Certificate III Small Business Management
Code No: 2304ACC October 11
Western Business Enterprise Centre VUT
N e w s W r i t i n g
News stories
News writing aims at providing up-to-date information quickly, clearly and objectively. A particular
writing style is used in preparing a news report. The reporter must answer six basic questions: who,
what, when, where, why and how (the famous five W's and H of news gathering). Rudyard Kipling
referred to them as the 'six honest serving men'.
Most writers of fiction tell their stories in chronological order developing the characters and story line
with detail and color-but holding the climax until the end. This is called the pyramid style of writing.
The reporter begins with the most important facts in the first or lead paragraph which 'leads' the
reader into the rest of the story. The lesser facts and background follow. There are two reasons for
this structure. The first is that when the story is being sub-edited for insertion a sub-editor can fit the
report to a smaller space by cutting from the end without destroying major details. The other reason
is that readers can skim the first few paragraphs and feel that information about the most important
facts has been read.
This style is called the inverted pyramid structure (shown in the diagram below).
A beginning feature writer will compose a soft news story or a 'do-up' as it is known. Usually the do-
up contains little hard news so the reporter must write to interest and entertain the reader. Angles are
important. The reporter must search for something on which to hang the story. The do-up enables
the reporter to explore the phraseology of the language. Neat phrases that say a lot in a few words
are useful in writing feature stories.
A feature is not an essay. It is a news story that has been lengthened with more fact, more
background and more interpretation by the reporter. Feature writing offers great satisfaction for the
journalist, but also a great deal of hard work. Every fact and angle must be researched and double-
checked.
Feature articles should be planned step by step. The composing of the feature should not be rushed.
The writer must ensure that the text is organised and thoroughly researched. A well-written story will
make readers want to read the whole article.
The guide below is useful to follow when writing feature articles.
o Find a topic.
o Present the facts.
o Background the topic.
o Present more facts.
o Bring the report up-to-date with the latest news.
D:\Docstoc\Working\pdf\6d790792-3aed-43b4-86c7-f613c17cd031.doc
-1-
Certificate III Small Business Management
Code No: 2304ACC October 11
Western Business Enterprise Centre VUT
Column writing
Daily and weekly columns are written by journalists known as columnists. The columnists are
experienced journalists who have their own very recognisable style of writing. Structure is not
based on defined rules or basic guides. This is left to a writer's talent and skill. Many different
examples of columns exist. Some can be political, humorous, descriptive, gossipy, informative and
analytical. It is only by reading the same column daily that an understanding of the columnist's style
emerges.
Writing the report
Every report is different and requires a different perspective. There are no hard and fast rules
about writing news.
As a general guide, reporters use the inverted pyramid structure.
The main details are the who, what, when, where, why and how of the news story. Generally
the what, where, when should be answered immediately and form the simple lead paragraph or
intro. After that, the who, how and why are dealt with.
The guide below is usually worth following for writing news reports.
o The Intro containing the most important or interesting information is followed by
o More facts about the matter.
o Some quotes, and
o Background to the story if necessary.
The lead or intro
The lead paragraph or intro is the most important part of a report. It will attract the reader's interest
and cause the reader to read on. If the intro does not capture interest, the reader will move on to
something else. Quite often, the writing of the lead is left until the rest of the report is written.
Generally, the lead should be not more than 30 words and the writer should avoid starting with
"the".
Angles
Reporters look for an 'angle' which will set the report's tone. For example, if the news story is about
a school sports carnival, numerous angles can be considered. The angles of rivalry between
competing teams, or conflict between two of the school sports stars might be used. The reporter
tries to select an angle that will interest the reader.
When analysing reports, students should be able to work out the angle used so they are better
able to assess news writing. This ability is one of the prime requirements in developing
discriminating newspaper readers.
The language of the news story
Newspapers aim at particular readership groups. The words used in each newspaper are suited to
the language ability of the readership. ”The Mercury” is capable of being understood by a 12 to 13
year age group. This means that anyone who has had six to seven years of schooling in language
work, should be able to cope with most text in The Mercury
To make reading easier The Mercury style is to use short sentences and simple language. The
journalist follows two simple rules: keep the report short and make it flow.
Brevity is essential, but the writer must guard against making the report sound abrupt. Fluency is
an important consideration. Paragraphs should link from one to the next. However, paragraphs
should not jump from here to there without any reason. To improve the flow, journalists use tie in
words like 'however', 'later', but', 'meanwhile'.
Reporters should try to use active voice, which is the most direct, clearest and simplest way of
telling a story. For example: "The guard hit the prisoner" not "The prisoner was hit by the guard."
D:\Docstoc\Working\pdf\6d790792-3aed-43b4-86c7-f613c17cd031.doc
-2-
Certificate III Small Business Management
Code No: 2304ACC October 11
Western Business Enterprise Centre VUT
The story should show vigour. By action word or the colorful phrase, a dull story can be turned into
something exciting. However, colorful writing must not be allowed to affect accuracy.
Accuracy in news stories
"The first requisite of all reporting is ACCURACY. If you cannot be accurate you cannot be a
journalist."
The quotation above was taken from the News Limited Training Manual which is given to all cadet
journalists. It underlines the importance attached to accuracy. Reports must be honest and
unbiased.
From quotations to background information and facts, the reporter must be a stickler for accuracy.
Inaccuracy can lead to a newspaper company being sued for defamation or injurious falsehood.
Reporters are urged to double check for accuracy.
The list below assists journalists with accuracy and objectivity. This list is again taken from the
cadet journalist's training manual.
APPROACH every report as if it is the most important you will' ever write. Even if it is only a
two paragraph filler it is worthy of the best you can give it.
NEVER underestimate your assignment. What may seem to be a dull, routine task on the
surface, could turn out to be a story which will be a talking point for days.
EXERCISE care at all times. Remember to check every fact....and then check again if you
are not sure.
DEVELOP a keen sense of news. Try always to seize on a bright angle which can turn an
otherwise dull report into a bright story.
TAKE the utmost care with names and addresses. Never put street numbers into
addresses. It only needs one slight mistake to bring a libel suit.
IF in doubt about technical terms, double check. Don't hesitate to ask the speaker at a
meeting or a lawyer in court just what a term means.
NEVER SUPPLY A REPORT TO THE SUB-EDITORS WHICH YOU DO NOT FULLY
UNDERSTAND YOURSELF.
LEARN to write clearly and accurately without the slightest tinge of bias. Simplicity of words
is always a good idea. Remember that the people for whom you are writing may not be as
well educated as you.
A GOOD reporter makes the best possible use of direct quotes and active voice.
NEVER change quotes in direct speech. If the meaning is not clear or the English too bad
in the direct quote change it to indirect speech.
Writing feature articles
Feature articles are informative stories, which rely on human interest and emotions for impact.
They can often be published a week or a month later and still be relevant. Features provide more
detailed background information about the person, situation or issue rather than focusing on the
latest news development. Newspaper readers are also TV watchers and radio listeners. They will
already have heard and seen the latest snippets of news events and will be looking for an in-depth
report on the issues from the newspaper. Feature stories cater to this need. Feature stories allow
the writer much more flexibility and often contain colorful description and highly emotional phrases.
Most writers would agree that feature writing is a far more skilled art than general 'straight'
reporting. However, the writer is less subject to space constraint and generally has more time for
research and writing. The subject can therefore be treated more adequately with care being
exercised and craftsmanship in the use of words being displayed.
D:\Docstoc\Working\pdf\6d790792-3aed-43b4-86c7-f613c17cd031.doc
-3-
Certificate III Small Business Management
Code No: 2304ACC October 11
Western Business Enterprise Centre VUT
Some features are written in narrative form. That is some feature stories begin with an introduction
which leads chronologically to a dramatic conclusion. However, many features follow the same
structure as the news story.
There are different types of features. Some of these are:
o 'Soft' news-stories about people on news pages, usually with photographs but not highly
topical. These are human interest stories and are referred to in the industry as 'do-up's'.
o Personality profiles-a lengthy interview with someone usually famous and looking at the
person behind the fame.
o Backgrounders-an analysis of issues using other reference sources and involving interviews
with several people.
o First hand experience-used to cover an event or a series of events, and describes the
reporter's experience. Investigative journalism falls into this category.
o Straight feature- about an activity, place, group of people, etc.
D:\Docstoc\Working\pdf\6d790792-3aed-43b4-86c7-f613c17cd031.doc
-4-