Tight deadlines are a fact of life in journalism, since newspapers and news shows are generally distributed daily. A TV or radio reporter may be handed a story idea (or two) at 9 a.m., which must be ready to be aired for that day's newscast at 6 p.m.

The reporters must interview their sources and write their stories by mid-afternoon, to allow time to review and edit their taped interviews and footage into a story. Newspaper deadlines are a little longer, since many newspapers are now printed overnight. Reporters may have until 11 p.m. to hand in their stories.

For this reason, most successful planned news events (such as press conferences) are held in the morning, usually between 9 and 11 a.m. This gives the reporter enough time to attend the event, interview other sources afterwards, and go back to the newsroom to write and prepare the story.

But these daily deadlines make it difficult for reporters to interview young people. Even if a journalist wants a youth perspective in a story, most young people are inaccessible during the day - busy at school .

Of course, not all stories are written and produced in the course of a single working day. "Features" - in-depth pieces that cover an issue or event from different angles - can take days and even weeks to research, write, record, edit and produce.

Features also offer journalists the opportunity to spend more time exploring issues, and to present them in a thoughtful way.

For more information on the pressures of deadlines, and the commercial concerns that affect news coverage, see the Stereotypes section.