Writing News

Writing a News Story

Current event that is newsworthy.

Types of Stories
Hard News Stories: +/- 600 words. News of the day. What's happening in the world, a chronicle of human events. Starts with a summary lead - who what when where why. Washington, middle east, murders, swine flu, etc.

Soft News: news that is not time sensitive. Profiles on people or events.

Features: (+/-1500 words) Effective way of writing about complex issues that are too large to discuss in 600 words. Usually some perspective is needed. Ex: gender equity in sports.

Editorial: Expresses a personal opinion on news, but it must be relevant and newsworthy.


Structure

Lead - First paragraph. Summarizes issue and and leads into what will follow. Who what when where and why in a hard news story.

A soft news story lead is more literary - perhaps a quote or anecdote as an attention getter.

Body - combines interviews, facts, and narrative. Must be objective. Engage the reader, use senses.