MODULE 1:

LESSON 6
NEWS WRITING
And
REPORTING

WHAT IS NEWS? HOW SHOULD

IT BE WRITTEN?
News is a timely and factual
narration of past, present and
future
event.
It
involves
getting
the
facts
and
transmitting these to the
reader.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS
1.Timeliness / Immediacy
A news is to be reported immediately so
the readers will appreciate it. If it
happened today, its a news, if it happened
last week, its not; with 24-hour news
access, breaking news is important

Radios and television news

programs use today in their
reporting to signify the freshness
of the news while newspapers,
because of the lag in the printing
process use yesterday.

Example:
Radio/TV: President Benigno Aquino III
today orders the creation of an agency
to investigate the real cause of..
Newspaper: President Benigno Aquino
yesterday ordered the creation of an
agency to investigate the real cause of
..

However, there are some events that may

have happened in the past but remained
newsworthy, this happens when the events
are disclosed for the first time or a new
development resurfaced. The COMELEC
automation scam has happened years
back, but every time election season
comes, this event always pops up.

2. Proximity / Nearness
Readers will be more interested to
know what is happening around
them, in their neighborhood or
community because this will affect
their lives.

3. Prominence
When famous people are
affected, the story matters (i.e., car
accident involving you family vs. a
car accident involving the
President).

Places become prominent if they become

scene of big events. Tacloban City was
front page for many days when devastated
by the typhoon Yolanda. Mt. Pinatubo
became known around the globe when it
erupted in 1991. The Spratlys, a group of
islands in the South China Sea, is always in
the news due to claims over the territory by
six countries including the Philippines.

4. Significance
This refers not only to the importance of
the event but more on how this event
will affect the lives of people. The
significance of the event must not be
relied on facts only but the reporter
must interpret or explain the meaning of
the facts.

5. Oddity
Any event that deviates from the
ordinary is newsworthy.

SOURCES OF NEWS

1. Traditional Sources
The government has always been the
source of traditional news. Going with
the Republican dictum the public office
is a public trust, public officials are
constantly under observation by media;
any wrong doing is therefore a media
fiesta.

The traditional sources include the

Executive offices like the office of the
President and its various departments; the
Senate and the House of Representative;
the Supreme Court and the lower courts;
the constitutional bodies like the
COMELEC, COA, CSC, the local
government, the police, and many other
institutions.

In school, traditional sources of news

are from the office of the school
administrator/ principal, teachers of
different subject areas; school activities
like the celebration of foundation day,
commemoration of Lingo ng Wika, Boy/Girl
Scout week, school Intramurals and many
other school activities which are
newsworthy.

2. Non-Traditional Sources
These are the activities, projects and
plans of the supreme student
government, youth organizations,
around the campus.

METHODS OF GATHERING NEWS

Actual coverage of an event.
Interview with school personalities
(prominent people)
Writing from documents such as
speeches, policies, research/special
reports.

THE LEAD
News stories always begin with a lead. This
maybe a single word, a phrase, a clause, a
paragraph, or a series of paragraphs.
Its main function is not only to introduce
the story, but to tell the story in a capsule
form. The lead is the summary of the story.

KINDS OF LEAD
1. Conventional or Summary Lead
This is used in straight news to answer
right away all or any of the 5Ws and/ or
the H. Your lead maybe one of the
following:

A. Who Lead when the person

involved is more prominent than
what he does.
President
Aquino
addressed
yesterday the graduates of the
Philippine Military Academy in
Baguio.

B. What Lead this is used when the

event is more important than the
person involved in the news.
The National Assessment Test to all Grade 9
students will be given on September 27 as
announced by DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin
Luistro.

C. Where Lead use this kind of

lead when the place is unique
and no prominent person is
involved.
The Philippines will be the site of the
next Asia Pacific Economic Summit.

D. When Lead this lead is rarely used

but when speaking of deadlines,
holidays and important dates, it is very
effective.
April 15 is the deadline for the filing of
income tax returns.

E. Why Lead use when the reason

is more unique than what happens.
Because of poverty, around a hundred
students dropped out from school last
year. This was learned from PNU
President Nilo L. Rosas.

F. How Lead use this lead when the

manner, mode, means, or method is
achieving the story is unnatural.
By appealing to the city government for
the procurement of needed materials,
Surigao City National High School was
able to finish the construction of its
covered court.

News Structure
The Inverted Pyramid

LEAD
Elaboration of a W
Elaboration
of another
Further

Summary Lead
(5ws and H, starting
with most to least
interesting item)

THE INVERTED PYRAMID

Lead:
An 18-year-old female student died in a car accident
along North Expressway yesterday.
2nd par. (identification of the WHO):
The victim was Joan dela Cruz, pre-law student of
Far Eastern University, and daughter of court of
appeals justice Jose de la Cruz.
3rd par. (expounding the WHAT, WHERE, and WHEN)
She was found dead inside a 1980 Toyota Corolla
with a plate number AUV 340, by a highway
patrolman at around 3 p.m. The car was in a ditch
not far from the toll plaza of the

North Expressway. Her body was brought to the

Valenzuela Memorial Hospital.
4th par. (expounding on the WHY and HOW):
Initial police reports showed that the breaks
of her car malfunctioned causing the car to skid
and fall into the ditch. The brake fluid
container was dried up and the brake lining was
very thin, said Police Officer Manuel Reyes of
the Valenzuela Police precinct.

 5th par.( adding drama to the story)

Police called the family of the victim and her
father came to identify the body. She was
supposed to follow in my footsteps and be my
legal aid, said a teary-eyed Justice de la Cruz.
Sixth par.( related, but at least important info.):
The accident caused a four-hour traffic jam
along the North Expressway. But traffic was
following smoothly by 8 p.m. after the damaged
car had been towed.

Rules in paragraph construction in News

writing
1. A paragraph of the news should not exceed 75 words.
2. Important facts should be placed at the beginning of
the paragraph.
3. Avoid repetition of clauses, phrases and other similar
grammatical construction at the beginning of each
paragraph.
4. Do not use direct and indirect quotation in the same
paragraph.

1. There was an accident occurring in your city at 7:10 this

morning at the intersection of Post Road and Rollins Avenue.
Charles R. Lydon was driving north on Post Road and
proceeded to enter the intersection in his van at a speed
estimated at 40 mph. His van struck a fire engine responding
to an emergency call, with its lights and siren in operation.
Two firemen aboard the vehicle were hospitalized; however,
their condition is not known at this point in time. Lyden was
killed instantly in the serious and tragic accident. Authorities
have not yet determined who was at fault. The truck was
traveling an estimated 25 mph and responding to a report of
a store fire. However, it was a false alarm. Lydons van was
totally destroyed. Damage to the truck was estimated at
$50,000.

2. The family of Kristine Belcuore was grief-stricken. She was 51

years old and died of a heart attack last week. She left a husband
and four children. Because her death was so sudden and
unexpected, an autopsy had to be performed before the funeral last
Saturday. It was a big funeral, costing more than $7,000. More than
100 friends and relatives were in attendance. Today, the family
received an apologetic call from the county medical examiner. Mrs.
Belcuors body is still in the morgue. The body they buried was that
of a woman whose corpse had been unclaimed for a month. The
error was discovered after the medical examiners office realized the
month-old corpse had disappeared. Someone probably misread an
identifying tag, they said. Also, the family never viewed the remains,
they kept the casket closed throughout the proceedings. A relative
said, "We went through all the pain and everything, all over the
wrong body, and now we have to go through it again."

3. An article appeared today in the Journal of the

American Medical Association. The article concerns
the dangers of hot dogs. "If you were trying to design
something that would be perfect to block a childs
airway, it would be a bite-size piece of hot dog," says
a researcher. He concluded that children under 4
should "never be given a whole hot dog to eat," and
that hot dogs should never be cut crosswise. The hot
dogs are so dangerous that every five days, it is
estimated, someone, somewhere in the United
States, chokes to death on them. Other risky foods
for young kids up to 9 years of age include: candy,
nuts, grapes, apples, carrots and popcorn.

4. The International Standardization Organization,

which is composed of acoustics experts, today
opened its annual convention. The convention is
meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Delegates from 51
countries are attending the convention, which will
continue through Sunday. An annual report issued by
the organization warned that noise levels in the world
are rising by one decibel a year. If the increase
continues, the report warned, "everyone living in cities
could be stone deaf by the year 2020." The report also
said that long-term exposure to a noise level of 100
decibels can cause deafness, yet a riveting gun
reaches a level of 130 decibels and a jet aircraft 150.

5. A 19-year-old shoplifting suspect died last Saturday. Police

identified him as Timothy Milan. He lived at 1112 Huron Avenue and
was employed as a cook at a restaurant in the city. A guard at
Panzer's Department Store told police he saw Milan stuff 2 sweaters
down his pants legs, then walk past a checkout line and out of the
department store. The guard then began to chase Milan, who ran, and
3 bystanders joined in the pursuit. They caught up with Milan, and,
when he resisted, one of the bystanders applied a headlock to him. A
police officer who arrived at the scene reported that Milan collapsed
as he put handcuffs on him. An autopsy conducted to determine the
cause of death revealed that Milan died due to a lack of oxygen to the
brain. Police today said they do not plan to charge anyone involved in
the case with a crime because it "was a case of excusable homicide."
The police said the bystanders did not mean to injure Milan or to kill
him, but that he was fighting violentlypunching and kicking at his
captors and even trying to bite themand that they were simply trying
to restrain him and trying to help capture a suspected criminal,
"which is just being a good citizen."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Confucius is China's most famous teacher,
philosopher, and political theorist. He was born in
the state of Lu in 551 B.C. and died there in 479
B.C. It is difficult to separate the legends about
Confucius from the scarce information that exists
about his life and background. Confucius likely
descended from a noble but impoverished family.
Through dedicated self-education he became the
most learned man of his day, eventually acquiring a
following of three thousand students and seventytwo close disciples.

ABOUT THE TITLE

The Analects also known as the Analects
of Confucius, is a collection of sayings and
ideas attributed to the Chinese philosopher
Confucius and
his
contemporaries,
traditionally believed to have been compiled
and written by Confucius' followers.

At the core of these ideas is a firm belief in

the basic goodness of the human heart. The
goal of every man, according to Confucius,
should be to cultivate his basic goodness, to
achieve jen, or what might be translated as
"virtue." This goal can be reached by careful
attention to the customs and rituals of civilized
life (Li) and by listening to the dictates of one's
true nature or inner heart (Chung), which
embraces reciprocity, righteousness, and filial
piety.

The Master said, To learn at due

times to repeat what one has learnt, is
that not after all a pleasure? Those
friends should come to one from afar, is
this not after all delightful? To remain
unsoured even though ones merits are
unrecognized by others is that not after
all what is expected of a gentleman?

The Master said, A young man's duty is

to behave well to his parents at home and
to his elders abroad, to be cautious in
giving promises and punctual in keeping
them, to have kindly feelings toward
everyone, but seek the intimacy of the
Good. If, when all that is done, he has any
energy to spare, then let him study the
polite arts.

The Master said, Govern the

people by regulations, keep order
among them by chastisements, and
they will flee from you, and lose all
self-respect. Govern them by moral
force, keep order by ritual and they
will keep their self-respect and come
to you of their own accord.

Meng Wu Po asked about the

treatment of parents. The
master said, Behave in such
a way that your father and
mother have no anxiety about
you, except concerning our
health.

The Master said, High office

filled by men of narrow views,
ceremonies performed without
reverence,the
forms
of
mourning observed without
grief- these are things I cannot
bear to see!

The Master said, In the presence of

a good man, think all the time how you
may learn to equal him. In the presence
of a bad man, turn your gaze within!

The Master said, In old days, a man

kept a hold on his words, fearing the
disgrace that would ensue should he
himself fail to keep pace with them.

The Master said, "A gentleman

covets the reputation of being slow
in word but prompt in deed.
The Master said, In old days,
men studied for the sake of selfimprovement; nowadays men
study to impress other people."

The Master said, A gentleman is

ashamed to let his words outrun his
deeds.
The Master said, He who will not
worry about what is far off will soon find
something worse than worry close at
hand.

The Master said, To demand much

from oneself and little from others is the
way (for a ruler) to banish
discontentment.