NEWS WRITING
What is News?
a report of recent events
a material reported in a news paper or news
periodical or on a newscast
a matter that is newsworhty
Various interpretations of
what is news:
an account of any important or interesting
thing man does, says or sees
a report about any event/ situation, places
and things
when a dog bites a man, that's not news;
when a man bites a dog, that's news
anything published (or aired) that interests
a large number of people
Types of News Stories:
. urgent and short
may be less immediate and very long
comes from covering things
a. just happened
b. still happening
Hard News:
school building inauguration
an inter-school competition
a natural calamity
a science fair
Major Types of Stories found in Newspaper
and Magazines:
1. Soft NewsNews a news story that can wait for publication
and usually about a trend, an on-going event or about an
interesting person.
2. FeatureFeature an in-depth, magazine-length story.
3. Personality ProfileProfile a story that explore a person in
the news, or an interesting but not-so-prominent person.
4.
BackgrounderBackgrounder
story providing additional
information on a news event (often called sidebars and
it i may accompany a ;longer news story).
Sources of Ideas for News Stories:
1. Observing (some good stories come from noticing something
new, unusual or something not usually given
attention by everyone else)
2. Listening (many stories come from hearing what people say)
3. Asking Questions
4. A Document (e.g., a bill amending the Campus Journalism Act)
5. A Tip (a suggestion or story idea from one person who knows
about something that may be a potential story)
6. Another News Story (a follow up story that discusses any
new development from a previous
story)
7. Curiosity or Imagination (once a reporter has an idea
about
something he/she thinks is
news,
he/she then tries to find out
as
much as possible about the story)
News
Immediacy
Values
Significance
Proximity or Nearness
Prominence
Human Interest
Negativity
Conflict
Oddity
Humor
News Qualities
Accuracy
Clarity
Objectivity
Balance and Fairness
Attribution
Style
Structure of a
News Story:
Journalist normally organize their news stories using the
so-called inverted pyramid structure.
LEAD
Most Important Info
Next Most
Important Info
Less
Important
Info
Least
Impt
The Lead
1. Quotation Lead
2. Picture Lead
3. Teaser Lead
4. Punch Lead
5. Contrast Lead
6. Exclamatory Lead
7. Question Lead
Qualities of Effective Leads:
Focus
Context
Form
Information
Voice
Surprise
TipsinWritingtheLead
1. The lead must contain all the essential
information of the article so a hurried
reader, or a reader not particularly
interested topic, can quickly grasp the
essentials move on. Many journalism guides
and texts say the lead should also make the
reader want to read on to learn the details
of the article.
2. Ideally, the lead should be a one-sentence
paragraph composed of no more than 25
words. The less words you use, the more
3. The form of the lead sentence is
straightforward
declarative
sentence,
usually with the verb in simple past tense:
subject-verb-agreement.
4. Use the active voice rather than the
passive voice; it is more forceful.
5. Do not clutter up the lead with adjectives
and adverbs.
6. Do not forget about the time element.
Tell the readers in the lead when the news
happened.
7. The lead should be simple, brief,
compact vigorous, attractive, and should
shoot straight into the reader's attention.
8. The lead should avoid beginning with
the non-essential details.
9. the lead should justify the story's
newsworthiness.
10. Above all, the lead should be accurate
by all means.
Body of a Story
In a hard news story and
inverted pyramid structure,
the body supports the lead
and is organized so that the
facts and quotes are written in
declining importance.
The body of a story can be
written in other ways that
depart
from
the
inverted
pyramid form.
a. Hourglass
b. Flow
c Transition
TheEnding
The ending wraps up the remaining details of the
story.Hardnewsstoryfollowingtheinvertedpyramid
formatdonotneedastrongendingsincetheysimply
end when there is nothing more to say. But other
kinds of news stories often need a good ending. One
waytoendiswithakicker,whichisoftenacatchy
quote. Another effective ending is to conclude with a
quote or anecdote that relates a story back to the
mainthemeandleavesthereaderthinkingaboutthe
essenceofthestory.
WritingtheNewsStory
Basic Steps:
1. List all your facts.
2. Arrange your facts in descending order, or from the
most important(or more interesting) to the least
important points.
3 Always put the news at the beginning (lead). Write the
lead making sure to play the most interesting or
important points.
4. Write the next paragraph or paragraphs presenting
the other highlights or answering the questions not
answered.
5. Add other facts, keeping in mind their descending
order of importance
PointerinWriting
theNewsStory:
1. One idea per sentence
2. Limit sentence length to no more than 25
words.
3. Follow the subject-verb-agreement format.
4. Use the strong verbs and an active voice.
5. Reduce difficult words to their simpler
terms.
6. Use no more than three prepositional
phrases per sentence.
7. Choose the precise word.
8. Keep it simple.
9. Show, don't tell.
10. Give your source when necessary.
11. Identify all persons.
12. Keep it objective.
13. Have an angle.
14. Quote people.
15.Avoid preaching at the end of the
story.
16. Be very careful.
17. Read newspapers everyday.
UsingQuotes:
What to avoid when quoting
people
tripoveryourtongueQuotes
PartialQuotes
ParentheticalInfoinQuotes
JunkQuotes
StackingQuotes
WeakLeadQuotes
WeakEndQuotes
Tips in News Gathering:
See for yourself
Find the person who knows.
Compare all versions.
Get both sides.
Do not give up so easily.
Be tactful and courteous
Make and keep friends.
Get it into print.
Research
Observe proper attribution.
