NEB Class 12 Humanities Mass Communication and Journalism Question Paper 2077 Nepal

Feature writing is a detailed, in-depth, human-interest style of journalistic writing that goes beyond straight news to explain, interpret, entertain or inform with a creative narrative, background and analysis (not bound by the inverted-pyramid news format).

Major types of feature: news feature, human-interest feature, personality/profile feature, informative/educational feature, how-to (utility) feature, historical feature, travel feature, seasonal feature, interpretative feature, and review/criticism.

A code of conduct is a set of ethical principles, rules and professional standards that guide the behaviour of journalists (e.g. accuracy, fairness, objectivity, accountability, protection of sources, avoidance of harm and conflict of interest).

Importance for journalists: it ensures credibility and public trust; maintains accuracy, fairness and objectivity; protects against defamation and legal trouble; safeguards privacy and sources; promotes professional responsibility and self-regulation; upholds press freedom with accountability; and protects the dignity and rights of vulnerable people.

A radio news bulletin is a compiled, time-bound package of the latest news items broadcast on radio at scheduled times. It presents a set of concise, spoken news stories (national/international, politics, sports, weather, etc.) read by a newsreader within a fixed duration, written in clear, simple, conversational language suited for listening.

Importance of layout (page design) in a daily newspaper: it makes the paper attractive and readable; guides the reader's eye and establishes the relative importance of stories (placement, headline size); creates identity and consistency for the paper; uses space efficiently (text, photos, white space, columns); improves comprehension and reading flow; balances advertisements and content; and gives a professional, organised appearance that increases readership.

Importance of news editing: it ensures accuracy and verifies facts; removes errors of grammar, spelling and language; ensures clarity, brevity and proper structure; maintains the paper's style and policy; checks for legal/ethical issues (defamation, obscenity); writes/improves headlines and captions; trims to fit available space; and ensures objectivity, balance and credibility before publication.

Features of online journalism: immediacy/real-time updating; interactivity (comments, sharing, feedback); multimedia (text, audio, video, graphics combined); hyperlinking to related content and sources; non-linearity; global reach and 24/7 accessibility; searchability and archiving; personalisation; low cost of publishing; and convergence of media.

News editing is the process of selecting, checking, correcting, condensing and arranging news copy to make it accurate, clear, concise and suitable for publication while conforming to the paper's policy and style.

Functions of a sub-editor (copy editor): receiving and reading copy from reporters/news agencies; checking and verifying facts; correcting grammar, spelling, language and style; condensing/rewriting copy to fit space; writing headlines, sub-headings and captions; ensuring the paper's style and policy; checking legal and ethical issues; deciding placement and marking copy for the printer/page; and coordinating with the chief sub-editor and news editor.

Press freedom is the right of the media to gather, publish and disseminate news, information and opinions freely without prior censorship or undue state interference, as part of freedom of expression.

Present status in Nepal: Press freedom is guaranteed as a fundamental right by the Constitution of Nepal 2072 (with no prior censorship and protection against closure of media). Nepal has a vibrant, plural media sector (print, radio, TV, online). However, challenges remain: occasional threats, harassment or attacks on journalists; legal provisions (e.g. defamation, cyber and IT laws) that can be misused; economic pressure and self-censorship; political/ownership influence; and gaps in the safety and professional security of journalists. Overall the legal framework is strong but practical implementation faces difficulties.

Broadcast journalism is the form of journalism in which news and current affairs are gathered, produced and disseminated to a mass audience through electronic broadcast media — radio and television (and now web/streaming). It uses sound and/or moving images, relies on immediacy and audio-visual presentation, and includes bulletins, reports, interviews, talk shows and documentaries.

Types of headline: banner/streamer headline (across the full page width); main/lead headline; flush-left headline; centered headline; stepped/drop-line headline; hanging indention; inverted pyramid headline; kicker (eyebrow); deck/sub-headline; crossline; and label/standing headline. They differ by size, position and arrangement of lines to signal a story's importance.

An interview in journalism is a structured conversation in which a journalist asks questions to a person (the interviewee) to gather information, facts, opinions or views for a news story, feature or programme. It may be conducted face-to-face, by phone or online, and types include news/information interviews, personality interviews, group interviews and press conferences.

(क) Press Release: An official written statement issued by an organisation, government body or person to the media to announce news, events, decisions or positions, written in news style for journalists to use as a source.

(ख) Gate-keeper: A person (editor, sub-editor, news director) or process that decides which news/information passes through the media 'gate' to the audience and which is filtered out, thus controlling what becomes news.

(ग) Lay-out: The arrangement and design of text, headlines, photographs, advertisements and white space on a page to make a publication attractive, readable and to signal the relative importance of items.