NEWS WRITING P R E PA R E D B Y R I C H S T E R J O H N C . MACABALLUG Let’s have an activity What I know What I want to know K-W-L CHART What I learned Understanding News Understanding News News is difficult to define because it has many variables, but one needs to determine what is newsworthy when deciding what to write about for his or her story assignments. Try to process this… News must be factual, yet not all facts are news. A news item is based on actual occurrences, situations, thoughts and ideas, yet not all facts are news. the logical nature of news may be drawn, such that… the taste of news depends on the interest of and impact to the reader. Definitions: According to Soriano et al. (2012), a news is any oral or written report of an event that happened, is happening, will happen in the North, East, West and South (NEWS) that is of interest to the reader and which should be reported. Definitions: Malinao (2008) also attempted to define news by pointing out that news is basically about an event, idea or a reaction that is presented factually and simply in written form to give the reader an idea of what is currently happening around him or her, particularly on matters of interest to the community. This lengthy definition by Malinao (2008) gives the notion that news may include or encompass any topic including a speech or a simple feedback. Moreover, it stresses that news is generally written and is based on facts Definitions: Estrada and Singh opined, "News is a timely factual report of events, ideas or situations interesting or significant to people. Others define it as literature in a hurry." Estrada and Singh's definition gives an added perspective on time elements. Literature in a hurry therefore means that news should be publicized at its freshness. It means that the life span of a news may be so short that it expires right away and that it can be buried when new angles of the news or topic are broadcast. Definitions: Estrada and Singh opined, "News is a timely factual report of events, ideas or situations interesting or significant to people. Others define it as literature in a hurry." Estrada and Singh's definition gives an added perspective on time elements. Literature in a hurry therefore means that news should be publicized at its freshness. It means that the life span of a news may be so short that it expires right away and that it can be buried when new angles of the news or topic are broadcast. Definitions: Soriano and Henson (1999), provides a seemingly technical definition of news. They inscribed that news is a reportage of accurate facts, events and ideas that interest a large number of readers. Anything that is refreshed or regenerated is also news. Here, the definition looks into the newness of idea that responds to the interest of the readers. The definition marries the idea of immediacy and interest; ergo, the newer the angle of the story, the more interesting it is to the readers. Definitions: Pangilinan (2012) provides another definition which goes, "news is information that has a meaning for a set of readers." Hence, the bases of all news are facts, interest and readers. By all the provided definitions… news can be coined by stating that it is a timely reportage of events, regardless of time and manner, which are grounded on facts. It considers nearness, importance, impact and interest to the public NEWS IN SCHOOL PAPERS With the concept of news in mind, a student journalist should remember that concerns the school, its students, the teachers, including the parents is newsworthy. News in school may include worthwhile or extraordinary acts of students like: opening of a new college, inauguration of the new building, stories of success, conflicts or suspense, school convocations and other programs, interviews of visiting personalities, merging of two colleges, increasing tuition and other fees, new grading system and the like. Characteristi cs of a Good News Timeliness or Immediacy This characteristic of a news item underscores the newest angle of the story. For instance, the changing of the grading system which was announced yesterday is more appealing to a student other than the Christmas party last December. It should be noted, too, that the more recent the event, the more appealing it is to the reader. Conflict The physical and mental struggles of persons are also newsworthy. In campus context, competitions like oratorical contests and quiz bees are newsworthy due to the mental conflicts present. Sports events during intramurals or foundation days are newsworthy, too, as they have physical conflicts. Proximity or Nearness Although proximity primarily refers to geographical location, it likewise means the nearness of interest and appeal. In the context of writing news in the campus or school for students in Batanes what is happening to Batanes State College will be of more interest to them than what is happening to Western Mindanao State University. The imposition of "no cellphone policy" in Batanes State College will interest the Batanes' readers more than the zero tuition scheme of Aklan State University, so to speak Accuracy Journalism is anchored on facts. News writing is a journalistic skill. Therefore, the contents should be accurately reported. Accuracy primarily refers to the factualness of news as purveyor of truth. Significance If something is important to the reader, surely he/she will read the news. Hence, a writer should survey whatever is significant to the life of the target readers and write about it. When news is important to him/her, the news bears a high degree of significance, thus, newsworthy and worth reading. In the campus setting, topics that are highly significant include new rules imposed by the administration or the student government, amendments to policies, upcoming big events, results of scholarship screening and the like. Prominenc e and Names "The world is unfair," so the adage goes. In this light, there are persons more popular than others. Popular names can effectuate situations and their acts may be more interesting to others. Hence, news about these persons can yield a high degree of newsworthiness, thus becoming more readable than other news. For campus papers, prominent personalities include the president of the student body, the principal, the student who won in a national competition and the like. Drama Since news is also anchored on public interest, writers should bank on any story that can lead the writers to crying or to laughing. Such story is packed with color; thus, subjects are moving. In this way, the news becomes appealing to the readers. For instance, you write a story of the student leader who manages to graduate as magna cum laude despite his five-year term as the College Student Government President. Oddity or Unusualness Sociology can explain why oddity is a good element of news. A theory explains that when persons are curious about a phenomenon deviating from a natural course, they will be interested in such a topic or issue; hence, that topic becomes newsworthy. Looking into the campus situation, one may write about a fortyyear-old student who has just graduated; he has just finished his fifth bachelor's degree in your college. This unusual situation may be so intriguing as regards the student's purpose, therefore, becoming more newsworthy to the readers. Romance and Adventure "Love makes the world go round," so a song says. Hence, stories about love, 9. Romance and Adventure including adventure, may ignite the taste of the reading public. This is also the reason why showbiz news continuously booms. Attaining breakthroughs and achieving scientific discoveries are given much. Progress Attaining breakthrough and achieving scientific discoveries are given much attention by the readers. This attribute of the news gives a high degree of shock and a sense of development in the society where the persons live. Looking into ma be in the form a newly constructed building and a school situation, progress may be in the form of newly constructed building and newly donated laboratory, equipment from alumni abroad. Numbers For persuasion, statistics or figures have the power to shake the conviction of the audience. This is why numbers yield a very strong impact on the readers. However, the figures that one should write should be worth appreciating. For instance, the Alumni Association donated one computer set last January, while the Parent Teachers Association donated 57 computer sets to the school. The latter yields a higher degree of newsworthiness than the former. It is not safe to say, however, that the higher the figure, the higher is its newsworthiness. Say, your school has performed in the National Achievement Test 50% lower than last year's data. This is a figure lower than the usual and yet bears a high degree of interest. TYPES OF NEWS STORIES According to Chronology or Sequence SPOT NEWS As the term suggests, this is a news story that gathers information as it is broadcast at the same time. Hence, it is unscheduled and demands immediate publication. In many instances, the reporter becomes the firsthand witness to the activity or subject taking place. For instance, a student journalist happens to be standing at the gate when a jeepney bumps an education student. He writes the story and publishes it in the weekly newsletter of the college. COVERAGE NEWS Many interchange spot news and coverage news. Though both of them are good avenues for first-hand information, the difference between the two is that coverage news is written based on the given assignment to the reporter or news writer. The assignment is sometimes called beat. It means that the writer knows what to write about. For example, the chief editor wants to publish what transpires in the academic meeting, so he assigns, Jessica, a writer to cover the meeting. Jessica knows what she shall write about and shall be concentrated only on the meeting, thus, her beat. According to Range and Reach LOCAL NEWS This is a news item. The subject of which happens in one's own community where the paper originates. For instance, The Builders, the official student organ of Batanes State College, covers the installation of the underground electrification system in the province; the news is said to be a local news since it is about the province itself. NATIONAL NEWS Countrywide news is called national news. It is determined when the news impacts the people of a certain country. Most national news is published in the dailies. FOREIGN NEWS All news items which trace their origin from outside the boarders of the country are called foreign news. Some foreign news articles also create impact to typical locals due to their domino effect like the oil price hike in the world market. DATELINE NEWS An out-of-town news story. This news is introduced by a dateline which states the place from which the story was reported, the date, and the source of the material if not written by the local staff. According to Construction STRAIGHT NEWS The first paragraph answers the most important W (what, where, when, why, who) depending on which of the Ws is the most prominent among them. Its body paragraphs consist of the elaboration on the Ws and the H. It is written using the inverted triangle structure. Example NEWS FEATURE This special type of news should not be confused with the feature articles (features). News feature is sometimes called special features and printed in the features sections of the newspapers or in the magazines. Human interest and news-feature stories are classified as news since both are gathered and written daily by reporters as their regular assignments. Furthermore, both emphasize the elements of timeliness or immediacy which distinguish news from other types of reading, although they differ in important respects from the straight news story. Example: a. Single-Feature or One-Incident Story It may be an account of a speech, an interview, an election, that deals with an isolated event. In writing a news-feature story with this kind of structure, include the one-feature in the lead. Add in the body details which clarify and explain the lead. See that the story breaks logically at every paragraph and that the story may be cut if lengthened as space dictates b. The Several-Feature, Multiple-Angle or Composite Story In a composite story, two or more divergent aspects of a news topic are drawn together for the sake of space and coherence. In structure, the composite story may resemble that of a follow-up story in that both of them aim to consolidate component parts. However, they differ in the sense that the follow-up story ends in a tie-in with a past story; whereas, the composite story is composed of units, each one made up of fresh spot news frequently with reference to the future. b. The Several-Feature, Multiple-Angle or Composite Story In writing, the several-feature or composite story, include all of the features in a comprehensive lead in the order of their importance. The next step is Lead to explain and elaborate in the body each of the features in the order which they are in the lead. In doing this, delegate less important details of each feature to less important positions. But remember that each chain of facts although covered separately should be handled as a single, unified story. Fact Story This is plain exposition of a simple situation of a series of closely related events which conform to the inverted triangle design more closely than any other kinds of news. The component parts are the series of facts that may be likened to rectangles of diminishing length arranged one after the other in order of their importance. The key to proper arrangement consists solely in judging the relative value of the data at hand and in grouping them in their respective order. Action Story This is a narrative involving not merely simple facts but dramatic actions — incidents, description of persons, perhaps testimonies of witness, as well as explanatory data. In reading this kind of story, first write a summarizing lead in any appropriate form. Relate the most important details in narrative or chronological form. Tell the story again by More Details giving more details. But be careful not to begin the chronological order just after beginning. Give sufficient attention to the elaboration of important information, background and interpretation. Each unit must be closely interlocked. Speech, Report, Quote, and Interview Stories The arrangements of a speech report, a quote story and of an interview are to great extent similar. The quote story may be charted as alternating large and small rectangles of diminishing size: summary, quote, summary, quote, summary arrangement. The quotations may be direct, indirect, or a combination of both. In writing this kind of story, the following suggestions may be helpful: 1. Write a summarizing lead in any appropriate form. 2. Write the body of the story in a summary-quote-summary arrangement. 3. The lead may be a summarizing statement — the gist of the speech, statement, letter, or interview; or it may be the most important quotation in the story written as direct quote. Quote Story Speech Report Story Minor News Forms a. News Brief. This is a short item of news interest, written like a brief, telegraphic message. It gives mainly the result with few details. b. News Bulletin. It is similar to the lead of a straight news story. Its aim is just to give the gist of the news. c. News Featurette. This is a short news feature usually used a fillers, say, quirks in the news. d. Sidebar. It is a news item or a feature placed side by side its mother story to which it is related but under a headline of its own. e. Flash. This is a message giving first brief news of an event. It is usually boxed.
