Jerz > Writing > Journalism
Hard news articles are written so the the reader can stop reading at any time, and still come away with the whole story. This is very different from an essay, which presumes that the audience will stick around to the end, and can therefore build to a finish.
There is no need to put a “conclusion” on a news story. Each individual reader will “end” the story whenever he or she gets bored. A particularly interested reader will keep reading to the end.
14 Dec 1999; by Lori Kurtzman, UWEC Junior
20 Apr 2003 — updated by Jerz
30 May 2012 — minor updates by Jerz
Sample Hard News Story
By JOE STUDENT
Staff Writer
St. Paul, Jan. 24 — A 15-minute operation involving a forklift, 20 firefighters, seven police officers and one scared pig ended a two-hour traffic delay on Interstate 94 Sunday morning.
The wild pig, whom the fireman affectionately nicknamed “Tailgate,” apparently wandered onto 1-94 around 8 a.m. and fell asleep in the middle of the two-lane freeway.
St. Paul resident Geoffrey Saint was the first to come upon the 200-pound animal.”He practically took up the whole road,” Saint said. “I barely slammed on my brakes in time.”
Saint said the cars behind him followed suit, each stopping short after reaching speeds of up to 70 mph.
Saint stayed in his car and phoned area police, who responded at 8:20 a.m.
Lieutenant Terry Frank was the first officer on the scene.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Frank said. “Here was this huge, sloppy pig, just napping in the middle of the road, oblivious to what was going on around him.”
Frank said she attempted to rouse the pig by poking him with a stick.
“He just kept on snoring,” she said.
By 9 a.m., three fire trucks and four patrol cars had responded to the “sleeping pig” call.
“We just sat there and wondered what in the world we could do,” Frank said.
The Headline: Convey the general message in as many words as will fit (usually quite a small space). A headline should be informational, and can be clever, as long as the cleverness does not interfere with the information or earn groans from readers.
See prize-winning newspaper headlines
The Lead: The lead, or the first sentence of the story, is arguably the most important part of the article. Based on the content of that first sentence, a reader will either look deeper into the story, or move on to the next one.
Therefore, how you craft your lead is very important. There are some basic rules one can follow:
Experimental leads. If you answer the “5 w’s and one h” on the second or third sentences, you can be more creative with the first. The results can flounder and die, or have a great impact. Some examples for the pig story:
Direct Quotes: Quotes breathe life into a story, but can be abused. Don’t quote material that isn’t quoteworthy. For instance, if Frank had said, “Officers arrived on the scene at about 9:00 a.m.,” you wouldn’t quote that.
If she had said, “That huge pig just sat there with tears running down his face and I thought my heart would burst,” well, that’s far more quoteworthy.
Paraphrased Quotes:
When a source’s words convey dry facts, or if the source’s exact words don’t fit the sentence you want to write, consider paraphrase.
Officers arrived on the scene around 9:00 a.m., Frank said.
You are still attributing the source properly, but no quotes are needed.
Your English instructor carefully reads your essay to evaluate the depth of your knowledge, the breadth of your vocabulary, and the loftiness of your ideas. Joe Sixpack glances quickly at your news story to learn who won the game, or when Route 30 will reopen, or what happened at the school board meeting last night. What counts as “good writing” depends on what the reader values.
Use direct quotations to record the opinions, emotions, and unique expressions of your sources. Let the direct words of your sources do as much work as possible, keeping yourself out of the story, and keeping transitions and explanations to a minimum. Use a phrase like “When asked about…” only when omitting it will create a false impression.
News Writing Links
And of course, the best way to write well is to read:
14 Dec 1999; by Lori Kurtzman, UWEC Junior
20 Apr 2003 — updated by Jerz
30 May 2012 — minor updates by Jerz
02 Feb 2018 — adding links; minor tweaks by Jerz
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