well.