Contains:
- Headline – tells what the story is about.
- Byline – shows who wrote the story.
- Lead – tells the most important facts (5 W’s)
- Body – contains more information and details.
- Ending – gives something to think about.
5Ws and 1H
Cause and effect; after effect Impact - the effect of the news on people Context - Background information about an issue Follow up story - because low attention span; adds information and helps keep a story in the public conscience Emotions - keep to minimum; factual
Hard News Vs Soft News
Hard News - Short, FACTUAL, to the point Focuses on impact Important Urgent / pressing
Soft News - Unimportant, longer niche,
Inverted Pyramid
Leads
maximum amount of information
main idea and subject
be clear what the story is all about
grab attention
Body
Conclusion
Avoid jargon, complicated words. Surprise them; element of surprise
5 Important aspects
be clear what the story is all about decide whether hard or soft news grab attention
Tips
News stories should not be very long Engage the reader
Attributions and quotations → very important Sentences should not be too long Not too many punctuations Text should not look hard to read, or messy Voice - Use Active Voice
Words - don’t use complicated words Reduce words and word length