Newspaper Writing

NEWSPAPER WRITING
Lesson Objectives
 identify the main parts of a newspaper article.

 state the Goals of a News Article
 distinguish facts from opinions
Main Parts of a Newspaper Article
 Headline (Heading)
 Byline
 Location
 Lead Paragraph(s)
 Supporting Paragraph(s)
 Caption*
Headline
 The headline is the title of the news article.
 The headline should be short, does not include a lot of detail, and
should catch the readers’ attentions.
 It is normally not a complete sentence, and tries to summarize the

main idea or subject of the article.
 It is often printed in larger letters than the rest of the article, and
the major words are capitalized.
• Byline
 This line tells who is writing the article.
 It may also include the address of the author and the publication or
news source for which he or she writes.
Location
 This is usually placed at the beginning of the article in bold print.
 If the city or location is well-known, the name can be written alone,

but if the city is less famous, more information is included.
Lead Paragraph(s)
 The lead paragraph is found at the beginning of the article.
 The lead briefly answers the questions “who”, “what”, “when”,

“why”, “where”, and “how”.
 The ‘skeleton’ of the story can be found here.

Supporting Paragraph(s)
 These are the paragraphs which follow the lead.
 They develop the ideas introduced by the lead, and give more information in
the form of explanations, details, or quotes.
 In many newspapers, these paragraphs are found on subsequent pages.

Caption*
 a news paper caption is a small amount of writing that sits

underneath a photo/image
The Goals of a News Article
Guidelines for journalists to make sure that when people open a newspaper, they can
believe what they read.
 A news article tells the truth:
the journalist writes facts that are, to the best of his/her knowledge, true. A careful
journalist only states things that he/she can prove to be true, and will ‘cite’ the source
of any uncertain information.
 News is factual.
Something that is factual can be proved or disproved. For example, “Last Saturday was
a rainy day,” is a factual statement, because it can be clearly shown that last Saturday
either was or was not rainy. “Rainy days are depressing,” is not a factual statement,
because it is a personal opinion.
 News articles are objective.
They do not reflect the personal opinions of the journalist. Quotes and opinions of
witnesses and observers to events may be included in an article, but they must be cited.
continue
 News articles relate information that affects or is of interest to the public.
Some newspapers print articles that are of interest to a smaller audience.
When the audience is concentrated in a particular region, such as a particular
city or state, the newspaper is known as a ‘local’ paper.
 The purpose of a news article is to report the facts of a current event or

problem. Although many people enjoy reading the news, the purpose of a
news article is not entertainment.
 The language used in news articles is often different from the language that is
used in everyday conversation, or in stories or narratives. The style of writing
is impersonal, and the vocabulary is often more formal.
Example
News Report – An example
HEADLINE
School and houses damaged after storm wreak havoc in Kangar

BY ILI SHAZWANI
- 11 AUGUST 2014 @ 3:42 PM
BYLINE
LEAD
– catches reader interest,
– most important info
– introduces topic
– answers most of the 5W’s

PLACELINE
KANGAR: Few classroom blocks at Sekolah Menengah Sains (SMS) Tuanku Syed Putra and 15 houses
in Kampung Bakong here were damaged after storm wreaked havoc in the area last night.
The roofs of the affected buildings were blown off while some houses were hit by uprooted trees following
heavy downpour and strong winds which lasted for almost an hour during the 9.30pm incident.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man, who visited the scene this morning said the state government had
ordered the relevant government agencies to assess the damages to start the repair work.
"The agencies concern have started assessing thea damages since last night and the value of losses is
still being investigated," he told Pressmen at the scene.
BODY QUOTATION
Fact or Opinion?
Read the following statements, and decide if the statement is expressing a fact or
an opinion. Write ‘fact’ or ‘opinion’ on the line provided. Underline the word or
words that indicate a statement is an opinion.
__________ 1. Commas are the hardest type of punctuation mark to study.
__________ 2. Twenty percent of the punctuation marks in an average book
will be commas.
__________ 3. On Tuesday, the 7th of October, the talented English teacher
presented the punctuation rules to the committee.
__________ 4. Professor Know presented evidence to support the rules
of punctuation in a forum last Tuesday.
__________ 5. The English language is studied in many regions of the
world.
__________ 6. The English language is the most difficult language to study
in the world.
Exercise
 I. Decide if the following statements are true of false. Write ‘T’ or ‘F’ on the
line provided.
_____ 1. The purpose of news articles is to report events in a factual
manner.
_____ 2. News articles aim to be subjective, or biased.
_____ 3. News articles print what is of interest to the general public.
_____ 4. A news article normally does not include a lead paragraph.
_____ 5. The first paragraph of a news article gives descriptive details and
often includes quotes from eyewitnesses.
_____ 6. The headline of a news article is usually a descriptive sentence
which gives details about an event.
_____ 7. A lead answers the questions ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘why’, ‘where’,
and ‘how’.
_____ 8. News articles use descriptive, vivid language intended to appeal to
the reader’s imagination.
Headline byline location lead supporting paragraphs
II. Match the parts of a news article to their descriptions.

_________________ 1. Gives the name of the author, or the publication that
employs the author.
_________________ 2. Paragraph or paragraphs which briefly answer the
5w-1h questions and inform the reader of the main
details of the news article.
_________________ 3. A short, ‘catchy’ summary of the main idea of the
news article.
_________________ 4. Paragraph or paragraphs which give supporting
details in the form of quotes, or explanations.
_________________ 5. Tells where the event took place.

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NEWSPAPER WRITING

 identify the main parts of a newspaper article.

 It is normally not a complete sentence, and tries to summarize the

 If the city or location is well-known, the name can be written alone,

 The lead paragraph is found at the beginning of the article.

 The lead briefly answers the questions “who”, “what”, “when”,

 The ‘skeleton’ of the story can be found here.

 In many newspapers, these paragraphs are found on subsequent pages.

 a news paper caption is a small amount of writing that sits

 The purpose of a news article is to report the facts of a current event or

School and houses damaged after storm wreak havoc in Kangar

– catches reader interest,

– most important info

– answers most of the 5W’s

II. Match the parts of a news article to their descriptions.

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