Shut Up and Listen: Getting the Most from Your Interviews

Preparation

1. Select the right person to interview. Early in your research on a story, you might need to talk to someone who can give you general background. Later, you might seek someone with a particular experience or viewpoint to fill your last hole or two. Use all the resources you can to find and connect with the right characters: Directories, colleagues, your own library, other sources, the Internet, Profnet. In particularly sensitive stories, a mutually trusted third party might help you connect with someone.

2. Research before you interview. Learn as much as you can about the character and the topic before your interview. Be honest about what you don’t know. You’re talking to this person because you don’t know everything. If you fake knowledge, you probably won’t fool your character, and you will deprive yourself of a chance to learn from him.

3. Plan your questions. An actual scripted list of questions is stilted. But you might benefit from rehearsing some questions in your head or even aloud in the car on your way to the interview. Consider in advance what follow-up questions you might ask, depending on how the character answers a question. It’s a good idea to have a checklist of topics you want to ask about. Don’t be a slave to the list during the interview, but glance at it toward the end, to see if you’ve overlooked something important. Use the elements of story as a checklist in planning your questions: What questions will help me understand the conflict? The character’s motivation?

4. Write what you can before the interview. If you write as you report, you will generate important, specific questions for later interviews. Your stronger sense of where your story is going will give a strong focus to subsequent interviews.

Rapport

Help the subject relax by addressing various elements of comfort:

1. Setting. If possible, do the interview in the subject’s environment: home, workplace, school, church, place of leisure or recreation. Allow plenty of time and choose a time, if you can, that’s convenient for the subject. A lunch or dinner interview works sometimes, but also has disadvantages: interruptions for food and service, subject talks so much she has little time to eat, it’s more difficult to take notes. When you can, a moving interview is effective: Start out in the workplace, go out to eat, ride home in the character’s vehicle, ask her to show you the house and the yard.

2. Honesty. Tell the subject up front, when you arrange the interview and again when the interview starts, what you are working on. This doesn’t mean you ask the tough questions first. But you tell the subject honestly what the story is about and what you will be asking about, so the tough questions don’t feel like an ambush.

3. Complaints. The person may have some gripes about how you personally, your paper or the media in general have covered something in the past. Listen to the complaints. Don’t feel an obligation to respond specifically. If you do, don’t respond defensively or argumentatively. Don’t apologize if you’re not sorry or if you were not responsible. The best way to handle most complaints is simply to listen and acknowledge, with brief explanations offered sparingly where appropriate.

4. Personal connection. Seek ways to establish a personal connection with the character. Do you have a child the same age as one in the picture on the desk? Ask about his children and commiserate briefly about car seats or car pools or car insurance, whatever stage the children are. Is the diploma on the wall from your school? Chat briefly about professors you might have shared or how bad the football team is now or whatever interests you might share. Don’t fake a connection or stretch for one, but be alert for genuine ways to make a connection. If you have little in common with the person, connect by showing genuine interest in the character beyond the narrow focus of your story.

5. Control. Unless your character is used to being interviewed, she probably feels uncomfortable facing you and your notebook. Early in the interview and again toward the end, give her some control. Sure, you’re asking the questions, but answer her questions if she asks any. Listen politely as she wanders off the subject occasionally. People don’t talk like we write. They might bury the lede (well, maybe they do talk like we write). Give her time to get around to it. Before you wrap up the interview, ask if there’s anything else she’d like to add. In between, you will control the interview with some direct, tough questions. But if you share the control, your subject might feel comfortable enough to give you better answers.

Start the interview with broad open-ended questions or simply invitations to talk.

Questions

1. Start with broad open-ended questions or simply invitations to talk. “Tell me about that.” “What was that like?” “Fill me in on . . .” These questions invite the character to tell you his story. They also give him a chance to tell you something you might not know enough to ask about specifically. And the general nature of the question gives the character a feeling of control as he answers.

2. Move the interview along with responsive questions and statements that basically tell the character to keep talking: “Uh-huh.” “Really?” “What happened next?” “How did you react?”

3. Ask specific, direct questions to elicit the information you need that the open-ended questions don’t produce. “How much did that cost?” “Why did you do that?”

4. Ask brief questions.

5. Save your toughest questions until near the end. This gives you a chance to develop some rapport before the tough questions. It lets you be sure of gathering the easy information if the tough questions prompt the character to cut off the interview.

6. Remember the elements of story. Observe, take notes and ask questions about the setting. A photograph or award or piece of art may lead the subject to an interesting anecdote or revelation. Ask the character to demonstrate how she did something or show you where something happened or recall specific dialogue for you.

7. Ask for documentation. Be careful not to ask in a challenging way (unless you are indeed challenging). Just ask in a curious way. Letters or a journal may reveal some deeper emotion than your interview brought out at a more detached date. Legal or financial documents may provide exact dates or amounts where the character was estimating in the interview. A police report may provide detail that a crime victim may not want to talk about. A resume may provide details that a modest character might not disclose without prompting.

8. Close with another open-ended question or a few: “Is there anything else you’d like to add?” “Whom would you suggest that I talk to?” “Are there any other stories you think my paper should look into?”

Listening

1. Listening is an essential element of building rapport, and more important to the success of your interview than the questions. You’re not getting any information when you’re talking. You should talk only to build rapport and to steer the interview where you need it to go. Impress the character with your listening, rather than with your talking.

2. Don’t feel the need to fill the long, awkward pause. It’s a natural urge, and the subject is feeling the same thing. The pause may draw out the answer your question didn’t. You want thoughtful answers, so give the character time to think. This is not a stubborn staredown. You casually take a few moments to catch up on your notes, to take a few notes about the setting or your subject’s appearance and mannerisms. Just shut up and listen.

3. Listen for the surprise in the interview: the offhand remark that contradicts what you (or your editors) thought you knew; the iceberg tip that’s an invitation for you to extract a Poe-like confession; the hint at a much better story; the secondary interest that might lead you to a completely unrelated story.

Follow-Up

1. Re-interview when possible, with a follow-up phone call, a second face-to-face interview or just an e-mail. You’ll think of a few more questions, but your character may also have thought of a few more answers. Sometimes you get the better interview the second time around because your questions the first time provoked a few days of thinking, bringing back some old memories and sending someone to the telephone or the scrapbook for answers you didn’t get the first time. Or maybe you ask better questions the second time, because you’ve been thinking or learning since the first interview.

2. Write as soon as possible after the interview. It’s best to write the story itself right away, even though you may be far from finished with the reporting. If you know the interview will provide only a few paragraphs for the final story, write those paragraphs. At least go through your notes and write, in paragraph form, what you might use in the story, including your notes on mannerisms, setting, emotions.

3. Seek documentation from police, courts, Internet, etc. to support, contradict or expand on what the character told you. The documentation may provide questions for a follow-up interview.

source: http://www.notrain-nogain.org/train/res/reparc/interv.asp

Covering Meetings

A reporter’s life sometimes seems like an endless series of meetings. But those meetings are sources of many bread-and-butter stories.

If you have never covered one, you will probably feel ill at ease the first few times. Here is some advice that will help keep you from feeling lost.

Before You Go

When your editor gives you an assignment for a meeting, start getting ready. Begin by asking the editor everything he knows.

Who’s meeting, where, when, what’s expected to happen, what sort of story does the editor want? Often the editor knows quite a bit and can fill you in on background, personalities and other information.

But not always. Sometimes the editor may know only that some group is meeting, and it’s up to you find out the rest.
In either case, after you have milked the editor of all you can get, start checking other sources:

• Read the clips if there are any. In the case of a public body, you can read the minutes of recent meetings.
  
• Find out who is running the meeting or who is closely involved. Ask that person to tell you what issues are expected to come up at the meeting, who is expected to talk. Get names and phone numbers. If a public body is holding the meeting, you can ask for a copy of the agenda.
  

Let’s say the editor wants you to cover a meeting of the Potroast Neighborhood Association. The editor doesn’t know much, beyond the time and place of the meeting, but tells you the name and number of the group’s president, Leonard Mugwump.

You call Mugwump and he gives you a rundown: The group is going to talk about 1) supporting the school band at Potroast Junior High (needs uniforms), 2) getting safety improvements at the railroad crossing, 3) solving the terrible problem of failing septic tanks in the neighborhood, 4) watching out for signs of gang activity (a sheriff’s deputy is going to give a talk about this). Mugwump tells you the group will elect new officers, but this is pretty cut and dried; he gives you the names of the new slate.

Now you can gather a lot of information. You can call the principal or band leader at the school and find out how many uniforms are needed, the costs, and so on. You can call the railroad and see what it says about how and whether it can improve the crossing. You could talk to local or state transportation people, too. You can talk with neighborhood residents and with county officials about the septic problems. You can talk with the deputy about the gang problem.

The more information you have in advance, the easier it will be to cover the meeting. Make it a point to note addresses and phone numbers of people you might need to reach after the meeting for additional comment and clarification.

Of course, you may not have time to do all of this. You may decide to concentrate on one or two main points and let the rest slide until the meeting.
It’s a matter of how important the story is and what other demands there are on your time.
But the more preparation you do, the better.

Once you have learned all you can, you are ready to go to the meeting. In fact, you may be ready to write a story right now-an advance to let people know the meeting is coming up and what the issues are.

Such a story might begin like this:

Residents of Potroast want relief from an embarrassing and unhealthy problem-their septic tanks are failing.
Mabel Mushwit says the problem has been growing for five years, and she and other residents … blah … blah.
Mushwit and her neighbors will talk about the situation at Thursday’s meeting of the Potroast Neighborhood Association. The group will meet at 7 p.m. in the Potroast Community Center … blah and blah.

Going To The Meeting

Go early. That way you have time to size up the place and decide where you will sit. Tip: Sit where you have a good chance to see and hear the speakers, and where you can get up quietly and slip out if you need to collar somebody for some additional information. An aisle seat can be handy. Going early also gives you a chance to meet Leonard Mugwump (until now he has just been a voice on the phone) and others who might help you.

Observe, report, don’t participate. Save your questions until you can catch people during breaks or outside the meeting or after the meeting. Don’t interrupt the proceedings, and try not to be drawn into them. Sometimes, especially with groups that aren’t used to having reporters present, people will ask you questions during the meeting. Or they may even try to tell you what to put in your story and what to leave out.

If this happens, be polite but say something such as: “I’m just here to report on your meeting, not to participate. I’ll be glad to talk with you later.”

If the person insists, for example, that you leave something out of a story, say: “I’m sorry, but all I can do is pass your request on to my editor; I’ll be glad to do that.”

Usually, this is enough to get the spotlight off you and back onto the meeting. If the worst happens, and the people still insist on telling you how to do your job, you have a choice, depending on whether the meeting is being held by a public body or a private group.

If it is a public body, simply stand your ground. The board can accept your presence or it can declare the meeting closed to the public (which may be a violation of state law on open meetings).

If it is a meeting of a private group, you can say: “I’m sorry I can’t agree to your conditions. Do you want me to leave?”

This problem is rare, but it does happen once in a while.

Take plenty of notes. You don’t know what you will need until later. If it isn’t in your notebook when you need it, you’re sunk. If it is in your notes and it turns out you don’t need it, no problem … leave it out of the story.

An editor I know is bemused by correspondents who think they have a lot of notes when they have filled seven pages in a steno pad. Seven pages? That is hardly enough notes, the editor says, to write a brief, let alone a decent story. She’s right. Unless you take complete notes, you’re going to have a thin story with embarrassing holes.
It’s also a good idea to take a tape recorder. It’s a good backup, especially for checking quotations.

Get in the habit of flagging things in your notes that aren’t clear. Write down questions you will need to get answered. Jot down names and check the spellings.

Let’s say Joe Finkelstein stands up at the meeting and talks about his septic-tank problems. You don’t know him from Adam (that’s Adam Finkelstein, two blocks over, a cousin). All you hear is somebody calls him “Joe.” But you want to use his quotes. Maybe you’ll get a chance to catch him in the hall and either get your questions answered or get his number and ask if you can call him after the meeting. If that fails, after the meeting ask Leonard Mugwump, “Who was that guy Joe?”

You can’t be in two places at once, so you will have to use some judgment. If you need to catch someone for a quick interview, you’ll have to decide whether it’s more important to do that now or to stay in your seat and take notes on what’s happening next. (This is when the tape recorder can help).

While you are making notes about things to clarify, be sure you include jargon and “insider” talk that readers may not understand. As a reporter, your job is to translate this into plain English. Merely passing it on isn’t good enough.

Note: Never stick a technical term or piece of jargon in a story and defend it by saying “that’s what they called it” when the editor asks you what the hell it means. Editors hate to hear that non-answer.

Pay attention to the emotional atmosphere and the crowd reactions. Sometimes this makes the difference between a lively story and a dry one. If there is anger or excitement, let the story reflect it.caution: Use your own judgment about what you see and hear. Don’t be misled by someone else’s opinions. For example, if people at the meeting get excited about an issue, perhaps readers will be interested, too. Certainly you should think about that. But sometimes, as the bard would have it, the arguments may be much ado about nothing. You have to decide what is newsworthy.

There is an opposite side to this coin: Sometimes significant action is taken with little comment, especially in meetings of public boards. Somebody makes a motion to adopt Item 6 on the agenda, a bored voice seconds the motion and the board votes “yea” without dissent. The whole thing seems perfunctory and unimportant. But when you look closely at Item 6, you may find that the board has just approved a profound change that will affect people’s lives. Why was this done so casually? Maybe because all the shouting had been done in earlier meetings, or maybe the board members had hashed it out in private. However it happened, the action is significant in itself and the fact that it was made to seem routine doesn’t change its news value. If you’re not alert, significant news can slip by you.

Nowadays, public boards often have a list of items on a “consent agenda,” which is usually approved routinely. The items are put on the consent agenda because they are expected to pass without debate. Most of them are likely to be routine, but the list may include some stingers.

Look for ideas. A good reporter is alert not only to get the information for the story on the meeting, but also for ideas for spinoff stories. Almost any meeting is good for ideas. In the story on the Potroast meeting, for example, you may not end up using much about the school band. It needs uniforms, remember? You might sum it up with a paragraph. But you can follow up next week with a nice feature story about the band and its struggles.

Likewise, you might not have room in the story to do much with the speech by the sheriff’s deputy on teen gangs. But you can follow up with a feature story on how this and other neighborhoods are dealing with the problem, or on how the Sheriff’s Department is coordinating with neighborhoods.
The possibilities are plentiful.

After The Meeting

When the meeting breaks up, don’t join the stampede to the parking lot-unless your deadline leaves you no choice.
Stick around a few minutes. This is your chance to grab people and get your questions cleared up. This may be a good time to get reactions from people to what somebody said in the meeting.

This is especially helpful in getting to know people who may become good sources in the future. And sometimes people let their hair down after a meeting and tell you things that are more interesting than what they said at the meeting itself.

Speaking of reactions, don’t neglect to call people who weren’t at the meeting. You are never restricted to reporting only what happened in the meeting. You can put anything in the story that is pertinent, whether you got it from the meeting or elsewhere.

Let’s say several speakers criticized a county official for not helping them with the sewage problem. That official wasn’t at the meeting. Call him and get his response. First, this will help make your story complete, and, second, it’s only fair.

A reporter’s job is to help readers understand the news. It isn’t enough to merely report actions and speech-a story must provide context and meaning. A simple example: If a public board changes a tax rate or a fee, you need to tell readers what that will cost them. To do that, you may need to get information from sources outside the meeting.
When you have done all this, you are ready to write a story (or stories) about the big doings at the Potroast Neighborhood Association.

Writing tips

The building blocks

As a Northern Star reporter, you’ll do the same things and take on the same responsibilities of a reporter at any ‘real world” newspaper, because the Star is just that: a real newspaper, read by thousands of people every day. Your audience is mostly students, but it’s also NIU faculty and staff, alumni (via the World Wide Web) and DeKalb residents not connected with NIU.

Reporting boils down to three things:

1. Accuracy
As a reporter, you have a lot of power. What you write can influence decisions, help form public opinions of people and contribute to the general attitude of your readers toward NIU and life in general.
With that power comes responsibility that can’t be taken lightly. Get a fact wrong, misspell a name or omit a vital piece of information and you not only can distort the truth and misinform the public, but you also damage the credibility of the Northern Star. Without credibility, a newspaper is finished. Guard it carefully.

2. Clarity
Newspaper writing is not academic writing. We don’t use big words and long sentences to show our readers how smart we are. Newspaper readers are pressed for time. You have to give them the news quickly, concisely and without a lot of extra words or information they don’t need. Every story competes for a reader’s attention … against other stories, against the TV in the background, against every distraction you can think of.

With every story you write, ask yourself: What is the news here? Why should my readers care? What does this mean to them? Your lead, and then the rest of your story, should spring from those questions.
Then, ask yourself (and the people around you), “What questions will the reader have that I need to answer?” Jot them down, and be sure none are left unanswered.

Write short: short sentences, short paragraphs, short stories. Use simple language. Think hard about every word you use. Is it necessary? Is there a more clear, concise way to say this?

Read your story aloud. It sounds dumb, but you’ll spot places that don’t sound right and might trip up the reader.

3. Style
Good writers are artists. Good news writers are, too. They can entertain, inspire, anger and educate. News stories don’t have to follow the old, worn-out, inverted pyramid format. Sure, you’ll still use it sometimes, particularly for important, breaking news on deadline. But look for opportunities to veer from that format into something more interesting. Never forget, though, that your No. 1 objective is to tell people what they need to know — not to show them how much of a literary artist you are.

First five pararaphs

All the work of producing a news story is futile if the story does not engage the reader immediately. Writing coaches have identified four key elements that should be present in the first five paragraphs of any news story (not necessarily in any particular order). They are:

News
The newest information: the basic facts of who, what, when, where, why and how … the most relevant information.

Impact
What a situation means and who is affected. Tells readers what the news changes about their lives and, maybe, what they should do.

Context
The general perspective that frames the background of the news. It addresses the relationship of things around the news. Context helps readers understand whether something is normal or surprising.

Emotion
The human dimension. Takes a story from abstract to reality. Offers personal elements that help readers understand the story. This is not necessarily a quote, but it could be.

Neil Hopp’s “First Five” formula
(Hopp is the former writing coach at the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake)

1. Effective lead. Focused, short, memorable.

2. A second paragraph that amplifies the lead.

3. A third paragraph that continues to build detail.

4. Nut graph. Provides context or tells reader why this is important.

5. Power quote. An interesting quote that propels meaning. Not just a fluffy quote that gets in the way.

Leads

Before you write, know your point: What is this story about and why is it important?

Common problems in leads

• Cluttered. More than one idea.
• Flabby. It says, “I don’t know what this story is about.”
• Dull. Ho-hum. No tension. No energy that drives the writing forward.
• Mechanical. No human voice, no “music.” Just another burger and fries.
• Closed. A private conversation between those who speak the same jargon. It says, “Stay away. You don’t know enough to read this.”
• Predictable. Written in journalese or bureaucratese. Cliches. No surprises, no unexpected words of phrases that are unexpected and that delight us as they capture and clarify a news event. No “chuckle quality.”

Qualities of Effective Leads

• Focus. Make a specific promise to the reader, and then deliver.
• Context. Involve the reader. Show clear, immediate significance. Answer the question, “Why should I read this story?”
• Form. Implies a design, a plan, a structure, a pattern that will help the reader understand the meaning.
• Information. Whets the readers appetite, promises delivery.
• Voice. A human voice talking to the reader. Provides the “music” to support the meaning of what is being read.
• Surprise. The promise of something new.

SVO<24

What’s that mean? Subject-verb-object sentences of generally less than 24 words.

Good writing starts with good sentence structure, and that means simple construction: subject-verb-object. Not blah, blah, blah, S-V-O. All that does is delay meaning.

This also is called the right-branching sentence: Think of S-V-O as the engine of a train. A short train.

Problem writers use a lot of commas and other punctuation. A good remedial exercise is to try writing a story with no commas. That, of course, means sentences should be short. Research shows that 20-word sentences are fairly clear to most readers. Thirty-word sentences are not.

Here’s an even easier test: If you can’t read a sentence aloud without taking a breath, it’s too long.

 

Ten guidelines to clearer writing

1. One idea per sentence.

No: Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., experienced the largest of recent high school murder rampages last week, and DeKalb schools, along with police, are reacting to a rumor of violence at DeKalb High School.
Yes: School officials and police are reacting quickly to a rumored threat of violence at DeKalb High School.
The response follows last week’s high school massacre in Littleton, Colo.

2. Limit sentence length to 23-25 words. If you can’t read a sentence aloud without a breath, it’s too long.

No: After the announcement was made by President John La Tourette that he will be retiring early next year, Boey, under his board authority, created an ad hoc committee that will find representatives to sit on the actual search committee. (38 words)
Yes: President John La Tourette announced last month he will retire early next year. (12 words) Boey has since created a temporary committee to choose a search committee. (12 words)

3. S-V-O: Subject-Verb-Object. Right-branching sentences (think of a train engine). Don’t delay meaning. Don’t use a lot of commas.

No: Mauger, who worked as a bursar at DePaul University in Chicago prior to working at Beloit, said she missed the university environment.
Yes: Mauger was a bursar at Chicago’s DePaul University before her Beloit job. She missed the university environment.

4. Use strong verbs and an active voice.

No: The poem will be read by La Tourette.
Yes: La Tourette will read the poem.

5. Reduce difficult words to their simplest terms. Don’t let bureaucrats dictate your word choices.

No: The search committee will be constructed in accordance with Article 8 of the NIU constitution.
Yes: NIU’s constitution dictates the search committee’s makeup.

6. Don’t back into a sentence.

No: The end of the academic year and the end of the legislative session were two reasons La Tourette cited.
Yes: La Tourette cited two reasons: the end of the academic year and the end of the legislative session.

7. Don’t use more than three numbers in any one sentence.

No: Wednesday, the NIU baseball team’s winless streak hit 22 as NIU (4-37-1) dropped a twin bill to Miami (21-18-1), 8-2 and 10-5, at Oxford, Ohio.
Yes: Oxford, Ohio Ñ NIU’s baseball losing streak reached 22 as the Huskies dropped a doubleheader Wednesday to Miami, 8-2 and 10-5.

8. Use no more than three prepositional phrases per sentence.

No: Students who will be graduating from NIU will be honored at a senior luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center.
Yes: Friday’s senior luncheon will honor students about to graduate. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Holmes Student Center’s Regency Room.

9. Choose the precise word.

No: This will increase the number of participants from 55 students a week to 200 students a week, and in that extra 145 students the age for attendance also will change. The present center is only equipped to handle children ages 2-6, but the new center will have the capacity to serve infants, too. (2 sentences, 53 words total)
Yes: This will increase the center’s weekly capacity, from 55 children to 200. And, while the current center takes children ages 2-6, the new center will take infants, too. (2 sentences, 28 words total)

10. KISS (keep it simple, stupid).

No: Biological sciences professor Karl Johnson passed away Tuesday at the age of 55, following a long, courageous battle with cancer.
Yes: Biology professor Karl Johnson died of cancer Tuesday. He was 55.
 

Using quotes

The best quotes are short and bright. They surprise, shock or amuse. They reveal insights or secrets. They prove points. They allow experts to give perspective, and real people to air grievances. Don’t quote simple statements of fact.

Sins to avoid when quoting people

• Stutter quotes: Saying the same thing twice.

Mayor Bessie Chronopoulous said Tuesday she will seek a second term.
I intend to run for a second term,” Chronopoulous said.

• Partial quotes: Often, it’s less awkward just to paraphrase.

Weak: Smith said the money was “spent by me” in order to buy “better-looking plants for the office.”

Better: Smith said he spent the money on better-looking plants for the office.

• Parenthetical info in quotes

WEAK: “We can’t get (the concrete barrier) to stay in one place because (La Tourette) keeps driving into it,” Smith said.

BETTER: La Tourette’s driving habits appear to be the main obstacle to keeping the concrete barrier from being moved.
“We can’t get it to stay in one place because he keeps driving into it,” Smith said.

• Junk quotes. Vague, bureacratic. Quotes that say nothing.
• Stacking quotes. Just stringing a bunch of them together rather than constructing a story.
• Weak lead quotes. Empty, boring, vague, repetetive.
• Weak end quotes. Using any old quote just to finish off the story.

Story organization

Are you a planner or a plunger?

• Planners execute four or five elements in advance. Plungers start tight in and discover what they want to say in the process. But they tend to write long and then cut back. They’re slower. They may run out of time and give editors gray hair.
• Both ways can and do work. But writers need to understand which one they are and what works for them.
• Being a plunger requires a good memory and the ability to formulate in your head. Being a planner requires marking up notes.
• Plungers are better on breaking, deadline stories. Planners are better on more-complicated, nondeadline stories.

 Source: http://www.northernstar.info

Developing and Cultivating Sources

 

• Be available. Let people on your beat know you’re interested in hearing tips, suggestions, complaints, whatever. Make sure they have your phone number and e-mail. If it’s appropriate, give them home, cell and pager numbers, too. Make rounds frequently in person and by telephone.
• Be honest. Never mislead a source. Be honest about the direction a story is taking. If it’s going to be a “negative” story, don’t bill it as something else. If you’re not going to write a story about a tip, don’t indicate that you will. This doesn’t mean you have to offend sources needlessly. If a source is worried about a negative story, assure him you intend to make the story fair and accurate and that you want to hear his side of the story.
• Be annoyingly insistent on accuracy. If someone gives you figures off the top of her head, ask where she got those figures, then check the original source. Call back sources to confirm spellings, figures, chronologies, etc. Ask for reports, documents, business cards, personnel directories, calendars that can confirm spellings, numbers and other facts. This not only ensures the accuracy of your stories, it wins respect with sources (and good will that you’ll need if an error does slip through).
• Find new “suspects.” Seek out sources who aren’t the “usual suspects” on your beat. If you always find yourself talking to white men, find some women and minorities who might bring a different perspective to your stories and steer you toward different ideas. If you find yourself always talking to the professionals and bosses, spend some time talking to the folks in the trenches. If you spend most of your time talking to liberals, seek out some conservatives. If you spend most of your time talking to people your age, seek out some younger or older sources. These people with different perspectives will point you to different stories. Look around the agency you cover for the people or offices who attract the least attention. Spend some time there to see if you’ll hear some different tips. Ask yourself each week whether you made meaningful contact with a new source. If you didn’t, could you have?
• Talk to consumers. If you are assigned to a government or commercial entity, make sure that your circle of sources is wider than the officials of that entity. Talk to citizens who deal with that agency or business and use its services or products. If some of these consumers are organized, you should deal regularly with leaders of those organizations. You also may need to deal with some self-appointed crusaders and gadflies. Make a point of dealing with some average, unaffiliated consumers.
• Learn where records are. Familiarize yourself with the paper and electronic record-keeping practices of the offices you cover. Learn which records are clearly public, which are legally confidential and which might present access disagreements. Learn who has access to the confidential records (not just in the office, but clients or members of the public who might have them). Learn what information is available on the Internet (and thus, after hours and on weekends and without asking anyone).
• Tell sources of your interests. Tell good sources about stories you’re working on, even the ones that may not involve them directly. You may know that a source isn’t directly involved with an issue, but if you tell him about the stories you’re working on, he may steer you toward other sources who might be helpful, or he may tell you something helpful that he’s heard around the office.
• Become an expert. The more you learn about the complicated issues, technology and economics of your beat, the more your sources will respect you, the harder it will be for them to BS you, and the easier it will be for you to spot good stories. Read books, articles, reports. Research on the Internet. Ask lots of questions.
• Admit you’re not an expert. If you don’t know or understand something, ask. Sources will respect your honesty, and you will learn. Also, if you fake understanding, they will catch on quickly and you will lose credibility. Repeat your understanding back to the source, for confirmation that you understand.
• Find experts. Learn what academic institutions, think tanks or non-profit groups might study or monitor activities in your beat. Develop them as sources, so they will notify you of reports and they will know who you are when you call for their analysis of issues and events. Learn what attachments, if any, your experts have. Biases don’t render an expert’s research useless, but you must know them and note them.
• Develop national sources. Contact national associations, academic experts and federal agencies to develop sources with expertise in the subject you cover. They may provide valuable perspective for a local story. Or they may know something happening locally. They may alert you to a national trend.
• Show interest. Sources may want to bend your ear about a matter other than what you want to talk about. Listen. You may get a good news tip. Even if the source thinks it’s a story and you don’t, show interest. However boring or annoying a source may be, however uninteresting you find this alleged tip, you don’t know when a little bit of knowledge might be helpful. Even if the information is completely useless, the source will appreciate your interest and may someday tell you something that is important or interesting.
• Face the music. When you write a story that might make someone mad, show up at her office the day the story runs, or call, either to ask directly about the story, to follow up or on some other pretense. Give the person a chance to sound off. If you made mistakes, admit them. If you didn’t, hold your ground but listen respectfully. Many sources (politicians, lawyers, coaches, athletes) are used to respectful adversary relationships and they will respect you and keep working well with you if you show the respect and courage to face the music when you’ve nailed them. This also is a good time for getting news tips. If someone is upset about a negative story, ask about more positive news happening in his territory. If he says the situation in his office isn’t nearly as bad as in another office, ask for details about the other office.
• Admit your mistakes. If you make an error (or the newspaper makes an error on your turf), admit the mistake, correct it and apologize personally to those affected. People understand that mistakes happen and they respect people who take responsibility. If you weren’t mistaken or it’s not clear whether you’re mistaken (such as a disagreement over emphasis, rather than a factual error), listen sincerely to the complaint. Even if you disagree, give the source her say and discuss why you told the story the way you did. Consider whether a follow-up story is warranted. If not, suggest a letter to the editor or op-ed offering.

• Whatever niceties you engage in to establish rapport, the source should understand that your interest in the relationship is receiving information and understanding.

  Share control. Even if a source spends a lot of time with reporters, he probably doesn’t feel completely comfortable facing you and your notebook. Occasionally in an interview, give him some control. Sure, you’re asking the questions, but answer his questions if he asks any. Listen politely as he wanders off the subject occasionally. The source will feel more comfortable answering your questions if the relationship doesn’t feel one-sided.

• Take control. Ask your questions directly. If the source ducks a question, ask again. Whatever niceties you engage in to establish rapport, the source should understand that your interest in the relationship is receiving information and understanding.
• Track your sources. Use a spreadsheet to keep track of information about your sources. Get their office phone, direct office phone, cell phone, home phone, vacation home phone and pager numbers. Get their e-mail addresses. Record names of secretaries, spouses, children, hometowns, former jobs, alma maters, anything you learn that might later be handy to know.
• Regard your sources as characters. You’re not going to profile everyone on your beat. But you might profile anyone on your beat. So regard them all as characters you must develop fully. Learn about their families, hobbies, background, favorite sports teams, watering holes. Note their mannerisms. Even if you never write that profile, learning these things will bring some tips your way, as the character will tell you about something she heard from her husband or an interesting thing happening in a social group to which she belongs.
• Stay on the record. As much as possible, keep your interactions on the record, especially when you’re talking about information your sources know first-hand. Your sources should always understand that this is a business relationship and your business is gathering and reporting information. When you have to go off the record, make sure it is for a good reason. For instance, if a source is telling you something he doesn’t know first-hand, you wouldn’t quote him about that anyway, but the tip may lead you to first-hand sources. If you go off the record, make sure both of you understand the terms: Is the information for publication or not for attribution? If so, try to get agreement on a description of the source that’s as precise as possible. Is the discussion not for publication (if so, make sure the source knows you will try to get it in the paper using other sources)? Before you go off the record in any fashion, tell the source you might try to get her on the record later if she says anything you want to use. And if she does, go back later with just the information or quotes you want to use, and try to get her on the record.
• Ask for documentation. Always ask for documentation of what your sources tell you. You don’t have to do this in a challenging way (unless you’re challenging). Present it as part of your quest for accuracy. Or if the source was uneasy about discussing something for the record, say you can attribute something to a document rather than to him. Documents provide verification. They may provide details that your source can’t recall or did not know. They may lead you to other sources. In addition, they provide precedent. If a source gives you a document when it’s in her interest, it may be difficult for her to claim later that the same sort of document is not a public record.
• Establish a connection. Don’t be afraid to show your human side. If you have children the same age as the source, commiserate about car seats or car pools or car insurance, whatever stage the children are. If he hates your favorite sports team, engage in some good-natured trash talk. If she has an illness in the family, show genuine compassion. Don’t fake a connection or stretch for one, but be alert for genuine ways to make a connection. If you have little in common with the person, connect by showing genuine interest in the character beyond the narrow focus of today’s story.
• Beware of getting too close. If your relationship with a source moves beyond friendly to friendship, you may need to adjust the relationship. You might need to ask some tough questions that remind him of the nature of your job. You can’t and shouldn’t withdraw from community life. But if you encounter sources at church and in children’s sports and the like, you may need to establish some boundaries. If you’re unsure whether a relationship is getting too cozy, discuss it with an editor. Maybe you should discuss it with a source, too. The source might feel a little uncomfortable, too, and might appreciate hearing that you can cheer together at your kids’ baseball game Tuesday and still argue Wednesday over news coverage or access to records.
• Go prospecting. Take time to go “prospecting” for sources and stories. That means to take a trip or set up an interview with no particular story in mind. You’re visiting a source you haven’t seen for a while or a community or agency you haven’t covered for a while. You go just to familiarize yourself, to take someone to lunch or chat in the office or home a while. Maybe you’ll come back with a terrific story you never would have known enough to pursue. Maybe you’ll come back without a particular story, but with some tips to pursue. Maybe you’ll just come back with a valuable source to contact in future stories. At the least, you’ll gain a greater understanding of your community and your beat. Prospecting almost always yields stories and is always time well spent. You just can’t tell the editor in advance what it’s going to produce.

SOURCE: http://www.notrain-nogain.org/

Related Websites on Bangladesh Politics

Students can visit the following websites to get background information on Bangladesh politics:

http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/bd_politics.html

http://www.politicalresources.net/bangladesh.htm

http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/94.htm

http://www.bangladeshpolitics.org/

Bangladesh Political Crisis: 2006-2007

From wikipedia, free encyclopaedia

The 2006–2007 Bangladeshi political crisis began in October 2006 when a caretaker government — designated by the constitution to oversee the vote — assumed power without exhausting the provisions of selection of Chief of Caretaker government at the end of October. Its purpose was to steer the country through the scheduled parliamentary elections. However, on 3 January 2007, the Awami League made its predicted announcement that it(and the 18 smaller parties attached to it) would boycott the general election scheduled to be held on 22 January 2007, questioning its fairness and the non-availability of an accurate voters listg. This announcement lead to widespread violence and political rioting. ^[1] This on-going political crisis has stemmed largely from an apparent politicalisation of the civil administration, election commission and defense force that was perceived to be skewing the election process towards a pre-determined result. This follows on from almost 2 decades of bitter rivalry between the Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The BNP-led government stepped down in October at the end of their term. Although the caretaker government was appointed immediately afterwards, Awami League and its allies maintained their position regarding the fairness of the upcoming election. Violence erupted throughout the country, killing more than 40 people.

Contents [hide] 1 Background and buildup of the crisis 2 Cessation of election monitoring operations 3 State of emergency 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

// [edit] Background and buildup of the crisis

Bangladesh’s political dynasties illustrated (click to enlarge).

According to Bangladesh’s unique electoral system, a caretaker government is entrusted to oversee the national parliamentary elections, which must be held within ninety days of dissolving a parliament. The constitution stipulates that the last retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court lead this caretaker government as its Chief Advisor (with status of Prime Minister) and would appoint a maximum of ten advisors (with status of ministers) to assist him. The caretaker government runs all the state’s affairs during these ninety days, including conducting the nationwide parliamentary elections. However, during this time, the Defense Ministry’s charge is transferred to the country’s President, who assumes the role of Commander-in-Chief.

At the end of BNP’s 2001-2006 term, Awami League accused BNP of politicising the top levels of civil government as well as the election commission, judiciary and the command of the Army, claiming that a free and fair poll would not be possible unless mass changes were brought about in the administration. They also questioned the immediate past Chief Justice’s neutrality and accused him of being biased towards BNP.

Amid protests and violence led by Awami League right after the term of BNP ended in October 2006, the former Chief Justice K M Hasan declined to take the job of Chief Advisor (CA). As a final option in the constitution, President Iajuddin Ahmed himself took the role, in addition to his own responsibilities, and appointed an advisory council.

Awami League, although wary of Iajuddin as the CA, agreed to take part in the elections but also demanded that he bring mass changes in the administration to free it from BNP’s politicisation. They also demanded that a new and accurate voter list be compiled. The allegation that the Voter list was flawed has been somewhat supported by EU’s election observers.^{[citation needed]} Awami League also accused Iajuddin of being a puppet of BNP and on January 3, 2007 finally declared that they would boycott the election and violence broke out across the country.

[edit] Cessation of election monitoring operations

On January 11, 2007, the United Nations and the European Union suspended their election monitoring operations because they felt that conditions for a credible vote did not exist.^[2] In a statement, the EU said, “The European Commission has decided to suspend its Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Bangladesh covering the parliamentary elections on 22nd January. The European Commission has called back the long-term observers already on the ground, and will not deploy the other phases of its observation mission, which was due to be led by MEP Alexander Graf Lambsdorff.”^[3] A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that “The political crisis in Bangladesh has severely jeopardized the legitimacy of the electoral process. The announced cancellation of numerous international observation missions is regrettable. The United Nations has had to suspend all technical support to the electoral process, including by closing its International Coordination Office for Election Observers in Dhaka.”^[4]

[edit] State of emergency

On the same day as the UN and EU withdrawal from the election procedures, chief advisor of the caretaker government Iajuddin Ahmed (the current president) announced a state of emergency in Bangladesh after weeks of political crisis over the upcoming elections, implementing a late night to early morning (11 p.m. to 5 a.m.) curfew. It has been suggested that that was in fact a form of coup.^[5] Within hours of the state of emergency declaration, President Ahmed announced his resignation as chief advisor, as well as the postponement of the scheduled election. Prior to his own resignation, he accepted those of nine of the ten advisors of the caretaker government. The remaining advisor on the board Fazlul Haque was then appointed by President Ahmed as the interim chief advisor. “It is fairly apparent that it was done under pressure from the army because of the threat that the country could lose its peacekeeping role,” said analyst Zafar Sobhan, a columnist for the leading Daily Star newspaper^[6]. On January 12, 2007, the former Bangladesh Bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed was sworn in as the new chief advisor. Mr. Ahmed appointed five advisors on January 13 to form the new interim government. The curfew was lifted once the police received reports of Fakruddin Ahmed being named the head of the caretaker government^[7]. The state of emergency, however, continues to be in effect until further notice, and it suspends some basic rights provided by the constitution, such as the freedom of movement, assembly, and speech. ^[8]

[edit] See also

• Minus 2 Formula

[edit] References

1. ^ “Is Bangladesh heading towards disaster?“, BBC, 2007-01-08. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.

2. ^ “Observers shun Bangladeshi vote“, BBC, 2007-01-11. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.

3. ^ “European Commission suspends its Election Observation Mission to Bangladesh“, European Union, 2007-01-11. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.

4. ^ “UNITED NATIONS SAYS BANGLADESH POLITICAL CRISIS JEOPARDIZES ELECTORAL LEGITIMACY, URGES ALL PARTIES TO REFRAIN FROM VIOLENCE, SEEK COMPROMISE“, United Nations, 2007-01-11. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.

5. ^ http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8560006 The coup that dare not speak its name

6. ^ http://http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070114/lf_afp/bangladeshpolitics_070114031213 Bangladesh army calling the shots amid turmoil: analysts

7. ^ http://bdnews24.com/home.php The news of new CA taking over

8. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6254403.stm State of emergency report from BBC

[edit] External links

• “The coup that dare not speak its name”, The Economist
• Bangladesh government
• Awami League
• Bangladesh Election Commission
• Military Government Crackdown on Internet Users in Bangladesh

Politics of Bangladesh

Politics of Bangladesh
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Bangladesh)

Politics of Bangladesh takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Bangladesh is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Constitution of Bangladesh was written in 1972 and has undergone thirteen amendments.[1]

Contents
1 Executive branch
2 Legislative branch
3 Political parties and elections
4 Judicial branch
5 History
5.1 Provisional government
5.2 1972-1975 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
5.3 1975-1981 Ziaur Rahman
5.4 1982-1990 Hussain Mohammed Ershad
5.5 1991-1996 Khaleda Zia
5.6 1996-2001 Sheikh Hasina
5.7 2001-2006 Khaleda Zia
5.8 2006-present Caretaker Government
6 Administrative divisions
7 Government Agencies
8 International organization participation
9 References

EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Main office holders
Office Name Since
President Iajuddin Ahmed 6 September 2002
Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed 12 January 2007

The President is the head of state , a largely ceremonial post. The real power is held by the Prime Minister, who is the head of government. The president is elected by the legislature every five years and has normally limited powers that are substantially expanded during the tenure of a caretaker government, mainly in controlling the transition to a new government. Bangladesh has instituted a unique system of transfer of power; at the end of the tenure of the government, power is handed over to members of a civil society for three months, who run the general elections and transfer the power to elected representatives. This system was first practiced in 1991 and adopted to the constitution in 1996.[2]

The prime minister is ceremonially appointed by the president and must be a member of parliament (MP), commanding the confidence of the majority of the MPs. The cabinet is composed of ministers selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president.

Legislative branch

Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban houses the Parliament of BangladeshThe legislature is a unicameral, 300-seat body, the Jatiyo Sangshad. The 300 members are elected by universal suffrage at least every 5 years. There is universal suffrage for all citizens at the age of 18.

“On 16 May 2004, the Jatiyo Sangshad (the national parliament) passed the 14th constitutional amendment to reintroduce quotas for women (article 65). The number of seats in parliament is to be raised to 345, 45 (13%) of which will be reserved for women in the next parliament. The seats will be allocated to parties in proportion to their overall share of the vote. This quota system repleces the previous quota law which expired in 2001. Until 2001 a system of reserved seats for women was used, where 30 seats out of 330 were reserved to women (chosen by indirect election by the 300 directly elected MPs). This provision of guaranteeing women reserved seats expired in April 2001. This quota system was first introduced by the 1972 Constitution (originally providing for 15 reserved seats for women, out of 315 seats, for a period of 10 years). In 1978 a presidential proclamation enlarged the number of reserved seats to 30 and extended the period of reservation to 15 years from the date of promulgation of the constitution of the Republic in December 1972. The constitutional provision lapsed in 1987 and was re-incorporated in the constitution by an amendment in 1990 to be effective for 10 years from the first meeting of the legislature next elected. This provision also lapsed in 2001. The Parliament elected in October 2001 does not have reserved seats for women. Women’s groups are lobbying for these seats to become directly elected positions and for the number of reserved seats to be increased.” International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

The 8th Parliament had its first sitting on 28 October 2001.

Political parties and elections

The two major parties in Bangladesh are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Awami League. BNP finds its allies among Islamist parties like Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh while Awami League aligns itself traditionally with leftist and secularist parties. Another important player is the Jatiya Party, headed by former military ruler Ershad. The Awami League-BNP rivalry has been bitter and punctuated by protests, violence and murder. Student politics is particularly strong in Bangladesh, a legacy from the liberation movement era. Almost all parties have highly active student wings, and students have been elected to the Parliament.

Two radical Islamist parties, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), were banned in February 2005 by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Since then, a series of bomb attacks took place in the country and have been blamed on those groups, and hundreds of suspected members have been detained in numerous security operations, including the head the of those two parties in 2006. The first recorded case of a suicide bomb attack in Bangladesh took place in November 2005.

Summary of the 1 October 2001 Bangladesh Jatiyo Sangshad election results
Parties Votes % Seats
Bangladesh Nationalist Party 22,833,978 40.97 193
Bangladesh Awami League 22,365,516 40.13 62
Jatiya Party (Ershad) 7.25 14
Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh 2,385,316 4.28 17
Jatiya Party (Naziur) 621,772 1.12 4
Islami Oikya Jote 376,343 .68 2
Krishak Shramik Janata League 261,344 .47 2
Jatiya Party (Manju) 243,617 .44 1
Non-partisan and others 6
vacant – 2
Total (turnout 74.9 %) 55,728,162 100.0 300
Rejected votes 441,871
Total votes 56,169,233
Registered voters 74,951,319

Source: Bangladesh Election Commission

Judicial branch
The highest judiciary body is the Supreme Court, whose Chief Justice and judges are recommended by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the President. The judiciary has come under criticism for lack of independence. Indeed, magistrates for lower courts are selected via the same process for all members of the civil service, an office which is run by the executive. In the summer of 2007, a new law has been enacted to redress this problem.[citation needed] Laws are loosely based on English common law, but family laws such as marriage and inheritance are based on religious scripts, and hence differ from one religious community to another.[citation needed]

History

Provisional government
The provisional government of the new nation of Bangladesh was formed in Dhaka with Justice Abu Sayeed Choudhury as President, and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (“Mujib”)–who was released from Pakistani prison in early 1972–as Prime Minister.

1972-1975 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Mujib came to office with immense personal popularity, but had difficulty transforming this popular support into the political strength needed to function as head of government. The new constitution, which came into force in December 1972, created a strong executive prime minister, a largely ceremonial presidency, an independent judiciary, and a unicameral legislature on a modified Westminster model. The 1972 constitution adopted as state policy the Awami League’s (AL) four basic principles of nationalism, secularism, socialism, and democracy.

The first parliamentary elections held under the 1972 constitution were in March 1973, with the Awami League winning a massive majority. No other political party in Bangladesh’s early years was able to duplicate or challenge the League’s broad-based appeal, membership, or organizational strength. Relying heavily on experienced civil servants and members of the Awami League, the new Bangladesh Government focused on relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of the economy and society. Economic conditions remained precarious, however. In December 1974, Mujib decided that continuing economic deterioration and mounting civil disorder required strong measures. After proclaiming a state of emergency, Mujib used his parliamentary majority to win a constitutional amendment limiting the powers of the legislative and judicial branches, establishing an executive presidency, and instituting a one-party system, the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL), which all members of Parliament were obliged to join.

Despite some improvement in the economic situation during the first half of 1975, implementation of promised political reforms was slow, and criticism of government policies became increasingly centered on Mujib. In August 1975, Mujib, and most of his family, were assassinated by mid-level army officers. His daughter, Sheikh Hasina, happened to be out of the country. A new government, headed by former Mujib associate Khandakar Moshtaque, was formed.

1975-1981 Ziaur Rahman
Successive military coups resulted in the emergence of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ziaur Rahman (“Zia”) as strongman. He pledged the army’s support to the civilian government headed by President Chief Justice Sayem. Acting at Zia’s behest, Sayem dissolved Parliament, promising fresh elections in 1977, and instituted martial law.

Acting behind the scenes of the Martial Law Administration (MLA), Zia sought to invigorate government policy and administration. While continuing the ban on political parties, he sought to revitalize the demoralized bureaucracy, to begin new economic development programs, and to emphasize family planning. In November 1976, Zia became Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) and assumed the presidency upon Sayem’s retirement 5 months later, promising national elections in 1978.

As President, Zia announced a 19-point program of economic reform and began dismantling the MLA. Keeping his promise to hold elections, Zia won a 5-year term in June 1978 elections, with 76% of the vote. In November 1978, his government removed the remaining restrictions on political party activities in time for parliamentary elections in February 1979. These elections, which were contested by more than 30 parties, marked the culmination of Zia’s transformation of Bangladesh’s Government from the MLA to a democratically elected, constitutional one. The AL and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), founded by Zia, emerged as the two major parties. The constitution was again amended to provide for an executive prime minister appointed by the president, and responsible to a parliamentary majority.

In May 1981, Zia was assassinated in Chittagong by dissident elements of the military. The attempted coup never spread beyond that city, and the major conspirators were either taken into custody or killed. In accordance with the constitution, Vice President Justice Abdus Sattar was sworn in as acting president. He declared a new national emergency and called for election of a new president within 6 months–an election Sattar won as the BNP’s candidate. President Sattar sought to follow the policies of his predecessor and retained essentially the same cabinet, but the army stepped in once again.

1982-1990 Hussain Mohammed Ershad
Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Hussain Mohammed Ershad assumed power in a bloodless coup in March 1982. Like his predecessors, Ershad suspended the constitution and–citing pervasive corruption, ineffectual government, and economic mismanagement–declared martial law. The following year, Ershad assumed the presidency, retaining his positions as army chief and CMLA. During most of 1984, Ershad sought the opposition parties’ participation in local elections under martial law. The opposition’s refusal to participate, however, forced Ershad to abandon these plans. Ershad sought public support for his regime in a national referendum on his leadership in March 1985. He won overwhelmingly, although turnout was small. Two months later, Ershad held elections for local council chairmen. Pro-government candidates won a majority of the posts, setting in motion the President’s ambitious decentralization program. Political life was further liberalized in early 1986, and additional political rights, including the right to hold large public rallies, were restored. At the same time, the Jatiya (People’s) Party, designed as Ershad’s political vehicle for the transition from martial law, was established.

Despite a boycott by the BNP, led by President Zia’s widow, Begum Khaleda Zia, parliamentary elections were held on schedule in May 1986. The Jatiya Party won a modest majority of the 300 elected seats in the national assembly. The participation of the Awami League–led by the late Prime Minister Mujib’s daughter, Sheikh Hasina Wazed–lent the elections some credibility, despite widespread charges of voting irregularities.

Ershad resigned as Army Chief of Staff and retired from military service in preparation for the presidential elections, scheduled for October. Protesting that martial law was still in effect, both the BNP and the AL refused to put up opposing candidates. Ershad easily outdistanced the remaining candidates, taking 84% of the vote. Although Ershad’s government claimed a turnout of more than 50%, opposition leaders, and much of the foreign press, estimated a far lower percentage and alleged voting irregularities.

Ershad continued his stated commitment to lift martial law. In November 1986, his government mustered the necessary two-thirds majority in the national assembly to amend the constitution and confirm the previous actions of the martial law regime. The President then lifted martial law, and the opposition parties took their elected seats in the national assembly.

In July 1987, however, after the government hastily pushed through a controversial legislative bill to include military representation on local administrative councils, the opposition walked out of Parliament. Passage of the bill helped spark an opposition movement that quickly gathered momentum, uniting Bangladesh’s opposition parties for the first time. The government began to arrest scores of opposition activists under the country’s Special Powers Act of 1974. Despite these arrests, opposition parties continued to organize protest marches and nationwide strikes. After declaring a state of emergency, Ershad dissolved Parliament and scheduled fresh elections for March 1988.

All major opposition parties refused government overtures to participate in these polls, maintaining that the government was incapable of holding free and fair elections. Despite the opposition boycott, the government proceeded. The ruling Jatiya Party won 251 of the 300 seats. The Parliament, while still regarded by the opposition as an illegitimate body, held its sessions as scheduled, and passed a large number of bills, including, in June 1988, a controversial constitutional amendment making Islam Bangladesh’s state religion.

By 1989, the domestic political situation in the country seemed to have quieted. The local council elections were generally considered by international observers to have been less violent and more free and fair than previous elections. However, opposition to Ershad’s rule began to regain momentum, escalating by the end of 1990 in frequent general strikes, increased campus protests, public rallies, and a general disintegration of law and order.

On December 6, 1990, Ershad offered his resignation. On February 27, 1991, after 2 months of widespread civil unrest, an interim government oversaw what most observers believed to be the nation’s most free and fair elections to date.

1991-1996 Khaleda Zia
The center-right BNP won a plurality of seats and formed a coalition government with the Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, with Khaleda Zia, widow of Ziaur Rahman, obtaining the post of Prime Minister. Only four parties had more than 10 members elected to the 1991 Parliament: The BNP, led by Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia; the AL, led by Sheikh Hasina; the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), led by Golam Azam; and the Jatiya Party (JP), led by acting chairman Mizanur Rahman Choudhury while its founder, former President Ershad, served out a prison sentence on corruption charges. The electorate approved still more changes to the constitution, formally re-creating a parliamentary system and returning governing power to the office of the prime minister, as in Bangladesh’s original 1972 constitution. In October 1991, members of Parliament elected a new head of state, President Abdur Rahman Biswas.

In March 1994, controversy over a parliamentary by-election, which the opposition claimed the government had rigged, led to an indefinite boycott of Parliament by the entire opposition. The opposition also began a program of repeated general strikes to press its demand that Khaleda Zia’s government resign and a caretaker government supervise a general election. Efforts to mediate the dispute, under the auspices of the Commonwealth Secretariat, failed. After another attempt at a negotiated settlement failed narrowly in late December 1994, the opposition resigned en masse from Parliament. The opposition then continued a campaign of Marches, demonstrations, and strikes in an effort to force the government to resign. The opposition, including the Awami League’s Sheikh Hasina, pledged to boycott national elections scheduled for February 15, 1996.

In February, Khaleda Zia was re-elected for the second term by a landslide in voting boycotted and denounced as unfair by the three main opposition parties. In March 1996, following escalating political turmoil, the sitting Parliament enacted a constitutional amendment to allow a neutral caretaker government to assume power conduct new parliamentary elections; former Chief Justice Mohammed Habibur Rahman was named Chief Advisor (a position equivalent to prime minister) in the interim government. New parliamentary elections were held in June 1996 and were won by the Awami League; party leader Sheikh Hasina became Prime Minister.

1996-2001 Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina formed what she called a “Government of National Consensus” in June 1996, which included one minister from the Jatiya Party and another from the Jatiyo Samajtantric Dal, a very small leftist party. The Jatiya Party never entered into a formal coalition arrangement, and party president H.M. Ershad withdrew his support from the government in September 1997. Only three parties had more than 10 members elected to the 1996 Parliament: The Awami League, BNP, and Jatiya Party. Jatiya Party president, Ershad, was released from prison on bail in January 1997.

Although international and domestic election observers found the June 1996 election free and fair, the BNP protested alleged vote rigging by the Awami League. Ultimately, however, the BNP party decided to join the new Parliament. The BNP soon charged that police and Awami League activists were engaged in large-scale harassment and jailing of opposition activists. At the end of 1996, the BNP staged a parliamentary walkout over this and other grievances but returned in January 1997 under a four-point agreement with the ruling party. The BNP asserted that this agreement was never implemented and later staged another walkout in August 1997. The BNP returned to Parliament under another agreement in March 1998.

In June 1999, the BNP and other opposition parties again began to abstain from attending Parliament. Opposition parties have staged an increasing number of nationwide general strikes, rising from 6 days of general strikes in 1997 to 27 days in 1999. A four-party opposition alliance formed at the beginning of 1999 announced that it would boycott parliamentary by-elections and local government elections unless the government took steps demanded by the opposition to ensure electoral fairness. The government did not take these steps, and the opposition has subsequently boycotted all elections, including municipal council elections in February 1999, several parliamentary by-elections, and the Chittagong city corporation elections in January 2000. The opposition demands that the Awami League government step down immediately to make way for a caretaker government to preside over paliamentary and local government.

2001-2006 Khaleda Zia
Khaleda Zia won a second term in 2001. Her coalition included several Islamist parties, a fact which was criticized by those who feared post-9/11 Islamic radicalism and de-secularization in Bangladesh. Islamist violence targeting courts and imposing social strictures became a serious problem as Zia’s term wore on. It came to a head in 2005 with the first suicide bombing and a coordinated bombing. This problem abated as two parties were outlawed and the leaders of the movement were rounded up.

2006-present Caretaker Government
An election was scheduled for the end of 2006, however it did not take place. The caretaker government was accused of BNP bias by Hasina and her coalition, who fomented nationwide protests and shutdowns. In January 2007, the head of the caretaker government stepped down, many believe under pressure from the military.

Fakhruddin Ahmed, former World Bank economist, was selected to replace him and has committed himself to rooting out corruption and preparing a better voter list. Emergency law was declared and a massive campaign to crack down on corruption is underway. By July 2007 some 200,000 people had been arrested. The government says it will hold elections before the end of 2008.

In April, Ahmed’s administration attempted to reform the political parties by exiling Hasina and Zia, but they backed down amid domestic and international protestations. Hasina, who had been visiting her children in US, was allowed to return but she faced serious charges, including involvement in the assassination of four political rivals. In July, she was taken into custody after two businessmen testified that she had extorted 80 million taka (US$1.16 million) from them.[3] This provoked angry protests from her supporters; even her bitter rival Khalida Zia, as well as six British MPs and MEPs, called for her release.[4] Khaleda herself faces charges of tax evasion.

Administrative divisions
At the local government level, the country is divided into divisions, districts, subdistricts, unions, and villages. Local officials are elected at the union level. All larger administrative units are run by members of the civil service.

Further reading from wikipedia:
2006–2007 Bangladeshi political crisis
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006%E2%80%932007_Bangladeshi_political_crisis)

Course Outline: MSJ 418 – Political Journalism

Course title: Political Journalism

Code – MSJ 418

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), Fall 2007Mondays: 10:00am to 11:20am (may be changed!)Wednesdays: 10:00am to 11:20am Room no: 405 Shameem Mahmud E-mail: shameemdu@yahoo.com

 COURSE DESCRIPTION:

General aim:This course assumes that students have basic knowledge of news values, and they have also skills of news gathering and writing.  Rather than repeating training in those areas, general aim of this course is to expand your knowledge and understanding of how government and politics work, and to give you the necessary skills, intellectual grounding and ethical foundation for reporting politics as a whole. Objectives:This course is designed to develop skills in political journalism, which include ability to generate own ideas for journalistic work, identifying news, cultivating sources, interview techniques and producing original pieces of work in a newsroom environment. At the end of the course students should be able -         to work in a real newsroom situation with a clear understanding of political reporting, -         to build close contact with sources, -         to use interview techniques, -         to cover political programs, speeches, elections and parliamentary debates with highest ethical consideration, and -         to do in-depth reporting in the area of politics.Texts: 1. Campbell and Wolselly, How to Report and Write the News; Prentice-Hall, Inc,. 19612. Richard Keeble, The Newspapers Handbook, Routledge. 19943. Bryce T. McIntyre, Advanced Newsgathering (Praeger Publishers, NY) 19914. Chilton R. Bush, News Writing and Reporting Public Affairs, second edition (Chilton Book Company) 19755. Bruce D. Itule and Douglas A. Anderson, News Writing and Reporting for Today’s Media, Sixth Edition, McGraw- Hill (2003)*Additional chapters from relevant books and news stories from newspapers and magazines will be distributed in class.*In order to participate class discussion students should also read on a regular basis: The Daily Star, New Age, Prothom Alo, Ittefaq, Jugantor and Samokal. Students should also watch TV news bulletins and political talk shows as well as check the websites of Election Commission and different political parties regularly. This is also suggested to visit the class blog <http://poljournalism.wordpress.com> on a regular basis.  Methods of instruction:

• Lecture
• Group/individual activities
• Discussion
• Reading assignments
• Field trip/covering real and mock news events

Assessment:Assessment methods include class activities and evaluation of writing assignments §      Class attendance and participation                       20%§      Writing a speech report                                 10%§      Writing report on a press conference            10%§      Interview a politician                                  20%§      Election report                                              20%§      Writing an in-depth political report                      20% CLASS SCHEDULES:October 22   §         Tutor introduction and KNOW each other§         Students’ background knowledge on journalism and course EXPECTATIONS §         Class blog http://poljournalism.wordpress.comOctober 24§         Description of the course and syllabus§         Political system of BangladeshOctober 29§         Political journalism/Political reporters§         Why politics matter/Politics and media§         Politics as a news beat  October 31§         News gathering and writing techniques (review)November 5§         Who can be your potential source§         How to cultivate sources§         How to attribute sources §         Keeping diaries and notesNovember 7  (Revolutionary Day – holiday) no class November 12§         Areas to cover in politics – political parties and leaders§         Political programs – rallies, processions, speeches, street agitation §         Elections §         Parliamentary debate  November 14 §         Political rallies and§         Speech reporting (Students will write a real or mock speech report)November 19§         Press conferences and briefing (Students will cover a live or mock press conference)§         Open and close door meetingsNovember 21 – mid term [activities will be given later]November 26§         Interview  - who will be interviewed§         How to prepare yourself§         Taking interview and writing (Students will interview a political leader)November 28

• Political programs – hartals/strikes/ sit-in/ human chain/ hunger strikes

December 3

• Election 1

December 5

• Election 2

*Students will write a news story on voter listing program in DhakaDecember 10

• Parliament 1

December 12

• Parliament 2

December 17

• In-depth political reporting
• Mid mapping

December 19

• Ethics in political journalism

December 24

• Wrap up

   

Welcome

Hello,
This is our class blog for the course MSJ 418 – Political Journalism. We will use this site to share handouts, links to important sites and also to publish your works – political reports. So, it is mandatory to have a look in this blog regularly. Hope we will enjoy the next 13 weeks.

Until October 21, 2007, don’t worry about the classes and enjoy the Eid. Have a nice Eid.
Greetings,

Shameem Mahmud
(Course teacher)

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