Every newspaper has a masthead or a title with
information underneath it.
(i.e. The Toronto Star, The New York Times, etc.)
When you’re writing your newspaper article,
your masthead should fit your story. If the story
takes place in Halifax, make your masthead
reflect that.
Be creative: Look at several newspapers and their
mastheads. What information comes underneath
it? (i.e. The weather report, lotto numbers, the
date, et c.)
The headline isn’t really a title. It is a summary of
the lead (the first two lines of the article & the
most important information).
Headlines must be attention grabbing.
They are not always grammatically correct and do
not always have end punctuation. The headline
below was taken from today’s New York Times.
More asteroid strikes likely, scientists say
Let’s make a headline together using the events
surrounding Toronto mayor, Rob Ford’s recent
drug scandal… after we write a lead.
Rob Ford’s Cracking Up
Crack Addict running City Hall
Toronto is run by Crackhead
Mayor Ford Cracks Under Pressure
Let’s write a newspaper article together about
Toronto mayor, Rob Ford, and the latest scandal
to rock his office…
The first thing we need to do is to make a plan.
Every article needs to answer 5 (actually 6)
questions: who, what, when, where, why, and
how.
Who: Mayor Rob Ford, residents of Toronto, dealer
(driver), the police (Chief Bill Blair), Brother (Doug)
What: Ford admits to smoking crack
When: Two days ago (Monday), 2 months ago
Where: Toronto, City Hall, unidentified crackhouse
Why: He was drunk at the time
How: driver provided him drugs, he was caught on video
Yesterday, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted
that he smoked crack cocaine in a press
conference at Toronto City Hall in front of a sea of
reporters.
The newspaper article is written in what is known as
the inverted pyramid. Picture the giant buildings
from Egypt upside down. The most important
information goes first. People are generally lazy and
impatient and don’t read the article unless the key
facts aren’t addressed early. Also, there is limited
space in a newspaper. If the editor has to cut a story
in order to make room for breaking news, it’s easier
to just cut the last paragraph that doesn’t have key
information in it than to edit from the body itself.
Remember the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song: “Give it
away, give it away now!” Don’t leave any
information for later. The reader needs to know
immediately!
Now that we have the lead, we just need to build
on it. We need to discuss the “why” and the
“how” and we need to add to the lead (more
details about who, what, when, where).
The mayor, shaken by recent accusations of
his drug use, broke under the media pressure and
finally admitted publically to using crack cocaine
after months of denial. He claimed to reporters
that the reason he did the illegal substance was
because, “I was in a drunken stupor.” The mayor,
accompanied by his brother, Doug, refused to
answer reporters questions after the press
conference. Toronto Police Chief, Bill Blair, also
refused to say anything more on the topic until
the alleged video of the mayor at a downtown
crack house is released…
The Mayor relented to pressure shortly after noon on
Tuesday, and admitted to using crack after months of
public pressure following repeated claims by Toronto Star
reporters who had allegedly seen a video of Mr. Ford
smoking the drug. Also, the Toronto Metropolitan Police
Department’s release of video footage showing Mayor
Ford picking up a mysterious package left at a gas station
by his former driver, left the Mayor with few options but
to address the allegations directly.
The Mayor claimed at the conference that he didn’t
remember taking crack specifically because he was, “in a
drunken stupor at the time.” Ford repeatedly denied that
he was an addict and that he would not repeat his
mistakes in the future.
For your article, you don’t need to find actual
quotations from the novel. However, you can use
some if you wish. The key is that you should
write things that the character would say…
i.e. Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair told reporters,
“I’m disappointed in the Mayor’s actions.”
Celebrity television psychiatrist, Dr. Drew Pinsky
said, “The mayor’s behaviour shows that he has a
substance abuse problem, and I’d recommend
that he step down and enter a rehab program.”
The ending isn’t a conclusion, and it’s not an
opportunity to recap anything. All that is done in
this part of the inverted pyramid is share less
important information that may still be of interest
to the reader.
Mayor Ford has no plans of stepping down, and
as of yet, there are no charges pending from the
police department.
Mayor Ford told reporters that he wouldn’t be
stepping down from his position and that he’d be
back to work as usual tomorrow. Toronto police
have not revealed whether or not they will be
pursuing criminal charges against the mayor.