News writing

r. News and the News Industry
The Nature of News 1
Definitions of News 2, Qualities of News 3, Orientation and
Perspective 4, Special Interests 5, What Newspapers Publish 6
The Press Today 8
Newspapers 8, Special Interest Newspapers 12, The Business
Press 12, The Ttade Press 13, Association Publications 13,
Other Publications 13, News Magazines 14, Magazines 14,
News Services 14
The Audience for News 15
What Newspaper Readers Read 16, The Changing. Reader 17,
The Changing Newspaper 18, Local News 19, Good News, Bad
News 21, Striking a Balance 21
News Writing 21
Suggestions for Further Reading 23
2. Gathering the News
Reporting and Reporters 25
Where Reporters Work 26, The Reporter 27, Reporting for
Newspapers 28, Reporting the Expected and-the Unexpected 31,
Made News 31
What Reporters Do 32
Reporting Skills 32
A Nose for News 34, Observation; Listening 34, Observation:
Seeing 35, Finding Things 3 S, Verifying Information 37
Interviewing 38
Asking Questions 38, Types of Interviews 39
Reporting Techniques 40
Suggestions for Further Reading 42
3. Writing the Lead
The Summary Lead 48
Thinking Through the Lead 51
Finding the Appropriate Verb 54, No-News Leads 54,
Organizing the Facts 55, Time Elements 56
Variations on the Summary Lead 57
The Blind Lead 57, The Delayed-Identification Lead 59
Some Other Aspects of the Lead 60
Datelines 61, Credit Lines 62, Bylines 63
Suggestions for Further Reading 63
4. Style and the Stylebook
The Stylebook 65
Why Have a Stylebook? 66
A Need for Consistency 66, Preference and Tradition 67
Style and Policy 67
The Authority Behind Style 69
Mechanical Rules 70
Style and Usage 73
Other Stylebooks 75
Built-in Stylebooks 75
A Basic Guide to News Style 75
Personal Style 76
Suggestions for Further Reading 77
5. Writing the Story 79
Single-Incident Stories 79
Appropriate Order 80, Stories With Blind Leads 81
Attribution 82
How Much Is Enough? 84, Too Much Attribution 85
Identification 85
Identifying People 87, Other Identification S9, Identification
and Background 90, Punctuation 90
Time and Timeliness 91
The Point in Time 91, Time and the Reader 92, Past Tense 93,
Present Perfect 93, Present Tense 94, The Future 95, Day or
Date? 95. Overemphasis on Timeliness 96
The Stylebook 96
Suggestions for Further Reading 97
6. Be Clear, Complete and Accurate 99
How Much Do Readers Know? 99
Define and Explain 100
Context and Backgroimd 101, Technical Words and Terms 102,
Obscure Details 102, Jargon and Gobbledygook 103,
Euphemism 106
Unanswered Questions 107
Stories With Holes 107, Context 108^
Con
Accuracy Always 109
Verifying Facts 109, Verifying Quotations, Allusions and
References 110
Credibility 112
Confessing Error 112
Suggestions for Further Reading 113
7. Writing the Stoiy II
Coming Events 115
Stories With Many Names 119
Localizing 120
Tying the Story Together 125
Building on the Lead 125, Linking Lead and Development 127,
Repetition 129, Attribution 129, "Dansitions 129
Unnecessary Distractions 131
Parenthetical Insertions 132, Pointless Variation 133
Suggestions for Further Reading 134
8. Editing, Revising, Rewriting
Need for Revision 138
Common Weaknesses in News Copy 138
Forms of Revision 139
Improving Copy 140, Common Mistakes 140, An Ear for
Language 144
Badly Written Copy 145
Revising the Lead 146
Updating a Story 148
Revising Handouts 150
Buried Angles 152
Localizing 152
Rewriting for Other Media 152
The Newsroom as Classroom 154
Suggestions for Further Reading 155
9. Quotation 157
Reproduced Speech 157
Direct Quotation 160, Indirect Quotation 162, Attribution 163,
Meaningful Variations 164, Nonsense Tags 165
The Grammar of Quotations 165
Type 1 Quotes 167, Ifype 2 Quotes 167, "Ifype 3 Quotes 168,
Extended Quotation 169, Fragmentary Quotes 171, ParenAetical
Insertions 171, Quotation Marks With Other Punctuation 172,
Quotes Within Quotes 172, Word Order in Speech Tags 173,
Paragraphing Quotations 174, Redundancy 174, li-ansitions 175
Editing Quotes 177
Quotation Must Be Accurate 178
Suggestions for Further Reading 179
10. Legal and Ethical
Considerations 181
The Watchdog 182
Access to the News 183
Co
Access to Places 184, Open Meetings 184, Open Records 185,
Freedom of Information Access to Courts Cameras in the 1
Court 187, Gag Orders 187, Prior Restraint 188, Shield Laws 188
Responsibility for Things Published 188
libel 189, Defenses Against Libel Actions 191, Mitigation 192,
Privacy 192
Understanding the Law 193
Journalistic Ethics 193
The ASNE Canons of Journalism 194
Responsibility 196
Freedom of the Press 196, Ihith and Accuracy i 97, News and
Opinion 198, Fair Play 198, Conflict of Interest 199
Matters of Taste 200
Sensitivity 201
Suggestions for Further Reading 202
11. Some Hard-News Stories
Basic News Stories 205
Action Stories 206
Chronology 206, Holdups and Robberies 206, Feature Leads 210
Other Hard-News Stories 212
Auto Accidents 212, \^orous Verbs, 214 Fire Stories 214
Attribution 215
"Allegedly" 216
Obituanes 220
I
Leads 221, Cause of Death 222, Identification 222, Services 225,
Survivors 226, Biography 226, Anecdotes and IHbutes 227,
Negative Information 228, Style 229, Feature Leads 230,
Finally 232
Suggestions for Further Reading 232
12. Second-Day Stories and Other
Organizing Devices 235
Second-Day Stories 236
The Tie-back 239, Other Second-Day Leads 239
Follow-ups 240
Round-ups 242
Other Organizing Devices 243
Sidebars 243, Shirttailing 248
Suggestions for Further Reading 249
13. Stories About Speeches: Leads 251
The Lead 252
The Summary Lead 253, No-News Leads 254
Writing the Lead 255
Attribution Plus Statement 255, Statement Plus Attribution 257,
Audience Plu^Statement 257, Audience and Speaker 258, .^ Brevity in
the L^ad 258, Blind Leads 259, Holding Back Attribution 259
Other Considerations 260
Names in the Lead 260, Direct-Quote Leads 261, Characterizing
Leads 261, Creative Variations 262
The Lead as a Unit 264
Suggestions for Further Reading 267
14. Reporting the Spoken Word 269
Writing About Speeches 270
Structure of the Speech Story 271, Development 271, Selecting and
Eliminating 276, Paraphrasing and Summarizing 276, Direct and
Indirect Quotation 277
Other Stories 277
Panel Discussions 277, Itials and Hearings 2Z1, Public
Hearings 2B5, Other Meetings 255, Interviews 255
BCeeping the Record Straight 288
Published Sources 288, Identifying the Platform 259
Problems With Quotation 290
Editing Quoted Matter 290, Transitions 293, Partial or Fragmentary
Quotes 295, Revising for Clarify 297, Editing Prepared Texts 295,
Avoid the Ellipsis 295, Further Editing 299
Reporting 300
Suggestions for Further Reading 301
15. Writkig Larger Stories 303
Strategy 304
Structure 304
The Lead 307, The Nut Graph 3ii, The Development 3i3,
Condusions 314
Breaking Stories 314
The Eurfhquake 3/5, The Harding Plea 324.
Investigative Reporting 325
Lighter Stories 327
Profiles 329
Writing Larger Stories 335
Suggestions for Further Reading 336
16. Features 339
Feature Angles 340
Structure and Organization 341
Suspended-Interest Stories 344
The Feature Touch 344
Recognizing Feature Angles 346
Writing Features 346
Keep It Simple 347, Involve the Reader 349, Hold Something
Back 349, Playing With Words 351, Allusions 353, Creative
Leads 354
Other Approaches 355
Questions 355, The Imperative 356, Direct Address 356
Craftsmanship 356
More Than One Way 358
Quotation 360
In Summary J62

Suggestions for Further Reading 362
17. Numbers in the News 365
The Routine Use of Numbers 366
Stories Based on Statistics 367, Cost-of-Living Stories 368,
Employment Figures 368
Data Banks 369
Access to Public Record Data Banks 369
Stories About Taxation 370
Tax Rates 371, Percentages 372
Business News 374
Company Reports 374, Personal Finance 375
Precision Journalism 375
Reporting Survey Results 378
Misuse of Numbers 375