The document provides guidelines for writing news stories, including following the inverted triangle structure where the most important information is at the top, using the 5W's to cover who, what, when, where, why, keeping writing clear, concise and correct, estimating story length using a "3 words per second" table, and additional tips like using a relevant peg and covering multiple angles.

1. Writing for News - Rules
and Techniques

2. The 5W’s
WHO DID IT WHAT
HAPPEN TO? HAPPE-
WHY DID
NED?
IT
HAPPEN?
WHEN DID
IT HAPPEN? WHERE DID IT HAPPEN?

3. Inverted Triangle
The planning for a news story should be presented as an upside down
‘inverted’ triangle. It represents having the most important news first and
working towards softer news towards the end.
The introduction at the widest part of the triangle will
contain the ‘Who’ and the ‘What’ of the story, and
sometimes the ‘When’.
The next few paragraphs will build on the
intro. They will explain more about ‘What’
happened, ‘How’, ‘Where’ and ‘Why’.
Background will be included
to add interest and to put
the story into context.
Summary.

4. The 3 C’s
• We watched the “BBC News School Report” video
hosted by Huw Edwards on www.bbc.co.uk where he
discussed the 3c’s.
• We must be:
• Clear – Write as if you were speaking to one person –
simple, short words. If it helps, say it aloud.
• Consise – Keep it short. Cut anything unnecessary out
when scripting.
• Correct – Watch your grammar and punctuation! Make
sure you are being honest and correct with
information!

5. ‘3 Words per Second’ Table
If it helps, we will draw up a table with three columns. We should let
each row of words count as one second. At the end, we will count the
words and weshould have an estimate of how long our script is.
The Cat Chased
The Mouse Around
The House Faster
Than He Ever
Had before.
= 5 SECONDS!

6. Tips, tips, tips!!
• Kiss and tell – We will keep it short and simple and tell the
story. We should use short words and phrases. No matter
how intellectual a long word may sound, it could be hard
to pronounce when recording.
• Facts – We will use the rule of one fact per sentence and
make sure that our facts are honest and that they create a
sense of authority.
• Peg – A writer needs a ‘peg’ to hang their story on. For
example, something happening ‘today’ may lead into the
story. Our peg will be relevant to our station output and
time factor.
• Angle – To reach all points of view within a story we will
use vox pops and approach both argument sides.