This document provides guidelines for writing news stories, including structuring the lead, building quotes and attributions, and incorporating multimedia. The lead should be 30 words or less and answer the 5Ws and H. Quotes must be accurately attributed. News stories follow the inverted pyramid structure and include the essential who, what, when, where, why and how. Multimedia like photo essays, audio or video can enhance the story.

2. ALWAYS
Ask for permission before you begin recording the interview.
Have sources who agree to be “on-the-record” and fully identified by
name and title, do not use anonymous sources. “Off-the-record”
sources may help you gain context on the issue but cannot be used as a
source in yoru story.
Transcribe your interview using Otter.ai. Edit the transcript as needed.
Save your audio recordings.
Represent your sources accurately.

3. QUOTES: LETTING SOURCES TELL THE STORY
Direct quotes are:
● Exactly what the source said, word for word
● Used when a source goes beyond the facts
● Used when the source says something interesting
● Indicated in your story by using quotation marks and attributions
Indirect quotes are:
● Quotes that are paraphrased
● Used when a source says something important, but not particularly well
● Not indicated with quotation marks but the content paraphrased is attributed
Partial quotes are:
● Good to use when you have a few words or a key phrase
● To be used sparingly for flavor and punch

4. ATTRIBUTING YOUR INFORMATION
● Attributions include name and title (include major and classification if your source is a
student)
● Attribute your quotes with “said”, because that is the fact. They “said” the words; you do not
know what they feel, think, believe, etc.
● “Said” comes after the person’s name .
● All punctuation goes inside the quotations marks.
● After first reference, refer to the sources only by the last name.
You don’t have to use everything a person said for your story, but you have to make sure that the
quotes and partial quotes you are using are accurately representing what the person said and what
the person meant.
Remember to always save your recorded interviews in case your story attributions are questioned.

5. EXAMPLES: ATTRIBUTING YOUR INFORMATION
Attributing your quotes shows the reader where you got the information. Use the following example as a guide
for your stories:
Example No. 1: “It was the best day of my life,” junior psychology major Ellen James said. “I would have never
imagined that I would be able to climb Mount Everest.”
Example No. 2 : (first attribution or first time the individual is presented in the story) “Students often struggle
when they first come to college,” Joe Smith, senior agriculture communication major, said. “I know that I had a
tough time when I was a freshman. I think this new program can really help students.”
Example No. 3: (second attribution or second time the individual is presented in the story) “This program is
already making a difference in hundreds of lives,” Smith said.

6. TRANSITIONS
● Transitions help provide context. Let your quotes provide the credibility and emotion, and let
transitions provide the facts and the background information.
● People often follow a logical order when they talk, so long quotes can be divided into a transition and a
quote.
● Don’t splice quote sentences together, but you can skip a sentence of a person’s quote if necessary.
● Partial quotes for nonfactual information in transitions are also helpful. However, the order of the story
will almost always be different from the order of the original quotes (this is why context is so
important).

7. EXAMPLE: TRANSITIONS
Your source tells you this:
“I first started playing basketball in fifth grade and played through junior high and high school. In 2014, I was
recruited by WT. I’ve always loved the sport, and being a professional basketball player has been my dream as
long as I can remember.”
And you write it like this using the transition/quote formula:
Senior Megan Rice began playing basketball in fifth grade and played on her school’s team throughout junior
high and high school. In 2014, Rice was recruited by West Texas A&M University.
“I’ve always loved the sport, and being a professional basketball player has been my dream as long as I can
remember,” Rice said.

8. NEWS WRITING

9. THE LEAD
Is about 30 words or less and answers as many of the 5 W’s and H as possible.
Start with the “who” if the person is extremely important
Almost never lead with where and/or when
Has the newest and most important information with a focus on the future. For example: If a
celebrity was arrested last week and the trial will be held tomorrow, lead with the trial, not the arrest.
Summarizes the main idea of the story
Two paragraph leads are permissible if you make sure your first paragraph contains the newest
information. Usually, the first paragraph will only be one sentence, and the second paragraph will
range from one to two sentences.

10. BUILDING THE LEAD
Start with the 5Ws and 1H, the prioritize them.

11. BUILDING THE LEAD FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Start with a core.
Add layer after layer as you move out.

12. TYPES OF LEADS
Summary Lead
● Standard approach captures 5 Ws and 1 H.
● Not every story needs a summary lead.
Name-Recognition Lead
● Fame is a valuable interest element.
● The more important someone is, the more readers will take interest.
Interesting-Action Lead
● Odd actions or strange occurrences are interesting.
● The “what” matters more than the “who.”
Event Lead
● Works well for meetings, speeches, or news conferences.
● Better focus on what happened, not merely that it was held.
Second-day Lead
● Newest information goes up top
● Tie it back to previous coverage
● Story could be updated multiple times

13. PROBLEMATIC LEADS
“You” Lead
● Readers don’t like being told what to do
● Don’t assume you know what people should do
● You’re not an advocate
Question Lead
● A straw-man approach
● Every reader may not answer the same
Quote Lead
● Can sound ridiculous or hyperbolic
● Or like being dropped into the middle of someone’s conversation
“Many people/some people” Lead
● Don’t be hyperbolic or overgeneral
● Readers can feel cheated, and leads feel generic

14. THE INVERTED PYRAMID
News Stories
● Primary focus on informing the reader
and sharing the who, what, when,
where, why, and how
● Inverted pyramid: paragraphs are
written in order from most important
to least important
● Time-sensitive

15. GUIDELINES

16. GUIDELINES FOR NEWS
For a story to qualify as a news story, it must fall under one of the following categories:
● Political forces within and outside the university
● Stories and events that impact the WTAMU community including students, administration, faculty and/or staff
● Student Government
● Town Hall Meetings
● Crime
Your story must
● Be between 550-600 words in length
● Have at least 3 sources
● Tell the reader who, what, when, where, why, and how
● The lead must be about 30 words or less and answers as many of the 5 W’s and H as possible.
● Follow the transition/quote formula with proper attributions. Transitions should be 1-3 sentences.
● Have a horizontal featured image/thumbnail with the following dimensions
○ Width between 900(min) and 1500(max) pixels
○ Height between 600 (min) and 1000 (max) pixels
When possible, add a multimedia element to your story. The suggested multimedia component for news are photo essays, video, audio, or
infographic - see “Multimedia Options” slide for guidelines on each of these components.

17. MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS
You have the opportunity to include multimedia content to your story as you see it would best fit. You can
choose from the following options:
1. PHOTO ESSAYS: 8-10 pictures with the appropriate cutline
2. AUDIO PIECES: 1.5-3 minutes in length
3. VIDEO: 1.5-3 minutes in length
4. INFOGRAPHICS
5. PODCAST: 5 episodes per semester
The Multimedia Lab is equipped with equipment to produce a podcast. If this is an option that interests you,
please discuss it with Dr. Garcia. You must have a solid plan for your podcast before you can begin production.