how to write & read news reports

HOW TO W

RITE

& READ NEWS

REPORTS

LEARNING GOALS• To identify the parts of a news

report• To identify bias• To identify writing style• To identify audience and purpose• To write an informative news

report

WHAT IS A NEWS REPORT?A news report is

a special form of writing that follows a very specific structure. Today we will learn the necessary parts of a news report and look at the type of writing required.

WHY DO WE READ NEWS REPORTS?• To be informed about our

communicate and the world• To help us make informed

decisions• To learn• To be persuaded • To be entertained

5W 1H• News Reports answer the 5W 1H• They are based on facts• They are to be unbiased

Who, What, Where, When, Why and How

THE ‘INVERTED PYRAMID’ STRUCTURE...

*The most important facts-Answers all 5W’s

-Is specific*Explains how the story

happened-Includes quotations from speakers

connected to the story

*Least important facts-No new informati

on-All

questions have been

answered-

Concludes with one

sentence about the future of this story

Lead

Body

Conclusion

READING A NEWS REPORTThink about the following:• Purpose: Why was the article written? To

persuade, to entertains, to educate or to inform.

• Audience: Who is the intended audience? The language and purpose should help you determine a specific audience.

• Bias: to be in favour or against one thing, person, group or event. Not to tell all aspects of a story

BIAS

Ask yourself the following questions to detect bias:

1.Whose point of view does the article focus on?

2.Who are the reporters sources?3.Are both/all sides of the story told?4.Is the language loaded to make the

reader believe a specific point of view?

EACH NEWS REPORT MUST ALSO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING PARTS:1)Masthead2)Headline3)Byline4)Dateline5)Photo6)Caption7)Quotation8)Lead

LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT EACH PART…

1) MASTHEAD• The masthead

is the largest font on the page

• It states the name of the newspaper

• Capital letters are used on all words

2) HEADLINE • The headline is one

sentence that summarizes what the news report is about. The title

• Is written in present tense

Ex. House Passes – CORRECT House Passed - INCORRECT• Is the second largest

font on the page

3) BYLINE- The byline states

the reporters first and last name

- The byline should be located before the actual report

- Capital letters must be used for each name

4) DATELINE-States the

date that the story is published in print

-Is written in words not numerical form

5) PHOTO-Needs to be clearly

related to your news report

--Should be appealing and encourage people to read the article

6) CAPTION-Is located

directly beneath the photo

-Tells the reader what is seen in the photo

-Is written in present or future tense

CORRECT: “plans to swim…”

7) QUOTATION(S)-Are statements given by people

connected to the news eventFor example: an eye witness, the

investigating officer, a neighbour etc.

-Must use double quotation marks around the words that are being spoken and the punctuation

-Must include the speaker’s first and last name

-Must explain who the speaker is in relation to the story

8) LEAD-The lead is the first

sentence of your news report

-It must include the 5 W’s and summarize the main ideas of the report

-The lead must be specific-Needs to be indented

WHEN WRITING YOUR NEWS REPORT…-The tone must be factual and informative

NO opinions of the reporter are allowed-Specific details must be included to make

the story clear-The language must be formal

NO slang or short forms, it should sound academic

-Write in third person (told from someone who was not involved)NO personal pronouns : I, we, me, our

-Include short paragraphs 3-4 sentences in length

After the car accident, Police Chief Joe O’Malley said “Jane is very lucky to be alive, we have never seen such a demolished vehicle before.”

Quotation marks around the

spoken words

Explanation of who the speaker is and how they are connected to

the story

Speaker’s first and last name

How to write a quotation:

PRACTICE: SEE IF YOU CAN IDENTIFY EACH PART OF A NEWS REPORT!

Practicing reading news reports will help you later in the unit when you read some news reports!