Template for writing medical news stories

1. Template for writing medical news stories Thomas Abraham

2. Is it newsworthy? • Is the disease important, interesting, and does the study say something new? • Read abstract to get an idea of what the study is about, how the study was done, and the result • Look at relative and absolute risk figures • If story looks promising read the introduction as well to understand more • Check PubMed for earlier studies

3. Intro: • To write the intro, you will have to understand and translate the story into terms that the public can understand. Use online resources such as the Medline, WHO or CDC to make sure you understand the technical terms. • Focus on what this means for readers—should they stop doing something, or start doing something?

4. Intro/lede • One to three sentences containing some of the Ws, explaining in clear, layman language, explaining what this story is about. Decide which Ws are important. • eg. “Adults who have drunk green tea for several decades are less likely to suffer memory loss in old age than non tea drinkers, a new study published in the Lancet has found.” • Have human beings in your ledeie mothers, children, men, women etc…something the reader can see

5. Intro • Second paragraph with Ws that have been left out. You can also mention other information such as who conducted the study. • A quote from the study authors explaining the importance of the study can be added here. A reader who stops reading your story here, should have got the essentials.

6. Body Expand on lead Details about how the study was conducted written in simple language More about why the study is important, and about the disease or condition it is looking at ( this requires your own research) Contact other experts and see what they say More from study authors Keep asking yourself- what does this mean for readers, what would they want to know?