BASIC NEWS

WRITING
by RAMONITO O.
ELUMBARING
Adviser, The Coconut
Quezon National High School
 INTRODUCTION
1. List down at least two (2) school
and/or community events that happened
last:
a. May
b. June
c. July
d. August  

2. From the list, which ones would you like

to include in your news page? Why?
 SCHOOL
NEWS
includes reports on:
• Money (Allocation of
School MOOE)
• Enrolment
• Facility improvements
• Articles on students’
safety
• National
awards/recognition
• Innovations in teaching
strategies
• PTA programs and
projects
• Impact story of new
policies cascaded by
DepED
• DropOut Reduction
Program (DORP)
• SHS News
• Survey on school-wide
issues
• Community news
that matter to
readers (Oplan
Tokhang, curfew
hour imposition,
etc.)
• Issues affecting
teachers (new DLL
format)
• Routinary activities
(Brigada Eskwela)
• School problems (no
SHS offerings)
• New ICT integration
platforms
• Updates on teachers
school tasks
• All articles
dealing with
utilization of
school funds
• New teachers/
employees
• trainings /
workshops (K to 12,
ALS, SHS, CI,
assessment,
research, content
and pedagogy, etc.)
• school
programs/contests
• News about
winnings
(academic/non-
academic) of
students,
clubs/organizations
• Special
programs/clubs &
organizations
activities
• School – community partnership news stories;
local political, social and economic news
• Articles about alumni’s
achievements
OTHER TYPES OF SCHOOL
STORIES THAT MAY
APPEAR IN THE
>Honor Roll story PAPER
>Visiting personages story
>School Improvement story
>Out-of-School Activity
>Meeting story
 NEWS SOURCES
SOURCES OF SCHOOL NEWS:
•principal/HTs/dept. heads
•advisers and officers of school organizations
•teachers
•Guidance Office
•School Clinic
•PTA officers
•the barangay/local officials
•school calendar
 NEWS SOURCES
SOURCES OF SCHOOL NEWS:
•bulletin board notices
•DepEd orders and memoranda
•press releases
•narrative/financial reports
•national/local newspapers and magazines
•radio and television
•surveys
•social media
 NEWS GATHERING
• The actual coverage of the event
or happening
• Interview
• Writing from documents, such as
speeches, programs, memoranda,
and other important papers
 So here we go…
When we write news, we place the
most essentials in the beginning,
then we write the facts in
decreasing order of importance.
Hence, the term INVERTED
PYRAMID is applied.
Inverted Pyramid (Cluster of
information)
 A news story is made or broken
by its angle.
•To choose an angle, we should ask
what is the most striking thing about
this story?
•Identify specific angle of an event
as highlight of your story (news
within a news)
•Once you find that, the story will
write itself.

Click to advance o next slide

 Key#01 – STRONG LEAD.
• Who
• What
• So, what?
SAMPLE SCHOOL NEWS LEAD.
The administration announced on Monday flag
raising ceremony that a new set of school rules and
regulations will be implemented in Quezon National
High School (QNHS) to address cases of students’
cutting classes.
 What to remember
• Leads limited to one or two
sentences are preferred.
• Most leads start with "who" or
"what.“
• "What happened" makes a better
story than the fact it did.
 Key # 2.
giving flesh to the BODY.
.
SECONDARY/SUPPORT LEAD (2 or more
paragraphs): elaboration of prominent W

Dr. Feliza B. Quevada, Principal IV

made the announcement after several
reports from the guidance office
confirmed that cutting classes have
been rampant during the first quarter.
3 paragraph - give the main source,
rd

background of the event

Initial reports from grade nine

guidance office said that there
were 200 cases of cutting classes
recorded for July; 280 for August;
and 301 for September.
Direct quotes (4 ,5 paragraphs)
th th

“We have to implement stiff policies

this time and make students realize their
self-responsibility,” the principal said.
“Students with three consecutive
absences will be subjected for first
offense, then for disciplinary measures if
they continue doing so,” she added.
 6 to the last paragraphs -
th

NEXT CLUSTER: (it may take several paragraphs)

Continuation of the DETAILS:
• provisions of the new rules and regulations;
• start of implementation;
• punishment to be given to the offenders)
Frame these matters in news-material
sentences following the inverted pyramid
structure)
 Remember…
• Keep paragraphs short. Limit it to 25-35
words. Less is better.
• Paragraphs limited to one to two sentences
are preferred.
• Each paragraph should contain only one idea.
• Remember short paragraphs encourage
readers to continue reading.
• Interview does matter.
 TYPES OF NEWS STORIES
Tingnan ang balitang ito. (Ang
Niyog)
Surquia, kampeon sa RSF at
RSC
Nasungkit ni Janron Joshua Surquia
ang gintong medalya matapos maungusan
ang 17 iba pang mga kalahok sa naganap
na Regional Science Fair (RSF) at Congress
(RSC) – Science Investigatory Project
Contest (Individual - Life Science Category)
sa Tagaytay City Science National High
School Gymnasium noong Oktubre 16.
 Karugtong…
Nakamit ni Surquia, mag-
aaral ng IV-ARV, ang unang
puwesto sa nasabing patimpalak
dala ang proyektong pang-agham
na pinamagatang ‘Makahiya
(Mimosa pudica Linn.) As
Treatment for Intestinal
Trichostrongylus Nematodes in
Native Goats.’
 Karugtong…
“Lubos akong nagagalak
sa aking pagkapanalo. Tunay
ngang hindi hadlang ang
kakulangan sa pinansyal na
kapasidad at suporta sa
pagbuo ng mga dekalidad na
proyekto katulad nito,” saad ni
Surquia.
 Karugtong…
Nanguna ang nasabing
proyektong pang-agham
matapos nitong mapatunayan
ang angkin nitong
kahalagahan sa larangan ng
paghahayupan at agrikultura.
 Karugtong…
Katuwang ni Surquia ang
ilan sa kanyang mga kamag-
aral na sina Irish Lorraine Ong,
Dianne Natalie Abril, Eurian
Alzaga, at Ezekiel Eljay
Macatangay na buhat mula sa
IV –ARV.
 Karugtong…
Lumahok din sa nasabing
paligsahan si Renald James
Legaspi (IV–ARV) at ilan sa
kanyang mga kasamahan dala
ang proyektong pang-agham
na pinamagatang ‘FeCu
Thermophile Stove.’
 Karugtong…
Lalahok sina Surquia sa
National Science Fair and
Congress sa darating na
Pebrero 2015.
TYPES OF NEWS STORIES
ACCORDING TO STRUCTURE/STYLE
OF PRESENTATION
 >Straight News
•consists of facts given directly
•its main aim is to inform
•it is a straight forward reporting of
the 5 W’s and 1 H
•follows the inverted pyramid
structure
BASIC STRUCTURE OF
THE INVERTEDNEWS
PYRAMID STRUCTURE
 BASIC STRUCTURE OF
FAQs on THENEWS
INVERTED PYRAMID
STRUCTURE
What type of news stories uses
the inverted pyramid structure?

Straight News. Its inverted

pyramid structure is its
 BASIC STRUCTURE OF
FAQs on THENEWS
INVERTED PYRAMID
STRUCTURE
How are facts arranged in an
inverted pyramid structure?
The most important facts are
placed at the beginning while
details and the background are
in the succeeding paragraphs, in
descending order.
 BASIC STRUCTURE OF
FAQs on THENEWS
INVERTED PYRAMID
STRUCTURE
What are the components of
the inverted pyramid structure?
1. Primary or main lead. Usually
a single paragraph, it contains
the four “Ws” (what, who,
where and when)
NOTE: For AP style, WHO, WHAT and SO WHAT only.
 BASIC STRUCTURE OF
FAQs on THENEWS
INVERTED PYRAMID
STRUCTURE
What are the components of
the inverted pyramid structure?
2. Secondary or support lead.
Explains or complements the
main or primary lead; consists of
two paragraphs, or twice the
length of the lead paragraph.
 BASIC STRUCTURE OF
FAQs on THENEWS
INVERTED PYRAMID
STRUCTURE
What are the components of
the inverted pyramid structure?
3. Details or particulars. Give
flesh to the story; all available
facts are included here,
particularly those that would
answer the “why” and “how”
 BASIC STRUCTURE OF
FAQs on THENEWS
INVERTED PYRAMID
STRUCTURE
What are the components of
the inverted pyramid structure?
4. Background. Relevant past
events are recounted and
incorporated; this portion may
be deleted
BASIC STRUCTURE OF
THE INVERTEDNEWS
PYRAMID STRUCTURE
 BASIC STRUCTURE OF
FAQs on THENEWS
INVERTED PYRAMID
STRUCTURE
What are the advantages of the
inverted pyramid style?
1. It facilitates reading. Enables
the hurried reader to get all the
important facts in a very short
period of time.
 BASIC STRUCTURE OF
FAQs on THENEWS
INVERTED PYRAMID
STRUCTURE
What are the advantages of the
inverted pyramid style?
2. It facilitates newspaper’s page
layout. The layout editor can strike
out or delete the least important
paragraphs at the bottom, because
the most important facts are on top.
 BASIC STRUCTURE OF
FAQs on THENEWS
INVERTED PYRAMID
STRUCTURE
What are the advantages of the
inverted pyramid style?
3. It facilitates headline writing. Editor
can already prepare the headline of
the story from the lead. The
copyreader will not have to search the
entire story for headline material.
 THE LEAD
• the story’s opening sentence or
two
• tells the most important facts of
the story (in straight news)
• could be a word, a phrase, a
sentence or a paragraph that
attracts and sustain the readers’
interest (in feature article or
news feature)
 THE LEAD
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
 be one sentence
 be a maximum of 30 to 35
words
 tell the most important piece of
information that occurred in the
event
 THE LEAD
CONTENT REQUIREMENTS
 contain the main who, what, when
and where of the story
 be direct and simple
 have the most important
information
 not try to tell everything but be
should be good summaries
 THE LEAD
CONTENT REQUIREMENTS
 include specific information
 not begin with the “when”
element
 use a strong verb to describe
the action
 be accurate -- above all else.
 BODY OF THE STORY
• What comes after
the summary lead
in news
• Present the news
in order of
descending
importance
 BODY OF THE STORY
• After the lead, you
introduce other important
elements
 Additional facts
 Background
 Quotes
 Paraphrased
information
 Transitions
 BODY OF THE STORY
• PRIORITIZING PARAGRAPHS
 Significant supporting facts
placed in order of importance
 Include strongest quotes
higher than peripheral or
paraphrased quotes
 BODY OF THE STORY
• ORGANIZING THE STORY
 After your lead, you will need to
add necessary background to the
story
 Is there important information
that the reader needs to know
from previous reporting?
 Summarize key details so that the
story makes sense to a new
 BODY OF THE STORY
• LENGTH OF PARAGRAPHS
 Keep your paragraphs short
(one or two sentences) and
make each of your points
concise.
 Readers grow tired of big
blocks of text, so it's best to
break it up a bit.
 FORMAT OF NEWS
WRITING
HERE’S THE SUGGESTION:
1st paragraph: the lead (usually the what, and who
of the news)
2nd paragraph: secondary lead (bring the other w’s)
Start building your nutgraph.
3rd paragraph: elaboration of the most important
W’S (Give the background of the event.)
4th paragraph: quote from the key person involved
5th to last paragraphs: reverse chronology of details
(from the most to the least important details)
 Model News (Ang Niyog)
Child protection policy, tinalakay;
karapatan ng mag-aaral binigyang
diin
Masusing ipinaliwanag at
binigyang diin sa mga guro ang mga
probisyon na nakasaad sa Child
Protection Policy sa In-Service training
na ginanap sa Pambansang Mataas na
Paaralan ng Quezon (PMPQ).
 Continuation…
Isinagawa ang talakayan bilang
bahagi ng In-Service Training ng mga guro
noong ika-21 hanggang 24 ng Oktubre sa
iba’t ibang lugar sa loob ng paaralan.
“Dapat tayong maging maingat sa
pangangaral sa mga bata. Kailangan nating
piliin ang mga salitang bibitiwan natin
dahil maaari itong makasakit sa kanilang
damdamin at maaari tayong managot,”
pahayag ni Gng. Cynthia Tadong, isa sa
mga naging tagapanayam.
 Continuation…
Nagkaroon ng puspusang
talakayan ukol sa paksa kung saan
lumabas na may mga ilang probisyon
sa nasabing batas ang nalalabag na ng
ilang guro tulad ng hindi pagtaggap sa
silid-aralan sa mga batang walang
takdang aralin, pag-uutos na maglinis
sa mga batang huli sa klase, at iba
pang minor na opensiba.
 Continuation…
“Kung may child protection
policy, sana magkaroon din ng
teachers’ protection para naman hindi
one-sided. Ito’y isa rin sa mga dahilan
kung bakit iba na ang attitude ng mga
bata ngayon, kasi nga pabor sa kanila
lahat halos ng batas, halos wala ng
karapatan ang mga guro,” pahayag ni
Gng. Janice Daef.
 Continuation…
Nakasaad sa DepEd order bilang
86, serye 2010 ang nasabing mga
probisyon na nagbibigay proteksyon sa
mga mag-aaral laban sa pang-aabuso
tulad ng bullying, at iba pang uri ng
krimeng nagdudulot ng pagkatakot at
trauma sa isipan ng bata.
 Anyo ng Modelong Balita
First Paragraph: Summary Lead (What, Where)
Masusing ipinaliwanag at binigyang diin sa mga guro
ang mga probisyon na nakasaad sa Child Protection
Policy sa In-Service training na ginanap sa Pambansang
Mataas na Paaralan ng Quezon (PMPQ).

Second Paragraph: Explained the facts mentioned in the

lead. The date in included here.
Isinagawa ang talakayan bilang bahagi ng In-
Service Training ng mga guro noong ika-21 hanggang
24 ng Oktubre sa iba’t ibang lugar sa loob ng
paaralan.
 Anyo ng Modelong Balita
Third Paragraph: Quote from the one of the
key persons involved in the story

“Dapat tayong maging maingat sa

pangangaral sa mga bata. Kailangan nating
piliin ang mga salitang bibitiwan natin dahil
maaari itong makasakit sa kanilang
damdamin at maaari tayong managot,”
pahayag ni Gng. Cynthia Tadong, isa sa
mga naging tagapanayam.
 Anyo ng Modelong Balita
Fourth Paragraph: Elaboration of important
details
Nagkaroon ng puspusang talakayan ukol sa paksa
kung saan lumabas na may mga ilang probisyon sa
nasabing batas ang nalalabag na ng ilang guro
tulad ng hindi pagtaggap sa silid-aralan sa mga
batang walang takdang aralin, pag-uutos na
maglinis sa mga batang huli sa klase, at iba pang
minor na opensiba.
 Anyo ng Modelong Balita
Fifth Paragraph: Direct quote from one of the
participants.

“Kung may child protection policy, sana magkaroon

din ng teachers’ protection para naman hindi one-
sided. Ito’y isa rin sa mga dahilan kung bakit iba na
ang attitude ng mga bata ngayon, kasi nga pabor
sa kanila lahat halos ng batas, halos wala ng
karapatan ang mga guro,” pahayag ni Gng. Janice
Daef.
 Anyo ng Modelong Balita
Sixth Paragraph: Story Background is provided

Nakasaad sa DepEd order bilang 86, serye 2010

ang nasabing mga probisyon na nagbibigay
proteksyon sa mga mag-aaral laban sa pang-
aabuso tulad ng bullying, at iba pang uri ng
krimeng nagdudulot ng pagkatakot at trauma sa
isipan ng bata.
 Sample news item (The
Coconut)
Senior Quezonhighers hope for UP
Admission
One-hundred one senior students
from QNHS took the University of the
Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT)
to try possible entry to the premiere state
university in the country.
 Continuation…
The UPCAT was administered at
the Rodolfo B. Abadilla Hall, Manuel S.
Enverga University Foundation on
August 3-4 divided in two schedules: 6
AM and 12 noon.
The examination consisted of four
subtests: language proficiency,
science, math and reading
comprehension. The UPCAT hopefuls
were given five hours to complete the
 Continuation…
More than 80,000 examinees
were reported to take the exam in
more than 80 testing centers in the
country including one in Lucena City.
According to UP Office of
Admissions, the average passing rate
in UPCAT falls between 16-17% – or
14,000 applicants.
 Continuation…
“Totoo nga palang mahirap ang
UPCAT. Sobrang dami nya tapos time-
pressured kaya masakit talaga sa ulo,
sa mata at sa leeg. Pero sana pumasa
ako.” said Jovela Penaojas, a student
from IV-ARV.
Results of the exam are expected
to come out in February 2014.
 Structure of the sample news
First Paragraph: LEAD (Who, What, So What?)
One-hundred one senior students from QNHS took
the University of the Philippines College Admission Test
(UPCAT) to try possible entry to the premiere state university
in the country.

THE STORY ALSO BUILDS UP A NUTGRAPH. (SECONDARY

LEAD)
Second Paragraph: NOTE that in the second paragraph the
nutgraph is presented (the important w’s are there).
The UPCAT was administered at the Rodolfo B.
Abadilla Hall, Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation on
August 3-4 divided in two schedules: 6 AM and 12 noon.
 Structure of the sample news
3rd- 4th paragraphs: Elaboration of
important details, story background is
provided.
The examination consisted of four
subtests: language proficiency, science, math and
reading comprehension. The UPCAT hopefuls were
given five hours to complete the exam.
More than 80,000 examinees were reported
to take the exam in more than 80 testing centers in
the country including one in Lucena City.
 Structure of the sample news
Fifth Paragraph: quote from the key person
involved is presented.
“Totoo nga palang mahirap ang UPCAT. Sobrang
dami nya tapos time-pressured kaya masakit talaga
sa ulo, sa mata at sa leeg. Pero sana pumasa ako.”
said Jovela Penaojas, a student from IV-ARV.
Sixth paragraph: background (may be
deleted)
Results of the exam are expected to come out in
February 2014.
 TASK 1 WHAT’S IN THE
NEWS?
Headline Topic/ News Kind of Lead
Event Structure Used
1.

2.

3.
 TASK 1 WHAT’S IN THE
NEWS?
• How are the headlines written?
• Does it follow a structure?
• What can you say about the verb
tense?
• Give some tips in writing headlines.
 TASK 1 WHAT’S IN THE
NEWS?
• What were the topics/event
featured in each story?
• Which of these stories are routinary?
Which ones are not?
• What events can be included in the
school paper?
 TASK 1 WHAT’S IN A
NEWS?
• What are the two types of
news according to
structure?
• Which among the two types
are mostly printed in the
paper?
 TASK 1 WHAT’S IN A
NEWS?
• What have you noticed about the
lead paragraphs of news stories?
• Is it easy to write the lead of a
news story?
• What type of lead was commonly
used in the stories?
• Give some tips to write effective
leads.
 TASK 1 WHAT’S IN A
NEWS?
• What have you noticed about the
lead paragraphs of news stories?
• Is it easy to write the lead of a
news story?
• What type of lead was commonly
used in the stories?
• Give some tips to write effective
leads.
Task 2 ANALYZING NEWS
STORIES
Headline # of # of Sentence/s Sources of Important
Paragraphs per Paragraph Stories/Methods of Details
News Gathering Mentioned in
the Story

1.

2.

3.
Task 2 ANALYZING NEWS
STORIES
• What is the range of paragraphs of
most news stories?
• Is there a required number of
paragraphs per news story?
• Are the paragraphs long or short?
Why is that so?
Task 2 ANALYZING NEWS
STORIES
• What have you noticed about the #
of sentences per paragraph?
• Are the sentences short or long?
• How many idea/s is/are discussed?
• What’s the rule if you have two
sentences in one paragraph?
Task 2 ANALYZING NEWS
STORIES
• What were the sources of the news
story?
• What are the methods in gathering
news?
• Are there stories that you think lacks
info?
Task 2 ANALYZING NEWS
STORIES
• Cite one story and enumerate the
different details in it.
• Are you satisfied with all the info
included in the story?
• If not, what others details should have
been included in the story? Are there
some info in the story which are
irrelevant?
Task 3 ANALYZING NEWS
STORIES Part 2
• Provide students sample
stories. Make marginal
notes as to how these
stories were written. Cite
the topic/details mentioned
in each paragraph.
Thank You for
Listening!