News Writing Formats

News stories are commonly written in the inverted pyramid style. This rigid form, which evolved about the time of the American Civil War (18611865), demands that a story begins with a one-paragraph lead of one or perhaps two sentences summing up the essence of the story. The rest of the story is written in a declining order of importance, with information proceeding from the most important to the least important. The inverted pyramid made sense during the Civil War because stories often were filed using telegraph lines, which could be disrupted at any time . In that situation, it obviously was a good idea first to send a summary and then to transmit the rest of the story with information in a declining order of importance. Think of writing a news story as driving a train along a track. The rails are the story's central point and give the story direction. The railroad tieswho, what, when, where, why and howprovide a foundation. The train's engine is the lead; it must be powerful enough to pull the rest of the story. Like the whistle of the engine, a story's lead must capture the reader's attention. Each bogie (paragraph) that follows the lead represents a paragraph containing information and providing structure. The bogies can be arranged in any sequencefor example, from most important to least or chronologically that seems most effective. The train is strengthened when research, verification, multiple sources, quotes, anecdotes and descriptions fill the cars. The amount of information needed to complete the story decides the number of bogies in the train. Holding the train compartments together are couplings/links, which represent the transitions between paragraphs of information. Without strong transitions the paragraphs disconnect from one another.

1. Inverted Pyramid Style

Inverted pyramid stories arrange the information in descending order of importance or news-worthiness. The lead states the most newsworthy, important or striking information and establishes the central point for the rest of the story. 1

The second paragraphand sometimes the third and fourth paragraphsprovides details that amplify the lead. Subsequent paragraphs add less important details or introduce subordinate topics. Each paragraph presents additional information: names, descriptions, quotations, conflicting viewpoints, explanations and background data. Beginning reporters must learn this style because it helps them decide what is most important and what is least important. It also helps reporters discover "holes" in their informationdetails that have not been collected and need to be found. The primary advantage of the inverted pyramid style is that it allows someone to stop reading a story after only one or two paragraphs yet still learn the newest, most newsworthy and most important facts. The inverted pyramid style also ensures that all the facts are immediately understandable. Moreover, if a story is too long, editors can easily shorten it by deleting paragraphs from the end. The inverted pyramid style has several disadvantages. First, because the lead summarizes facts that later paragraphs discuss in greater detail, some of those facts may be repeated in the body. Second, a story that follows the inverted pyramid style rarely contains any surprises for readers; the lead immediately reveals every major detail. Third, the style developed at a time when newspapers were readers' first source for breaking news; now radio, television and the Internet fill that role. Fourth, readers with less than a high school education cannot easily understand stories written in this style. Fifth, the style locks reporters into a formula and discourages them from trying new styles. "If you go out looking just for an inverted pyramid," says Jane Foy, a writing consultant, "you're just sitting there like a goldfish waiting to be fed the lead." Many writing coaches discourage the use of the inverted pyramid, saying it is overused, confusing and often irrelevant. The inverted pyramid remains a common form for organizing news stories, however, partly because of its inherent advantages, partly because using it is a difficult habit to break. Daily deadline pressures also encourage its use because coming up with new styles requires additional thinking and, perhaps, more rewriting.

Organizing the Information

If two cars collide and several people are injured, an inverted pyramid story about the accident might contain the following sequence of paragraphs:

Lead.. 1. Summarizes the story Paragraph Two.. Paragraph Three 2.Identifies the injured Paragraph Four.. 3. Explains how the accident occurred Paragraphs Five, Six, Seven Paragraph Eight. 4. Reports charges filed against driver(s) Paragraph Nine 5,6,7.Quotes driver(s), police officer(s) Paragraph 10. and witness(es)

8. Describes unusual damage to the cars 9 Describes traffic problems caused by the accident 10.Presents minor details

Normally, reporters emphasize people: what they do and what happens to them. Consequently, in the example above, the injuries to the people are described early in the story. Damage to the cars is less important and reported later. If the damage was not unusual, the story might not mention it. Paragraph three describes the accident itselfthe recent action and main point of the story. Quotations, such as those used in paragraphs five, six and seven, add detail and color as well as a pleasing change of pace. Paragraphs eight, nine and ten are less essential and might be deleted if space is limited. The exact organization of a story will vary depending on the story's unique facts and most newsworthy points. The second, third and, maybe, fourth paragraphs should provide details that develop and support the lead.

Inverted Pyramid

Blair pelted with shoes, eggs

LONDON: Anti-war activists in Dublin hurled shoes and eggs at the British former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, on Sunday when he visited the Irish capital to launch his memoirs, A Journey, in which he defends the Iraq invasion saying he has no regrets. Despite heavy security, one woman managed to get close enough to him and attempted a "citizen's arrest" for "war crimes" but was whisked away by his security team. Police had to intervene to prevent angry demonstrators from storming the bookstore where he signed copies of the book. He was escorted into the shop by security officers as protesters, carrying placards demanding his trial for alleged war crimes. Mr. Blair has decided to donate all earnings from the book, including a 4.5 million advance, to the Royal British Legion, an armed forces charity. Unruly scenes prevailed outside the bookstore, Ea-sons, on Dubln's main street, as demonstrators tried to break through the security barrier and scuffles broke out when Mr. Blair arrived. As he emerged from his car, surrounded by securitymen, people threw shoes and eggs at him. However, none hit him. They also hurled abuses at customers who emerged from the shop carrying signed copies of the book. Three people were arrested after clashes with police. Despite a downpour, people started collecting outside the bookstore since early morning and their numbers swelled to about 200.

2. The Hourglass Style

The inverted pyramid often forced writers to tell their stories in unnatural ways. It also homogenized the news so stories about bank robberies and political debates sounded the same. At the same time, writers who were experimenting with narrative structures for their stories often were losing sight of the news. The most important and newsworthy information might be buried so far down that frustrated readers might never see it. Clark offered the hourglass pattern as one that combines the strengths of the inverted pyramid and the narrative format.

Hourglass

Tusker strikes terror, then tamed then tamed

Runs amok for three hours on the streets; finally subdued by owner PALAKKAD: Tension prevailed for more than three hours in the ChathapuramKalpathy-Shekaripuram areas of Palakkad on Tuesday when 'Chathapuram Babu' ran amok. The elephant, which was taken by its two mahouts to collect palm leaves, became wild and tried to attack them, and later ran through the streets for nearly three hours, uprooting trees and creating a scare among the people. Becomes wilder When the mahouts tried to bring it under control, the tusker saw them near it and became wilder. It tried to scare away the people and the mahouts, who had eventually managed to tie it to a tree. Though the service of a veterinary doctor was commissioned to tranquilise the elephant, 'Chathapuram Babu' finally calmed down when its owner, Sreedevi, arrived. Obeys orders She asked the mahouts to move away and brought the elephant under control, feeding it bananas and jaggery. 'Chathapuram Babu' became calm and obeyed the orders of Sreedevi, who later tied him to a tree at Chathapuram. 5

Mahouts torture alleged The locals said the elephant ran amok after it was beaten up by one of the mahouts. They said it was another example of pachyderms going wild and escaping after being tortured by mahouts.

HOURGLASS

India opens the Games with a silver and bronze

WEIGHTLIFTING: Nwaokolo picks up Games' first gold
NEW DELHI: Soniya Chanu and A. Sandhya Rani Devi opened India's campaign in the weightlifting campaign with a silver and bronze medal in the 48 kg. division of the women's section on the opening day of the nine-day programme at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex here on Monday. The Games' first gold medal, however, went to Nigeria whose 17-yearold school student Augustina Nkem Nwaokolo made a memorable international debut by setting three Games' records. The slightly built Augustina proved too good for the Indian duo, both 30 years of age, by outclassing them in both snatch and clean and jerk for a record total of 175. The Nigerian successfully lifted 77kg in her third attempt for a new mark in snatch event. In fact, she broke the previous record of 75kg, held by India's N. Kunjarani Devi since 2002, in her second effort when she lifted 76kg which she improved up on in her third attempt with 77kg. Augustina also broke Kunjarani's clean and jerk and the total records when she lifted 98kg on her second attempt. This gave her a total of 175kg which bettered Kunjarani's record of 167kg set in Manchester in 2002. Kujarani's clean and jerk record was 94kg set at Melbourne, 2006. "I am very happy to win the gold medal by breaking all records," Augustina said later. "I am grateful to god. He made it possible." When asked how she could attempt 100kg in clean and jerk at such a tender age, she quipped, "I am capable of that. I have done it in practice at home." 6

Bad luck Soniya, who was projected as a sure gold winner in this weight class, attributed her failure to ill luck. "My failure to snatch 76kg on my second and third attempts put a lot of pressure on me," she admitted. After clearing 94kg on her first attempt, the Uttar Pradesh police inspector opted for 103kg on her second attempt but failed. The Indian was clearly under pressure and needed to clear 103kg in clean and jerk to surpass the Nigerian by 1kg and snatch the gold. She failed on her third attempt as well.

The hourglass story has three parts: an inverted pyramid top that summarizes the most newsworthy information, a turn or pivot paragraph and a narrative. The inverted pyramid top, which may be only three to five paragraphs, gives readers the most newsworthy information quickly. The narrative allows the writer to develop the story in depth and detail, using the storytelling power of chronology. The key, Clark says, is the turn or pivot, which makes the transition between the two formats.

Organization of the Hourglass Story

1. An Inverted Pyramid Top

2. The turn

3. A Chronological conclusion

3. The Focus Style

Organization of a Focus Story

1. Focus Lead

4. Kicker

2. Nut Graph

3. Body of story

The focus style has been used for years by The Wall Street Journal. Its front page news feature stories usually employ this format. And many other newspapers and their reporters have been using the focus style as well. The focus style, like the hourglass style, tries to incorporate storytelling techniques in news writing. But unlike the hourglass, the focus story begins with a lead that focuses on a specific individual, situation or anecdote and uses that to illustrate a larger problem. The focus story has four parts. The first is the lead, which, unlike the lead for an inverted pyramid story, may run three, four, five paragraphs or more. Also, unlike the hard-news lead, the focus lead describes a person, place, situation or event that may not be newsworthy by itself but that is an example of a larger problem that is newsworthy. The focus story begins with a lead that focuses on a particular individual, place or situation. A nut graph tells how that individual depicts a more general problem and states the central point of the story. The body of the story

develops the central point in detail. The kicker concludes the story and ties it back to the individual in the focus lead. The second part of the focus story is a nut graphwhich may actually be two or three paragraphsstating the central point of the story and how the lead illustrates that point. The third part of the story is the body, which develops the central point in detail. And the final part is a one-, two- or three-paragraph close, or kicker, that brings the story to a conclusion. The kicker usually relates to the person, place or situation described in the focus lead.

Focus

Tembhli becomes first Aadhar village in India

TEMBHLI: Ranjana Sonawne: 7824317884. With this number, Ranjana has become the first Indian to get the UID (Unique Identification).Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi launched the Aadhar project on Wednesday and presented UIDs to ten people here. Hailing the UID as the way to create and retain 'identity' among all Indians, Ms. Gandhi said, "With this, Tembhli has got a special importance in the map of India. People of Tembhli will lead the rest of the country. It is a historic step towards strengthening the people of our nation." Stating that the UID will help people in 'all fields,' Ms. Gandhi stated: "Our idea is to not just focus on development, but to bring about inclusive growth amongst our people. This scheme will make sure people will get what they deserve." "Starting from this tiny hamlet, the scheme will reach more than a billion people of this country." Rajiv Gandhi's faith that Information and Technology could be used to make lives better has been proven today, she stated. Dr. Singh congratulated the UIDAI and said, "UID will help the hundreds of people in India, whose pride was hurt for so many years because of the lack of an identity. This will be their source of recognition from now on."

Making life easy He clarified that the UID number will now enable them to open bank accounts without any hassle, get ration anywhere in the country and to get job cards, among other facilities. "Nandurbar was chosen because this is a symbol that this scheme will first benefit the tribals and the needy people in this country," he said. Dr. Singh also stated that this scheme, made for the common man, makes use of the latest technology. "Before this, no other country has made use of such technology at such a large scale." Maharashtra will be the first State to get the UIDs, the rest of the country will get them within a span of four years. Villagers were told that this number will enable all government schemes to reach them, and will help them in all day-to-day activities. But for the 1400 people from Ranjana village who got their UIDs on Wednesday, as long as there are no immediate benefits, nothing makes sense. There are 432 BPL families, but not all have cards, it is learnt.

4.The Narrative Style

A narrative has two components: a story and a storyteller. A storyteller writes much like a playwright or novelist, depicting people interacting with other people and within their surroundings. To write in the narrative style, a reporter must find people who are crucial to the story and record their actions. This technique requires more than just interviewing sources, recording quotes and reporting numbers. It requires observation. Observation does not mean reporters are free to interject their opinions into a story. It means that reporters observe people, places and events important to a story and describe them in vivid detail. Through those details readers can get a better sense of what is occurring. But to paint a picture with words, reporters must be specific. Notice the difference between the following sentences: The principal hates what the teacher said about the school.

While the teacher spoke, the principal left the room shaking his head. The first sentence presents an opinion. Without using attribution it says the principal hated the teacher's comments. The reader does not know if the writer is reporting fact or the reporter's opinion. The second sentence, however, shows the principal's negative behavior in response to the teacher's comments. The narrative approach allows reporters to be more creative. Reporters can describe the dramaeven if it is not high dramaat a school board meeting, for example. What happened? What did they see? Were people shouting? Were people laughing? Did an exchange take place? Reporters cannot answer these questions and others unless they take extensive notes. Narrative writing requires narrative thinking, narrative reporting and narrative forms. Narrative thinking means seeing the world in terms of people doing things, not as piles of disparate facts. Actions connect to one another to create meaning, mostly based on human motives. The best journalistic storytellers let their curiosity lead them into stories, because they want to find out why real people do things. A story written in narrative style may still lead with the newsthe most important part of the storybut then quickly switch to using chronology, flashbacks, dialogue and other storytelling techniques. Or the stories may employ a strictly chronological organization, ending with the most recent, and perhaps most newsworthy, information. Generally, such stories have a beginning, a middle and an end, each of relatively equal importance. It is more difficult to cut the final paragraphs of narrative stories than of stories written in the inverted pyramid style. NARRATIVE

Not one to be daunted by adversities

NEW DELHI: Finding the volunteers struggling to arrange a ramp for her at the press conference in the Games Village here on Friday, Danielle Brown slowly rose from her wheelchair, used her crutches and took a few steps to reach the dais. The 22-year-old English archer suffers from a condition called reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which results in constant, chronic pain in the feet. It was diagnosed when she

was 13 and the pain stopped her from fell-running (running in the hills and mountains) and golf things which she enjoyed doing. But nothing has deterred her from achieving what she set out to do after taking up archery at the age of 15. Now, after years of struggle, pain and sacrifices, Brown will become the first Paralympic athlete from England to compete in the able-bodied event in a Commonwealth Games. "I am very excited and I am glad that I got this opportunity," Brown said. "It is the first time that archery is being included in the CWG (after a gap of 28 years) and it is not going to be in the next CWG in Glasgow. So this could well be a lifetime opportunity." Boyfriend's backing Brown wouldn't have made it to the selection trials for the Commonwealth Games but for the cajoling by her boyfriend and team-mate Ali Jawad, a paralympic powerlifter. "To be honest with you, I was not going to turn up for the selection trials. I qualified three days before the closing dates because I was in Arizona at that time. I thought to myself 'Do I really want to go back and within five days turn up for the selection trials?" Brown also had doubts whether she could qualify for CWG in the compound section when the competition was going to be very tough. But her boyfriend told her about the importance of the Games and she agreed. "I am really glad that I did it," Brown said. Brown remarked that her disability has made her mentally strong to deal with challenges day in and day out. "With my disability I had to be mentally strong. For me the worst time of the day is morning when I have to get out of bed and it is just a nightmare being in so much pain. "I just had to put all that to one side so I guess in sports that also helps me. I had to develop strategies to cope with the pain," she said. Ironically, pain has kept pushing Brown to reach greater heights.