- •The shape of the news story
- •Writing the intro in simple steps
- •The perfect intro
- •Newsworthy
- •Short and simple
- •Attract the reader
- •Appropriate style
- •Simple steps in writing the intro
- •Key points
- •Information
- •Analysis
- •News angle
- •To summarise:
- •Writing the intro, the golden rules
- •Facts First
- •No quotes
- •Check-list
- •To summarise:
- •Writing the news story in simple steps
- •Remember the inverted pyramid
- •Length and strength
- •Simple steps in writing the news story
- •Information
- •Key points
- •Is it unusual?
- •Is it interesting or significant?
- •Is it about people?
- •The intro
- •Options
- •Ranking the key points
- •Telling the rest of the story
- •Checking the story
- •Mistakes
- •Missing details
- •The final version
- •To summarise:
- •Writing the news story - clear writing
- •Simplicity
- •Accuracy
- •Sequence and continuity
- •Facts first
- •Quotes and attribution
- •Background
- •To summarise:
- •If your story is a follow-up or part of a running story, have you provided sufficient background information?
- •Is everything you have written accurate?
Quotes and attribution
We will discuss quotes and attribution fully in the next two chapters. For the moment there are two general observations to make.
The first is that quotes bring any story to life by bringing together the news-maker and the reader or listener. On radio and television we do this by using a taped interview so that the person can be heard (and seen on television) actually saying the words. In newspapers, we use the person's actual words, in quote marks (").
In both cases, the readers or listeners are given direct access to the source of the news. When journalists do not use quotes, they seem to be getting in between the news-maker and the reader or listener. They seem to get in the way.
The second observation is that you should, wherever possible, attribute the statement of facts to someone your reader or listener can identify in the story. This gives your audience some idea of how reliable the information is. In our cyclone story, we are not sure what damage has been done outside Honiara, so we attribute the belief that Honiara has been the worst affected to the emergency services:
The emergency services ... believe that Honiara has been the worst affected.
We discuss quotes and attribution in much greater detail in the next two chapters.
Background
Very often, you will write a news story updating something which has been reported by your newspaper, radio or television station before. We call stories which continue to produce new developments running stories, and we call stories which build upon previous news items follow-ups. (See Chapter 24 for full details.)
You cannot assume when writing a follow-up that your readers or listeners will know the original facts of the story. You have to summarise the issue briefly to bring them up to date. We call this information background. One or two paragraphs of well-written background details must be included in the body of your news story, so that it makes complete sense.
To summarise:
Remember to read your story through thoroughly before handing it in. If you find any errors, correct them - then read it through again! Ask yourself the following questions:
Have you presented the facts in an orderly manner and provided links between different segments?
Where you have facts and comments, are the facts first?
If your story is a follow-up or part of a running story, have you provided sufficient background information?
Is everything you have written accurate?
Can you simplify any of the words or grammar to make the story easier to understand?
Have you used quotes to enliven the story? Have you attributed the facts and opinions to the right people?
Have you read it through again?