How to write & Read News Reports

1. How to write & Read News Reports

2. Learning Goals • To identify the parts of a news report • To identify bias • To identify writing style • To identify audience and purpose • To write an informative news report

3. What is a news Report? • A news report is a special form of writing that follows a very specific structure. Today we will learn the necessary parts of a news report and look at the type of writing required.

4. Why do we read News Reports? • To be informed about our communicate and the world • To help us make informed decisions • To learn • To be persuaded • To be entertained

5. 5w 1H • News Reports answer the 5W 1H • They are based on facts • They are to be unbiased • Who, What, Where, When, Why and How

6. the ‘Inverted Pyramid’ structure... Lead Body Conclusion

7. Reading a News Report • Think about the following: • Purpose: Why was the article written? To persuade, to entertains, to educate or to inform. • Audience: Who is the intended audience? The language and purpose should help you determine a specific audience. • Bias: to be in favour or against one thing, person, group or event. Not to tell all aspects of a story

8. Bias • Ask yourself the following questions to detect bias: • Whose point of view does the article focus on? • Who are the reporters sources? • Are both/all sides of the story told? • Is the language loaded to make the reader believe a specific point of view?

9. Each news report must also include the following parts: • Masthead • Headline • Byline • Dateline • Photo • Caption • Quotation • Lead

10. Let’s take a closer look at each part…

11. 1) masthead • The masthead is the largest font on the page • It states the name of the newspaper • Capital letters are used on all words

12. 2) Headline • The headline is one sentence that summarizes what the news report is about. The title • Is written in present tense • Ex. House Passes – CORRECT • House Passed - INCORRECT • Is the second largest font on the page

13. 3) Byline • The byline states the reporters first and last name • The byline should be located before the actual report • Capital letters must be used for each name

14. 4) Dateline • -States the date that the story is published in print • -Is written in words not numerical form

15. 5) Photo • -Needs to be clearly related to your news report • --Should be appealing and encourage people to read the article

16. 6) Caption • -Is located directly beneath the photo • -Tells the reader what is seen in the photo • -Is written in present or future tense • CORRECT: “plans to swim…”

17. 7) Quotation(s) • -Are statements given by people connected to the news event • For example: an eye witness, the investigating officer, a neighbour etc. • -Must use double quotation marks around the words that are being spoken and the punctuation • -Must include the speaker’s first and last name • -Must explain who the speaker is in relation to the story

18. 8) Lead • -The lead is the first sentence of your news report • -It must include the 5 W’s and summarize the main ideas of the report • -The lead must be specific • -Needs to be indented

19. When writing your news report… • -The tone must be factual and informative • NOopinions of the reporter are allowed • -Specific details must be included to make the story clear • -The language must be formal • NOslang or short forms, it should sound academic • -Write in third person (told from someone who was not involved) • NO personal pronouns : I, we, me, our • -Include short paragraphs 3-4 sentences in length

20. Quotation marks around the spoken words How to write a quotation: After the car accident, Police Chief Joe O’Malley said “Jane is very lucky to be alive, we have never seen such a demolished vehicle before.” Explanation of who the speaker is and how they are connected to the story Speaker’s first and last name

21. PRACTICE: See if you can identify each part of a news report! Practicing reading news reports will help you later in the unit when you read some news reports!