ZINE PART 4 – NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
An article is a written work published in a print or Internet medium. It may be for the
purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis or debate.
A news article can include accounts of eye witnesses to the happening event. It can
contain photographs, accounts, statistics, graphs, recollections, interviews, polls,
debates on the topic, etc. Headlines (the proper name for titles) can be used to focus
the reader’s attention on a particular (or main) part of the article.
The writer must also give facts and detailed information to the five W’s and H:
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Who
What
When
Where
Why
How
Generally, articles follow a standard formula for their layout, they include:
1. Headline
This is the main title for the piece that grabs the reader’s attention while telling them a
brief summary of what the article is about.
2. Byline
This tells who wrote the story.
3. Lead Paragraph (First paragraph)
In your first one or two sentences tell who, what, when, where, and why. Try to hook the
reader by beginning with a funny, clever, or surprising statement. Many writers begin
their newspaper articles with provocative or shocking statements.
4. Explanation (Second/Third/Fourth paragraphs)
Give the reader the details; other facts they may want to know. Include one or two
quotes from people you interviewed, or state several sourced and cited facts. Write in
the third person (he, she, it, they). Be objective -- never state your opinion. Use quotes
to express others' opinions!
5. Additional Information Last paragraph
Wrap it up somehow (don’t leave the reader hanging. Please don't say...."In conclusion"
or "To finish..." (Yawn!) Try ending with a quote or a catchy phrase.
When thinking of your article, sometimes it helps to think of it in terms of a diagram of
an inverted triangle:
Headline
Byline
Lead Paragraph
Explanation
Additional Information
Helpful Hints:
quotes to enhance the article. Make sure that your quotes, or any descriptive
background information, are relevant and factual.
paragraphs in news articles contain a maximum of three sentences.
you interview someone, be sure you get the correct spelling of their name and title.
articles should be written without bias. You should report the facts
objectively. Steer clear of giving personal opinions in your article. This is not a
review or critique.
o not write in the first person.
use a lot of flowery descriptive language. Get to the point.
Below is a few examples of articles; see if you can identify the article features.
Are there things done really well? That needs some work?
Example #1
Headline: High flying escape ends in death
Byline: By Robin Sloan
Lead paragraph: Icarus, son of the famous inventor, Daedalus, plunged into the
Aegean Sea and drowned while attempting to escape from the island of Crete early
yesterday afternoon. His body has yet to be recovered.
Explanation: Icarus and his father had made wings from wax and bird feathers they
had collected over the years while imprisoned on the island of Crete. They attached the
homemade wings to their arms and, using a flapping motion, lifted off from the island
shortly before noon. While making their escape, Icarus flew too close to the sun. As a
result, the heat melted the wax on his wings which caused the feathers to drop off. The
wings collapsed and Icarus fell into the sea and drowned.
Additional Information: Daedalus, sobbing from the distant shore where he had
landed safely, said, “My last words to Icarus before we left the island was to stay close
and not fly too high! He just didn’t listen! Why didn’t he listen to me?” Daedalus and
Icarus had been held prisoner by King Minos on the island of Crete, and had been
forced to build a labyrinth at the palace of Knossos. It was known to be the most difficult
maze in the world to navigate successfully.
Example #2
Headline: Chronic car thief jailed for killing innocent motorist
Byline: By Mike McIntyre
Lead paragraph: A chronic Winnipeg car thief could be back on the streets before his 21st
birthday for killing an innocent motorist in a stolen Hummer.
The 19-year-old high-risk offender was sentenced Thursday afternoon to 55 months in jail, in
addition to 14 and-a-half months of time already served which he was given double-time credit
of 29 months. On paper, it’s a seven year penalty. In reality, it’s far less.
He will be eligible for parole after serving just one-third of his remaining time, about 18 months.
Explanation: The Free Press is not publishing the offender's name and thus can reveal details
about his criminal past as one of the city's most prolific car thieves, including his link to another
deadly stolen-car crash in March 2008.
Provincial court Judge Catherine Carlson accepted a joint-recommendation from Crown and
defence lawyers, saying the sentence falls in line with other similar precedents across Canada.
She also imposed a 15-year driving ban on the man, saying "the public needs to be protected
from his recklessness."
It should be noted he was driving without a licence and under three separate probation orders
not to be in a motor vehicle at the time of the deadly December 2009 crash in the North End.
Zdzislaw Andrzejczak, 47, died after his vehicle was struck by the stolen Hummer, which blew
through a stop sign while going 94 km/h in a 50 km/h zone near the corner of Andrews Street
and Alfred Avenue.
Andrzejczak, a married father of one who worked as an auto mechanic and came to Canada
from Poland in the late 1980s, was only two blocks from his home. The 2005 Hummer H2 had
been stolen earlier in the day from a parking lot in the 1800 block of Wellington Avenue. Police
tried to pull the vehicle over moments earlier when they clocked the driver doing 112 km/h. They
abandoned their chase because of safety concerns, court was told.
Moments later, Andrzejczak was dead. The accused fled the scene but was arrested days later.
"The actions (of the accused) are what every law abiding citizen driving a motor vehicle is afraid
of," said Carlson.
Additional Information:
The case sparked calls for tougher car-theft penalties. Last year, Ottawa made it a new Criminal
Code offence.
The same offender pleaded guilty in June 2008 to being one of seven youths in a stolen
Silverado pickup truck that was racing a stolen SUV carrying seven other teens down Portage
Avenue. The SUV ended up slamming into a cab, killing driver Antonio Lanzellotti and seriously
injuring a passenger.
The youth, 16 at the time, was identified by police as the driver of the Silverado, but only
admitted in court to being an occupant of the vehicle, which peeled off down a side street
moments before the fatal crash. He was given 72 days of time in custody, plus two years of
supervised probation, which included a curfew and not being in a car without permission.
He was back in court in summer 2009, charged with breaching conditions of his probation.
Justice sources told the Free Press the boy "went off the deep end" following the sudden death
of his grandfather. A judge sentenced him to another year of probation.
A youth co-accused, who was allegedly in the passenger seat of the Hummer at the time of the
crash, remains before the courts.
Write Your Own Newspaper Article
Directions: Write your own newspaper article that relates to your given theme. Use the
guide sheet below to help you plan the information you will include for your article. You
must include one photo that relates to your chosen article topic.
Headline:______________________________________________________________
Byline: By:__________________________________________________
Lead Paragraph:
Who:_________________________________________________________________
What:_________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
When:________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Where:________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Why:__________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
How:__________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Explanation:
______________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Additional Information:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
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