МИНОБРНАУКИ РОССИИ
ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ БЮДЖЕТНОЕ
ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ
ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ
«ВОРОНЕЖСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»
(ФГБОУ ВО «ВГУ»)
MAJORING IN JOURNALISM
Part I
Учебно-методическое пособие для вузов
Составитель
Н. В. Кунаева
Издательско-полиграфический центр
Воронежского государственного университета
2017
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CONTENTS
Unit 1. How to Structure News Stories……………...…………………………………...4
Unit 2. The Essentials of News Writing………….………………………………….…...7
Unit 3. What Are Feature Stories?...………………..………………..………………....11
Unit 4. What Are the Different Kinds of Feature Stories?..............................................14
Unit 5. How to Write Creative Feature Stories ………………………………………...17
Unit 6. Want to Get Your Start in Sports Journalism? Cover the Local Teams………..20
Unit 7. Brand yourself……………………………………………………..……………23
Unit 8. How to become Reporters……...……………………………………………….25
Unit 9. Which Kinds of Journalism Students are the Ones Who Succeed?.....................28
Unit 10. How Reporters Can Use the Internet to Improve Their News Stories………...31
Unit 11. Eight Ways to Tell if a Website is Reliable…………………………………...34
Unit 12. The future of print………………….................................................................37
APPENDIX
Useful Language for SUMMARIES ……………………………………………..…….41
Useful Language for REPORTS…………………………………………………..……45
Useful Expressions for ARTICLES ………………………………………………...….52
Language and Strategies for PRESENTATIONS……………………………...……….54
Language and Strategies for GROUP DISCUSSIONS…………………………………56
Other Linking Words and Phrases………………………………….……...……………58
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A Little History
The inverted pyramid format turns traditional storytelling on its head. In a short story or
novel, the most important moment – the climax - typically comes near the very end. But
in newswriting the most important moment is right at the start in the lede.
The format was developed during the Civil War. Newspaper correspondents covering
that war’s great battles relied on telegraph machines to transmit their stories back to their
newspapers’ offices.
But often saboteurs would cut the telegraph lines, so reporters learned to transmit the
most important information – Gen.
Lee defeated at Gettysburg, for instance – at the very start of the transmission to make
sure it got through successfully. The newswriting format developed then has served
reporters well ever since.
COMPREHENTION CHECK
Ex. 4. Answer the following questions:
1. What is this text about?
2. Who do you think this text is written for?
3. What is a news story?
4. What is the inverted pyramid?
5. How did this format appear?
6. What Civil War is meant here? Who is Lee?
7. What are basic rules for writing and structuring any news story?
FOLLOW UP
Ex. 5. Write an argumentative essay on the following topic: “Writing from the Top
Down: Pros and Cons of the Inverted Pyramid” (see useful phrases in Appendix).
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UNIT 2
LEAD-IN
Ex. 1. In pairs, discuss the following issues:
1. Have you ever written a news story?
2. What do you think you are supposed to know before writing a news story?
Ex. 2. Match the two parts of the sentences below to find out more about what news
is.
1. News is…
2. Government proclamations,
concerning royal ceremonies, laws,
taxes, public health, and criminals…
3. Common topics for news reports
include…
4. Humans exhibit a nearly universal
desire…
5. Journalists provide news…
6. Technological and social
developments, often driven by
government communication and
espionage networks,…
7. The genre of news as we know it
today…
a) is closely associated with the
newspaper, which originated in China
as a court bulletin and spread, with
paper and printing press, to Europe.
b) through many different media, based
on word of mouth, printing, postal
systems, broadcasting, and electronic
communication.
c) information about current events.
d) have increased the speed with which
news can spread, as well as influenced
its content.
e) war, government, politics, education,
health, the environment, business, and
entertainment, as well as athletic
events, quirky or unusual events.
f) have been dubbed news since ancient
times.
g) to learn and share news, which they
satisfy by talking to each other and
sharing information.
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PRE-READING
Ex. 3. Does the word ‘Nutgraf’ ring a bell? In pair, discuss the meaning of this
term. Use additional sources, if necessary.
READING
Ex. 4. Read the text and say what the basics of news writing are.
THE ESSENTIALS OF NEWS WRITING
THE 5 W'S AND OTHER NEWS WRITING BASICS
By Rachel Deahl
How do you write a news story? News writing follows a basic formula; there are key
elements every news story follows. While styles can diverge more dramatically
depending on the kind of story – a feature story may look and sound very different than
a hard news one – all news stories are cut from the same mold. The first element of news
writing is, of course, to deliver the news.
The Basics of News Writing: The 5 W’s
Most people have heard of the 5 W’s, even if they’ve never taken a journalism class.
The W’s in question, as you probably know, refer to the Who, What, When, Where and
Why that every story should address. Depending on what the story is, how and when
you answer those W’s may change. If, for example, you’re reporting on a drive-by
shooting in a city, you’ll likely start with where the crime happened (what street or area
of town for the local paper) and who was involved (if you don’t have names or the
people are regular citizens, you might refer to notable affiliations if, say, the victim and
presumed perpetrator were gang members).
Figuring out what details to give a reader, and when, is key in constructing a story. The
answer, of course, depends on the facts. If you’re working on the above story, and the
murder happens to be one of a string of similar crimes, that may be the point you open
the story with. If, however, the above story revolved around someone of note being shot,
that might be what you start your piece with.
(A story about a notable name being shot is a very different story than one about a
private. The latter might speak more to ongoing local violence while the former is a
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story in and of itself - X person has been killed and here’s what X person was known
for.)
Crafting a Lede
A lede, which is a journalism slang term for the first sentence or two of a story (i.e.
lead), is an incredibly important part of the process.
You need to hook readers with your lede and, in some cases (as discussed above), relay
the important parts of your story. You need to draw a reader in while telling him why the
story matters.
Like all forms of writing, there’s no hard and fast rule about what makes a great lede. A
good lede changes depending on the story you’re writing. One of the best ways to get
familiar with what a good lede is is to read. Read lots of different stories. Read breaking
news stories. Read features. Read reviews. Ledes vary wildly but, you’ll start to notice
patterns and, more importantly, what kinds of ledes you like and feel are effective. You
can get more basics from this piece from the University of Arkansas on ledes, but I
suggest following it up with lots of reading.
Getting Your Nutgraf
A nutgraf, another journalism slang term, is the summarization of what the story’s about.
A nutgraf (also written with as “nut graf”) can be a sentence or a paragraph and,
sometimes, may also be your lede.
Nutgrafs are incredibly important.
Some might argue they are the heart of a story because they relay why the story matters.
A nutgraf needs to address why the story is being written, whether the piece is about
something like the aforementioned murder, or a profile of a famous celebrity. Like ledes,
nutgrafs vary wildly from story to story. Nutgrafs can also be harder to identify
than ledes so a good exercise to read lots of different stories and try to find the nutgraf.
(If you do this outside of a classroom setting, it might be a good idea to find someone
who can go over your findings with you.)
How Style Comes Into Play
The basics outlined above apply directly to all stories but, most obviously, to your
classic news story. That said all stories have ledes and nutgrafs, no matter what they’re
about or where you find them. These elements are applied differently, and often
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more subtly, in long-form journalism and feature stories, but they’re still there. All
(good) stories have ledes and nutgraf.
I’ve said elsewhere on this site that the best way to become a better writer is to read
more. I’ve gotten this piece of advice and I know others who’ve given it. One of the best
ways to see how the basic elements of news writing can be applied to wildly different
stories is to read, back to back, three very different pieces. For this exercise, I suggest
reading the lead story in any major paper. The front page of a paper (online and in print)
offers the biggest news stories of the day and there you’ll find straight, hard news. It
might be local, it might be international. Then hit the features section of the paper.
Check out The Arts section of the Times or, say, the Washington Post’s Arts &
Living section, and read a review, then another trend story. Then read a piece of longform
journalism in a magazine like The New Yorker or Esquire. (In The New
Yorker nearly every article, save the reviews and pieces from Talk of the Town, is an
example of long-form journalism.)
Now think about how different each piece reads. Find the nutgraf in each story and pay
attention to how much each lede varies. Notice that some stories have nutgrafs that
appear well below the lede, and others begin with the nutgraf. Notice how the nutgraf is
more obvious in the news stories, than in the features or the magazine stories. All these
stories rely on the basic elements of news writing but do so in different styles. This
exercise is good for giving a sense of the breadth of journalism, and how differently the
rules of news writing can be applied.
COMPREHENTION CHECK
Ex. 5. Read the text again and answer the questions:
1. What are the key elements that every news story follows?
2. What are the 5 W’s ? In what way may those W’s change?
3. What’s a lede? Why is the lede thought to be an important part of newswriting?
4. What makes a great lede?
5. What’s a nutgraf?
6. How can one tell a lede from a nutgraf?
7. What is the best way to become a better writer and to improve your style?
FOLLOW UP
Ex. 6. Search the Internet to find an example of a news story. Copy this text, then
get ready to read out some paragraphs of your story to other students. Then in
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