ALL ABOUT NEWS WRITING
WHAT IS NEWS?
• a report of any event or situation
• a record of the most interesting, important and accurate information obtained about the things man
think and says, sees and describes, plans and does.
• News is "any event, idea or opinion that is timely, that interests or affects a large number of persons in
a community, and that is capable of being understood by them."
6 MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS
Timeliness
Impact
Prominence
Proximity
Singularity aka Novelty
Conflict / Controversy
BASIC STRUCTURE OF NEWS
• When we write news, we place the most essential in the beginning, then write the facts in the
decreasing order of importance, hence, the term INVERTED PYRAMID is applied.
PRIMARY OR MAIN LEAD
Usually a single paragraph that contains the four Ws ( What, Who, When, and Where ). In some cases
WHO, WHAT and SO WHAT? only.
SECONDARY OR SUPPORT LEAD
Explains or compliments the Main or Primary Lead; consists of two paragraphs or twice the length of the
lead paragraph.
DETAILS OR PARTICULARS
Give flesh to the story; all available facts are included here, particularly those that would answer the
WHY and HOW.
BACKGROUND
Relevant past events are recounted and incorporated.
THE LEAD
• The LEAD is the writer's promise to the reader. It captures the essence of the story. It answers what
the news story is all about. It encourages the readers to continue reading the news story.
• The story's opening sentence or two.
• Tells the most important facts of the story.
• It could be a word, a phrase, a sentence or a paragraph that attracts and sustains the reader's interest.
TYPES OF LEAD
SUMMARY LEAD
It answers the 5WS and 1H. It also gives the readers the proper attributes or authorities:
WHAT LEAD
WHO LEAD
WHERE LEAD
WHEN LEAD
WHY LEAD
HOW LEAD
GRAMMATICAL BEGINNING LEAD
Follows a grammatical form to add variety :
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE LEAD
INFINITIVE PHRASE LEAD
PARTICIPAL PHRASE LEAD
GERUND PHRASE LEAD
CLAUSE LEAD
NOVELTY LEAD
The unconventional lead uses any device that will attract attention, arouse curiosity, or sustain interest.
It adds vigor and color to writing. It does not contain the gist of the story, but merely serves as an
introduction.
PUNCH OR ASTONISHER LEAD
DIRECT QUOTATION LEAD
QUESTION LEAD
PARODY LEAD
DESCRIPTIVE LEAD
LEAD TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
• Be one sentence
• Be a maximum of 25 - 35 words
• Tells the most important piece of information that occured in the event ( in straight news )
• It should be direct and simple ( in straight news )
• It should have the most important information.
• It should not try to tell everything but should be good summary.
• The HOW and WHY will still be used in the body.
LEAD CONTENT REQUIREMENTS
• Keep the lead short.
• Leads are usually limited in one sentence and so with the body.
• Avoid starting the lead with WHERE or WHEN ( unless essential )
• Most leads start with WHO or WHAT
• Avoid beginning the lead with THERE or THIS
• Use a strong verb to describe the action
• Above all things, lead should be accurate
WRITING THE BODY
• After your lead, you will need to add necessary background to the story
• Is there important information that the reader needs to know from the previous reporting?
• Summarize the key details so that the story makes sense to a new reader.
• Significant supporting facts olaced in order of importance
• Include strongest quotes higher than peripheral or paraphrased quotes
STORY ORGANIZATION
LEAD
MATERIAL THAT EXPLAINS AND AMPLIFIES THE LEAD
NECESSARY BACKGROUND MATERIAL
SECONDARY OR LESS IMPORTANT MATERIAL
DESCENDING PYRAMID.
NARRATIVE
TRANSITIONS
QUOTES
ENDING
• Keep your paragraphs short ( one or two sentences ) and make each of your point concise.
• Readers grow tired of big blocks of text, so it's best to break it up a bit.
• Remember the KISS Principle
ADDITIONAL
• Use transitional devices
• Never add your own opinion
• Use direct quotes
• ELIMINATE "BE" FORM
• Avoid contractions like :
won't, they'd, he'd
• Do not abbreviate
• Avoid redundancy.
• For amounts : P20 million
• Penmanship should be legible/readable
TIPS IN WRITING HEADLINE
• Size of the headline should be bigger than the news article
• Summarize headline in one line
• Omit forms of the verb 'to be' ( is, are, was, were )
• Use digits, not the spelled-out one
• Abbreviate days of the week and months
• Use present tense verbs
• Follow a subject/verb-object structure
• Only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized
• Don't use a period at the end of the headline
• Use single quotes to quote material :
The President Urges 'Don't Worry, America'
• Use ( , ) as a substitute for "and"
• Use a ( : ) as substitue for the word said
• Use specific details if they are available
• Use only widely known acronyms and abbreviations
• Only use names when they're prominent and use only notable nicknames
• To lengthen or shorten a headline, you may need to eliminate or substitute words, or change its focus
entirely
