News Writing Tips

 Be straight forward. 'wag maging wordy kapag nag-susulat ng balita. PURE FACTS lang walang
opinion mo, hindi 'yon relevant.
 Headline naman, must follow the SVO rule: subject verb object
 Lead naman, may iba't ibang klase: 5W's (what, where, when, why, who) & 1H (how)
 Tagalog, mas maganda kung gagamit ka ng mga deep but meaningful words na madaling magets, it will
help your piece to be catchy sa mga readers. For example, instead of using

"Top 3 Most Wanted Person sa Quezon, nahuli; Ilang pakete ng shabu, nakuha."

instead,

"Top 3 Most Wanted Person sa Quezon, natimbog; Ilang pakete ng hinihinalang shabu, natugis."

 End mark - end mark sa hulihan ng article bilang panapos.

 Catchy headline: The first thing that readers see is your headline. It needs to be attention-grabbing
and make them want to read more.
 Hook: After the headline, you need to hook your readers with an interesting opening sentence. This
could be a quote, a statistic, or a provocative statement.
 Clarity: Your article should be clear and concise. Don't use complicated words or jargon that readers
might not understand. Keep it simple, yet interesting.
 Structure: Make sure your article has a clear structure. Use subheadings, bullet points, and short
paragraphs to break up the text and make it easier to read.
 Facts and sources: Your article needs to be accurate and reliable. Use credible sources and fact-check
everything.
 Human angle: People connect with stories that have a human angle. Find an interesting person or
group of people that are relevant to your topic and include their perspectives.
 Emotion: Use emotive language to create an emotional connection with your readers. Make them feel
something.
 Call to action: End your article with a call to action. Encourage your readers to do something or to
continue the conversation.
 Use the Inverted Pyramid Structure: Start with the most important information (who, what, when,
where, why, and how), followed by supporting details, and end with background or less important
information.
 Write Clear and Concise Sentences: Avoid jargon and complex sentences. Your goal is to
communicate information effectively.
The Basics of News Writing
What is News?
 A report of any event or situation
 A record of the most interesting,important,and accurate information.
 News is “ any event,idea that is timely,the interests or affects a large number of persons in
community,and that is capable of being understood by them”.

Elements of News
Timeliness or Immediacy
 News reporter is duty bound to report immediately the news happening or the expected event to happen
in society.
Proximity or Nearness
 Readers of newspaper are more interested to know what is happening around them. In fact, the
“closeness of their own personal affairs, homes and business”.
Prominence
 Newspaper readers are always interested to read more about people, places, celebrities,stars,personalities
and other things familiar to them.
Oddity or Unusualness
 The reporter is always in the “nose for news” which are indeed rare,unusual and unique.
Example: When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news.

Conflict
 This element is essential in catching the attention of the readers like the intense conflicts of the different
political groups in the Philippines.
Suspense
 The continuing suspense of day-to-day news events will always attract the attention of the reading
public.
Human Interest
 Anything that touches the very fibers and sense of man and woman would surely be given special space
and attention.
Significance
 A news story is appealing to the readers ,irrespective of its point of origin, such as
local,community,national and international.
Humor
 In order to avoid boredom on part of the reader.
Kinds of News
 School News
 Local News
 Provincial News
 National News
 International News
The ABC’s of News Writing
Accuracy- correct and precise
Brevity-keep it short and simple
Clarity- coherent and intelligible

Basic Structure of News

 Inverted Pyramid/ Baliktad na pyramid

Primary or Main Lead

Secondary or Support Lead

Pamatnubay
Details or Particulars

Pangalawang Pamatnubay
Background

Kasunod na mahalagang
datos

Di -gaanong
mahalagang
datos

LEAD/PAMATNUBAY
 Panimulang talata ( paragraph) o pangungusap ( sentence) naglalaman ng pinakamahalagang bahagi ng
balita.
 Opening sentence or two.
 Tells the important facts of the story.
 It could be a word,phrase, a sentence or a paragraph that attracts the readers interest.
Types of Lead
 Conventional or Summary Lead
 Grammatical Beginning Lead
 Novelty Lead
Lead Technical Requirements
 Be one sentence
 Be maximum of 25 words to 35 words
 Tells the most important piece of information that occurred in the event ( in straight news)
 It should be direct and simple
 It should have the most important information
 (The hoe and why will still be discussed in the body)
Lead Content Requirements
 Keep it short
 Usually limited in one sentence
 Avoid starting the lead with where or when
 Most leads start with WHO or WHAT (SINO o ANO)
 Avoid beginning the lead with THERE or THIS (Diyan o Dito)
 Use a strong verb to describe the action
 Above all things, lead should be accurate

XXX DON’T DO THESE IN YOUR LEAD XXX

 Don’t make it too complicated
 Don’t begin with time and date
 Don’t overstate or exaggerate the news in the lead making it more dramatic
THE BODY OF THE NEWS STORY
 Summarize the key details so that the story makes sense to a n reader.
 Use significant supporting facts placed in order
Story Organization
What do I want to say? Where do I put it?
1.Lead
2.Material that explains and amplifies the lead
3. Necessary background material
4.Secondary or less important material
5. Descending pyramid Narrative
6. Transitions
7.Quotes
8.Ending

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

 Avoid the “be “ form

Example : NO : The police officer will be resigning in his post effective…..

YES: The police officer will resign effective ……

 Avoid contractions like :

Won’t – will not
They’d – they had
He’d- he had

 Avoid using that in paragraphs especially in indirect quotes

Example : NO : She said that the man jumped….

YES: She said the man jumped…….

 Avoid redundancy – for succeeding paragraphs do not repeat the complete

name of the person again and again ( can be family name only)
 For amounts: write it this way P20 million,P8billion
 Penmanship should be legible and readable
TIPS IN WRITING HEADLINE

 Size of the headline should be bigger that news article or write-up

 Summarize headline in one line ( 8 words maximum)
 Omit forms of the verb ‘to be ‘ ( is,are,was,were)
 Use digits,not spelled-out one.
 Use present tense verbs
 Follow a subject/verb-object structure
 Only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized
 Don’t use a period at the end of the headline
 Use single quotes to quote material : Example: The President Urges,’Don’t
worry,America
 Use a comma (,) as a substitute for “and”
 Use colon (:) as substitute for the word said Examples :

Dominguez:Gov’t to collect Marcos estate tax

Biden,Harris to visit Ukraine

 Use specific details if they are available

 Use only widely known acronyms and abbreviation
 Only use names when they are prominent and use only notable nicknames
 To lengthen or shorten a headline , you may need to eliminate words or change it focus
entirely ;ask questions:
-What words could the headline live without and still make sense?

- What other words might convey the point equally well?

-Am I retaining the rules of headline writing style?