News Writing Lesson Plan

News Writing Overview:

* Clarity: Avoid jargon, bloated language, bureaucratese, imprecise language, wordiness

* Specificity: Use concrete examples to back up assertions. Translate abstract language into specifics.

*Accuracy: Precise details. Names, dates, addresses, facts checked and double checked.

Basic News Writing Format

The pieces to be assembled: lede, quotes, nutgraf, background, views

The lede - The lede is the first paragraph of your story.

Straight news ledes answers the basic question, What is the news? What is most important?

The relentless spread of large wildfires prompted Gov. C.L. Otter to declare a state of emergency on Monday.

Michal Vick, the star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, agreed Monday to plead guilty to dogfighting charges in a deal with federal prosecutors that probably will land him in prison while he is in the prime of his N.F.L. career.

Nine people have been arrested in a three-month investigation into an open-air drug market in the Gold Coast, Chicago police said Tuesday.

An anecdote lede takes a different approach. Instead of summarizing the main facts, an anecdote lede opens a story by setting a scene that illustrates the
issue.

Here is an anecdote lede on a story about chefs skirting a ban on foie gras:

Michael Lachowicz, a chef with a restaurant on the North Shore, dined Monday night in Chicago, and what he remembered most about his main course was the garnish.

Anecdote ledes are often written in present tense, to convey a sense of
immediacy. Here is one from a story about a fast food chain's efforts to
upscale:

Taking a respite from an afternoon of shopping, Ita Clift sips a cappuccino at a McDonald's.

NEXT:
Background, or additional information.

The shooting was the fifth in as many months in the area, and police say drugs are to blame.

Residents are still reeling from a summer-long spasm of violence, including a triple homicide last month in which three college students were executed in a darkened schoolyard.

NEXT:
Put your strongest quote up high. Second or third graf.

NEXT:
The nut graf: The nut graf is a paragraph that summarizes a story's purpose. It
answers the question "why should anyone read this story?" The more complex a story is, the more important the nut graf becomes. In a story about recent crime rates, the nut graf can be as simple as a paragraph explaining that the new rates represent the first time in three years that crime has dropped off. In an investigative story, the nut graf summarizes the findings and their significance.

For example, a story about the growing problem of metal thefts begins with an anecdote lede:

Steve Hier found the copper downspout had been ripped from the gutters on his Northwest Side home a few weeks back.

Then comes a quote: "The next day, it was my neighbors who literally caught a kid pulling off their downspout at 11 in the morning," he said.

The story follows with some background about other thefts and how much different sources of metal fetch on the black market. Then comes the nut graf:

But as the crimes grow more egregious, several states, including Illinois, areresponding with laws to curtail it. The Illinois legislation, signed into law Aug. 17, aims to tighten regulations on the scrap dealers who purchase metal.

NEXT:
Range of viewpoints.
Make sure you represent all sides of a story fairly. Use quotes (or a good paraphrase) that best capture each side's position.


NEXT:
The inverted pyramid rule suggests that the remaining facts be organized in
descending order of importance. You can use this as a guide for organizing the rest of your story, but it isn't necessary to adhere to it strictly.

You can wrap up with a quote or a paragraph describing what comes next.

The Construction is scheduled to begin in November.

The commission is scheduled to vote on the measure next week.


EXERCISE: NYT: Newark Boy, 3, is Hit in Head by Shots Fired Into Passing Car

NEWS WRITING ETHICS

* Do not write about friends, family members or people with whom you have a personal or financial relationship.
* Do not use any words that are not your own, unless they are attributed to a named source and are within quotation marks.
* Do not overstate your reporting. If you spoke to two people who oppose a controversial measure, do not write that "many people oppose the idea." Write that some people do and quote them.
* Fairly represent all sides of an issue, but do not interject your own opinion.

Highly recommended reading:
The Word: An Associated Press Guide to Good News Writing, by Rene J. Cappon