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15 News Writing Rules for Beginning Journalism Students

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Humanities › English

15 News Writing Rules for Beginning

Journalism Students
The goal is to provide information clearly in common
language
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English
 Writing
o Journalism
o Writing Essays
o Writing Research Papers
 English Grammar
byTony Rogers
Updated July 15, 2019

Gathering information for a news article is vitally important, of course, but so is

writing the story. The best information, put together in an overly intricate
construction using SAT words and dense writing, can be difficult to digest for
readers looking for a quick news fix.

There are rules for news writing that result in a clear, direct presentation,
providing information efficiently and accessibly to a variety of readers. Some of
these rules conflict with what you might have learned in English Lit.

Here's a list of 15 rules for beginning news writers, based on the problems that
crop most frequently:

Tips for News Writing

1. Generally speaking, the lede, or introduction to the story, should be a
single sentence of 35 to 45 words that summarizes the main points of the
story, not a seven-sentence monstrosity that looks like it's out of a Jane
Austen novel.
2. The lede should summarize the story from start to finish. So if you're
writing about a fire that destroyed a building and left 18 people homeless,
that must be in the lede. Writing something like "A fire started in a
building last night" doesn't have enough vital information.
3. Paragraphs in news stories should generally be no more than one or two
sentences each, not the seven or eight sentences you probably wrote for
freshman English. Short paragraphs are easier to cut when editors are
working on a tight deadline, and they look less imposing on the page.
4. Sentences should be kept relatively short, and whenever possible use the
subject-verb-object formula. Backward constructions are harder to read.
 5. Always cut unnecessary words. For example, "Firefighters arrived at the
blaze and were able to put it out within about 30 minutes" can be
shortened to "Firefighters doused the blaze in 30 minutes."
6. Don't use complicated-sounding words when simpler ones will do. A
laceration is a cut; a contusion is a bruise; an abrasion is a scrape. A news
story should be understandable to everyone.
7. Don't use the first-person "I" in news stories.
8. In Associated Press style, punctuation almost always goes inside quotation
marks. Example: "We arrested the suspect," Detective John Jones said.
(Note the placement of the comma.)
9. News stories are generally written in the past tense.
10. Avoid the use of too many adjectives. There's no need to write "the white-
hot blaze" or "the brutal murder." We know fire is hot and that killing
someone is generally pretty brutal. Those adjectives are unnecessary.
11. Don't use phrases such as "thankfully, everyone escaped the fire unhurt."
Obviously, it's good that people weren't hurt. Your readers can figure that
out for themselves.
12. Never inject your opinions into a hard-news story. Save your thoughts for
a review or editorial.
13. When you first refer to someone in a story, use the full name and job title if
applicable. On all subsequent references, use just the last name. So it
would be "Lt. Jane Jones" when you first mention her in your story, but
after that, it would simply be "Jones." The only exception is if two people
with the same last name are in your story, in which case you could use their
full names. Reporters generally don't use honorifics such as "Mr." or "Mrs."
in AP style. (A notable exception is The New York Times.)
14. Don't repeat information.
15. Don't summarize the story at the end by repeating what's already been
said. Try to find information for the conclusion that advances the story.

Cite this Article

Here's How to Write a News Story Using Professional Methods

Avoid Common Mistakes That Beginning Reporters Make


 Online Journalism: News Writing for the Web

Constructing News Stories with the Inverted Pyramid

10 News Writing Exercises for Journalism Students to Test Their Skills

The Secret to Writing Great Headlines

5 Key Ingredients for Cooking Up Terrific Feature Stories

News Writing Tips for Grabbing Your Readers' Attention

Use Verbs and Adjectives to Make Your News Stories More Fun to Read

6 Tips for Writing About Live Events


 How Do You Write a Snappy and Succinct News Lede?

Tips for Writing an Effective News Article

8 Tips For Writing Great Feature Stories

How to Use Attribution Correctly as a Reporter

How to Edit News Stories Quickly

What is a Quality Method for Writing a News Story?

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