Basics of News Writing 

Definitions of ‘NEWS’

Although a plethora of definitions for the word News has been given by various scholars, some of the best possible is being reproduced here, before I take up my today’s blog of News Writing.

“News is anything that’s interesting, that relates to what’s happening in the world, what’s happening in areas of the culture that would be of interest to your audience,” – (Kurt Loder, American journalist, b. 1945).

“When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news.” – (Charles Anderson Dana, American journalist, 1819-1897).

“News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising.” – (Lord Northcliffe, British publisher, 1865-1922).

Generally speaking, the news is the audio, visual, or written construction of events or a happening or an incident.

Structure of a News Story

Broadly, news stories are of two kinds – hard news like road accidents, election rallies, crimes, a press conferences, international events, business news, or any other event or happening that are generally consequential and timely; and soft stories or features on topics like entertainment, lifestyle and about celebrities. The first and the most important distinction between writing hard news and soft news is that hard news is written in an inverted pyramid style while soft news is written in a pyramid style.

Inverted pyramid style of news writing

An inverted pyramid style is a metaphor used to explain how the important available information for the news is revealed in the initial paras while general information and background come in the later paragraphs. The inverted pyramid style of news writing is used not only in hard news but also recommended for writing blogs, editorial columns, and marketing factsheets.

As the name suggests, the inverted pyramid is like an inverted triangle that is wider at the top and pointed at the bottom. Likewise, the information in an inverted pyramid style is heavy on the top and lesser towards the bottom.

Pyramid style of news writing

Conversely, the most important, interesting, and attention-grabbing information is not revealed in the opening paragraphs in the pyramid style of news writing to arouse curiosity in the readers. The basic idea behind using two different styles of writing is that though some readers of newspapers prefer to read between the lines, many others just gloss over the news in the morning before going to their workplace.

When the news has been written in the inverted pyramid style, the readers get all the important information by just reading the opening paragraphs. On the other hand, those who read editorial articles, articles in magazines, and articles on celebrities, lifestyle, and entertainment have enough time and it is important to keep their curiosity alive till towards the end of the article. The structure of the news is the same whether it is a piece of hard news or a soft news story – the lead and the main body of the story. No story is considered complete if it does not contain 5Ws (Who, What, Where, When, and Why) and one H (How).

The Lead

Also called “Lede” or “Intro”, the lead is the most important portion of the news. The function of the lead is to summarize the news (in case of hard news) or draw the reader in (in case of soft news). While writing the hard news, a journalist will normally try to include as many of the 5Ws in the lead so that the reader can get a fair amount of idea of what the news is all about.

On the contrary, a journalist writing a soft story will like to keep his or her reader engrossed by not revealing the 5Ws and one H immediately. Rather, the journalist will present the subject of the story allusion. Like a novelist, the journalist will like to open his story in a literary style and try to grab the attention of the reader.

The Body

The body of the news is the main narrative of the story. This includes opinions of the people interviewed by the journalist, and some factual data important for the news, which helps the story flow. Since the role of a journalist is to report the opinions of different stakeholders on the issue, he or she is expected to include all opinions with objectivity. While writing a piece of news, a journalist is not supposed to editorialize (state one’s own opinion) in any manner.

A reporter is supposed to tell one’s readers what people are thinking about the issue one is reporting and what different stakeholders say about it. This provides the readers with a comprehensive and objective view of the topic. The comments of the stakeholders make up the substance of the story, while the narrative helps the journalist weave these comments into a well-knit story.

Written By:-

Prof. Sushil Manav,

Dean, Faculty of Mass Communication and Media Technology,

SGT University, Gurugram