Intro to Newspaper

Newspaper Style Writing for the newspaper is different from the writing that you do in English class. We follow the rules and guidelines of the Associated Press (AP style) and format stories differently.

Basic AP Style Dates When used with a date, abbreviate the months Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. like so. If there is no date, spell it out. Do not say “on” a date. It is simply the date. Ex. School starts on Aug. 24. (NO) School starts Aug. 24. (YES) Do not use “tomorrow” or “yesterday” Use the day of the week if necessary, capitalize but do NOT abbreviate the day

Basic AP Style Names The first time the person is mentioned, use both first and last name. After that, refer to the person by last name only. Do not use Ms., Mrs., or Mr. unless the person is deceased. Titles Capitalize formal titles before names: President Obama Lowercase if appear without a name or follow a person’s name: “the president…” or “…Obama, president.”

Basic AP Style Numerals NEVER START A SENTENCE WITH A NUMBER!!! If you feel you must begin with a number, spell it out…the only exception is to use a numeral when expressing a year Numbers from 1-10 are written as numerals Numbers above 10 are spelled out

Basic AP Style Punctuation Single space after a period No comma before and in a series Red, white, and blue (wrong) – English class Red, white and blue (right) – Newspaper class Commas and periods go inside the quotation marks Very seldom, if ever, will we use exclamation points, bold, italics, underline or all caps in Newspaper class We are here to deliver news and inform, not emphasize

Basic AP Style State abbreviations sometimes differ from postal abbreviations (ex. Calif. vs CA) and well-known cities do not require it’s state (ex. Chicago and New York) Time spell out noon and midnight 1 p.m. not 1:00 p.m. a.m. and p.m. written like so

Types of Stories: News: informs the reader of current events Feature: lighter read, human-interest story Sports: covers athletes and athletic events Editorials/Opinions: conveys opinions of the staff, includes reviews

All Stories: NO BIAS!!!!!!! Avoid bias through use of quotes Varied research and sources Do not state your own opinion or favor a side (even in sports!!) Proven facts and statistics from studies or credible articles

Notes on Quotes Stand alone in their own paragraph Report only the interviewee’s answer, not the question you asked as a reporter Should serve a purpose: emphasize or describe a point or feeling, reveal character, present opinion or point of view Should be pretty frequent, quotes describe things that the writer cannot and bring life, character and perspective to the story

Notes on Quotes Paraphrase when given a list of facts Ex. If you asked Coach Liles what events are included in indoor track versus outdoor track, paraphrase his response. Avoid repetitive quotes: Reilly Swennes, senior, said she enjoys writing. “I enjoy writing,” Swennes said.

Quotes: Attribution Attribute all quotes, direct and indirect Class is lowercase, include with first reference Use said, do not feel the need to spice up the attribution (exclaimed, proclaimed, debated, etc.) * General format of a quote: * “…..,” someone said. Not “…..,” said someone. Exception: when including the title/class. “Newspaper is great,” said Erika Snyder, senior. “We have the best teacher,” Snyder said. Lowercase class

Writing Inverted pyramid Most important facts at the beginning (lede or lead) Facts become less significant as you move through the story

Intro to Leads Most important part of the article, gives summary and draws reader’s interest Generally the first paragraph, words Use who, what, where, when but generally leave out why or how for the article’s body Summary Lead: News stories, summarize the event, informative Anecdotal lead: Feature stories, tells a story

Other Notes: Do not use contractions Do not use first or second Point of View “I, we, us, our” “YOU” Use the active voice rather than passive voice Who did what, not what was done by whom Be concise and clear rather than colorful and wordy Use the past tense Pre-season and pre-coverage articles are exceptions

Ppts in depth on:  Ap style and grammar  News  Sports  Features  Editorials  Leads and quotes/interviews  Photography/design **NOTES to self: Good reference articles: writing-for-young-journalists/ writing-for-young-journalists/ ml ml ing.journalism.news ing.journalism.news Four Bananas text…pg 169 (blue book ) Use first week along with Hornick’s Day 1 ppt?…send to others Summer coverage? Newsworthy things that happened since school let out…  Library  Pluto  Stadium?—groundbreaking and since…