When compared to other types of writing, composing a news article is more different. Usually, a news article will report on current events that occur locally, nationally, or internationally. Even for school magazines and assignments, students will be asked to publish news articles on events that happen within the campus. Especially, when writing a news article, you will have to focus on the target audience and concisely present the relevant information. In case, you are unsure how to write a news article, read this blog.
Here, we have shared the essential news writing guidelines. Additionally, we have also presented the steps and tips for writing a news article.
Understanding how to write a news story will help you shape a better career in journalism. Also, it will aid you in improving your writing skills and effectively conveying information within a limited word count.
What is a News Article?
A news article is a type of writing that concisely provides factual information about a particular event to a reader. Typically, news stories will report on noteworthy current affairs. For example, a news article can be about any announcement, research, or anything related to legislation, education, sports, politics, public health, election results, and art.
When you write a blog post or opinion article, you will have the freedom to share your opinion about the topic of discussion. But, in news articles, you should not add your personal opinions or speculations. Moreover, news articles should not contain jargon found in research papers and essays. Most importantly, a news article should be written in a formal tone and from a third-person point of view.
Different Types of News Articles
Based on the location of events, news articles are commonly classified into three types. They are
Local News Article: It reports on current events that happen within a specific area or community.
National News Article: It reports on current events that occur within a specific country.
International Article: It reports on current events or social issues in one or more countries abroad.
Even, you can compose news articles for school magazines or the journals of a research institution or any other organization.
No matter what type of news article you write, you should make sure to include the following about a particular event.
- A catchy and informative headline
- Facts of the event
- Summary of the event
- Interview quotes from expert sources or sentiments of the public about the event.
Also Read: A Simple Guide on How to Write a Law Review Article
Understand How to Structure a News Article
Depending on the guidelines of the institution, you can either write short-form or long-form deeply investigated news articles. Long-form news articles may comprise thousands of words. But the short news articles should be around 500 words.
In case, you are unaware of how to structure a news story, just organize the ideas in the form of an inverted pyramid. It will help you to effectively structure the paragraphs in your article.
Find here, how to compose a well-structured news article in an inverted pyramid format.
- Start with the most significant and timely information
- Provide the key facts with supporting details
- Conclude with relevant details, interview quotes, and a summary
Always begin the first paragraph of your news article with an attention-grabbing topic sentence. This will help you to quickly hook your readers. Remember, the topic sentence that you create should concisely describe the key point of a particular event.
Learn How to Write a News Article
Are you unsure of how to write a news article? If yes, then simply follow the effective steps for writing a news article as suggested below. It will help you come up with impactful news stories.
Choose an Event or a Topic
Before you begin writing a news article, first, pick a newsworthy story that is unique, impactful, and active. In our world, a lot of events are happening. But not all events might be interesting to the readers. So, consider the preferences of your target readers and choose to talk about a topic relevant to them.
It is always better to touch on current events that have happened within the community of your target readers. However, the topic of discussion should be new to the readers and make them well-informed.
Research and Gather Information
Next, conduct an in-depth research on the chosen topic or event. It will help you to come up with a credible and well-structured news article. Moreover, performing research will aid you in gathering important information.
Especially, when you do research, make sure to find answers to the 5 Ws about your news topic.
- Who was involved?
- What happened?
- Where did it happen?
- Why did it happen?
- When did it happen?
- How did it happen?
All these questions will help you get a better understanding of events so that you can easily summarize the news to your readers.
Interview the Witnesses
To get more details about the event, interview the witnesses of the event or a person who is directly involved in the story. Furthermore, to obtain different perspectives on an event, you can also choose to interview secondary sources such as a person who is close to the primary sources or a person who is affected by that event.
However, interviewing a person is not an easy task. Keep in mind to adhere to the journalism rules. Particularly, when interviewing, disclose the sources that you are a reporter. Also, during the interview, record or take notes on all the key points. Most importantly, be transparent with what you are doing and the purpose of the interview.
Compile Facts
Once you gather all the necessary details about the news topic, prepare a list of what needs to be included in your article. In specific, divide all the collected facts into three categories- information that is important for the article, details that are interesting but not vital, and related information that is not significant for the article’s purpose.
Especially, when you organize all the facts, be as specific as possible so that you can easily trim down the unnecessary details and compose a concise article with valid information or facts. Moreover, when you compile facts, consider the type of news article you are writing. Usually, in news articles, the information should be presented in an unbiased manner.
Know your Target Readers
Get a clear understanding of to whom you are writing the news article. This will help you determine the tone of your article and what details to include in the story. Moreover, it will make it easy for you to format a better outline for your news article so that you can share the relevant information with the right audience.
To know about your target readers, find answers to these questions
- What is the average age of the readers?
- What is the location of your readers- local, national, or international?
- Why does the reader read your article?
- What does your reader want out of your article?
In addition to that, be certain to identify an angle suitable to make an article that is unique to you.
Create an Outline
Next, sketch an outline for your news article as per the inverted pyramid structure. Particularly, when drafting an outline, take into account your target readership and publication so that your work will satisfy your readers’ expectations about complexity.
For example, if your news story is intended for a general news publication, your readership may be larger than that of a specialized publication or community.
Always create a catchy headline that grabs the attention of the readers and succinctly summarizes the news story. After conducting your study, compile the key findings and organize them into the appropriate pyramid “buckets”. But these buckets should be arranged according to priority.
Compose the News Article
Elaborate on the outline and start writing a well-structured article according to the news writing guidelines. First, to grab the reader’s attention, begin the article with a catchy leading sentence relevant to your news topic. Like a thesis statement of a research paper, the leading sentence should concisely state your article topic. Also, in the introduction, you should inform your readers, what your news article is about and why it is important.
Following that, you should provide detailed information about the event with quotes from interviews and facts that are relevant to the leading statement. In specific, you should discuss what happened in the event, when and where it happened, who was involved, and why it is newsworthy.
Finally, you should wrap up your news article with a good concluding sentence. It can be a restatement of a leading sentence or potential future developments related to the topic. Remember, your conclusion should provide some takeaway for your readers.
Proofread and Edit
Lastly, after you finish writing your news article, check for the facts included in it. Also, carefully look for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors in the content and rectify them all if there are any.
Note that the news article that is ready for publication should be error-free and original. So, improve the overall quality of your news story by revising it. You can also get help from an experienced editor for proofreading your article.
Also Read: Learn How to Write an Academic Article
Important News Writing Guidelines
Listed below are some important guidelines you should follow when writing a news article.
- Headlines should be short and snappy. Moreover, it should be written in the present tense, even for a past event. For a future event, the headline should contain the word ‘to’. Avoid using the articles- a, an, and the in the headline.
- Always write the news article in the third person point of view.
- The paragraphs in a news article should be short.
- For the first reference, mention a person’s full first name or both initials.
- Never narrate a news story chronologically. Follow the inverted pyramid writing style.
Conclusion
Hopefully, by now you will have gained a better understanding of how to write a news article. In case, you are still not confident enough to handle news article writing, feel free to contact us.
