Writing News Like a

Professional In A
Digital Age
By Taye Obateru, Ph.D, Department Of Mass
Communication, University Of Jos, Jos.
A Presentation At An Effective Public Relations
Practice Workshop For Personnel Of The
Information And Public Relations Directorate
Of The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) 10th –
14th January, 2022.
Outline of Presentation
What is news?
Why a PRO needs news writing skills
Difference between news and feature stories
The PRO as a news reporter
 The content of news
Guide to writing good news reports
Press release as news
Conclusion
What is news?
Contemporary definition of news has moved
from seeing news simply as an unusual
happening such as when a man bites a dog.
What is News?
Blayer, a celebrated reporter and journalism
educator, defines news as: anything timely
that interests a large number of persons and the
best news is that which has the greatest interest
for the greatest number.
What is news?
According to another author, Rivers:
News is the timely report of
events, facts and opinions that interest a significant
number of people.
Why news is important
Humans by nature are curious about new developments or
happenings that are of interest to them.
This is why the news
media are important as sources of information and
information have a way of impacting those who receive
them in various ways.
Why do I need to write news as a PRO?
To create visibility for your organisation, you have to be in the news.
It is the information available that moulds public opinion
about your organisation. Writing like
a professional makes it easier to get your news published.
Establishments like ITF have newsletters and other publications
that require reports from Area and State offices.
Getting news about your Area or State office into the publications
stands you out as a PRO.
Should a PRO know how to write news?
Experience has shown that a lot of reports or press releases
from Public Relations Units of organizations are unusable
because they fail to satisfy the basic requirement of a news
report. Reporters often have to ‘battle’ to make sense out of
what is sent out as press releases.
Difference between news and feature
stories
Both give out information on current happening or
event. News is straight-to-
the-point and shorter than a feature story.
A feature is more detailed and
analytical. A combination of both helps to
make more impact.
Is writing a press release the same as
writing news?
In a way, yes, because both contain information that you want to
disseminate which has to be newsworthy. But they
are different in format or structure. A press release
takes the form of a news story to a large extent by providing
essential information which you want the news media to publish.
It is usually dated and signed.
A news copy is usually written for publication in
our organisation’s newsletter or magazine, so it is written the way
newspapers and magazines do.
The PRO as a news reporter
A PRO needs to know what is newsworthy to be able to
write a good news copy. News goes beyond
merely reporting what happened. It requires picking
the angle that would appeal to the public and starting with
it, and including all the necessary ingredients of news.
Without knowing how to identify what is
newsworthy, it will be difficult to write good news reports.
The content of news
Every good news report answers six basic questions known as the 5
Ws and H. These are: Who - who is involved or who is
speaking?
 What – what happened or what was the event?
Where – where did it happen?
  When – when did it happen?
  Why – What are the reasons behind the event or happening?
 
The structure of news
A news story starts with what is known journalistically as
the lead or intro (short for introduction). The lead is
where the news is broken. It presents the main information
that we want to give out before going into other details.
The lead usually answers any of the
‘w’ questions before providing details in the remaining part
known as the ‘body’.
Guide to writing good news reports
Make your news informative and timely
Train yourself to take good notes because good news reports are
products of good note taking  
Know and stick to what is important in taking notes for, or
researching your news story
Develop a short hand (i.e. create your own abbreviations to ease
note taking).
 
Develop new sense and nose for news.
Train your memory to hold details
temporally.
 Use recorders for accuracy.
Make effective use of quotations.
Writing news via press release
In writing a press statement/release, a PRO should
follow the basic rules of news gathering which include:
 Know what needs to be said.
 Use words your audience understands.
 Be frank, do not hide the truth.
 The message must be accurate.
According to May (1987), a press release should follow the normal
news writing style of placing the most important facts first while the
other facts follow in a descending order.
This style is known as “inverted
pyramid” format of news writing.
The
advantage of this is that vital information is given at the top while
the least important are left towards the end. In the event that any
part of the story is edited out, the most important information would
not be affected.
The Inverted Pyramid
Lead (most important info)
Next most
Leas
important
t
imp
orta
nt
Conclusion
The task of news gathering and reporting is not as easy as we
sometimes think. Public relations practitioners therefore
need to train themselves to be good reporters if they are to
project their establishments well. The ability to push out
‘well tailored’ reports that would enhance the corporate
image which they were employed to create and sustain, is
dependent on having good reportorial skills, among other
qualities.
 
◦

Thanks for your attention.