Barbara Koen was eight months pregnant, on her way home from a regular check-in with her doctor, when she was in a car accident. She was rushed to hospital with a broken leg and cracked ribs. After three hours in an operating room, she was fine -- and a mother. Doctors had performed a Caesarian section to deliver a seven-pound, three-ounce baby boy.

Those are the basic facts of the first story students have to work with. It teaches them the two primary rules and the "secret" of writing a hard news story properly.
They will quickly progress to more complicated stories, learning how news has changed over the years, how to write for broadcast and the Internet, and what to look for to avoid libel. There are also discussions of ethics and the reporter's role in society, plus much more. Throughout the book the language and explanations are simple.


Harry Goldhar, after working as a reporter for a few years in Ontario, became an editor at the Buenos Aires Herald, the Hong Kong Tiger Standard and the Toronto Star. During several years as an adjunct professor at the School of Journlism at the University of Western Ontario, he started the Town Crier chain of community newspapers in Toronto. He sold them in 1996 and wrote this book to pass on the knowledge gained during his many years working with reporters and writers.

Price: $19.95
softcover
ISBN 1-894601-03-3