News Writing Fundamentals

Reporting

One of the most fundamental differences between journalism and other forms of writing
is the way journalists obtain the information they write about. Journalists obtain
information through a variety of reporting techniques, which can include interviewing
sources, looking through government documents, researching old articles, and
observing events firsthand.

Good news writing begins with good, accurate reporting. Journalists perform a public
service for citizens by presenting truthful facts in honest, straight-forward articles.

News Values

Journalists commonly use six values to determine how newsworthy a story or elements
of a story are. Knowing the news values can help a journalist make many decisions,
including:

• What information to give first in a news article, and in the lede

• Which articles to display on a newspaper’s front page
• What questions to ask in an interview

The six news values are:

1. Timeliness- Recent events have a higher news value than less recent
ones.
2. Proximity- Stories taking place in one’s hometown or community are
more newsworthy than those taking place far away.
3. Prominence- Famous people and those in the public eye have a higher
news value than ordinary citizens.
4. Uniqueness/oddity- A story with a bizarre twist or strange
occurrences. “Man bites dog” instead of “dog bites man.”
5. Impact- Stories that impact a large number of people may be more
newsworthy than those impacting a smaller number of people.
6. Conflict- “If it bleeds, it leads.” Stories with strife, whether it’s actual
violence or not, are more interesting.
The newsworthiness of a story is determined by a balance of these six values. There is no
set formula to decide how newsworthy a story is, but in general, the more of these six
values a story meets, the more newsworthy it is.

Libel

Libel is defined as the published defamation of a person’s character based on

misleading or inaccurate facts. Newspaper reporters can often run into issues of libel
because it is their job to write truthful articles about people that might not always be
flattering.

Even though we live in a country with a free press, journalists cannot write anything they
want. Reporters do not have the right to state something about a person that could
damage their reputation and that is untruthful.

One of the easiest ways to protect oneself from libel is to make sure to always do
accurate reporting and to attribute all information in an article. If you write something
about someone that you’re unsure about, just ask yourself if it’s true, and how you know
it’s true. Rumors, gossip, and information you received from an anonymous or unreliable
source are all dangerous to report, and they could run you the risk of a libel case.

Lede

The lede (or lead) of a news article is the first sentence, usually written as one paragraph,
that tells the most important information of the story. When writing a lede, it is helpful
to use the “tell a friend” strategy. Imagine you had to sum up to a friend, in one
sentence, what your story is about. How would you sum up quickly what happened? A
story’s lede answers the “Five W’s” in a specific order: Who? What? When? Where? Why?

For example:

The Atlanta Police Department will hold a memorial service Wednesday at Holy Christ
Church in Buckhead for fallen officer Lt. James Montgomery.

WHO: The Atlanta Police Department

WHAT: will hold a memorial service
WHEN: Wednesday
WHERE: Holy Christ Church in Buckhead
WHY: for fallen officer Lt. James Montgomery
Other Examples:

Gwinnett County Public Schools was awarded $250,000 early Wednesday as a finalist for
what’s considered the Nobel Prize of public education.

A man beat an Army reservist in front of a Morrow Cracker Barrel, yelling racial slurs at
her as he kicked her in the head, Morrow police said.

Inverted Pyramid

News articles are written in a structure known as the “inverted pyramid.” In the inverted
pyramid format, the most newsworthy information goes at the beginning of the story
and the least newsworthy information goes at the end.

After you have written your story’s lede, order the information that follows in terms of
most important to least important. There is NO formal conclusion in a journalism article
the way there is in an essay or analysis paper.

Attributing information

ALL information in a news article MUST be attributed to the source where the reporter
got his/her information. The reporter must indicate in his/her article where material was
obtained from – from an interview, court documents, the Census, a Web site, etc. Direct
quotes and paraphrasing can be used to attribute information obtained in an interview
with a source.
For example:

According to a police report, the suspect threatened the cashier with a gun before
running away with the money.

In a 500-page government report, investigators reported evidence that the army had
committed crimes against humanity.

Integrating quotes

The first time a source is introduced in an article, you should use that source’s full name
and title. After this initial reference, use the last name only.

For example:

“The swine flu vaccine is an incredible advance in modern medicine,” said Health and
Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

When attributing a direct quote, always use the verb “said” and never any other verbs
such as “explained,” “whispered,” etc. It is also more common to use the format “XXX
said” instead of “said XXX.”

For example:

“The housing crisis is growing out of control,” Bernanke said.

Even when information from a source is not used in a direct quote and is paraphrased
instead, it still must be attributed to that source.

For example:

Bernanke said the recession is probably over.

The recession will most likely begin to recede in six to eight months, Bernanke said.
Newswriting Guidelines

Organization (the Inverted Pyramid)

People have a tendency to tell stories chronologically. Newswriting style is not

chronological. The inverted pyramid turns storytelling on its head. Picture an upside-down
triangle: the broad base represents the most newsworthy information, and the narrow tip the least
newsworthy—that’s the inverted pyramid. It puts the most important or juiciest information at
the top of the story; the rest of the information is given in order of descending importance. (In
addition to presenting the most important information at the top, in newspaper composing rooms
the inverted pyramid traditionally served the purpose of allowing stories that ran long to be cut
from the bottom without losing essential information.)

Lead

The start of a news story should present the most compelling information. If it’s a report about a
meeting, for instance, look for the keynote speaker’s main point, decisions taken, record-
breaking attendance, or some other newsworthy information. To start by saying X society held
its annual meeting on X date at X isn’t news; that lead could have been written months before the
meeting. What is lead material goes something like this: <something significant that happened>
at the meeting of X society <when and where>. (And speaking of the when and where, when a
newsletter is coming out months after a meeting, it’s not necessary to give the date; just the
month or even the season is adequate.)

Fact (Not Opinion) and Attribution

Newswriting traditionally doesn’t express opinion unless it’s attributed to a source. Of course,
we don’t have to be so scrupulous about saying Northwestern is great, but opinions that people
might contest should be attributed. Facts (and anything that someone would ask “Says who?”
about) should also be attributed if they’re not generally known and accepted.

Identification

A person’s full first name or both initials should be used on first reference—not just a single
initial. It shouldn’t be assumed that every reader knows who the person is; he or she should be
identified in a way that’s relevant to the article. In captions, it’s not necessary to use a middle
initial if it’s already been used in the text.

Short Paragraphs

In newswriting, paragraphs are kept short for punchiness and appearance.

Person

Newswriting is generally in the third person. If there is compelling reason to use first or second
person, don’t jar readers by abrupt switches of person.
Headlines

Headlines should be short and preferably snappy. They should come out of information in the
body of the text and not present new information. Headlines are usually not in past tense; a
headline about a past event is generally in present tense; one about a future event generally
includes to (to meet, to decide, etc.) Within a publication section, headlines should be consistent;
those that are mere labels shouldn’t be mixed with those that have verbs. Articles (a, an, the) are
usually not used in headlines.