Journalistic Writing Overview

1. Journalistic Writing Overview • News articles • Feature articles • Editorials • Sports writing

2. News Writing Style • What is News? • Timeliness • Proximity • Impact • Prominence • Unusualness • Conflict • Human Interest

3. News Writing Style • News articles are objective. They do not include the writer’s opinion, or phrases which editorialize.

4. News Writing Style • Editorializing means sticking opinions in. Opinions can go in a news story, but must be in a quote from someone else.

5. Inverted Pyramid • Inverted pyramid style newswriting means that the most important information goes at the beginning of the article.

6. Inverted Pyramid

7. Feature Writing • Features are longer, more detailed, less timely. Interviews and in-depth articles fit into this category.

8. Editorial Writing • Editorials are opinion pieces. There are three categories of editorials: • Interpretive • Persuasive • Entertainment

9. Editorial Writing

10. Editorial Writing • An interpretive editorial explains something for the reader -- a rule or a policy -- and then gives an opinion

11. Editorial Writing • An interpretive editorial explains something for the reader -- a rule or a policy -- and then gives an opinion • A persuasive editorial is like an opinion paper you are already familiar with -- states a position, then supports with research and facts

12. Editorial Writing • An interpretive editorial explains something for the reader -- a rule or a policy -- and then gives an opinion • A persuasive editorial is like an opinion paper you are already familiar with -- states a position, then supports with research and facts • An entertainment piece -- these are columns, movie reviews, book reviews, humor pieces, advice columns… etc.

13. Sports Writing A sports article can be news, feature or editorial. In our newspaper, we will write features on athletes, interviews, how-to articles, editorials, re-caps of contests.

14. RESEARCH & QUOTES All articles, whether news, feature, sports or editorial, have to be RESEARCHED. All articles will include quotes which add information from AT LEAST three different perspectives.

15. J-Terms to Know and Use • Attribution • Copy • Beat • Closed-ended questions • Open-ended questions • Deadline • Cutline

16. J-Terms to Know and Use • Byline • Headline • News • Feature • Editorial • Lede (or lead) • Source • Inverted pyramid

17. Types of Ledes • The lede (intentional mis-spelling) is the first few sentences of your story. • The lede’s job is to pull your reader into the story. • And to inform about what the story will be about.

18. Types of Ledes • There are many types of ledes, and many ways to start a story. • We will focus on just a few in this class.

19. Summary Lede • Traditional Hard News Lede • Gives the reader a quick summary in as few words as possible in one or two sentences. • 25 to 30 words long

20. Summary Lede • Usually presents most of the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, WHEN and HOW. • Although often WHY and HOW come a little later in a detail sentence.

21. Summary Lede Example The First Amendment protects hateful protests at military funerals, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in an 8-to-1 decision. (New York Times, March 2, 2011.)

22. Try one:

23. Moment in Time lede(also called a Narrative lede) • Puts the reader in the center of a moment. Is used for news, features and editorials. • Uses strong verbs in the past tense. • The writer shows, rather than tells, the reader what is happening.

24. Moment in Time lede(also called a Narrative lede) • The reader experiences what is happening. • It’s a modern way of starting a journalistic story. • (It’s also a good way to write a Intro for an English paper, but then you will want to use present tense.)

25. Moment in Time lede(also called a Narrative lede) In the audience at a recent Natalie Merchant concert at an 880-seat theater in Los Angeles, Adam Miles couldn’t focus. The man to his left was holding up his cell phone, shooting video. “Please,” Mr. Miles asked his neighbor, “turn it off.” (9/24/2010 Wall Street Journal)

26. Teaser Lede The first sentence only gives a little information, forcing the reader to keep reading. Make sure that you do give information shortly, though, otherwise the reader may get turned off and turn the page.

27. Teaser Lede Example WASHINGTON — Now we know: the arc of the moral universe is long, but it leads to a picturesque glade beside the Tidal Basin, with the Washington Monument providing sentry.

28. The Second Sentence After more than two decades of planning, fund-raising and construction, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial — a four-acre tract south of the Mall featuring a granite statue of Dr. King — has officially opened to the public. (New York Times, 8/29/2011)

29. Pulitzer Prize Example The young Egyptian professional could pass for any New York bachelor.

30. Pulitzer Prize Example The young Egyptian professional could pass for any New York bachelor. Dressed in a crisp polo shirt and swathed in cologne, he races his Nissan Maxima through the rain-slicked streets of Manhattan, late for a date with a tall brunette. At red lights, he fusses with his hair.

31. Pulitzer Prize Example What sets the bachelor apart from other young men on the make is the chaperone sitting next to him -- a tall, bearded man in a white robe and stiff embroidered hat. Tending to Muslim Hearts and Islam's Future By Andrea Elliott March 7, 2006 New York Times