 
Types Of News Stories
A hard news story contains the newest or ‘breaking’ news. It mainly
gives you the facts - short and "to the point." Hard news stories are
usually the most important news, and could be anything from an airplane
crash to cuts in education by the government.
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| WHO The Tragically Hip... |
WHAT visited... |
WHERE Jack's Record Shop... |
WHEN this morning... |
| WHY to sign copies of their latest album... | HOW with neon crayons. |
How to Write a Hard News Story
A hard news story usually deals with the latest breaking news of the day. Being creative when writing this type of story is very hard because the topics are most often serious. For example, government, accidents and crime. (See Types of News Stories) The most important thing to remember when writing a hard news story is to write only the facts. DO NOT write any of your own opinions. Stay away from phrases such as, "I feel" or "in my opinion" and write only the truth.
How to Write a Lede (or Lead)
The most important part of your story is the very first paragraph and it
is called the lede.
What is the lede? It’s the first sentence that grabs your readers’
attention and makes them want to read the rest of your story.
Paul Cameron wants to know why a peanut butter sandwich killed his brother.Keep your lede short and simple. For example, instead of using the phrase "in order to" just use "to." This will cut down on the amount of words you use. Your lede shouldn’t be any longer than 23 words. You don't want to bore people. You want to keep them interested. You should try to answer the five W’s - the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY in your lede Give your readers all the information they need to know about the story in the first sentence so they will go on to read the rest. Sometimes this is not always possible because one word might say it all.
Example: Recycling.This tells the reader exactly what the story is going to be about. To make sure you have a good lede, you can read it out loud to yourself. If it flows nicely and you are not getting tongue-tied, then it’s probably fine.
Just for today, Kim Smith will try to be happy with the way she looks.This is a good lede because it is short and it makes the reader want to read on to find out why she will be happy.
One of four cops who saved a bus driver bitten by a passenger 2 1/2 years ago was charged yesterday in his death.This is a bad lede because it is too wordy and confusing. Remember:
KISS - Keep It Simple, Silly. This is a rule writers follow to remind them that simple writing is better.
How to Write the Body of Your Story
Once your lede is written, the next important bit of information should follow.
From here, your information should continue in order of greatest to least importance.
When writing your story, make sure that you focus. You have to know exactly what you are trying to tell people.
Tell them exactly what the story is about.
Writers should try to paint pictures with descriptive sentences for their readers.
Show, don’t tell. For instance, show your readers how bad the riot was after the Bon Jovi concert.
After the Bon Jovi concert ended, 43 thousand screaming fans went wild on the streets of Toronto, destroying almost everything in sight. Car windows were smashed, shopping centres were spray-painted with bad language and 81 people were arrested.This type of writing allows readers to experience the scene themselves.
How to Write the Ending to Your Story
After you have given all the facts to your story and there is nothing more left to say, then it is time to end it.
Your ending should come naturally if all the information is given, and sometimes it is nice to tie it back to your lede.
As Kim Smith gets into bed she realizes that she does like herself.
The Easy Interview
“Hi. How are you? I’m with the press and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. It won’t take much of your time.” Do these words seem familiar to you? If they do, then continue reading. If not, continue reading. First of all, remember that there is no such thing as a difficult interview. Think of an interview like your grandfather telling you stories. He starts by saying, “When I was your age.......”, then, grandfather speaks and goes on and on but, no matter what, you seem interested. Every once and a while you might say, “Tell me more, Grandpa”. With this in mind, he goes on again, weaving stories of the past for you to remember. Believe it or not, if that has ever happened to you, you have completed a successful interview. Everyone was happy. Grandpa got to tell stories and you prompted him for more, which made him feel important, and you somehow remember all that was told to you. News reporting
is no different.
Everyone has a story to tell.
No matter if it is a grandfather telling war stories, or the Prime Minister revealing a new tax plan, there's always a tale to be told.
The trick is how to get all of the stories and write them.
How to get an
Interview:
· Decide who it is you have to interview for the story.
· Never assume you can’t get an interview, even the most busy people have time for a reporter.
· Make them feel important and a part of the story.
· Make a list of possible questions to ask the interviewee.
· Remember: There is no such thing as a stupid question.
· Armed with questions, give them a call on the telephone. Introduce yourself and the publication you work for and tell them why you called.
· Be confident that what you are doing is important to you and to others.
· Do not, for any reason, give away the questions to be asked before the interview. This is a great way not to get the interview. Some
people may want to know the subject that you will be interviewing about. Tell them. That is O.K.
· Be direct. Stick to your reasons for doing the interview. Appeal to their sense of fair play. They want to tell their side of the story, so let them.
· A face-to-face interview is much better than over the phone if at all possible. Try to make a time that is good for both of you.
· When doing the interview, always take notes, even if you are recording
the interview. Note-taking makes the person you are interviewing more at
ease because it shows that you are paying attention to him/her. Also, the
note taking will help you to remember where on the tape a particular bit
of information is found.
· If the interviewee takes a pause, let them. A few seconds of silence
may allow the interviewee more time to collect their thoughts and make a
better statement. If there is a long pause you could break the silence
with a question such as "Why?" to prompt more speaking.
Tools of the Trade:paper - flattened pieces of crushed tree bound together, bleached and recyclable.pen -standard writing utensil; uses ink instead of its cousin the pencil which uses carbon based colours. tape recorder - electronic device which utilises plasticated cases housing spools of magnetic tape, suitable for duplicating speech and sound upon demand. ears - aural cavities located on the port and starboard of the epidermally covered cranium. These are used to convert the vibrations of soundwaves into energy which the brain converts into recognisable sound patterns. camera - machine which uses light to capture pictures onto photo-sensitive film. These are then chemically treated to produce delightful portable art canvases. It is said that a portrait verbalises 1000 descriptors, so use when possible. All of these tools are important for every news story you write. |
How To Ask a
Question - The Right Question
Ask simple questions - often the simplest questions get the best response.
For example: “Tell me about that, Mr. Smith"Have repeat questions - sometimes an interviewee may avoid a question when asked the first time, but may answer it the second time. Avoid leading questions - a leading question will, like it’s name suggests, lead the interviewee to a simple yes or no answer or lead to a particular response. Avoid these like the plague.
Open- and
Closed-Ended Questions
An open-ended question allows the interviewee space to move and will allow a detailed answer.
“Why do you shave your head, Mr. Jordan?” (to Michael Jordan)A closed-ended question usually begins with a word, such as will, can, or do. They are easy to answer, but do not give a lot of information to you.
“Did you walk to work this morning?”Some words may trigger anger in a person and could easily ruin an interview.
“Do you throw tantrums off the ice as well, Mr. Roy?” (To Patrick Roy, goaltender for the Colorado Avalanche hockey team)
The Nature of
Interviewing
The tougher the question, the easier the answer. This means that the obviously difficult question made of many parts and using difficult words or lingo, are easy to avoid as the interviewee can pick and choose which parts to answer.
Less is more - Ask the question, “Why?”. It puts the interviewee at ease and lets him tell the story.
The smartest sounding questions are usually the dumbest. People think that if they put long words and many parts into a question, they
seem to be knowledgeable and smart. This is not the case. It is the small and simple question that usually gets the best result.
Wrapping Up An
Interview
· Ask the spelling of the name and the spelling of the occupation of the
interviewee.
· Check quotations.
· Ask for a phone number in case of a follow-up story on the same
topic.
· Ask the interviewee, “ Have I missed something? Is there something I
ought to have asked you?”
· Ask if there is any one else you can speak with to get a balanced story.
Thank them for their time and patience.
Using Quotations
A quote, or quotation, is a statement made by someone, which is put in your story to make it real and believable. Quotes can come from an eyewitness to an event or from a professional on the subject you are writing about. They allow the reader to see another person’s point of view."The parade was a hit," said parade coordinator Kathy Snow. "The crowd seemed to enjoy the Mickey Mouse float the best."Remember: When quoting people, the names and titles of the people being quoted should be mentioned the first time. For any other quotes you use, only the last name is needed.
"We are very pleased with the turnout and the amount of money raised at the parade," Snow added.As well, make sure your quote is exactly what the person said - you don’t want to misquote someone. After all, what is the point of quotations if not to write exactly what the person said.
How to Get
Quotes
An interview is one big quote. When you interview people for information for your story, you can use anything they say as a quote as
long as it deals with the topic you are writing on. However, you don’t want your whole story made up entirely of quotes. You don’t
have to use every "um" every "er" or every cough. You have to choose from the information that was given to you on your topic and only
use what best suits your story. If your story is all quotes, you will lose the interest of your readers very quickly.
Example: If you are writing on the death of Michael Jordan’s father, you only want to quote things like how he felt when he heard the news or how he is dealing with it now. You don’t want to quote that he said "hello" to you or that he said he was hungry.
Number Tips:
When it comes to numbers in news stories, spell out whole numbers below 10 and use figures for 10 and above.Examples: five cars, the third period, nine minutes, the 16th hole, 10 skiers, the 22nd day.When to use actual numbers: in addresses, stand-alone ages, dates and years, decimals, numbers larger than one with fractions, scores, odds, military terms, money, temperatures, and times. If you aren’t sure about it, just ask someone, like your teacher, for help.
Examples: (a) 2 Meadow St., (b) Ryan, 2, has a younger brother, (c) Dec. 8, 1990, (d) 0.35 centimetre, 4½ days, (e) The Cougars beat the Bears 7-5 (but a two-goal win), (f) a 10-1 longshot, (g) 2nd Lieut. Tammy Smith, (h) $2 (not $2.00), $150, (i) 8 C, -6 C, (J) 1 a.m. (not 1:00 a.m.), 5 o’clock, 9:15 p.mNumbers are usually avoided at the beginning of sentences, but if you must, spell out numbers at the start.
Twenty-five people escaped from the plane without a scratch.With larger, rounded numbers in the millions, spell them out instead of putting in all those zeros.
Examples: 10 million cars, $2.5 billion, 8 million jelly-beans.Also spell out numbers you use in everyday speech.
There were thousands of pelicans flying across the sky.
