ABSTRACT
Any journalist hoping to find stories and publish them for a particular readership has to be up-to-date with the news – otherwise it is impossible to identify what is news. It is vital to read newspapers, watch TV, listen to the radio and scan websites. It is also important to keep up-to-date with all the gossip within the community on which you are reporting. If you are working for a local paper, you need to know what local people are saying and who is who. If you are working as a parliamentary correspondent, you need to know all the MPs and the gossip about them. You may not use this information for stories, but you do need it for background, if only to ensure you are not publishing stories that are weeks or even months old, that will damage your reputation for providing up to the minute news.
