H O W T O C O N V E RT A Journalist’s Tips

A S T O RY I N T O A
R E P O RT ?
 JOURNALISTIC
WRITING
 Journalistic writing is the writing style news
organizations use to assemble a story.
 A news story has a hierarchy of information,
beginning with the main points at the top of the
piece. News articles follow a specific set of guiding
principles, like the Associated Press style (also
known as AP style), for grammar and vocabulary.
 While newspapers and television were, until
recently, the primary outlets for reporting current
events and human interest stories, journalists now
write for a variety of online media outlets and
podcasts.
 JOURNALISTS FOLLOW A
FORMUL A FOR CRAFTING A
S T O R Y. T H E S A M E
APPROACH CAN BE APPLIED
TO ANY STYLE OF WRITING,
FROM HIGH SCHOOL
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS TO
N O V E L S . I T ’ S A WAY O F
D I S S E M I N AT I N G
I N F O R M AT I O N I N A WAY
T H AT M A K E S S E N S E T O
READERS. FOLLOW THESE
EIGHT JOURNALISTIC
W R I T I N G T I P S F O R YO U R
N E X T R E P O R T E D S T O R Y:
1 . G AT H E R T H E  Gather the information you need to construct
I N F O R M AT I O N . your story. In non-fiction, like in journalism,
this may require visiting the location where
the story takes place, interviewing witnesses
and people involved in the event, and using
online search engines for further research.
2 . F I N D YO U R  Every news story has an angle—the
ANGLE. theme and focus of the piece that
makes it newsworthy. A human interest
story will have a different angle than a
hard-hitting political piece. News stories
reveal their angle in the first paragraph.
Find the angle of your story and present
it in the first paragraph, page, or
chapter.
  Every story needs a great
opening. In news writing, this is
called a lede. This opening
paragraph delivers the story’s
essential information by
answering the five W’s: who, what,
3. WRITE A STRONG
where, when, why. These are the
LEDE. building blocks of any good story,
whether it’s a fictional narrative,
technical writing, or a content
marketing article. Lead with a
strong summary of events that
hooks the reader from the top.
  Good journalism presents the
information of a story in order of
importance, in what is known as the
inverted pyramid structure. The most
important information, the lede, is at
the top. The next section is the body
4. STRUCTURE of the story that contains other
supporting details. The bottom
YO U R section, the point of the pyramid,
I N F O R M AT I O N . contains any extra information that
might be interesting to an audience.
Even in creative writing, it’s
important to lead with the who, what,
why, where, and when of your story
to let the reader know what the story
is about.
  Good journalism usually includes
interviews with people involved in a
story. This provides different
perspectives and keeps the reporter
in the role of an outside observer,
similar to the third-person point of
5. USE QUOTES. view in a short story or novel. If
you’re writing a non-fiction book,
quotes are essential to create a
well-rounded piece. In fiction, your
characters will provide quotations
through dialogue.
  Journalists use short sentences
to deliver a story. News writing
often uses the active voice as
opposed to the passive voice—
i.e. “She drove the car” rather
than “The car was driven by
6 . W R I T E S I M P LY. her.” The active voice is more
direct, uses fewer words, and
has a quicker tempo. To hone
this skill, think like a copywriter.
In copywriting, the main
objective is to write simply with
a clear, concise message.
7 . V E R I F Y YO U R  Telling true stories requires a journalist
S O U RC E S . to gather information from numerous
sources. Reporters need to verify the
information from their sources to ensure
accuracy. In freelance writing, when you
turn in your story, you should always
provide links to where you found
information and a phone number for
each person you interviewed.
8 . E D I T YO U R  A newsroom is a fast-paced
WORK. environment with a steady stream of
stories passing from writers to editors
before they go to print. All writers
should do a spell check and edit their
work for clarity and content. Take a cue
from news writing and have a
professional editor refine your story
before you publish.
 REFERENCE:

https://www.masterclass.com/
articles/how-to-write-like-a-
journalist
THANKS! ANY QUESTIONS?