Tutorial 5 : The right angle and Sourcing for information

• Identify the 5Ws and 1H

Who: Amos Yee and Neo Gim Huah

Where: State Courts

What: Neo Gim Huah pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three weeks to jail

When: May 23 2017

Why : The judge wanted to make an example of him to show that any form of “vigilantism” will result in severe punishment.

• Prioritize them and explain your choice 

I would choose to report more on the “what”,”why” and “who” as these factors are newsworthy. People want who was the guy who slapped the infamous Amos Yee. They want to know what happens to the guy because this is a unusual situation and people want to know what happened to him. They would also want to know why judge gave him that sentence.

• Explain why this story is newsworthy by identifying the relevant news values

Eminence and prominence: Amos Yee is an infamous figure because of his controversial opinions so it is unexpected for an incident like this to happen,especially in Singapore.

Consequence and Impact: Since this is an uncommon incident in Singapore, people do not know about the punishment is for vigilantism and how severe it will be.

• Explain the context behind this story, and whether this makes the story more or less newsworthy

Amos Yee , at the time, was a controversial figure because he spoke ill of Lee Kuan Yew on the week of his death and had said hateful remarks about religion. So, due to his offensive nature of his comments, he was hated by everyone. The perpetrator, Neo Gim Huah was offended by him and decide to take matters in his own hands. This make the story newsworthy because there are differing opinions on whether Amos Yee had it coming and the issue of “vigilantism” – whether it is good to take matters in our own hands.

• Determine the prominence of this story, based on your editorial judgement (assuming you are the editor of an online news site, using the template from the previous tutorial)

This story is prominent since it involves an infamous figure, Amos Yee who was trending a lot and people are shocked that someone would act violently because of his comments and they could be wondering what might happen to the perpetrator, Neo Gim Huah.

Tutorial 5: Sourcing for information

• What is the story about? 

This story is about the IT and Science school air-conditioned canteen, “Flavours” closing down on 31st May due to Elsie’s Kitchen Catering Services Pte Ltd ceasing their operations. It is going to be under new management.

• How would you prioritise your 5Ws and 1H?

I would priortise “when” ,”what” and “why” because “what” informs the students of the closing and the “why” is for explaining the decision to close. The “when” is to notify students when it is closing.

• Why is the story newsworthy? (news values, editorial judgement, audience wants/needs)

This story is newsworthy because it affects the TP students. It has the news value of human interest because this is information the students need to be notified of and they would also want to know what the new management plans to do. Students who often eat there can also express their feelings about this closing.

• Background

Elsie’s Kitchen Catering Services Pte Ltd which was the organisation that was operating Flavours, the IT and Science air-conditioned canteen, would cease their operations by 31 May 2019. In the next three months, the space would be revamped with new stalls where they would have a diversity of food from other cultures and a new design.

• Who are your sources?

Temasek Polytechnic email, stall vendors and TP students