Q: What's black and white and read all over?
A: The Newspaper!



_{Sorry, I couldn't resist.}

When's the last time you picked up a newspaper and saw the sport scores in poetry? How many excellent metaphors did you count in the last front-page lead? Magazines and newspapers are daily fodder for much of the world, and on-line newsreels and feeds are becoming more and more popular in today's quest for instant gratification and up-to-the-minute information. With that in mind, it seemed a perfect time to consider what journalistic writing (or news writing, or the "news style") really is. Who writes this stuff? What does it look like? When do you use it? Where can you find it? Why bother? Well, this piece is going to offer some insight on how to approach a traditional news article--writing one, that is.


See what I did there?



What is Journalism?

_{Taken from the Project: Educate article:}

The journalism category on dA might be better-served being named Articles & Interviews. However, the heart of journalism and journalistic writing does not change regardless of how it's labeled. Journalistic articles are designed to inform the reader about a subject or person. These articles should be concerned with Who, What, When, Where, Why, and (sometimes) How and should aim to be as accurate as possible.

So what does that mean? When it comes to writing a news article, the writer's number one reason for writing is to inform. The writer is trying to tell the audience about something. This, as you can see, is not much different from the purpose of other types of nonfiction writing. However, news articles are news articles not only because of what they do, but also because of how they do it. The way the writer goes about informing her audience is often the biggest "tell" when it comes to journalism.



A Resource

We're going to start backwards this time, as I can hardly do justice to journalism (though much of my experience is in journalism) being one man on an internet site. That said, I believe the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) is a grand place to start for any would-be reporter. I especially enjoy their "Ethics Codes" resource list, as it reinforces the belief that journalistic writing (and nonfiction writing in general) does and should and must pertain to certain standards of truthfulness and integrity. Albert Camus once said that "Integrity has no need of rules" and, while I definitely agree with that sentiment, I also think it helps to be reminded of the "guidelines" every now and then.

If that's not enough, please take a moment to read the Principles of Journalism article, as it's fantastic. I'll state the main principles here because I find them powerful:

Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.
Its first loyalty is to citizens.
Its essence is a discipline of verification.
Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.
It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.

Again, to read more about these principles or to find other great resources, head on over to PEJ @ Journalism.org.


So, how does one go about news writing?




Five Things You Need to Know

All good news writing answers five important questions about the topic: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Indeed, with the minor exception of How?, your first goal in writing the news should be finding the answers to these questions.

That said, it's not enough merely to answer the questions; the answers must come quickly, in succinct and straightforward language, without being too dry to keep a person's attention. So, how does one accomplish this? Well, that brings us to something called the inverted pyramid. And no, it doesn't have to be pink.





The Parts of a (News) Story

The inverted pyramid works like this: All of the important information in the news article is written up-front and right away, representing the broad base of the pyramid (or, if you'd prefer, the triangle). As the article progresses, more details are released, but they are less and less important and less and less relevant until there's little left to say. This is where the pyramid comes to its final point.

If that's still a bit confusing, then let's break it down by the actual parts of every news story:


The Headline

Every article has a headline. It's akin to a "title" for a novel or poem, but it has more purpose and shouldn't strive for ambiguity or confusion. Instead, it should be a short, catchy statement about the topic that is sure to grab someone's attention.

"Mr. Big-Shot Caught Pantless in Senate Breakroom" would be one example, sans the quotation marks.


The Byline

This is easy. This tells you who wrote the story and where it is taking place (or where the information is coming from). For example, if I were to write an article about an event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, underneath my name would be a one-word summary of where this news is coming from, like so:

By: William Brown

PHILADELPHIA -- Begin news article

This also can show you if the article is from a particular source. If you check out CNN or Reuters, you'll often find the by-line looks like this:

(CNN) -- Begin news article

or

PARIS, France (CNN) -- Begin news article

The By-line changes depending on where the article is being published (both in regards to the publication and to where in the actual world the news will be printed or reprinted), but most follow a variation of this style.


The Lead Paragraph

This can sometimes stretch to two (very short) paragraphs, but it's typically handled in one (short paragraph). The lead paragraph is where you answer the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of the article. As stated above, it comes right away, without hesitation, and should have only the most relevant and important information attached to it. Indeed, it is the writer-reporter's job to find the answers to these questions before she even begins writing and then, once they are found, to find a way to communicate them quickly in the lead paragraph.


The Explanation

Now, there's always more to know. With the lead paragraph under a writer's belt, she can then move on to pick and choose which details and explanations would be more relevant and important to the topic and to her audience. It's where the writer has the opportunity to anticipate and answer any questions a reader might still have. It's also where eye-witness accounts come in, or interview questions and answers, and even those neat quotations--direct quotations--taken directly and word-for-word by someone who was involved in the topic or witnessed the topic go down. Consider "the explanation" the "How" to match the Who, What, When, Where, and Why.


Additional Information

It's important, as a journalistic writer, to be able to stay honest with yourself and also figure out which information, while wonderfully interesting to you, is not as important or relevant to your readers. You have to know what people will want to know, and you have to give it to them fast. However, if you are especially close to your topic, you will find that you still have more to say. This is where the "additional information" section of the article comes in. It's the part of your article where you are finishing up and adding all the little details and connections--the things people don't really need to know. This goes at the end, instead of being woven through the middle, because it's also the part of the article the editor is most likely going to cut out before publication. In knowing that, it's important not to get too attached to your concluding sentence or wrap-up at the end of the additional and helpful information that you took the time to write. Instead, focus on the lead and the explanation, find a natural end, and then look for a transition to add in all the things you really wanted to say but knew weren't that important. A good editor will be able to help you find a balance--and usually without asking your permission.



Well, we did say "succinct".

That seems like quite a bit to write, doesn't it? Believe it or not, many news articles are between 200 and 500 words. This can stretch depending on the importance of the topic and how well your editor likes you, but it's rare to find a regular news story that goes far beyond that 500 word mark, even in today's overzealous market. There are many reasons for this, of course, and just as many of them come from tradition as come from pragmatism.

In the end, you want to keep this in mind: You are writing an article trying to provide the facts about a topic as quickly as possible to a person who needs to know the 'truth' of something but doesn't have the time to sit on the internet all day reading every article ever written, can't spend their time with the news channels on nonstop, can't actually be there (or wasn't actually there), and probably has better things to do than read your purple prose. You can do a topic justice in only a few words--you really can. It just takes some practice (and, probably, some editing).



Now What?

Now I want you to try your hand at writing a traditional news article! Consider it an exercise. Take an event you have witnessed recently (even something as simple as an argument between siblings), and try to write a 200-500 word "news story" about the situation. Keep in mind the inverted pyramid

Once you're satisfied with your article, send a NOTE to ^GeneratingHype with a link to your text. In the interest of time, try to have your articles written before 31 July.

This is a warm-up to a few contests coming down the pike, so make sure you stretch those writing muscles!


Where do we submit journalistic writing on dA?

Literature ---> Prose ---> Nonfiction ---> Journalism