Writing news

Learning objective: • to understand the structure of a

news story remembering the three Cs – clear, concise, correct

StarterStarter

clear

Discuss what these words might mean

concisecorrect

Key points?

The 3 Cs : Clear: Write it how you would say it. Get straight to the point at the beginning.

Concise: Don't waffle. Keep your sentences - and the length of your report - short.

Correct: Get your facts, spelling and grammar right.

Newsreader Huw Edwards talk talks about writing

BBC video: writing the news

What does he say about the structure of a news story?

What else should you remember about writing?

• Ask yourself - What is the main point of this story? • If you’re not sure, tell it to a friend – what’s the first thing

you say to them? • Pick out the best answers from a long interview. • Plan an ending – what final thought do you want to leave

audience with? • For TV or radio, you need to write a script that will be read

aloud - possibly alongside pictures or audio clips. • If you’re writing a text-based story, think about how

photos might work alongside it.

BBC reporter shows you how he writes a script

BBC video: Top tips on script-writing

Activity: in pairs put the paragraphs in the correct order

Here is the original Newsround article

Activity: put these pictures in the correct order.

B

C D

A

Here’s the correct order. What’s the story?

D - 1

B - 3 C - 4

CBBC Newsround - Artwork that lets you be Spiderman

A - 2

Now write your own script to match the pictures!

D - 1

B - 3 C - 4

A - 2

Activity: You are a journalist!• Find a story in a newspaper, magazine or

other reliable source and try to tell the whole story in four paragraphs - that’s about 80 words.

• What kind of information do you have to cut out? What do you notice about the language you use?

• Be ready to read it out to the class.