The importance of the story, its proximity to the audience and its potential impact are all factors that determine whether a story is newsworthy. If you want to write a news article that is effective, it doesn’t matter if you are a reporter, freelancer, or citizen journalist.
The articles you write should be concise, clear, informative, relevant for your audience, balanced, and written in a way that is easy to understand. Cut the flowery description (put the the saurus away), stop using metaphors and throw out your own opinion. Stick to the facts, quotes, and research you have gathered through interviews and research.
Here are five tips for writing a good news article.
1. Learn to work quickly in the “field” by getting into the trenches.
You may have worked in a newspaper and conducted many interviews in person (often in noisy places and under difficult conditions). The most authentic and accurate form of journalism is “boots-on-the ground” journalism. This involves going out into the field and interviewing the people directly involved.
Also, you get a sense of the location and atmosphere in which an event occurred. You can then gather more facts and information at your desk to complete the article. You should learn these skills if you are a budding reporter who is looking to report news in a more professional way, and not just regurgitate previously reported stories.
In 20 minutes, I had to conduct an interview with two detectives on the phone and gather my research (written down in old-school notebooks) for a breaking news story. One time, I had to report on a flood from a payphone because my office was flooded. You’d be amazed at what you can accomplish when under pressure.
It’s important to use tried and tested formulas and writing methods to ensure that you can write quickly. We’ll discuss this in a moment.
2. Find a good news story. Bonus points if you can get a scoop.
As they say, good stories do write themselves. It’s true. It’s easy to write about a story that you find or, even better, that just falls into your lap. Journalism can be defined in many ways. A “good” story in journalism can mean many things. A scoop is the term used to describe a first-time story. Reporters enjoy breaking stories before rival publications. Good can also mean important, when you give information that the public needs to hear because it directly impacts their lives.
You’ve got a scoop when you write an article that makes people say “Omg! Did you hear the news?” In a sense, yes. I don’t think journalists are gossip-spreaders.
You may have trouble finding stories when you first start, but as you gain experience and become more observant, you will find plenty. The only problem is deciding which one to take on first. It’s not all going to work, but it depends on the available sources, if anyone is willing and able to go on record, as well as if any legal issues are involved.
Next tip will cover how people are affected by the event.
3. Find a good angle.
In journalism, the “angle” is a perspective or viewpoint that you use to tell a story. It’s more effective when it is related to someone, because it evokes emotions. The impact of “Families lost their homes in a raging fire” is greater than “raging Wildfire destroys fifty homes,” because readers are more likely to empathize with human suffering than destruction of property. Personifying a story is important. It can be applied to animals. Remember the story of the injured koala during the Australian wildfires in 2020?
Statistical information can be used to enhance a story’s angle (how many fires have been reported in a particular area in the last 10 years?). Interviewing experts is a good way to continue with the wildfire theme. This could be a firefighter, or an environmental scientist.
The angle can also be about environmental causes or impact depending on the publication and beat you cover.
The peg or the hook makes it timely and topical.
There is a premise for most stories. Also, there are an angle, peg and hook. Even a simple news story about a car crash, for example, has an angle. Was there a death? Who was the victim, and what age? Was it a hit-and-run? Was alcohol involved? These facts can affect the angle you choose to tell your story.
4. Can I quote you?
This applies to both records and people. Good news articles should include at least two primary sources who are willing to speak on record. As this will add credibility, always include the name, title and position of your source. It is tiring to write “a source near the case claimed …”” instead of naming a source. This is lazy journalism, and the readers will be naturally curious about who this mysterious source was.
Find multiple witnesses to a story and give both sides a chance to comment and respond.
You should also ask your sources for their name, title and relevance of the story. Double check their spelling. If you misspell it, they will be able to tell.
5. Use a formula or structure that is strong.
The five W’s and H (who, what, where, why and how) of storytelling are well-known. The answers to these five questions will form the basis of your news piece.
News articles are formulaic in nature. Some professionals swear by the traditional “inverted pyramid” structure or, as some call it, the “front-loading” where details are presented in order of importance. The lead paragraph (lede) of the article should contain the most important information. This will grab the attention of readers.
The “nut graph”, or the next paragraph, gives context to the story and explains why people should care. The nut graph’s purpose is to grab the reader’s interest and encourage them to continue reading. The article continues with quotes and more information.
For some, it is also the hardest part of writing the lede. As a reporter, I would often start an article in my mind while driving home from an interview. By the time I sat to write it, I only had to quickly type the first paragraph. After I wrote the headline, it was just a matter of filling in blanks. It’s great when you have to race the clock.
Another…
Write with a lively style and focus on the facts.
Avoid vague language in your writing. The words “probably,” “maybe,” and “possibly,” are not acceptable. You are a journalist and you have to work with the facts. When something is questionable or unknown, like a group that has been accused of being part of a cult until it’s proven otherwise, you should refer to it as “alleged cult”.
It’s important to emphasize the importance of using the active voice. William Strunk Jr., author of Elements Of Style writes that “the active voice is more direct and energetic than the passive.”
Never write The mistake was made. This phrase is now a meme. The New York Times describes it as a “classic Washington language construct”, and journalist and political science William Schneider believes that this phrase should be called the “past-exonerative tense”.
All had a good time.
