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News Writing

The document provides guidance on writing news articles for a campus publication. It discusses including the most essential information at the beginning and flowing from most to least important. A news article should have timeliness, proximity, significance, prominence, conflict or progress. The ideal structure includes an attention-grabbing lead paragraph answering the key questions of who, what, when, where, why and how, followed by additional details and direct quotes from sources to support and elaborate on each point. Transitions between paragraphs are critical to ensure a cohesive story. Accuracy, brevity, clarity and objectivity are essential qualities of strong news writing.

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205 views34 pages

News Writing

The document provides guidance on writing news articles for a campus publication. It discusses including the most essential information at the beginning and flowing from most to least important. A news article should have timeliness, proximity, significance, prominence, conflict or progress. The ideal structure includes an attention-grabbing lead paragraph answering the key questions of who, what, when, where, why and how, followed by additional details and direct quotes from sources to support and elaborate on each point. Transitions between paragraphs are critical to ensure a cohesive story. Accuracy, brevity, clarity and objectivity are essential qualities of strong news writing.

Uploaded by

Lukas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Campus News Writing

News Writing ...


gives the reader information that will have
an impact on them in some way. It usually
flows from most important to least
important.

It is usually about
Recent Information
Current Events
Somebody or Something Interesting
Something Previously Unknown

Elements of Newsworthiness

Timeliness
Proximity or Nearness
Significance
Prominence
Oddity or Unusualness
Conflict
Progress

For School News; Topics

Classroom Stories
Enrollment Stories
Meetings
Programs and Parties
Honor Roll
Awards
School Improvement
Elections
Out-of-school Activities

Essential Qualities of News

Accuracy
Brevity (Briefness)
Clarity
Objectivity

Sources of News

Offices, Departments, Libraries and etc.


School Calendar
Invitations and Memos
Different Clubs and Organizations
Sports Teams
Students and Teachers
Community

Kinds of News
Straight News- consists of facts reported without
elaboration
News Feature- based on facts; writer may give
his impressions , may describe and narrate
without resorting to any biased opinion.

Structure Of News

The Lead
The 1st paragraph: Most important part of the
article, summarizes the story.
The Hook: Arouses the readers interest
Answers right away the most important
questions: The 5 Ws and 1 H

Types of News Leads:


Rarely use these...
Who lead- begins with a person. The person is
usually not the most important fact of the story.
When lead - begins with time. Rarely is the
time the most important factor.
Where lead - begins with the place. Hardly
ever is where the most important factor.

Types of News Leads:


Use these often...
How lead- begins with the how of the story.
Why lead- begins with the cause the story.
What lead- begins with the fact of the story.

Who lead
Maybe... probably yes.
American Idol winner Scott McCreery will perform a
concert at the high school Thursday after giving a
speech at the County Expo Center.

Definitely NO!
Principal Joe Blow announced Tuesday that
students will no longer be allowed to leave campus
for lunch due to excessive tardies.

When lead
Maybe (probably not)...
On Thursday, President Barack Obama will speak to the
senior class about how important community
organizing and volunteering are to the country.

Definitely no!
On Tuesday, Principal Joe Blow announced that students
will no longer be able to leave campus for lunch.

Where lead
Maybe ... probably yes.
In the principals office, the senior class dumped 30
pounds of sand to protest the cancellation of the senior
trip to Cancun.

Definitely no!
At the school board meeting on Tuesday, Principal Joe
Blow announced that he has ended the off-campus lunch
policy.

How lead
Through a grass roots voting effort, senior
Gilbert Castillo won the mayoral election to
become the youngest mayor in the citys history.

Why lead
In the wake of the bleacher collapse at the
stadium, the location for the district track meet
has moved to Southside High School, and the
district is looking for an alternate graduation
site.

What lead
The community has the chance to speak on
the proposed coffee bar at the school board
meeting Thursday night.

The Body
The details of the lead
Arranged from the most important to the least
important
One sentence, one paragraph
Sentences are generally less than 25 words
Include quotations from at lease two different
people

Tips For News Writers

Make sure that your facts are accurate


Keep your sentences short
Be specific
Avoid long and complex words
Use adjectives sparingly
Do not editorialize

Direct Quotes:
Should be linked to the paragraph before them. The quote
should elaborate on the previous paragraph.
For example:
Because of an anonymous $25,000 donation,
students who ride a school bus to and from school will
have access to the Internet during their commute
Starting March 1 Giving free Wi-Fi to our students will
enable them to do research, read the news or even watch
educational videos each day, Superintendent Kelli
Putman said. This change will have a positive impact
on academic productivity.{

Next transition
Superintendent Putman first proposed this plan
in November, but the district did not have the
funding to go forward. The city newspaper
published an article about the proposal, and the
anonymous donation followed.

What comes next? From


whom?

Direct quote elaborates on


previous transition

Superintendent Putman first proposed this plan


in November, but the district did not have the
funding to go forward. The city newspaper
published an article about the proposal, and the
anonymous donation followed.
With the tight budget and tough economic times,
I thought my Wi-Fi proposal was a pipe dream,
she said.
I want to thank the donor for being so
What follows this?
generous.

More transitions and quotes (linked)


Not all families can afford or choose to have Internet services
in their home, Putman said.
This can be hard on a high school student who is expected to
research or communicate with classmates through a blog in
the evening, she said. It puts those students at a
disadvantage. Adding Wi-Fi to our buses should level that
playing field for our students.
Principal Jeanette Rother said that several teachers have been
reluctant to give assignments that require Internet access.
This opens up more resources for our students, Rother said.
We may be a little, rural town in West Texas, but we have big
city technology.

Direct Quotes:
Should not repeat the transition/lead before
them.
For example:
Principal Jeanette Rothersaid that several
teachers have been reluctant to give
assignments that require Internet access.
Several of our teachers have been hesitant
about giving homework assignments that
would require the Internet, Rother said

Direct Quotes:
Can be longer than one sentence.
Should have attribution after the first sentence of
the quote.
Attribution should be: Noun then verb.
For example:
Correct - senior Bob Rodriguez said.
Incorrect - said senior Bob Rodriguez.
(unless you have an unusually long title)

Do not place two peoples direct quotes next to


each other without a transition

Transitions
VERY, VERY IMPORTANT. Hold the story together. Link
the paragraphs together.
Can be fact, indirect quote or a partial quote.
For example - FACT TRANSITION:

(lead) President Barack Obama will speak on Friday to


seniors about getting involved in community service work.
(Direct Quote)Seniors will learn a lot about duty and
commitment when they hear President Obama, Principal
Ike Sumter said. We are so excited that he agreed to come.
(Fact Transition) Before becoming president, Obama
worked as a community organizer in Chicago.

Transitions
Can be fact, indirect quote or a partial quote.
For example - INDIRECT QUOTE TRANSITION:

(Lead) President Barack Obama will speak on Friday to


seniors about getting involved in community service work.
(Direct Quote)Seniors will learn a lot about duty and
commitment when they hear President Obama, Principal
Ike Sumter said. We are so excited that he agreed to
come.
(IQ Transition) President Obama said he believes
community service is more important than college in
building character.

Transitions
Use transitional words to help with the flow (as
needed): After all, Also, Finally, In addition,
However, Otherwise, Then
For example:

In addition to speaking about community


service, Obama plans to talk to students about
the importance of voting.

Checklist for News Stories


Are the most important and recent facts first?
Is the story accurate? Are the sources identified fully?
Are the paragraphs short?
Is the sentence structure varied in the story?
Is the story neat and double-spaced so that it is easy to read?
Does your story flow? Did you use the transition/quote formula?
Did you use active voice?

Pitfalls to Avoid
Editorializing - Keep your opinion out of the story
Using first and second person - Keep yourself out of the story.
Common error: our school
Messy handwriting, poor grammar and spelling
Paragraphs too long
Misspelling names in the story
Trying to use all of the information

THANK YOU !!!

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