UNIT 24 WRITING FOR PRINT - 1

Structure

24.0 Objectives
24.1 Introduction
24.2 Is Print a Thing of the Past?
24.3 Characteristics of Print
24.4 How People Read
24.5 Writing for Print
24.6 Let Us Sum Up
24.7 Answers to Check Uour Progress

,Inthis unit, you will

be introduced to the range and scope of print media,

learn about the characteristics of print media,

understand how readers use the print medium, and

. learn how to approach writing for print.

Have you ever thought about how many newspapers are printed in India (if not in
the world), and in how many languages? Can you make a guess? How many names
of newspapers and magazines can you recall easily? Try also to remember the
variety of messages that reached you through the print medium yesterday. Did you
read a printed advertisement, a brochure, or a book or article in connection with
your hobby or your profession?

Now that most homes have a television set, do we still need the daily newspaper
and the weekly or monthly newsmagazine? Do you know anyone who does not get
a newspaper or newsmagazine at all, because they get all their news Erom the
television or the Internet?

These are tlk kinds of questions this unit raises and answers. When a new medium
such as television or the Internet becomes available to us, we often fear that this
means the old media - print, or radio - will fall into disuse. What happens, however,
is a Little more complex. The various media find their own space in our lives,
depending on their particular strengths. Print has a permanence that other forms
of mass media do not have. So it is still the best medium for messages that we
expect to be useful or true for a long time: rules and regulations, analysis of events,
and research reports, for example. Thus we find that different media get better at
finding out what they can do best, who their audience is most likely to be, and what
aeir particular audience wants.

If we conduct a survey of media use, we might find that young people who work
with computers, and work unconventional hours (in shifts, or at nights) tend to turn
to the Internet for news. Housewives who spend their morning making'breakfast Writing for Print .- 1
might 1ike"to have the radio on; and retired people may look forward to their
morning newspaper. We might find that different people within a family have
different attitudes to the print media, and use it in different ways. When we write
for print, we must begin by understanding how and why our audience reads us.

The newspaper is organized from front to back, from beginning to end, in a linear
pattern. But readers can use it in a lateral (sideways) fashion, jumping from one
page to the other at random, not necessarily in the order the pages appear. They
'browse7, or 'scan', or 'skim.' This is why newspapers use headlines and graphics,
as a way of attracting the reader's eye.

IS PRINT A THING OF THE PAST?

For the past several years, as electronic and visual forms have come to dominate
the mediascape, the death of has been predicted time and again. (The word
'mediascape', made on the analogy of. 'landscape', means 'the media scene'. You
may know that the landscape is what you can see of earth and sky from a
particular place: it is a scene.)

But it's clear that print media - newspapers, magazines, and journals of various
kinds - are far from extinct. While patterns of readership and circulation may have
changed, all these forms of communication are still alive and vibrant. Millions of
people in India and all over the wohd still wait for their morning newspaper; millions
more still pick up their weekly newsmagazine or their favourite sports magazine
from the corner news stand, and many thousands of professionals and academics
still subscribe to their disciplinary journals - whether in medicine, mathematics or
management - to keep up with new knowledge in their fields.
4

The Registrar of Newspaljers i_n India (RNI) reported in 2005 $at there were
60,413 registered newspapers in India, with a combined circulation of 13,30, 87,588
(The Press in India, 2004-2005). The year saw the entry of 1948 new publications.
This figure combines the number of dailies, weeklies, fortnightlies, monthlies and
other periodicities, published in English and all other Indian languages (see
[Link] for more information on the press in India.). These figures
show that print continues to'be an important form of information for a large number
of Indians, no matter what language. they speak. m e highest number of daily
newspapers was in Hindi (799) followed by English (181).
6

Acriviry
Ask pwplt you know where they get their information frnm, and where they go
to for different kinds of information (professional. entertainment, golitics, etc.).
You may want to inquire where they get sports ncws from. or cinema listings, or
travel and tour information (ticket prices, routes. etc.).
Mnke a chnt of how print compares with Mher media such ns trcievision or the
Internet. Collect information from at least five people, preferably of various age
groups.
What reasons do people give for preferring one medium over another? For
exampb. some people m y h v e for work too early to see the morning newspaper
- a d they rnay be at ct computer for most of their working day. So they may
depend on the Internet. Others may want to enjoy a quiet moming cup of tea
along with the newspaper!
Look for differencesamong age groups, and between those Who work in offices,
those who travel a lot. and those who stay at holma
Print Media The print media span a variety of publications. These include:

Daily newspapers (e.g. Kmes of India, Dainik Jagran)

News magazines (e.g., India Today, E m )

Special interest and niche magazines (Outlook Traveller; ,Health & Fitness) (a
'niche', pronounced mesh, is actually a small shelf made in the hollow of a wall,
where a photograph, flowers or candles can be kept. A 'niche magazine' means a
magazine that [Link] ik space for a small, specialist audience.)

. Trade and Industrial publications (magazines for specific industries or professions)

Professional journals (Journal of Teacher Education, Indian Journal of

Medicine)

Apart from journalistic media, there are other forms of communication that employ .
print to get the message across, such as advertising, public relations, advocacy and
the emerging arena of info-tainment or edu-t'ainment. These are words coined to I

show the combination of information and entertainment, or education and

entertainment. This combination is typical of television, and of some forms of print
as well-for instance, youth supplements, or children's sections of the newspaper.
 writing for mt - 1
243 CHARACTERISTICS OF PRINT. ,

How is writing for the print media any different from other forms of writing? In
one sense, it is no different. All writing, regardless of medium, is dictated by
primarily three factors: The Message (what do you want to say?), the Audience
(who do you want to say it to?) and the Sender (your own style and your intentions
in sending the message). All writing, regardless of medium, has primarily two
objectives:

to be understood by the audience, and

to achieve its intended impact .

This said, however, it is also important to understand the demands of the print
medium, as distinct from other media of communication.

A printed document has a permanence that other forms of mass media do not
have. A newspaper has a life of a day, a newsmagazine stays alive for a week or
more, but often, these forms of media are stored and retrieved at will to be read
when the fancy takes one. The newspaper is organized from front to back, from
beginning to end, in a linear pattern. Most people begin reading on page one but
often skip through the paper to go to the sections they are particularly interested
in, such as sports or business. So despite the linear organization of the paper, it is
possible for readers to use it in a lateral (sideways) fashion, jumping from one page
to the other at random, not necessarily in the order the pages appear. With a
newspaper, or even a magazine or any other printed document, it is possible for the
reader to do this, without getting lost-a few turns of the pages and they are back
to where they started! This makes it different from the Web, for instance, where
people tend to get lost when they browse in a random manner.

But within a publication or a section of a publication, stories are told in a linear

manner, which means that readers must go from one point to the next directly,
without any twists and turns along the way. However, design and layout approaches
have made it possible for printed publications to create the illusion of hypertextuality
(a feature of the World Wide Web, that allows linking of related items in a way that
lets the user go from one to the other easily), demanding new ways of writing and
thinking about how to present ideas. Marshall McLuhan called print a 'hot' medium
because il demands a high level of involvement from the reader, unlike television,
which prc~videsso much stimulus at many levels that viewers do not have to do
much 'work' to understand messages.

The print medium also places certain constraints on those who create content for
it. They must write in a certain structured manner, in a way that people can 'see'
as well as 'hear' what they are talking about. The other difference stems from the
technical aspect of production. Because printed publications take longer to create
and disseminate than do electronic forms, those who write for the printed news
media do not have the same advantage of immediacy that say, television, radio or
the Internet do. The newspaper reaches us much after a news story has broken
on television, so it must be written in a manner that is different, draw on a wider
range of information, and answer different information needs. We will talk more
about how this impacts writing style later in this thapter.

Activity Look at newspapers and magazines over the past ten years and see
how the] have changed in look-what do you think has influenced this change?
What function do you think different layout devices such as boxed text, pictures,
different kinds of headlines and captions, have played?
Print Media

24.4 - HOW PEB= READ

Twenty or more years ago, a person who picked up a newspaper or magazine
would begin at the top left hand corner of page one and go on till he or she reached
the bottom righi hand comer of the last page. But now, ask anyone who picks up
a newspaperaor magazine how they read, and they will tell you that they 'browse',
or 'scan' or,.'skim'.

When people want to understand something in depth, they employ a strategy known
as 'study reading', where they read slowly, paying attention to words and what
they niean at a surface level as well as what they imply at a deeper level. People
rarely use this method when reading newdpapers and magazines.

More often, what we do is to pick up the newspaper and quickly get an idea of
the contents-we run our eyes over headlines and the beginnings of &ticles so that
we have a rough idea of what the main stories are. This is known as skimming.
When we skim the newspaper or a magazine, we tend to read things that are in
bold print, text that is 'pulled out' and highlighted, captions of photographs, items
that are set apart in boxes, and so on. By the time'we finish, we know broadly the
topics that were covered, and maybe a few details of each story.

Sonhetimes we look through a paper for specific items of interest. We glance over
the headlines to see if there have been any new developments on an issue we have
been following. We look to see what the highlights of the latest cricket test match
were. This approach to reading is called scanning. It is more purposeful than
skimming, though it is not as involved as study reading.

~ e a d i nstyles
~ determine how information is presented in print. In order to capture
and maintain,reader interest, writers - and designers - mist use a variety of
techniques to make their product interestidg, attractive and engaging, while also
paying attention to clady, completeness and. accuracy.
 Writing fir .hint - 1

We have already seen that we cannot speak of the print media as a homogeneous
entity. There are many different types of publications, each with a distinct audience
with its own needs, and therefore, many different ways to approach writing for
print. We shall consider here some general characteristics of writing for print and
focus on one particular genre of wfiting-newspaper writing.

All writing depends on three major factors:

The audience (Who are you writing for? What is their level of knowledge and
interest? What is their purpose in reading this?)

The message (What is the subject you are writing about, and what is your basic
purpose in sharing this information? How much material do you have'and what
are your sources? How much time do you have to write?)
P
The medium (How is the material to be presented? What are the constraints and
possibilities of the medium? How do people use this medium?)

Writing for print, like most kinds of purposive~cornmunication (as distinct from
communication that is primarily for sefi-expression, such as fiction or poetry), must
focus above all on the reader. Keeping the reader in mind at all times as your
approach your writing brings to the whole process a focus that will ensure that the
final product does its job-to capture the reader's attention and interest and add to
their understanding of a given topic or issue. This is true for all kinds of publications,
whether it is a magazine for children or a journal for engineers. If you know the
audience, you know the level at which you need to write, and you know how much
or how litcle information you need to provide.'
Print Media

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Understanding the needs of your audience makes the whole process of writing
easier. This understanding dovetails into the way you treat the message, and how
it shapes up mediately, you can identify what topics such an audience would find
interesting and what angles within that topic would capture their interest. You also
know what level of language to use, what style they would respond to, and the
detail they would want or need.

As you write to the needs of the audience, you must also keep in mind the
characteristics of the medium you are working within. Daily newspapers demand
fast work, writing that is crisp, clear and to the point. The emphasis is on facts with
some room for opinion and analysis, but all presented in a very condensed format.
The longest articles in the'main section of a daily newspaper would be no more than
1000 words, while most are between 250 and 500 words. Magazines, on the other
hand, allow for writing that is slightly more interpretive and descriptive, and also
make use of more illustration in the form of illustrations and photographs that can
supplement and elucidate the text. Articles may be longer and divided into sections,
or an issue may be explored through several complementary stories.

News and feature writing - the kind of writing that we see in daily newspapers,
news magazines and special' interest magazines - demands a style and approach
that is 'distinct from other forms of writing (recreational or academic/scholarly
writing). The main characteristics of such writing are

Accuracy-facts are all important; there is a clear distinction between fact and
opinion, between observation and hearsay.

Brevity-all writing must fit a given space; sentences are short, paragraphs are
short, and articles are brief.
.
Clarity-everything must be clear at the first reading, as people will not spend
too much time and energy on trying to understand it. Also, since the news media
deal with facts and issues of current importance, it is important that things are
presented in a manner that helps the public understand and participate in the
dialague.
 Writing for Print - 1

24.6 LET USSUMUP .

a The patterns of readership and circulation of newspapers, magaiines, and journals

have changed, but print media are far from extinct.

a Print continues to be an important form of information for Indians. In 2005 there

were 60,413 registered newspapers in India, with a combined'circulation of 13,
30, 87,588. The year saw, 1948 new publications. The highest number of daily
newspapers was in ~ i n d (799)
i followed by English (181).
i
a The print rfiedia span a variety of publications: daily newspapers, news magazines,
, special interest and nichC magazines, trade and industrial publications, and

~rofessionaljournals.

Other forms of .communication that use print for their message are advertising,
public. relations, advocacy and info-tainrnent or edu-tajnment.

.: ,All writing, regardless 'of medium, is dictated by primarily w e e factors: The

Message, the. Audience and the Sender; and has primarily tko!otijectives:. to
J
be' understood. a d. to have an impact.
, ,

a Print has a permanence that other forms of mass media do not have..
- <

a The newspaper is organized from front to back, from beginning to end, in a

linear pattern.

0 But readers can use it in a lateral (sideways) fashion, jumping from one page
to the other at random, not nkcessarily in the order the pages appear:

,a; They 'browse', or 'scan' or 'skim'. When we run our eyes ovet headlines and
the beginnings .of articles so that we have'a rough idea of what the main qtoriep
are, we are s@mmiiig.
. ., , .
, . L.

a Wheri look through a paper for specific items of 'interest, we are scanning.
.! '
scanning is mire purposeful than i w n g . , ,

.. , .
a Writing for pdk .like most kinds of,purpoiive. commwiication,
. . , must focus above
all on the reader; . ;, ' . .
'
...

a Daily newspapers demand fast work, writing 9af

is crisp, clear and to the point.
The lmgest articles in a daily newspaper would not be more than 1000 words; 1
- most pel 250-50 words. .
r :
Print Media Magazines allow for a slightly more interpretive and descriptive writing, and use
more illustration.

News and feature writing demands accuracy, brevity and clarity.

I
I

24.7 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Cbeclr Your [Link]% 1
1. (For example) Indian Journal of Medicine (general medicine); Economic and Political
Weekly (economic analysis of current issues/events)

2. Hindi; English.

3. The word 'mediascape', made on the analogy of 'landscape', means 'the media
scene'. Info-tainrnent or edu-tainment are woids coined to show the combination
of information and. entertainment, or education and entertainment.

A. Please give the naines of your choice.

5. what, who, style, intentions

6. permanence, a day, for a week

, .
7. from front to back, from beginning to end

8. lateral (sideways) fashion

9. Please pick out the words and sentences as requested.

10 & 11. Please do the activities suggested. *

Q a k Yaclr ~ r o p c o %4
12 & 13. ~lease'dothe activities suggested.

14. are reported to; alleged that; It is understood that; apparently; said to be