The structure of the news story

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The structure of the news story

• A newspaper consists of just the same number of
  words, whether there be any news in it or not.
• Henry Fielding, British writer, playwright and
  journalist (1707-1754)
• It's amazing that the amount of news that happens
  in the world every day always just exactly fits
  the newspaper.
• Jerry Seinfeld, US actor and comedian, (b. 1954)

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1886
3
1918
4
1948
5
1968
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2007
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• On returning she discovered to her great horror
  that a ferret belonging to her husband had
  escaped from its box and was attacking the child,
  the poor infant's nose being entirely eaten off.
• The child is recovering but of course will be
  disfigured.
• A child aged 8 months and belonging to a poor
  farm labourer was left by its mother in bed in
  charge of her aged parent for a little while.
• A sad accident happened at Lamarsh a few days
  ago.
• The screams of the child were not heard by the
  aged woman who is very deaf

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Text 1868 correct order

• D. A sad accident happened at Lamarsh a few
  days ago.
• C. A child aged 8 months and belonging to a
  poor farm labourer was left by its mother in bed
  in charge of her aged parent for a little while.
• A. On returning she discovered to her great
  horror that a ferret belonging to her husband had
  escaped from its box and was attacking the child,
  the poor infant's nose being entirely eaten off.
• E. The screams of the child were not heard by
  the aged woman who is very deaf.
• B. The child is recovering but of course will
  be disfigured.

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Croc hunted after tourist's body found

• Police are hunting a four metre crocodile
  believed to have killed a British national who
  had been snorkelling off a remote Northern
  Territory island.
• The body of 37-year-old mines superintendent
  Russell Harris was found yesterday morning after
  he failed to return from a snorkelling trip off
  Groote Eylandt, off Arnhem Land.
• Alyangula police said a saltwater crocodile had
  been sighted at the mouth of Eight Mile Creek,
  near where his body was found.
• Acting Senior Sergeant Stephen Pfitzner said Mr
  Harris may have been the victim of a crocodile
  attack, but this had not been confirmed.
• "Police advise the community that the crocodile
  may still be in the area and to take extra
  precautions if venturing into the waters around
  Groote Eylandt," he said.
• Mr Harris' body will be flown to Darwin today for
  a post mortem examination.
• BHP Billiton said Mr Harris was a technical
  services superintendent at its Gemco mine on the
  island. He had been with the company for five
  months.The company was arranging to fly members
  of Mr Harris' family, and that of his American
  wife, to Darwin.It had also brought in
  additional counsellors to assist staff."Our
  priority is to provide support to the family,"
  the BHP Billiton spokeswoman said.
• A police spokeswoman said police would hunt the
  crocodile and attempt to move it to another
  location.
• Police said Mr Harris had been snorkelling with
  another man off rocks, about 100 metres north of
  Picnic Beach, on Saturday whilst their partners
  remained on the beach. At some point the two men
  became separated.The other man last saw Mr
  Harris about 2pm, snorkelling about 20 metres
  from shore.He became concerned when Mr Harris
  still had not returned by 4pm, and he contacted
  police.
• After an extensive search, the 37-year-old's body
  was found early yesterday morning, about 1.5 km
  north of where he was last seen.

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• 9 - what happened
• 2, 10 refer to body being found.
• 4 and then 1, 3 and 5 (in any order) repeat
  information about police sighting the crocodile.
• 7 the company
• 8, 6 refer to future events.
• There is no conclusion
• para 10, chronologically in the middle of the
  story, offers reassurance

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Readership, angle and stance

• Implied readership, readers presumed to share
  certain interests, beliefs, politics. Papers will
  angle stories to the readership.
• Angle how the paper approaches the event,
  taking into consideration the readership.
• Stance the position or point of view that the
  paper adopts towards an event or issue and
  transmits to the readership.

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writing a story

• Write a short (100 words) newspaper article based
  on a story you know well (a fairy tale,
  Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping
  Beauty, for example).
• Spelling, vocabulary and grammar are not
  important concentrate instead on identifying a
  possible angle on the story.

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structure of news stories
body
satellite 1
nucleus
satellite 2
headline
satellite 3
lead
satellite n.
wrap-up (optional)
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structure of croc story

• S1 (p2) who? where?
• S2 (p3) what?, the cause of the event
• S3 (p4 - 5) police, hypotheses
• S4 (p6) today
• S5 (p7) the victims company
• S6 (p 8) police responsibility
• S7 (p 9) what happened.
• Para 10 wrap-up connects to nucleus (Who?,
  Where?, When?) and echoes satellite 2.

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Headline and lead
nucleus

• Headline
• 1 attracts attention
• signals urgency
• signals significance

Croc hunted after tourist's body found
Police are hunting a four metre crocodile
believed to have killed a British national who
had been snorkelling off a remote Northern
Territory island.
Lead elaborates the headline by expanding the
information
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• bungled headlines
• Newspapers can sometimes bungle headlines,
  leading to amusing, or ambiguous,
  interpretations. Can you find two interpretations
  for the following? (The words underlined may help
  you.)
• Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery Hundreds Dead
• Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
• Kicking Baby Considered To Be Healthy
• Miners Refuse to Work after Death
• Milk Drinkers are Turning to Powder
• Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped
• Stolen Painting Found by Tree
• Two Sisters Reunite after Eighteen Years at
  Checkout Counter
• Two Soviet Ships Collide - One Dies
• New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group

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Attention-seeking strategies

• Omission function words articles (a, the),
  relative pronouns (who, which), determiners
  (some, this) auxilliary verbs.
• Loaded words
• Short words
• Noun phrases
• Gimmicks homophones, homonyms, alliteration,
  metaphor, rhyme

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Obama plot (29 oct 08)

• Police foil plot by white supremacists to kill
  Obama.far-right extremists. Plot to assassinate
  BO and kill and decapitate dozens of other black
  Americans at a school. Farcically, planned to
  dress in white tuxedos and top hats and drive car
  at high speed towards BO while shooting at him.
  They expected to die. (Independent)
• Neo-Nazis accused of plot to assassinate
  ObamaPolice foil plot by two skinhead neo-Nazis
  who aimed to assassinate BO and kill 102 other
  people. Arrested in Tennessee, charged with
  making threats against a presidential candidate,
  conspiring to rob a gun store and possessing an
  unregistered firearm. Planned a "killing spree"
  in black high school, to kill 88 people and
  behead 14 others, before trying to shoot
  BO.(Guardian)
• Neo-Nazis 'planned to assassinate BO wearing top 
  hats and white tuxedoesBO refuses to change
  schedule of high-profile appearances despite
  fears about his safety. Security increased after
  racist plot uncovered. Will be in Florida with
  Clinton where 100,000 crowd expected. Extra
  police and rigid security checks. (Daily Mail)
• 500 plots to kill ObamaTarget of more than 500
  death threats, most recent 2 neo-nazis, but more
  than a dozen have been taken seriously (Daily
  Express)
• skinheads planned Obama massacre2 skinheads
  planned to assassinate BO after killing 102 black
  people. National killing spree planned. Had shot
  gun and planned to rob gun store. Arrested after
  writing racist words and drawing swastika on car
  (Advertiser)
• Plot to kill Obama "disorganisedTwo white
  supremacists charged with plotting to behead
  blacks and assassinate BOprobably too
  disorganised. Accused of dreaming up plot they
  wearing white tuxedos and top hats. Guns capable
  of creating carnage but plot disorganised. Among
  blunders, etched swastikas on car, only knew each
  other a month, couldn't pull off a house robbery,
  and a friend reported them. (Australian)
• White supremacists 'plotted to assassinate Barack
  Obama in top hats and tails2 plotted killing
  spree and assassination of BO and dozens of black
  children. Planned to drive as fast as they could
  at BO, US first black president if elected,
  shooting from windows,wearing white tuxedos and
  top hats. Planned to shoot or decapitate 88 black
  people in Tennessee (Telegraph)
• Neo-Nazis charged over Obama 'assassination plot'
  Two white supremacist skinheads in bizarre plot
  to kill 88 blacks, including BO on a
  state-to-state killing spree. Planned deadly
  rampage in southern states, beheading 14 victims
  in brutal homage to skinhead culture, before
  gunning down BO. Planned to drive as fast
  blasting shotguns at him. (Times)
• Neo-Nazis' plan to kill Obama
• US agents foiled plot to assassinate BO. Federal
  agents revealed 2 "neo-Nazi skinheads" hatched
  elaborate plot to slaughter 102 blacks. Caught
  and arrested. Had several guns. Police show pair
  planned to rob gun store. Police Agent said the
  men planned to shoot 88 black people and
  decapitate 14. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic
  in white supremacist community. Police agent said
  final act would be to kill BO. (Sun)

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Kercher trial (29 oct 08)

• Rudy Guede guilty of Meredith Kercher murder,
  Amanda Knox faces trial (Times)
• Rudy Guede jailed for 30 years Meredith Kercher's
  murderFamily of murdered British student
  Meredith Kercher say they are satisfied but not
  pleased after a man was jailed for 30 years
  (Australian)
• Meredith Kercher's family 'satisfied' after
  drifter Rudy Guede is jailed for 30 yearsFamily
  of murdered Kercher have welcomed conviction and
  jail term handed down to an unemployed man found
  guilty of murdering their daughter in an Italian
  hill town last year. (Telegraph)
• Meredith Kercher Man jailed for 30 years for
  killing British studentKercher's housemate and
  boyfriend to stand trial, victim's family
  welcomes 'step towards justice' (Guardian)
• Meredith's family 'satisfied' as killer gets 30
  years for her murder and Foxy Knoxy is told she
  WILL face trialA university town drifter started
  a 30-year prison sentence today for the murder of
  exchange student Meredith Kercher. (Daily Mail)
• Knox to stand trial with former lover for Kercher
  murderRudy Guede is given 30-year prison
  sentence for killing British student
  (Independent)
• Justice for my MeredithTHE dad of murdered
  Meredith Kercher watched her killer caged for 30
  years last night, then declared Justice has
  been done. Drifter Rudy Guede, 21, was convicted
  of the British students sex murder (Sun)

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Whats the weather like today? p.54

• Its quite a nice day.
• Dont forget your umbrella!
• I think its a bit on the chilly side.
• Look! The suns coming out.
• I dont know, I havent looked.

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Explicit evaluation

• In a shocking display of violence
• But Mr Bush has also been gracious in inviting Mr
  Obama to the White House so soon after the
  election
• A thug who blinded a frail 97-year-old war
  veteran in an unprovoked attack walked free
• Bungling Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi was at the
  centre of controversy The gaffe-prone tycoon
  said Obama was young, handsome and tanned.

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Explicit evaluation

• In a shocking display of violence
• But Mr Bush has also been gracious in inviting Mr
  Obama to the White House so soon after the
  election
• A thug who blinded a frail 97-year-old war
  veteran in an unprovoked attack walked free
• Bungling Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi was at the
  centre of controversy The gaffe-prone tycoon
  said Obama was young, handsome and tanned.

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Implicit evaluation

• Britneys performance left her fans
  disappointed
• Iraqis took everything they could, they even
  looted the hospitals
• Russia switched deftly from threats to charm
  yesterday in an effort to exploit indications
  that
• Rival monks punch, kick and shove during a brawl
  at one of Christianitys holiest sites
  yesterday.
• McCain shuffled out onto the stage, wearing a
  funeral-black suit and smiling in a way that
  suggested he was in fact close to either bursting
  into tears or severely injuring someone.
• Prince of Wales waits as President Sarkozy late
  for war dead service

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Implicit evaluation

• Britneys performance left her fans
  disappointed
• Iraqis took everything they could, they even
  looted the hospitals
• Russia switched deftly from threats to charm
  yesterday in an effort to exploit indications
  that
• Rival monks punch, kick and shove during a brawl
  at one of Christianitys holiest sites
  yesterday.
• McCain shuffled out onto the stage, wearing a
  funeral-black suit and smiling in a way that
  suggested he was in fact close to either bursting
  into tears or severely injuring someone.
• Prince of Wales waits as President Sarkozy late
  for war dead service

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Tokens of evaluation

• Back to Wasilla. Back to moose huntin' and
  fishin' and preparin' for Bristol's shotgun
  wedding. No more talk of standing up for the
  "real America"
• The crowd smashed several windows and chanted
  death to britain

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Is there a difference?

• Britney, looking decidedly fat
• Britney, looking a little over-weight
• Cuddly Britney, smiling
• Unemployment crisis hits government
• Unemployment issue to be discussed today
• Unemployment problem continues

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Denotation/connotation

• A group of words can share the same meaning but
  can have a very different effect on the reader.
• Many words have two meanings
• Denotative meaning- the literal, neutral meaning
  as found in the dictionary.
• Connotative meaningthe associations or emotional
  loadings that the word has, which affect the
  literal meaning in various ways.
• This includes loaded language such as
  euphemism/dysphemism and doublespeak

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