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How to Write a News Story

Writing News stories isn't particularly difficult. You will find below some guidelines that
should help you create effective news items without too much stress.

The Five "W"s and the "H"

This is the crux of all News - you need to know 5 things:

Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

Any good news story provides answers to each of these questions.

For example , if you wish to cover a story about a local sports team entering a
competition you will need to answer these questions :

Who is the team? Who is the coach? Who are the prominent players? Who are the supporters?
What sport do they play? What is the competition? What will they need to do to win?
Where is the competition? Where is the team normally based?
When is the competition? How long have they been preparing?
Why are they entering this particular competition?
How are they going to enter the competition? Do they need to fundraise? How much training and preparation is required?

If you look at any news story from a reputable source youll find that youre given all
these answers and more:
A baby was born on a London bus during rush hour after the driver and passengers came to the mother's aid.
Olatidebe Agboola, believed to be the first birth aboard one of the capital's buses, arrived weighing 7lb 8oz at the
back of a No394 in Hackney last Thursday. His parents have given him the middle name Dennis, after the vehicle's
manufacturer. As Emiloju Fatima Lawal went into labour, driver Pauline Jacobs alerted controllers to dispatch an
ambulance. She parked the single-decker near Mare Street to help Ms Lawal, assisted by passenger Carole Allen,
60, a switchboard supervisor at Homerton hospital. Ms Lawal, 37, of Hackney, who was not due to give birth
until today, said: "A man asked if I was ok, I said 'No, I'm in labour.' "A few minutes later he came out and I
said 'Excuse me, the baby is here.'" Ms Allen said: "He just flew out onto the floor. I didn't feel panicked, just
relieved." Ms Lawal, who has three other children, was taken to hospital and was back home that day.
She said: "I want to say 'thank you' to Carole and Pauline for everything they did."
Who was the baby ? the mother ? the driver? the passenger?
What was the bus number and route?
Where did this happen ?
When did this happen ?
Why is it newsworthy ?
What was the outcome?
 People...and what they say

News stories are all about how

people are affected . In your
sports story for example, you might
spend some time focusing on one
The Inverted Pyramid
or more individuals, or on how the
the supporters are feeling.
This refers to the style of journalism which places the
Quote People
most important facts at the beginning . Ideally, the
Try to quote people. It adds a
first paragraph should contain enough information to give personal touch to the story, and
the reader a good overview of the entire story. The you know the journalist has
rest of the article explains and expands on the actually spoken to the people
beginning. The most important part of any news story is involved, and most importantly
it makes the story more
the lede , which is the very first sentence of a News
interesting and readable
story. In it, the writer summarizes the most
For example : "We're really
newsworthy points of the story. If a lede is well-
excited about this competition,"
written, it will give the reader a basic idea of what the says coach Bob Dobalina,
story is about.

For example : Two people died in a rowhouse fire in

Keep it Objective !
Northeast Philadelphia last night
You are completely impartial. If there is
A good approach is to assume that the story might be more than one side to the story, cover
cut off at any point due to space limitations. them all. Don't use "I" and "me"
unless you are quoting someone.

Keep it simple - keep it tight !

Keep your sentences and paragraphs
The HEADLINE Try to think of short. When you've finished, go through
a catchy headline if possible written in bold characters. the entire story and try to remove any
words which aren't completely necessary.
It needs to stand out! A headlines job is to grab
Report the pertinent facts in a
attention!
language that can be understood by
everybody