news writing

News writing

COMM 205 Writing for Media

Week 3

How is the look of this different from academic writing?

Columns Many paragraphs

Two to three sentences per paragraph

Quotations. Use “ “

No conclusion

The inverted pyramid for news writing

□ write in the inverted pyramid style

□ top-heavy in important facts

□ leave old news and details for later

□ lead paragraph is the most important

□ make sure it has the most important info

Some basic rules □ write in the past tense and sometimes in the

future.

□ write in the third person – he, she or they, not I, we or you.

□ keep your sentences short: 12-20 words. □ keep your paragraphs short, usually no more

than two sentences.

□ weed out unnecessary words.

Your story should answer as many of these as possible

1. Who 2. What 3. Where 4. When 5. Why 6. How

Answer as many of these ss you have an answer for.

You likely won’t have all of them when you sit down to write.

Simple, short words

□ shorter words usually better ■ less complicated, so more understandable

Attribution and quotationAttribution and quotation

Attribution – who said what?

□ All statements of fact in a news story must be attributed to a source who spoke the words. □ ”The dog was naughty,” said the mother.

□ What doesn’t have to be attributed? □ common knowledge (guns can be dangerous) □ old news (background) □ reporter’s own observations

Attribution verbs

□ he said or she said or they said □ Tankard said □ Karen Tankard said □ said Tankard □ said Karen Tankard

Quotation

1. direct quote □ a person’s exact words in quotation

marks ■ “full” quote - an entire sentence

using quotation marks and attribution

■ ”Karen went to Mexico,” said her mother.

Attributing quotes

□ placed after a single-sentence quote ■ or after the first sentence in a quotation

of more than one sentence

“The gun went off in the garage,” Tankard said. “It was really loud and caused the gas can to ignite.” Two sentences ICO-IPO

Example - correct

□ “We played a good game,” Ohio coach Larry Hunter said. “Our guards shot the ball well, and our forwards were active on the boards.”

□ Attribution goes after the first sentence in a quote.

□ If you have given the full name of the person who are quoting earlier in the article, give only the surname in the quote and other subsequent references.

ICO A IPO When a quote is only one sentence, think ICO or IPOA

Inquote, Comma, Outquote, Attribution “Karen went to Mexico,” her mother said.

When a quote has two or more sentences the second sentence looks like this. Think IPO

Inquote, Period, Outquote “Karen went to Mexico,” her mother said. “We

expect her to return next month.” = ICOA-IPO