Tips for Reading the News, Told by a Reporter
Tips for Reading the News, Told by a Reporter
  • Reporter Park Eu-gene
  • 승인 2021.10.12 05:14
  • 댓글 0
이 기사를 공유합니다

The role of the reporter and reader are different, yet they mirror each other. Reporters like myself ask themselves the following three questions to write a good article, but readers may also ask themselves these questions to become better readers.
The first question is: Who is the target audience, and why is this news important to them? For example, my search for a photo for this year’s G7 Summit article highlights the importance of the target audience. Many photos from Anglophone sources focused on the G7 leaders, without other invited leaders. By contrast, many Korean sources showed Moon Jae-in in the center. As a reader, understanding the target audience will allow you to also understand why the article is constructed in a particular way. In another example, when I wrote an article to raise awareness about the seriousness of child abuse, I deemed the lack of adequate child protection laws to be an important problem that the Korean citizens should help improve. Therefore, I omitted excessive portrayals about child abuse which may lead to secondary abuse, or sensationalist court scenes of the perpetrators shown in some articles. The first question will help you decide whether the article is important enough for your attention.
The second question is: How has the news been researched and presented? It is probably uncommon that you thoroughly and actively research further after an article piques your attention, but this is what reporters do all the time. For each topic, I usually narrow sources down to about 10~15, and verify any facts and figures. Their variety in information and perspectives allows me as the researcher to form my opinion independent of any particular article. Unfortunately, the limited space of an article forces reporters to choose what to include (or what not to include!) and thus how to portray the topic. One memorable source for me was from Professor Bong-Gyu Jang (IME) in my article about stock market investment during COVID-19. I received a detailed email from him about the study of stocks, but I had to summarize it to fit the rest of my article. As readers, you may not have time to research as thoroughly. However, you can still read more actively by being critical of the news, asking yourself: “Is the article well-researched and balanced?” Be aware that most articles on a particular topic only contain a small snapshot of a very large and continuously growing puzzle piece.
The third question is: What effect does this article aim to achieve? Sometimes, I write to make people act. For example, In my interview with POSTECH janitor, Kim Soon-ae, I hoped to raise awareness about the problems that janitors face, and in particular convince readers to be more careful in throwing out trash. So while reading about different people in society, imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes and change your behavior to be more considerate. Or, after reading about a problem in society (such as child abuse), become more civically engaged and take action.
I love working for The Postech Times because it expands my worldview and sparks my curiosity. What I admire in my coworkers is the range and depth of their interests and opinions. They spark interest in topics I was previously uninterested in. One coworker is particularly good at writing culture articles, another at writing about computer science and technology, and another at finance and economics ... but all of them have an interest in sharing the achievements and problems of our society through the paper. I hope that you will also grow your interest in the news through The Postech Times.

Reporter Park Eu-gene
Reporter Park Eu-gene