1. Producing the Perfect News Story
Creating Articles That Shine
Producing the Perfect News Story

2. Not Sure Where to Begin?
Choose a topic (Sometimes you are assigned a topic)
Not fiction; you can’t create a story.
Most of the time your assigned department will limit your topics to that area: high school sports, school board news, curriculum changes, etc.

3. Do your interviews What topic did YOU choose?
What interviews did you do? Why?
What interviews are you still planning? Why?
What did you discover through your interviews?

4. Search for the best quotes
Quotes are word-for-word
Good quotes give important details
Good quotes help the reader understand the event or situation
Good quotes create emotion
Good quotes help the reader experience the event
What is YOUR best quote? Why?

5. Good Reporting means…
Covering all the important details your reader wants/needs to know.
Checking and rechecking details for accuracy.
Checking for correct spelling of names.
Citing all sources…”According to …” or “…said…”

6. Fairness and Objectivity
Set your own biases aside.
Report conflicting opinions
Go back to an important source to check your details or your quotes if you are unsure

7. Create a Great Lead…
Think about what makes your story unique: whom it is about, what happened, where it happened, what the result of the event would be.
Pique your reader’s interest so he or she will WANT to read the whole story.
Organize the lead to catch the reader’s attention on the first two words.
Make the lead relevant to your readers.

8. Looking at YOUR lead How did you begin your lead?
Why did you choose this detail?
What was your second choice? Why?
Ask the class which of the two would make them want to read your story.
What other details did you include? Why?
What details are you saving for the rest of the story?
What lead details are you going to expand in the story?

9. After the lead… Convey as much information as possible
Convey the information quickly and efficiently.
Use the inverted pyramid format—least important last.
Attribute quotes
Attribute other details you got from sources to make your article more credible.

10. Second draft…
Use AP stylebook to revise your writing for spelling, capitalization, usage, grammar.
Use AP stylebook for using numbers, abbreviations, etc. ( This is not always the same as literary writing)
Check AP stylebook for paragraphing, indentation, quoting, etc.
Newspapers have specific formats and fonts. Check with your editor before downloading your article.

11. Begin writing…
Check your pattern of organizing your details after the lead. Make any necessary changes. Note where you want to get further detail before you submit your final copy.
REMINDERS:
wps. Longer acceptable in leads with a lot of very important information. OK to use two sentences.
1-3 spp LIMIT.
Single space paragraphs and between paragraphs.