Story Structure.docx

Story Structure.docx

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StoryStructure

StoryStructure

StoryStructure

♦Introduction

♦TheBasicStoryForms

♦TheSingle-elementandMulti-ElementStory

♦TheShapeOfTheStory

Introduction

♦Thenewsstoryisanorganizedwhole.Eachsentenceandparagraphhasitspositiontosuitonepurpose:

toconveythenewsinasuitableway.Actually,theleadgivesitsstructure.Adirectleadindicatesalinearstructurewithexplanationsbelowthelead.Adelayedleadmeansmorechoicesforthenews-writertoformagoodstory.

♦Basically,thelead,thematerialthatexplainsandamplifiesthelead,thenecessaryback-groundandthesecondaryorlessimportantmaterialareincludedandorganizedinturninanewsstorystructure.

TheBasicStoryForms

♦TheSingle-ElementStory

Thesingle-elementstoryisthestorythatconsistsofoneimportantactionorisbasedononemajorfactoridea.Itismostoftenseeninthebreakingnewsornewsbrief.

♦Thesingle-elementstoryhas:

ŒLead

?

Explanatoryandamplifyingmaterial

ŽBackground（ifnecessary）

?

Secondarymaterial（ifnecessary）Singleelement.doc

TheMulti-ElementStory

♦Therearetwomainideasintheleadoftwo-elementstory.Theirimportanceisclearlyindicatedbythemainclauseandsubordinateclausetheybelongto.Thestorywilldevelopaccordingtotheorderofimportancesetbythelead.Single-element.doc

♦Theshiftofsubjectsinparagraphs,thetransitionalwordsandphrasesindicatethemultipleelementinthenewsstorystructure.Theyareparticularlyusefulinmeetingreportsandscientificreports.Single-element.doc

TheShapeOfTheStory

♦TheInvertedPyramid

Thefactsarepresentedindescendingorderofinterestsandimportance.Whichmeansthemostnewsworthyfactsareputintotheleadandthesupportingmaterialsareorganizedindescendingorderofimportance.

♦TheHourglassStructure

Storystructurecombinestheinvertedpyramidandthenarrativepyramidtogether.Whentheinvertedpyramidends,thenarrativepyramidbegins.Itmakesuseofthechronologytoconstituteanessentialpartoftheaccount.

♦TheChampagneGlass

Thetopisacompellingsummaryoftheeventthatcontainsmostifthekeydetails.Thestorythennarrowsintoachronologicalaccountandendswithakicker,orinterestingfactheldbackfromthelead.

♦TheNarrativeBox

Amoreconventionalwaytotellastoryistodescribeeventsinorderastheyhappened,withrevelationsoccurringalongtheway.Inthisform,thestorystartsatthebeginningandcontinuesstraightthrough,usuallychronologically,withoutadropinsustainedinterest.

UsingtheInvertedPyramid

Astraightnewsstoryisatimelyreportonanevent,usuallywrittenwithin24hoursaftertheeventtakesplace.

Inastraightnewsstory,theleadadvertiseswhatiscomingintherestofthestoryandconveysthemostimportantinformationinthestory.Otherparagraphsexplainorprovideevidencetosupportthelead,andnon-essentialbackgroundinformationispresentedattheendofthestory.Inshort,theinvertedpyramidstructureisusedinstraightnews.BlindMathTeacherBattlesforHerJob.doc

StrengthsoftheInvertedPyramid

♦Theinvertedpyramidstylesavesthereader’stimeandeffort.

♦Theinvertedpyramidstylesavesthecopyeditor’stimeandeffort.

♦Theinvertedpyramidstylesavesthereporter’stimeandeffort.

♦InvertedPyramid.doc

JournalismandNews

DefiningJournalism

vThewordjournalismistakenfromtheFrenchjournalwhichinturncomesfromtheLatindiurnalordaily;TheActaDiurna,ahandwrittenbulletin,wasputupdailyintheForum,themainpublicsquareinancientRome,andwastheworld'sfirstnewspaper.

vJournalismisthedisciplineofgathering,writingandreportingnews,andbroadlyitincludestheprocessofeditingandpresentingthenewsarticles.Journalismappliestovariousmedia,butisnotlimitedtonewspapers,magazines,radio,andtelevision.

vNews-orientedjournalismwasdescribedbyformerWashingtonPosteditor,PhilGraham,as"afirstroughdraftofhistory",becausejournalistsoftenrecordimportanthistoricaleventsastheyarehappening,butatthesametime,theymustproducetheirnewsarticlesonshortdeadlines.

vJournalism'sactivitiesincludestatingWho,What,When,Where,andWhy（andsometimesHow）,famouslyquotedbyRudyardKipling（seetheFiveWs）,andstatingthesignificanceandeffectsofcertaineventsortrends.Journalismexistsinanumberofmedia:

newspapers,television,radio,magazinesand,mostrecently,theWorldWideWebthroughtheInternet.

vJournalismexistsinanumberofmedia:

newspapers,television,radio,magazinesand,mostrecently,theWorldWideWebthroughtheInternet.

vPrintjournalismcanbesplitintoseveralcategories:

newspapers,newsmagazines,generalinterestmagazines,trademagazines,hobbymagazines,newsletters,privatepublications,onlinenewspagesandothers.Eachgenrecanhaveitsownrequirementsforresearchingandwritingreports.

WhatDoJournalistsDo

vJournalistsreportandwriteonawidevarietyofsubjects:

politicsontheinternational,national,provincialandlocallevels,economicsandbusinessonthesamefourlevels,healthandmedicine,education,sports,hobbiesandrecreation,lifestyles,clothing,food,pets,andrelationships;journalistsreportonanythingthatnewsorganizationsthinkconsumerswillread.

vJournalistscanreportforgeneralinterestnewsoutletslikenewspapers,newsmagazinesandbroadcastsources;generalcirculationspecialtypublicationsliketradeandhobbymagazines,orfornewspublicationsandoutletswithaselectgroupofsubscribers.

vJournalistsareusuallyexpectedandrequiredtogoouttothesceneofastorytogatherinformationfortheirreports,andoftenmaycomposetheirreportsinthefield.

vTheyalsousethetelephone,thecomputerandtheinternettogatherinformation.However,moreoftenthosereportsarewritten,andtheyarealmostalwayseditedinnewsrooms,theofficeswherejournalistsandeditorsworktogethertopreparethecontentofnewsitems.

vJournalists,especiallyiftheycoveraspecificsubjectorarea（a'beat'）areexpectedtocultivatesources,peopleinthesubjectorareathattheycancommunicatewith,eithertoexplainthedetailsofastory,ortoprovideleadstoothersubjectsforstoriesyettobereported.Theyarealsoexpectedtodeveloptheirinvestigativeskillstoresearchandreportstoriesbetter.

News

vNewsisanaccountofwhatishappeningaroundus.Itmayinvolvecurrentevents,newinitiativesorongoingprojectsorissues.Butanewspaperdoesnotonlyprintnewsoftheday.Italsoprintsbackgroundanalysis,opinions,andhumanintereststories.

vNewsisareportofwhatanewsorganizationhasrecentlylearnedaboutmattersofsomesignificanceorintereststothespecificcommunitythatnewsorganizationservices.

NewsValues

vImpactorimportanceoftheevent

vTimelinessoftheevent

vProminenceofthepeopleinvolved

vProximity,theclosenessoftheeventtoreadersandlisteners

vConflict

vTheunusual,bizarrenatureoftheevent

vCurrency,theinterestpeoplehaveinthesituation

Impact

vEventsarelikelytoaffectmanypeople.Herereferstosignificance,importanceandthekindofinformationthatinterestpeopleortheinformationthatjournalistsbelievepeopleneedtoknowortobeinformed.

Timeliness

vEventsareimmediate,recent.Thedailynewspaperandthehourlynewscastseektokeepreadersandlistenersabreastofevent,togivethemasenseofimmediacy.Thusbroadcastnewsiswritteninthepresenttense,andmostleadsonnewspaperstoriescontaintheword“today”.Nomatterhowsignificanttheevent,howimportantthepeopleinvolved,newsvaluediminisheswithtime.

Prominenceofthepeopleinvolved

vEventsinvolvingwell-knownpersonsorinstitutions.Soonesayinggoes:

namesmakenews.Presidentofacountry,moviestars,famouspoliticiansandsoonmakenewssimplybecausetheyareverywell-known.

Proximity

vEventsinthecirculationorbroadcastarea.Forexample,acarwreckkillingtwopeoplethathappensonaroadinyourhometownismorelikelytobereportedinthelocalnewsmediathanthesamekindofwreckwhichoccurs1,000milesaway.

Conflict

vEventsthatreflectclashesbetweenpeopleorinstitutions.Conflictisoneofthejournalist’sfavoritenewsvaluesbecauseitgenerallyensuresthereisaninterestingstorytowrite.

TheUnusual,BizarreNature

vEventsthatdeviatesharplyfromtheexpectedandtheexperiencesofeverydaylife.Inotherwords,arareeventissometimesconsiderednews.

Currency

vEventsandsituationsthatarebeingtalkedabout.Occasionally,asituationoflongstandingwillsuddenlyemergeandbecomenewsworthy.

DifferentKindsofNews

vHardnews

vSoftnews

vNewsFeature

vEditorialandLetters

HardNews

vThisishowjournalistsrefertonewsoftheday.Itisachronicleofcurrentevents/incidentsandisthemostcommonnewsstyleonthefrontpageofyourtypicalnewspaper.

vItstartswithasummarylead.Whathappened?

Where?

When?

To/bywhom?

Why?

（Thejournalist's5W's）.Itmustbekeptbriefandsimple,becausethepurposeoftherestofthestorywillbetoelaborateonthislead.

SoftNews

vThisisatermforallthenewsthatisn'ttime-sensitive.Softnewsincludesprofilesofpeople,programsororganizations.Aswediscussedearlier,the"lead"ismoreliterary.MostofYPP'snewscontentissoftnews.

NewsFeature

vAnewsfeaturetakesonestepbackfromtheheadlines.Itexploresanissue.Newsfeaturesarelesstime-sensitivethanhardnewsbutnolessnewsworthy.Theycanbeaneffectivewaytowriteaboutcomplexissuestoolargeforthetersestyleofahardnewsitem.Streetkidsareaperfectexam