Lectured to staff of the Municipality of La Trinidad on their Seminar Workshop on effective Documentation Practices for Local Special Bodies/Civil Society Organization Secretariat on February 9, 2018 at the Strawberry Hotel.

1. How to efficiently
write a news article
that can also serve
as a report
Lessons learned in
the BSU Public Affairs
Office

2. About Me me me me
• I am Jennyline S. Tabangcura, Info. Officer II
• I am in my 10th year at BSU’s Public Affairs
Office.
• I’ve written and edited hundreds of news
articles
• I had so many mistakes and I learned from
them as much as I could

3. SUMMARY OF THE COURSE
Step 1: Know the readers and purpose of the
article
Step 2: Decide the angle of the article
Step 3: Gather, process and learn information
Step 4: Write
Workshop

4. Step 1:
Find out who will be the readers of
your article and the purpose it will
serve

5. • General public?
READERS
• To inform?
PURPOSE
• Decision-makers?
• Members of your organization?
• To record or document?
• To inspire?
• To appreciate or encourage?

6. Step 2:
Based on the readers and purpose of
your article, decide or choose your
angle
(this will later serve as your guide in
gathering information)

7. BUT WHAT IS AN ANGLE?

8. THE FOLLOWING ARE TWO ARTICLES
CONTAINING THE SAME INFORMATION
BUT WITH DIFFERENT ANGLES

11. Step 3:
GATHER, PROCESS AND LEARN
information that is RELEVANT to
your readers and to the purpose of
your article

12. Real Life Example:
You gathered….
-All the CV of presenters
-10 interviews
-Profile of the institution
where the presenters come
from

13. But will you be using all
those information?
or you just wasted precious time and energy?

14. Gathering,
pre-processing
and learning
information

15. • Gathering information from all
kinds of sources requires
people skills

16. Always introduce
yourself and
your purpose in
gathering data

17. INFORMATION SOURCE
• Documents
-Program papers
-Attendance
-Proposals
-MOA or MOU
-Certificates
-Written Speeches
-Laws, ordinances, policies, standards

18. DATA GATHERING TIPS
• Observe any inconsistency upon receiving
documents then clarify right away
RealLife Example:
Program paper spells the name, “Feleciano G.
Calora Jr.” but the activity proposal spells the
name as “Feliciano G. Calora Jr.
Clarify the inconsistency right away if you can to
save you the trouble of doing it later

19. DATA GATHERING TIPS
• You can take photos of the documents if a
hard copy is hard to come by or if
“they will send you a copy” because chances
are, you will no longer need the document
when you receive it

20. RealLife Example:
You: Ma’am
may I have a
copy of the
proposal po…
Madam: Oh, I only have
this one, but I can
send you an e-
copy….

21. You after 3 days…
-no email yet
-you have to submit/publish article ASAP

22. • Digital Recording
INFORMATION SOURCE
Though a digital recording is a very
accurate and a trustworthy source, it
could be very tedious and time
consuming to transcribe
Digital recordings (mp3) are good
reference files or “back-me-up” files
but do not depend on them 100%
Not readily accessible

23. RealLife Example:
1 hour of recording
=
one day of transcribing

24. -stop gathering information sources once setting a
digital recorder
RealLife Example:
Recipe for disaster
-not splicing the recording
(or tales of my inefficiency)
-stop taking notes, stop observing
-not checking the recorder every now and then
whether it is still recording (buhay ka pa ba?)
-setting the recorder too far from the speakers
-setting the recorder near an electric cord

25. RealLife Example:
• Disaster
-long and tedious hours of transcribing
and no way of verifying inconsistent or
questionable information, info maybe be
useless when you are done transcribing
-there is NOTHING recorded
-recording is too long, file is too heavy
-unintelligible recording

26. • Interviews, lectures, speeches, presentations
INFORMATION SOURCE
These are the sources of
QUOTES that will give
HUMAN INTEREST, and
VALIDITY to your story 
“Results of the survey shows that attending
seminars is good for the health of stressed
workers,” said Dr. Pool.
The rising number of stressed office workers
prompted the Provincial Mental Health institute
to conduct a survey.
Example:

27. • In interviewing,
have a question
prepared aside
from:
Default questions that I
often use 
Ano pong
masasabi ninyo
sa kaganapang
ito?
Ano po ang
nararamdaman
ninyo?
“What do you hope to
achieve through this
project or activity?”
“How did you come
up with this idea?
“What inspired you
to do this?

28. • While gathering info from documents make a
list of possible questions to ask
Of course some information the interviewees
would say are probably already found in the
documents but this is where interviewing helps
you because sometimes, you do not have to go
and review or look for documents
However, when a tiny voice inside of you
doubts the information from the interview,
you can consult the documents or other
people…or Google!

29. Real-lifeexample

30. Step 4:
WRITE
-Writing is a piece of cake when you have all the
information and you have a clear angle

31. Let’s start with the 5W and 1H
-What
-Why
-When
-Where
-Who
-How

32. • Sort the information you have according to
the question they answer in the 5Ws and 1H
structure

33. • If you are focusing on the “what”, then it will
be your lead….
*Lead is the first paragraph of your article,
it should contain the most important
information for your readers and for you as
the writer
*so it follows that the information you are
“angling” on will be the lead
*you can then place the rest of the info on
the following paragraphs

34. Example:
Why:
Six degree programs of the University were revisited by the Accrediting
Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines
(AACCUP), Inc. Only Area VII (library) of the degree programs PhD
Horticulture, PhD Rural Development, MS Soil Science, MS Rural
Development and BS in Nutrition and Dietetics were evaluated while
the degree BS Applied Statistics was reviewed in all areas.
What:
The purpose of the revisit is to see whether the recommendations of
the previous accreditors along the ten areas have been addressed so
that the degree programs being accredited can be elevated to Level IV
Phase I.
Who: The AACCUP team was composed of Dr. Nelia V. Aman from the
University of Northern Philippines…….

35. When:
Where:
The accreditation culminated in an Exit Conference and Closing
Program on July 28, 2017 at the Administration Conference Room.
Said program was attended by University Officials, local
counterparts and members of the Administrative Council.
How: AACCUP accredits degree programs in ten areas which include:
mission, goals and objectives; faculty; curriculum and instruction;
students; research; extension and community involvement;
library; physical facilities; laboratories; and administration.
Title: Level III degree programs revisited by AACCUP for Level IV Phase
I assessment

36. Some tips in composing paragraphs
or putting words together
-practice economy of words
-use short sentences
-do not pressure yourself too much
-start by telling a story like you are
narrating what happened today
Example:
I woke up at 7:00 then I had my breakfast, I went to work and
my boss told me to visit one of our clients.
When I got to the client’s house, she asked, “Can you help me
with this?”

37. • Always attribute info to your sources
Ex: Smoking in public is prohibited in La Trinidad
through Municipal Ordinance 111
According to…..
Based on…..
United Nation’s Official website defines abject
poverty as……

38. • Economy of words:
Ex: Still, the problem persisted until government
health officials intervened.
Likewise, outstanding employees were also
recognized for their contributions to the
development of the University.

39. • Short Sentences vs. Long Sentences
The University Charter Anniversary is celebrated
annually in the month of January to
commemorate the elevation of the then,
Mountain State Agricultural College (MSAC) into
Benguet State University (BSU) in 1985.

40. • The University Charter Anniversary is
celebrated annually in the month of January.
This is to commemorate the elevation of the
then, Mountain State Agricultural College
(MSAC) into Benguet State University (BSU) in
1985.

41. ACRONYMS
• At the first mention, spell out the acronym
then put the acronym in parenthesis at the
end. In the succeeding paragraphs, mention
only the acronym.
• Ex:
The Mountain State Agricultural College (MSAC)
was elevated to Benguet State University (BSU)
in 1985.

42. BE CONSISTENT
• If mentioning several personalities, treat them
equally
• Ex: Dean’s name is written with middle name
and President’s name is without middle name

43. AVOID REDUNDANCY
• Same message, different words
Example:
The BSU Centennial Park features marble slabs that
contain snippets of the University’s history. It was
launched on June 18, 2016 as part of BSU’s
Centennial anniversary celebration.
“The BSU history is written at the marble slabs in the
Centennial Park,” said ________.

44. CHECK LOGIC AND CLARITY
• Simple, commonly used words are clear words
Ex:
Vague sentence
Dr. Smith said the 2-year research was cut short due to lack
of funds.
Is the research supposed to be conducted for two years but was “cut
short” meaning it was stopped before it reached two years due to
lack of funds?
Was the research conducted for two years already, should it be
conducted for longer?

45. • Clear paragraph/sentence
According to the approved proposal, the research
would be conducted from 2016-2017 . However, it
was terminated in June 2017 due to lack of funds .

46. SPELLING AND GRAMMAR
• Listen to the green and red squiggly line

47. MIND THE DETAILS
• Dr. Ben D. Ladilad vs. Dr. Ben D. Ladlad is big
trouble that spurred from a small unnoticed
detail

48. Step 5:
VERIFY
A word about objectivity
If a person you are interviewing
says something negative about a
project he or she is involved in, how
are you going to treat that
information?

49. WORKSHOP 
• Write a news article about this activity