Báo chí tiếng anh cơ bản Module 2 Packet 2022 | Học viện Báo chí và Tuyên truyền

MODULE TWO: HOW TO RESEARCH, PITCH, AND INTERVIEW Table of Contents
Module Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Choosing a Topic ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
Researching an Idea ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
Quiz 6: Choosing a Topic ................................................................................................................................................ 7
Private Journal 4: Choose Your Topic ............................................................................................................................ 8
Discussion: Choose Your Topic ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Pitching a Story to Newspapers and Magazines .......................................................................................................... 10
Pitching a Radio Story .................................................................................................................................................. 12
The Structure of a Radio Pitch ..................................................................................................................................... 13
Quiz 7: Research, Pitch, and Interview ........................................................................................................................ 15
Private Journal 5: Make Your Pitch .............................................................................................................................. 16
Discussion: Make Your Pitch ........................................................................................................................................ 17
Language Focus: Asking Questions .............................................................................................................................. 18
Quiz 8: Research, Pitch, and Interview ........................................................................................................................ 22
Interviewing Sources - Reliability, Facts, and Opinion
s ............................................................................................... 23
Quiz 9: Reliable Sources............................................................................................................................................... 25
Private Journal 6: Write Your Interview Questions ..................................................................................................... 26
Discussion: Write Your Interview Questions ............................................................................................................... 27
Interviewing Sources: Listening Strategies .................................................................................................................. 28
Private Journal 7: Predict Responses ........................................................................................................................... 32
Language Focus: Quoting Sources and Reporting Verbs ............................................................................................. 33
Quiz 10: Reporting Verbs ............................................................................................................................................. 35
Language Focus: Using Reported Speech .................................................................................................................... 36
Private Journal 8: Post-Interview Reflection ............................................................................................................... 39
Discussion: Post-Interview Reflection ......................................................................................................................... 40
Quiz 11: Reported Speech ........................................................................................................................................... 41
Module Two Check ...................................................................................................................................................... 42
© 2022 by FHI 360. “English for Journalism MOOC – Module Two Packet” for the Online
Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding 1
provided by the U.S. government and administered by FHI 360. This work is licensed under the
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M O D U L E O V E R V I E W
Welcome to Module Two of English for Journalism! Identifying and delivering ideas is a very important part of
reporting the news. A journalist must decide what topics are interesting and relevant and then use persuasive
language to pitch those topics to an editor. Interviewing and accurately quoting sources are also necessary skills
for building a story. Our video lectures will show you sample story pitches. We will focus specifically on analyzing
topics for relevancy, writing pitches using persuasive language, creating appropriate interview questions, and transcribing interviews. Learning Objectives: •
Identify strategies to research and pitch a news story •
Identify the elements of an effective interview. •
Identify and practice question forms in order to conduct an interview. •
Identify and practice quoted and reported speech in order to conduct an interview. 2
C H O O S I N G A T O P I C
Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license
[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]
To choose a topic, answer two questions. The first is “Who is my audience?” Your audience is the people you want
to read your story. The second is “What is interesting to my audience?”
A topic is a subject or an issue. For a journalist, a topic means a big subject, like the environment, or technology.
Later, we will talk about how to make this topic smaller and turn it into an idea for a story, but for now, we will focus on choosing a topic. Who is your audience?
This work is a derivative of “Man Speaking" by Miguel Henriques via Unsplash under Unsplash license. This derivative is licensed CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for the Online
Professional English Network, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
First, who is your audience? What group of people are you writing for? Examples of audiences are businesspeople,
younger people, older people, and people who live in your city. Understanding your audience will make it easier to choose a topic.
What is interesting for your audience?
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Professional English Network, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
So, you know who your audience is. But how do you know what is interesting to your audience? 3
Look at the kinds of stories that appear on social media and other places where people in your audience get their
news (for example, the internet, newspapers, television, or radio).
What are these stories about? Do people from your audience make comments and posts about these stories? Is
the story part of a topic, like health, business, the environment, or many others? By doing this, you will see the
types of topics that people in your audience are interested in.
Narrowing Down Your Topic
"Narrow Down" by FHI 360 is licensed under CC BY 4.0
After you decide on your audience and a topic that interests them, you have to narrow it down to an idea.
To narrow down means to make something smaller and more specific for an audience. So, an idea is a smaller part of a topic.
There are many ways that you can narrow a topic down into an idea. Here are three of the most common – the
first is type, the second is place, and third is time.
Let’s look at an example using all three. If journalists want to write about the topic of technology for an audience
of young people, they might first narrow it down by type, so instead of writing about all technology, they might
just write about one type of technology that is interesting for young people, such as smartphones.
Second, they might limit it by place, so instead of smartphone use in the whole world, they just limit it to a country, or even a city.
Lastly, a journalist could narrow a topic in terms of time, perhaps concentrating on the most recent use of
cellphones, rather than on the history of cellphones.
So, after starting with the large topic of technology, the journalist has an idea for an article, namely the way that
people use cellphones now in the city where they live.
"Narrow Down 2" by FHI 360 is licensed under CC BY 4.0
So, to summarize, we looked at how to choose a topic by considering your audience and what interests them, and
also how to narrow down the topic into an idea for an article, by thinking about type, place, and time. 4
R E S E A R C H I N G A N I D E A
Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license
[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]
When you open up a newspaper, are all the stories the same size? Are they written in the same style? No. The type
of story depends on your topic, first, we'll talk about new stories, investigative journalism and human-interest stories. Types of Stories
This work is derivative of "fact” by iconathon, "investigation” by ProSymbols, "friends” by Dan Hettelx via The Noun Project under CC BY. This
derivative is licensed CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for the Online Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. News stories
The most common type of article is called a news story, which is exactly what it sounds like. It's an article or
segment of television news that gives just the facts of an event.
For example, a news story that covered a tornado would give the most basic information of that story: the time the
tornado appeared, the places it hit, the damage it caused, and the people it affected.
A news story should be objective, and therefore, should not include the journalist's opinions about the
government's ability to provide safe places for citizens, or reviews on products to buy to help prepare for an
emergency event. A news story is the simplest, and most often the shortest, type of story. Just the facts. 5 Investigative Stories
The second type of article is called investigative journalism. In this type of story, journalists work for months or
even years on one problem that needs extra research. These stories are not about a single event, but more often
about an issue that affects the public.
Investigative stories are usually much longer in length than a standard news story. Topics range from government
spy programs to water quality concerns or workers' rights. Often sources in investigative journalism choose to be anonymous.
Human-Interest Stories
Lastly, the final type of article is the human-interest story. Human interest stories focus on a person or people as a
way of talking about a current event.
This type of story brings an emotional side to a larger issue It could give a voice to the voiceless, related to the
journalistic principle of empowerment.
For example, a human-interest story may follow one immigrant family and talk about their journey as a way of
talking about immigration laws. Or a human-interest story could focus on one soldier as a way of talking about war. Researching your idea
After journalists knows their topic and story type, they can start to research their idea Generally, journalists use
more than one source when writing an article.
Let's take a look at gathering sources. The biggest part of researching your story is gathering sources. There are
two types of sources, people, and information.
Let's talk about people first.
As we discussed in Module One, people sources can be eyewitnesses or experts in a particular field. For example,
if journalists are writing an investigative story on water quality in a city, an eyewitness is a person living in that
town who experienced the change in water quality.
Journalists could also interview an expert like a water quality scientist or government official who makes decisions and laws about water.
Information sources are documents that contain background information on a subject. For our example on water
quality, an information source might be the test results from water sampling or an email about possible health risks. Summary
Once journalists decide what type of story they are writing, they need to decide who to interview and what
documents will provide the best information. 6
Q U I Z 6 : C H O O S I N G A T O P I C Welcome to your first quiz!
Each question is worth two points. There are five questions. You must get four out of five questions correct to pass the quiz.
You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.
>>>> Please note that this quiz can only be completed in Canvas. <<<< 7
P R I V A T E J O U R N A L 4 : C H O O S E Y O U R T O P I C
Important: This is a private journal. It will not be graded or seen by your peers.
“Narrow Down” by FHI 360 under CC BY 4.0 Now, it's your turn!
Do you have a topic for a story? Can you narrow it down to an idea?
There are many ways to narrow down a topic. If you need help, follow the suggestion of narrowing down by type, place, and time. Example:
Topic: Local environmental issue Type: Wildlife protection Place: My town Time: Now
Idea: I want to write about a local environmental issue. I'd like to write a story fo
r the newspaper i n my town. I'd
like people to know more about steps they can take now to protect wildlife in my town. I'm going to do some
research on wildlife rescue programs in my area. I want to identify opportunities for adults in the community to volunteer. Maximum 200 words 8
D I S C U S S I O N : C H O O S E Y O U R T O P I C
>>>> Please note that this activity can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<
You just narrowed your topic down to an idea for a story. Would you like to share it with your peers? Copy and
paste your idea in the discussion board below
Please keep your post to a maximum of 200 words.
Step 1. Share your idea with your peers.
Step 2. Read your peers' ideas and post a reply: Suggested response types:
 Do you have a similar idea for a topic?
 Do you know about this topic?
 Can you recommend a source to interview or a website for further research?
 Do you have recommendations to narrow the topic down further?
Example reply: This is a great idea! I would want to read this story. Have you thought about talking to people who
are currently volunteering? What kind of wildlife are rescued most often in your area? 9
P I T C H I N G A S T O R Y T O N E W S P A P E R S A N D M A G A Z I N E S
Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license
[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]
Hello. In this lesson, we will talk about the process newspapers and magazines go through when picking what
stories to print. Part of this process is called pitching a story. We will talk about: •
what it means to pitch a story •
what information the journalist must include in a pitch.
What does it mean to pitch a story?
Journalists usually work as a team, and the head of that team is the editor. The editor makes the final decision on
what will appear in a newspaper or magazine.
Journalists give a pitch, which is a short description of the story that a journalist wants to tell. When a pitch is given
verbally, it is about 30 to 40 seconds long. The purpose of the pitch is to sell this idea to the editor, so it will be
written and printed in the newspaper or magazine.
This work is derivative of "newspaper" by Pintuelo, "importan "
t by Matthew Weatherall, "audienc "
e by Gregor Cesnar, "research" by Creative
Stall, and "time" by Andy Gigante via The Noun Project under CC BY 4.0. This derivative is licensed CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for Online Professional
English Network (OPEN) sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. 10
1. The Main Idea: Why is this story newsworthy?
It is important to first ask, why is this story newsworthy? Or why is it a story that should be in the news? This is the
main idea of the pitch, why is the story important?
2. Target Audience: Who cares about this issue?
The second question a journalist must answer in a pitch, is who cares about this issue?
This relates to the idea of a target audience. A newspaper should have mass appeal meaning, citizens of all ages,
backgrounds, levels of education should be interested in at least some of the articles published in a newspaper.
For magazines, the readers have much more specific traits. For example
, a magazine may target women who live
in cities and have professional jobs. In the pitch, the journalist should be able to identify who in particular would be interested in the story.
3. Prove you have access to information: Who or what are the sources?
The third question is, who or what are the sources?
The journalist needs to prove that they have access to information on this topic. They should say: • who they are interviewing •
when those interviews are scheduled •
how those people connect to the story •
what other types of information they will use to tell the story.
This proves to the editor that the journalist can get the information needed to tell the story accurately, completely, and truthfully.
4. Time: How long do you need to research and write the story ?
The final question that should be answered in this pitch is how long the journalist needs to research and write the story.
Many times, newspapers are competing with one another to tell the story first. But first is not always better. For
example, if the journalist is rushing to be first, they might make more mistakes. If this happens, the audience could
lose trust in that journalist or even in the newspaper.
So, while being first is good, it is better to be right. Editors will want to know when they can expect the story to be completed. Summary:
Journalists pitch story ideas to an editor who then selects which stories to print. The pitch includes:
 why the story is newsworthy,  possible audience,  sources,  a timeline. 11
P I T C H I N G A R A D I O ST O R Y
Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license
[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]
Hello. In this lesson we are going to look at pitching a radio script. This is similar but a little bit different to pitching a print media script.
When a journalist pitches a radio script, they need to think about two things: the structur e and the approach of the pitch.
This image is derivative of "Radio" by Flo Lausecker, "Radio" by Toni Valdes Medina, "Radio" by iconoci, "Time" by
Richard de Vos, "Summary" by priyanka, "audience" by Gregor Cresnar, "interview" by Yu Luc , k "Newspaper" by
Yorlmar Campos, and "important" by Matthew Weatherall via The Noun Project under CC BY 4. . 0 This derivative is
licensed under CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for the Online Professional English Network, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. 12
The Structure of a Radio Pitch
Structure means the relationship between the parts of something. For a radio script, this means which parts are in it and how are they ordered?
A radio pitch should contain the following parts: •
A summary of the story or a question to be answered. •
The names of people who are going to be interviewed and what they are likely to say. • Any link to current events. •
An explanation as to why the story is important.
This is a derivative of untitled image by biggifraley via Pixabay under Pixabay license. This derivative is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for
the Online Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
Let's think about a story and use this structure to make a pitch. Radio stories are often personal stories that people
listening can relate to. Let's look at an example:
Imagine that a person goes to a food cart to get lunch every day for years. Then one day the food cart disappears,
and nobody knows where it is gone.
We can use our four-point structure to pitch this story.
First, we can introduce the story of the food cart and ask the question, what has happened to the food cart?
Next, we can suggest some interviews with former customers, the person who owns the food cart next to the one
that went missing, and with a market inspector, who might know what happened.
Then we can see if this story has any connection with current events. For example, in the USA, food carts are
becoming more and more popular.
Finally, we can say why we think the story is important.
Perhaps the food cart represents more than just a place where people eat. It is a social place where people meet,
talk, and develop relationships.
Starting Your Pitch: The Approach
The second thing to think about when pitching a story for radio is approach. Approach means the way that you do
something. Remember, the purpose of a pitch is to convince or persuade people that this is an interesting story.
Therefore, the approach you use at the start of the pitch should help to make the story sound more interesting.
There are two easy ways to do this: •
Summarize the story in the first sentence, or •
Establish your connection to the story 13
Let's use these with our example of the food cart. The first sentence of the pitch could be:
This is a story about a missing food cart and how people were affected by it.
This opening would interest people straightaway.
The second way is to establish your connection to the story. You could say something like this:
For two years I bought my lunch from the same food cart. I chatted with the owner about football,
asked him how his children were doing, and then one day, he was gone.
This opening shows that you are connected to the story.
Next, quiz yourself on your knowledge and understanding of the vocabulary we've introduced in the last few lessons. 14
Q U I Z 7 : R E S E A R C H , P IT C H , A N D I N T E R V I E W
Instructions: Choose the correct word for each definition.
Each question is worth two points. There are five questions. You must get four out of five questions correct to pass the quiz.
You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.
>>>> Please note that this quiz can only be completed in Canvas. <<<< 15
P R I V A T E J O U R N A L 5 : M A K E YO U R P I T C H
Important: This is a private journal. It will not be graded or seen by your peers.
Now you try! You recently wrote about an idea for a story. It is time to turn that idea into a pitch for a newspaper or magazine. Reminder:
A pitch should be 100 words or less
It should answer the following questions:
 Why is this story newsworthy?
 Who cares about this issue?
 Who or what are the sources?
 How long do you need to research and write the story? Example:
A local wildlife organization is seeking volunteers to feed baby birds. This story is newsworthy because many of our
local birds are endangered. This time of year, many birds are born but they often don't survive. Many people are
interested in learning about how they can support our local wildlife. I plan to interview the organization's volunteer
coordinator, a wildlife specialist, and people who volunteered in previous seasons. I will need three days to research and write the story. 16
D I S C U S S I O N : M A K E Y O U R P IT C H
Important: This activity is optional. It will not be graded. This is a public post. Your classmates will see your post.
>>>> Please note that this activity can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<
Option 1. Share your pitch with your classmates.
 Copy the pitch you just wrote and paste it in the discussion board below  Reminder: o
A pitch should be 100 words or less o
It should answer the following questions:
 Why is this story newsworthy?
 Who cares about this issue?
 Who or what are the sources?
 How long do you need to research and write the story.
Example: A local wildlife organization is seeking volunteers to feed baby birds. This story is newsworthy because
many of our local bird species are endangered. This time of year, many baby birds die because people and animals
destroy their nests. Many people are interested in learning about how they can support our local wildlife. I plan to
interview the organization's volunteer coordinator and people who volunteered in previous seasons. I will need
three days to research and write the story.
Option 2. Read your classmates' pitches and post a reply:
 Do you agree that their story is newsworthy?
 Did they identify the right target audience?
 Did they choose appropriate sources?
 Do you think they can research and write the story in time?
 Do you have suggestions for how they can improve their pitch?
 Do you have questions about their story?
Example reply: Great work! I like your story idea and would be interested in reading the article. Have you thought
about interviewing a bird expert? They might be able to give more information about the reasons that baby birds need help. Option 3. D o both!
Share your pitch and give feedback to others. 17
L A N G U A G E F O C U S : A S K I N G Q UE S T I O N S
Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license
[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]
In the previous lessons, we have talked about pitching a story. Now, let's now start thinking about conducting an
interview with one of our sources. In this lesson we will focus on wh- questions, or questions that begin with wh-
words like who, what, where, when, and why.
First, we will examine the question structure. Then, we will look at examples of questions a journalist can ask in an interview.
Wh- Questions Word Orde r
The word order for wh- questions is: question word, helping verb, subject, and main verb. Question Words
Question words are those wh- words we mentioned earlier, who, what, where, when, and why.
This work is a derivative of "User" by Sergey Demoshkin, "Question" by Jessica Lock, "help" by tezar tantular, "time" by Dmitry Mamaev, and
"Maps" by frederick allen via The Noun Project under CC BY 4.0. This derivative is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for the Online Professional
English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State 18 Helping verbs
A helping verb tells the listener the tense, or purpose, of the question. For example, where di d he go?
"Where did he go?" by FHI 360 is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Here, where is our question word, and did is our helping verb. The helping verb, di ,
d tells us that this question is about the past. Subject Where did he go? He is the subject. Main Verb Where did he go? Go is the main verb.
Example: A town is hit by a tornado
This work is a derivative of "Twister by Nikolas Noona
n via Unsplash under Unsplash license This derivative is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by FHI
360 for the Online Professional English Networ ,
k sponsored by the U.S. Department of State .
Now that we have looked at the structure, let's look at some questions that journalist might ask when interviewing sources for a news story.
In this example, the news story is about a tornado that swept through a town causing a lot of damage.
In this case, a journalist might interview an eyewitness. Remember, an eyewitness can tell the journalist what they
saw and what they were doing when they saw it. 19
What two questions could a journalist ask to get this information?  What did you see?
 What were you doing at the time?
These W-H questions are in the simple past and the past progressive forms. As discussed in Module 1, to ask
something that started and ended in the past, we use the simple past. What did you see?
"What did you see?" by FHI 360 is licensed under CC BY 4.0
This question is in the simple past.
“What” is the question verb, “di ”
d is the helping verb, “yo ”
u is the subject, and see is the main verb.
Helping verb “did” shows us that this is in the simple past. The question is asking about something that started and ended in the past.
What were you doing at the time?
"What were you doing?" by FHI 360 is licensed under CC BY 4.0
This question is in the past progressive. For something that happens over a longer period of time in the past, we use the past progressive.
“What” is our question word, “were” is our helping verb, “you” is our subject, and “doing” is the main verb .
You can tell that the form changed from the first example to the second because of the helping verb and the main
verb. In this question, the helping verb is were because this question is asking about something that happened
over a period of time in the past. Remember the past progressive form uses helping verbs was or were and the - ing form of the main verb. 20