Features of a Newspaper Report

Features of a Newspaper Report

What are the KEY features of a newspaper report?

Written in the past tense

Written in the third person

Headline - this should be catchy and should tell the reader what the story is about

Lead which answers 5Ws - It is usually one sentence summary of the story.

Quotations or eye witness accounts contains facts and opinions

Other features :

-photographs and captions

-byline

Open Ended

Why is it important for a newspaper headline to be catchy?

Open Ended

What are some of the features used to make newspaper headlines catchy?

Newspaper Headlines

To make newspaper headlines catchy, one can employ one of the following features:

Alliteration

Rhyme

Emotive language

Rhetorical question

Simile

Examples of newspaper report headlines

Deadly Cat Calamity

In this headline the sound /k/ had been repeats in cat and calamity. This is alliteration.

Clean Chocolate is not alliterative because even though they both begin with c, the initial sounds are different. clean = /k/ while chocolate= /ch/

There is also the use of emotive language as the words 'deadly' and 'calamity' are words that appeals to our emotions.

Headlines

Want to Control Your Dreams?

This is a rhetorical question which will get the reader thinking, trying to find answers. This will make the reader want to read to find the answers.

Not Too Cool For School

This headline has a rhyme - cool and school.

Rhymes are attractive and will attract the reader

First paragraph - Lead

The lead is the first sentence in a newspaper report. It summarises the story and answers as many of the 5Ws as possible in a single sentence.

Examples:

Three people have been killed in last night's heavy rains, which destroyed properties and rendered many homeless.

Manchester United suffered a heavy defeat to Crystal Palace in their season opener last Saturday as the Old Trafford Stadium.

Open Ended

Look at the headline s below:

Two astronauts, Vijay and Kweku, have successfully landed at the International Space Station last Tuesday after they were launched into space three months ago.

Using the lead above, answer as many of the 5Ws as possible.

Quotations/Eye witness account

It is important to include comments or quotations from people involved in the story directly or people who witnessed the events you are writing about.

-This makes the story seem believable or authentic.

-They give the reader more information about the story.

This can be done as a direct speech or a reported speech.

Quotations/Eye witness account

Direct speech is when you write the exact words of a person. This is usually put in speech marks.

Example: Kojo, one of the boy's who witnessed the accident said,'' I saw the blue care jump the red light so I ran quickly behind the tree. My friend Tolani did not see it and got hit''

This can also be written as a reported speech. Reported speech is not the exact words of a person but rather,

Example: Kojo, one of the boys who witnessed the accident said that he saw the blue car jump the red light and so he ran quickly behind the tree. He said that his friend Tolani did not see the car and she got hit.

Open Ended

You are a reporter at the UN Day Celebration at GIS. Who will you interview and what might they say?

You can write it as a direct speech or a reported speech

Final Paragraph

The final paragraph ends the story by referring to the future or similar events in the past.

Example:

The final paragraph of the Manchester United story could be - The coach of Manchester United, Solksjaer, has promised the United fans better performance in their next match and has warned his players to up their game.

The story about the flood could end this way - The Accra Mayor, Mr. Oko, has directed his engineers to clear all water ways in order to prevent future floods and by so doing save lives and properties. The people of Accra are however, skeptical as this has become a perennial problem

Open Ended

You are a reporter writing a newspaper report on an accident scene. How would you conclude the story?

Remember to refer to the future and mention some of the measures that have been taken.