Writing for Media for II Semester students

Writing News Reports

A news report is similar to a news article. It is the basic facts of a story that is currently happening or that just happened. Writing a news report is easy if you report on the subject, conduct good interviews, and write in a style that is clear, concise, and active.

A.    Collecting Information for the Report

1.      Figure out what to write about. News reports are about something that is happening now or that just recently happened. Current issues, events, crimes, and investigations are good subjects for news reports. Other styles of journalism are better for things like profiles, advice articles, and opinion pieces.

·         Ask around for story ideas, especially government officials and public relations representatives.

·         Scan the news to see what is already happening. This could lead to you finding other story ideas that are related.

·         Search your city or county’s website or directory for local events that are coming up.

·         Attend city council meetings to find out if there are any local issues happening in your area.

·         Sit in on trials at the courthouse and see if anything interesting happens that you could report on.

2.      Go to the scene. 

Once you find out what you want to write about, go there. You might need to go to the scene of a crime, a business, the courthouse, or an event. It will be difficult to write about something that you are not present at.

·         Write down everything you see and everything that takes place.

·         Record and take notes of any speeches that occur at events. Make sure to get the names of the speakers.

3.      Conduct interviews. Who you interview will depend on what you are reporting on. You will want to get a broad range of quotes for your report, so try to interview an array of people. Good people to interview are event coordinators, lawyers, police, business owners, volunteers, participants, and witnesses. If you need to find people to schedule interviews with them, use the internet to find contact information. You can also interview people directly at the scene, depending on your news report topic.

·         If the story is controversial or political, make sure to get both sides of the issue.

·         Prepare sample questions, but don’t necessarily stick to them.

·         Think of an interview as a conversation.

·         Record the interview.

·         Make sure to get the full names (spelled correctly) of anyone you interviewed.

4.      Transcribe the interviews and speeches. When you are back at your home or your office, transcribe the interviews and any speeches. Listen to your recordings and type out everything (or at least the most important parts) of the interviews and speeches. This will make finding information for the report and any quotes easier.

5.      Do research on the subject. News reports are about what happened in the moment, but it is good to do basic research on the subject. Research any companies, people, or programs that you are reporting on to make sure you have your facts straight. Double check spelling of names, dates, and any information you have gathered to make sure it is correct.

            B. Writing the News Report

1.     Write a headline. Your headline should be accurate, clear, and easy to understand. Use key words from the story and keep it straight and plain. Use active and short action verbs in your headline. The headline should accurately lead readers to what the report is about.

·         The headline should be attention grabbing, but not exaggerate or mislead.

·         Capitalize the first word of the headline and any proper nouns after that.

·         For example, your headline might read: "Armed robbery at Portland farmer’s market"

2.     Write a byline and place line. The byline goes directly underneath the headline. This is where you put your name and clarify who you are. The placeline is where the article takes place and is written in all caps. Use AP Style state abbreviations.

·         An example of a byline: Sue Smith, Staff Reporter

·         An example of a placeline: EUGENE, ORE.

3.     Use a hard news lead. A news lead (or lede) is the opening paragraph of a report or article and is often considered the most important part. A news report is not the time for a verbose and artful lead. Keep your lead to the point, fitting as much of the basic information as you can into your lead. A lead is only one or maybe two sentences and summarizes the news story; the who, what, when, where, why, and how of you story should be emphasized in the lead.^[7]

·         Don't include people's names in the lead (save that information for later), unless everyone knows who they are (i.e. President Obama).

·         For example: A Seattle man was caught selling stolen cars at his auto shop on Tuesday when a police officer posed as a customer.

4.     Write the body of your report. This is going to consist of the facts, but more detailed and specific than in your lead. Use the information you collected and gathered at the scene and in interviews. Write your report in third person and from a neutral perspective. Make sure your story conveys information and not an opinion.

5.     Include quotes in the news report. Quotes can be included in your news report to convey information. Always introduce who you are quoting followed by the exact words that they said. Use their full name the first time you mention them then only use their last name.

·         For example: Mary Quibble has been the director of the children’s theater for six years. “I love the children and how much they care about these performances,” Quibble said. “There are 76 kids in the programs. They range in age from 7 to 16 years old.”

6.     Always include attributions. Unless the information is common knowledge, always attribute where you got it. You can get in trouble for not giving credit to someone. This is also important in case a fact is wrong, then it will be known who got the fact wrong and that it was not you.

·         For example: The woman ran out of the house at 11 p.m. when she heard the burglar enter, police said.

7.     Write in hard news style. You don’t want to use overly descriptive language when writing a news report. Just stick to the facts and keep the sentences short and concise. Use active language and strong verbs.

·         Speak in past tense when writing a news report.

·         Start a new paragraph whenever there is a new thought (this might mean you have paragraphs that are as short as a sentence or two)

Write your news report in AP Style.