News Report Writing Essentials

Definition of a News Report

  • Found in newspapers; informs readers about current events

  • Must be easily digestible, concise, and engaging for quick reading

Inverted Pyramid

  • Information arranged in descending order of importance (MOST to LEAST important)

  • Sections: Headline→Lead→Body→Tail\text{Headline} \rightarrow \text{Lead} \rightarrow \text{Body} \rightarrow \text{Tail}

Sections Explained

• Headline – attention-grabbing title that summarizes the main point; 5–10 words; present tense & active verbs; avoids articles/conjunctions
• Byline - tells who wrote the story/news
• Lead – 1st paragraph; summarizes story; hooks reader; answers 5 W’s+1 H5\,\text{W's}+1\,\text{H} (Who, What, When, Where, Why, How)
• Body – elaborates on WHY & HOW; adds quotes (quotes from individuals involved in or affected by the event)
• Tail – least-important information; can be omitted for space

Headline Essentials

  • Purpose: quick overview, entice reading, snapshot of what the article is about

  • Techniques some headlines use: alliteration, puns, shock/intrigue, rhyme

Key Components of a Good News Story

  • Attention-getting headline

  • Strong lead with 5 W’s+1 H5\,\text{W's}+1\,\text{H}

  • Use of quotes & real facts

  • Clear summary & organization of the news (most→least important)

Some Key Elements when considering “Newsworthiness”

  • Timing – if it happened today, it’s news. If it happened last week, it’s not.

  • Significance – number of people affected

  • Proximity – the closer the story hits to home, the more newsworthy it is

  • Prominence – when famous people are affected, the story matters

  • Human Interest – stories are based on emotional appeal, they are meant to be amusing or to generate empathy or other emotions

COMMON BROADCAST JOURNALISM TERMS & SLANG

  • Anchor – news anchors are responsible for presenting stories on-camera

  • A-Roll – main portion of audio video footage in a news story

  • Beats – areas of expertise a journalist or reporter covers (e.g: politics, health, or law enforcement)

  • Bridge – an audio track linking between two news items

  • Chroma Key – also known as green screening

  • Cold Copy – news script not previously read by the reporter until the camera is rolling. Sometimes referred to by the slang term “rip n’ read.”