6.2: Good News Writing

Good news writing is concise, clear, and accurate. That sounds simple enough, but it is actually quite challenging. As already mentioned, journalists tend to want to include everything they have learnt in their stories. But stories that get to the point are more likely to appeal to busy news consumers, and a news organisation that lets stories run on and on will not have much space or time left to cover other news.

• Generally speaking, news stories have shorter sentences and paragraphs than most other types of writing.
• Each paragraph contains one main idea. A new paragraph begins when a new idea, character, or setting is introduced.
• Journalists use simple, direct language that is easy to understand, with more nouns and verbs than adjectives and adverbs.
• Well-written news stories are not vague, ambiguous, or repetitious, because every word counts; do not use needless words.
• Good writers always try to choose the most appropriate word to convey what they mean.
• Journalists use dictionaries and reference books regularly to make sure the words they choose really mean what they think they do.
• Because they write stories for a general audience, journalists also try to avoid jargon (i.e., specialised language or technical terms unfamiliar to most people). A hospital spokesman might describe a person as suffering from “lacerations and contusions”, but a journalist should use simpler terms: “cuts and bruises”. If a technical term must be used for accuracy, it is a good idea to include a definition as well. For example, the term “fossil fuels” in a story about global energy issues should include a concise list of what those fuels are: coal, oil, and natural gas.
• Journalists must avoid euphemisms (i.e., words or phrases that may confuse or mislead the audience). If the city council votes to approve “a new interment facility”, the story on the website or in the next day’s newspaper should tell residents that the city “plans to build a new cemetery”.
• Journalists must also be careful not to use hyperbole (exaggeration). Avoid terms such as “the best ever”, “the first ever”, “ground-breaking” or “the new car is faster than the speed of light”. Often, this is not true; usually most things have happened before, somewhere in the world, and to be “ground-breaking”, something must be really unique and special. Sources who are trying to promote events or inventions would often use these words, but as a journalist, you should carefully consider whether such words are true.
• One key principle of news writing is to show the audience what happened instead of just telling them about it. The concept of showing and not telling may be difficult to grasp, but once you understand what it means, it will help you to write good stories that your audience will enjoy reading. For example, rather than saying, “Family members who attended the funeral were grief-stricken”, say, “His father wiped the tears with a clean, white handkerchief, while his mother stared blankly at the pastor.” What you describe shows the reader what happened instead of telling them your interpretation of what happened. When you show readers the events using clear descriptions of your observations, they can picture or feel the events in their own mind, it is not you telling them what to think.
• As we have already discussed in the previous chapter, accuracy is critically important in news writing. An accurate story gets the basics right: grammar, spelling, punctuation, dates, addresses, numbers, and all the other details that go into a news story. Getting someone’s name or age wrong is the kind of error that can make a journalist lose credibility.
• An accurate story also tells a complete story, not just one side or another. This does not mean that any single story should include everything there is to say about a topic, but it does mean that journalists must not leave out key information that could distort the story’s meaning. For example, writing that a new test makes it easier to detect oral cancer suggests that the old test was unreliable. If the new test is merely faster, the journalist should say so.
• News stories are told in simple language written by the journalist, but most stories also include the words of other people in quotations or sound bites (when telling audio or audio-visual stories). Quotes can make stories stronger by sharing the direct experience of someone involved.
• It is never worth quoting everything someone says in an interview; use quotes that would add colour (i.e., feeling and emotion) to your story. Avoid quotes that merely state facts, for example: “We expect to have a decision next week on contingency plans for the distribution of municipal funds to low-income recipients.” Such information can be written in simple language using your own words. But a quote such as, “I always believed the rain would stop. I knew we would survive,” by a survivor of a flood is filled with emotion and makes your story stronger.
• Avoid using swear words or highly descriptive language for graphic scenes of violence. Journalists should be aware of the community standards in the area in which they work and avoid offending community sensibilities. This also includes religious references, which should be handled with respect in highly religious communities. Sexist language or derogatory language for minorities, including sexual minorities such as the LGBTQI+ community, should also be avoided.

Now that you know how to find stories, find and interview sources and what good news writing is, we will continue to explore in detail how you should go about writing your news stories – i.e., how to put your stories together. News stories have certain types of introductions, follow certain structures, and end in certain ways.