News Basics

Inverted
Pyramid

Dianne
Smith, CJE
Alief
Hastings HS
Houston, TX

In daily newspapers,
most timely and
featured news stories
are written in the
traditional form--the
inverted pyramid form
(the order of decreasing
importance).

Inverted Pyramid
Most important facts
Next most
important
Next most
important
Next

The first paragraph of a

news story contains the most
important information.
This is called the Summary Lead,
because it summarizes the most
important facts gathered about the
story.

Reasons for the Inverted

Pyramid:
Makes reading easier and faster
Enables the hurried reader to get all
the important facts in a very short
period of time
Satisfies curiosity in a logical way
Makes page makeup easier
Makes the work of the copydesk easier

Characteristics of a good
Summary Lead
Briefest possible summary of a
story, usually no more than 25
words.
Includes only those Ws and H that
are important. These usually include
the What, Who and sometimes
When, and sometimes the So What.

What are the Ws and H

Who
What
When
Where
Why
How

Characteristics of a good
Summary Lead
Usually only one paragraph but may
be more. It is easier to read two
short paragraphs than one long one.
Usually starts with the feature of
the story, the most important fact.

How to find the feature

Use your knowledge of news
values.
Know who your readers are.
Ask yourself: What
would be the first
question a reader would
ask about this event?

Characteristics of a good
Summary Lead
Quickly summarizes in the first few
words the most important fact of
the story.
The What is usually the most used
feature of a lead, followed closely by
the Who. (The Who should be used
only when the name itself is clearly
the most important fact.)

Characteristics of a good
Summary Lead
Begins with specific, interest arousing
words.
Poor:
For several years it has been the
custom
Good:
A two-day vacation is in store for...

Characteristics of a good
Summary Lead
Usually avoids beginning with such
words or phrases as a, an, at a meeting,
yesterday, last night, last week,
recently, days of the week, according
to, in the opinion of; it is, was, will be;
there is, was, will be.

Characteristics of a good
Summary Lead
It is broken into two sentences or two
paragraphs when too much important
information would make an excessively
long sentence. Shorter sentences and
paragraphs are easier for a reader to
grasp quickly.

Poor:

Whoa! Too
much info!

Lincolns basketball season came to

an end March 2 when the Maroons
were defeated by Bridgeport, 4544, in an overtime in finals of the
Regional Tournament at Rockford.

Better:

MUCH better!
Thanks!

An overtime in the semifinals

ended Lincolns basketball season
Wednesday in the Regional
Tournament at Rockford.
The Maroons were edged by
Bridgeport, 45-44.

The lead tells the most

important part of the
story, and the body of
the story gives the other
facts in decreasing order
of importance.

Summary
lead

Most important facts

Next most
important

Body
of the
story

Next most
important
Next

Through alternating direct

quotes (which contain
opinions, feelings or
information that cannot be
measured by some standard)
and transitional statements
(which contain facts), the
reporter tells the story.

What is a transition?
Transitions are words
or phrases which keep
the story flowing
smoothly and let the
reader know you are
either talking about
the same thing as
before or you have
changed subjects.

What is a transition?

Word or phrases such as

meanwhile; also;
nevertheless; accordingly; at
the same time
Repetition of a word or
phrase from a previous
paragraph
Use of a synonym for a key
word from a previous
paragraph

Summary Lead
Alternating
paragraphs of
quoted
opinions,
feelings or
thoughts and
factual
transitions

Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote

Fact
DQ

The last
paragraph
should be a
direct quote.

Example of a
typical News
Story

The Summary Yikes!

Lead:
Id
better read
further!

Students who are chronically

tardy to class may find
themselves suspended if a policy
being considered by the Lewiston
School Board and faculty is
passed.

Quote #1:
Being on time is a virtue,
Principal Jan Kingston said.
Students today, however,
dont seem to think it is
important.

Transition #1:
The school board discussed
the policy Feb. 8 and will
bring it up again in March.
LHS faculty discussed the
proposed policy Wednesday.

Quote #2:
It is about time this district
did something about the tardy
problem, Bart Simpson, social
studies teacher, said. It has
gotten so bad that more
students are out in the hall
than in class.

Transition #2:
The proposed policy states that
students will be considered tardy
if they enter the room after the
bell has rung. The tardy will be
unexcused unless an excuse signed
by an assistant principal or
counselor is presented to the
teacher.

Quote #3:
Too many students are still
wandering around in the halls or
using the restrooms when the
tardy bell rings, Bob Johnson,
sophomore Assistant Principal
said. Teachers have asked that
these students receive some sort
of penalty.

Transition #4:
That penalty would come in the
form of a 30-minute detention to
be handled by the teachers,
according to the new policy.

Quote #5:
We would also be rewarding
those students who regularly get
to class on time and who set a
good example, Johnson said.

Transition #5:
Ten percent punctuality points
would be averaged into a grade at
the end of each quarter if a
student has fewer than three
unexcused tardies. If a student
has three or more unexcused
tardies, the punctuality points
would not be given.

Quote #6:
There would be some tougher
penalties for those who dont
seem to understand that we mean
business with this new policy,
Johnson said.

Transition #6:
By the fourth unexcused tardy, a
student would be referred to the
principals office and the parent
or guardian would be notified.
One-day suspensions would result
if the student continues to be
tardy.

Quote #7:
The proposed policy provides the
incentive to students to be in
class on time, Kingston said.

Transition #7:
Administrators hope that the new
policy, if adopted, will eliminate
the majority of unexcused
tardies, which have been
numbering in the hundreds each
day.

Final Quote
The policy change is a step in the
right direction, Johnson said.
Its a positive program to deal
with a negative problem.

Summary Lead
The lead told
readers a new
tardy policy was
being considered
by the school
board and that
students who did
not comply might
be suspended.

Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote

Fact
DQ

Summary Lead
It summarized
the most
important facts:
Students might
be suspended if
they are tardy all
the time if the
new policy goes
into effect.

Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote

Fact
DQ

The body
gave further
details about
the proposed
policy, using
facts about
tardies and
opinions from
various
sources to
tell the
story.

Summary Lead
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote
Fact
Direct Quote

Fact
DQ