News Writing Basics

RULE OF THUMB: PREPARE COPY CAREFULLY
News Writing
Basics
GAPHOR M. PANI MBANG
2014 DIVISION SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE

Copyediting
Copyediting Headline Writing Story Editing
Rule of Thumb: Prepare copycarefully

It is the art of arranging,
correcting, and selecting
the quality and type of
news
It is also called
copyediting.
One who edits copies is
called a copyreader or
copyeditor
What is Copyreading?

Edits errors on grammar
(spelling, tenses,
agreement, etc.)
Edits errors of fact
(accuracy check)
Edits verbose copy
Deletes opinion or slant
and libelous statements
Writes the headline
Responsibilities of a Copy Editor

 Type an end sign, “-30-” at the
end of each story
 Always use a pencil to edit
copy, never a pen
 Writers and editors use
standard copyreading marks
to make corrections
 Proofreaders and typesetters
use standard proofreading
symbols
Copy Preparation Guidelines

Sample Edited Copy

Copyediting Symbols
Symbol Instruction Example

Pointers in Copyediting
Avoid unfamiliar abbreviations
Principles of Capitalization
Numerals
Punctuations (period, comma, semicolon, colon,
apostrophe, quotation marks, exclamation mark,
dash, parenthesis, hyphen, question mark,
italicization)
Spelling
Editing

Headline Writing
Rule of Thumb: Sell the sizzle, not the steak

Principles of Headline
A headline summarizes the story
Headlines help organize the news for readers
Headlines package feature and in-depth stories
The headline sells the story to the readers
Headlines prioritize the news for readers
Headlines reflect the style and personality of the
newspaper

Headline Writing Rules
 Use the same headline style throughout the newspaper
 Use downstyle in writing headlines (also called ”sentence
headline” style)
 Use upstyle in writing headlines
 Headlines should be written so they fit uniformly, usually from
column edge to column edge
 Each line of a head should express a complete thought
 The primary headline should contain the most important information
from the story
 Word economy is the key to successful headline writing
 Don’t use names in headlines unless a person is being recognized
for an achievement or the person is well-known
 Use active voice and strong, colorful nouns and verbs in headlines

Headline Grammar
 Put an action verb, expressed or
implied, in every headline
 Do not begin with a verb,
preposition, article or conjunction
 Avoid the verb form to be
 Use present tense verbs in writing
headlines describing past events
 Use future tense verbs to write
headlines about future events
 Use numbers in headlines only if
they are important
 Do not abbreviate days of the week
in headlines
 Abbreviate the month only when a
specific date follows it
 Don’t use articles of speech (a, an,
the) in headlines unless the words
are part of a title
 Substitute a comma for the
conjunction and
 Use single quote marks in place of
double quote marks in a headline
 Don’t split a verb phrase
 Don’t split a preposition and its
object
 Don’t separate an adjective and the
noun it modifies
 Don’t split names that belong
together
 Use the active voice
 Use abbreviations only if they are
well-known

Headline Formats
1. Banner or crossline This is a large one-line headline that goes across three,
four, five or six columns
2. Boxed headline Boxed heads are two picas shorter than regular headlines
3. Deck A deck is a second headline for the same story
4. Hammer Hammers are twice the point size and half as long as the
main headline
5. Kicker Kickers are half the point size and half as long as the main
headline
6. Slammer A combination of a bold kicker and a cross line head on
the same line separated by a slash or a colon and set in
the same size of type

Headline Vocabulary
 Faculty club strengthened (beefed up)
 Enrolment decreases (dips)
 Science Examinations announced (quiz, bared)
 Contests highlight Animal Week (cap)
 President Aquino urges for cooperation (bats for, calls for)
 DepEd Secretary disapproves tuition fee increase (bucks, hike)
 Nationalism a necessity in education (vital cog)
 Principal praises Pepito’s humility (lauds, extols)
 Navarro keynote speaker at YMCA conference ( keynotes YMCA confab)
 Local staff dominates press title (rules, lords over)
 Student writers prepare for journalism contest (scribes hone up for Press
tilt)
 ‘My Little Bossing’ to be shown in January ( booked for)

The Story Editing
Rule of Thumb: Consistency, Credibility, ClarityEnd

Basics
Always use a pencil to edit copy, never a pen
Writers and editors use standard copyreading marks
In calendars, list the day and date followed by an em dash
— then the event, place, time and cost (if any)
Verify the spelling of all names
Verify all facts with at least two sources
Verify all facts with at least two sources
All opinion is based on fact
Write in third person
Read the story at least three times

 Spelling
 Journalistic style
 Sentence structure
 Grammar
 Punctuation
 Concise wording
 Lack of repetition
 Precise wording
 Quotes accurately attributed,
punctuated
 Opinion quotes attributed to source
Read the Story for Mechanics

Writing Straight News Leads
 A straight news lead should be a single paragraph consisting of a
single sentence, should contain no more than 30 words, and should
summarize, at minimum, the most newsworthy "what," "where" and
"when" of the story.
Example: "Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday
morning.“
• The lead's first verb should express the main "what" of the story and
should be placed among the lead's first seven words
• The lead's first verb -- the same one that expresses the main "what" of
the story -- should be active voice, not passive voice.
• If there's a "who" involved in the story, the lead should give some
indication of who the "who" is.
Example: "An elderly Murfreesboro man died Monday when an early
morning fire raged through his Main Street home."

Writing Straight News Leads
The lead should summarize the "why" and "how" of the
story, but only if there's room
Example: "An elderly Murfreesboro man died early Monday
morning when fire sparked by faulty wiring raged through
his Main Street home.“
If what's in the lead needs to be attributed, place the
attribution at the end of the lead
Example: "Faulty wiring most likely sparked the blaze that
claimed the life of an elderly Murfreesboro man last week,
the city's arson investigator concluded Monday."

Various Types of News Structure
1. Straight News Story It has a summary lead which answers the most important
W’s depending on which the W’s is the most prominent
among them
2. News-Feature Story It is classified as news since it is gathered and written daily
by reporters as their regular assignment.
3. Fact Story Is a plain exposition of a simple situation or of a series of
closely related events which conform to inverted pyramid
design.
4. Action Story A narrative involving not merely facts, but dramatic actions
– incidents, descriptions of person, perhaps testimonials of
witnesses as well as explanatory data.
5. Speech report,
quote, and interview
Stories
The arrangement of a speech report, a quote story, and of
an interview are to a great extent similar.

Transition/Quote Formula
Direct Quotes:
Should be linked to the paragraph before
them
Should not repeat the transition/lead before
them
Should have attribution after the first
sentence of the quote
Can be longer than one sentence
Direct Quotes:
Should be linked to the paragraph before
them
Should not repeat the transition/lead before
them
Should have attribution after the first
sentence of the quote
Can be longer than one sentence
Transitions:
Hold the story together
Can be fact, indirect quote or a partial quote
Use transitional words to help with the flow
(as needed): After all, Also, Finally, In addition,
However, Otherwise, Then
Use parts of the direct quotes to create the
transition
Transitions:
Hold the story together
Can be fact, indirect quote or a partial quote
Use transitional words to help with the flow
(as needed): After all, Also, Finally, In addition,
However, Otherwise, Then
Use parts of the direct quotes to create the
transition
and so on!!! until the story is complete!Example

Example of T/Q Formula
(Lead) President Barack Obama will speak on Friday to seniors about
getting involved in community service work.
(Direct Quote) “Seniors will learn a lot about duty and commitment when
they hear President Obama,” Principal Ike Sumter said. “We are
so excited that he agreed to come.”
(Fact Transition) Before becoming president, Obama worked as a
community organizer in Chicago.
(Direct Quote) “Our nation was built from the givers, and the doers,” he
said. “To keep this nation moving forward, we need more giving
and less taking.”
(PQ Transition) President Obama said he believes community service is
“extremely valuable lesson” for every teen to have.
(IQ Transition) He also said he believes community service is vital for
America’s success.

Straight News Story
1. Straight News
Story
Elaboration of a W
Elaboration of a W
Elaboration of a W
Further
Elaboration
Summary Lead

http://facebook.com/gaphorpanimbang
gpanimbang
Gaphor M. Panimbang
@gpanimbang
gpanimbang
Shukran
for the
attention!

News Writing Basics

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