Writing News Story
Gong Haihua
Bureau of International
Cooperation
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Why me?
 MA of International News Reporting and
Writing, the China School of Journalism,
affiliated to the Xinhua News Agency
 American professors funded by the
Fulbright Scholar Program
 The First Charles Wang Awards for
Journalism Students, selected by the MOE
 Over ten-month internship in Xinhua,
including the 2000 Sydney Olympics
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 Hard news, newspapers
and online news
 News reporter, writer and
editor
 News in Chinese editing
into English one
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The Nature of News
The Lead
Story Structure
The Writer’s Art
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The Nature of News
Components
of the story
To begin with the
ABCs- accuracy,
brevity and clarity.
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Accurate
Proper attributed
Complete
Balance and fair
Objective
Brief and focused
Well-written
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The Nature of News
“ When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it
happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, it’s news.”
– John B. Bogart, editor of the New York Sun
“News is truth that matters.”
– Gerry Goldstein, the Providence Journal
“A news sense is really a sense of what is important,
what is vital, what has color and life – what people are
interested in. that’s journalism.”
– Burton Rascoe, the Chicago Tribune
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The Nature of News
• Timeliness
• Impact, consequence or
importance
• Proximity to the people
involved
• Conflict
• The unusual nature of the
event
• Currency
• Necessity
News Values
At least ¾ of all stories
fall into the categories
of impact or
importance and the
unusual.
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The Lead
The hardest part of all to write. Once
you have written your lead, you have
90 percent of the story.
“Every journalist who has ever struggled with a
lead knows why it can take so much effort. It is as
important to him as to the reader. Writing it
concentrates the mind wonderfully, forcing him to
decide what in the story is important, what he
wants to emphasize, and can eventually give the
shape to the rest of the story as he writes it.”
- Henry Fairlie, a news reporter
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The Lead
China's world sports champions go in for auction to
help poor.
China's Olympic champion Liu Xiang breaks own record
at charity auction.
Hurdler Liu Xiang auctioned his sports shoes bearing
his signature on Sunday with some other Chinese world
sports champions at a grand charity party to aid the
schooling of rural migrant labor's children.
China's Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang's track
shoes fetched 200,000 yuan (25,000 U.S. dollars) at a
charity gala auction in Beijing on Sunday, breaking his
own record made at a similar event two weeks ago.
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The Lead
The lead sentence usually contains
one idea and follows the subjectverb-object sentences structure for
clarity. It should not exceed 35 words.
Usually contains five W’s and an H.
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The Lead
The best lead always attracts the readers to
go on with the reading while gives readers
the main points of the story.
China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA)
Wednesday ordered health authority of southwest Sichuan
Province to thoroughly investigate a food poisoning case
occurred last Saturday.
China's food safety watchdog has ordered health
authorities to investigate the food poisoning of almost 400
people at a wedding in Sichuan Province at the weekend.
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The Lead
In an effort to prevent abuse of judicial power and fight
corruption, China's Supreme People's Court issued a new
regulation Wednesday to list a great number of restrictions
against court staff, ranging from taking bribery to
committing adultery with litigants. (Xinhua)
China has tightened its rules governing law court officials
after a former senior judge received a life sentence for
corruption, warning staff not to leave the country without
approval or have sex with litigants. (Reuters)
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The Lead
How Reporters Think Leads?
Questions to ask in search for suitable
leads:
1. What was unique or the most important or
unusual thing that happened?
2. Who was involved – who did it or who said it?
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The Lead
Then, to seek words and a form that will
give shape to the responses:
3. Is there a colorful word or dramatic phrase I can
work into the lead?
4. What is the subject, and what verb will best
move the reader into the story?
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The Lead
Ways of composing a lead:
• Immediate-identification leads – who, sometimes
widely recognized name(s)
Mayor John Jones, or Carpenter John Jones
• Delayed-identification leads – who is less
important, usually little name recognition name(s)
• but with important or interesting position, occupation,
title or achievements
• when the lead is to wordy
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The Lead
Ways of composing a lead:
• Summary leads – several important elements
rather than a single specific action
The City Council replaced the city’s 75-year-old
municipal code with a revised version Tuesday night.
• Multiple-element leads – more than one theme
of the lead (seldom used)
A flash fire that swept through a landmark downtown
hotel Saturday killed at least 12 persons, injured 60
more and forced scores of residents to leap from
windows and the roof in near-zero cold.
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The Lead
Ways of composing a lead:
•Leads with flair – novelty, unusual
Thirty suspected drug dealers, including a couple about to
be married, were arrested at a wedding Friday night.
The wedding guest including drug suspects, the social
coordinator was a narcotics agent, the justice of the peace was
police chief, and 52 officers were party crashers.
For the unsuspecting bride and groom, the ceremony Friday
night was truly unforgettable – a sting operation set up by state
and local police that led to 30 arrests.
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News Structure
The Inverted Pyramid
The standard and traditional structure
of a news story.
Important elements at the beginning,
less important at the end.
To meet the requirements of editing,
cut the bottom without losing any key
information.
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News Structure
The Wall Street Journal Story Formula
Anecdote: Begin with an example
Explicit statement of theme: The lead (less than 6 para)
Statement of the significance of the theme:
Why should I be reading this?
Details: Proof, elaboration of the theme
Answer to reader’s questions: Why is this happening?
What’s being done?
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News Structure
How to continue with the follow-up?
1. Introduce additional important information you were
not able to include in the lead.
2. If possible, indicate the significance or so-what factor.
3. Elaborate on the information presented in the lead.
4. Continue introducing new information in the order in
which you have ranked it by importance.
5. Develop the ideas in the same order in which you have
introduced them.
6. Generally, use only one new idea in each paragraph.
Take yourself as the first reader of your story.
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News Structure
Lead
Major theme
Explanation of lead
Background information
Additional explanation of lead
Supporting facts, quotes, incidents,
illustrations and anecdotes
Secondary themes
Further supporting facts
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News Structure
The creator of China's largest pornographic
website was sentenced to life imprisonment on
Wednesday.
Judges at the Taiyuan Intermediate People's
Court handed down the sentence to Chen Hui
and ordered the confiscation of 100,000 yuan
(12,500 U.S. dollars).
Additional info & elaboration. Basically
no quotations in this kind of elaboration.
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News Structure
Thieves Get 36 Batteries
Thieves who entered a Charlotte auto parts
store stole 36 Delco batteries, police were
today yesterday.
Crowell Erskine, 49, manager of the
Piedmont Auto Exchange at 410 Atando Ave.,
told officers the stores was broken into
between 5 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m.
Wednesday by thieves knocking a hole in the
rear wall of the one-story brick building.
Erskine said the batteries were valued at
$539.18.
-- The Charlotte Observer
Further
explanation
– how, when,
where, and
attribution
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A Case Study
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – Pregnant women
working at video display terminals less than
20 hours a week face no increased risk of
miscarriages, according to the preliminary
results of a University of Michigan survey.
More research is needed to determine
whether pregnant women who work more
than 20 hours have a higher rate of problem
pregnancies, scientists said Tuesday.
Who
What
Attribution
Further
explanation of
the lead,
stating the
limitation of
research.
When
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A Case Study
The university studied 728 state
employees in Michigan, and results were
released Tuesday at the annual meeting
of the American Public Health
Association in Las Vegas.
“These findings should relieve the
concern for many women who currently
use VDTs at their jobs,” said Professor
William J. Butler, who teamed with
Professor Kelley Ann Brix, on the study
paid for by the March of Dimes.
Where
Direct
quote
Always
check
names
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A Case Study
Of 697 pregnancies reported by part-time
employees, there were 145 miscarriages –
about what would be expected, the study said.
But of the 120 pregnancies reported by
women working more than 20 hours per
week, 26 resulted in miscarriages, about 5
percent more than expected, the study
showed.
The study looked at the women from the
years 1980 to 1985.
Support for
the first
paragraph;
partial
answer to
how research
was
conducted
Support for
the second
paragraph
Why is not
answered
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The Writer’s Art
A well-written story:
• Makes its point clearly.
Accurate
Clear
Convincing
Appropriate
• Engages the reader with human-interest material,
quotations, incidents and examples.
•Guides the reader with a pace and a style appropriate to the
event or personality being described.
• Leaves the reader satisfied that the story is complete and is
truthful.
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The Writer’s Art
Clarity:
Grammar
Flame from the boilers have died away.
Three experts have been sent by the Ministry of Health to look
into the outbreak in Shangcheng County of Henan Friday.
The three-day forum started Wednesday was jointly organized
by (the) Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Being his second since assuming office in December last year,
Chui delivered the 2011 policy address at the SAR's Legislative
Assembly.
Chui delivered the 2011 policy address, his second since
assuming office in December last year, at the SAR's Legislative
Assembly.
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The Writer’s Art
Clarity:
Sentence Length
Average
length
Readability
8 or less
Very easy
11 words
Easy
14 words
Fairly easy
17 words
standard
21 words
Fairly difficult
25 words
Difficult
29 or more
Very difficult
Variety
Rhythm
Balance
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The Writer’s Art
Transitional expressions:
Clarity:
Transition
Additives: again, also, and, finally, furthermore, in addition,
•next,
Pronouns
thus, so, moreover, as well…
•Contrasts
Key words
and
ideasnevertheless, instead, on the other
: but,
however,
hand, otherwise, yet, nonetheless, farther…
• Transitional expressions
Comparisons: likewise, similarly…
• Parallel structure
Place: adjacent to, beyond, here, near, opposite…
Time: afterwards, in the meantime, later, meanwhile, soon…
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The Writer’s Art
Show, do not tell:
I don’t tell; I don’t explain. I show; I let my characters talk
for me.
-- Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
Not only a maxim in newsrooms, but
one basic rule of good writing
Good writers let the words and the actions of
their subjects do the work: (A child killed by a sniper)
The grief-stricken parents wept during the funeral.
The parents wept quietly. Mrs Franklin leaned against her
husband for support.
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The Writer’s Art
More guides about “show, don’t tell”
• Put good quotes and human interests up high
• Put relevant illustrations or anecdotes up high
• Use concrete nouns and colorful action verbs
• Avoid too much adjectives and adverbs
• Avoid judgments and inferences. Let the facts talk.
• Write simply, clearly, honestly and quickly
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The Writer’s Art
Accuracy of language:
• Use words with referents: No vague terms
e.g. progress, freedom, patriotism, big business,
militant, radical
• Euphemisms: describe the real, not blunt, blur or distort it
e.g. taxes – revenue enhancement
unemployment – negative advancement
senior citizens, sight deprived
• Always said: as neutral as possible
Consult your dictionary before use affirmed, asserted,
contended, declared, disclosed, pointed out, shouted, stated or
whispered.
• Facts first, words second
• Spelling
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Personal Suggestion
• Read, read while write
• Good story attracts your reader including yourself
• Check your grammar and spelling
• Sober mind
• Critical thinking
• Write to the point (words and facts)
• Practice makes perfect
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Thanks！
Tel：010-68597227
Email：hhgong@cashq.ac.cn
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Seasons
Greetings!
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