Non-Fiction Writing Lesson 2

Breaking News
 Learning Objective
To recognise different styles of reporting.

Success Criteria
• To consider news values and their impact on style.
• To differentiate between tabloid and broadsheet journalism.
• To imitate style and conventions.
 Making News

What makes something

‘newsworthy’?
 News Values
Familiarity: Is it close to home?

Amplitude: How big is its reach?

Frequency: Continuity can contain value but one-off

surprise stories are generally more newsworthy.
Immediacy
Is it current? Unambiguity: Complex stories are a hard-sell.

Elitism: Power, celebrity and status.

Personalisation: Human interest angles that we can relate to.

Negativity: Bad news is better than good!

Balance: ‘And finally…’ fun stories to offset all the bad.

 News Currency

Rank them accordingly:

• Advise
• Analyse

What is the purpose • Argue

of a news report? • Describe
• Entertain
• Explain
• Inform
• Instruct
• Persuade
 Types of News
The primary purpose of all news reports is to inform.
However, they can also carry secondary purposes which depend very much
on their media outlet and the house style.
For example…
Broadsheet
Audience?
e.g. The Times
Tabloid
Also known as
Red Tops • dense text • sparse use of

597mm
• • highly formal images
sensationalist
430mm

• • more complex • explain and

short sentences
and paragraphs issues analyse
• more colloquial
• also entertain

28mm 375mm

The terms tabloid and broadsheet originally referred to the printing

dimensions. Now that most news is digested online and nearly all
newspapers are printed in the more compact size, the terms describe the
style and tone of reporting.
 Tabloid - Example
• Text is less prominent than
dramatic image and
conspicuous headline.
• Alliterative headline employs an
idiomatic expression.
• Emotive and hyperbolic
language in both sub-heading
and opening sentence.
• Informative but brief – 4 of the
LYDIA’S ON THE LASH 5 Ws contained in opening
KILLER STORM RIPPING U.S. TO SHREDS sentence.
Hurricane Lydia began tearing through the States of America
yesterday, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake. • Main news values: immediacy
More casualties are expected today.
Continued on p5… and negativity.
 Broadsheet - Example

Hurricane Lydia Threat To Life • Text to picture ratio much

Met Office warns of possible casualties higher than tabloid – scientific
The U.S.A. braced itself for image conveys gravity.
severe weather conditions last
night as Hurricane Lydia made • Telegraphic headline sums up
her way along the West Coast.
The category-two storm, which
story.
has already caused millions of
dollars worth of damage to the • Technical information
Pacific islands, had knocked out power and submerged
large parts of Boca Ciega, one of the lowest-lying
(‘category-two storm’) and adult
municipalities in Florida, in up to 5ft of rising water. With vocabulary (‘municipalities’,
forecasters predicting the worst storm in a generation,
emergency protocol was initiated and all residents had ‘protocol’, etc) assume
been evacuated before 2pm yesterday. educated audience.
At this time, no fatalities have been recorded but Julian
Dutnall, Safety Measures Strategy Analyst at the
Meteorological Office in Washington, has warned that loss
• Expert opinions and quotations
of life is inevitable. “With the best will in the world,” he add authority.
explained, “we cannot guard entirely against the might of
mother nature when she hits us on a scale such as this.” His
views were corroborated by the National Hurricane Centre,
• Main news values: immediacy,
who said that wind speeds could reach a critical 100mph. amplitude and frequency.
 And Now for the
Weather…
Write a news report about your school or
the area in which you live being affected by
extreme weather.

• You can write in a tabloid or broadsheet

style.
• Fabrication is a major journalistic taboo
but for the sake of such a task as this a
strong element of imagination is allowed
to intrude on non-fiction. (Note: the
examples were made-up but sound
believable.)
• Your writing will be peer-assessed for
how well you utilise the conventions of a
news report.
• Readers: Can you tell whether it’s tabloid
or broadsheet? How can you tell?
 Takeaways
What is your main takeaway from this lesson?
Write it on your Tracking Sheet and grade your level of knowledge and
understanding.
Then share your takeaway with the person on either side of you.
Are they the same? Explain your reasoning to each other.