News writing structure

News WritingLet’s talk about …

By Jeanne Acton, UIL & ILPC Journalism Director
and Vicki McCash Brennan, MA, CJE

News Writing …

gives the reader factual information that will
affect them or interests them in some way.

• Informative
• Interesting
• Factual

News Writing

• News provides readers with all of the five W’s
and H, usually in the lead or near the top of
the story.

• Leads should begin most often with the what,
why or who (if interesting or well-known),
NOT with when or where, which are usually
the least interesting elements.

• But where do you go from there?

Let’s talk about
news writing
structure.

Advantage: Disadvantages:
It condenses It can get
information repetitive.
It might
efficiently, discourage you
letting readers from a more
understand the creative lead.
basics of what It can get
bogged down
happened with facts and
quickly and details.

easily.

News Writing

A better way ….

The next structure is a modification of the
inverted pyramid that allows for more flexibility
and is easy for beginning journalists to use.

Use the Transition - Quote (L-Q-T-Q) model for
most of your work in journalism.



Another model: Modified Inverted
Pyramid

• Also called “the hourglass” or “the martini glass.”
• Starts with a summary of the event and key

facts.
• Transitions to a narrative or chronological

format.
• Works best for crime or disaster stories when

you need to tell what happened from beginning
to end.

Another model: The Wall Street
Journal format

• Also called “the kabob” or “the circle”
• Starts with an anecdote about someone who is

affected by a trend, issue or event.
• Uses a “nut graph” or summary paragraph right

after the anecdote to tell the five W’s and H.
• Continues with details and quotes.
• Ends with a closing anecdote about the same

person who is in the lead.
• Best used for feature writing or follow-up news

stories.

For beginning newswriting,
it’s best to master the

L-Q-T-Q formula first.

So let’s explore that one …

Let’s talk about

Direct
Quotes

Direct Quotes

➢ Quotes should be linked to the paragraph before
them. The quote should elaborate on the previous
paragraph.

For example:
After long-time school nurse Emma Stilten died in a car

accident in December, part-time teacher aide Betty Figgs covered
Stilten’s responsibilities. Impressed with Figgs’ competence, Principal
Stella Reeves proposed keeping Figgs instead of hiring a new nurse.
With the savings, Reeves wants to hire a new teacher — a move
supported by teachers.

“I thought the parents would jump on board with this proposal,”
Reeves said. “It will decrease our class sizes and benefit students
directly.”

What comes next?

A transition paragraph, adding
details.

Parent Raquel Simones said the school should not
compromise student safety simply to give teachers a few
less papers to grade.
What comes next?

From whom?

Another direct quote

elaborates on previous transition

Parent Raquel Simones said the school should not
compromise student safety simply to give teachers a few
less papers to grade.

“I have a special needs child who is quite fragile,”
Simones said. “If he suffers a seizure at school, I want a
certified nurse to help him.”

The writer continued with the What follows this?
same speaker. That helps with
organization.

More transitions and quotes

(Each quote is linked with a transition above
and below it.)

Junior GiGi Smith said she also believes the school
needs a full-time, certified nurse. Her brother, who
will be a freshman next year, has a severe peanut
allergy.

“A nurse is trained to deal with this medical
condition,” Smith said. “A teacher’s aide isn’t. I like
Ms. Figgs, but she could panic. That would be very bad
for my brother.”

Direct Quotes

➢ Should not repeat the transition
before them.

For example:
Figgs said most of her job is distributing
prescribed medicine to students.
“Most of what I do is distribute medicine to
students,” she said.

This is called a “stutter
quote.” AVOID THIS!

Direct Quotes

➢ Quotes can be longer than one sentence.
➢ Put the attribution after the first sentence of the
quote. (In other words, break the quote in half with
the attribution in the middle.)

➢ Attribution should be: Noun then verb.
For example:
Correct - senior Bob Rodriguez said.
Incorrect - said senior Bob Rodriguez.

(unless you have an unusually long title)

➢ Do not place two people’s direct quotes next to
each other without a transition.

Direct Quotes

➢ Add emotion, opinions and life to your story.

➢Listen for quotes that tell you how
people feel or think about the subject.

➢Don’t quote people on dry, basic facts or
description that you can observe with your
own eyes. Use facts and description in
your transitions.

Let’s talk about

Transitions

Transitions …

➢ ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
➢Hold the story together.
➢Link the paragraphs, building bridges of
understanding for your readers.
➢Provide organization and flow.
➢Help create voice.
➢And in news writing, they’re really not
too difficult!

Hierarchy of Transitions

1. Basic transition words (Good)
First, next, then

1. Transitional phrases (Better)
For one thing
For instance

1. Internal transitions (Best. Go for these!)
Seamless wording embedded within text
Use facts, partial quotes and indirect quotes to
create these.

Transitions in news writing

➢Can be fact, indirect quote or a partial quote.

For example: FACT TRANSITION

After long-time school nurse Ema Stilten died in a car
accident in December, part-time teacher aide Betty
Figgs covered Stilten’s responsibilities. Impressed
with Figgs’ competence, Reeves proposed keeping
Figgs to avoid hiring a new nurse. With the savings,
Reeves wants to hire a new teacher — a move
supported by teachers.

Transitions

➢ Can be fact, indirect quote or a partial quote.

For example: INDIRECT QUOTE TRANSITION

Parent Raquel Simones said the school
should not compromise student safety
simply to give teachers fewer papers to
grade.

Transitions

➢ Can be fact, indirect quote or a partial quote.

For example: PARTIAL QUOTE TRANSITION
Reeves said Figgs has done “an
outstanding job” since she took over in
the nurse’s office.

Transitions

➢Use transitional words to help with the flow as
needed. Transitional words include after all, also,
finally, in addition, however, otherwise, then.

For example:
In addition to cutting the

nursing position, Reeves suggested
decreasing the number of bus
routes.

Transitions

Can show:

– Time
– Place
– Reasons
– Surprise (a twist)
– Contrasts
– Other connections

To find a transition, look for a connection.

Transitions

• Time transitions

– Afterwards, beforehand, later, soon, meanwhile

• Place transitions

– In the room, at the beach, down the hall

• Contrasts

– Nevertheless, even though, although

• Reasons

– Because of, instead of

• Connections

– Repeat a key word, concept or phrase from the previous

sentence or paragraph. This is what using partial
quotes or indirect quotes can do for you.

Transitions

The transitions are in your notebook! Quotes
and facts are good for more than just stringing
together and calling it a day …
➢Use parts of the direct quotes to create the
transition. And then use the rest of the quote
as the direct quote.

For example
“I never imagined this would become a permanent solution, but Betty Figgs
is doing an excellent job balancing both the classroom and nurse’s office,”
Reeves said. “She is very organized and handles all issues professionally and
efficiently. We have not received a single complaint about the change.
“It actually wasn’t my idea to continue with this plan. It was Ms. Figgs. She
loves the additional duties and feels more than competent to continue next
year. Ms. Figgs raised six children, so she knows a little about sick teenagers.
Plus, she agreed to seek additional training this summer.”

The The school has not received a single complaint
Transition about Figgs since she took over the nurse’s job,
Direct Reeves said.
Quote “She is very organized and handles all issues
professionally and efficiently,” Reeves said. “Plus,
she agreed to additional training this summer.”

ENDINGS

➢Save a summary quote or a well-said phrase to
end with. This is called a “kicker quote.”

➢DO NOT, under any circumstances, fall back
on your essay training and write your own
summary conclusion. This is editorializing
and it has no place in news writing.

➢Avoid ending with a cliché, such as “That’s all,
folks.”

➢End with a bang. Save the powerful quote or
phrase for last.

Let’s Review … Following a
transition, what
What types of leads should a direct
should you use more? quote do?

Where should What can a
you place the transition be?
attribution for a What is the purpose
direct quote? of the transition?
What can you use to
How many create transitions?
sentences can a
direct quote be?

No-Nos for News Stories

▪ Using the name of your school or town. Your readers
know where they are.
▪ Starting with “The School Board …” or some other
boring “who.”
▪Adding facts for which you have no source or making
things up because you think that’s right.
▪ Putting attribution before the quote.
▪ Missing the news peg.
▪ Missing important information and people.
▪ Stacking quotes. Use transitions between each quote!
▪ Forgetting to use student quotes.
▪ Ending with your own summary.

Checklist for News Stories

✓ Are the most important and recent facts first?
✓ Is the story accurate? Are the sources identified fully?
✓ Are the paragraphs short?
✓ Is the sentence structure varied in the story?
✓ Is the story neat and double-spaced so that it is easy to
read?
✓Does your story flow? Did you use the transition/quote
(L-Q-T-Q) formula?
✓ Did you use active voice?

Pitfalls to Avoid **

➢ Editorializing. Keep your opinion out of the story
➢ Using first and second person. Keep yourself out of
the story. Common error: “our school.” No personal
pronouns!
➢Messy handwriting, poor grammar and spelling.
➢ Paragraphs too long. Use only one thought or idea per
paragraph. New paragraph for each transition and each
speaker.
➢ Misspelling names.
➢Trying to use all of the information and quotes you
have. Be judicious. ** How to get an D/F or lose a

competition …

What will make
the difference? **

▪ Get the news peg in the lead.
▪ Use the L-Q-T-Q formula.
▪ Use the right sources and strong
quotes.

** How to get an A or win a
competition …