Structure of a News Story

When you are working out the structure of an article, it is important to remember that many people will not read it all the way to the bottom. They only carry on reading until they get bored and then they will move on to the next one.

Because of this, you need to make sure that even if the article is only partly read, the reader will get the essence of what it is about.

This technique is known as the inverted triangle, which basically means you should try to get as much important information as high up as possible.

Headline

Almost always, journalists do not write the headlines and are not expected to suggest one. This is because the choice of headline will often have to be a certain length to fit with the design of the page.

But if you have a good idea for a headline, feel free to make a suggestion to the sub-editor. Just don't be offended if he or she goes with something different.

Intro

Many people think that a good intro should include the details of "who", "why", "what", "where" and "when" but this is not the case. In fact, if you try to squeeze too many details into the intro then it can end up sounding wooden and forced.

An example of this is the famous New York Times intro reporting the death of Abraham Lincoln, but while it gets plenty of details in, by today's standards it is way too long.

All you should be aiming for with an intro is to sum up the story in one short sentence. It should be around 20 words or fewer and certainly no longer than 30 words. It should tell the reader why the story is interesting and the rest of the details can come further down. Think of writing an intro as if you are making a pitch to the reader about why they should bother to read your article.

To take the example of the Abraham Lincoln intro, there is no added value of including the time, the name of the theatre or who was with him. All you need to say is that the president has been shot dead while at the theatre, because those are the crucial facts that the reader will use to decide if it is worth moving on to the second paragraph. All the other details can come later.

If you are struggling to think up an intro, just ask yourself what the story is really about. Why is it interesting or relevant? Just going through this process is often enough to give you a strong intro.

Journalists regularly ask colleagues for advice on how to write an intro and the colleague will respond by asking what the story is about. Often, the sentence the journalist uses to explain is the basis for a good intro.

Dropped Intro

While most intros sum up the story in one sentence, the "dropped intro" breaks this rule. When using a dropped intro, the first paragraph will set the scene or tee up the story almost in the style of a feature. Then you put the hard news angle into the second or sometimes even third paragraph.

The dropped intro is most often used on softer news that is quirky, amusing or emotionally touching. They can also sometimes be used for hard news when the story is so big that a normal intro would sound odd because everybody reading the paper would already know about it.

If you want to learn more about how to use the dropped intro then read The Daily Mail because they are the masters of it. An example is this story about bin men refusing to collect a man's rubbish.

But use this technique sparingly. Chris Walker, regional managing editor for Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales, said: "The main fact of the article should nearly always be in the first paragraph. If you use a 'drop intro', it’s no good how clever it is if it doesn’t make the reader want to read on."

Structure of a News Story

For the rest of a news story, there are no hard and fast rules and the most important thing is that it flows well.

But if you are struggling, try to fit the story into the format of

• Present tense
• Present tense
• Past tense
• Present tense
• Quote

This does not work for every article, but it is a good starting point if you are stuck. To give you an example of this structure, take this imaginary piece:

The leader of Mid-England Council has announced he is to stand down because of poor health (present tense).

Councillor Bob Smith will formally resign at the next council meeting on June 15 and will be replaced by his deputy, Councillor June Johnson (present tense).

Cllr Smith has missed three council meetings over the last year because of a heart condition, which has led to speculation about how long he could continue (past tense).

He now thinks he is unable to give the position the time it needs and that it would be better in the interests of the council for him to give up the leadership (present).

He said: "It will be a real wrench to leave after so many years, but I've taken this decision because I believe it's in the best interests of both the community and my personal health (quote)."

Once you are past the first five paragraphs, the rest of the structure should be obvious.