Kerala +2 Journalism common mistakes
Kerala +2 Journalism · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Writing a news report as a chronological narrative that begins with background or a quote and only reveals the main event in the middle or at the end.
Candidates carry over the essay-writing habit from school English, where suspense and build-up are rewarded; they do not internalise that news is read top-down and may be cut from the bottom, so the most newsworthy fact must come first.
What to do instead
Before writing, list the facts and rank them by news value, then draft a one-sentence summary of the single most important development. Open with that sentence, add the second and third most important facts in the next two sentences, and push background below. Practise the 'last paragraph test': delete the final paragraph and check the story still stands.
Confusing news values with the structure of a news story - for example, answering a question about 'what makes this newsworthy' by describing the inverted pyramid, or listing only 'importance' and 'interest' without naming specific values.
The two topics are taught in the same introductory unit and both are described as 'what makes news', so candidates blur the concepts and cannot produce precise terms under exam pressure.
What to do instead
Learn the news values as a named set - timeliness, proximity, prominence, consequence/impact, novelty/oddity, conflict, human interest, currency - and for each write one local example from Kerala (for instance, a monsoon alert as timeliness plus consequence). Separately memorise the story structures (inverted pyramid, hourglass, narrative) and label them as structure, not value.
Writing a headline that is a full sentence with a verb phrase copied from the lead, or a vague label such as 'Important Meeting Held', rather than a tight, active, present-tense headline with a subject and a strong verb.
Candidates treat the headline as a summary of the story rather than a display element with its own grammar, and they have not practised the conventions: present tense for past events, active voice, omission of articles and auxiliary verbs, and a verb in every headline.
What to do instead
Drill the headline grammar rules explicitly: simple present for past action ('Minister Opens Bridge'), active voice, no 'is/are', no full stop, single quotes for speech. Write ten headlines of a fixed character count (say 32 characters) for the same story and compare which ones keep the subject and verb. Check every headline has a verb and fits the assigned column width.
Treating defamation, privacy, and copyright as a single 'media law' blob, so answers on a defamation question mention 'right to privacy' or 'fair use' instead of the specific elements of defamation.
The law unit is studied late and often skimmed; candidates memorise a list of Act names and case names without learning what each area actually protects or what the defences are.
What to do instead
Build a four-column table for each legal area: what it protects, what the complainant must prove, the defences available, and one landmark Indian case. For defamation specifically, memorise the requirements - defamatory statement, identification of the person, publication to a third party - and the defences of truth, fair comment, and privilege. Answer only within the area the question names.
Describing the interview as 'asking questions' and the feature as 'a long news story', with no mention of preparation, open versus closed questions, the difference between news and features, or the role of the intro and the kicker.
These topics are taught through examples rather than definitions, so candidates can recognise a feature but cannot state its characteristics or the interview process in exam terms.
What to do instead
Memorise a short checklist for each. Interview: research the subject, prepare a question list, open with easy questions, mix open and closed questions, listen and follow up, close and verify. Feature: human interest angle, longer shelf life, colour and description, personality and quotes, a narrative structure with a strong ending, and clearly distinguished from hard news by timeliness and treatment. Practise writing a 150-word feature intro and a 150-word hard news lead on the same event and compare them.
Answering questions on page layout by listing software names or describing a 'nice design', without using the vocabulary of layout - grid, columns, gutter, masthead, ear, fold, white space, hierarchy, modular layout, dummy.
Layout is often taught as a practical lab session with little written theory, so candidates know how to drag elements on screen but not the terminology examiners expect.
What to do instead
Learn the parts of a page as a labelled diagram you can redraw from memory: masthead, ear panels, folio, columns and gutter, headline, deck, byline, caption, body text, photograph, white space. Then learn the principles - hierarchy, balance, contrast, alignment, proximity, modular design - and apply each to a real front page from a newspaper you can describe in words.
Naming press freedom as an absolute right, or writing that Article 19(1)(a) covers freedom of the press in those exact words, without mentioning reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2) or the absence of a separately named press freedom article.
Candidates remember the headline fact ('Article 19 gives freedom of speech') and stop there, missing the qualification that examiners are testing.
What to do instead
Learn the formula precisely: freedom of the press is read into Article 19(1)(a) as part of freedom of expression; it is not absolute; Article 19(2) permits reasonable restrictions on grounds such as sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, public order, decency or morality, contempt of court, defamation, and incitement to an offence. Cite one instance of each restriction with a concrete example.
Writing about radio and television as if they were print - describing a 'lead' and 'headline' in a broadcast script, or ignoring sound, visuals, and time constraints entirely.
Most practice is in print writing, and broadcast is covered briefly at the end of the course, so candidates default to the print template when asked to write or analyse a broadcast script.
What to do instead
Learn the broadcast script format as a two-column layout: video/visuals on the left, audio on the right, with cues such as VO, SOT, piece to camera, and anchor intro. Remember the differences - write for the ear, short sentences, conversational tone, no unfamiliar abbreviations, time yourself reading aloud to fit the slot, and let pictures carry meaning. Practise converting one print story into a 30-second radio script and a 30-second TV script.
Explaining development communication and the social role of media only in slogans such as 'media is the fourth estate' or 'media creates awareness', with no mention of specific functions, theories, or development programmes.
These are the 'soft' topics at the end of the syllabus, revised last and superficially, so answers stay at the level of general statements that could apply to any country or decade.
What to do instead
Anchor each claim to a named concept or example. For media's role, use the functions - information, education, entertainment, surveillance, correlation, transmission of culture, mobilisation. For development communication, name the approach (diffusion of innovations, social marketing, participatory communication) and give one Indian or Kerala example such as a literacy campaign or a health awareness drive, and say what the media did in it.
Writing answers on the history of the press as a list of dates and names with no explanation of significance, and mixing up the order of key milestones such as the first Indian newspaper, the Vernacular Press Act, and the role of the press in the freedom struggle.
History is memorised as isolated facts for quick recall, and the exam often asks for significance or chronology rather than a single date, exposing the lack of a connected narrative.
What to do instead
Build a timeline you can reproduce from memory with four columns: year, event, person or institution, and why it mattered. Group milestones into phases - early missionary and colonial papers, the vernacular and nationalist press, the press after independence - and for each phase write two sentences on its character. Test yourself by covering the 'why it mattered' column and reconstructing it.