Elements of a News Story

Who, What, When, Where, Why?

Goal of a News Story

•The purpose of a news story is to provide as much information as possible in as few words as possible.

•Succinct – Briefly and clearly expressed.

Who?

•Who is primarily involved in the event?

What?

What were those involved in the story doing that is newsworthy?

When?

•When did the event take place, or when did he issue arise?

Where?

•Where did the event take place?

Why/How?

•Why did the newsworthy event take place?

•After the first paragraph of a news story, the remainder of the article is most commonly devoted to this question.

Objective Summaries:

• - Are succinct and objective

• -Provide only the most important details of an article, interview, event etc.

•ALWAYS written in third person

No personal pronouns (I, Me, We, You, Us)