Writing Newspaper Articles

Writing
Icons key:

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation

Flash activity. These activities are not editable.

Extension activities
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Web addresses

Teachers notes included in the Notes Page

Accompanying worksheet
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Learning objectives

In this unit you will

Learn the features of different types of newspaper
(tabloid, broadsheet, local and national)
Discuss headlines and articles, analysing how they
differ between types of newspaper
Write your own newspaper article based on the
events of Shakespeares The Tempest, paying
particular attention to language, layout and style

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Types of newspapers
Do you know what the two main types of
newspaper are called?
The first newspapers were all called broadsheets,
because they used large, wide sheets of paper for their
pages. Tabloid newspapers were traditionally smaller
and squarer in shape than the broadsheet papers.
These two types of paper have quite different written
styles. Your style, material and layout will be affected by
the kind of paper you are writing for.
Recently, some broadsheet newspapers have reduced
the size of their pages to make them easier to read,
particularly on trains! However, they are still classified as
broadsheet papers because of the style of journalism
within them.
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Types of newspapers

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Discussion topics
What do you think is the most important difference
between tabloid and broadsheet newspapers? What
other differences are there?
In which way(s), if any, are free newspapers different to
newspapers you have to pay for?
What is the main difference
between national and local
papers? Are there any other
differences?
Can one and should one say
that any particular type of
newspaper is better than
any other?
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Looking at headlines

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Looking at headlines
What makes the perfect headline?
Ideally, a headline should:
sum up the whole article
grab the attention of potential buyers
be easily remembered.
A pun or some alliteration can make it even more effective.
What do pun and alliteration mean?
A pun is a play on
words and
alliteration is when
the same consonant
sound is repeated.

What sort of
newspaper is this?

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Looking at headlines

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Looking at headlines

Discussion activity
Consider the two headlines which you have just analysed.
How are the differences in the headlines likely to be reflected
in the papers approach to what is actually the same story?

Activity
Turn the following imaginary news items into two headlines
each: one in tabloid style and one in broadsheet style.
If things dont change, global warming will cause
sea levels to rise by a metre in the next century.
The Ministry of Defence has admitted that Gulf War
Syndrome could well have been caused by chemicals
which were used by both sides during the conflict.
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What does an article need?

All articles have common features like:
a headline

picture(s) with
captions

sub-headings
All newspaper
articles
an expert opinion

interviews/comments
from people involved

Add any other features you can think of to the

brainstorm above.
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Writing an article
You are now going to work through the various stages
necessary to create a finished newspaper article. You will
be working from fictional pieces of information which
come from Shakespeares play The Tempest.
The background:
Claribel, the daughter of King Alonso of Naples, has just
married the king of Tunis.
At her wedding in Tunis were:
her father
her brother Ferdinand
her fathers brother Sebastian
Gonzalo (Alonsos adviser)
Antonio (Duke of Milan)
Neapolitan and Milanese nobility and their servants.
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Writing an article

The events:
On the way home from Tunis, a storm blows up in the
Mediterranean and King Alonsos ship is sunk.
The other ships in the fleet see the ship go down, but
cannot find any survivors when they try to go to the
rescue.

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Writing an article

Sadly, the fleet sails on to Naples where the bad news has
to be broken: the king, the heir to the throne and most of
the senior councillors of Naples have been drowned, as
well as the Duke of Milan and a large part of the nobility of
both Naples and Milan. In addition, the ship had a crew of
seventy Neapolitan sailors, all of whom are lost.
As a result of this event, there is no direct heir to the
throne of Naples.

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Writing an article
You are responsible for the front page of
Naples Today, the citys main newspaper. It
is the evening of June 23rd 1598 and a
rumour has reached your office that the fleet
has just returned without the kings ship.

Individual activity
While you wait for your reporter to run to the docks to get
more details, you start work on a dramatic headline for
tomorrows paper.
Try out several different ways of approaching the tragedy,
including at least one tabloid style headline and one
broadsheet style headline.
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Writing an article

Individual activity
Imagine you are the reporter for Naples Today. You have
been sent to the docks to gather enough information to write
a dramatic article for tomorrows paper.
Make a list of the people whom you would like to interview
for your research. Remember to include as wide a range of
experiences as possible.
Your list should include:
someone who saw the fleet return
someone senior from the fleet (e.g. a captain)
a relative of one of the drowned sailors
a political expert
a court spokesperson.
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Writing an article

Paired activities
Each taking the others list of people to be interviewed,
prepare in note form a story for each of them. Do not
write out the story in full. Do not discuss the details with
your partner.
Remember to think about what they saw, what they
heard, what they think and what they feel.
As the journalist, prepare questions which you wish to
ask your chosen people. Aim for five or six questions
each some may be the same for everyone, of course!
Again, do not tell your partner what you are going to ask.
Take it in turns to interview each other, making notes
when you are the journalist.
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Writing an article

Paired activity
You now have a list of possible headlines and two sets of
interviews which give you an idea of what happened and
what people think about it. Imagine that you are the editor
and journalist. Decide on the style of your papers approach
to the story and choose a headline for tomorrows early
edition.
Now that you have that, you
need to think about the
layout of your front page.

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The front page

name of paper

price
date

headline

columns

picture
sub
headings

Can you think of anything else a newspaper front

page might have?
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Layout and style

Decide on the layout of the early edition of Naples Today on
June 24th 1598. Remember to give your paper a date and a
price as well as a headline.
With the layout fixed, all that remains is to write the article.
However, you need to think carefully about the language you
use when you start to write. Is your paper a tabloid or a
broadsheet? How should you use your interviews? What is your
papers attitude to the event?
The language you use when writing your articles is very
important. Newspapers have their own styles and there are
distinct differences between the language of a tabloid paper
and that of a broadsheet.

Look at the extracts on the next two slides and decide

which one is from a tabloid article and which is
broadsheet in style. Find examples from the articles
as evidence to support your opinion.
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Brutal Attack on Pensioner

A lonely pensioner was brutally beaten up by a mugger, just yards
from her own front door. All she had on her was 7.00.
I was just walking home from my weekly lunch at the local Day
Centre, says widow Mary Evans, 86, of South Court, Devenish.
It wasnt even dark, only 3pm on a September afternoon. And this
isnt a big city. Are we safe anywhere these days?
Not safe in our own streets
D.C. Matthew Johns of Green Lane Police Station, Wilborough
said, This is a really nasty attack on a defenceless old lady. Its not
even as though she had anything on her worth stealing.
So, now we cant even feel safe in our own street. When are the
government going to wake up and realize theyve got to do
something about it? After all, were the ones who put them there.
Shouldnt they earn their keep by looking after us and making sure
that old ladies dont have to live in fear?

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Random Street Crime is Rising

A national survey conducted by the Police Federation reveals that
our streets really are less safe than they were ten years ago.
The recent, well-publicized attack on an elderly pensioner, Mrs
Mary Evans, aged 86 of Devenish, brought the issue of street
muggings back to the publics attention. The publication of this
report will simply confirm what many ordinary people have felt for
some time: that police efforts to control street crime have failed.
It is now a matter of urgency that the government should
recognize that it is its responsibility to tackle this issue. It cannot be
right that the elderly should have to take their lives in their hands
every time they step beyond their own front doors, said Help The
Ageds spokesperson Helen Smith.
We claim to be a civilized country, yet it seems that our streets are
not as safe as we like to think. Perhaps its time to reassess the
priorities of the police force and target the unglamorous side of
community policing: drugs seizures are undoubtedly important, but
so is the day-to-day safety of vulnerable members of society.
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Brutal Attack on Pensioner

Emotive words

Direct speech

Personal details given

A lonely pensioner was brutally beaten up by a mugger, just

yards from her own front door. All she had on her was 7.00.
Use of
I was just walking home from my weekly lunch at the local Day
contractions Centre, says widow Mary Evans, 86, of South Court, Devenish.
It wasnt even dark, only 3pm on a September afternoon. And
this isnt a big city. Are we safe anywhere these days?
SubNot safe in our own streets
heading
D.C. Matthew Johns of Green Lane Police Station, Wilborough
breaks
said, This is a really nasty attack on a defenceless old lady. Its
up text
not even as though she had anything on her worth stealing.
So, now we cant even feel safe in our own street. When are the
government going to wake up and realize theyve got to do
something about it? After all, were the ones who put them there.
Shouldnt they earn their keep by looking after us and making
sure that old ladies dont have to live in fear?
Rhetorical
Short sentences and very
questions.
short paragraphs throughout.
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Random Street Crime is Rising

Direct speech.

Grammatical accuracy

Brief personal details

A national survey conducted by the Police Federation reveals that our
streets really are less safe than they were ten years ago.
The recent, well-publicized attack on an elderly pensioner, Mrs Mary
Evans, aged 86 of Devenish, brought the issue of street muggings back
to the publics attention. The publication of this report will simply confirm
what many ordinary people have felt for some time: that police efforts to
control street crime have failed.
It is now a matter of urgency that the government should recognize that
it is its responsibility to tackle this issue. It cannot be right that the elderly
should have to take their lives in their hands every time they step beyond
their own front doors, said Help The Ageds spokesperson Helen Smith.
We claim to be a civilized country, yet it seems that our streets are not
as safe as we like to think. Perhaps its time to reassess the priorities of
the police force and target the unglamorous side of community policing:
drugs seizures are undoubtedly important, but so is the day-to-day safety
of vulnerable members of society.
Formal vocabulary
Sophisticated sentence structure
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Looking at style
Did you notice anything which both styles of article
had in common?
Direct speech is used in both, to give weight to the point
of the article.
Both articles give some personal details of the people
whom the journalist quotes.
Your article will need to include comments from the people
you interviewed, as well as some of their personal details.
Im going to have so much fun
making up peoples personal
details and backgrounds! Itll
be good practice for when Im
writing my own books.
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Using interviews
Newspapers use extracts from interviews, but they do not
use them in the same way as television news reports do.
Look at the extracts used in the tabloid article which you
have just been studying.
I was just walking home from my weekly lunch at the local Day
Centre, says widow Mary Evans, 86, of South Court, Devenish.
D.C. Matthew Johns of Green Lane Police Station, Wilborough
said, This is a really nasty attack on a defenceless old lady. Its
not even as though she had anything on her worth stealing.

Notice that the journalists questions are not used in the

article. All that appears is a comment from the interviewee.

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Writing an article
It is now time to write your own article:
remember to keep your sentences quite short
use comments from the people you interviewed
do not include your questions
use either broadsheet or
tabloid style; do not mix them
break up your text with subheadings.
And finally, remember
what a dramatic news
item this is and use a
suitably dramatic style!
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