news writing

NEWS WRITINGNEWS WRITING

WHAT IS NEWS?WHAT IS NEWS?

NORTH

EAST

WEST

SOUTH

WHAT is NEWS?WHAT is NEWS?

News

Events

With

Significance

WHAT is NEWS?WHAT is NEWS?

If a DOG BITES a MAN

- NOT NEWS

If a MAN BITES a DOG!

- NEWS

WHAT is NEWS?WHAT is NEWS?• Newsworthiness

new, strange, interesting, significant

• EmphasisIs it important? Is it interesting?

• W’s and HWhat, Who, When, Where, Why, How

• Source of infoIdentify / imply source

WHAT is NEWS?WHAT is NEWS?

• basically an event, idea or reaction that is presented factually and simply in a written form to give the reader an idea of what is currently happening around him or her, particularly on matters of interest to the community

WHAT is NEWS?WHAT is NEWS?

What is news in ONE PLACE may not be news in ANOTHER What is news in ONE PLACE may not be news in ANOTHER

WHAT is NEWS?WHAT is NEWS?

What is news TODAY may not be news TOMORROW

WHAT is NEWS?WHAT is NEWS?

What is news for one person may not be news for another person

WHAT is NEWS?WHAT is NEWS?

What is news to a MAN may not be news to a WOMAN

WHAT READERS WANTWHAT READERS WANT

• You might write terrific stories, but they’re You might write terrific stories, but they’re worthless if nobody reads themworthless if nobody reads them

CHARACTERISTICS of NEWSCHARACTERISTICS of NEWS

1. TIMELINESS

2. FACTUALITY

3. PROXIMITY

4. PROMINENCE

5. SIGNIFICANCE

6. ODDITY

SOURCES of NEWSSOURCES of NEWS• NATIONAL SCENE

- public officials, other government offices - private groups, financial institutions- cause-oriented groups / NGOs

• COMMUNITY- activities of the local government officials

• SCHOOL CAMPUS- views of university officials on certain issues, student activities, programs, seminars, new policies, etc.

BASICS of NEWS GATHERINGBASICS of NEWS GATHERING

1. Actual coverage of the event

2. Interview

3. Writing from documents

The NEWS STRUCTUREThe NEWS STRUCTURE

News stories found in most newspapers are basically classified into two:

– HARD NEWS

– SOFT NEWS

The NEWS STRUCTUREThe NEWS STRUCTURE

HARD NEWS• Called straight news• Objective• Direct and Factual

• Timely

☞ important to a large number of people

e.g. gov’t events, foreign affairs, politics, education, labor, religion, courts, etc.

SOFT NEWS• Featurized• Subjective• Interpretative

• Less Timely

☞ focuses on abstract events usually associated with human interest

The NEWS STRUCTUREThe NEWS STRUCTUREHARD NEWS• Lead Paragraph

- primary or more

important facts • Succeeding

Paragraphs- facts become less important

• Closing Paragraph- least important

SOFT NEWS• Lead Paragraph

- least important • Succeeding

Paragraphs- facts become more

interesting

• Closing Paragraph- primary or most

important facts

The NEWS STRUCTUREThe NEWS STRUCTURE

HARD NEWS or STRAIGHT NEWS

detailsdetails

secondarysecondary

leadlead

primary or more primary or more important factsimportant facts

HARD NEWS STRUCTUREHARD NEWS STRUCTUREW’s and H• What: Anti-smoke belching campaign• When: last week• Who: NSTP students• Where: main gate• How: by boycotting smoke belchers

☞NSTP students held an anti-smoke belching campaign at the main gate last week by boycotting smoke belching vehicles.

The LEADThe LEAD

“The beginning is the most important part of the work. “ - Plato

“Everyone remembers great beginnings.”

The LEADThe LEAD• the beginning of a newspaper story

• the most important paragraph

• also called the slant or angle (for hard news lead)

• should attract the reader’s attention and sustain its readers to read on

The LEADThe LEAD☞ The lead is like a miniskirt

“It should be SHORT enough

to be INTERESTING

and

LONG enough

to COVER the ESSENTIALS.”

The BODY of the STORYThe BODY of the STORY

☞If the LEAD “tells the story in a nutshell,”

the BODY retells the story in detail by:

– explaining or elaborating the feature / s in the lead

– adding minor features not summarized in the lead

The ENDING of a STORYThe ENDING of a STORY

• Finish strong

- Endings should leave the readers satisfied, giving a sense of completion

• A number of techniques to open your story may be used to close them

- mood setting, description, quotation, etc.