UNIT 2.4: STRUTURE OF NEWS & INVERTED PYRAMID FORMAT News stories in all media share some common elements Every news story is based on one main media-the focus The basic news story structure includes a headline and three general parts: a beginning, called the “lead”; a middle, called the “body” and an ending PARTS OF A NEWS REPORT Headline US to Investigate Deadly Strike in Somalia October 01, 2016 2:11 AM Carla Babb Byline Placeline Lead KO OLINA, HAWAII — The U.S military will investigate conflicting reports on Wednesday’s deadly U.S airstrike in Somalia, U.S Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said “In this instance as in all instances, when questions are raised about the actions of U.S airstrikes, we pursue them,” Carter told reporters during a news conference in Hawaii Carter said the U.S had not yet looked into this particular airstrike, but would share the results once an investigation is complete Body quotation He added that there was no other military more committed to the “principles of openness and transparency and accountability” than the United States “That also acknowledges the fact that there have been mistakes made over time and we try to stick to, stand up and hold ourselves accountable when that happens,” he said Somalia's government has demanded an explanation from the United States for the strike, which Somali officials said killed 13 members of local government forces in Galmudug, a Somali federal state The structure of a news report follows a specific structure The parts of this structure are identified and defined below: Headline: It catches your eyes and sums up the story It is usually in larger font and often bolded Byline: This tells you who wrote the article and sometimes gives you the journalist’s specialty Placeline: It tells you where the story originated Lead: This gives the most important information very briefly (usually who, what, when and where) Body: It supplies additional information Tells the rest of 5W’s if they were not included in the lead, elaborate on the lead, expands on information introduced in the lead It is divided into small paragraphs Facts: Every news article includes simple, true statements about what happened, such as “The flooding set the building’s security system off at 5:15 a.m.” Quotations: These retell, word for word, what someone actually said Usually these quotations come from witnesses at the scene, or experts on a subject Photograph and caption – sometimes articles have a photograph, and a sentence explaining the photograph THE INVERTED PYRAMID Most of the stories we will consider will be written in the inverted pyramid structure, although three kinds of stories follow a slightly different formula As you learn to write these basic newspaper stories, keep in mind the news values, those criteria of news worthiness that always guide journalists in choosing what readers want and need to know, and help reporters select what information to include in their stories and how to put that information into an inverted pyramid order Advantages of Inverted Pyramid Offers quick reading Features less repetition Offers easier editing (easier to cut and paste) Offers faster headline preparation Easier to add to a story (as well as cut it) Allows for faster writing of a story (can it in your head, from a phone booth even) Offers a quick organizing tool (Hicks et al., 2016; Sloan & Parcell, 2002; Whitaker et al., 2013) PRACTICAL EXERCISES Exercise 1: Writing a news report Writing the news story from the information below Remember put your key points in order of priority then write in the system of the inverted pyramid Assume that all these events happened within the area served by your newspaper, radio or television station A school bus ran off City Road in Suva, narrowly missed an electricity pole and came to rest in a garden Most of the bus windows were smashed There were more than 30 children on the bus They were going to Martyr School It was a 36-seater bus All the children escaped serious injury Some of them jumped out of the bus and grazed themselves Eye-witnesses said the children were helped from the bus screaming and shouting and in a state of panic This happened this morning Exercise 2: Writing a news report Writing the news story from the information below Remember to write the headline, lead and put your key points in order of priority then write in the system of the inverted pyramid Assume that all these events happened within the area served by your newspaper, radio or television station In July last year, Mr Sione Tuanuku went to work for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Nuku`alofa, cleaning out the dog pound and caring for the dogs Yesterday he was sacked by the manager of the dog pound, Mrs Anita Chan She said that he had mistreated one of the dogs Mr Tuanuku said: "The dogs always barked at me and sometimes they tried to bite me I didn't like it Yesterday I got fed up with one dog that tried to bite me, so I bit the dog in the leg to teach it a lesson Now I have been dismissed from my job." ... a slightly different formula As you learn to write these basic newspaper stories, keep in mind the news values, those criteria of news worthiness that always guide journalists in choosing what... Sloan & Parcell, 2002; Whitaker et al., 2013) PRACTICAL EXERCISES Exercise 1: Writing a news report Writing the news story from the information below Remember put your key points in order of priority... and shouting and in a state of panic This happened this morning Exercise 2: Writing a news report Writing the news story from the information below Remember to write the headline, lead and put your