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News writing basics
Writing mechanics
Quotes
 Material between quotation marks must be
the exact words of the speaker.
 Set the quote up so it makes sense to the
reader as spoken
 Avoid “patched” quotes -- explanatory
material inserted into the quote to make it
understandable.
Quote example
 Patched quote:
 “Heating is another issue,” McGuire said. “You
don’t heat (an ice arena) like you would another
type of facility.”
 Correct setup and quote:
 Heating an ice arena is another issue, McGuire
said. “You don’t heat it like you would another
type of facility.”
Pronouns
 Pronouns are words that stand for nouns: I,
you, he, she, they, it, them, their, ours, yours
etc.
 They need a noun to refer to -- either
understood or explicit.
 Understood: It’s going to be hot today.
 Explicit (antecedent): After Harry got out of the
shower, he checked his e-mail.
Common pronoun problems
 Free-floating pronouns
 The budget is in serious trouble, and they may
have to raise taxes to balance it.
 Pronoun-antecedent disagreement
 Burton said a reporter should soak up
experience, using their eyes, ears, touch and
sense of smell.
Paragraphs
 Keep them short -- no more than three typed
lines.
 Long blocks of type are hard to read -particularly online or in newspapers.
Attribution
 Readers should always know where information
comes from.
 Commonly known or directly observed facts don’t
need attribution.
 Everything else should be attributed to its source.
 Use “said” as the routine verb of attribution.
 Verbs like ‘claimed,’ ‘stated,’ ‘replied,’ and ‘added’
have special meanings. Use with care.
First and second reference
 First reference is the first mention of a
person.
 Spell it out in full: Journalism professor John
Palen said the moon is full tonight.
 Second reference is all subsequent
mentions.
 Palen said full moons cause crazy behavior.
Person: First, second, third
 The ‘persons’ are first (forms of I); second
(you) and third (he or she).
 Third person is the language of journalism
 Don’t use first or second person except in
direct quotes.
 College students should register to vote,
McHenry said.
 Not: We should register to vote, McHenry said.
Sentence structure
 Every sentence should have at least one
subject and at least one verb.
 Don’t link independent clauses (clauses
capable of being a sentence) with only a
comma.
 Link them with a conjunction or a semicolon, or break them up into separate
sentences.
Run-on sentences
 Also known as comma splices, comma faults.
 Don’t: Typically by August, student pilots would
have flown about 700 hours, this year it’s less than
350 hours.
 Do: . . . would have flown about 700 hours. This
year it’s less . . . .
 Or: . . . would have flown about 700 hours, but
this year it’s less . . .
Abbreviations, acronyms
 Use them only when readily recognizable: CMU,
CIA, FBI.
 Otherwise, use generic short versions on second
reference: the association or the science
association, instead of AAAS.
 Don’t put acronyms in parentheses after the first
reference. The American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS).
 Avoid alphabet soup.
Story checklist
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Lead
Story structure
Quotes
Pronouns
Paragraphs
Attribution
Third person
Sentence structure
No alphabet soup
Questions?