JOURNALISM EDUCATION

CONCEPTUAL & STRUCTURAL

GUIDES

By

JOEMAR L. FURIGAY
 GETTING STARTED
THE IMPORTANCE OF STOCK KNOWLEDGE

WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW WELL, BY

HEART
LEARNED FROM YEARS OF
EXPERIENCE/EXPOSURE
GAINED FROM LOTS OF READING AND
WRITING
LEARNED FROM THE WISE AND EXPERTS
 GETTING STARTED
START WITH THE
MOST SIGNIFICANT/INTERESTING
NEWS VALUE
ODDITY/RARITY/EXEMPLARY
PROXIMITY
EMOTIONAL APPEAL DRAMA, CONFLICT,
COMEDY, IRONY
HISTORICAL ASPECT/ HISTORIC FACT
SENSORY APPEALVISUAL, AUDIO,
TEXTURE, SIZE, LENGTH, WIDTH/BREADTH
 HOW NOT TO GET STARTED
DONT EVEN THINK OF TRYING TO IMPRESS
YOUR AUDIENCE WITH BIG AND LONG
WORDS THAT YOU DONT EVEN USE IN
YOUR ORDINARY DAILY CONVERSATION
DONT USE ANY TECHNIQUE, DEVICE OR SET
OF WORDS THAT WOULD BE FAMILIAR
ONLY TO YOU OR TO A FEW AND
UNKNOWN TO MOST PEOPLE.
 NEWS VALUES
Time-honored News Values
1. TIMELINESS OF PUBLIC INTEREST
2. PROMINENCE
3. PROXIMITY New News Values
4. IMPACT (As proposed by Poynter)
5. RELEVANCE AUTHENTICITY
6. HUMAN INTEREST PERSPECTIVE
7. RARITY/ODDITY
VERIFICATION
8. SIGNIFICANCE/
IMPORTANCE ACCOUNTABILITY
9. CURRENCY
10. CONFLICT
 NEWS ANGLE
LOOK FOR:
What is NEW, NOW, JUST
HAPPENED
What will likely happen NEXT
What will happen SOON
Who is immediately or will
soon be affected by or
involved in what happened or
will happen
What has changed either
slightly or significantly
Try to think like a
working journalist
instead of like a
student or teacher.
Recall the News
Values and look for
them in the story
before you.
Look for specifics,
not generics.
 OVERALL POINTERS
Most important FIRST.

ACCURACY
Not chronological
BALANCE
Focus on facts. No
fiction. Just facts.
CLARITY,
Attribution COHESION
Direct to the point,
Economy of words DELIVERED WITH
No to one-sourced UNITY
stories
ETHICAL
Varied perspectives and
dimensions FLOW
 OVERALL POINTERS
Subject-verb

agreement Whether
Spelling, punctuation ENGLISH
Use of prepositions
Use of pronouns Or
Proper tenses of
verbs
FILIPINO
Sentence
construction
 REMINDERS
Journalism writing is very different from essay writing.
In essay writing, you start gradually, introduce, set the
stage before you even go into discussing the main
subject matter.
With journalism articles, you start STRONG, tackle
the subject matter IMMEDIATELY. Whether the
article is news, feature, opinion, investigative, or
documentary.
Journalism is history in a hurry. The ideas are
expressed in an urgent pace.
Do not waste your reader's time. Your article should
be readable in a matter of minutes.
 Typology of Articles
Timing: Advancer, Live, On The Day, Day
After/Post-Event, Timeless Feature
Storytelling Approach/Method: News, Feature,
Opinion, Investigative, Images, Sound, Videos,
Infographics
Subject: Events, People, Places, Issues, Situations
Topics: Hard News, Features, Editorials, Opinions,
Sports, Science, Lifestyle, Entertainment

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 How to write the Lead
Typical Lead:
The Department of Education (what the DepEd
did) at (where) on (when).
Better Lead: (Who, what, so what)
The Department of Education (what the DepEd
did/will do) to (why the DepEd did what it did) by
(how the DepEd did/will do what it said it did/will
do) at (where) on (when).

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 How to write the Lead
Even Better Lead:
The Department of Education (what the
DepEd did/will do) to (why the DepEd
did what it did) by (how the DepEd
did/will do what it said it did/will do) at
(where) on (when).
WRITE ALL OF IT IN 35 WORDS OR
LESS.
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 How to write the Lead
Much Better Lead:
(Who will directly benefit from what the DepEd did
or will do) (What the DepEd did/will do) (Why
did/will the DepEd do/will do what it said it
did/will do) (How the DepEd did/will do what it
said it did/will do), the Department of Education
(DepEd) said (when).
The (what the DepEd did/will do) (when the
DepEd did/will do what it said it will do).

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 The Body of the Article
The second paragraph supports the thrust of the lead
Back up the lead with an authoritative quote about
something specific or concrete (no motherhood
statements please)
Follow the hierarchy of facts of your lead when
presenting the details of the story in the body
As much as possible, give your news a face of real live
person/s. Include quote/s from a person/s who will feel
the impact of the news. Not a fictitious person. Real
and alive.
Close or end the article with a substantive quote and
with information on what is expected to happen next
about the story subject.
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 Hallmarks of
Effective Storytelling
in Journalism Articles
People-focused. Emphasis on the people
whose lives will be affected or changed.
They are the real VIPs. Give your story a
real person's face.
The usual VIPs are for paragraph 3 or 4 in the
body of the story as supporting details.
Mention the VIP in the lead or in the 2nd
paragraph if that VIP is your source or
attribution.
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 Hallmarks of
Effective Storytelling
in Press Releases
Always address this point: Why does your
news matter to the people?
Let the body of the story elaborate on why your
news matters. Show how it matters.
Money matters. How much programs and
projects cost matters. Cost to the proponent and
cost to the beneficiary. People are practical.
Money means practical, doability or lack thereof.

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 HIERARCHY OF FACTS
Lead:
2nd para Details of WHO
Who is affected QUOTE 1
3rd para Details of WHAT
What happened
4th para Details of WHY
Why did it happen
5th para Details of HOW
How it happened
=============== 6th para Details of WHERE
Where it happened 7th para Details of WHEN
QUOTE 2
When it happened 8th para Other details from
the Source
Source/attribution
WHO, WHAT, WHY, HOW
MAY BE INTERCHANGED 10 PARAGRAPHS
DEPENDING ON TOTAL
THEIR RANKING 17
IMPORTANCE
 WRITING NEWS
The Inverted Pyramid (Associated Press style)
The Nut Graf (Wall Street Journal style)
Newsfeature, Hourglass (Roy Peter Clark,
American Journalism Review; Poynter)
Five Boxes http://www.poynter.org/2002/helping-writers-
take-charge-five-tools-for-editors-5/3929/
The Personality Profile
The Case Study approach (for investigatives)
 News Lead Examples
Typical and plain. The Department of
Education reopened on Monday the
application process for senior high school
(SHS) vouchers.
Better. The Department of Education on
Monday reopened the application process
for senior high school (SHS) vouchers for
Grade 11 students intending to enrol in
private schools for the coming school
year.
 News Lead Examples
Much better. Incoming Grade 11 students
seeking to enrol in private schools can apply
again for senior high school (SHS) vouchers,
the Department of Education said on Monday.
Much, Much better. Incoming Grade 11
students seeking to enrol in private schools can
apply again for senior high school (SHS)
vouchers, the Department of Education said on
Monday, less than two months before the next
school year opens.
 News Lead Examples
Improved further. Incoming Grade 11 students
seeking to enrol in private schools can apply again for
senior high school vouchers, the Department of
Education said on Monday, less than two months
before the next school year opens and SHS is
implemented in the country for the first time.
Much improved. Incoming Grade 11 students seeking
to enrol in private schools can apply again for senior
high school vouchers, the Education Department said
on Monday, 53 days before SHS is implemented
nationwide for the first time.
 Pointers
Lead: 35 words or less (up to 10-12 seconds in
Filipino or other language)
Often the most important fact answers the
question WHO WILL GAIN OR BENEFIT OR
FEEL THE IMPACT OF WHAT HAPPENED?.
There are three kinds of WHO:
Who made or generated the news?
Who will gain/benefit or feel the impact of what
happened?
Who is the source/attribution of the details of the facts
reported?
The Inverted Pyramid
 Writing the News Article
Lead Straight News
Lead: Direct to the point; Declarative
Body sentences; Simple, compound, complex,
Headline compound-complex; 35 words or less
Body: 10 paragraphs or more, Two
Story Length quotes (one in the 2nd/3rd paragraph and
the other at the tail end of the Story),
Sequence of information follows the
order of appearance of facts in the lead
Headline: Summary of the Story

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 The news is NOT...
The signing of the memorandum of agreement
The inauguration of a building
The conduct of a seminar
The launch of a program/project
The visit to a project site
The meeting of two or more people
The introduction of a new product
The issuance of a new directive, order, memorandum
The award that you received
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 The news is...
Not Just the EVENT
The NEWS is what that event MEANS TO AND HOW IT AFFECTS
PEOPLE.
Not just the PEOPLE
The NEWS is how and why those people MATTER TO OTHER
PEOPLE.
Not just the ISSUE
The NEWS is how and why that issue IS AFFECTING THE LIVES
OF PEOPLE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY.
Not just the situation
The NEWS is how and why that situation INVOLVES MANY
PEOPLE AND CHANGES PEOPLES' LIVES.
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