Reporting and Editing Questions and Answers

Q: A news story with a central theme 'Adopted daughter meets her biological parents after 30 years' is primarily based on which news value ?

The story rests mainly on human interest.A reunion of an adopted daughter with her birth parents after 30 years appeals to readers' emotions and curiosity about personal lives; that emotional pull is the news value of human interest.Proximity is about how near an event is to the audience, conflict about clashes between people or groups, and impact about how many people an event affects. None of these is the main reason such a story is published.

Q: An unidentified suspect accused of shooting a police officer who responded to a New Delhi burglary was charged with attempted murder on Saturday police said.What kind of a lead is this ?

It is a summary lead.A summary lead packs the essential facts, the who, what, when and where, into the first sentence: an unidentified suspect (who), charged with attempted murder for shooting a police officer at a burglary (what), on Saturday (when), in New Delhi (where), attributed to the police.A buried lead hides the main point lower in the story, a staccato lead uses short, clipped phrases, and 'clutter lead' is not a standard type of lead.

Q: Which one of these newspaper sizes is very close to A3 size paper ?

The size closest to A3 is the tabloid.A tabloid page is roughly 280 × 430 mm (about 11 × 17 inches), very close to A3 at 297 × 420 mm, which is half a broadsheet page.A broadsheet is about twice that size, around 600 mm tall. The Berliner (about 315 × 470 mm) lies between tabloid and broadsheet. US Letter (216 × 279 mm) is close to A4, not A3.Many Indian newspapers publish supplements in tabloid format, while main editions are mostly broadsheets.

Q: A large sized capital letter at the beginning of the first paragraph of an article positioned in a decorative way that has a depth of two or more lines is known as :

It is a drop cap.A drop cap is an enlarged, often decorative initial letter at the start of an article or chapter that drops down two or more lines into the text. It is common in magazines and feature pages.A folio is the page number and running line, and a solus is an advertisement that appears alone on a page. 'Ping cap' is not a typographic term.Drop caps go back to illuminated manuscripts, where the first letter of a section was enlarged and decorated, and they help draw the reader's eye to the start of a story.

Q: Which one of the following investigative news stories was made into a film ?

The investigative story made into a film is the Watergate scandal.Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's reporting for The Washington Post on the Watergate break-in led to President Nixon's resignation in 1974, and their book became the film All the President's Men (1976), one of the best-known films about investigative journalism.The Hutton Report (2004) was a British judicial inquiry and the Hutchins Report (1947) a US commission on press freedom, not news investigations. The Profumo affair was a political sex scandal rather than a celebrated piece of investigative reporting.

Q: If additional information is provided to the audience by running it next to the main story it is called a :

It is called a sidebar.A sidebar is a short related item, such as background, a profile or a fact box, placed beside the main story and often boxed, to add information without slowing the main narrative.A jump story continues on another page, an in-depth story is a long analytical piece, and a feature is a non-hard-news story; none describes material run alongside the main story.

Q: What is a key characteristic of Hard News ?

A key characteristic of hard news is timeliness and significance to a wide audience.Hard news covers serious, time-sensitive events, such as politics, crime, disasters, the economy and public affairs, that matter to many people and must be reported promptly. It is usually written in the inverted pyramid, with the most important facts first, and in an objective style.The reporter's subjective opinion belongs in columns and editorials. An emphasis on entertainment value and stories of human interest are features of soft news, which is less urgent and more feature-like.

Q: Which of the following is a structure of news writing ?

The structure is the hour glass.The hourglass structure begins like an inverted pyramid, giving the most important facts first, then turns, often with a transitional line, into a chronological narrative of events, so the story is wide at the top, narrow in the middle and widens again. It is one of the standard news-writing structures, alongside the inverted pyramid, the pyramid and the nut graf or Wall Street Journal formula.'Stop clock' and 'cube' are not news structures, and a hanging indent is a typographical layout in which every line but the first is indented, not a way of organising a story.

Q: In the context of online media 'Clickbait' suggests what ?

Clickbait means using misleading headlines.Clickbait is a sensational, teasing or misleading headline or thumbnail, such as 'You won't believe what happened next', designed to make readers click, so that a site earns page views and advertising revenue, even though the content does not deliver what the headline promised.An accurate headline, high journalistic standards and greater credibility are the opposite of clickbait, which is widely criticised precisely for lowering standards and eroding the credibility of online news.

Q: Who is the author of Telgi-A Reporter's Diary'

The author is Sanjay Singh.Sanjay Singh, a journalist who reported on Abdul Karim Telgi's multi-crore fake stamp paper scam of the early 2000s, wrote Telgi: A Reporter's Diary, an account of how the scam was uncovered. The book was the basis of the web series Scam 2003: The Telgi Story (2023).Sucheta Dalal is the journalist who exposed Harshad Mehta's securities scam of 1992 and co-wrote The Scam about it, which can make her a tempting wrong answer. Arun Shourie and M.J. Akbar are senior editors and authors, but neither wrote this book.

31.

A news story with a central theme 'Adopted daughter meets her biological parents after 30 years' is primarily based on which news value ?

A.Proximity
B.Conflict
C.Human interest
D.Impact

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: C

The story rests mainly on human interest.

A reunion of an adopted daughter with her birth parents after 30 years appeals to readers' emotions and curiosity about personal lives; that emotional pull is the news value of human interest.

Proximity is about how near an event is to the audience, conflict about clashes between people or groups, and impact about how many people an event affects. None of these is the main reason such a story is published.

Discuss in Forum

32.

An unidentified suspect accused of shooting a police officer who responded to a New Delhi burglary was charged with attempted murder on Saturday police said.

What kind of a lead is this ?

A.Buried lead
B.Summary lead
C.Clutter lead
D.Staccato lead

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: B

It is a summary lead.

A summary lead packs the essential facts, the who, what, when and where, into the first sentence: an unidentified suspect (who), charged with attempted murder for shooting a police officer at a burglary (what), on Saturday (when), in New Delhi (where), attributed to the police.

A buried lead hides the main point lower in the story, a staccato lead uses short, clipped phrases, and 'clutter lead' is not a standard type of lead.

Discuss in Forum

33.

Which one of these newspaper sizes is very close to A3 size paper ?

A.Broadsheet
B.Tabloid
C.Berliner
D.Letter

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: B

The size closest to A3 is the tabloid.

A tabloid page is roughly 280 × 430 mm (about 11 × 17 inches), very close to A3 at 297 × 420 mm, which is half a broadsheet page.

A broadsheet is about twice that size, around 600 mm tall. The Berliner (about 315 × 470 mm) lies between tabloid and broadsheet. US Letter (216 × 279 mm) is close to A4, not A3.

Many Indian newspapers publish supplements in tabloid format, while main editions are mostly broadsheets.

Discuss in Forum

34.

A large sized capital letter at the beginning of the first paragraph of an article positioned in a decorative way that has a depth of two or more lines is known as :

A.Drop cap
B.Folio
C.Solus
D.Ping cap

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: A

It is a drop cap.

A drop cap is an enlarged, often decorative initial letter at the start of an article or chapter that drops down two or more lines into the text. It is common in magazines and feature pages.

A folio is the page number and running line, and a solus is an advertisement that appears alone on a page. 'Ping cap' is not a typographic term.

Drop caps go back to illuminated manuscripts, where the first letter of a section was enlarged and decorated, and they help draw the reader's eye to the start of a story.

Discuss in Forum

35.

Which one of the following investigative news stories was made into a film ?

A.The Profumo Scandal
B.Watergate Scandal
C.The Hutton Report
D.The Hutchins Report

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: B

The investigative story made into a film is the Watergate scandal.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's reporting for The Washington Post on the Watergate break-in led to President Nixon's resignation in 1974, and their book became the film All the President's Men (1976), one of the best-known films about investigative journalism.

The Hutton Report (2004) was a British judicial inquiry and the Hutchins Report (1947) a US commission on press freedom, not news investigations. The Profumo affair was a political sex scandal rather than a celebrated piece of investigative reporting.

Discuss in Forum

36.

If additional information is provided to the audience by running it next to the main story it is called a :

A.Jump story
B.Indepth story
C.Side bar
D.Feature

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: C

It is called a sidebar.

A sidebar is a short related item, such as background, a profile or a fact box, placed beside the main story and often boxed, to add information without slowing the main narrative.

A jump story continues on another page, an in-depth story is a long analytical piece, and a feature is a non-hard-news story; none describes material run alongside the main story.

Discuss in Forum

37.

What is a key characteristic of Hard News ?

A.Subjective opinion of the reporter
B.Emphasis on entertainment value
C.Timeliness and significance to a wide audience
D.Stories about human interest only

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: C

A key characteristic of hard news is timeliness and significance to a wide audience.

Hard news covers serious, time-sensitive events, such as politics, crime, disasters, the economy and public affairs, that matter to many people and must be reported promptly. It is usually written in the inverted pyramid, with the most important facts first, and in an objective style.

The reporter's subjective opinion belongs in columns and editorials. An emphasis on entertainment value and stories of human interest are features of soft news, which is less urgent and more feature-like.

Discuss in Forum

38.

Which of the following is a structure of news writing ?

A.Stop clock
B.Hour Glass
C.Hanging indent
D.Cube

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: B

The structure is the hour glass.

The hourglass structure begins like an inverted pyramid, giving the most important facts first, then turns, often with a transitional line, into a chronological narrative of events, so the story is wide at the top, narrow in the middle and widens again. It is one of the standard news-writing structures, alongside the inverted pyramid, the pyramid and the nut graf or Wall Street Journal formula.

'Stop clock' and 'cube' are not news structures, and a hanging indent is a typographical layout in which every line but the first is indented, not a way of organising a story.

Discuss in Forum

39.

In the context of online media 'Clickbait' suggests what ?

A.Its accurate headline
B.Using misleading headlines
C.High journalistic standards
D.Enhancing the credibility of online news

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: B

Clickbait means using misleading headlines.

Clickbait is a sensational, teasing or misleading headline or thumbnail, such as 'You won't believe what happened next', designed to make readers click, so that a site earns page views and advertising revenue, even though the content does not deliver what the headline promised.

An accurate headline, high journalistic standards and greater credibility are the opposite of clickbait, which is widely criticised precisely for lowering standards and eroding the credibility of online news.

Discuss in Forum

40.

Who is the author of Telgi-A Reporter's Diary'

A.Arun Shourie
B.M.J. Akbar
C.Sanjay Singh
D.Sucheta Dalal

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: C

The author is Sanjay Singh.

Sanjay Singh, a journalist who reported on Abdul Karim Telgi's multi-crore fake stamp paper scam of the early 2000s, wrote Telgi: A Reporter's Diary, an account of how the scam was uncovered. The book was the basis of the web series Scam 2003: The Telgi Story (2023).

Sucheta Dalal is the journalist who exposed Harshad Mehta's securities scam of 1992 and co-wrote The Scam about it, which can make her a tempting wrong answer. Arun Shourie and M.J. Akbar are senior editors and authors, but neither wrote this book.

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