HOW TO ‘WRITE NEWS’?

The Five "W"s and the "H“:This is the crux of all news - you need to know five things:Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?Any good news story provides answers to each of these questions. You must drill these into your brain and they must become second nature.

It is important to be objective and stick to the facts.The reporting ‘voice’ in the story should contain only facts. Any opinions or subjective descriptions should be attributed to a named source.

The story should be kept simple and short. News stories should be no more than 400 words long, and preferably 250-300 words long. You need to write in a succinct and engaging way but still include all the important facts.

There should be a consistent house style used on your news story. Having a set house style helps to convey an impression of quality and thoroughness, no matter who is writing or editing. 

A necessity of writing news is to have a great headline. The headline is the single most important part of a news story. The headline must be clear, concise and tells your story using just a few words. Cut out unnecessary words and shorten phrases. This is not an easy skill and takes practice, but it is worth spending time on getting it right.

Having a picture in your article makes a huge difference. A good photo or other image to accompany your story is a great way to reinforce and complement your news. When you are writing your story, always think of how you could illustrate the story with a picture.