WRITING A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

The Masthead

Every newspaper has a masthead or a title with information underneath it.(i.e. The Toronto Star, The New York Times, etc.)When you’re writing your newspaper article, your masthead should fit your story. If the story takes place in Halifax, make your masthead reflect that. Be creative: Look at several newspapers and their mastheads. What information comes underneath it? (i.e. The weather report, lotto numbers, the date, et c.)

The Headline

The headline isn’t really a title. It is a summary of the lead (the first two lines of the article & the most important information).Headlines must be attention grabbing.They are not always grammatically correct and do not always have end punctuation. The headline below was taken from today’s New York Times.

More asteroid strikes likely, scientists say

The Headline

Let’s make a headline together using the events surrounding Toronto mayor, Rob Ford’s recent drug scandal… after we write a lead.

Rob Ford’s Cracking UpCrack Addict running City HallToronto is run by CrackheadMayor Ford Cracks Under Pressure

The Lead

Let’s write a newspaper article together about Toronto mayor, Rob Ford, and the latest scandal to rock his office…

The first thing we need to do is to make a plan.Every article needs to answer 5 (actually 6) questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how.

The Outline: Rough Work

Who: Mayor Rob Ford, residents of Toronto, dealer (driver), the police (Chief Bill Blair), Brother (Doug)

What: Ford admits to smoking crack

When: Two days ago (Monday), 2 months ago

Where: Toronto, City Hall, unidentified crackhouse

Why: He was drunk at the time

How: driver provided him drugs, he was caught on video

The Lead… Written Out

Yesterday, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted that he smoked crack cocaine in a press conference at Toronto City Hall in front of a sea of reporters.

The Inverted Pyramid

The newspaper article is written in what is known as the inverted pyramid. Picture the giant buildings from Egypt upside down. The most important information goes first. People are generally lazy and impatient and don’t read the article unless the key facts aren’t addressed early. Also, there is limited space in a newspaper. If the editor has to cut a story in order to make room for breaking news, it’s easier to just cut the last paragraph that doesn’t have key information in it than to edit from the body itself. Remember the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song: “Give it away, give it away now!” Don’t leave any information for later. The reader needs to know immediately!

The inverted Pyramid

The Inverted Pyramid: The Body

Now that we have the lead, we just need to build on it. We need to discuss the “why” and the “how” and we need to add to the lead (more details about who, what, when, where).

Let’s Write the Body Together!

The mayor, shaken by recent accusations of his drug use, broke under the media pressure and finally admitted publically to using crack cocaine after months of denial. He claimed to reporters that the reason he did the illegal substance was because, “I was in a drunken stupor.” The mayor, accompanied by his brother, Doug, refused to answer reporters questions after the press conference. Toronto Police Chief, Bill Blair, also refused to say anything more on the topic until the alleged video of the mayor at a downtown crack house is released…

How, Why, and added detail…

The Mayor relented to pressure shortly after noon on Tuesday, and admitted to using crack after months of public pressure following repeated claims by Toronto Star reporters who had allegedly seen a video of Mr. Ford smoking the drug. Also, the Toronto Metropolitan Police Department’s release of video footage showing Mayor Ford picking up a mysterious package left at a gas station by his former driver, left the Mayor with few options but to address the allegations directly. The Mayor claimed at the conference that he didn’t remember taking crack specifically because he was, “in a drunken stupor at the time.” Ford repeatedly denied that he was an addict and that he would not repeat his mistakes in the future.

Quotations from witnesses and Concerned Parties

For your article, you don’t need to find actual quotations from the novel. However, you can use some if you wish. The key is that you should write things that the character would say…

i.e. Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair told reporters, “I’m disappointed in the Mayor’s actions.”Celebrity television psychiatrist, Dr. Drew Pinsky said, “The mayor’s behaviour shows that he has a substance abuse problem, and I’d recommend that he step down and enter a rehab program.”

The ending…

The ending isn’t a conclusion, and it’s not an opportunity to recap anything. All that is done in this part of the inverted pyramid is share less important information that may still be of interest to the reader.

Let’s write the ending together…

Mayor Ford has no plans of stepping down, and as of yet, there are no charges pending from the police department.

The ending…

Mayor Ford told reporters that he wouldn’t be stepping down from his position and that he’d be back to work as usual tomorrow. Toronto police have not revealed whether or not they will be pursuing criminal charges against the mayor.