News Stories - General
A news story is characterised by having quotes attributed to a reliable source.
For something to be considered newsworthy, it needs to be interesting to the reader and have some relevance to them.
For this reason, the story must cover the five Ws and one H – what, who, where, when, why and how.
News stories are constructed using the Inverted Pyramid system. This is where the most important information is presented at the start of the story, and the less important information towards the finish.
Using the Inverted Pyramid allows the reader quick access to the crux of the story and captures their interest so they will continue to read.
It also ensures that only the less important information is lost if the editor needs to chop the story to fit the page. (The exception to this rule is the information / tag line).
Generally, stories are written with:
One thought per sentence,
One sentence per paragraph (although this is flexible), and
Active voice.
Always observe word economy when writing – don’t use two words when you can use one (there are a few exceptions to this).
Story Types
There are several types of stories, they include:
Hard News
Soft News
Sports
Features
Briefs
Hard news is time critical, is 350 words or less, and usually appears on the odd pages of Army News.
These stories are straight to-the-point. Just the facts and observe word economy.
Soft news is not as time critical, is also about 350 words and usually appears on the even pages of Army News.
They can be less clinical but still observe word economy.
With soft or hard news, although you should aim for 350 words or less, focus on using only as many words needed to tell the story. Some stories may go over 350 words.
In sports writing, ensure to include what the event was; the highlights; the final score (mentioned early in the story); who won; factors affecting the game; and high scorers.
Features are longer stories and allow for descriptive language. Although their layout is similar to a general news story, the opening paragraphs usually give a vivid description to set the scene.
Briefs can be 50 words, simply covering the five Ws and H and do not include quotes.
First Paragraph – The Lead
Your lead is what hooks the reader, sparks their interest and encourages them to read further.
It should be about 25 words and explain the what, who, where and when of the story. These four points give the story relevance to the reader.
What – the news itself, what happened.
It should be the most important/interesting part of the story.
Who – identifies the people involved.
If they are news makers, mention name early ie Prime Minister John Howard, but if non-news makers, mention their name later e.g., Sydney-based soldiers.
Where – the location of the occurrence.
When – the date of occurrence.
Written as month then day e.g.: December 11.
If the event occurred quite some time ago, place the date later in the story. Avoid the term “recently”.
Also, be aware of the publication date. An event may be coming up at the time of writing, but may have occurred by the publication date. In this case you would not write “…will be happening on March 1…” but write “… happened on March 1” as an example.
Remember: NEWS FIRST, THEN THE PERSON, unless the person is the story, such as The Queen or the Prime Minister.
Capitalising:
The first three characters, including spaces, of the lead paragraph are capitalised, e.g.:
A SOLDIER who was old…; AN old soldier…; OLD soldiers…;
SOLDIERS who are old…
Note words are not partially capped. In compound words, such as “SYDNEY-based…” only the first word is capped.
The Second Paragraph
The second par expands of the first par, providing more detail. This usually covers the how and why of the story.
The second par is often where you introduce the person who you are attributing the story. This is in the form of an indirect quote, backed up by a direct quote in the third par.
Checking your work:
Check TAAGS when you have written the story:
Tense: (must be consistent, generally past tense)
Active voice: was and by are sure indicators of passive voice.
Attribution: A hard news story should have quotes from a reliable source
Grammar & Punctuation
Spelling: Particularly names
General Writing Considerations
Only abbreviate ranks for a particular person. If talking about soldiers in general, or more than one person of the same rank, spell the word out, e.g.:
Cpl Blogg was the soldier…
The soldiers were corporals Blogg and Smith…
The corporals involved…
Use “more than” instead of “over” when referring to numbers. This is the exception to the word conservation rule.
Use “because of” instead of “due to”.
Use “before” instead of “prior to”.
Use “proud” instead of “proud of” (At end of sentence)
Practice – noun
Practise – verb
Ask yourself: who is the story for, what is the story / why have the story, what is its relevance and timeliness?
What makes this story different from ones like it? Is there something new or special in this story, if so, that could be worth mentioning early in the piece.
If editing a submission that is written in chronological order, review the edited version and look for what is most significant. Put this towards the top.
If a story is not ‘hard news’, consider ways to spice it up and increase its appeal. This may mean a slight departure from the ‘what, when, who, where’ method. The hook must still tie in to the rest of the story however.
Quotes must flow with the story. They cannot be disconnected to the introduction line nor repeat the introduction line. They should elaborate on the introduction line.
Quotes should not simply state undeniable facts. They should be used to provide more detail of the facts or provide a point of view of events.
“That” is used when the information in the sentence is essential, eg:
“The dog that bit a postman will be put down.”
“Which” is used when the information is not essential, and that part of the sentence should be placed inside commas, eg:
“Dogs, which have four legs and bark, can be trained to bite postmen.”
Can use “who” when referring to people.
Quotes
A hard news story should have quotes from a reliable source
If a submitted story does not have any quotes, ask the originator if you can change some of their sentences into quotes by them.
There are three types of quotes: incomplete, direct, and indirect.
Incomplete quote examples:
Australian soldiers were “among the best in the world,” according
to Defence Minister Brendan Nelson
Dr Nelson described Australian soldiers as “among the best
in the world”.
Both examples are considered active voice. Notice in the second example the end quote is before the full stop.
Indirect quote followed by direct quote:
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said Australian soldiers were among the best in the world.
“Their efforts have been praised by other nations and all Australians should be proud,” Dr Nelson said.
The direct quote builds on the indirect quote and should not be a new thought. Note the quote finishes with a comma, then end quote, followed by title and last name.
An indirect quote must be used to change the line of thought.
Introducing New Characters
New characters are introduced by unit, rank and full name, eg:
CO 1RAR Lt-Col Steven Bloggs said…
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said…
Note no commas are used.
In the case of civilians, titles (such as Dr, Miss, etc) are dropped.
Post nominals such as awards and degrees are also dropped, with the exception of VC.
Although not grammatically incorrect, for brevity avoid this method:
The CO of 7 Sig Regt, Lt-Col Kathy Blog, said…
Note “the” is used and the rank and full name has a comma either side:
Once a character is introduced with an indirect quote, a direct quote typically follows.
This finishes with a comma, end quote, rank and last name of the character, followed by “said”, eg:
“The day really brought everyone together,” Lt-Col Bloggs said.
“The ADF has done a great job,” Mr Howard said.
Note titles are now used for civilians.
Direct quote, followed by another direct quote:
“Our soldiers are among the best in the world,” Dr Nelson said.
“Their efforts have been praised by other nations and all
Australians should be proud.”
Note the second paragraph finishes with full stop, end quote.
Three direct quotes in a row:
“Our soldiers are among the best in the world,” Dr Nelson said.
“Their efforts have been praised by other nations and all
Australians should be proud.
“If only the Air Force could get their act together.”
Note the quote is not closed in the second paragraph if another direct quote follows.
Direct quote, indirect quote, direct quote:
“All members have the responsibility,” Ms Joe said.
Ms Joe said personnel needed to reconcile all travel by May 2.
“Failure to do so would be really bad,” she said.
Note we now use “she said” / “he said”, which would be dropped if another direct quote followed.
Interviews
Remove distractions
Listen to the interviewee. They might answer several of your questions at once, and give you ideas for further questioning.
Use the digital voice recorder but also take written notes.
Voice Recordings must be kept for 5 years.
Ensure you get correct spelling of person’s name, plus rank and position.
Prepare a list of questions you would like answered, but let the conversation flow naturally.
Research the subject before the interview.
Ensure the interviewee understands the interview is being recorded.
