Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Cordillera Administrative Region
Division of Baguio
BAGUIO CITY NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
NEWS Governor Pack Road, Baguio City

WRITING
News is commonly referred as an acronym of North, East, West and South.
Probably because writers gather news materials from any of these
geographical directions. In the 15th-century, news was the abbreviation of
the term “new things.”
Ceciliano Jose Cruz defines news as “a timely and factual narration of
past, present and future event.” This could be presented through oral,
written, or audio-visual medium. It is oral if the medium used is the radio,
written if it is through newspaper, magazines and other reading materials
and audio-visual if it is through television, movie and internet.
Rachel E. Khan defines news as “an accurate and timely account of an
idea, issue or event that affects a significant number of people.”
Charles Anderson Dana, editor of the New York Sun said, “If a dog bites a
man, that is not a news; but if a man bites a dog, then that is a news.”

QUALITIES OF NEWS
1. Accuracy. It refers to the correctness of statements, names, figures
and other information.
2. Objective. The news does not take side and devoid of any impartiality.
3. Factual. It consists of actual persons and events with nothing
invented.
4. Balance. It gives proper emphasis on each fact in relation to other
facts. It also gives attention to both sides in a controversial issue.
5. Concise. It is short enough to contain the most important facts.
6. Timely. It refers to the freshness or immediacy of the event.

ELEMENTS OF NEWS
A news story can only be considered as news if it awakens the interest of the
readers or listeners.
1. Prominence. It deals with persons, places, things, and situations,
which are familiar to or of importance to the reader.
2. Proximity. It refers to the nearness of the events to the readers.
3. Immediacy. It refers to the timeliness of the event.
4. Oddity. Any unusual or deviation from the normal course of events
like a pregnant man, bearded woman and other newsworthy data or
event can awaken the interest of the reader.
5. Human Interest. It deals with events which are appealing to the
emotion.
6. Conflict. It deals with any disagreement between man and his
fellowman, man and nature or man and himself.
7. Names. It involves newsworthy people like those who pass board
examinations and those who won during elections.
8. Numbers and Statistics. Results of sweepstakes, raffle draws, vital
statistics of celebrities and peso-dollar equivalence make good news.
9. Romance and Adventure. Love and adventure stories, especially
among celebrities and prominent people, can arouse the readers’
interest.
10. Significance. It refers not only to the importance of the event but
also on how it will affect the readers.
11. Change and Development. Any progress like putting up of new
schools, buildings, roads, bridges and the like could be news items.
12. Animals. Stories about animals, especially those unusual ones, are
interesting to the readers.
13. Calamity. Newspaper pages devote stories and photos describing
casualties caused by earthquakes, typhoons and other natural disasters.

TWO GENERAL KINDS OF NEWS

1. STRAIGHT NEWS. The data are presented in direct fashion using the
summary lead. It is also called hard news.
2. NEWS FEATURE. The data are presented indirectly through the use
of novelty lead. It is also called soft news.

TIPS IN NEWS WRITING

1. Write the news as soon as you have gathered the facts.
2. List down facts according to their descending importance.
3. Highlight the most important data as your lead.
4. Be accurate in presenting facts.
5. Write the full name of the person and organization when first
mentioned. Thereafter, use only the surname or any appropriate title
of the person and acronym for the organization.
6. Attribute authority or source of news to strengthen the credibility of
the news story and to protect the newspaper from libel suit.
7. Identify names mentioned. If the person has several identifications,
use the one relevant to the facts of the story.
8. Avoid editorializing. Do not inject your opinion to the news.
9. Be objective. Present facts without bias.
10. Make short paragraphs. Write one-idea, mostly one-sentence
paragraph.
11. Use simple words.
12. Use short sentences but vary their length.
13. Do not involve yourself in the news by using first person.
14. Prefer the active to the passive voice.
15. Present both side of the persons involved in the news.
16. Place direct and indirect quotation separately in paragraphs.
17. Number from 1 to 9 should be written in word and 10 and above
should be in numerical figure.
18. Do not start the sentence with numerical figure. Have it in word.

BASIC STRUCTURE OF NEWS

Straight news follows the traditional structure of news writing. It is

written in inverted pyramid form. The most important facts are placed at
the beginning. The other details are given in the succeeding paragraphs.

PRIMARY LEAD. It is usually a short paragraph which answers at least

four of the five Ws and one H at its effective angle.
SECONDARY LEAD. It complements the main lead by answering those of
the five Ws and one H, which are left unanswered.
OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS. They are other less important data that
give flesh to the story.

ADVANTAGES of the INVERTED PYRAMID STRUCTURE

1. It facilitates reading. By reading the lead, one can already get the
news he wants to know.
2. It facilitates newspaper makeup. In case of lack of space, the layout
editor can strike out or delete the least important paragraphs at the
bottom, because the most important facts are on top.
3. It facilitates headline writing. Copy editor can already prepare the
headline of the story from the lead.

THE LEAD
The lead is the story’s opening sentence or two. In straight news, it tells
the most important facts of the story. In feature article or news feature, it
could be a word, a phrase, a sentence of a paragraph that attracts and
sustains the reader’s interest.
“Leads are like runways,” W.H Mencken says. “Before a plane can take
off, it needs momentum to heave upward and stay afloat.” Meaning, it is
designed to entice the reader to read the whole story.

CLASSIFICATION OF LEAD
1. SUMMARY LEAD. It answers the five Ws and one H (What, Who,
Where, When, Why and How). The story is presented using the
inverted pyramid form where the most important data are in the first
and second paragraph. This is used in the straight news.
2. NOVELTY LEAD. It attracts the reader’s attention, arouses his
curiosity and sustains his interest. It is used in writing a news
feature and a feature article.
KINDS OF SUMMARY LEAD
1. WHAT LEAD. It is used if the most important angle of the news is the
event.
Example:
Landslides and floods brought by heavy monsoon rains in Southern
Luzon have killed at least five people, as soldiers on rubber boats
rushed food and relief supplies to nearly 200,000 affected residents,
official said.
2. WHO LEAD. This kind of summary lead is used if the person or
organization involved is more significant than the event.
Example:
Inmates of the Davao del Norte provincial jail staged a noise barrage
early yesterday, calling for the ouster of two jail guards they accused of
committing abuses, prison official said.
3. WHERE LEAD. This is used if the location where the event takes place
is more significant than the other aspects of the news.
Example:
 Baguio City hosted the annual National Schools Press Conference on
February 22-26, 2022 attended by elementary and secondary school
campus journalists and school paper advisers of 17 regions of the
Philippines.
4. WHEN LEAD. This lead is seldom used. This is only used if the time
element is more important than the other angles of the story.
Example:
August 22 is the opening of the school year 2022-2023, as announced
by the Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio.
5. WHY LEAD. This is used if the cause of the event is the most effective
angle of the story.
Example:
To bring the services of the government to the doorsteps of its
constituents, Sangguniang Panlunsod of Baguio City launched the “City
Hall sa Barangay.”
6. HOW LEAD. This is used if the process or the manner on how the
event happens is more important than the other angles of the news.
Example:
By installing more closed-circuit cameras in Manila malls, sending out
guards with dogs and setting up checkpoints, police acted on the
warning of the senior official of a possible terrorists’ major attack in the
capital following a ferry bombing in Zamboanga City that killed 30
people.