Transcript Beyond the inverted pyramid

For the good journalist, writing news is first and foremost an exercise in
intellectual organisation:
•What is the story?
•Why am I doing this story?
•Who will care about it?
Secondly it is about the facts – without facts you don’t have a story.
Third, if you like, but in a way, equal second, is people.
Facts don’t make news, people do.
Without interviews and observations about people you don’t have a story.
When you’ve got all these threads assembled you can set it out straight, so it
makes sense. That’s real news writing.
Once you can do that, then, and only then, is it about style.
Intellectual organization
The lexical, grammatical and syntactical choices a
journalist makes, such as writing a headline, lead or
body of a news story, make up a schema that, while
shaped by rules and conventions, can function as a
framing device itself (van Dijk, 1988).
Beyond the inverted pyramid – the news voice
Story-telling, narrative sentences
Linking – moving – weaving: syntax & style
Double Helix, double the value
Bert Flugelman’s sculptural effects
Structuring the story
Good writers structure their stories clearly
and logically, enticing the reader in and
encouraging them to keep reading. (Sissons,
2006, p.57)
• Focus on the strongest angle
• Write an attractive intro
• Set out the facts faithfully and
lucidly
• Structure the story to encourage
reading
• Use the most compelling quotes
early on
Form follows function +
content [GIGO]
Good structure and strong
news values must scaffold
style
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Answers news questions
Simplicity
Edited from bottom  up
Summary lead
Clear B—M—E
A common complaint is that the
inverted pyramid does not have
the emotion or suspense of
other news writing structures
such as the narrative or
hourglass.
It is informative but often
reduces news to the bare bones
Move beyond the inverted pyramid
In a typical news story, you generally
make your point, set the tone, and
frame the issue in the first paragraph
or two.
Beyond the in verted pyramid you
can develop the theme of the story
and leave your point until the end, if
that suits your style.
Narrative – story-telling
Narrative structure has the same
basic structure as a book; a
beginning, middle and end.
The story focuses on the people
involved and offers the
opportunity for dialogue and
action.
• B: the introduction should entice
your reader
drama, emotion,
quotes, questions,
description
• M keep promises to readers
or answer any questions you pose
maintain an "atmosphere”
• E: conclusion: help the reader remember the
story
Hourglass structure involves both the
pyramid structure and the narrative
structure of news writing.
The summary lead and the top
section of the story delivers the facts
The bottom of the hourglass
compliments the facts by injecting a
narrative to provide colour and
background
B—M—E
Hourglass Style Basics
1. Begin with a summary lead
2. Build your story from there with facts organized from most
important to least
3. About the middle of the article, build in a, "turn," the
transitional paragraph
4. Organize the second half of the article from least important
to most important facts
5. Use active voice & colorful verbs throughout the article
6. Build in a conclusion. The conclusion can circle back to the
original lead.
Linking via referential continuity
• Each paragraph links to the previous one by
referencing a subject using the same or similar word,
a detail of the subject, a contrast, or a synonym. For
example:
• ‘A young boy is attacked by dogs…’ in the first
paragraph,
• Police statement / parent [?] in par 2
• ‘the eight-year-old survived the attack…’ in the third
and
• ‘The dog’s owner in the fourth.
• The child is now in hospital…’in the fifth
Get the details right…don’t overload
Choose the right amount of detail to include in
your story; you don't have to tackle the less
important aspects of your topic.
Give the most vital pieces of information that
you want to get across, and choose the details
that go along with it
However, be careful that you don't omit so much
detail that you end up with a vague outline for
an article
News stories often don't have the
space for long passages of description,
but even just a few key words can
convey to readers a sense of a place or
a person.
Use a variety of verbs that convey
action and give a sense of
movement
Link actions from one sentence to the
next – think about a re-action from
another source or contrast
Write right. Syntax, all right?
Write in the active voice.
In active writing, people do things.
Passive sentences often have the person doing the
action at the end of the sentence or things being
done “by” someone.
People have agency and take action
An organisation is it, not they
Avoid clichéd emotions
Avoid clichés
(cutting edge, world beating, revolutionary ) and
sentimental statements - especially at the end of
your article
Focus on human interest –
the feel and emotion you put into the
article are critical.
Don't think about writing a "science"
story - think about writing a "human
interest" story
Watch your language
Don't subject your reader to the equivalent of linguistic torture.
News is supposed to be light, entertaining and informative-not
deathly pedantic like a textbook
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Subject—verb—object
Agreement of tenses
Tense can change when appropriate
Agreement of verb and noun
Action completed, or on-going
Don’t get tense over tenses
Decide on the ‘tense' of your story at the
start and stick to it. Present tense usually
works best
Change tense with care – action in past or
present
Avoid lengthy, complex paragraphs, so one
or two sentences equals a paragraph
Status, Detail, Colour and Character
Remember you are telling a story
That means characters, scenes and action. Who is
there? What are they like? What are they doing
and saying? What does the place look like?
Show your reader instead of telling
Why say a person is friendly when you can say
how they bounce down the street, smiling at
everyone and calling hello to strangers.
Location, location, detail
Use concrete and specific words to get your
meaning across.
It was a pearl-grey Siamese – not just a cat.
It was a crumbling cement building with
broken panes of glass where windows used
to be — not an abandoned building.
Status detail adds colour and weight
Make people earn quote space
Quotes should be something interesting and compelling,
something that the source says better than you could.
Do not quote people stating facts:
"The school board will hold a hearing next Monday night to
find out what parents think of the school closures.“
Save the quotation marks for a person's opinion or their
experience:
"If parents don't turn up for the hearing, then I think we know
that they just don't care about the school system," says Anne
Smith, a school board member.
The DNA of documentary style
Narrative spines
Story elements
Timeline
Source
Individual stories
Data
Thematic spine
Event
Relational ideas
Description
Prepare and sort your
material
What does it tell you about
the story?
Does it suggest a structure for the
double helix?
• Logical sequence
• Distinct strands
• Useful anecdotes
• Beginning, middle, end
• Link points
• Link phrases
• Good quotes
• Light & shade
• Colour
Timeline
Individual stories
Thematic spine
Relational ideas
How will you tell the story?
1. Chronology – start to finish
• Sequence of events
2. Non-chronological timeline
• Events, but not in sequence
3. Compare and contrast
•People / groups
•Themes
•Related ideas