Department of Education

Region XI
LEILANI SEÑIRES
 NEWS WRITING

What is

NEWS? What you know today

that you didn’t know yesterday.

A news story should be like a mini skirt on a

pretty woman. Long enough to cover the
subject but short enough
to be interesting..

Empowerment Adaptability Goal-oriented Leadership Excellence

 NEWS WRITING
What makes a story

NEWSWORTHY?
TIMELINESS PROXIMITY PROMINENCE ODDITY

News

IMPACT CONTROVERSY CURRENCY

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 NEWS WRITING

TIMELINESS
Did it happen recently?
Fresh information. Something that just
happened is likely more interesting
than things that happened last week
or last year.

Empowerment Adaptability Goal-oriented Leadership Excellence

 NEWS WRITING

IMPACT
Are many people affected or just a
few?
Consequence, importance of an
event, significance. The number of
people involved in or affected by an
event, as well as the emotional depth
of an audience’s reaction, helps
determine whether it is news.

Empowerment Adaptability Goal-oriented Leadership Excellence

 NEWS WRITING

PROXIMITY
Did something happen close to home
or did it involve people from here?
The closeness of the event to readers
and listeners. Physical and
psychological closeness.
Also known as conflict. It’s human nature
to be interested in stories that involve
conflict, tension or public debate.
Are people in disagreement about this
issue? What are the different sides of this
issue, and what are their arguments?

CONTROVERSY

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 NEWS WRITING

CURRENCY
Are people talking about this issue?
Is this trending?
Pacquaio’s painful defeat to Marquez was in

PROMINENCE the news for several days because it was the

main topic of conversation in town.
Is a well-known person involved?
Ordinary activities or mishaps
become news if it involves prominent
persons like the president, governor,
mayor or an actor.
ODDITY
Is the issue unusual?
The extraordinary and the unexpected
appeal to our natural human curiosity.

Empowerment Adaptability Goal-oriented Leadership Excellence

 NEWS WRITING

TARGET
AUDIENCE
What makes news also depend on the
makeup of the intended audience, not just
where they live but who they are.

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STORY FORMS
Information should be organized
in a sequence that helps readers
understand how one item leads
to another.
FEATURE STORIES
Feature stories give readers
information, but in an entertaining,
pleasing format that highlights an issue
by describing the people, places and
ideas that shape it.
Empowerment Adaptability Goal-oriented Leadership Excellence
NEWS WRITING
All stories must help readers
understand the focus, conflict,
background, and solution to the
central topic.
HARD NEWS
Hard news is more direct and
straightforward, and removes
the drama from the story as
news is delivered as bare facts.
 NEWS WRITING
INVERTED PYRAMID
Inverted Pyramid is often used in hard news.
The structure is a summary lead that gives the
focus followed by supporting points in
descending order of importance.
1 NEWS Advantage:
Inverted
Pyramid STRUCTURE It gets information immediately and readers
can determine immediately if they are
interested in the story.

Disadvantage:
Readers may not read past the crucial
information.

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 NEWS WRITING
WALL STREET FORMULA
2 The Wall Street Formula is based on specific
Wall Street to general principle.
Formula

1
It starts with soft lead (anecdotal, narrative or
descriptive) focusing on a person, scene, or
Inverted NEWS event that exemplifies the main issue, which
Pyramid STRUCTURE is expressed in a nut graph

The body is arranged topically with one point

leading to another.

The ending usually comes full circle, referring

back to the lead.

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 NEWS WRITING

WALL
STREET
FORMULA

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 NEWS WRITING
HOUR GLASS
2 Hour glass starts from hard news then
Wall Street proceed in chronological order for part or
Formula rest of the story. It usually ends with
comments or outcome of the news
1 NEWS
Inverted
Pyramid STRUCTURE Advantage:
The narrative storytelling in the chronological
portion adds drama to the story.

3 Disadvantage:
The chronological portion of the story may
Hour Glass repeat some key information in the top of the
story.

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 NEWS WRITING

HOUR
GLASS

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 NEWS WRITING

Writing a STORY
is like building a HOUSE
Roof Windows
LEAD DETAILS

Foundation Paint
NUT GRAPH COLOR

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 NEWS WRITING

QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE WRITING A NEWS

What is the central What is/are the

What is my lead?
point of my story? supporting information?

What is my nut What are my best

graph? quotes?

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 NEWS WRITING

WRITING PROCESS

FOCUS ORDER REPITITION KISS OFF

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 NEWS WRITING

TIPS ON Remember Try many Write now

WRITING your focus leads fix later

Ask like a Avoid

Read it out Accuracy jargons
reader

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 NEWS WRITING

Thank you for

LISTENING
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