The Basic 6 Questions
The Basic 6 that all reporters and journalists must ask.
I have mentioned in a few articles (and in Spoutible and Bluesky posts) about six questions that people should ask all of the time. In the news, these are the six questions that actually can shape a story. Without trying to shape an agenda…these six questions are the basis of holding people accountable, and also to unlock natural curiosity. You yourself have found yourself asking these basic six questions all the time…in fact it’s embedded in our nature, and also is a huge thing in the English Language. I will go over the basic six questions, and their contexts, how they’re supposed to be used, and how it can help you with media literacy, and especially logic training.
The first of the basic 6 is “who?”
The first question of the basic six is “Who?” It’s very easy and self-exlanatory. This question is asking “What person, or organization is involved?” That’s right we have to know who actually is involved. We also need to know exactly what their story is, and how exactly are the events related to them. This is hyper self-explanatory. Even though sometimes, the person might not want to talk at all…and in journalistic practice, you have to back off when they say no comment.
This is because they do not want to self-incriminate themselves. Also they may be under an NDA (Non disclosure agreement) or a gag order by the courts to keep quiet. However, remember the person, or the organization is the first building block to the report.
The Second of the Basic 6 is “what?”
The second of the Basic 6 is “What?” That is, here is another one as in “which events are happening right now, and how are the people involved?’ This serves to describe exactly what is going on at the moment. In breaking news sitiations however, things do get murky as they do not have info at all, or incorrect info at the time of the story.
Also this question is an objective one. That is, we want to know what object was involved, or what object instigated this event. Taking from a more recent example, Elon Musk and DOGE’s are the objects in this case, and they’ve instigated a backlash for trying to break into, and illegally shutter government agencies that Congress has the power to do so.
Also in the news “What” is also an event that is instigated. That is “What has happened, and what is going on?’ are the two biggest questions anybody can ask. In fact this leads me in to the third of the basic six.
The Third of the Basic 6 is “Where?”
The third of the basic six is “Where?” This is means “Which place or settings are the events taking place?” This means that there has to be a place that these events have taken place in. There’s always a place where these events take place in. For example, the 2025 Inarugartion of Trump v 2.0 took place at the capital retunda with brely any people, where v1.0 was the least attended (by person) event in 2017.
Also for an example of the “Where” in historical context was the assasinations of John F. Kennedy, and Bobby Kennedy (RFK jr’s father). These places are burnt into the minds of those who watched the news. Also even in local stories, it’s best to tell where the events are taking place, as not oeverybody will know where that is.
The Fourth of the Basic 6 is “When?”
This is one of the most important questions is “When?” that is “At what time did these events happen, or at wht time did this person say this?” This is hyper self-explanatory. The timing of the events in the news usually are within a day, or hours. In fact the credit for even the corprate mainstream media is that they will go out of their way to report on timely events (Though, they need to report on more than the same 2-3 stories).
Also the timing of the event is actually hyper important. For example, the first invasion of Iraq when Saddam Hussein invated Kuwait and fired off rockets in Saudi Arabia, with which the USA beat them back. More recently January 6th, 2021 with the violent insurrection on the capital to stop the electoral vote counts.
Also sometimes the timing of an event can be just natural happenstance. Sometimes, during live remotes…things just happen. For example this is from a little over a decade ago where a live remote happened, and a car crashed.
The 5th and 6th of the Basic six is “Why and How?”
Now we’re getting into the big two. I combined them becauase both require actual logical thought. The first is “So…what do you think?” The second is “What were the oder of events, in order, that caused this?” These two are also the simplist, and most complicated question to ask anybody. In news reporting, asing somebody “why?” is putting them on notice that they should think things though.
The answers to a “Why?” question ordinarily invokes a response of opnion. That is you want to know what the person thinks. A good reporter/journalist will ask this question, and have evidence to refute if somebody’s trying to filibuster, or be intellectually dishonest. Also keep in mind that it’s up to the person giving their answer to make their case with actual evidence.
“How?” on the other hand is very much is asking a person “Hey give me the step-by-step process of what happened, and when it happened.” In short this is a step-by-step timeline of events that happened. Also here is where things can get very bad for an ill prepared person. Because they are on the spot to explain exactly how everything went down, and a good reporter/journalist will keep them in check.
How does the basic 6 help in Logic and Media Literacy?
This is a very good question. This actually forces a reader to be like Edward R. Murrow. The biggest question one would ask is “Does this make sense, and if not, why not?” Asking the basic six will first clear up any confusion, and will help you guard against the fallacy that is often used in debate, and mainstream journalisim.
Also by asking the basic six yourself, you are doing more than you realize mentally. You are doing logic training, and don’t even know it. After all, humans are naturally curious cretures of habit, and asking questions is how to satisfy and deal with such curiosity.
The corporate mainstream media on the other hand…they need to start and go back to basics. When asking directly the basic six, they can end so many problems. Listen I know there’s some who are doing the work, however the entirety of the business has to do the work. This also means not sensationalizing or framing an agenda. It means pure reporting.