Transcript The News Story Deconstructed

The Newsy Feature
Story
What’s the difference between a
news story and a feature story?
If this is the news…
Trump threatens Berkeley in wake of
riot sparked by Milo Yiannopoulos
campus speech
This is a feature…
UC Berkeley incident triggers college free
speech debate
If this is the news…
Beyonce and Jay-Z announce twins!
This is a feature…
Social media responds to Beyonce’s
birth announcement
And this is another feature…
“NFL Lockout: Why It Sucks for
Fans”
The parts of a feature or secondday story
•
•
•
•
Headline
Lede
Nut graph
Body, which includes elaboration, reaction
quotes that support the sides of the story--if
there are sides.
• Ending, conclusion, kicker
Story lede, sometimes called
soft or story lede
•Story ledes can be one paragraph or a few
•Unlike the “just the facts” news lede, the
soft lede is often descriptive and teases the
reader
•Doesn’t have the “ws”
•Often focuses on a person that is an
example of the larger point of the story
•Most magazine articles use story ledes
Nut graph, sometimes called billboard
• Nut graph is a paragraph (or two) that explains
what the story is about.
• It contains the facts
• Most of the rest of the story supports and
amplifies what you’ve written in the nut graph
• If you write a strong, clear nut graph, your story
will be easier to organize.
What your story must have:
Headline
Lede
Transition
Nut graph
Body
Kicker
Direct quotes
Correctly set up and punctuate
quotes!
President Donald Trump threatened students
and officials at the University of California
Berkeley in the wake of free speech debate.
“No federal funds?” he said in via Twitter.
Acting interim CCNY President Vince
Boudreau showed his support for
immigrant
students. “At our diverse
”
campus, we provide safety and
sanctuary,” he said. “We resist
dictatorship and will not tolerate hatred.”
Grammar Reminders!
• Avoid overly long sentences.
• Pay attention to repetition and try not to
repeat words and phrases.
• Write in active, not passive voice.
• Do your best to avoid the “to be” verb;
instead, replace with active verbs, even if
you have to rework the sentence.
• Read over your work carefully – out loud.