NEWS WRITING

GUIDE
RECHEL B. MANANQUIL
NEUST-POC LECTURER
A. What is News?

 Part process:
coverage
interpretation
play
 Bases of news:
facts
interest
readers
B. News Values

 Immediacy or timeliness
 Proximity or nearness
 Consequence (importance and breadth of appeal)
 Prominence (familiarity to readers – persons, places,
situations)
 Oddity
 Human interest
 Conflict (physical and mental struggle) man vs. man; man vs.
himself; man vs. nature
 Change
 Names (more names more readers)
 Numbers (breadth or extension)
 Drama
 Amusement
C. Types of News Stories
1. According to approach

 Straight News story

 Human Interest story
 Interpretative/Interpretive news
 News feature
 Side-bar story
2. According to time relation

 Advance story
 Coverage story (routine, spot and follow-up)
3. Special Types

 News brief
 Bulletin (last minute news in a running story – usually boxed and in
boldface)
 Flash (basic facts)
 Classroom story (news on the academic front)
 Meeting story
 Speech story
 Box story
 Personal news
D. Gathering News
Source of News

 Beats
 Printed material
 Tips from people
 Publicity and press releases
 Feature book
 Corps of reporters
E. The LEAD (most important paragraph of the entire account)
1. Classification of Lead

 According to purpose
- summary (conventional)
- unconventional
 According to construction
- 5 W’s and H leads
- grammatical beginning lead
- unorthodox
2. Summary Lead
(Who, What, When, Where, Why and How)

Errors:
 Playing up the wrong feature
 Dull beginning
 Overlooked lead
3. Grammatical beginning leads

 Subject noun
 Causal clause
 Conditional clause
 Temporal clause
 Infinitive clause
 Participial phrase
 Prepositional phrase
 Noun clause
 Gerund
4. Unconventional Leads

Novelty Leads
 Punch (startler or astonisher)
 Background lead
 Direct quotation lead
 Question lead
 Descriptive lead
 Contrast lead
 Literary, historical or mythological allusion
 Parody
 Atmosphere lead
 Suspended interest lead
 Direct address
 Staccato lead
 Knitting facts together (when, where, as)
 E. Writing the body of the Story

1. Retail the story by:

 Explainingor elaborating the feature or features in the lead;
 Adding minor features nor summarized in the lead

2. Framework
 Invertedpyramid (according to decreasing importance)
 Chronological order

3. Basic features
 Summary
 Salient
 Combination
F. Qualities of News

1. Accuracy
 Factual accuracy
 Correctness of general impression
2. Balance
 Proper emphasis on each fact in relation to other facts
 Completeness (inclusion of relevant features)
3. Objectivity
 Factual reporting
 Impartiality

4. Conciseness (reader is in a hurry)

5. Clarity
 Clears enough for the reader
6. Freshness of information
 G. STEPS in Writing the News Story

 Relax. Write simply and naturally.

1. Write a summary
2. List facts according to decreasing importance
3. Dig out the facts; put the best “W” forward
4. Write several ideas for leads
5. Write out the story according to the sequence in step 2.
6. Review
for CLARITY, COHERENCE, ACCURACY,
THOROUGHNESS etc.
H. POINTERS in writing the News Story

1. Play up a dominant point

2. Be accurate
3. Avoid editorializing
4. Mention/Cite authority or source of news to strengthen the reader’s
confidence in the accuracy of the story and protect the paper from
libel suits
5. Present facts without bias
6. Names should be given in full
7. Identify names mentioned
8. Avoid “coloring” by the use of words that would prejudice the reader
9. Write one-idea, one sentence paragraph
10. Begin every paragraph with a significant, interesting fact
11. Average length is 35 words per paragraph
12. Keep sentences simple and clear
13. Place direct and indirect quotations in separate paragraphs
14. Use simple specific words
15. Avoid beginning a lead with the articles “a, an, the” or the expletive
“there, it.”
16. Prefer the active to the passive voice
17. Give all facts needed.
ACTIVITY TIME
 News #1
Let’s practice!
Write a straight news story based on the ff. facts:

 Head-on collision between a passenger bus and a delivery truck in San Pablo City, Laguna.
 The incident happened yesterday.
 The victim: Gerald Remedios, a resident of Brgy. Antipolo, Lipa City, Batangas.
 The victim died instantly while the bus driver, Sherwin Roman was injured in the left thigh.
 Three other passengers of the truck and 14 bus passengers were also injured.
 Senior Supt. Manolito Labrador identified the fatality.
 Police said a Raymond Transit Bus ( TWX 454) was traversing the Maharlika Highway and was about to
overtake another vehicle when it collided on the oncoming delivery truck.
 News #2
Let’s practice!
Write a straight news story based on the ff. facts:

 A banca capsized at Laguna Bay due to big waves brought about by heavy rains.
 The incident happened on Tuesday in Binangonan, Rizal.
 3 died and were identified as Joemar Radam, 18 years old, of Cainta, Riza; Junie Barroso, 35, and Bernard
Mondalis, 40 of San Carlos City, Pangasinan.
 Police said the victims came from a fiesta celebration from Talim Island.
 They were on their way home when the banca they were in sank off the coast of Laguna Bay about 700 meters
away from Pritil warf at 4:20 a.m.
 Passengers were rushing to get hold of life vests when the banca tilted to its side and capsized.
 The banca is loaded with more than 40 passengers.