TYPES OF NEWS STORIES Mark Joseph C. Catayong, LPT, MAEd Lecturer This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC 1. According to Chronology or Sequence • A news that gathers information as it is broadcast at the same time • It is unscheduled and demands immediate publication. a. Spot News • In many instances the reporter becomes the first-hand 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 college’s weekly newsletter. b. Coverage News • Many may interchange spot news and coverage news. • Though both of them are good avenues for firsthand 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. • 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 concentrate only on the meeting, thus, her beat. c. Advance News When a writer crafts news about an upcoming event, say, meeting de advance of running student leaders, change of opening of classes for the next academic year and an announcement of new uniforms to take effect next semester, he/she actually writes an advance news. In advance stories, writers’ skills in creating many news perspectives on the subject are tested so as to create climax when the event happens. Sometimes, serious stories are created with one or two reporters guarding the newest angles of the event or situation. While advance news is predictive, followup news looks into the upshot of an event or situation. d. Follow-up News For instance, a reporter wrote a news about the imposition of the new uniform effective this semester, then in the next issue he shall write on the ideas and comments of the students about the new uniform, or the problems they now meet. 2. According to Range and Reach a. Local News • This is a news item. • The subject of which happens in one's own community where the paper originates. • For instance, The Scroll, the official student organ of San Francisco High School, covers the installation of the underground electrification system in the province; the news is said to be local news since it is about the province itself. b. 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. c. Foreign News • All news items which trace their origin from outside the borders of the country or both foreign news. • Some foreign news articles also create an impact on typical locals due to their domino effect like the oil price hike in the world market. c. 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. 3. According to Construction a. Straight News • The first paragraph answers the most important W (what, where, when, why, who) depending on which of the W’s is the most prominent among them. • Its body paragraphs consist of the elaboration on the W’s and H. • It is written using the inverted triangle structure. Example: Thirty-four barangay officials are now more familiar with the ins and outs of good governance after undergoing various activities during the capability-building seminar and training at the Community Outreach Center on February 18, 2023. (Presentation of Who) The participants coming from barangays Sta. Maria, Magapit and Paranuman were lectured on the rules of parliamentary procedure by Prof. Edmond A. Usal, CA dean; Katarungang Pambarangay Law by Mr. Sherwood Gayodan, CA faculty; Internet literacy through Mrs. Mary Jane B. Habon; and preparation of Memorandum of Agreement and minutes of meeting by Prof. Gemma R. Pascual, CTE faculty. (Elaboration of Who) After the discussion, the participants were given workshops like demonstrating parliamentary procedures and making an actual memorandum of agreement. (Additional information about what the “who” did) Meanwhile, in her welcome remarks, Dr. Leonita P. Garcia, underscored the need for cooperation among the wrong guy officials and the campus administration to materialize the goals of the institution. (Least information about another “who”) b. News Feature • This special type of news should not be confused with the feature articles (features). • Sometimes called the 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: Love is in the air, indeed, in San Francisco High School as cut-outs of hearts are in a riot of multi-colored lights and decors hung upon everywhere and every way. However, the “Feb-ibig” celebration reached its climax when the traditional promenade participated in by students, teachers, parents, community and even barangay members was conducted at the SFHSCovered Court, February 14. To make the occasion more symbolic and relevant, students also had a “hearts’ lantern parade” capped with ballroom dances. (1) Single-Feature or One-Incident Story • It may be an account of a speech, an interview, or 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 and every paragraph and that story may be cut if lengthened as space dictates. (2) 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 the past story; whereas the composite story is composed of units, each one made up of fresh spot news frequently with reference to the future. (2) 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 to explain and elaborate in the body each of the features in the order in which they are in the lead. • In doing this, relegate 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. Lead Angle Summary of Other Angles Detail of Lead Angles More Details More Details c. 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 kind 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 order to proper arrangement consists solely in judging the relative value of the data at hand and in grouping them in their respective order.
