The Fundamentals Of News Writing

Journalism is a noble profession. Many aspiring reporters choose to pursue this field not only for monetary reasons but because they want to make a difference in the world.  By informing citizens of relevant information, the media helps empower people to make smart decisions and function properly in society. One of the essential skills for journalists is news writing. News, current events, and other relevant information must be presented and expressed in a way that’s easy to digest and will not bore media consumers. 

Aside from learning how to structure news articles or scripts properly, it’s also essential for aspiring journalists to know the news values or what makes a story newsworthy.

News Values: What Makes a Story Newsworthy?

Here are some of the news values that need to be considered to discern whether the story is worthy of reporting or not.

Timeliness

The story should be a recent event or a newly discovered phenomenon. Delivering fresh news is such a big deal to media agencies. Every single day, they go on a head-to-head battle among one another on who could break a particular story or angle first.

Proximity

People are most likely to be interested in a story within their proximity. The nearer the event is to their location, the more it has the potential to catch their attention. For example, someone living in New York would be more interested in a news story about an upcoming East Coast hurricane, than someone living in California. 

Prominence

People are drawn to stories about famous people rather than those they’re not familiar with. For example, a Hollywood star riding the subway to work would make for a gripping account. Whereas an ordinary person doing the same thing would not be considered newsworthy.

Uniqueness

The oddity of an event is another factor to consider when trying to choose which news writing stories. As media educators often say, a dog biting a man isn’t news, but a man biting a dog is. The more bizarre an event is, the more likely it could attract public attention and interest.

Impact

A story is newsworthy if it causes an effect on media consumers. Just like in web copywriting, it’s crucial to let the audience know ahead of time what’s in it for them. What aspects of their life or what parts of their daily routine could be affected by a particular occurrence? It’s vital to point out the significance of the news item to their life to give it a practical rationale.

Conflict

Let’s face it – conflict sparks interest. Be it a road rage altercation or a screaming match between a couple at the mall; there’s a big chance that people would look and become curious about the commotion. Conflict doesn’t only come in the form of disputes or disagreements. Even the concept of competition between sports teams banks on people’s natural interest in conflict.

Factors to Consider in News Writing 

Here are some of the essential things to consider when writing news. 

Headline

Writing a headline is a lot more than just crafting a good title for your piece. A headline should reflect the angle of the story and hook the audience into wanting to learn more about it. It should be short and concise. The headline shouldn’t summarize the story in a phrase. Instead, it should tease the news item, encouraging netizens to click it or prompting television viewers to tune in throughout the newscast to wait for the story.

To be able to write a compelling headline, it’s vital to review who your audience is and what matters most to them. Include these elements in the headline. However, be careful not to put too much information so as not to confuse the audience.

Lead

A lead, sometimes also called “lede,” pertains to the first few sentences of a story. Just as with writing a pitch, creating a lead involves structuring the piece in a way that sparks interest within the first few sentences. 

The most important information should be mentioned in the first sentence of the lead, and the next most vital information should follow suit. The should contain what’s called the “5 W’s and 1 H.” These are the answers to the who, what, when, where, why, and how of every news item. 

Inverted Pyramid

Journalists mostly follow an inverted pyramid structure when presenting a story. It means that the crucial elements of a story are prioritized at the lead, followed by other essential details. Lastly, background information or additional general information about the news.

Traditionally, the inverted pyramid structure made it easy for newspaper editors to edit news stories according to the amount of space available within the issue’s layout. By placing the least important information at the bottom of the piece, it’s easier to cut a story if the open layout space couldn’t accommodate its original length.

Citing Sources

Credibility is the first thing that separates real news from misinformation or yellow journalism, popularly termed as “fake news.” With a-dime-a-dozen online content pretending to be news, it has become especially crucial for legit journalists to cite sources. Doing so helps show that they have a solid basis for their story.

Aspiring journalists should also be familiar with the concept of source protection or source confidentiality. It pertains to journalists’ legal rights not to reveal the identity of an anonymous source, especially if doing so would compromise the safety and other interests of the source. 

Consider Your Medium

Considering your medium is a crucial factor in news writing. Writing a news script for television is very different from writing one for radio broadcast. The TV tells a story with audio and visual elements, making it possible to “show rather than tell.” Radio, on the other hand, relies solely on audio, thus requiring a writer to describe almost all elements with words. Writing for a digital news platform is another story. 

With every netizen always ready to scroll down or leave the website altogether, it’s crucial to keep sentences and paragraphs concise to keep the audience’s interest. Most online platforms also require linking to previous or related reports, akin to SEO marketing, to help increase a website’s staying power.