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How to Write A Newspaper Article
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How to Write A Newspaper Article
It’s important to know – trust me
Newspaper articles require a different style of writing from what is used when writing a story. When writing a newspaper article, picture a triangle like the one shown.
The newspaper article has all of the important information in the opening paragraph.
This information includes who, what, when, where, why and how. It is written this
way because most people do not read an entire newspaper article all the way through.
So newspaper writers put the most important information at the beginning.
A typical newspaper article contains five (5) parts:
Part 1: Headline: This is a short, attention-getting statement about the event.
When writing a headline, eliminate the verbs is, are, was, and were. Replace them with action verbs.
Original: Three people were injured by a tornado in Illinois
Revised: Illinois tornado injures three
Original: Baseball’s Opening Day was cancelled because of rain
Revised: Rain cancels baseball’s Opening Day
Original: Competency exams are required for all future graduates
Revised: Future graduates must pass competency exams
**Do not capitalize any words except the first one and any proper nouns.
No period at the end of a headline.
Also, when writing a headline, make sure there are no slip-ups…
- Here are some examples of actual newspaper headlines that just shouldn’t have been:
Now you try it!
- Original: Music director is casting Oklahoma!
Part 2: Byline: this tells who wrote the story
Part 3:Lead paragraph: this has the who, what, when, where, why and how in it. A writer must find the answers to these questions and write them into the opening sentence(s) of the article.
*The “why” and the “how” often appear only in the following paragraph.
- Part 4: Explanation:

When writing an article: Paragraphs are to be 2-3 sentences in length
You must remain unbiased. You are giving facts only, not your opinion.
Being objective
Fact or opinion?
The strikers rushed the company car and forced it to turn back.
Jim Watson’s request for a raise is certainly reasonable.
Jim Watson requested a raise.
Now you try it!
The pilot, an arrogant, cold person, didn’t inform the passengers about the reasons for the bumpy ride.
The pilot didn’t inform the passengers about the reason for the bumpy ride.
Central High deserved the overwhelming victory it achieved in the tournament.
Central High achieved an overwhelming victory in the tournament.
Example
Headline: High flying escape ends in death
Byline: By Robin Sloan
Lead paragraph: Icarus, son of the famous inventor, Daedalus, plunged into the Aegean Sea and drowned while attempting to escape from the island of Crete early yesterday afternoon. His body has yet to be recovered.
Explanation: Icarus and his father had made wings from wax and bird feathers they had collected over the years while imprisoned on the island of Crete. They attached the homemade wings to their arms and, using a flapping motion, lifted off from the island shortly before noon. While making their escape, Icarus flew too close to the sun. As a result, the heat melted the wax on his wings which caused the feathers to drop off. The wings collapsed and Icarus fell into the sea and drowned.
Additional Information: Daedalus, sobbing from the distant shore where he had landed safely, said, “My last words to Icarus before we left the island was to stay close and not fly too high! He just didn’t listen! Why didn’t he listen to me?” Daedalus and Icarus had been held prisoner by King Minos on the island of Crete, and had been forced to build a labyrinth at the palace of Knossos. It was known to be the most difficult maze in the world to navigate successfully.
High flying escape ends in deathBy Robin Sloan
Icarus, son of the famous inventor, Daedalus, plunged into the Aegean Sea and drowned while attempting to escape from the island of Crete early yesterday afternoon. His body has yet to be recovered.
Icarus and his father had made wings from wax and bird feathers they had collected over the years while imprisoned on the island of Crete. They attached the homemade wings to their arms and, using a flapping motion, lifted off from the island shortly before noon. While making their escape, Icarus flew too close to the sun. As a result, the heat melted the wax on his wings which caused the feathers to drop off. The wings
collapsed and Icarus fell into the sea and drowned.
Daedalus, sobbing from the distant shore where he had landed safely, said, “My last words to Icarus before we left the island was to stay close and not fly too high! He just didn’t listen! Why didn’t he listen to me?” Daedalus and Icarus had been held prisoner by King Minos on the island
of Crete, and had been forced to build a labyrinth at the palace of Knossos. It was known to be the most difficult maze in the world to navigate successfully.
- Who?Icarus, son of famous inventor, Daedalus