2. Headline – tells what the story is about
Byline – shows who wrote the story
Lead – tells the most important facts (5 W’s)
Body – contains more information and details
Ending – gives something to think about
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
3. The inverted pyramid structure
simply means placing the most
fundamental information in the lead
paragraph of the story, and then
arranging the remaining details,
from most important to least
important.
Inverted Pyramid
4. Most journalists think the news lead is the most
important part of the news story. It is an artwork of
concise information that captures the gist of a news
story in 2 to 3 sentences.
Lead Writing
To arouse the reader
To summarize the story
5. Keep leads short. Those with 35 words or less are
preferred.
Leads limited to one or two sentences are preferred.
Avoid starting with ‘when’ or ‘where’ unless the time and
place is unusual. Most leads start with ‘who’ or ‘what’.
Avoid beginning the lead with “there’ or “this”.
In leads about future events, the time and date usually go
at the end of the paragraph.
Use quotes and questions in leads sparingly.
Lead Writing
6. In leads about past events, the date of the event usually
appears before and after the verb. Sometimes the date
comes at the end of the first sentence or paragraph it is a
one-sentence lead.
The first five to “what happened” makes a better story than
the fact that it did.
Lead Writing
7. Who?- Dr Maria Beluso and Justine Rodriguez presented
an award-winning paper at the LC25 Conference, on May
26th.
What?- Wearing morally offensive attire was banned by
Mount Serenity University by the University Security
Management Office (USMO) effective June 25th.
Lead Writing
8. Where?- In Al Rayyan last night, the Board of Education
passed a resolution to ban the wearing of hats in all school
district buildings.
When?- Last night, the Al Rayyen Board of Education
passed a resolution banning all hat wearing in all school
district buildings.
Lead Writing
9. How?- By 8-1 margin last night, the Al Rayyan Board of
Education passed a regulation banning hat wearing in all
school district buildings.
Why?- To provide students with easier access to the web,
the University of Doha Science and Technology (UDST) will
implement its WiFi Connectivity Project in the second
semester of 2024.
Lead Writing
10. The body of the story explains or clarifies features
mentioned in the lead and adds features not found in the
lead.
The body of the story provides details and backgrounds.
Body Construction and Organizations
11. Keep paragraphs short. Those limited to 60 words or less
or no longer than 10 typeset lines are preferred.
Paragraphs limited to one to three sentences are preferred.
Each paragraph should contain only one idea.
Remember short paragraphs encourage readers to
continue reading.
Use simple words. Don’t let readers look for a dictionary.
Use correct jargon for certain stories.
Body Construction and Organizations
12. Make sure information introduced or outlined in the lead is
covered in the same order in the body of the story.
Avoid introducing new information at the end of a story. All
aspects of a story should usually be introduced or outlined
in the first few paragraphs.
Transitions are necessary to show the reader that the writer
has a sense of direction. A word, phrase, sentence or
paragraph can move the reader from one thought to
another.
Body Construction and Organizations
13. Add attributions of prominent persons
Add faculty and students’ reactions
Arrange your details in a logical order
Before using the acronym of the word or phrase, elaborate
it first on the previous sentences
In attribution, use the position of the person (other titles
may be omitted)
Body Construction and Organizations
14. When you want to incorporate information that is
not directly connected to the main story, but is
related, use conjunctive words or conjunctive
phrases such as meanwhile, in a related
development, in this light, etc.
Note:
Body Construction and Organizations
15.
16. Should be linked to the paragraph before them. The
quote, should elaborate on the previous paragraph.
Example:
Because of an anonymous $25,000 donation, students who ride a school
bus to and from school will have access to the Internet during their
commute starting March 1.
“Giving free Wi-Fi to our students will enable them to do research, read the
news or even watch educational videos each day,” Superintendent Kelli
Putman said.
Direct Quotes
17. Should not repeat the transition/lead before them.
Example:
Principal Jeanette Rother said that several teachers have
been reluctant to give assignments that require Internet
access.
“Several of our teachers have been hesitant about giving
homework assignments that would require the Internet,”
Rother said.
Direct Quotes
18. Can be longer than one sentence.
Should have attribution after the first sentence of the
quote.
Do not place two people’s direct quotes next to each
other without a transition.
Attribution should be: Noun then verb.
Example:
Correct - senior Bob Rodriguez said.
Incorrect - said senior Bob Rodriguez. (unless you have an
unusually long title)
Direct Quotes
19. VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.
Hold the story together.
Link the paragraphs together.
Can be a fact, an indirect quote, or a partial quote.
For example - FACT TRANSITION:
(Lead) President Barack Obama will speak on Friday to seniors about getting
involved in community service work.
(Direct Quote)“Seniors will learn a lot about duty and commitment when they hear
President Obama,” Principal Ike Sumter said. “We are so excited that he agreed to
come.”
(Fact Transition) Before becoming president, Obama worked as a community
organizer in Chicago.
Transitions
20. Can be a fact, indirect quote or a partial quote.
For example - INDIRECT QUOTE TRANSITION:
(Lead) President Barack Obama will speak on Friday to seniors abou
getting involved in community service work.
(Direct Quote)“Seniors will learn a lot about duty and commitment
when they hear President Obama,” Principal Ike Sumter said. “We ar
so excited that he agreed to come.”
(IQ Transition) President Obama said he believes community service
is more important than college in building character.
Transitions
21. Can be fact, indirect quote or a partial quote.
For example - PARTIAL QUOTE TRANSITION:
(Lead) President Barack Obama will speak on Friday to seniors
about getting involved in community service work.
(Direct Quote)“Seniors will learn a lot about duty and
commitment when they hear President Obama,” Principal Ike
Sumter said. “We are so excited that he agreed to come.”
(PQ Transition) President Obama said he believes community
service is an “extremely valuable lesson” for every teen to have.
Transitions
22. Use transitional words to help with the flow (as needed): After all, Also,
Finally, In addition, However, Otherwise, Then
For example:
Use parts of the direct quotes to create the transition. And then use the
rest of the quote as direct quote.
In addition to speaking about community service, Obama plans to talk to
students about the importance of voting.
NOTE: BE SURE YOU USE THE APPROPRITE TRANSITIONAL WORD.
Transitions
23. Editorializing - Keep your opinion out of the story.
Using first and second person - Keep yourself out of the
story.
Common error: “our school”.
Messy handwriting, poor grammar and spelling
Too long paragraphs
Misspelling names in the story
Trying to use all of the information
Need to AVOID
24. Eliminate the word "that" whenever possible.
Eliminate the "be" verb. Write "she will resign" instead of "she
will be resigning." Write in future tense (will) instead of future
progressive tense (will be "ing").
Avoid the contractions of he'd and they'd. "He'd" can mean
both "he had" and "he would," and "they'd" can mean both
"they had" and "they would."
Editing
25. Always double-check the spelling of names.
Make sure numbers match the items listed.
Make sure "only" is placed properly in a sentence. The
location of "only" can change the meaning of a
sentence.
Editing
26. Read the story out loud to catch awkward sentence
constructions.
Write. Rewrite. Revise. Rewrite. Revise. Edit. Revise.
Edit. Edit. The first version of a story is NOT good
enough to go into print.
THERE IS NO GREAT WRITING, ONLY GREAT
REWRITING.
Editing
27. When you use a pronoun to refer to a team or a group, the
proper pronoun to use is "its," NOT they. Example: The team
wants to improve its record.
Make sure verbs or other phrases are "parallel" or the same in
structure when they appear in stories or lists.
Examples: He likes gardening, fishing, and hunting. The fire
killed at least 12 persons, injured 60 more, and forced scores
of residents to leap from windows.
Grammar
28. Use Grammarly or any autocorrect system
Use THIRD PERSON (she, he, it, its, her, hers, him, his, they,
them, their, theirs) in news stories. Only on rare occasions do
you use first person (I, mine, we, our, ours) or second person
(you, your, yours) in news stories.
Use active voice vs. passive voice. The passive voice is
formed by using some form of the verb "be" with the past
participle of an action verb: is shot, was shot, has been shot,
had been shot, may be shot, will be shot.
Grammar
29. Avoid using the same word twice in a sentence.
Count the words in a story's sentences. Sentence length should vary.
Stories become dull when sentences are all the same length.
Quotation marks go outside commas (,") and periods (."). They go
inside semicolons (";) and colons (":).
You can use TRANSITION WORDS to show coherence from one
paragraph to another. Examples: meanwhile, on the other hand,
moreover
Other points to consider
30. A headline is an abstract sentence
A headline will determine the angle of the story
Usually, it is only five to ten words
It is a complete thought
It has a subject and a verb, and often an object
Headline Writing
31. Be specific, direct, and to the point.
Write headlines, not titles.
To attract readers
To tell the story (in summary)
Functions of Headline:
Headline Writing
32. Limit your headline to maximum of 10 words
Use “,” instead of the word “and”
Use the present tense of the verb
Use the shortest words possible:
cop-policeman vs-against
nab-arrest up-increase
join-participate down-decrease
Headline Writing
33. Use historical present tense if the verb is in the active verb
Avoid the helping verb if the verb is in the passive verb
Wrong: Reyes topped editorial tilt
Correct: Reyes tops editorial tilt
Wrong: Drug pushers are nabbed
Correct: Drug pushers nabbed
Headline Writing
34. Use infinitive verb for future events:
Do not use a period at the end of the headline
Omit the articles ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’
Use single quotes (‘’) instead of double quotes (“”)
Provide the source of the quote at the end of the headline
Ex: Crackdown on errant bus firms–Enrile
Wrong: UDST will enjoy WiFi connectivity
Correct: UDST to enjoy WiFi connectivity
Headline Writing
35. Do not use a person’s surname unless he/she is prominent, use a
common noun instead
Use specific verbs instead of generalities
Just report facts; do not editorialize
Wrong: Repe wins nat’l painting tilt
Correct: NORSU student wins nat’l painting tilt
Wrong: Trader killed
Better: Trader stabbed to death
Wrong: Pnoy gives an inspiring talk (The word “inspiring’ is an
opinion)
Headline Writing
36. Based on notes
Packages vs Lives
You will mess up
Throw’s (Questions are known)
Sign Off’s
More emotional, (reporter's face is on camera)
Inflections
Live Reporting
