News Writing Notes

Writing a News Story

News- Current event that is 'newsworthy'


Types of stories:

Hard News (+/- 600 words)- A chronicle of current events/incidents, news of the day, the most common news style on the front page of a typical newspaper
-Begins with a summary lead, who-what-when-where-why-how
-Brief and simple

Soft News (+/- 600 words)- A term for all news that isn't time-sensitive. Soft news includes profiles on people, programs or organizations.


Feature (+/- 1500 words)- A news feature takes one step back from the headlines. It explores and issue. News features are less time-sensitive than hard news but no less newsworthy. They can be an effective way to write about complex issues too large for the terse style of a hard news item.
- Features are full of interesting people, ideas, color, lights, action and energy. Storytelling
at its height

Editorial- The editorial expresses an opinion. The editorial page of the newspaper lets the writer comment on issues in the news. All editorials are personal but the topics must still be relevant to the reader


Structure of Articles-

The lead- One of the msot important elements in news writing is the opening paragraph or two of the story. Journalists refer to this as the "lead," and its function is to summarize the story and/or to draw the reader in (depending on whether is is a "hard' or "soft" news story)

Lead in hard news- The lead should be a full summary of what is to follow. It should
incorportatte as many of the five "W's" of journalism.

Lead in soft news- The lead should present the subject of the story by allusion. This type of
opening is somewhat literary. Like a novelist, the role of the writer is to grab the attention
of the reader.

The body- The body of the story involves combining the opinions of the people you interview, some factual data, and a narrative which helps the story flow. In this style of writing, you are not allowed to "editorialize" (state your own opinion) in any way.