JOUR 65 (News Writing and Reporting) 09/16/21

1. News is any event, idea, or opinion that is timely and relevant, and affects people in a community. -
M. Lyle Spencer (Dean, School of Journalism)

NEWS ELEMENTS

1. Conflict - man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. himself

2. Immediacy/Timeliness - emphasizes the newest angle of a news story

3. Proximity/Nearness - may refer to geographical nearness (malápit) as well as to nearness of

kinship/interest (malapít)

4. Prominence - some people are more prominent than others by wealth, social position, or
achievements, which makes them newsworthy.

5. Significance - whatever is significant to an individual is important to them.

6. Names - important names make important news.

7. Drama - dramatic = appealing

8. Emotion - involves natural feelings of humans; appealing to their emotion to deliver the news feel.

9. Oddity/Unusualness - strange or unnatural events, objects, persons, or places.

10. Romance and Sex - romance of prominent people are newsworthy; stories of romance, marriage,
divorce, and other romantic activities.

11. Progress - progress of a country/civilization is newsworthy; prominent athlete training, diet, etc.

12. Animals - stories of animals spark interest in humans.

13. Numbers - money, statics, lotto numbers, scores, casualties/fatalities are interesting.
BASIC PRINCIPLES IN NEWS WRITING 09/23/21

1. “Show, don’t tell.” Details are not overly dramatized, and not based on the writers’ opinions.
Descriptions but not adjectives. News should not state the obvious but give concise details.

e.g., Sec. Duque “winarak” statement lmao; Sinas’ “mañanita”

2. Accuracy, Brevity, Clarity

3. Keep It Short and Simple – e.g., DepEd: PNP vs. online cheating; kailangan may intervention pero bakit
PNP lmao ano brrrt brrrt ‘pag nangopya

4. No editorializing! – News is straightforward so opinions of the writers should not be given.

5. Using proper grammar, punctuation, spelling and complete sentences.

6. It’s okay to consult. There is always a benefit in looking at something in a different angle and
perspective.

7. Always write in past tense. We only write/report in present tense if you are in the news beat.

8. Use short and plain words instead of fancy synonyms. Proper grammar does not equate to hifalutin
words. Remember Mass = Common people, meaning not everyone understands fancy words u dumbass.

9. Avoid using slangs or overly casual words. Everything should be in layman’s term unless needed,
which should also be explained in the article.

10. Avoid euphemisms, clichés, and catchphrases. There are proper words for proper situations, so use
them especially in a formal manner.

11. Avoid contractions. e.g., do not = don’t, would not = won’t

12. Do not write in first person’s POV.

13. Put the most important material at the beginning of the story. INVERTED PYRAMID <3

14. Write mainly short declarative sentences.

15. For the subject of the sentence, choose the main actor.

16. Use strong verbs. BE ACTIVE!

17. Do not mention a person’s race or ethnicity unless it’s newsworthy or relevant.
LEAD WRITING 09/30/21

- The introduction of a news story; the first thing you read in an article
- The main function is to answer all important information about the story (5 W’s and H)

KINDS OF LEAD

1. Conventional/Summary – straight news; answers 5 W’s and H right away

a. WHO Lead – used when the person is more prominent than what happened/what they did.
(e.g., Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Addressed April 20, the PMA graduates in Baguio City.)
b. WHAT Lead – used when the event that took place is more important than the person
involved. (e.g., The NSAT will be given Nov. 24 to all graduating High School students
desiring to enroll in four-year college courses.)
c. WHERE Lead – used when the place is unique, and no prominent person is involved in the
story. (e.g., The Philippines will be the site for the next Miss Universe Contest.)
d. WHEN Lead – rarely used, since the news is expected to be timely; used when speaking of
deadlines, holidays, and important dates. (e.g., Today, almost to the hour, Revolutionary
Government was proclaimed by former President Joseph Estrada.)
e. WHY Lead – used when the reason is more prominent or unique than what had happen.
(e.g., Because of poverty, around a hundred students dropped out from school last year.
This was learned from PNU President Nilo L. Rosas.)
2. Grammatical Beginning – news feature; usually a phrase or a clause used to emphasize a
feature; the important W’s are found in the main clause, not in the introduction.
a. Prepositional Phrase Lead – phrase is introduced by a preposition. (e.g., With brooms and
other cleaning equipment, boy scouts from the Manila Public High Schools cleaned the City
Markets in consonance with Mayor Lito Atienza’s CLEAN and Beautification Drive.)
b. Infinitive Phrase Lead – begins with the sign of the infinitive ‘to’ plus the main verb. (e.g., To
encourage tourism, balikbayans are given a warm welcome by their fellow Filipinos.)
c. Participial Phrase Lead – is introduced by the present and past participle of the verb. (e.g.,
Hoping to cop first place, the PNU wood-pushers honed up for the chess championship
games.; Dressed like priests, robbers were able to enter the bank.)
d. Gerundial Phrase Lead – introduced by a gerund—a verbal noun ending in -ing. (e.g.,
Winning the development communication trophy, during the national press conference was
Arrullo High School’s best achievement of the year.
e. Clause Lead – begins with a clause which is either independent/subordinate or may either
be a noun/adjectival/adverbial clause. (e.g., Because September 9 was Osmeña Day, all
lessons dealt with the life of the late president Sergio Osmeña Sr.)
3. Novelty – breaking/immediate/flash news but in an interesting way
a. Astonisher Lead – uses an interjection/exclamatory sentence. (e.g., Champion of District 1!
Better look your best this week!)
b. Contrast Lead - describes two extremes/opposites for emphasis. (e.g., Four months before
the beautification and cleanup drive, zone 15 in Tondo…)
c. Epigram Lead – opens by quoting a common expression, verse, or epigram, at least familiar
in the locality. (e.g., Like father, like son. Ramon Garcia, Jr. graduated…)
d. Picture Lead – describes a person and at the same time, creating a mental picture of the
subject matter in the mind of the reader.
e. Background Lead – describes the setting when it is more important than the event/person
involved.
f. Descriptive Lead – used when comparatively few descriptive words can vividly formulate an
imagery.
g. Parody Lead – consists of a parody of a well-known song, poem, or lines.
h. Punch Lead – a short, forceful word or expression.
i. One Word Lead
j. Quotation Lead – similar to the epigram but uses the speaker’s direct words/statements.
k. Question Lead – an answer to a question which is the basis of the news story.