1. Journalism Skills CM537 Week 2: The Shape of News

2. A news story is... A tightly ordered collection of facts presented in a logical order – from the most to the least important

3. Remember... A news story is not a chronology News stories have a definite structure The intro is key

4. Inverted Pyramid What is the story? How did it happen? Amplification Tie up loose ends

5. The Intro wwwww & h pick a news point or angle what and who essential somebody or something must do or experience something Intro begins with: Who? or What? Almost never: When? Where? Why? How?

6. Structuring the Story body of story reflects intro second par supports intro e.g “A bishop has condemned the growth of materialism as immoral”... 2 nd par names bishop

7. Structuring (cont.) once the what and who are clear... rest of the story unfolds in a logical sequence with facts, names, quotes, reactions, background, explanation, qualification Each paragraph must be a self-contained unit needing no further explanation Do not cram opening pars with routine detail or confuse with intro

8. Who Stories … focus on person “Comic Eddie Izzard fought back when he was attacked in the street by an abusive drunk, a court heard yesterday Daily Mail, from Hicks, p18

10. Prominent yet unnamed people “A Crown Court judge who crashed his Range Rover while five times over the drink drive limit was jailed for five months yesterday.” Daily Telegraph, Hicks, p.19

12. If unsure how to start, ask yourself... Is the focus on the person (or organisation) or what they have done or said? This will tell you if it is a Who? story or a What? story

13. Fact or Claim? Are you reporting something as fact – or reporting that someone has said something?

14. Fact Story

15. In claim stories or opinion- statement stories... 1.You must attribute 2.This may be general, not detailed 3.Hick’s rule: Start with what was said – unless the person or organisation saying it is well-known.

16. Claim Story – (notice the who)

17. Three causes of bad intros 1. Chronology 2. Source obsession 3. Overloading - from Harold Evans, Essential English

18. Any problems? 40 words

19. Same story, same position on page 1 No overloading (22 words)

20. Problems?

21. Three techniques to improve intros 1. The telegram 2. The important you 3. The key word from H Evans

25. Devices for linking ideas in Intros 1. The word after Better than “because” avoid: “following on from” or “in the wake of” 2. The word when

26. After is used: 1.Where the first part of the intro is an update on the second “A woman artist was on the run last night after threatening to shoot three judges in the Royal Courts of Justice.” Daily Mail (Hicks, P19)

27. After is used: 2. To link a problem to its solution “A six year-old boy was rescued by firemen after he became wedged under a portable building being used as a polling station.” Daily Telegraph. (Hicks, p19.)

28. After is used : 3. To help explain the first part of the intro “An aboriginal man was yesterday speared 14 times in the legs and beaten on the head with a nulla nulla war club in a traditional punishment after Australia’s courts agreed to recognise tribal justice.” Guardian (Hicks, P19)

29. When is used... For intros that have two key elements. Hicks said the “first part of the intro grabs the reader’s attention; the second justifies the excitement”. “A crazed woman sparked panic in the High Court yesterday when she burst in and held a gun to a judge’s head.” – The Sun. (Hicks, p21)

30. Intro Tense Intros are almost always in the past tense Sometimes in the present Occasionally in the future (especially on Sunday papers)