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Once you get the inormation or your article, you will begin to structure it into an article. Articles in magazines
and newspapers ollow three main orms: the inerted pyramid, the diamond, and literary journalistic writing.

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News stories can be structured in a ormat that is reerred to as the
inerted pyramid. In the inerted pyramid ormat, the story`s main
acts come at the beginning o the article and taper down` to
include the less signiicant acts. 1his structure is used to write
stories that are actual in nature. 1he inerted pyramid is the
granddaddy o all news story structures, it is the most basic orm
and is the starting point o eery journalist`s understanding o how
news is presented.

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1here are three main reasons why stories are structured in
inerted pyramids:

1. It makes reading easier and aster.
2. It satisies the curiosity o the reader in a logical way.
3. It makes layout easier. I the story is too long, the end o it
may be cut o without harming the story.

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1he irst paragraph, or '1&=, o an inerted pyramid is usually
written as an ?> "$ )#**&$: '1&=. A summary or AP lead tells what happened, who did it, when and where,
and perhaps why or how. \hen the reader has inished the irst paragraph, all essential acts should hae
emerged. 1he remainder o the story explains these acts, gies details, and adds less important inormation.
lere are some examples:

! 1he City Council oted unanimously Monday to begin planning or a major study o the city`s traic
patterns.
! NASA launched a spacecrat yesterday on a three-year oyage to an asteroid that may contain clues to the
birth o the solar system.
! Seniors Jaime Garcie and Mary Jo Shanahan were named No. 12 as King and Queen o lomecoming.
! An airplane bound or New \ork City skidded o the Centerille Airport runway 1uesday, injuring three
passengers slightly.
! 1raic is smothering the city, an urban-aairs specialist told Optimist Club members 1uesday.
! \ith a key win against Lockport, the arsity girls` team snapped a three-way tie or the SCIA title two weeks
ago, then claimed sole possession o it when Romeoille deeated Joliet Central last week.
! \ith an undeeated 3-0 record, the Scholastic Bowl 1eam is heading toward another lawless season,
ollowing last year`s 9-0 record and SCIA championship.
! Promoted as the last dance beore the Prom, the girls-ask-guys Valentine`s Dance will be held lebruary 1
rom 8-11 p.m. in the caeteria.
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Ater the lead, an inerted pyramid story proceeds to explain the story, proceeding rom the most important
inormation down to the least important. 1he story, as with all newspaper stories, is written in short paragraphs,
ranging in length rom one to three sentences at most. \hen direct quotations are used, they are usually a
paragraph in itsel.

Stories are generally written alternating between actual inormation and direct quotations rom people who
hae been interiewed or the story. As ar as the low o the story, the actual inormation generally sets up`
the quotations. 1hink about olleyball. . .beore there is a kill, there has to be a set. 1his is how news stories run.
. .actual ino ,set, then quotations ,kill,, then back to actual ino, quote, etc.

Inormation or the stories generally comes rom extensie interiewing and irst hand witnessing on the part o
the reporter. 1he reporter then looks through all o the inormation she has, decides which quotes are good in
and o themseles and which quotes merely state actual inormation. 1he actual inormation is usually
paraphrased ,put into the writers own words, and attributed ,this is the phrase that lets you know who said the
inormation, or example, According to Chie Murdy, the work was ar rom oer.`

In these stories, the irst paragraph gies you the essential inormation or the story, the paragraphs are ery
short, direct quotations are interspersed with actual inormation, and the story ends with the least important
acts. 1his is a textbook inerted pyramid. I you pick up any daily newspaper, most o the stories in the news
section o the paper will be written in this way.

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1he diamond structure has become increasingly popular in the last iteen years in the writing o sports, news,
and eature articles. 1he structure presents a more in depth, storytelling approach to writing an article. 1he
diamond structure usually has our main parts:

1. ?%13="9&' '1&=: 1he article begins with an introduction that
plucks rom a multiaceted, highly complex story a single element-
a person, a situation-that readers can comprehend as they are led,
eer so gently, deeper into a web o details. 1hese stories usually
start out with a story, a small piece o the greater story that gets
the reader interested in the rest o the story.

2. /$&%)(9("%: Brings the reader rom the story-like beginning into
the story`s wider dimensions and the true meaning the writer is
attempting to illustrate.

3. D#9 E$&4` ollowed by the body o story: 1he nut gra` tells the
reader the main point o the article. In the inerted pyramid, these
acts are at the beginning, in the diamond, these are added only
ater the lead paragraphs hae drawn the reader into the story. lrom here, the story goes into its body o
inormation: the wider details o the story, acts, quotations, etc.

4. F(3G1$ HI(9: Lmploys in the conclusion the same person or situation used in the intro. 1ies up the story into
a nice circular package.

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1he diamond story is dierent mainly in that it does not go rom the most important inormation down to the
least important. 1he stories here unction as a whole, you can`t cut o the bottom o a diamond story. Stories
written in this way are more in depth, they do not lend themseles to a quick hit o inormation.

1he lead o a diamond story is also dierent rom the lead o an inerted pyramid story. \here the AP lead has
the most important inormation irst and then tapers o as you go, the diamond story may not hae its most
important inormation ,the nut gra`, or seeral paragraphs. 1he lead paragraphs in these stories are there to
get the reader interested in the rest o the story. 1hey are a sort o storytelling beginning to the story that the
reader will warm up to and want to keep reading. Leads or these types o stories are oten more anecdotal
,story-like, than the AP lead.

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L(91$&$: M"#$%&'()* is a orm o journalistic writing created by journalists who wished to capture more than
just the acts o a particular eent. 1ake or example a battle in the Vietnam war. . .you can write an inerted
pyramid story that tells where the battle was, who it was against, i it was successul, the casualty rates, the
outcome o the battle, what it meant to the orces ighting it, etc. 1ypical news story. Or, you can write a story
that seeks to place the reader in the midst o that battle so that she can experience what in act the soldiers are
experiencing. A story written in this ashion will allow the reader to eel, smell, hear and truly experience the
battle rom the perspectie o the people who were a part o it. 1his type o writing, called N'(91$&$:
M"#$%&'()*BO N'(91$&$: %"%4(39("%O "$ N901 %1A M"#$%&'()*O became prominent in the 1960s and is still used
today.

1hese stories, when you read them, read like short stories rather than typical news or eature stories. 1he
amount o reporting inoled in these stories is staggering the writing can be nothing short o breathtaking.
Below is an example rom a Pulitzer Prize winning story written by 1homas lrench, a writer or the St.
Petersburg 1imes about middle school students:

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Barely :15, and already Carlo's wondering i he'll see her.
le's in the back seat o the amily Volo, headed to school.
lis mom and dad are talking up ront, but he's not listening.
le is still waking up. lis light blond hair is uncombed as usual,
a micro-pebble o sleep dust clings to the lashes o his right
eye. 1hrough headphones, a man is singing into his brain.

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1he singer is rom \eezer, one o Carlo's aorite groups.
le likes to listen to them when he's riding in the car with his
parents. It would be nice i he could drie himsel whereer he
wanted to go. But when you're 13, lots o nice things are ar
away.
Carlo stares out the window at the blur o early morning traic, the houses rushing by, the towers o downtown
1ampa rising in the distance.
le is waiting or his real lie to begin. At least the part where he gets a girlriend.

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By the time they pull into the parking lot at Booker 1, the buses are starting to arrie. Carlo tells his parents
goodbye, makes his getaway beore they can do anything to embarrass him in ront o the rest o the seenth grade.
le walks onto campus, hoping or a glimpse o her, a moment o eye contact, maybe een a hello. lis riends
are always saying how stupid it is to get so hung up on Kalie. 1hey tell him to ind someone else, anyone else. But
he doesn't listen.
At the bank o blue lockers next to the science lab, he inds No. 894. Spying him there, another girl runs up and
begs to glide her palm across the top o his hair. She does this almost eery day. She is ixated on his luiness.
"I'm sorry," she says. "Please Just once"
Carlo stands still or a moment and lets her do it, then heads or his irst class. 1hrough the crowd he goes,
searching or a ace.
See how this story is so much dierent rom the other two It`s still journalism in that it is meticulously
reported, but it reads like a short story. 1his excerpt is the beginning o a 13 part series on middle school
students that lrench wrote a ew years ago. 1he detail is staggering and the story is meticulously crated. It
looks easy to write, but it isn`t. . .just think o the reporting needed to produce such a story.
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Inerted pyramid and the AP lead style are used usually or more serious actual stories in the daily newspaper.
Look through the ront page o the 1rib or any other paper. . .usually the news stories will ollow this structure.
Rarely will we use this.

Diamond stories are becoming more popular because they are more interesting to read. \ith people getting
their news more and more rom teleision, radio and the internet, the diamond structure lends itsel to more in-
depth treatments o subjects as well as lighter subjects. Most magazine articles are written with more o a
diamond story ormat. 1his is the king o story structures and will be used most requently in here.

Literary journalism lends itsel to really in depth powerul stories o people and their lies. \ill we write these
types o stories Maybe. . .but more importantly, we will be using some o the techniques employed by these
writers to breathe lie into stories that otherwise could be dull and lat.