1. Newspaper Articles vs. Informative Essays

2. Content Basic facts – so everyone can understand.
Interviews with witnesses
Vivid details
Simple word choice

3. Organization Headlines, bylines, place lines, leads
Start with the basics
End with the significance
Body is for facts, interviews, etc.

4. Tone/ PoV Still 3rd person – no first person pronouns
More acceptable to include opinions – “It appears…” “It seems…”
Breaking News – Intense, Urgent, Tone
Light-Hearted News – Cheerful, Humorous Tone
Serious Topics – Somber, Knowledgeable Tone

5. Elements of a newspaper article
Headline –
Acts as the title
Catches readers’ attention
Sums up the story
Usually lacks articles (a, an, the) and is written in the present tense.
Byline –
Writer’s name
Writer’s specialty (crime, sports, politics, etc.)
Usually found in larger newspapers

6. Elements of a newspaper article
Place Line –
Where the story begins or takes place.
Written in capital letters as the first words of the article followed by a dash
Lead –
The opening section or paragraph.
Provides basic information before diving into details.
Most likely answers what, who, when, where.

7. Establishing tone Word choice – vivid word choice creates tone.
Pronouns – Do you address the audience or not?
Sentence Structure – short, choppy sentences or longer more complex sentences.
Content – what do you focus on?

8. Tone discussion Read your assigned article and annotate for tone.
Have one tone word in mind and be prepared to discuss it with someone else.

9. Tone must match purpose/ content!
For your article
Tone must match purpose/ content!