How to Write
a News Report
By Paul M. J. Suchecki
By its definition news is immediate. Facts unfold as you
gather them. You want to be accurate rather than sensational, telling the truth
not opinion, no matter how strong your beliefs are. I've written for newspapers
and television, both very different animals. Here are some pointers:
- 1
First collect your facts. Ask the classic questions: Who,
What, Why, When, Where and How. As a story progresses you might have to run
with information before every scrap of news is in, but your audience or readers
have come to expect that you acknowledge these points even if what you know now
is deficient. If after a bad accident you don't know the cause include that
information.
- 2
Start with a strong lead. Hook your viewers or readers with
the most intriguing aspect of a story up front, otherwise they won't bother
reading the rest of it. I recently wrote and produced an Earth Day television
package on solar power. Since sun power itself, is no longer news, I reminded
viewers that it was Earth Day, then asked if they would be interested in free
electricity. It was a good hook in days of rising energy costs.
Newspaper articles usually employ the classic inverted
pyramid style where all of the five W's and H that I mentioned earlier are
handled in a single paragraph long sentence. In contrast, television news is
more conversational. There the lead is usually delivered on camera prior to
going to video, which is a major part of the story.
- 3
Shun the passive voice. Use simple declarative sentences
with a lot of vivid action verbs. Eschew words like "eschew." Don't
try to impress people with how intelligent you are. Write simply and actively
as if you're trying to reach a best friend and tell her the latest that
happened today. Don't write, "Paris Hilton was taken into custody."
Write "Sheriff deputies took a sobbing Paris Hilton back to jail."
Remember to eliminate needless words.
- 4
Find the telling detail. In the example above, it was the
word "sobbing."
- 5
Be conversational without being ungrammatical. Makes sure
that you write in sentences and not in phrases with gerunds that go nowhere.
Don't get lazy. Use adverbs when appropriate. "Whom" is a perfectly
good word. It's the objective, not the pretentious form of the pronoun
"who." Know what the subjunctive is and use it. It's right to write
"If I were a rich man..." not "If I was homeward bound."
Please check to make sure that your subjects and verbs agree. Dependent clauses
can easily throw this match off. It's "A group of people protests for better
wages," because "group" not "people" is the subject.
If we in the media don't use good grammar, who will?
- 6
Study good examples. Here are a few of my own favorite
leads:
"A horrific bombing in Baghdad has renewed fears of a
civil war in Iraq."
"Hurricane Katrina has strengthened over the Gulf of
Mexico and is now packing winds of 160 miles per hour."
"Our eye on the universe has gone blind," is how I
opened a story on the Hubble Space Telescope.
When you watch news or read it in the newspaper, note which
stories grab you and emulate their style.
Read more: How to Write a News Report | eHow http://www.ehow.com/how_2062284_write-news-report.html#ixzz2TwbAeAMN
Source:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2062284_write-news-report.html
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