News Reporting & Writing

The Nature of News, and How to Write a Lede Gerry Doyle

What is News?

A Good Story
! " Many journalists would say that an

important or good story is simply one that people want to read or watch or feel that they have to.
! " Good stories are good because they are

important; they have value to readers and viewers.

What is News?
Good stories are many things, such as Wai Sze Lee of Hong Kong winning a bronze medal in track cycling at the 2012 Olympics.

What is News?
Good stories are also often about tragedies, such as the deadly ferry collision near Lamma Island.

Types of Good Stories

Two types of good stories:
! " Well-reported, well-written or produced

accounts of things that happen.

! " Well-reported, well-written or produced

accounts of things the reporter develops in a unique way.

The Elements of News

The ferry collision story had all the elements that journalists think of when they consider, What makes news? and What makes a good story? --Timeliness --Importance --Proximity --Conflict --Prominence --Unusualness

And plenty of this: Human Interest

The Elements of News

! " Timeliness: Fresh and recent. ! " Importance: Impact and consequence. ! " Proximity: Relevant to us. ! " Conflict: News that is dramatic.

The Elements of News

! " Prominence: People whose names we

recognize.
! " Unusualness: News that is abnormal. ! " Human Interest: News is life, and all of

the emotions joy, love, despair that lifes events we humans can cause.

Characteristics of News
! " News is contextual: it depends on your

audience, what happened before, what people care about

! " News is about people: What they do, the

joys and sadness they experience

Is this news?
U.S. President Barack Obama Unveils US$450 Billion Jobs Package

Is this news?
Earthquake in Haiti Kills Thousands

Is this news?
Stock Market Plunges 3 Percent

Is this news?
Deanie Ip Tak-han Named Best Actress at Venice Film Festival

Is this news?
Japan Trade Minister Makes Joke About Radiation During Informal News Conference

Is this news?
Fred the Blogger Calls On Hu Jintao To Resign

Is this news?
HKU Student Detained by Police

Is this news?
Chicken Found Dead

Is this news?
Chicken Found Dead Had Avian Influenza, Scientists Say

7 Questions
! " Is it new? Recent? ! " Does it affect many people? ! " Does it affect many people in my

intended audience?

! " Does it involve well-known people,

places or institutions?

7 Questions
! " Does it involve conflict or struggle? ! " Is it unique or rare? ! " Do you think its important? Is there

something that connects with people?

Challenges
! " Keeping the story accurate and

balanced:
! " Being accurate is difficult ! " What is balanced?

Challenges
! " Timeliness trying to be first can

create its own set of problems

Challenges
! " Journalists have to verify all

information: The three-source rule

Challenges
! " Relying on sources when you were

not at the scene

Challenges
Even when journalists witness events, challenges remain:
! " Notice the details ! " Ask the right questions ! " Get people to talk to you ! " Double-check all information

The Lead
! " Plato in The Republic: The beginning

is the most important part of the work.

Hard news v. soft news Hard news Soft news

! " A single event or ! " A new trend ! " A broad theme ! " A profile of a person ! " Anything that is not

happening
! " Breaking news: what

is happening now
! " New developments

relating to a previous event

hard news

! "

Structuring the News Story The basic structure for a

news story for print and the Web is often called the inverted pyramid.

! " The emphasis is on the

most newsworthy items in your reporting.

! " The story trails off with less

important facts.

Hard news: a story breaks

A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 rocked northern Japan on Friday, measuring the highest level of 7 on the Japanese seismic scale, in Miyagi Prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Source: Kyodo News, March 11, 2011

Hard news: developments

A massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit Japan on Friday, unleashing a monster 10metre high tsunami that sent ships crashing into the shore and carried cars through the streets of coastal towns.
Source: Agence France-Presse, March 11, 2011

Hard news: a local angle

An Australian search and rescue team is due to make a difficult journey to areas badly hit by Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Source: ABC News (Australia), March 16, 2011

The Lead
! " Direct (hard news) leads usually

summarize only the most important parts of a story. The details are left for later.

! " Sometimes, direct or hard-news leads may

hint at important or intriguing contents to come in the story.

The Lead
! " The good hard-news lead meets two

requirements:

! " 1) It captures the essence of the event. ! " 2) It invites the reader into the story.

! " Think of leads as bait that determines

whether readers stay with the story.

The Lead
! " Leads are worth your time; reporters will try

several different drafts until they get the one that seems perfect.

! " Reporters will be thinking of their lead as they

report the story.

The Lead
Good reporting helps produce good news writing, especially leads. Consider this lead:

! " A late-morning fire in the upper floors of

an 18-story housing estate in Pokfulam killed three people yesterday.

It is perfectly OK, and quite common.

The Lead
But another reporter asked a fire official to describe what the fire was like, and the official used the word blowtorch.

! " A fire roared like a blowtorch through

the upper floors of a Pokfulam housing estate yesterday, killing three people.
Stronger, visual, same number of words.

Direct Lead
The direct lead is the workhorse of journalism. To decide what is the most important part of the story, ask six questions:
! " Who was involved: Who did it or said it? ! " What was the most unique or the most

important or unusual thing that happened?

! " When did the event occur?

Direct Lead
! " Where did the event occur? ! " Why did the event occur? ! " How did the event occur?

The 5 Ws and 1 H
! " Who ! " What ! " When ! " Where ! " Why ! " How

The Lead
Typically, but not always, the direct lead contains four essentials:
! " It says something specific. ! " It says when the event or action happened. ! " It gives the source (without necessarily

identifying it in full).
! " It gives the place of the action (as concisely as

possible).

The Lead
Other points to remember:
! " Attribution can wait, sometimes. ! " Avoid long subsidiary clauses or titles. ! " Banish jargon and legalese. ! " Use a direct structure: S-V-O. Subject, verb and

object. (Wong [subject] hit [verb] the man [object].)

! " Time element usually goes after verb.

The Lead - Length

The Associated Press tells its reporters to start cutting if their leads run beyond 35 words. To find places to cut, begin with:
! " Unnecessary attribution. ! " Compound sentences joined by but and and. ! " Exact dates and times unless essential. ! " Long titles.

Good Direct Lead

! " Four men convicted of murdering a German

family of four in a frenzied knife attack were executed in China yesterday despite pleas for clemency from the victims relatives.

The what was different. Concrete, dramatic, specific language. Time. S-V-O. structure.

Good Direct Lead

! " Jewelry tycoon Tse Sui-luens rags-to-riches

story entered its darkest chapter yesterday when a High Court judge declared the selfmade company chairman bankrupt.

Who was important. Place was important. Imagery (a bit of a clich, but sometimes it can work). Time element. S-V-O. structure.

Reworking Leads
! " Apprentice jockey Philip Cheng Cheung-tat

died at the Prince of Wales Hospital last night, 72 hours after suffering massive injuries in a race fall at Sha Tin racecourse.

Does the job, but what about this:

Reworking Leads
! " After clinging to life for three days, an

apprentice jockey whose horse fell and rolled over him during a race at Sha Tin died last night.

Visual; introductory phrase OK in this instance; trims details not needed in the lead.

A Lead Contest
Which one is better?
! " The Airport Authoritys acting chief executive

was axed yesterday to make way for new blood after he failed to win an internal struggle to retain his position.

A Lead Contest
! " The Airport Authority has appointed a

businessman with no airport management experience as its next chief executive officer. He will replace Bill Lam Chung-lun, who was seconded from the Government by Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-Sang in January 1998.

A Lead Contest
No contest:
! " The Airport Authoritys acting chief executive

was axed yesterday to make way for new blood after he failed to win an internal struggle to retain his position.

Summing it up
A direct hard news lead is:
! " A lead that gives the most important point. ! " A lead that is concrete, specific, concise,

active and visual.

! " A lead that is accurate, honest and readable. ! " A lead that takes you into the story.

Assignment
1)" Read pages 43-59 in English-Language

News Writing (this week, posted on Class Resources page on course website.)

Assignment
2) Write a short article no more than 300 words about something you observe. It could be a person, an event, a building. Anything other than yourself. Use todays lessons to guide you, and remember: Show, dont tell. Due Monday (Feb. 4) at noon.