What is a News Report?

A newspaper report tells about something that has happened in the world. It should contain facts,
not opinions. The facts should include the answers to these six questions:•

What happened?
Who was involved?
When did it happen?
Where did it happen?
Why did it happen?
How did it happen?

These facts are called the

5 W's and How

The Structure of a News Report

The Headline
A newspaper report has a title which is called a headline. The headline gives clues to what is in the report
by summarizing its main idea. It is also written in a way that will capture the attention of the reader. This
means that it is short and the words often have emotional impact, "startle value."

The Byline
Underneath the headline is the byline which is the name of the news reporter who wrote the report or the
name of the news service that supplied the report.
The news reports that are printed in a newspaper are not necessarily written by reporters written by
reporters on their staff. Many of the news reports from other parts of the world are written by reporters
who are there on location. These reports are supplied to local newspapers by news services, such as
Southam News, Reuters, The Canadian Press, and The Associated Press.
The name of the news service may be given instead of the name of the reporter in the byline.

The Dateline
Underneath the byline is the dateline. The dateline tells where the story was written. Many years ago,
when news delivery was slower, the dateline contained the date the report was written as well as the
place. Today only the place is found in the dateline.

Just The Facts Please!!!

Many of the facts are given in the first paragraph which is called the
lead or lead paragraph.The less important facts come in the following paragraphs. These details are
arranged in order of their importance.

The facts are arranged in this way for two reasons:

•Busy readers who do not have time to read the whole article can get the most important
information by reading the lead only.
•The newspaper editor can remove the paragraphs containing the least important facts if there is
not enough space for the whole article.

Following is a news report that appeared in The Edmonton JoumaL

Headline: Record set in sled dog race
Byline: The Canadian Press
Fairbanks, Alaska ]- Dateline

Lead paragraph: Trapper and fisherman Charlie Boulding won the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race in
record time Thursday, finishing the 1,600 km route from Whitehorse, Y.T., 15 hours faster than ever
before.
 About 200 people cheered Boulding, who lives in the bush near Nenana, Alaska, as he
crossed the finish line on the frozen Chena River in 10 days, 20 hours and 12 minutes. He broke the 1985
record set by Joe Runyan.
"It was a pretty easy race," said the grey bearded musher. "But you all got to excuse
me now. I've got to take care of my dogs."
Boulding won $25,000 US from the Quest organization and a matching $25,000 from a
dog-food company for using its brand.
Bruce Lee of Denali Park, Alaska, was second, five minutes behind Boulding. He was
disappointed with his finish, running with the minumum eight dogs.
"Being down to eight I didn't have enough power to push them," he said.
John Schandelmeier of Paxson, Alaska, finished in third place.

Here are some important points to remember in writing your news report:
•Write the most important information in the first paragraph, then the less important followed by the least
important details.•You may find the following diagram helpful when thinking of the format of a news report.
HEADLINE
summary of main idea; short; arouses interest

BYLINE
name of reporter or NEWS SERVICE

DATELINE
where the story was written

LEAD PARAGRAPH
tells most important facts of who, what, where, why, how; draws reader into the story

LESS IMPORTANT FACTS

more details about the 5 W’s and How

LEAST IMPORTANT FACTS

more information about 5W’s and How