The document provides guidance on writing news articles, including defining key elements of news and outlining best practices for structuring news stories. It discusses the importance of accuracy, clarity and style in news reporting. Various lead styles such as conventional, grammatical beginning and novelty leads are described, along with tips for writing the body of the article and effective editing.

1. NEWS WRITING Mr. Hernane B. Buella

2. News is new information or current events

3. News is an oral or written report of an event that happened, is happening, and will still happen.

12. Lead - the opening sentence or paragraph The lead, also called slant or angle, is the beginning of a newspaper’s story. It contains the most important information, which attracts and sustains reader’s attention and interest to continue reading the news story. Determine which of the five W’s and H is the most important to your story, and then place those elements in the lead.

19. Conventional/Summary Lead

26. GRAMMATICAL – BEGINNING LEADS

27. 1. Subject Noun Lead. It begins with a noun and its modifier. The Philippine National Police will deploy 7000 policemen in Metro Manila for the Sept. 21 pro-democracy rally. 2. Gerund Phrase Lead . It begins with a verbal noun that always ends in –ing. Clipping the power of the Supreme Court of the Philippines to decide on economic issues is one of the constitutional amendments being sought by President Joseph Ejercito Estrada.

28. 3. Infinitive Phrase Lead. It begins with the preposition to, the sign of the infinitive, followed by the present form of the verb, the stem of infinitive. To protect the public and to police its own ranks, the 37 strong member of the Philippine Veterinary Drug Association (PVDA) is completing its comprehensive code of ethics, according to Dr. Julius O Perez, PVDA president.

29. 4. Participial Phrase Lead . It begins with the present participle (following), past participle (followed), perfect participle (having followed), or passive perfect participle (having been followed) form of the verb. Stricken by the widespread economic malaise in Asia, the nine-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations will restructure trade and investment agreements, including the acceleration of the tariff reduction timetable and the relaxation of investment rules, to cushion their economies from the impact of the worsening crisis.

30. 5. Prepositional Phrase Lead . It begins with a preposition like aboard, about, above, according to, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, in addition to, in spite of, into, like, near of, off, on, onto, out, over, through, to, toward, under, underneath, until, up, with, or within. Over a delicious seafood meal of three courses, with a succulent lechon baboy sent by Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, President Joseph Ejercito Estrada yesterday carefully explained why he wanted Congress to convert itself into a constituent assembly to make certain amendments to the Constitution.

31. 6. Causal Clause Lead . It begins with because, due, or since. Because of higher financial charges, Benpres Holdings Corporation reported a 17.9 percent decline in comparable consolidated profits in the first nine months of the year to PhP1.44 billion from PhP1.75 billion posted in the same period in 1997. 7. Concessive Clause Lead . It begins with although, though, or despite. Despite the clamor of the residents, the Rizal provincial government has agreed to allow the Metro Manila Development Authority to continue dumping garbage in the landfill until year 2000.

32. 8. Conditional Clause Lead . It begins with if, provided, or unless. Unless the government, the private sector, and the public adopt the necessary changes to meet the challenges facing the country’s textbook program, there will be a severe shortage of textbooks in public schools nationwide. 9. Noun Clause Lead . It begins with that, what, when, where, which, who, whom, or whose. What President Estrada does, son Jinggoy emulates. As the tired cliché goes, like father like son. 10. Temporal Clause Lead . It begins with as soon as, before, when, while, or since. While pigs suffer FMD or foot-and-mouth disease, hog farmers and meat suppliers in the provinces are also suffering from FMD or financial and mental distress.

33. Novelty or Unorthodox Leads

34. 1. Atmosphere Lead . It consists of words or phrases that help portray the mood or setting of the story. A few kilometers away from busy Ortigas Avenue in the bustling Mandaluyong City-Pasig City junctions is a new quiet community, a cool haven of suburban middle-class living. It is nestled in the woodsy, foliaged portion of Brookside Hills. 2. Astonisher or Exclamatory Lead . It calls for an exclamation that is primarily used for expressing the extent to whom somebody or to which something impresses the writer. Nothing can stop this rally! President Joseph Ejercito Estrada asked organizers of the pro-democracy rally scheduled tomorrow in the City of Makati to call off the protest because of its negative effects on the economy.

35. 3. Background Lead . It consists of words or phrases describing the place that over shadows the person and the event. The Philippines is not the only country preoccupied with centennial celebrations. 4. Cartridge or Punch Lead. It tells the gist of the news with the use of abrupt, definite, and short words possible. No new car. No new guns either. Not one piece of firearm will be added to the arsenal of the Philippine National Police (PNP) next year, leaving 22 percent or over one-fifth of the PNP’s total uniformed force solely relying on nightsticks as their battle against crime.

36. 5. Contrast Lead . It describes two separate events to point out extremes and opposites. Welcome sunlight greeted most part of Northern and Central Luzon yesterday, but a weekend darkened by a tropical depression has left a trail of death and destruction. 6. Descriptive or Picture Lead . It describes a person, a place, or an event through vivid words and expressions. Clutching her baby girl, Mrs. Lourdes Arquiza could not control her tears when she heard that her husband, Capt. Oscar Arquiza, was sentenced yesterday to die by lethal injection.

37. 7. Direct Quotation Lead . It addresses the readers. Don’t bother to unpack those sweaters this Misa de Gallo season: you won’t be needing them. 8. Epigram Lead . It begins with an adage, a maxim, or a quotation and stresses the moral of the story. Crime does not pay. But Romy Corrales learned this only after he had been collared by the police for being a fake immigration agent. 9. Question Lead . It raises a query to arouse reader’s interest. Do we want our very important government officials to ride in the common and lowly FX Tamaraw, the mega taxi of the masses?

38. 10. Figurative Lead . Triteness is the main danger of this kind of lead. Common sense should dictate when to use it. The Mother of democracy is finally home at 76. (This was about the death of former President Cory Aquino) 11. Freak Lead. It tries to be different by using typographical effects. For sale: a baby Mrs. Carol Conag, a Tondo resident, said yesterday that since she could no longer feed her baby, she might as well sell it. There were no immediate takers. 12. Parody or Teaser Lead. It begins with a well-known allusion, jingle, poem, song, quotation, or verse. I’m sorry, my judge.

39. The BODY