NEWS WRITING 4.1

• News - any event, idea, or opinion that is timely, that interests or affects a large number of persons in a community, and that is capable of being understood by them.
• Elements of News

  • universal guideline of writers.
  • determines which materials are newsworthy or valued by the public.
• Timeliness or Immediacy

  • recently concluded
  • ongoing events
• Oddity or Unusualness

  • strange news items that makes an audience curious
  • one-of-a-kind events that rarely happen.
• Prominence or names

  • famous personalities, places, events, and things
• Human Interest or Emotions

  • appeals to emotion
  • giving a touch of humanity
• Conflict

  • struggle or disagreement between opposing forces
• Suspense

  • ongoing developments or unresolved outcomes
  • eager to learn more as events unfold
• Significance

  • why the story matters
  • provoke meaningful discussion
• Amusement

  • to avoid boredom on the part of the readers
  • make them smile once in a while
• Other news elements: Change, Drama, Numbers
• Drama - refers to an event that has high emotional impact.
• Change - newsworthy when something is different from what it was before.
• Numbers - refers to statistics used to support claims made by sources.
• Kinds of News

  • School News
  • Local News
  • Provincial News
  • National News
  • International News
• How to conduct a news gathering

  • actual coverage of the event or happening
  • Interview
• How to conduct new gathering

  • Actual coverage of the event or happening
  • Interview
  • Writing from documents such as speeches, programs, memoranda, and other important papers.
  • Readings or research
  • Conducting a survey
• ABC's of News Writing

  1. Accuracy - correct or precise
  2. Brevity - concise; keep it short and simple
  3. Clarity - coherent and intelligible
• Writing a news report follows different way of narrating an event that follows STRICT METHOD of writing.
• The conciseness and brevity are of utmost importance
• News report banks on integrity and honesty and present FACTS and eliminates FICTION.
• Inverted Pyramid - A pyramid with the most important information at the bottom.

  • Placing the most important information in the lead paragraphs and then arranging the remaining details. Used in News Writing. '
• LEAD

  • A single paragraph that contains the four W's (What, Who, When, and Where). In some cases who what and so what only.
• SECONDARY or SUPPORT LEAD

  • Explains or compliments the main lead; consists of two paragraphs or twice the length of the lead paragraph.
• Details or Particulars

  • Give flesh to the story
  • All available facts are included here, particularly those that would answer the why and how.
  • Body
• Background

  • relevant past events are recounted and incorporated
• Journalism

  • profession of reporting and writing the news
  • follows a different set of writing style which is distinguishable from other types of writing