What is News?NEWS IS: Anything printable. An account of an event, or a fact or an opinion that

interests people. A presentation of current events in newspapers, magazines,

periodicals, radio, or television. Anything that enough people want to read is news,

provided it meets the standards of “good taste” and isn’t libelous.

Anything that is timely that interests a number of readers, and the best news is that which has the greatest interest for the greatest number of people.

Accurate and timely intelligence of happenings, discoveries, opinions, and matter of any sort that affect or interest the readers.

The first rough draft of history. The study of people.

What Makes News News? Proximity: This has to do with location.

If the event is happening close by, it will have a greater impact on your readers.

Timeliness: If something is happening NOW, it has more impact than something that happened yesterday or last week. Often, the most recent development in a story can be used as a feature.

What Makes News News?

Prominence: This has to do with how well known the people in your story are. If the person or persons are well known to your readers, the story will impact them more than a story involving people they do not know.

Conflict: Readers have an interest in disagreements, arguments, fights, and rivalries.

What Makes News News? Rarity: If something is unusual, people

want to know what and why it happened.

Human Interest: If a situation makes you angry, sad, happy, or overjoyed, it contains the element of human interest.

What Makes News News? Emotion: A story, event or situation

that has an impact on the reader’s 5 senses

Impact: The number of people that are affected by a story.

What Makes News News? Change: An event or situation that

displays progress toward the betterment of mankind.

Action: Showing that something is happening, changing or moving.

5 W’s and H

WhoA news story should inform

readers of the details about individuals mentioned in a story.

5 W’s and H

WhatReaders need to know all

the facts about an incident.

5 W’s and H

WhenDocumenting when something occurs is important because it lets readers know whether an event or meeting occurred recently, or if the writer is referencing a past event.

5 W’s and H

WhereA Story’s location may simply inform the reader, but it can also add relevance to why an event was held at a certain location.

5 W’s and H

WhyWriters need to make sure they have explained why a story is important to readers.

SO WHAT???This is the MOST important

question of them all!

High school readers are the worst at the so what game. They want to know why they need to know that information, and it is your job to convince them they NEEDED to read that story.

The Main Steps For Each StoryDeveloping the idea or assignment

Is there a story there? How should it be dealt with? Apply the “So What?” Test.

Remember the advice of Clive Barnes, New York Post critic: “You’ve got to have an inbuilt virginity in approaching each new story.”

The Main Steps For Each StoryDeveloping the Information What records should be checked? Who should be interviewed? How much can be done by phone, and

what must be done in the street? Do you already have some of the

information in your files, or in your library?

How much information is enough?

The Main Steps For Each StoryEvaluating and Organizing Is there still a story there? What information is at the center of your

subject, and what is at the edges? What are the outside edges? What would be of greatest interest and

usefulness to the readers? How should it be organized, and at what

length? What is the lead, and what is the ending? Are there legal or ethical implications?

The Main Steps For Each StoryWriting This is the heart of it. Writing involves a

combination of message and medium.

A good story needs a good telling.

The telling can be gauged by how well it fulfills the three main requirements of clarity, style and accuracy.

The Main Steps For Each StoryRewriting, Self-Editing

Regard your first effort as a first draft.

Go back through it at least once – and again and again, if necessary – to file down the rough edges, fill in the cracks, straighten the lines, give it character.

We will review the expected process for your articles next class period.

Identifying Story PartsInverted Pyramid and LQT (Lead, Quote, Transition) Format

LEAD

More important material

BODYLess important

material

Least important material

The Transition

Writers should have three goals when writing transitions: to add information, to explain and to help the story flow. In the body of the news story, writers should generally alternate between quotations and transitions.

The Quotation or Paraphrase

Direct quotations are statements that retain the exact wording of the source.

Paraphrases allow for some changes in wording but retain the meaning of the original quotation.

The Parts of the Story‘Full service’ organizationRachel Miksad

Reporter

After getting off to a slow and rocky start, junior Erik Perschau’s newly formed service group, the Westlake Student Service Organization, has begun several projects to better the Austin community.

“Last year, with the help of my friend, Angus, I started the community service group,” Erik said. “We wanted to give back a little of what we had to the less fortunate of Austin. We went into it blindly and it was hard to organize things for the group to do.”

With the help of Director of Guidance Toody Byrd as the group’s sponsor, Erik was able to call the first meeting and had a turnout of 19 people.

“Erik came to me because he knew I am interested in service as an integral part of a student’s education. It is often the missing link in education. These kids don’t do it to get publicity, they do it as service because it needs to be done,” Byrd said.

And Erik said Byrd has helped the organization get started and organized.

“Mrs. Byrd has been incredibly helpful. She was my first obvious choice for a sponsor. I had heard her speak my freshman year and will never forget when she advised us to do something for others less fortunate,” Erik said.

This summer, the club organized several people to volunteer at the Westbank Community Library once every month. They dug ditches for pipes, helped at a garage and volunteered their help for the following year.

This paragraph is the lead. It summarizes the story by

answering the question who, what, when, where, why and

how.

This paragraph is a quotation supporting the

lead.

This paragraph is a transition that adds

information.

This paragraph is a quotation adding more

information.

This paraphrase is a transition flowing into the

next quote.

This paragraph is a quotation adding more

information.