NEWS WRITING

GLORIFIE VILLAESTER-PITOGO
Objectives:
* Know the structure of the
news story.
* Define lead. Give its function
in the news story.
* Know the five W’s and H in the
news story.
* Know the functions of the
body of the news story.
What is News?
is a report of a current event. It is information
about something that has just happened or will
happen soon.
is a report about recent happenings in a
newspaper, television , radio or internet.
is something that is not known earlier.
 safely define news as a development that has
happened in the past 24 hours which was not
known outside and which is of wide interest to the
people and that which generates curiosity among
listeners.
 STRUCTURE OF NEWS
The inverted
pyramid of News
Most Important suggests that news
Next Most Important
be told in order of
most interesting or
Least important to least
Important interesting or
important.
Inverted Pyramid of News

Lead - Summary

Fact 2 & 3

Fact 4

Fact 5
THE LEAD
The lead is the first few sentences of the
story. It needs to be strong so it will grab
the readers and make them want to read
more.
Leads need to tell the reader what the
story is about and why it is important. The
lead tells the reader why he should read
the story.
 The opening words of the lead could
emphasize any of the W’s and H.

What? – What happened?

Who? – Who was involved?
When? – When did it happen?
Where? – Where did it take place?
Why? – Why did it happen?
How? – How did it happen?
GUIDELINES IN LEAD WRITING:
Pack the most important info in one
sentence.
 Start with the most important or unusual
idea of the News event.
Go direct to the point.
Use less than 30 words.
Avoid starting with articles a, an, the.
Do not mention names in the lead unless
the person is well-known.
Examples of Lead

(WHAT Lead)
The specter of a crop devastation
in several barangays in Nueva Ecija
appeared with officials reporting
yesterday that the locust infestation
in these areas had reached
awesome proportions.
WHO Lead

President Duterte yesterday

predicted that with the solution of the
peace and order problem in Mindanao,
the time is not far off when the
development of the whole country will
begin in the South.
 THE BODY OF THE STORY
- it is the section of the news that follows
the lead.
The body of the story serves one or both
of two purposes:
1. It explains and elaborates the feature or
features presented in the lead; and
2. It adds and amplifies minor features not
given in the lead.
ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF NEWS

• Accuracy

• Brevity (Briefness)

• Clarity

• Objectivity
 Six Tips for Writing News
Stories
1. Write a great lead
The lead has to convey the main points of the
story in no more than 35-40 words - and be
interesting enough to make readers want more.

2. Write tight
- Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. It means
conveying as much information as possible in as few
words as possible.
- Find your focus, avoid too many clauses, and use
a model called S-V-O or Subject-Verb-Object.
3. Structure it right
It simply means that the heaviest or
most important information should be
written at the top – the beginning – of your
story, and the least important information
should go at the bottom.

4. Use the best quotes

Fit a few quotes from that lengthy
interview into your article.  A good quote is
when someone says something interesting,
and says it in an interesting way.
5. Use Verbs and Adjectives the right
way
Adjectives rarely evoke visual images in
readers' minds and are just a lazy
substitute for writing good, effective
description.

6. Practice, Practice, Practice

Newswriting is like anything else - the
more you practice, the better you'll get.