There are six questions that a journalists should consider asking. They are What? Why? When? How? Where? and Who? This exercise considers their use in journalism.
Welcome to this Media Helping Media (MHM) exercise about the questions every journalist should ask, which is published on MHM. You are invited to complete the exercise either on your own or with a colleague. Please ensure you read the article above before proceeding.
MHM exercises are designed to help those who are new to journalism learn important skills and then test what they know against fictional scenarios. The articles on which the exercises are based have been created from the experience of journalists who have shared their knowledge in order to help others learn the fundamental principles of robust public service journalism.
The first requirement of any piece of journalism is that it should be accurate. Although this is an exercise involving fictitious material, not for publication, trainees must take everything they are told in the exercise to be factual and they must stick to those facts. If one thing they produce in the exercise is inconsistent with those facts, their whole work is discredited.
The scenario: Southaven community library closure
You are a reporter for a local news outlet in the fictional town of Southaven. You have received a tip-off that the local council plans to close the Southaven Community Library to save money. The council leader, Pradip Mishra, has issued a short statement saying the building is underused and the land will be sold for development. However, a local protest group, Save Our Books, claims the library is a vital hub for the elderly and that the usage figures the council is using are out of date.
Your task is to use the five Ws and one H (who, what, where, when, why, and how) to build a solid foundation for this story.
Task one: gathering the essential facts
Using the scenario above, write down the answers to the six fundamental questions. You must identify where information is missing and where you need to investigate further.
- Who is involved? (List the main protagonists and those affected).
- What is happening? (Describe the core event).
- Where is it taking place?
- When is it happening? (Identify if a specific date for closure or the land sale has been mentioned).
- Why is this happening? (List the reasons given by the council).
- How will it be done? (Consider the process of the sale and the relocation of services).
Format: A bulleted list of facts and a list of three questions you still need to ask to ensure impartiality (not supporting one side or party over another).
Task two: checking the ‘so what?’ factor
A good journalist must always ask ‘so what?’ to understand the impact of the story on the audience. This helps avoid bias (inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group) by looking at the wider consequences.
Identify three different groups of people in Southaven who will be affected by this closure. For each group, write two sentences explaining the specific impact on them.
Format: Three short paragraphs (one for each group).
Task three: drafting the news report
Now, combine your findings into a concise news report. You must ensure that the most important information (the ‘who’ and the ‘what’) is in the first paragraph.
Format: A 90-second radio news script (approximately 180-200 words).
Purpose and learning outcomes
The purpose of this exercise is to familiarise trainee journalists with the foundational building blocks of a news story. By the end of this exercise, you should be able to:
- Apply the five Ws and one H to a raw tip-off.
- Identify stakeholders (the people affected by a story) to ensure balanced reporting.
- Understand the importance of professional ethics when gathering and presenting information.
Self-assessment quiz
- Why are the five Ws and one H considered the foundation of journalism?
- They make the story longer and more detailed.
- They ensure the journalist has covered the essential facts needed for a complete story.
- They are a legal requirement in most countries.
- They help the journalist decide which side of the argument is correct.
- What does the ‘so what?’ question help a journalist determine?
- The word count of the article.
- The deadline for the story.
- The relevance and impact of the story on the audience.
- Who is to blame for the situation.
- If a journalist discovers that a library is closing, but doesn’t know ‘when’, what should they do?
- Make up a date to make the story more urgent.
- Ignore the ‘when’ as it is the least important question.
- State clearly that the date has not yet been confirmed by the authorities.
- Wait until the library has already closed before reporting it.
- When asking ‘who’, which of the following should a journalist consider?
- Only the people in power making the decisions.
- Only the people who are complaining.
- Both those making the decisions and those who will be affected by them.
- Only the people who are willing to pay for the information.
- How does answering ‘how’ improve a news story?
- It explains the mechanics or process behind an event, providing deeper context.
- It allows the journalist to include their personal opinion on the process.
- It is only used for ‘how-to’ lifestyle articles, not hard news.
- It helps the journalist avoid talking to witnesses.
Answers
1: b | 2: c | 3: c | 4: c | 5: a
