TYPES OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Most of the articles you see in The Dispatch are news articles. News articles focus
only on the facts <ETH> they don't contain anyone's opinion There are several types
of news articles.
A local news article focuses on what's going on in your neighborhood. An
example of a local news story would be an article on a city council meeting.
A national news article focuses on what's happening in the United States. An
example of a national news article would be an article on the U.S. Senate passing a
new bill.
An international news article focuses on news that's happening outside the United
States. A story on an influenza outbreak in Chile would be considered an
international news story.
A feature article is an article that is about "softer" news. A feature may be a
profile of a person who does a lot of volunteer work in the community or a
movie preview. Feature articles are not considered news stories.
An editorial is an article that contains the writer's opinion. Editorials are
usually run all together on a specific page of the paper and focus on current
events. Editorials are not considered news stories.
A column is an article written by the same person on a regular basis. A
columnist (the writer of the column) writes about subjects of interest to
him/her, current events or community happenings. Columns are not
considered news stories.
TIPS FOR WRITING FEATURES
A feature article is an article that is about "softer" news. A feature may be a profile
of a person who does a lot of volunteer work in the community or a preview of a
movie about to hit the theaters. Like news writing, strong feature writing is simple,
clear and orderly. But, unlike news stories, feature stories don't have to be written
about events that just happened. Instead, they focus on human interest, mood,
atmosphere, emotion, irony and humor. Here are some steps to follow to help you
write a good feature story:
1. Get the reader's attention quickly.
• Start with a well thought-out first paragraph touching on some aspect of the
person's life that you are writing about or the event if it is not a person.
• Good feature stories have a beginning that draws in readers, a transition that
might repeat it in the middle and an ending that refers to the beginning.
2. Organize your story carefully.
• Feature stories can be told in narrative fashion or by sliding from event to event
even though not in chronological order. Use careful transitions to maintain the flow
of the story if you're not going to follow chronological order.
3. Use short paragraphs and vary the lengths of sentences for effect.
• Reading sentences and paragraphs that are always the same length gets boring.
4. Write with strong verbs and nouns, but go easy on adjectives.
• Try to draw a picture of your subject or event through your writing. Read the
sentences below and think about which paints a better picture for your reader:
The man was tall.
The man's head almost brushed against the eight foot ceiling in the room. The ship
sank in 1900.
The ship sank just as the first intercontinental railroad was nearing completion.
5. Don't be afraid to use offbeat quotes.
• Not profanity, but rather witty things the person may say in response to a question
about their success, life or family.
6. Write tightly.
• You do not need to tell the reader everything you know on a subject or event. Tell
only the most important things. It's better to write shorter than longer. A good
feature can be done in 500-750 words
TIPS FOR WRITING NEWS STORIES
There are many different styles of newspaper articles, but the most common is the
news story. Many news stories are based on interviews with sources, or people who
witnessed an event or might be experts on a subject. Writing a good news story
takes preparation. Follow these steps to help you with the writing process:
___ Do background reading. Learn about the subject you're writing about. For
example, if your story is going to be about school uniforms, you might want to visit
your local library and read back issues of The Dispatch to read any articles that may
have already been written about the issue.
___ Make appointments to interview sources. For your story on school uniforms,
your school principal might be a good person to
interview.
___ Make a list of questions you can ask your source based on what you already
know and on your research.
• Make sure to have a pad and pencil for note-taking.
• Be on time for the interview.
• Be sure you ask questions which will result in information you want readers to
know. It wouldn't be appropriate to ask your principal what she thought of the school
play if your article is about school uniforms.
• Make sure to get the correct spelling of your source's name.
• Get your source's title.
• Get the facts about the topic. (who, what, when, where, why, how)
• Get your source's opinion this means you would ask your principal what he/she
thinks of school uniforms.
There are some steps to follow during the interview also:
___ Begin by asking your prepared questions.
___ Be flexible. Don't be upset if your source doesn't answer your questions in order,
but do try to get all the facts you need.
___ Take notes.
___ Be sure to copy exactly anything that might be good to use as a direct
quotation.
___ Always be polite.
___ After you're finished, review the facts with the source to make sure you've got
them right.
___ Always thank your source at the end of the interview.
___ Ask your source if he or she minds if you contact them for additional information
if necessary.
After the interview, you're ready to begin writing your story. Start writing a first draft
as soon as possible. Doing this will help you remember things you did not write
completely during the interview. Get the most important and interesting facts and
statements at the beginning or lead of your story. Put all the 5 W's (who, what,
when, where and why) and 1 H (how) in order. Important facts are first in the story
and less important facts are at the end of the story. Put quotes in appropriate places.
Don't forget to include any background information and details your readers need to
know. This method of writing is called the inverted pyramid
An article is a stand-alone section of a larger written work. These nonfictional prose
compositions appear in magazines, newspapers, academic journals, the internet, or any
other type of publication.
Contents
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1 Types of articles
o 1.1 News
o 1.2 Features
o 1.3 Other types of articles
2 Elements of an article
o 2.1 Headline
o 2.2 Lead
o 2.3 Body
 2.3.1 Body of news story
 2.3.2 Body of feature article
o 2.4 Conclusion
3 Characteristics of well-written articles
4 Authorship
5 References
6 External Links
Types of articles
Articles can be divided into two main categories: news and features. Straight news stories
deal with the timeliness and immediacy of breaking news, while feature articles are news
stories that deal with human interest topics.[1]
News
A news article is an article published in a print or Internet news medium such as a
newspaper, newsletter, news magazine, or news-oriented website that discusses current or
recent news of either general interest (i.e. daily newspapers) or on a specific topic (i.e.
political or trade news magazines, club newsletters, or technology news websites).
A news article can include accounts of eyewitnesses to the happening event. It can
contain photographs, accounts, statistics, graphs, recollections, interviews, polls, debates
on the topic, etc. Headlines can be used to focus the reader’s attention on a particular (or
main) part of the article. The writer can also give facts and detailed information following
answers to general questions like who, what, when, where, why and how. Quoting
references can also be helpful. References to people can also be made through written
accounts of interviews and debates confirming the factuality of the writer’s information
and the reliability of his source. The writer can use redirections to ensure that the reader
keeps reading the article and also draws his attention to other articles. For example: phrases like “continued on page x …” redirects the reader to page number x where the
article is continued. Conclusions also are very important ingredients for newspaper
articles.
See also: news style
Features
Feature articles are nonfiction articles that intend to inform, teach, or amuse the reader on
a topic. The topic centers around human interests. Feature stories may include
conventions found in fiction such as dialogue, plot and character. A feature article is an
umbrella term that includes many literary structures: personality sketches, essays, howto's, interviews and many others.[2] The following are examples of feature articles:
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Column — A short newspaper or magazine piece that deals specifically with
a particular field of interest, or broadly with an issue or circumstance of farreaching scope. They appear with bylines on a regular basis (daily, weekly,
etc.). They may be written exclusively for one newspaper or magazine; they
may be marketed by a syndicate, or they may be self-syndicated by the author.
Essay — A short, literary, nonfiction composition (usually prose) in which a
writer develops a theme or expresses an idea.
Evergreen — A timeless article that editors can hold for months and publish
when needed. They need little or no updating.[3]
Exposè — These articles use in-depth reporting with heavy research and
documentation. Used to expose corruption in business, politics or celebrities.
Also called the investigative article.[4][5]
Filler — Short non-fiction items, usually just under 300 words used to fill in
space on a page of a magazine or newspaper page.[6]
How-to — How-to articles help people to learn how to do something. They
provide step-by-step information for the reader.[7]
Human interest story — An article that involves local people and events and
can be sold to daily and some weekly newspapers. Human interest elements,
such as anecdotes or accounts of personal experiences, can support ideas in
magazine articles as firmly as facts or statistics. Also called "true-life" stories.
Interview —This feature story type article includes the text of the
conversation between two or more people, normally directed by the
interviewer. Interviews are often edited for clarity. One common variation is
the roundtable--the text of a less organized discussion, usually between three
or more people.
Op-Ed — Articles that run opposite the editorial page. They are a response to
current editorials and topical subjects. Political op-eds are the most common,
but they don't have to be limited to politics. They must, however, reflect items
that are current and newsworthy.
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Personal experience — An article in which the writer recounts an ordeal,
process, or event he has undergone.
Personality Profile — A personal or professional portrait--sometimes both-of a particular individual.[8]
Seasonal — An article written about a holiday, season of the year, or timely
observance. This kind of article must be submitted months in advance of the
anticipated publication date.[9]
Service Article — An article about a consumer product or service; it outlines
the characteristics of several of the same type of commodity. The aim is to
help the consumer make the best selection possible.[10]
Sidebar — A short feature that accompanies a news story or magazine article.
It elaborates on human interest aspects of the story, explains one important
facet of the story in more depth, or provides additional factual information-such as a list of names and addresses--that would read awkwardly in the body
of the article. Can be found in a box, separated from the main article on the
side or bottom of the page.[11]
Travel literature — Travel articles inform and enlighten the reader through
facts about a region's landscape, scenery, people, customs, and
atmostphere.[12]
See also: feature writing
Other types of articles
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Academic — An academic article is an academic paper published in a
journal. An academic's status is usually dependent on how many articles
they have had published, and also the number of times their articles are
cited by other articles.
Blog — Some styles of blogging are more like articles. Other styles are
written more like entries in a personal journal.
Encyclopedia — In an encyclopedia or other reference work, an article is
a primary division of content.
Marketing — An often thin piece of content which is designed to draw
the reader to a commercial website.
Usenet — Usenet articles are e-mail like messages posted to share Usenet
newsgroup.
Elements of an article
Headline
A headline is text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article
below it. The headline of the article catches the attention of the reader and relates well to
the topic.
Lead
The lead (sometimes spelled lede) sentence captures the attention of the reader and sums
up the focus of the story. The lead also establishes the subject, sets the tone, and guides
the reader into the article.[13]
In a news story, the introductory paragraph tells the most important facts and answers the
questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how. In a feature story, the author may
choose to open with any number of ways including the following:[14]
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anecdote
shocking or startling statement
a generalization
pure information
description
a quote
a question
a comparison
See also: Narrative hook
Body
Body of news story
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For the news story, details and elaboration are
evident in the body of the news story and flow
smoothly from the lead.
 Quotes are used to add interest and support to the
story.
 The inverted pyramid is used with most news
stories.
Body of feature article
Feature articles follow a format appropriate for its type. Structures for these types of
articles may include, but are not limited to:[15]
chronological — the article may be a narrative of
some sort.
 cause and effect — the reasons and results of an
event or process is examined.
 classification — items in an article are grouped to
help aid understanding
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compare and contrast— two or more items are
examined side-by-side to see their similarities and
differences
 list — A simple item-by-item run-down of pieces of
information.
 question and answer —such as an interview with a
celebrity or expert.
Conclusion
One difference between a news story and a feature article is the conclusion. Endings for
hard news article occur when all of the information has been presented according to the
inverted pyramid form. By contrast, the feature article needs more definite closure.[16]
The conclusions for these articles may include, but are not limited to:[17]
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a final quote
a descriptive scene
a play on the title or lead
a summary statement
Characteristics of well-written articles
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The piece is a factual account of a newsworthy
event.
 The writer is objective and shows all sides to an
issue.
 The sources for this news story are identified and
are reliable.
 Show, don't tell.
Authorship
Publications obtain articles in a few different ways:
staff written — an article may be written by a
person on the staff of the publication.
 assigned — a freelance writer may be asked to
write an article on a specific topic.
 unsolicited — a publication may be open to
receiving article manuscripts from freelance
writers.
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Click in this box, delete this text and write the name of your newspaper here!
You can change the background colour by clicking on the 'paint' icon at the
bottom on your screen!
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Click here and type in the price!
Put the main headline here. A headline is like a short poem. It communicates a lot of
information in a small space. So the words need to be chosen carefully! A good idea
would be to use alliteration (Hell in Helsinki!) or make it sensational ('Man mauled to
death in Maldon").