NEWS

Key Components of a Good News

Story
Attention-getting headline
A strong lead containing 5 Ws and H
(who, what, when, where, why, and
how)
Use of quotes
Real facts (truth and accuracy matter)
A strong summary
Organization of the news (presenting
information from most to least
important)

 What makes a story newsworthy?

Some key elements when considering
newsworthiness are:
Timing: If it happened today, its news,
if it happened last week, its not; with 24hour news access, breaking news is
important.
Significance: How many people are
affected?
Proximity: The closer a story hits home,
the more newsworthy it is.
.

 Prominence: When
famous people are
affected, the story
matters (i.e., car
accident involving your
family vs. a car
accident involving the
President).

 Human Interest: Because these

stories are based on emotional
appeal, they are meant to be
amusing or to generate empathy
or other emotions. They often
appear in special sections of the
newspaper or at the end of the
newscast as a feel good story or
to draw attention to something
particularly amusing, quirky, or
off-beat.

 * The climax is condensed

into the first paragraph,
called the lead paragraph.
* Each succeeding
paragraph gives the less
important details. This
manner of writing news
item is called the inverted
pyramid.

 NEWSPAPER HEADLINES
1. Headlines
2. Be specific
3. State the facts with
faultless accuracy
4. Avoid injecting your
personal opinion into the
article.

5. Condense by omitting
articles and conjunctions,
but do not sacrifice clarity
to doing so.
6. Use vivid words
7. Use the present tense
unless you are reporting on
future events.