News Reporting Mcom 201

1. News ReportingMcom 201 News Writing

2. The Basic News Story • The goal of a news story is to convey a lot of information efficiently. • This is done by using spare, clean and direct writing styles with stories organized in a way that readers can understand the main points quickly. • This is done by using the Inverted Pyramid style of writing.

3. The Basic News Story • Inverted Pyramid • The information is presented in descending order of importance. • The most important facts are presented first in the Lede or Lead. • This is the opening paragraph or the base of the pyramid. • Succeeding paragraphs provide added details. • The who, what, where, when, why and how – known as the 5W’s & 1H of journalism. • These are generally answered in the first two or three paragraphs.

4. The Inverted Pyramid LEDE Who/ What/ Where/ When/ Why/ How Supporting details for Lede Lede Quote Background/ Reaction Least important details

5. The Basic News Story • An inverted pyramid usually starts like this; • A lede that hooks the reader and captures the essence of a story. • A second paragraph which backs up the lede and answers the 5W’s and 1H questions. • A lead quote that augments the lede. Its often the strongest quote of the story and adds a human dimension. • A nut paragraph or two that provides context and tells readers why they should care. • The rest of the story typically includes reaction and background, more quotes and more information in descending order of importance.

6. Ledes • The lede of the story is crucial. • Here the reader decides to read or turn to the next story. • The goals of the Lede are to; • Report the essential details of the story. • Lure the reader into the story. • Make the reader want to read more. • Ledes are divided into two categories. • Hard news ledes • Feature ledes

7. Hard News Ledes • A hard news lede is also known as a summary lede or direct lede and delivers the news immediately. • The Student Center was evacuated for about an hour Wednesday as a result of a phoned-in bomb threat. It was the second threat made on the building in less than a month. • Former Northwestern linebacker Braden Jones, who left the university in March after being charged with assaulting and trying to rob a taxi driver, will return to NU as a student and football player this week, he said Monday. • A CSU security was quietly ousted from the university in the spring as a result of a campus police investigation that found numerous alleged incidents of cruelty and harassment that one whistle-blower called “torture”.

8. Feature Ledes • A feature lede also known as soft lede or delayed lede, takes more of a storytelling approach. • It may start with an anecdote or a scene that draws a picture for the reader like these; • Kevin Castello should have spent last Friday doing what every college freshman does during his or her first couple of weeks at their campus and home – settling into dorm life, getting to know classmates and looking forward to the semester ahead. Instead, Castello’s friends and family remembered the 17 year old private memorial along the coast of Monterey bay, after he died Aug, 31 from serious injuries sustained in an accidental fall in the Marin Headlands.

9. Feature Ledes • When John Soloskifirst arrived at the University in 2001, he couldn’t wait to get to his office at the Grady college of Journalism and Mass Communication. Now he cant wait to leave it. Every day as the former journalism dean walks alone from his 2002 Toyota 4Runner to Grady College, he retraces the steps he has taken while fighting the University to clear his name of sexual harassment charges.

10. Feature Ledes; Nut Graph • Feature ledes might be several paragraphs long. • Writers provide a nut graph to guide readers to where the story is heading. • A nut graph, or focus graph, explains the point of the story and why readers should care. • It should appear early on in the story, usually the third or fifth paragraph.

11. Feature Ledes; Nut Graph When Charles Martin left the UA in 1941 to fly C-87s across the infamous Himalayan passage to China called “The Hump”, he was a senior and “president of everything”, he said chuckling as he looked through his UA yearbook. Now while working through UA correspondence courses, he suffers occasional “senior moments” of another type. “Its so much more difficult now”, he said. “I don’t know what a senior moment is, but sometimes I have senior moments and it makes taking examinations a lot harder.” Martin, his hair grayed and his 6 foot 2inch frame bent by arthritis, will walk the class of 2005 and earn a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, the degree he started in 1937.

12. Feature Ledes: Scene Setter • Another type of soft lede is the “Scene Setter” which evokes a vivid image. It is mid July and piles of papers are scattered across he floor and tables of assistant dean of freshmen Lesley Nye. As she sorts through the collection of papers, her cat wanders into the room stepping on and destroying a few carefully ordered stacks – groups of four roommates that she has spent hours assembling as she culled 550 or so housing applications for the perfect match. The cats romp sends her back to step one and she gathers the papers to rematch the students.

13. Feature Ledes: Anecdotal • Another popular technique is to use an anecdotal lede that employs an anecdote to illustrate the main point of the story. • These work well for issue stories because they bring broad topics or problems down to a personal level. • Such ledes must be followed by a nut graph that puts the anecdote into context.

14. Feature Ledes: Anecdotal John Spotts strolled down Bourbon Street last Friday night, about to begin his freshman year at university of New Orleans. The next morning Spotts awakened to a city evacuating ahead of Hurricane Katrina and a college education put on hold. “It actually happened really quickly” said Spotts an Indiana native. “Friday night I was walking around the city, Saturday I woke up and evacuated. I drove to Houston and I realized I wasn’t going to be back in New Orleans for a while”. Spotts is one of the growing number of students who are transferring to IU from universities forced to close in Katrina’s wake. Colleges in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have been shut down for an undetermined time. IU has received calls from at least 25 to 30 families and 10 to 15 students have already begun enrolling, said Registrar Roland Gates.

15. Writing Ledes • Hard-news ledes are generally short – one sentence or two at the most – and include the most important details. • Don’t overdramatize. • Ledes generally contain the most relevant details and should be free of clutter – unimportant details, addresses, ages, times. • Leave names out of a news lede unless the person is familiar to your readers. • Generally put attribution at the end of a lede.

16. Steps to writing a story • Review your notes • Talk through the story • Decide whats most important • Write a focus statement • Write an outline • Write a draft • Craft the lede • Revise • Check your facts • Turn it in

17. Newswriting • Write tight • Leave unnecessary details out of the lede • Avoid passive verbs • Translate jargon • Steer clear of clichés • Omit unnecessary words • Vary sentence length • Back up your lede and nut graph • Read your lede out loud • Read your story out loud

18. Other Elements of Newswriting • Numbers • History/ background • Financial figures • Reaction • Chronology • Description • Impact

19. Telling Details • When telling a story you need to look for details – facts that add meaning to the story. • When deciding which details to include or leave out, choose bits of information that will help your reader see, hear, feel, taste or smell the scene. • Also take note of the surprising or unusual.

20. Fairness and Accuracy • Every news story should have several sources, representing multiple points of view. • Presenting many points of views keep your story balanced and fair. • The more sources you have the more complete your account will be.

21. Attribution • In newswriting journalists use attribution to show where they got their information from. • All quotations, opinions and statements of facts should be attributed. • Factual attribution • The crash occurred at 5.20 pm, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. • Direct Quotes • “This is an important time for our campus”, said Darlene Smith, vice President for student affairs. • Indirect quote/paraphrase • Assistant coach Jason Peters said the quarterback will not be allowed to play for the team until the case is resolved. • Attribution tells your readers where information is coming from so they can better interpret the news.

22. Quotes • Quotations from sources add human voices to a newspaper story, offering varying perspectives and add authority to your story. • What is a good quote? • Its vivid, colorful, expresses a strong opinion and conveys drama. • Listen to words and quote what is colorful, original, funny or poignant. • If the source says it better than you can, then use the quote. • If you can say it better, then paraphrase. • A Lede Quote is the strongest quote you have and often sums up the theme of the story.

23. Quotes A man convicted of killing a university student in 1997 was executed Thursday. David Martinez was executed in Huntsville, Texas for the July 1997 murder of University student Kersa Paul. “Only the sky and the green grass goes on forever, and today is a good day to die.” Martinez said as his last statement before the lethal injection began.

24. Guidelines for using Quotes • Punctuate quotes properly Example: She said, “Do you really think that’s funny?” • Attribute Example: “We want this team to be the strongest it can be,” said Roger Johnson, coach of the women’s basketball team. “We’re not going to let a few losses get us down.” • Make a transition between speakers Example: Junior Sarah Anderson said the college atmosphere helps students hook up without worrying about consequences. “College students don’t feel a societal pressure to commit, which makes a hooking up lifestyle easier,” Anderson said. “It’s a fun age to just be able to go out and have fun.”

25. Guidelines for using Quotes • Only use quotes you’ve heard Example: “Torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture,” President Bush said in an interview with The New York Times. • Clean up Quotes – a little • Use “said” • Keep quotes tight • Save a catchy quote for the ending