1. The Headline

The headline of a news article can be written in two different ways. The traditional way is to write the headline in a purely factual manner. This way of writing a headline conveys what the article is actually about.

The second option is to write a clever, sometimes cute headline. This works for newspapers like the Boston Herald, which runs the gamut between being newsy and being tabloid-ish. A clever headline may catch more eyes.

The headline does not have to be written first, it can be written last.

2. The Lead

The lead is the most important part of the news story. The lead should not tease the reader. The lead needs to relay the facts of the story right up front.

State the who and the what in the lead, or the first sentence of the news article. If the when, where and how are important, include those as well. After reading the lead, the reader should know exactly what the article will cover. There should be no surprises.

If the facts themselves are completely uninteresting, or not compelling enough, you may not have a real news story on your hands.

3. Second Paragraph: Why

The second paragraph of the article expounds upon the lead. The writer includes the significance of the event, or the "why" this event is newsworthy. Why should the reader read this? Why should they care?

4. Third Paragraph: Who

Depending on the news story, the second and third paragraphs could switch places. If the event is about a famous person, the significance may be because of who they are, which would bump this paragraph up.

If the who is not as important as the why, this paragraph could also find its way further down in the article.

Include a more in-depth paragraph about the person in question. Why is this person important? Consider this one of the background paragraphs. For example, "Director John Smith is currently working on a science fiction thriller. Smith is best known for films The Moon Glow and The Earthquake that Ended the World."

5. Fourth Paragraph and Beyond: In-Depth

After establishing what happened, who did it, why it's important, and why the person or people are important, go into further detail about the event.

6. Fifth Paragraph and Beyond: Background

Include any deeper background information paragraphs further down in the article. These paragraphs could include a quick biographical sketch of the newsworthy event, historical information, or other background information relevant to the news event.

Published by Pam Gaulin,

Featured Contributor in Ats and Entertainment and Lifestyle

WATCHING VIDEO

Now you are going to watch a short video film about writing a hard news story delivered to you by D’Arcy Drury. While watching this video try to answer the following questions and do the suggested tasks:

A hard news story is … .

What are the three styles of writing mentioned in the film? What are their peculiarities? Where are they used?

The speaker names several advantages of an inverted pyramid style. Fill in the following table:

advantage	description of the advantage
1.
2.
3.
4.