DEFINITION NEWS ITEM TEXT

Menurut Oxford English Dictionary, news item text is a text which inform readers about events of the
day (News item text adalah jenis teks yang memberikan informasi mengenai kejadian atau peristiwa
harian. News item merupakan salah satu jenis teks dalam bahasa Inggris yang digunakan jika Anda ingin
belajar menjadi seorang jurnalis handal.

STRUKTUR DAN CIRI KEBAHASAAN

Pada news item text, terdapat tiga bagian struktur kebahasaannya, yaitu:
1. Main event
Bagian ini juga dikenal dengan newsworthy event. Bagian ini adalah bagian yang menceritakan atau
berisi berita mengenai peristiwa atau kejadian inti yang biasanya ditulis dalam bentuk ringkasan
(summary).
2. Background event
Bagian yang sering disebut sebagai Elaboration ini merupakan bagian yang menceritakan latar belakang
peristiwa atau kejadian, siapa yang terlibat dan lokasi kejadian.
3. Source
Bagian terakhir adalah source, yaitu menceritakan tentang komentar, saksi kejadian, pendapat para ahli,
dan sebagainya mengenai peristiwa atau kejadian yang diberitakan.

Pada setiap jenis teks dalam bahasa Inggris terdapat ciri kebahasaan yang dapat membedakannya dengan
jenis teks lain. Ciri dari news item text yang paling menonjol adalah bahasanya yang singkat dan padat.
Berikut ciri-ciri kebahasaan dari news item text lainnya:
• Informasi singkat yang tertuang dalam headline
• Fokus pada suatu kejadian
• Dominan menggunakan saying verbs, seperti diberitakan, dikutik, mengatakan, memberitakan, dan
sebagainya.
• Umumnya menggunakan action verb, yaitu kata kerja yang menunjukkan aktivitas
• Sering menggunakan kata kerja bantu yang menunjukkan waktu dan tempat
• Menggunakan material process

Contoh News Item Text

 A Boy Hidden in Wheel Well of Airplane Survived

A 16-year-old boy has survived a dangerous journey hidden in the wheel well of airplane. It was a 5-hour
flight from California to Hawaii.
The boy had run away from home and climbed a fence at the airport in San Jose, California. He crossed
the tarmac and crawled into the wheel well of Hawaiian Airlines flight 45.
According to FBI special agent Tom Simon, The boy quickly lost consciousness as temperatures in the
compartment sank as low as minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It was 62 degrees Celsius below zero.
The boy got an apparent miracle. After he had been unconscious for most of the journey, the boy
regained his consciousness about an hour after the plane landed on Sunday morning. The boy hopped
down from the wheel well. He started wandering around the airport grounds, where was spotted by
ground crew.
The boy was turned over to local child protection officials. A medical examination showed that he
appeared to have been unharmed.
Since records began in 1947, about 100 wheel well stowaways are thought to have attempted to board
flights. Around three-quarters of them died.
“Our primary concern now is for the well-being of the boy, who is exceptionally lucky to have survived”
Hawaiian Airlines said in a statement.

CIRI KHAS NEWS ITEM TEXT

Ada beberapa ciri khas dari news item yaitu:
Mengandung informasi yang singkat tentang sebuah berita dalam headline nya.
Sering menggunakan action verb.
Sering menggunakan saying verbs.
Sering menggunakan adverb of place dan time.
Sering menggunakan direct quotation.

FUNGSI SOSIAL NEWS ITEM TEXT

Social function atau fungsi sosial dari sebuah news item adalah “to inform” atau untuk memberitahukan
tentang suatu kejadian yang penting dan pantas dijadikan berita kepada khalayak umum.

GENERIC STRUCTURE NEWS ITEM TEXT

 1. Newsworthy Event
Bagian ini merupakan bagian pembuka dalam sebuah news item text. Menceritakan inti dari suatu berita.
Yang perlu kita perhatikan adalah, sesuai dengan nama nya “newsworthy event”, maka kejadian yang bisa
diceritakan di dalamnya haruslah “newsworthy” atau dalam Bahasa Indonesia nya layak di beritakan.

2. Background Event
Penjelasan rinci tentang suatu kejadian yang menjadi inti dari sebuah berita. Hal ini dapat mencakup
orang-orang yang terlibat, tempat kejadian, waktu terjadinya, latar belakang terjadinya suatu hal dan
sebagainya.

3. Sources
Penjelasan mengenai sumber berita. Hal ini bisa mencakup komentar dari para ahli yang terlibat dalam
kejadian yang di beritakan, keterangan dari saksi mata suatu kejadian dan sebagainya.

LANGUAGE FEATURE NEWS ITEM TEXT

 Simple Past Tense

Kalimat yang sering digunakan dalam sebuah news item text umumnya berbentuk simple past tense, hal
ini tentu dikarenakan sebuah news item bersifat melaporkan kejadian yang sudah terjadi, artinya yang
dibicarakan adalah suatu yang sudah terjadi di masa lampau.

 Direct Quotation
Bentuk quotation sering kali muncul dalam sebuah news item text. Biasanya hal ini digunakan untuk
menunjukkan komentar saksi atau para ahli tentang pokok bahasan dalam berita tersebut. 
 Passive Voice
Bentuk passive voice juga kerap muncul dalam sebuah news item text, hal ini sepertinya
bertujuan untuk menyamarkan atau menyembunyikan pelaku suatu tindakan karena dianggap
tidak penting untuk disebutkan.

CONTOH SOAL NEWS ITEM

Read the following text to answer questions number 1 to 3.
Singapore to Develop Marine Tourism in Riau Islands of Indonesia
Singapore has expressed its interest in developing marine tourism in Natuna, Anambas and
Lingga, three beautiful yet hidden regencies in the Riau Islands province of Indonesia.
According to Riau Islands deputy Governor, Soeryo Respationo, the three areas have their own
beauty but lack of adequate infrastructure to boost tourism.
Singapore's investment in the tourism sector would perfectly match with the islands' need, he
said recently. Soeryo said that Singapore Ambassador Anil Kumar Nayar visited the Riau islands
asministration on Tuesday to show the country's commitment in developing the marine tourism
sector.
1. Singapore is interested in making investment in ....
A. Tourism in the three islands in Riau
B. Tourism in the sea around the three islands in Riau
C. Building marine infrastructure in the three islands in Riau
D. Building tourism infrastructure in the three islands in Riau
E. Developing tourism industry in the three islands in Riau

2. What is the main idea of paragraph 3?

A. Singapore shows its commitment in developing the marine tourism sector in the three
islands in Riau
B. Singapore ambassador visited the three islands in Riau
C. Singapore needs to invest in the three islands in Riau
D. Anil Kumar Nayar is the Singapore ambassador in Indonesia
D. Tourism is the best sector to invest your money in Riau

3. What is the generic structure of the text above?

A. Orientation-Backgroud Event-Source
B. Newsworthy Event-Backgroud Event-Source
C. Background Event-Elaboration-Source
D. Main Event-Newsworthy Event-Source
E. Main Event-Source-Backgroud Event
Read the following text to answer questions number 4 to 6.
A survey has found about 13 percent of first-time smokers in the country are junior high school
students. It also revealed 89 percent of young female employees were smokers.
The survey was conducted in five major cities across the country, including Surakarta in Central
Java.
Muhammad Syahril Mansyur, the Surakarta Health Agency’s respiratory illness division, said
that the finding of the survey showed an alarming growth rate of Indonesian smokers. "This
situation is a cause for concern,” he said. “It appears the country’s younger generation is
uneducated about the health risks of smoking.”
The Indonesian anti-tobacco campaign has reportedly been deemed as ineffective as the
government refuses to sign the international convention on tobacco control. It said that cigarette
producers contributed to a large amount to state revenue and gave jobs to thousands of workers.
4. The text mainly tells you about ….
A. The increase of Indonesian smokers
B. The health risks of smoking
C. Large amount of cigarettes
D. Young female smokers
E. The danger of smoking

5. Why does the growth of Indonesian smokers have to be concerned?

A. It decreases the selling of cigarette
B. It cannot make people work at cigarette factory
C. There are increasing younger smokers in Indonesia
D. It cannot make the large amount of cigarettes be distributed
E. It is likely that younger generation is uneducated to the risks of smoking

6. One of the advantages of cigarette industry is ....

A. To cause people addictive
B. To contribute a little amount to state revenue
C. To make sellers rich
 D. To give a great job chance
E. To give jobs for certain people

Read the following text to answer questions number 7 to 10.

Indonesia has embarked on the task of counting its islands in order to better protect its territory
and marine resources. It hopes to locate and name an additional 1,700 islands in time for the UN
Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names in August. Indonesia wants to claim
sovereignty and fishing rights in the waters surrounding the islands, many of which its neighbors
also claim.
The Indonesian government says illegal fishing in its waters is costing billions of dollars in lost
revenue each year. A fisheries spokeswoman told the BBC: "Sixty per cent of islands in
Indonesia don't have a name or officially have legal status, so they can easily be taken or claimed
by another country."
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago. At the last UN conference on geographical names in
2012, Indonesia registered 13,466 islands. A law in 1996 estimated that the number of islands
was 17,508. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea defines an island as, "a naturally formed
area of land, surrounded by water, which is still exposed at high tide".
A spokesman from Indonesia's Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries explained the scale of
the task the counting team had. He said: "We have to visit every one of these islands, and then
we note the coordinates, the name, the meaning of the name, the history of the land and describe
the landscape and its geographical history…all that in great detail."
7. What kind of rights does Indonesia want to claim?
A. Water rights
B. Legal rights
C. Fishing rights
D. Lost rights
E. Mountain rights

8. Why does the growth of Indonesian smokers have to be concerned?

A. 1,000
B. 11,000
C. 17,000
D. 7,100
 E. 1,700

9. When must an island be exposed for it to officially be an island?

A. At noon
B. At midnight
C. At low tide
D. At high tide
E. At night

10. "Indonesia has embarked on the task of counting ...." (paragraph 1) synonym of the
underlined word is ....
A. Stayed
B. Launched
C. Stopped
D. Moved
E. Convened