WHAT IS NEWS?

SLIDE A
 NEWS

 News is an oral or written report of

an event that happened, is
happening, will happen in the
North, East, West, or South that is
of interest to the reader and which
should be reported.
 But what is interesting to one is
not always interesting to another.
Elements of the News

 Conflict
 Immediacy or Timeliness
 Proximity or Nearness
 Prominence
 Significance
 Names
 Drama
Elements of the News

 Oddity and Unusualness

 Romance and Adventure
 Sex
 Progress
 Animals
 Number
 Emotion
BASIC RULE IN WRITING:

 ACCURACY
 BREVITY

 CLARITY
NEWS WRITING EXERCISE

 Identify the elements involved on

the following headlines. There may
be more than one answer.

 Principal issues new school policy

 Dog saves master’s life by attacking
robbers
NEWS WRITING EXERCISE

 Cure for AIDS discovered

 Man becomes pregnant
 Icebergs appear in Northern
Luzon
 Senator injured in a car
accident
 NEWS WRITING EXERCISE

 Two solons lambaste each other,

then end in a fist fight
 Woman permitted to celebrate
holy mass
 Filipino wins Miss World title
 10 killed in shootout
 Bakla hinalay ng negrang tomboy
 Different forms of writing an
incident

 Situation:
A fire broke
out and four persons
made their separate
essays on what
happened.
For a 10-year-old grade school
pupil,

 ―I saw a fire. It was a big red

fire. It burned a house. There
were many people around.
Some men put water on the
fire.‖
 For a romantic high school
student,

 ―Fearful scarlet tongues

arose to the star-studded
heaven and licked greedily
at the doomed edifice while
the stout-hearted firefighters
risked their all to quench the
terrible conflagration.‖
 For a lady bystander,

 ―You know, Mare, there was a

fire in our community. I think
it cost the owner a great deal
of money. The date was
August 8. August is the
eighth month. So I bet in the
lottery, 8-16-24-32-40-48.‖
 For a campus paper writer,

 ―A fire of undetermined origin razed

to the ground a two-storey
apartment owned by lawyer Herman
Lagon of 80 Lopez Jaena St., Jaro
Iloilo City, last night. Four trucks
from the Jaro Fire Station subdued
the fire within an hour. The damage
estimated by the police at P500,000
was covered by insurance.‖
 The combination of simple,
dignified and vivid articles
produces a copy simple
enough for Mr. Average
Reader to understand. We
call it news article.
Narrative vs News

 (Example: Dog hero story)

 Narrative: Pyramid (from
less important to climax)
 News: Inverted Pyramid
(from climax to less
important)
Sample News

 Headline (ulo ng balita)

 Dog dies saving blind
master
Sample News

 Lead (pamatnubay)– Most

important facts
 A FOUR-YEAR-OLD dog
saved the life of his blind master,
Thursday night, but the canine’s
loyalty cost the trusty animal his
life.
 Sample News
 Bridge—Elaboration of lead
 In serious condition today in
Doctor’s Hospital is Erland Escobanez,
71, a street sweeper. Escobanez of
SSS Building, Rizal St., Iloilo City was
found early this morning unconscious
on a sidewalk near the Aglipayan
Church in the Iloilo Terminal Market.
 Sample News
 Less important facts
 Police theorized that
Escobanez was knocked
unconscious when he fell, his head
hitting a stone. Potpot, his dog,
apparently tried to shield its master
from the cold and the rain by
draping itself over the fallen man.
 Sample News

 Less important facts

 When discovered this morning by
the Police Patrol, Escobanez was still
out cold. The dog lay near, dead.
 Relatives of Escobanez who is still
a bachelor, told authorities that he
always took nightly strolls at about 11
p.m. with his dog.
 Sample News
 Minor facts
 According to doctors, only the
warmth from the dog’s body saved
Escobanez from certain death.
 Escobanez told police that he
remembers nothing of the incident. A
wallet containing P500 was still in his
pocket leading the authorities to rule
out robbery.
Types of news stories

 Scope or origin
 Local news
 Foreign news

 Dateline news
Types of news stories

 Chronology or sequence
 Advanced or anticipated
(dope or prognostication)
 Spot news (reporter an
eyewitness of the event)
 Coverage news (beat)
 Follow-up news
Types of news stories

 Treatment
 Fact story (plain exposition)
 Action story (narrative of
actions)
 Speech or quote story
(verse news)
Types of news stories

 Content
 Routine story
 Police reports
 Science news
 Development communication
 Sports news
Types of news stories

 Structure
 Straight news
 News feature

 b.1 Single-feature structure

 b.2 Several-feature structure
Types of news stories

 Advanced news
 Investigative
 Interpretative
 Depthnews
Types of news stories

 Minor
 News brief
 News bulletin (gist of the news)
 News-featurette (quirks in the
news)
 Sidebar (side by side with the
mother story)
 Flash (boxed message)
Parts of the news

 Headline (capsulized lead)

 Lead (most important facts)
 Bridge (connects lead and
body)
 Body (less important and least
important facts)
 Kinds of lead

 Conventional or summary lead

 Grammatical beginning lead
 Novelty lead
Conventional or summary lead

 This kind of lead used in

straight news, answers right
away all or any of the 5 W’s
and/or the H (Who, What,
When, Where, Why, How).
 It may be one of the following:
Conventional or summary lead

 WHO lead
 PRESIDENT Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo addressed,
April 20, the PMA graduates
in Baguio City.
Conventional or summary lead

 WHAT lead
 AN ENTRANCE examination
will be given Nov. 24 to all
graduating high school
students desiring to enroll in
the four-year college course.
Conventional or summary lead

 WHERE lead
 TRAPICHE, Oton, Iloilo will be
the site of the next
International Film Festival.
Conventional or summary lead

 WHEN lead
 TODAY, almost to the hour,
the Revolutionary
Government was proclaimed
by former President Corazon
Aquino.
Conventional or summary lead

 WHY lead
 BECAUSE of poverty, around
a hundred students dropped
from school last year. This
was learned from Ateneo de
Iloilo principal Aurora dela
Cruz.
Conventional or summary lead

 HOW lead
 BY APPEALING to the school
board, the University of Iloilo
was able to construct a 30-
storey, concrete building.
 Grammatical-beginning lead

 Prepositional-phrase lead
 WITH BROOMS and other
cleaning equipment, boy scouts
from the Iloilo public high schools
cleaned the city markets in
consonance with the city mayor’s
Clean and Beautiful Drive.
Grammatical-beginning lead

 Infinitive-phrase lead
 TO ENCOURAGE tourism,
balikbayans are given a warm
welcome by their fellow
Filipinos.
 Grammatical-beginning lead
 Participial-phrase lead
 HOPING to cop first place, the
Ateneo woodpushers honed up for
the chess championship games.
(present participle)
 DRESSED like priests, robbers
were able to enter the bank. (past
participle)
Grammatical-beginning lead

 Gerundial-phrase lead
 WINNING the developmental
communications trophy during
the national press conference
was Ateneo de Iloilo’s best
achievement of the year.
Grammatical-beginning lead

 Clause lead
 BECAUSE Sept. 9 was
Osmena Day, all lessons in
class dealt with the life of the
late President Sergio Osmena
Sr. (subordinate, adverbial)
Novelty lead

 Astonisher lead
 CHAMPION of Division of
Iloilo City!
 BETTER look your best this
week!
 Novelty lead
 Contrast lead
 FOUR MONTHS before the Green
Drive, Zone 3 of Brgy. Bo. Obrero,
Iloilo City was the dirtiest community.
Three months after the campaign, it
won first place in the cleanliness
contest sponsored by the Department
of Interior and Local Government.
 Novelty lead

 Epigram
 LIKE father, like son.
Herman Lagon Jr. graduated first honor
this year. Twenty years ago, his father,
Engr. Herman Lagon Sr. also topped his
class and delivered his valedictory
address on the same rostrum where the
young Lagon gave his.
 Novelty lead

 Picture lead
 THE NEW principal, Ms. Arianne
Agnes Lao, although only in her
early thirties, is already silver-
haired. She seldom talks, but
when she does, she talks with
sense.
 Novelty lead
 Background lead
 THE CPU campus was turned into a
miniature carnival ground Sept. 1
during the 89th Foundation Day
celebration of the school. Decorated
with buntings and multicolored lights,
the University quadrangle was a
grand setting for a barrio fiesta.
Novelty lead

 Descriptive lead
 DRESSED in white polo
barong, and with diplomas in
their hands, 109 graduates
marched down the stage to
the tune of Hail Alma Mater.
Novelty lead

 Parody lead
 WATER, water everywhere,
but no water to drink. This
was what the flood victims
found to their dismay.
Novelty lead

 Punch lead
 VICTORY Day!
Bonifacio High School
celebrated March 18 its fifth
victory in the city-wide
journalism contest.
Novelty lead

 One-word lead
 MARCH!
 Thus ordered Chess Club
president Pol Buenconsejo to
start the “Walk to Win” fund-
raising drive.
 Novelty lead

 Quotation lead
 “THE YOUTH sucks,” thus said
Special Association of Dimwits
(SAD) president Don Pepot in a
seminar-workshop yesterday in
Brgy. Walang Kwenta, Siete
Pegados, Guimaras.
Novelty lead

 Question lead
 WHO WILL reign as Miss
Intramurals this year?
This will be known Aug. 8
after the final screening to be
held at the WVSU gym.
NEWS WRITING EXERCISE

 Identify what kind of lead is

used in the following:
 He used to be a mechanic. Now,
he is president of a college.
 Dressed in caps and gowns, and
with diplomas in their hands, the
graduates sang their farewell
song to their alma mater.
 NEWS WRITING EXERCISE
 Identify what kind of lead is used in
the following:
 There was food and fun galore! The
student body of Lally Jane Cabanilla
High School held an excursion in Villa
beach last Sunday.
 Supt. Rasan Trompeta was the guest
speaker during the investiture of boy
scouts held Jan. 15 at Jaz Tandug High
School.
THE END
All Rights Reserved
Engr. Herman Lagon