Jan
23
Journalism 101: Deconstructing a news story
The following is a guest post I was asked to write for Wannabe Hacks, as part of their ‘Reporter’s Week’.
The week was focused on celebrating the reporter on the ground, with content from journalists (trainees and established hacks alike) – providing valuable insight into the changing world of news.
A full list of content from the week, can be found here.
Writing news is a skill. It is a skill that takes time and practice to hone.
Being able to sniff out a great story, or having great contacts is pointless if you’ve not got the ability to convert the information into something interesting that will capture the attention of your audience.
Consider this quote from writer Daniel Defoe: “If any man was to ask me what I would suppose to be the perfect style of language, I would answer, that in which a man speaking to five hundred people of all common and various capacities, idiots or lunatics excepted, should be understood by them all.”
The basics:
Punchy intro
The introduction is the first time the reader will look at the bulk of your news story, headline excluded at this point, so you’ve got to make it enticing, information-rich but must leave the reader wanting more.
While on placement at Sky News Online, the importance of the introduction was drilled home to me by senior journalists.
A simple, effective way of ensuring your lead contains all of the essential information, is to consider the five W’s (who, what, where, when, how).
Killer quotes
The best quotes should be prominent in your news story, ideally no lower than the third paragraph.
Often these quotes are the nugget of brilliance in a news story, the piece of information that brings the piece to life for the reader; so don’t bury it in the depths of the tale.
Structure
News stories should be written in the inverted pyramid structure, this will place the most important facts and elements at the top, with those of diminishing value further down in the tale.
This type of writing style is especially important in print, as it allows the audience to leave a story at any time having still picked up the general gist of what they have read. It also makes the lives of sub-editors easy, as they can assume to cut from the bottom without removing the meaning of the story.
Each paragraph should be written in a way that it could stand alone and still be understood, with each one having a piece of information.
General advice
Write clearly and directly by making every word in a sentence count. Remove empty words and phrases. Check spellings you are unsure of and learn those you have trouble with. Get straight to the point using the active voice rather than the passive.
To quote the great George Orwell, “If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.”
What have I missed out in my tips? Are there other essentials in writing the perfect news story? Let me know in the comments below.
