How do you write a newspaper Article?

Question

I have a project to do about make a newspaper article. I have researched information about what I will be writing about. But I just don't know how to start it to capture the reader's attention.

Thank you!

Answer 1

I would just add one more piece of advice to the already great listings:

Having a good vocabulary and using exciting verbs and adjectives can really spice it up. Notice the big difference here:

1. "The Oakland Raiders won against the San Diego Chargers 27-24 on a last-second field goal."

2. "The Oakland Raiders defeated the San Diego Chargers 27-24 on a last second field goal that sealed a dramatic comeback victory."

So keep in mind that other words can spice up the facts and engage the readers!

Answer 2

First, you need to know what type of article you plan to write. You have several basic choices: a straight news story, a feature, or an editorial. Each has different requirements.

If it is straight news, then think of an inverted pyramid. Include more information the the beginning and answer who, what, where, why, when, and how in the first several sentences. Do not express an opnion - just tell what happened.

If it is a feature, then you can expand on a description more, but establish your focus or main point, and then support it with details. Use quotes, facts, and observations to show the story, but still, do not use your opinion.

For editorials, you should express your opinion. This of it as an argument and that someone asks you why you feel that way. Then think of answering with several thorough reasons.

News writing can be fun if you start out with a clear idea of what type of article you are going to write. 

Best of luck with your writing!

Answer 3

Generally in journalism in the 1st paragraph is what is known as the 5 w's and h.  Meaning, who, what, when, where, why and how.  The subsequent paragraphs will expand on the 5 w's and h in further details.

Answer 4

You can't go wrong with the famous 'Who', What', Where', 'How', and 'Why'. Just list thoses in order, spend more time on anything unusual (Man Bites Dog), and keep editing untill the main facts stand out in the mass of information.

Answer 5

In journalism, start with the most important events first.  Example- A football team is down by ten points in the 4th quarter.  The game is eventually won on a last second field goal.   

"The Oakland Raiders defeated the San Diego Chargers 27-24 on a last second field goal that sealed a dramatic comeback victory.  Sebastian Janakowski's third field goal of the game gave Oakland a spot in the playoffs."

After being down ten points going into the fourth quarter, quarterback Carson Palmer threw for 50 yards on an exciting drive that resulted in a touchdown pass.  An Oakland defender then intercepted San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers, which later set up Janikowski's game winning field goal."

 

Don't start by discussing what happened in the first quarter first; that's not the exciting part.  Talk about the headline grabbing events.  Write your article so if the reader only read the first paragraph, they would still know the important part of the game- that Oakland won 27-24 on a last second field goal.  Good luck and let me know if this helps.

 

Answer 6

Anne, while Brandon and the others are correct about stating the most important facts, there are other styles of journalistic writing that are definitely better to use, especially outside of sports. If you pick up any major newspaper, you may notice that the sports section has a completely different writing style than the rest of the newspaper. This is because with most sports stories, you are basically finding a nice way to regurgitate facts. For a different take on a style to fit a non-sports story, try the inverted pyramid style. You may be thinking, 'this looks a lot similar to what everyone else said.' Well that is because it is similar. Unlike with sports writing however, a full newspaper article is going to be longer with more details, some important, some not so important.

Basically for the inverted pyramid style, start with the major facts: who, what, when, where, why (sometimes how depending on the topic). As the story progresses, include helpful and relative but not CRITICAL information, then information that is relevant but not needed to make the story (information for those who are most interested in your topic) such as contact info. Some people describe this style as going from most interesting information to least interesting information, which is also a good way to look at it.

Whatever style you decide to use, make sure you definitely have a good lead. Your lead is going to be your first graph, usually 2-3 sentences. This is where you want the major facts I mentioned above.

 

If you're the type of person who likes visual reminders: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zTi61_sK2KY/T5WKDjzZBhI/AAAAAAAAARw/G__Tte3fWIA/s640/inverted-pyramid.gif

 

Answer 7

I prefer to teach facts, objective reality, and avoid noise in my attempts to prove that emotional and objective writing is often wrought with dangers from historical biased people in the contemporary Zeitgeist of today. I have been a well-educated, veteran English, speech, and German teacher, raised in a chaotic time, too old to be gullible, too old to be free from Angst from nuclear wars, yet naive enough to believe in the Constitutions, the human rights of people and the promise of institutional laws. I am woke according to some people because I have studied the effects of totalitarian, dictatorships, and Alexander's satire of the Dunciad, as well as the Neo-Nazis of Charlotte, North Carolina. Perhaps, I was raised in the cultural spring-time of the 1960's and Civil Right and MLK era and Selma, Alabama, or Willie Nelson's outrageous song--Take this Job and Shove Ity, and I cannot forgot my Sturm and Drang of added wars, tribal xenophobia, Gaza grief.

Answer 8

If you are writing about a general subject, there are two key parts: the five W's and not over-editorializing. Simply put, always lead up top with the Who, What, When, Where, and Why, and make sure to stay away from first-person. In the journalism industry, being able to speak in the first person is reserved for columnists (who spend decades on their craft) and Op-Eds/Letters to the Editor.

After you've got that introduction sorted out, you'll want to dive into specifics. For example, if there was a fire, do officials know what caused it? If so, is there a quote available for insert? If not, are you able to get one? Let the officials or those quoted do the talking for you; as qualified professionals or victims of an incident, its their voices that readers will want to hear.

Perhaps there was a similar event that happened for a similar reason. What was the response like then? As a journalist, you are always looking to build upon the initial facts. If there was a similar incident, can you backlink to it in the article to improve Search Engine Optimization? These are some of the more in-depth ways to improve the article when adding touch ups.

Now. The most important part of writing a newspaper article is your editor. I like to say that next to every great writer is an even better editor. They'll help you to flesh the piece out and cover your tracks. Mistakes happen all the time and editors are key to reducing their frequency. Take all criticism as constructive, and keep on writing!

Answer 9

Newspaper articles should be informative rather than creative or clever. To start, ask yourself what information your article will try to communicate to your audience. Can you summarize this into one or two sentences?

Try talking it out as an explanation to a friend, parent, or pet before you write anything down. People are natural storytellers, so you might find yourself coming up with a natural logic of how to portray your article through speaking it first.

Answer 10

My journalism teacher always said the most important thing is to mean what you write and write what you mean. By that he meant be concise and to the point. It needs to have the facts stated in an unbiased opinion first and then a spin on how it impacts the reader in some way. Does it harm their favorite animal? Or is it impacting their children or parents? You find your own take on the topic and be concise.

Answer 11

A newspaper article starts with a lead. This is a summary statement of what is to follow. Following sentences support and give details about the lead.

Answer 12

The first paragraph gives the basic information of who, what, where, how and why. The following paragraphs are written in order of importance because editing occurs from the bottom of the piece up. Also, many article are written on two pages. The first page ideally grabs the readers attention so that he/she finds the continuation inside the paper.

Answer 13

These are all great ideas and tips for new writers. However, I would like to add here that through my own experience of writing I have learned that in journalism 'newsworthiness' is probably the most important aspect of a story. Newsworthiness should be the first consideration for writing any journalistic piece. Two important questions in evaluating newsworthiness of a piece are 'Why should the readers care?' 'How does that affect them?' That's why I think a writer should begin his endeavor with these questions. Answering these questions helps a writer develop a deeper sense of their audience and their own purpose in writing it. Even in academic writing we do keep in view our audience and purpose while writing.

Answer 14

Look at it like a competition....your competitors are the other articles in the paper, and the judge is your reader. Not only must you have well researched, accurate, and grammatically correct information...but you have to make your article stand out to the judge, your reader. How you do that is what gives you the reporters advantage. Some examples of this might be a catchy title, a photo, a statistical chart. You may also affect your readers by the style you choose to present your information in...humorous, statistical, sympathetic..etc.

Answer 15

A good title will definitely get your readers' attention. For example, "The Last Five Seconds of Field Drama".

For me, I would definitely want to read the article just from the title alone. However, the content of the article needs to flow with the title. If it doesn't, you'll lose credibility from your readers. I hope this will help along with what the other contributors have provided. Good luck!