News writing

Writing News

·       Every news has four parts. They are as follows.

1) Headline- 
a) Use of present tense.
b) Omission of articles.
c) Use of minimum words.
d) First letter of each word is in capital letters.
e) Written in bold type.

2) Dateline-
a) Name of place.
b) Name of month.
c) Date.
d) Source of news.

3) Lead / Intro-
a) Short paragraph giving information of questions  
    what, who, where, when, how etc.
b) Written in about 30 words or three lines.
c) It is written in simple past tense.

4) Main body of news-
a) It is a continuing paragraph giving the information of
     the incident in details.
                   b) It is written in simple past tense.
                   c) The most important information is written initially        
                       then less important information is written.

Expansion of News Headline-

Q. Read the following news headline. Write a dateline, lead paragraph and a continuing paragraph.

1) 30 school children killed in bus-truck accident.

Ans-      
30 School Children Killed in Bus-Truck Accident

Pune, March 4
P.T.I.  


     Thirty school children were killed on the spot and several others were seriously injured as there school bus collided with a truck on the Pune-Mumbai highway yesterday, around four o’clock in the evening.
          About fifty students from St. Josef School, Saniwar Peth, Pune along with five teachers were coming back from two day picnic in Mahabaleshwar. A truck tried to overtake their school bus causing the fatal accident. The cleaner of the bus and the driver of the truck also expired. Three teachers and some of the children were admitted to the Sancheti Hospital. Some children were released with first-aid but they are in a state of shock. The driver of the bus has been arrested. The home minister declares Rs. two lakhs for the dead and Rs. 25 thousand for the seriously injured, reports P.T.I.

2) Flood Situation Grim In Mumbai

Ans-                     
Flood Situation Grim In Mumbai

Mumbai, July 26
By a Staff Reporter

           Sudden shower on Friday morning lashed the city of Mumbai disturbing its busy life. The situation became serious when many old buildings collapsed at one moment.
       Heavy rains accompanied by lightning and thunder attacked Mumbai to disturb its life and activities. The students and office workers were struggling to come home. The water entered in many parts of the suburbs.  All the first floors of each building which were in deep places were gone under water. Few buffalos and cattle were lying dead drowning in the water. The sudden rainfall started around 8 o’clock in the morning and continued for eight long hours. The railway tracks were overflowed and the trains were delayed. Due to strong water flow vehicles could not move on the roads. The police and military soldiers were helping the affected people, reports our staff reporter.

3) Ten Killed in Bomb Blast

Ans-                          Ten killed in Bomb Blast
Bhopal, March 9
Our Reporter
             Eight persons and two children were killed in major explosion of a powerful bomb kept in a cycle in a busy area in Bhopal yesterday at around 1 p.m.

           The explosion which damaged many vehicles also resulted in serious injuries to twenty persons. The injured persons were carried to the municipal hospital. Police suspects the hand of the militants in this bomb attack. Security in the capital has been tightened. The Prime Minister and the Chief Minister have expressed shock and grief over the incident. The Chief Minister declared Rs.2 lakhs for the dead while Rs. 25 thousand for injured, reports our reporter.

Collected from the Blog of Prof.Tushar Chavan