News reports

Purpose

The purpose of news reports is to inform the responder of current news items as quickly, simply and objectively as possible.

Tone

The tone is quite formal but is extremely simple. Most news reports avoid the use of contractions and are printed in complete sentence form without abbreviations. The idea is to provide as much information as possible in as short a time as possible.

Features of a news report

• All news reports try to answer the basic questions surrounding an event. These questions are who, what, when, where, how and why. An effective news report will answer these six questions.
  
  
• These questions are prioritised so that the most important questions are addressed first.
  
  
• The language in a news report is almost always objective - the composer is not offering his/her opinion but recording and presenting the facts.
  
  
• Indirect and direct speech from people involved is commonly used to present their opinions, rather than the opinions of the reporter.
  
  
• Usually written in third person and in past tense.
  
  
• Short sentences.
  
  
• Uncomplicated words and language.

Hints for writing an effective news report

• Be sure you know what the most important facts are. (This is covered in more detail under structure.)
  
  
• Avoid discussing your own opinion or introducing bias into the article.
  
  
• Consider different angles. If, for example, the event was a grand final won by the Sydney Swans, the angles could be - the success of the Swans or the defeat of St Kilda or the dejection of Melbourne's fans or it could even be taken as an event signifying the rise in popularity of Australian Rules Football in NSW.
  
  
• Make your sentences short. This will make your writing 'punchier'. Responders will find this easier to absorb. (Compare with, 'In order to make your writing "punchier", ensure that your sentences are really short as responders will find this a lot easier to absorb.')

Structure

In a newspaper article the most important information is presented first. Details and elaboration are added at the end. This serves two purposes: Firstly, the editor can cut the report as short as needed. Secondly, responders can learn as much as they want - if they are really interested, they can read the entire article and if not they can just read the main points.

Introduction

• This should be as short as possible and address the questions, what happened, when, and where?

Body

• Elaborate on exactly what happened and to whom it happened.
  
  
• Explain in more detail how it happened.
  
  
• Gather different opinions as to why it happened.
  
  
• Discuss, using other people's opinions, any issues raised by the event. Are there any other similar cases?

There is no conclusion in a news report. You are finished when you have included all the information that you have.