News Writing

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• News Writing
• and Reporting
• Gene Mustain
• Assistant Professor
• Journalism and Media Studies Centre

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Writing Tips

• A sentence should contain no unnecessary words,
  for the same reason that a drawing should have no
  unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary
  parts. This requires not only that the writer
  make all his sentences short, or that he avoid
  all detail and treat his subject only in outline,
  but that every word tell.
• The Elements of Style

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Writing Tips

• The news media serve a large, diverse audience
  to reach the most people, newswriters must
  present information in a clear and interesting
  way. Every word tells.

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Writing Tips

• Good newswriting is more than the use of simple
  words. It is
• Using the correct words.
• Composing sentences carefully.
• Finding a pace and tone that matches the
  material.

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Good Writing

• 1) In general, keep sentences short. But vary
  their length.
• Short, medium, long, short, medium -- variety
  yields rhythm, and keeps the reader moving
  through the story.
• Short sentences pack power. They are dramatic.

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Good Writing

• 2) Simple sentences, not complex.
• Simple Tung is running for re-election.
• Complex Tung is running for re-election without
  the support of some Legco members who dont
  support him because they think he didnt a good
  job in his first term, which began in 1997, the
  handover year, when Hong Kong reverted to China.

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Good Writing

• 3) Use words people know.
• Do not send people to the dictionary. Dont give
  them reasons to put your story down.

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Good Writing

• 4) Dont use unnecessary words.
• A metal workshop in Yuen Long where a powerful
  blast killed three workers and injured four
  others on Saturday has been found to have had no
  license to store acetylene cylinders. (31 words)

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Good Writing

• How about this?
• A metal-working shop where a Saturday explosion
  killed three and injured four was not licensed to
  store gas cylinders. (19 words -- 12 less)

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Good Writing

• 5) Use active voice use strong verbs.
• Active A leaking tank triggered the explosion.
• Passive The explosion was caused by a leaking
  tank.

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Good Writing

• 6) Write the way you talk.
• The manager of a money-lending firm, who pleaded
  guilty to dishonestly appropriating 2.4 million
  from his employer, was described by two
  Democratic Party legislators as a honest man
  with many good qualities.

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Good Writing

• How about this?
• Two Democratic Party legislators say a man who
  stole 2.4 million from his boss is a honest man
  with many good qualities.

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Good Writing

• 7) Use words that help your reader see.
• The first and only International
  Anti-Corruption Newsletter is being published on
  the Internet by the Independent Commission
  Against Corruption (ICAC).

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Good Writing

• How about this?
• Hong Kongs corruption watchdog is publishing the
  first Internet newsletter designed to help
  sleuths around the world catch crooks.

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Good Writing

• 8) Develop your own style and voice.
• From Elements of Style Every writer, by the
  way he/she uses language, reveals something of
  their spirit, their habits, their capacity and
  bias.Put your own brand on your writing.

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Good Writing

• 9) Try to express, not impress.
• Even though writing is an act of ego, you want to
  express ideas, not impress people. So use clear,
  simple language. The minute you try to impress,
  to show off, you will fall flat on your face.

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Good Writing

• Best tip for last
• 10) After youre done, rewrite it. And then do it
  again.