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Once you've come up with an idea, you need to decide what form your story will take. Is it a news story, a relatively short piece of writing that focuses on what's current and relevant? Is it a feature, a longer story that looks at how and why things happen? Or is it an opinion piece, a column or editorial that allows you to express your point of view on an issue that's important to you? Read on! Several established journalists will explain what makes each type of story unique and how you can decide what approach to take with yours. News Writing with Lawrence Surtees Reporters tell stories about actual people, places, events and things. Yet, a news story is different than traditional stories, such as legends, fairy tales and other works of fiction. Those stories are usually much longer and are organized very differently. The job of a fictional story is to entertain and those stories can afford to deliver their main point at the end of the story, which is often why they begin with the phrase, "Once upon a time. . ." A news story is almost the opposite. It is immediate and often delivers time-sensitive information that may change moments later. It must compete with many other stories for a reader's or listener's attention, so the punch line must be in the very first sentence. A news story is also different than other types of non-fiction writing because of "news." If you read something and say to your self, "I know that," then what you're reading probably is not news and can be considered a historical fact. Nature Of News Impact and immediacy are central to any definition of news. The Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary defines news as: "1. Information
of a recent event, development, Yet news is often an elusive thing to define -- almost as hard as trying to pin Jell-O to a wall. That is because something that is considered newsworthy to one person or audience may not be considered news by another. For example, a story that may be the top story on the front page of The New York Times may not appear in The Globe and Mail at all. Or a story in The St. John's Evening Telegram may not appear in any other paper in Canada. Relevance is a key factor to determining what is news. But news reporters
and editors have to The Angle The main idea of a news story and lead is called the "angle." It is also referred to in newsrooms as the "hook" because the angle is used to grab, or hook, the reader's attention to make them want to read the rest of your story. Simply, it is the main point you learned from your reporting and that the rest of your story will try to support. Finding the angle of a news story forces a newswriter to be critical of a story idea and the reporting. A news writer will discover if there's no angle in an idea or the facts that have been gathered before an editor, teacher or reader will. Writing the lead and angle involves making some difficult decisions. A news writer must sort through the facts that were gathered from the reporting and decide what the theme is. There may be several different themes, but the writer must decide what the central theme of the story will be in the lead. Then you must consider what form your story will take. In sorting through a mass of material, Carman Cumming and Catherine McKercher
of Carleton Look for either of those three things from your research and interviews and you will be able to find a compelling angle for your lead. Qualities Of Good Stories Whatever the form, a good news story has at least seven elements, says Donald Murray, writing coach of The Boston Globe, in his guide to writing: 1. Information -- Substance is the raw ingredient of a story. A writer
must have specific, accurate 2. Significance -- Good stories affect people, impart information they
need to know and tell what is 3. Focus -- Memorable stories are limited and precisely focused. They
say one thing. Says Murray: 4. Context -- An effective story offers perspective to a reader so they
know the context of where a 5. Form -- A writer must give a story a natural and logical shape. A
narrative will work if it contains 6. Faces -- People like to read about people. Journalism presents ideas by introducing readers to the people who create ideas or are affected by them. And news stories work best when the writer gets out of the way and lets the people in a story tell the story to the reader. 7. Voice -- Even in the electronic age of instantaneous, mass communication, a writer speaks to one reader. How you choose your words, particularly in your narrative, to speak to your audience determines your voice. Feature Writing with Beth Ryan Editorial Writing An editorial is an article in a publication giving an opinion on an issue written by, or on behalf of, an editor. This is not as easy as it may seem. It has to be well-written and well-researched
for it to have a For the most part, the topics discussed are things such as gun control
or Canada's economy. Sometimes the editorials are after the fact. They deal
with social issues that effect all people. They Editorials could be written like an essay. A relaxed, first person style
of writing, using "I", can be Remember that the editorial is usually the newspaper's view on the issue.
You can get around this Try to form your own opinions on major stories covered in your paper.
These may seem trivial at
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Anyone can print the final score of the game (Vancouver 3, Colorado 1) but it takes detail and creative language to win sports readers. The trick to writing sports is not just to report the scores but to try to tell what happened - readers want to meet the players that made it happen and have a front row seat to the game's action. Remember: Focus on the important plays of the game or a key player, and build your story around it. Michael Jordan scored 35 points to help the Chicago Bulls clobber the New York Knicks by a score of 105-73. You don't have to put in every play, just the important ones that made a difference. Joe Carter's two-run homer in the seventh inning led the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Everyone would like to know exactly what happened in the game but they
don't need to hear every Fred Smith came up to bat in the second inning, and swung strikes on the first two pitches. He fouled off on the next pitch, and then popped one up into left field. Gonzales, the left fielder, caught it in the air for the first out. Lively quotes from the players or managers give your story a boost. "It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges," explained Muhammad Ali"and I believed in myself." Sports don't always happen on the playing field, so if you describe the crowd's mood, size, or the effect they had on the game, it helps keep your readers interested. A heavy helping of octopi was heaved onto the ice at game's end by the 12,400 angry hockey fans in attendance. Your story doesn't even have to be about a game. It could be player profiles or about teams preparing for a new season or a tournament - whatever is happening that may be interesting. Professional sports aren't the only things happening, either. Amateur
teams in competition can be In either men's or women's events, sports news is what matters. Take some 1996 Olympic medalists from Canada as examples. Donovan Bailey won gold with a 9.84 second Olympic record run in the men's 100 metre sprint. Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle excelled in rowing gold for Canada in the Women's Double Sculls. Make sure you know exactly what the players or athletes have accomplished, so your story has the correct news. |
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You've talked to some people and searched out information on the Web. You're all ready to sit down at the keyboard and write. To do that, you need some basic tools, some simple tips that will help tell your story clearly. Beth Ryan is the coordinator of SNN and a freelance writer based in St. John's. She has written for daily newspapers, magazines, radio and television over the past 11 years. Here are some of the tips she's collected from writing every day — supplemented by great advice from other journalists and writing coaches.
1. Start by telling your story out loud. Tell it to your mother, your friend, a tape recorder, you cat. Explain what happened, who was involved, what they said, how it looked. Do this as if you were talking about something that happened on the way home from the mall this afternoon. Going through this process usually helps you figure out what story you're going to tell in writing. 2. Get the most out of every word and every sentence. Put subjects and verbs up front in your sentences to tell your reader exactly what happened. "The bus crashed into the building." Use active voice instead of passive. 3. Use concrete and specific words to get your meaning across. It was a pearl-grey Siamese -- not a cat. It was a crumbling cement building with broken panes of glass where windows used to be — not an abandoned building. 4. Avoid cliches and overused expressions. If you've heard it before, chances are everyone else has too. Push yourself to find a new way to get your point across. 5. Use simple words — not technical or flowery language, foreign phrases or rarely-used words. You are trying to communicate information and ideas — not show off your extensive vocabulary! That means using the language that most people know. 6. Keep your sentences short. Break longer sentences into two smaller ones. Or vary the length. A long one spaced between shorter sentences. If there are two distinct ideas in your sentence, you probably need to break it into two smaller sentences. 7. Show your reader instead of telling. Don't say a person is friendly when you can say how they bounce down the street, smiling at everyone and calling hello to strangers. 8. Remember that you are telling story — that means characters, scenes and action. Who is there? What are like? What are they doing and saying? What does the place look like? 9. Make people earn their quotation marks. Quotes should be something interesting and compelling, something that the source says better than you could. Don't quote people stating facts — "The school board will hold a hearing next Monday night to find out what parents think of the school closures." Save the quotation marks for a person's opinion or their experience — "If parents don't turn up for the hearing, then I think we know that they just don't care about the school system," says Anne Smith, a school board member. 10. Avoid repetition in your stories. Once you've stated a fact or quoted someone who makes a point about a particular, there's no need to re-visit the issue. |
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A good photo can tell stories -- and sell stories. Words alone can't
always describe the news that happens. Tips for taking good news photos Good photos spark a reader's interest. Make sure the picture relates to your story and enhances your audience's understanding of the story. Photos that show people and display emotions in them are first-rate - they attract human interest. Everyone will want to read the story to find out more about what happened in the shot. You should be able to see the people in your picture clearly and closely, and not have to squint to see a person's face. If you want photos that make an impression, take shots of certain people instead of crowds. All photos need cutlines -- sentences you find under photos that identify the faces, places and activities shown. Don't assume readers will know everything about the photo or that they will even read your story to find out. Be a reporter and give them the story behind the picture. Well-written cutlines make photos easy to understand, and tells why both the photo and the story are interesting and important. Don't forget to include a byline, which tells readers that you took the photo. For pictures, they usually come after the cutline - "John Doe photo," or "Photo by Jane Doe." - with or without brackets around them. Pictures to avoid The "Grip & Grin": These are photos of people receiving awards or diplomas, cutting ribbons or passing out cheques. They just do the ‘handshake' pose and smile at the camera. The "Execution at Dawn": These are groups of people lined up against the wall to be shot (with a camera of course)! For large groups, cutlines end up being long lists of people from ‘left to right'. You can avoid these problems by taking photos of people actually doing something. If someone wins an award, take photos of what the person did to win it. Grab the action shots of the special activities these people do. If you don't have an action shot, you could put in a head shot -- a close-up picture of the person's head and shoulders, to show readers that your story is centered on someone's actions. Photos for computers With the present technology in computers, you can take a photograph and make it into a computer image. To do that, you need a device called a scanner, which looks like a small photo copier. In fact, the scanner simply copies the photo into its memory and stores it like a computer file. Once the photo has been scanned, you can look at it on your computer
screen and adjust the size and shape of your photo (a process known as "cropping")
or adjust the brightness of the photo. When you have a good-looking copy,
you can save the image as a file and send it along to SNN to go with your
story. Using video to tell your story The great thing about computers and the Internet is that almost anything is possible. With the right equipment, we can put still photos and even moving pictures on the Net. SNN reporters can use video clips or segments to help tell their stories. You see it on the CBC, on Much Music or on the Sports Network. The announcer will read an introduction to a story, then she cuts to a piece of video tape that helps tell the story. Sometimes it's a scene of a sporting event, a parade, an accident or a news conference. Other times, it's a segment that features one or two people talking about the issue. Here's an example using a RealVideo clip:
Here are some tips for using video tape for SNN: Write your story with your video tape in mind. That means you consider
what images or interviews you have on tape as you tell your story. Adding sound and voices The same basic rules that apply to video tape also work for audio. But there's one big difference. Video clips give people a picture of what's happening — audio helps to paint a picture with sounds. SNN reporters can use audio clips or segments to help tell their stories. If you've gone to an event in your community, you may want to record the sounds of the crowd -- whether they're chanting, singing or cheering. A sporting event or concert has its own unique sounds and those sounds will add to your story about the event. Of course, one of the major benefits of using audio tape is that you can hear people's own voices. On radio, tape clips are used to help tell a story. The announcer will read part of a story, then he pauses to play a piece of tape of a person involved in the story. Here's an example using a RealAudio clip:
Write your story with your audio tape in mind. For example, if you have a section of tape where a person explains how they got involved in a charity, then let them tell that part of the story. You can write the section that leads up to the clip. Take care not to repeat what someone has just said in their tape insert in your writing. Keep your clips to 20 seconds in length.
Using hypertext to add depth Hypertext is another great feature on the Internet that helps writers tell their stories in new and interesting ways. Those are the colored, underlined words that take you to a different page on the Net when you click on it. This is usually called a ‘link' because the word relates to the new page. If you wanted, you could select important names, places or events in your news story to make into hypertext so you can go to related information. Example: If your story was about a new ski lodge in your area, you could have ‘ski' in hypertext to lead you to a skiing home page. You may even want to include a web page that you used as a source in your story. When you send your stories to SNN, let us know if you want to include hypertext and we'll create a link to the appropriate site. |
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The pen is mightier than the sword. That was true when Edward Bulwer Lytton wrote those words in the 1800's. Words can have a powerful impact on other people and on the events unfolding around them. But in the days of the World Wide Web, words are more powerful than ever. Someone can make a statement in India and it can be transmitted to New Brunswick in a matter of seconds. If that statement is incorrect, malicious or damaging, the impact is immediate and lasting. That's why journalists must take their work seriously and recognize the impact they can have on their community. Many journalists have their own personal code of ethics -- a set of principles that guide the way they do their work. Their sense of ethics helps them determine what is fair when they write about others and sets standards for their own performance. Most newsrooms also have a formal set of rules of conduct for their journalists. For example, some newspapers and broadcasters will not allow their reporters to accept gifts, meals or free services from people they meet through reporting. That policy makes it clear that reporters cannot be influenced by others as they do their stories. Other news outlets refuse to let their reporters quote any "off-the-record" or unnamed sources in their stories. They want to ensure that all quotes and information can be tracked back to a specific person and that gives the story credibility among the readers. Other newsrooms have specific guidelines for staff when it comes to covering issues that they have a personal interest in. For example, a person who's spouse sits on the school board would not be permitted to do stories related to the board's work. Journalists are constantly being forced to consider ethical issues during their work days. They must always ask themselves if they are being fair and accurate in their reporting and if they are writing their stories in context. Libel and The Art of (not) Getting Sued Libel is a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation. Like newspapers and magazines, the Internet is a permanent record and can be looked at over and over again. The key to avoiding a libel suit is that you must be able to prove anything you print in a court of law. TRUTH IS YOUR FIRST DEFENCE. Don't use second-hand information. You can't get an accurate story from a friend of a friend of a guy who knows the guy who saw the accident you are reporting on. Get the facts from the source. If you can't get an interview with a believable source, that's fine.
You may have to go out and find a CONSENT IS YOUR SECOND DEFENCE. Basically, when you do an interview, the person you are talking to will
know that their comments are If the information was about the recent cuts to jobs in the government
and the source was a minister If the source says "I don't care what you print, I didn't do it",
the source just told you that anything Get information or facts from both sides of the story. Balance their opinions in print. If you can, get a source who is an authority on the subject. That gives believability to your story. FAIR COMMENT IS YOUR THIRD DEFENCE. Opinion is all right to use if it is not your own. Save personal opinion
for an editorial or for Example: If you interviewed someone protesting the prime minister's decision to cut 25% of all student funding, the protestor could call the PM a "liar." You could print it under fair comment as it is not your opinion. But make sure you attribute the statement. PRIVILEGE IS YOUR FOURTH (and last) DEFENCE. If the information is of public record, like a court case or a meeting of the government, all spoken words are of record and are written down, so you have a right to get information needed. Copyright Copyright is a law giving rightful ownership to an original piece of work. These works could be books, movies, songs, essays, articles, letters, or poems. In Canada, original works are usually copyrighted when they have been published, or put in a permanent form for people to see. Examples: Lucy Maud Montgomery's book, "Anne of Green Gables," or the song "Starseed," by Our Lady Peace. You must give a reference to people whose work you have put in a story. Creative people want to see that their work is identified as theirs and not someone else's. When giving reference to someone's work, include the following: The name of the writer, composer, artist, or owner For example: I'm riding down the street / I see a girl I'd like to meet / She looks my way, and I almost fall off my bike. "I Hit A Tree" When doing a review, only use what you need to make your point. It would be silly to write out an entire song or a whole paragraph of an article because it's just too long for people to read. Copyright protects your published news stories, too, by preventing others from copying the writing or opinions in your article. However, information or ideas cannot be copyrighted, so it does not stop anyone from ever using that idea for another story . Other reporters can write news stories with the same topic, except they get their own quotes from other sources, or even interview the same sources you used. For example: When the space shuttle, Challenger, exploded during takeoff, everyone did stories about it, because it was important news. Most stories had similar information, only written differently. Quoting sources from the Internet If you copy part of an article, use pictures, or download sound or video clips that you find on the Internet, e-mail the web page owner and ask to use it. As a reporter, it would be smart for you to do this, just so you don't get into any trouble later. A page owner may have gotten an article from someone else, so make sure you get the real owner of the article and the real page it came from. If you have your sources covered, you should be safe from most legal matters. Don't take every bit of news you get from the Net as the truth, though. Anyone could say that a buffalo ran through Main Street but it doesn't mean that it really happened. Check your facts and ask more people about it, so you get more than just one person telling you what happened but several sources giving a viewpoint. Readers will believe it if you back it up with truthful sources. |
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Canada The Canadian Association of Journalists Canadian University Press The National Newspaper Awards School of Journalism at University of King's College, Halifax Journalism Studies at Concordia University, Montreal School of Journalism at Carleton University, Ottawa School of Journalism at Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario,
Windsor School of Journalism and Communications, University of Regina, Regina United States The American Journalism Review Newslink Columbia Journalism Review The Columbia Scholastic Press Association Investigative Reporters and Editors Journalism Education Association The Media History Project National Scholastic Press Association The Poynter Institute for Media Studies The Pulitzer Prizes
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