Journalistic Writing

• Journalistic writing

  a style of writing used to report news stories in newspapers, even in television broadcasts, on radio, or on the Internet.

  written in short sentences and paragraphs and quickly gets to the point
• Purposes of Journalistic Writing

  gives readers information

  can also entertain

  can be persuasive without choosing sides, maintaining the balance between two opposing ideas
• In order for journalistic writing to be effective, it has to present information in an objective manner. Journalistic writing relies on facts and evidence, rather than on opinion or emotional appeals.
• Other journalistic articles such as feature articles and opinion/editorial articles do not necessarily subscribe to the inverted pyramid, as features can be more flexible to suit the interests of the reader.

  A) 5Ws 1H

  B) Important Details

  C) Other General Info

  
• News Story

  1. Recent or breaking news
  2. Intro summarises the story in a nutshell
  3. Sources and Angle: Can, but doesn’t always, contain more than one source and angle
  4. Structure: Inverted pyramid
• Feature

  1. Any issue could be news-related or human interest
  2. Intro: Often has a human focus or tells an anecdote
  3. Sources and Angles Always contains a variety of sources and angle
  4. Structure: More flexible; can take linear or a non-linear structure/ include story-telling. Conclusion is important.
• A journalistic text has a catchy headline to grab the reader's attention.
•  A journalistic text starts with a lead. This paragraph contains the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, and why) and identifies the basic information the readers should know.
• The main body of journalistic text is written in paragraphs.
• The body of a journalistic text should include direct or indirect quotes to support the facts it presents.
• A journalistic text is written in third person and avoids personal opinion and bias.
• Since journalistic reports happen in the past, they are generally written in the past tense.
• Pictures with captions are often included in the text as support
• Journalistic texts should answer the following questions: What is the latest? What is happening to the people involved now?