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The Essentials of News Writing

Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School

Qualities of a Good News Section

1. Student-centered
2. Uses problem-solution approach
3. Advocacy-oriented
4. Involves the community
5. Localized national issues

Important Characteristics
1. Uses simple, precise and concrete words
2. Direct to the point
3. Considerably short
4. Based on facts, not opinion

News begins with a lead (the first paragraph of the news) with two basic functions:
1. To tell what the article is all about; and
2. To get the reader interested in knowing the rest of the story.

Lead is presented using the inverted pyramid structure.

Details are arranged in descending order of importance.
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The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School

News Elements
1. Significance – relative to the target audience of a publication
2. Timeliness – pertains to the immediate past
3. Drama – dramatic actions that move a reader to tears or to laughter, mystery, suspense,
comedy
4. Romance and Adventure – emotional attachment between people

Pointers in writing news

1. Write a summary as soon as you have gathered the facts.
2. List the facts according to their descending importance.
3. Dig out the lead facts; put the best “W” forward
4. Write different versions of the lead; choose the most interesting
5. Be accurate
6. Avoid editorializing.
7. Present facts without bias.
8. Names must be given in full when first mentioned, then surname with appropriate title
thereafter.
9. Write one idea in a paragraph.
10. Avoid a series of very short or very long paragraphs.
11. Place direct and indirect quotations in separate paragraphs.
12. Prefer the active over the passive voice, except when the object of the verb is more
important than the doer.
13. Give all facts needed for the reader to understand the story; anticipate the reader’s
questions and answer them in order of urgency.
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The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School

Types of Leads
1. Summary Leads – answers right away all or any of the 5Ws and or the H.
Specific Types: Who lead, What lead, Where lead, When lead, Why lead, How lead

Summary Lead must stress what is newsworthy (relevance, usefulness, interest to the
reader by explaining impact: so what?)
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The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School
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The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School
2. Grammatical Beginning Leads
Introduced by a kind of grammatical form which is usually a phrase or a clause to
emphasize a feature.

Specific types: prepositional phrase lead, infinitive phrase lead, participial phrase lead,
gerundial phrase lead and clause lead

3. Novelty or Alternative Leads – sometimes break the conventional rule of grammar.

Also called “delayed” leads because they only give a “clue” to what the story is all about
instead of informing the reader.

Common types: Punch lead, picture or descriptive lead, contrast lead, question lead,
quoted lead
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The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School

Importance of Headline
Without a headline, a well-written story may not even be noticed by the reader; conversely, a
badly written story may still be read because of its head.
ONLINE/PRINT PUBLICATION
The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School
ONLINE/PRINT PUBLICATION
The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School
ONLINE/PRINT PUBLICATION
The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School
ONLINE/PRINT PUBLICATION
The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School
ONLINE/PRINT PUBLICATION
The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School
ONLINE/PRINT PUBLICATION
The Essentials of News Writing
Source: Aries Oliveros, Philippine Science High School