News Writing
What is news?
It is information that has meaning for a
set of readers
 A report of recent events or previously
unknown information
 Its bases are facts, interests and readers.
School news usually include:
worthwhile or extraordinary acts of learners
 contest results, winners
 New administrators, teachers
 prominent or strange visitors
 new rules and policies
 improvements, repairs
PTA and school organization activities
 anything that informs, entertains or sets
learners, teachers or administrators thinking
about reforms

 Straight
news story
* told in direct fashion
*depends on freshness of facts for reader interest
* proceeds from the most important to the least
important (inverted pyramid structure)
The Lead
the beginning of a newspaper story
 the most important paragraph
 grabs or captures the reader’s attention

Answers the question –
What do my readers need to know most?
The conventional lead
Most leads for the News Writing
Contest should be summary leads.
They summarize the 5Ws and H of
the story, starting off with the most
important W or H.
Characteristics of a good lead
 Includes only the 5Ws and the H which are
important
 Starts with the most important or the most
interesting fact
 Is short
 Avoids when possible, beginning with such
words and phrases as a, an, the; at a
meeting; yesterday, last night; days of the
week; according to; it is; there will be
 Suggests the source of the news when necessary:
* about future events in order to protect the
paper if the event does not occur
* To attribute an opinion and thereby avoid
editorializing
Avoids overloading the lead
 Identifies the persons mentioned
 clear in structure and content
News Structure
Lead
Quoted statement
Continuation of major details
Facts or related details
or a quoted statement
Minor details
Less important data
Least important data