NEWS WRITING AND ORGANISING A NEWS STORY

News is information about current events. It is information or reports about recent events.
News can be defined as "Newsworthy information about recent events or happenings, especially
as reported by news media". But what makes news newsworthy?

ELEMENTS OF NEWS

1. Timing

The word news means exactly that - things which are new. Topics which are current are good
news. Consumers are used to receiving the latest updates, and there is so much news about that
old news is quickly discarded.

A story with only average interest needs to be told quickly if it is to be told at all. If it happened
today, it's news. If the same thing happened last week, it's no longer interesting.

2. Significance

The number of people affected by the story is important. A plane crash in which hundreds of
people died is more significant than a crash killing a dozen.

3. Proximity

Stories which happen near to us have more significance. The closer the story to home, the more
newsworthy it is. For someone living in France, a major plane crash in the USA has a similar
news value to a small plane crash near Paris.

Note that proximity doesn't have to mean geographical distance. Stories from countries with
which we have a particular bond or similarity have the same effect. For example, Australians
would be expected to relate more to a story from a distant Western nation than a story from a
much closer Asian country.

4. Prominence

Famous people get more coverage just because they are famous. If you break your arm it won't
make the news, but if the Queen of England (RIP) breaks her arm it's big news.

5. Human Interest
Human interest stories are a bit of a special case. They often disregard the main rules of
newsworthiness; for example, they don't date as quickly, they need not affect a large number of
people, and it may not matter where in the world the story takes place.

In journalism, a human-interest story is a feature storythat discusses people

or pets in an emotional way.[1] It presents people and their problems, concerns, or
achievements in a way that brings about interest, sympathy or motivation in the reader
or viewer.

Human interest stories appeal to emotion. They aim to evoke responses such as amusement or
sadness.

6.Oddity

If something is unusual, shocking, or bizarre, the strangeness alone could make it newsworthy. A
Florida man threw a gator through the Wendy’s drive-thru window? You don’t hear that often.

7. Consequence

If the impact of an event may directly affect readers, they'll want to know about it. A run-of-the-
mill burglary at the Watergate Hotel was white noise on the airwaves until it became clear what
the identities of the key players meant for the nation.

8.Conflict

Audiences are always interested in disagreements, arguments, and rivalries. If an event has a
conflict attached to it, many consumers will be interested based on that alone. Let's not forget
that it's human nature to choose sides and stand up for that choice. Stories that involve conflict
include those about religion, sports, business, trials, wars, human rights violations, politics, and
even struggle against nature, animals, and outer space.

9. Scandal

Reporters want a scoop on the scandal – everyone wants to hear all the details whenever there is
moral or legal misconduct. The philandering congressman who sends inappropriate pictures
under an absurd virtual handle is sure to draw media attention.

10. Impact
Whether it's a peaceful protest that encompasses five city blocks or a 52-car pileup on the pike,
the more people involved in the event, the more newsworthy it is. Similarly, the number of
people affected by the event will affect its newsworthiness. E.g END SARS.

WHAT IS NEWS WRITING?

News writing also known as journalism is the activity or craft of writing news in preparation for
publication.

News writing is the activity or profession of writing for newspapers, magazines, or news
websites or preparing news to be broadcast.

It can also be defined as the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and
information. It is also the product of these activities.

COMPONENTS OF NEWS WRITING

A. Inverted Pyramid Structure

The inverted pyramid structure is the most commonly used structure for news writing.

The inverted pyramid presents the most important information in a news story first, followed in
descending order by less-important information.

This structure works well for two reasons;

1. The most important information, which is presented at the beginning, helps to grab the
reader’s attention and interest, so the reader is more likely to read the entire article.
2. A story written in the inverted pyramid structure means the least important information is
at the very end of the structure. Therefore, if the story needs to be cut, it can be cut from
the bottom without any loss of important information.

If you put important information at the end, it may get deleted. Additionally, with most
consumers reading their news online, this helps ensure that they will see your most critical
information even if they do not click through to read a full article.
The lead, or first paragraph, is a simple statement that provides focus to the news story. A lead
should be written as simply as possible and should contain as many of the five Ws and H as
can be understood easily.

The body of the inverted pyramid story adds detail to the information that has been introduced in
the lead. The body should provide more information, supporting evidence, and context in the
form of direct and indirect quotes, more details, and other descriptions.

Stories in the inverted pyramid structure avoid falling into the trap of a chronological storytelling
of what happened at an event (“this happened, then this happened, then this happened”). For
example, what happens at the beginning of a meeting or event is rarely the most important or
interesting thing that occurred.

B. The five Ws and H are the key components of any news stories. They stand for;

o Who?
o What?
o When?
o Where?
o Why?
o How?

The Five Ws, Five Ws and one H are questions whose answers are considered basic in
information-gathering.
  Who said or did something?
 What was said or done? What happened?
 When was it said or done? When did it happen?
 Where was it said or done? Where did it happen?
 Why was it said or done? Why did it happen?
 How was it said or done? How did it happen? How does this affect me?

WHY ARE THE FIVE WS AND ONE H IMPORTANT?

The five W questions are important because they help establish the framework of any project.
Once you have established the answers to the ‘who, what, when, where and why’, you’ll then
have a clear picture of the tasks in front of you. With all the basic information you need, you can
tackle the project successfully.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS

The major characteristics of news are:

1. Accuracy
2. Current
3. Clarity
4. Objectivity
5. Balance/fairness
6. Attribution
7. Complete
8. Brevity

Accuracy

A news story can be regarded as accurate if all names, ages, addresses, and direct quotations in
the report are correct. Inaccuracy of new stories may lead to libel and may make you lose your
job. So you must ensure your news story is always accurate.

Current

Yesterday’s news is no longer news. It is ‘stale news.’ One of the qualities of a good news story
is current information. A reporter must always present something new that just happened and not
what is outdated.

Clarity
The news story should always be written in clear, simple, and easily comprehensible language. A
reporter should always use simple English and avoid ambiguous words in his news story. Also,
the use of punctuation and good grammar will make the reader understand the story.

Objectivity

One of the essential qualities of a good news story is to make the story’s objective known to the
reader. This means that as a reporter, you must not editorialize or inject your opinion into a news
story.

Balance/fairness

This means the ability to write a news story without showing any form of evidence of bias and
partiality. These criteria need to be considered as a new writer; whenever you write a news story,
do not judge anybody or oppose them.

Attribution

This is all about making references to the source through which you get the information of the
news story. Attribution helps place a quote in a proper frame of reference and also validate the
claims of the reporter.

Complete

According to Mencher (2010), “complete stories are written by a reporter who anticipates and
answers the question their readers, viewers, and listeners will ask”.

Brevity

A news story must always be brief, clear, and simple, and its aim must be to attract the attention
of both the editors and the reader. Most readers are in such a hurry to read an entire story in a
newspaper.

Therefore, it is advisable to always present news concisely to maintain the reader’s interest. This
method requires the inverted pyramid.

HOW TO WRITE A GOOD NEWS STORY

To write Good news stories that captivate your reader’s attention and keep them hooked, the
following steps should be taken:

1. Gather all necessary information

The first step is to gather all the information that you need to write the story.

You want to know all the facts, from as many angles as possible. Journalists often spend time ‘on
site’ as part of this process, interviewing people to find out what has happened, and how events
have affected them.

Ideally, you want to use primary sources: people who were actually there, and witnessed the
events. Secondary sources (those who were told by others what happened) are very much
second-best in journalism.

2. Find and schedule interviews withall your sources

Find out people who can provide the most accurate information about the subject: Find
sources or eyewitnesses who can provide you with the most accurate account of the subject.
Once you have your sources, be sure to verify the information given.

3. Do your own research on the subject: Read old articles, watch video clips, and listen to
audio messages on that particular subject, ensure you have background knowledge of the subject
before you start interviewing people.

4. Establish your angle

You then need to establish your story ‘angle’ or focus: the aspect that makes it
newsworthy.

This will vary with different types of journalism, and for different news outlets. It may also need
some thought to establish why people should care about your story. Ensure you understand all
angles of the story before you begin writing to avoid painting a biased picture for your audience.

5. Consider the headline

Journalists are not necessarily expected to come up with their own headlines. However, it
helps to consider how a piece might be headlined.

Being able to summarise the piece in a few words is a very good way to ensure that you are clear
about your story and angle.

6. Use the ‘inverted pyramid’ structure

Journalists use a very clear structure for their stories. They start with the most important
information (the opening paragraph, above), then expand on that with more detail. Finally, the
last section of the article provides more information for anyone who is interested.
7. Make a written outline of the story: Draft a plan or an outline of how you wish to tell the
entire story.

8. Write your first draft following your written outline: Begin writing the story following the
outline you drafted earlier.

9. Write a strong opening paragraph

Your opening paragraph tells readers why they should bother to read on.

It needs to summarise the five Ws of the story: who, what, why, when, and where. Think about
the fact the reader might want to know about that subject and the best way to tell your story such
that it is clear and easily understood by the reader.

10. Verify all your sources

Corroborate the account of your sources. Try to confirm the authenticity of each account
given by your sources in other not to provide your readers with false information.

11. Proofread your draft

Read through the draft checking for problems, holes, and weak points in your story.

12. Edit your work carefully

The final step in the journalistic writing process is to edit your work yourself before
submitting it.

Newsrooms and media outlets generally employ professional editors to check all copy before
submitting it. However, journalists also have a responsibility to check their work over before
submission to make sure it makes sense.

Read your work over to check that you have written inplain English, and that your meaning is as
clear as possible. This will save the sub-editors and editors from having to waste time contacting
you for clarifications.
 TYPES OF NEWS AND WRITING STYLE

News stories are basically divided into two types: hard news and soft news.

Hard news refers to the news stories that have an big impact at the society as a whole and need to
be reported urgently. They are factual stories with data, concerning events that are potentially
available to analysis. Examples include news on politics, crime, economics, international affairs,
natural calamities, riots etc.

Soft news on the other hand refers to the stories that provide other background information about
world events, human interest stories or entertainment news. Since these do not deal with serious
subjects, they are labeled as “soft”. Examples include sports news, celebrity news, or human
interest stories that deal with emotions.

The writing styles for both of these differ significantly, as the hard news stories are supposed to
be strictly objective- the journalist need not give his or her opinion on the story, but should
provide facts as they are. The hard news stories also ideally follow the Inverted Pyramid
structure of writing.
One difference between hard and soft news is the tone of presentation. A hard news story takes a
factual approach: What happened? Who was involved? Where and when did it happen? Why?

Soft stories can be, and are editorialized. They can be subjective, and do not follow the Inverted
Pyramid.

Knowing the difference between hard and soft news helps you develop a sense of how news is
covered, and what sorts of stories different news media tend to publish or broadcast.