A Paper Presentation in EL 107 Campus Journalism

DEVELOPMENT OF JOURNALISM

Rules on Effective Writing Tips for Aspiring Journalists

Reporter/s: RANIER ALCANTARA

CRISTINE MAE SARABA

I. Overview
II. Objectives
III. Content
IV. Exercises
V. Summary
VI. References
 I. Overview

There`s tons of happenings in our environment that sometimes left unattended, Journalists
helps us to eradicate this matter. Journalism is like Earth`s diary. In this lesson we are going
to help you save inks because we will show you how to weave and write where every detail
is necessary, less mistakes, nothing to be thrown away just informative and authentic. Let’s
unwrap secrets of best journalists.

II. Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

A. Define journalism and its importance;

B. Compile essential data that can be use when writing; and

C. Assess the knowledge that you grasp and filter.

III. Content

What is Journalism

 The word journalism was originally applied to the reportage of current events
in printed form, specifically newspapers, but with the advent of radio,
television, and the Internet in the 20th century the use of the term broadened
 to include all printed and electronic communication dealing with current
affairs.
 Journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting
news and information. It is also the product of these activities.
 Though there are various purposes for it, the most important aspect is the
freedom of expression. The root of journalism comes from people’s right to
have an opinion. It’s like a bridge between the authorities and people.
 A modern newspaper must also have on its staff competent artists,
cartoonists, photographers, etc. There must be advertisement managers and
circulation managers. All these people who are on the staff of a newspaper
are known by the general name of journalists, or newspapermen.
 Aside from the fact that campus journalism gives student journalists the
opportunity topractice their craft and share their thoughts and insights about
certain issues, there are other reasons why it is important. it helps student
become more aware of what’s happening around them, provides students a
voice, helps students improve their skills in communication arts, and etc.

Write Like a Journalist

Journalists follow a formula for crafting a story. The same approach can be applied to any
style of writing, from high school writing assignments to novels. It’s a way of disseminating
information in a way that makes sense to readers. Follow these eight journalistic writing tips
for your next reported story

8 Journalistic Writing Tips

1. Gather the information - 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. Journalists use three
main tools to collect information for stories: Interviews, Observation, Background
research.
 Interviews - Interviewing knowledgeable people Experts, witnesses, officers,
managers, leaders, officeholders, politicians, social scientists, physical
scientists, applied scientists, humanists. Corresponding by email and letters.
 Observation - Observing events. Attending speeches, lectures and public
addresses. Conducting experiments and tests.
 Research
Searching the Internet.
 General search engines, academic search engines, Web home pages, Web
articles, Web journals, Web magazine articles, news Web sites, books on the
Web, email discussion groups, Web archives.
Searching the library.
Electronic library catalog, general books, scholarly books and journals,
reference books, periodicals, archives, bibliographies, indexes, biographies,
government documents, Web sites, electronic databases.

2. Find your angle - Every news story has an angle—the theme and focus of the piece
that makes it newsworthy. 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.

From your point of view, most people should intuitively put their dresses on hangers,
fold their sweaters neatly, and get rid of extra T-shirts that clutter their shelves. But
they don’t. In order for your piece of content to be saleable or appeal to readers, you
need to drill down to one facet of organizing closets. Here’s where you need to get out
of your own shoes and into the sandals (or sneakers or work boots or heels) of
another. Look at your sub-topic of organizing closets from points of view other than
your own.

Examples:

Should you organize your closet by color or by season?

Angle: women

How to teach your seven-year-old to organize their closet

Angle: practical parenting

How to organize a baby’s closet on a budget

Angle: new parents, living on a shoestring

Organizing one closet for two

Angle: couples, roommates, newlyweds

Organizing a winter closet (or spring, summer, fall)

Angle: transitions

Why you should eliminate half the shoes in your closet

Angle: minimalism
Organize your closet in less than an hour
Angle: time management

Best times of the year to organize your closet

Angle: seasonal

How to make money from your cluttered closet

Angle: saving money

What I learned from my friend’s empty closet

Angle: loss, inspiration, personal experience

3. Write a strong lede - This opening paragraph delivers the story’s essential
information by answering the five W’s: who, what, where, when, why. Lead with a
strong summary of events that hooks the reader from the top. These are the 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. These are the building blocks of any good story, whether it’s a
fictional narrative, technical writing, or a content marketing article. 

When writing ledes, there are a number of story aspects that must be addressed,
known as the five W’s (plus ‘H’)—who, what, where, when, why, and how: Who the
feature story is about, what happened, where it occurred, when it transpired, why
did it happen, and how? These details are important to include in the beginning to
quickly grab the reader’s interest and to summarize the events.

5 Tips for Writing Good Ledes

Here are a few writing tips for crafting a great lede:

1. Keep it short and simple. A summary news lede should outline the main points of the
whole story in its first paragraph and answer the five w’s. Only provide what the reader
needs to understand the story, and try not to overload the initial lines with too many
unnecessary details.

2. Get to the point. If you choose to write a feature lede, make sure you get to the point in
a timely manner. While you have more room to be creative, too much setup can result in
you burying the lede, which means a story is failing to efficiently provide the reader with
the information they are seeking.

3. Use active voice. If you’re trying to engage the reader in your story, you want the writing
to feel lively and enticing. Drawing your audience in and piquing their curiosity with
urgency and confidence is a good way to keep your reader invested in what is about to
come.

4. Avoid clichés and bad puns. Even in a humorous story, you want your reader to be
engaged, not rolling their eyes. Bad wordplay can come off as amateurish and in poor
taste, and you want your reader to trust your writing.

5. Read your lede out loud. Whether it’s one sentence long or several, read your lede
aloud to ensure it flows smoothly while meeting all the criteria for efficiency. Cut down on
wordiness where possible, and make sure your word choices properly convey your point.

4. Structure your information - 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 of the
story that contains other supporting details. The bottom section, the point of the
pyramid, 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.

How to Use Inverted Pyramid Structure When Writing an article

Whether you’re writing a press release, essay, or news article, the inverted pyramid can
enhance your work’s clarity and readability. Here are some writing tips to follow when
applying the inverted pyramid structure:

1. Start with the lead. In your story’s lead, you should be answering five important
questions: Who did the thing of interest? What did they do? Where did they do it?
When did they do it? Why did they do it? Your lead should offer these key points as
quickly as possible, getting to the essence of your story in approximately thirty
words or one to two short paragraphs. The lead may also include a hook to your
story, such as an enticing quote or provocative detail, that encourages people to
keep reading.
2. Continue with the body. The body is where you offer supporting details, quotes
from sources, and additional supplementary information. The information in the
 body should be organized in terms of importance, with the most essential info
appearing earlier in the story.
3. Finish with pertinent background information. Appearing last in inverted
pyramid story structure is a section of additional related information. While this info
is still helpful to fully understand the context of the story, it is less important than
the information contained in the lead and the body. Oftentimes the final paragraphs
will provide a list of supplementary reading material, links to prior reporting on the
subject, or a kicker that ends your story on an intriguing, humorous, or impactful
note.
5. Use quotes - good journalism usually includes interviews with people involved in a
story.
 Direct Quotes-using the exact words that he/she said. Punctuated with
quotation marks.
Example: Rimuru said, “You look exhausted, give me your keys, I will drive
you home.”
 Indirect Quotes- using your own words but restoring the meaning of the
statement that they said,we don’t use quotation marks here.
Example: Rimuru said that he will drive me home and give him my keys
because I look exhausted.

6. Write simply - Journalists use short sentences to deliver a story. News writing often
uses the active voice as opposed to the passive voice.
 Active: They finished the article before the deadline.
 Passive: Before the deadline the article was finished by them.
7. Verify your sources - Reporters need to verify the information from their sources to
ensure accuracy.
8. Edit your work - All writers should do a spell check and edit their work for clarity and
content

IV. Exercises

Direction. Read and try to look at the mistakes and correct them.

1. Because of the Internet, working at jobs at home have become much more
common.

2. “Pull it out by its plug, not by the cord,” said dad.

3. Symptoms of this illness that warrant a doctor visit includes fever, vomiting, and
diarrhea, as well as the loss of appetite.

4. Either Lisa or Karen will always volunteer their valuable time to serve on our
board.

5. "You will be assigned to clean this mess". she said. "Please make sure that
every corner is well sanitized"

ANSWER KEY

Answers – Identifying Sentence Errors

1. The error is “have become,” which should be “has become.” The plural form of the
auxiliary verb “have” is incorrect because the subject of the independent clause is “working,”
which is singular and thus takes a singular verb—i.e. “working has…” The other underlined
sections are correct.
2. “Dad” is a name or proper noun and should be capitalized. “By” is a correct preposition to
use here. “Its” is the correct use of the third-person singular possessive impersonal pronoun.
The punctuation at the end of the quotation is correct.
3. “Includes” is incorrect because it is the singular form of the verb, but the subject,
“symptoms,” is plural. The verb should be “include.” The subordinating conjunction “that”
introducing the dependent clause, and its plural verb “warrant,” (A) are both correct. “…
vomiting, and” (C) is punctuated correctly as the last in a series of three or more words. The
singular noun “loss” (D) is correct.
4. “Their” is incorrect because it is a plural third-person possessive pronoun, but the use of
“either (A)…or” indicates a singular form. It should be “her.” “Will always volunteer” (B) is a
singular verb phrase and is correct. “Time” (D) is correct regardless of whether it is modified
by a singular (“her”) or plural (“their”) possessive pronoun, e.g. “They both volunteered their
valuable time.”

5. "You will be assigned to clean this mess(.)". (S) she said. “Please make sure
that every corner is well sanitized(.)"

V. Summary

 Journalists follow a formula for crafting a story.

  The same approach can be applied to any style of writing, from high school
writing assignments to novels. These are;
o gathering information,
o finding your angle,
o writing a strong lede,
o structure your information,
o use of quotes,
o writing simply,
o verify your sources,
o and editing your work.

VI. References

 How to Write Like a Journalist: 8 Tips - 2022. Master Class. Retrieved by

September 25, 2022 from https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.masterclass.com%2Farticles%2Fhow-to-write-like-a-journalist
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tmQ7v-1l-Mg1MBmtY
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pr5e0IB38WCTInlqNUjMwyNJRZhkhAIDHLF75cOQgiYSRc4Bp6Nn4zeF3Bu
SYJ2FfidulhJciZ9Sdn8Bo_jIOKpmRUsrETLT2ufXmA
 How to Write a Lede in Journalism – 2022. MasterClass. Retrieved by
September 25, 2022 from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-
a-lede-in-journalism
 How to Find Your Story Angle: 5 Tips on Finding the Right Angle – 2022.
Retrieved by September 25, 2022 from MasterClass.
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-find-your-story-angle