UNIT 1: WRITING FOR PRINT MEDIA (NEWSPAPER)

WHY DO PEOPLE READ NEWS AND FEATURES?

. to widen knowledge • to reduce uncertainty • to deepen understanding • to solve problems • to gain inspiration • to be entertained

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NEWS AND INFORMATION

In the railway station, you might have noticed the board displaying the train timings. That is information. If a new train timetable is issued by the railways replacing the existing one with changes in train timings, that becomes news.

According to Cobb (2010), there are four types of readers: -

Heavy Readers Reading newspapers between 16 minutes to 2 hours, Read front page, columnist, assumes that newspaper content are more complete than TV Sporadic Readers Reading the newspaper less than 16 minutes, reading an editorial column and advertisement. Scanner Readers Scan the information Apathetic Readers Not interested to read newspaper, Often assume there is no information in newspaper

News writing Features writing GENRES OF PRINT MEDIA News writing Features writing

CONCEPT OF NEWS - News must be factual - News is primarily about people, what they say and do - What is news today is often not news tomorrow

NEWS WRITING FORMAT/ STRUCTURE Choosing the correct structure to benefit your readers is critical to the success of your story.

1 Headline/title tells what the story is about. usually only four or five words. It tries to attract the interest of the reader by telling them what the story is about, in a short and interesting way 2 Byline/author who wrote the story 3 Place line & date Where the story reported 4 Lead tells the most important facts. It will set the scene and summarise the main points of the article: who, what, when, where (how, why) 5 Body provides more detail about the event, in particular it answers the questions how and why 6 Ending gives something to think about

B. FEATURE WRITING Focus on facts likely to entertain, inspire. Because of their emphasis, they are also called human interest or color stories.

FEATURE WRITING FORMAT/ STRUCTURE LEAD The lead should grab the reader’s attention and reflect the focus of the story. The lead should transition into the nutgraph. Summary feature leads are the easiest to write and are often used for news features. NUTGRAPH The nutgraph, which is the paragraph that expresses the focus of the story, should be simple and direct. BODY The body should continue to reflect the focus of the story. Blend in the facts with descriptive writing and sprinkle in in the form of paraphrases and direct quotes. END The conclusion should complement, not compete with, the lead. It should present or reinforce the theme or point of the story.