Year 5 Journalism Study Guide: Deconstructing Newspaper Openings and the 5 Ws

Fundamentals of Newspaper Report Openings: The 55 Ws

  • Purpose of a News Report Opening: A well-crafted opening sentence or paragraph in journalistic writing immediately informs the reader of the essential facts surrounding an event. This is systematically achieved by answering the "55 Ws".

  • Definitions of the 55 Ws:

    • Who?: Identifies the specific individual, group, animal, or organization central to the event or action.

    • What?: Identifies the core incident, event, action, or phenomenon that took place.

    • Where?: Identifies the precise location, environment, or setting where the incident occurred.

    • When?: Identifies the temporal details, including the specific time of day, day of the week, date, or relative timeframe.

    • Why?: Identifies the underlying reason, cause, purpose, or catalyst behind the incident or action.

  • Methodological Application:

    • Readers and writers identify and categorize each of the 55 elements within a report opening.

    • Textual annotation is typically executed by color-coding or underlining each element corresponding to its specific category, or by formally cataloging the 55 components into an exercise log.

Structural Breakdown of Extract 1: Divers Discover Ancient Treasure

  • Headline: Divers Discover Ancient Treasure

  • Report Text:

    • "On Monday morning, a team of divers discovered an ancient Greek vase on the seabed off the coast of Crete. They were exploring the area because local fishermen had found pieces of old pottery in their nets."

  • Systematic Identification of the 55 Ws:

    • When?: "On Monday morning"

    • Who?: "a team of divers"

    • What?: "discovered an ancient Greek vase"

    • Where?: "on the seabed off the coast of Crete"

    • Why?: "because local fishermen had found pieces of old pottery in their nets" (explaining the rationale behind exploring the marine area)

Structural Breakdown of Extract 2: Kitten Rescued from Giant Oak

  • Headline: Kitten Rescued from Giant Oak

  • Report Text:

    • "Firefighters rescued a frightened kitten from the top of a 20-metre20\text{-metre} oak tree in Riverside Park yesterday afternoon. They were called to the scene after a dog walker heard the kitten's cries for help."

  • Systematic Identification of the 55 Ws:

    • Who?: "Firefighters" (primary actors) rescuing "a frightened kitten" (affected subject)

    • What?: "rescued a frightened kitten"

    • Where?: "from the top of a 20-metre20\text{-metre} oak tree in Riverside Park"

    • When?: "yesterday afternoon"

    • Why?: "after a dog walker heard the kitten's cries for help" (the prompt that initiated the rescue call to the scene)

Structural Breakdown of Extract 3: Pupils Bake Record-Breaking Cake

  • Headline: Pupils Bake Record-Breaking Cake

  • Report Text:

    • "Last Friday, pupils at Hillcrest Primary School baked a chocolate cake that was eight metres long in their school hall. The young bakers took on the challenge to raise money for their local children's hospital."

  • Systematic Identification of the 55 Ws:

    • When?: "Last Friday"

    • Who?: "pupils at Hillcrest Primary School" (further referred to as "The young bakers")

    • What?: "baked a chocolate cake that was eight metres long"

    • Where?: "in their school hall"

    • Why?: "to raise money for their local children's hospital"

Journalistic Analysis: Front-Loading and Sentence Opening Strategies

  • Initial Question Under Consideration:

    • Identification of which specific "W" initiates each extract, accompanied by an analysis of why a journalist would deliberately select that particular element as the sentence lead.

  • Analysis of Extract 1 Opening Element:

    • Initial W: When ("On Monday morning").

    • Journalistic Rationale: Leading with time anchors the story firmly in the present or immediate past, signaling timeliness, recency, and fresh news value to the audience.

  • Analysis of Extract 2 Opening Element:

    • Initial W: Who ("Firefighters").

    • Journalistic Rationale: Leading with the actors highlights heroism, emergency authority, and dramatic agency right away. It immediately engages reader interest by showing prominent service personnel in action.

  • Analysis of Extract 3 Opening Element:

    • Initial W: When ("Last Friday").

    • Journalistic Rationale: Beginning with the day contextualizes the timeframe of a community or school achievement, allowing the narrative to build chronologically from the timing straight into the participants and their extraordinary accomplishment.