Chris’ Debrief and News Writing recap

The editors need to take more charge, make sure you challenge the legalities and facts in every news story. CHECK, CHECK, CHECK. We must be sceptical and question everything. Journalism is there to check the facts.

You must come to the news conference and begin with the statement ‘I have got this…’, we cannot have excuses or plans. The formality needs to come back.

Overall the WINOL text stories on the site need improvement, it needs to be constantly updated like any other online news site. The subbing and production side of WINOL is good and is almost there technically, we can only get better.

What makes Chris happy?

Success, be successful – this is the ultimate goal to improve WINOL’s reputation and make us employable

The best possible thing that we can get is an inside scoop – see Christina’s cameras in court legislation story which she published before Sky News. You make your own luck in journalism, build your contacts up and be in the right place. *Always be in the know*

Subject + Verb + Object = HEADLINES

The subject and verb must agree on:

Tense

Plural

Case – the subject must be capable of producing the action of the verb

People should always be the focus of any news story, this is journalism. If they are used in the headline, it is easier to attach verbs to people this is a good tool for creating a hard hitting headline. *Always use the active voice*

Introductions should be in a simple and summary style, your top paragraph should include Who? What? Where? When? The easiest way to do this is to read newspapers and use them as examples. Just remember that the formula works, copy its structure!

The second paragraph should be your ‘the move follows’ paragraph; it is the explanation of your story. Use this as your why paragraph.

Punctuation needs checking, this is the main job for the subs they should not have to rewrite your whole story.

‘He said in a statement’ is a must for press releases and lifting quotes, just the verb ‘said’ sounds like you have had an interview and the quotes are direct from your work. For lifting, no attribution means no quote. Lifting quotes can be okay, use the phrases: ‘speaking to the press’, ‘told reporters’ and ‘told a newspaper’. There is no need to name the paper but try to limit lifting to 30 words maximum – roughly three sentences maximum before its classed as stealing. When attributing the source, remember to put the date on it the audience want to know how recent the news is. Use ‘said’, ‘says’ or ‘tweeted’. You can also assume that the press officer’s words are the individual’s too, never use ‘a spokesperson said’.

Quotes should only be used as comment, the best quotes are ‘its a dream come true’ or ‘its a nightmare’.

Comment vs Fact:

Fact is an independently verifiable truth statement that should always be in your voice and can be checked by definition. They are not always worth chasing, you have two options either to leave it out or to fudge it. To fudge it means to attribute it or to look it up – the phrase ‘who claims to be’ is very important for this. Comment is everything else.

There is no such thing as checking too many facts; the number one fatal error is that you must never pass comment off as fact.

The perfect combination for a written news story is facts + quotes + headline

Make sure there is a local angle – what is the Winchester perspective? Southampton? Eastleigh?

News writing should have no personality, a mid-market style with a sense of disinterested professionalism.

Put the function first before the name, obviously there are a few exceptions to the rule this would involve celebrities because their job is essentially being themselves. E.g. ‘US President Barack Obama’

Never put an ellipsis in a quote, instead use ‘someone said,[QUOTE], adding she said’. This break can add words up to a thousand words later, find the best quotes. Remember to filter!

Use quotes in your headlines to as impact and get your stories read, this is why we are writing them after all.

Pictures for written stories need to relate to the story and be people orientated ideally and all pictures must have captions.

Two last points to bear in mind are:

What is the best subject? – This will help with headlines and the angle of your story, it all revolves back around to planning

When is recently? – We need times and dates because news is essentially new stuff

*Be careful of commercial malice*

From now on the WINOL site must have simple, declarative and active sentences.

News Writing: Top lines

I have chosen three top lines from the most recent issues of every newspaper in my room at the moment. I aim to briefly discuss them in terms of news writing style and language – rating them in a traffic light method.

Daily Mail – 15^th November

“Profits have surged by more than a third at the nation’s second biggest energy supplier – as millions of families face fuel poverty because of soaring prices.” – 26 words AMBER

“The sex scandal engulfing former CIA chief David Petraeus and America’s commander in Afghanistan deepened yesterday when it emerged the two men had personally intervened in a messy child custody battle.” – 31 words RED

“Clashes broke out across Europe yesterday as millions took to the streets to protest against austerity measures.” – 17 words GREEN

The Daily Mail tends to go over the ideal word limit per para – not as concise as I’d expect news writing to be. Sometimes the top lines seem to get a bit confused and muddled, especially in the case of the 31 word long sentence. The paper ensures that it covers the relevant ‘Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?’ fundamentals.

Daily Express – 1^st November

“Women don’t really master the art of cooking until they are 55.” – 12 words GREEN

“The death toll from Hurricane Sandy reached 65 yesterday as America’s East Coast began counting the cost of the most devastating storm in its history.” – 25 words AMBER

“Sparkling in gold and with a twinkle in her eye, Dawn French is in love – and doesn’t care who knows it.” – 21 words AMBER

The Daily Express was the paper that stuck to the word limit guidelines most closely, with the impressive word count of just 12 introducing a feature article. Even though the publication fits within the news writing limits, top lines are still very descriptive and not as concise as they could be. This idea is in particular reference to the introduction to a Dawn French article. I would argue that perhaps all relevant information is not entirely covered in the top lines – information is quite vague.

 Daily Mirror- 6th December

“Veteran BBC presenter Stuart Hall was last night charged with child sex abuse.” – 13 words GREEN

“Lounging lovely Gwyneth Paltrow may look like she’s sitting pretty but she admits being torn between her film career and her role as a mum.” – 25 words AMBER

“The knives are out again between Gordon Ramsay and his father-in-law, who has now lodged court papers to CLOSE the TV chef’s restaurant empire.” – 26 words AMBER

The Daily Mirror is on the upper bound of the word limit, easiest to read but with stylistic features of tabloids where ‘close’ was capitalised for dramatic effect. The language is very informal and uses traditional English catchphrases, such as ‘sitting pretty’ which would appeal to the older demographic of the paper. I would praise the paper’s top lines in that they cover all relevant information necessary for the impending story – I am not left with any questions.

The Sun – 29^th November

“America last night slapped a ban on BP picking up new contracts to drill for oil and gas in the States.” – 21 words GREEN

“An elderly woman collapsed and died just ten minutes after yobs pelted her house with stones.” – 16 words GREEN

“A Brit woman dies of rabies after a nip from a tiny puppy, an inquest heard yesterday.” – 17 words GREEN

The Sun was under the word limit and uses simple yet adjusted language for the typical white van drivers such as ‘slapped’ and ‘pelted’. Top lines are generally very concise, although similar to the other tabloids’ use of very descriptive language. These intros are most idyllic for their purpose, according to the news writing guidelines provided by Brian.

Daily Star – 27^th November

“Hot Helen Flanagan was sensationally booted out of the TV jungle last night.” – 13 words GREEN

“A Canadian has been named the new Governor of the Bank of England.” – 13 words AMBER

“Celebrities are showing off their hair-raising efforts as the charity event Movember nears its climax.” – 15 words GREEN

Finding an article that wasn’t celebrity related was a real challenge in the Daily Star but they establish their target market early on and make it work for them. All of the top lines in the publication are below the ideal 20-25 words per para guideline but they still continue to include all relevant information. Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

Sensational language brandishes the paper as a typical tabloid along with the iconic red top incentive. The use of puns e.g. ‘hair-raising efforts’ for the awareness of the Movember campaign are common in tabloids to entertain the reader and essentially keep them focused.