MAJ 19 Campus Journalism

EFFECTIVE NEWS
WRITING
Reporter: Mariah, Ariean and Richel
 CHARACTERISTIC OF
EFFECTIVE NEWS WRITING

B.
CONCISENESS

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 Characteristic of
2/11/23
CONCISENESS effective news
writing

• news story should be written with brevity, since newspapers often have more
articles than the number of pages allow. A good news story is one that has
complete information yet is written without verbosity. Sometimes sentences
contain unnecessary words.
Wordy Phrases Tight Words

In the company of With

At the present time Now, today

A sufficient amount of time Enough

In the vicinity of Near

During the period from From

Put in an appearance came

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 CONCISENESS
Other times verbosity or wordiness is caused by the limitations of our
vocabulary. A good writer should strive to improve his/her vocabulary. For
example, many words can be replaced by a single word:

✖️The donation came from someone who did not want to be identified.
✔️The donation was anonymous.
✖️Maria believed but could not confirm that Joe would come to the meeting.
✔️Maria assumed that Joe would come to the meeting.
 CONCISENESS

• Avoid using empty words and phrases, like there

are or if is at the beginning of a sentence.
Instead, reword the sentence so that the
subject comes first.
✖️There is a need to shorten sentences in a news story.

✔️A news story should have short sentences.

 CONCISENESS
Redundancy is another cause of wordiness. Like the first set of
examples, a redundant sentence has many unnecessary words.
• Cory Aquino wore color yellow clothes as a symbol of defiance against
the Marcos dictatorship.
• Mark Polo got his doctorate degree from the University of Asia and the
Pacific.
• She let out on a funny smile on her face when they teased her.
• Journalists were fatally killed in the so-called Maguindanao.
• .My mother's picture frame is square not rectangular in shape.
 CONCISENESS
Here is a classic example of wordiness used in English courses in
Purdue University in Indiana, United States:

• Many have made the wise observation that when a stone is in motion
rolling down a hill or incline that moving stone is not as likely to be
covered all over with the kind of thick green moss that grows on
stationary unmoving things and becomes a nuisance and suggests that
those things have not moved in a long time and probably will not move
any time soon. (67 words)
• A rolling stone gathers no moss. (6 words).
 CHARACTERISTIC OF
EFFECTIVE NEWS WRITING

C.
Correctness
 characteristic of
2/11/23
CORRECTNESS effecting news
writing

• The correctness of a news story can be understood from two perspectives:

technical and conceptual.
TECHNICAL CORRECTNESS
- to the structure, grammar, and style of the news story.
• Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, which gives the
basics of good writing.

examples of commonly misused words and phrases:

affect, effect:
• Affect is usually used as a verb meaning to influence.
• Effect is usually used as a noun meaning result.
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 CORRECTNESS
• The drug did not affect the disease, and it had several adverse side effects. Effect can also be a verb meaning
to bring about. Only the president can effect such a dramatic change.

• elicit, illicit: Elicit is a verb meaning to bring out or to evoke. Illicit is an adjective meaning unlawful.
The reporter was unable to elicit information from the police about illicit drug trafficking

• ago, since: Use one or the other, not both.

- My dog Fluffy died three days ago.
- It has been three days since my dog Fluffy died.
× It has been three days ago since my dog Fluffy died.

• in behalf of, on behalf of

In behalf of means "for the benefit of.” On behalf of means "in place of or as representative.“
Bea presented the donation to the White Cross on behalf of her husband, to be used in behalf of the orphans.
 CORRECTNESS
• Under technical correctness, we can also say that a news story has
to be coherent.
• Coherence in a news story is achieved by maintaining an inverted
pyramid format and by making sure that the lead is supported with
details in the body of the story.
USING QUOTATION
Quotations from sources add authenticity to a news story because they
allow the source to speak directly to readers.
There are three types of quotations:
the direct quote, the partial quote, and the paraphrase.
 CORRECTNESS
Types of quotation:
1.
Direct Quote - use the quotation marks and are the verbatim words of the source, whether that source is a person or a document. The quote is attributed to the source with words such as "he said" or "it
said." This type of quote is used for succinct remarks or controversial or colorful statements.
2.
Partial Quote - source is wordy but what he/she says is controversial or colorful, then opt for a partial quote, meaning, quote only the contentious phrase. However, the danger of partial quotes is that the
controversial words could be taken out of context.
3.
Paraphrase - If the source is wordy, then the journalist should choose to paraphrase the original instead. Paraphrasing is simply stating the source's words in your own words without altering the original
message.
 CORRECTNESS
CONCEPTUAL CORRECTNESS
refers to the accuracy of the data presented in the story.
A journalist should be obsessed with making sure his/her data is factual, objective, and fair. Some basic areas to
watch out for are names, dates, and numbers.

• You also have to be extra careful in using quotes. The fastest way to lose a source is to misquote him or spell
his/her name wrong. Do not rely on your ears when getting names, even if the person you are interviewing has a
simple-sounding name like "Ann," you have to be certain of its spelling. It could be spelled Ann, Anne, or even
Ahnne.

• a donor to your school may never give another generous amount it you have carelessly omitted a zero from the
amount reported in the school paper, for instance, instead of 500,000 you reported 50,000. As a general rule,
numbers 1-10 should be spelled out.
 CHARACTERISTIC OF
EFFECTIVE NEWS WRITING

D. CREDIBILITY
AND
COMPLETENESS
 characteristic of
2/11/23 CREDIBILITY AND COMPLETENESS effective news
writing

• While credibility is largely established over time by a news organization, a journalist

achieves this by going to the right sources. This shows readers that the story is based
on facts rather than hearsay

• Credibility is also established if the news story strives to be fair and not one sided.
Biased stories are usually one-sided.

• Fairness is necessary to maintain credibility. This means getting both sides of the
story a journalist's dedication in seeking the truth.

• Completeness means that the story has all the necessary facts. A complete story
goes beyond the 5 Ws and H. It gives context and background to the event, issue, or
idea being written about.
recap
CHARACTERISTIC OF The 5 C’s
EFFECTIVE NEWS WRITING

• CLARITY
• CONCISENESS
• CORRECTNESS
• CREDIBILITY
• COMPLETENESS