The purpose of news writing is to convey meaning clearly and effortlessly by using precise, comprehensible, and easily digestible words.
‘A Slough couple’s dream holiday turned into a nightmare when they were caught up in the Athens Airport terrorist attack.’
I wrote those words more than 50 years ago – they introduced the first front-page lead story I had written for the weekly newspaper, the Slough Observer, which gave me my first job in journalism.
Let’s look more closely at the sentence. The subject is ‘a Slough couple’s dream holiday’ which is a little clumsy. I could have separated the couple from the holiday: ‘A Slough couple WHOSE dream holiday turned into a nightmare’ but that would have required the sentence to go on, which would have reduced the impact. ‘Turned into a nightmare’ is a cliché, no way round it.
But cliches serve a useful purpose as long as they are not stale from overuse. ‘Angry clashes’ and ‘eerie silences’ are examples of cliches in which the adjectives – ‘angry’ and ‘eerie’ – actually add no meaning.
This one is not bad, so we will let it go. ‘Caught up in’ is a compound verb, which is not elegant or literary, but is serviceable. The rest of the sentence is essential information.
So, overall, it’s not a bad start. It is punchy and gets the story going. Does it invite the reader to keep reading? I would say it does. Would it win a prize for good prose? It would not.
The importance of using the right words
In journalism, good writing is plain writing. The purpose is to convey your meaning as clearly and easily as possible, without requiring your reader or listener to go back over your story again (obviously impossible if it’s on the radio). The words you choose have to be comprehensible and digestible, and the meaning of each has to be precise.
Here is a story from The Times: ‘Worries about today’s budget have triggered the sharpest fall in sentiment among Britain’s retailers in 17 years, according to a leading business group.’ What is wrong with that? It’s the use of the word ‘sentiment’. The writer actually means ‘confidence’ and has simply used the wrong word. I suspect that, had the journalist read the sentence out aloud, they would have realised.
That is the reason why it is worth the trouble to write good English – assuming that you want people to understand what you are saying (if not, I recommend a career in politics or as an influencer).
The secondary question – HOW to write good English – is trickier, and a full answer is beyond my scope. But here is one tip.
I start with another sentence: ‘Albert kicked Caspar’. Albert is the subject, kicked is the verb, Caspar is the object. That is a nice simple sentence, and its meaning could not be clearer. That is one good way to start a story: ‘America has declared war on Germany’.
But you could, if you wished, add to it. ‘Albert, who was a bully, kicked Caspar’. That is still clear and has added to the story. ‘Albert, who was a bully, kicked Caspar, who was looking in the opposite direction.’ The meaning is still clear enough, and additional, useful information has been added. But I think this sentence has probably been extended as far as it can comfortably go.
The sentence might have read: ‘Witnesses said that Albert kicked Caspar’. That is fine – the subject is now ‘witnesses’, the main verb is ‘said’, and the rest is in what is known as a clause or subordinate clause with its own subject, verb and object (this is all grammar – it is useful to understand the basics).
But what about the additional information that you have? ‘Witnesses said that Albert, who was a bully, kicked Caspar, who was looking in the opposite direction’. This is in danger of becoming overloaded and needs breaking up. ‘Witnesses described how Albert launched an unprovoked attack on Caspar. They said he had kicked him repeatedly while he was looking in the opposite direction. There is evidence that Albert is a well-known bully’. This is building up into a decent story.
How you tell the story will depend on many factors – how much information you have, its relevance, the sequence of events, how much space or time you have been given to tell the story, and others. The simpler and plainer the English you use, the easier it will be to tell the story, and the easier it will be for your reader or listener to understand it.
Here’s one more tip. Read what you have written back to yourself. Be sure that it makes sense, and that the words you have used are the right ones. If it does, and they are, you will have produced an example of good English. If not, you need to try again. If you don’t understand it, there is very little chance that anyone else will.
So to sum up, here are three points to keep in mind when writing news.
Tips for good news writing
- Use plain, precise, and comprehensible English:
- The purpose of news writing is to convey meaning clearly and effortlessly by using precise, comprehensible, and easily digestible words. Good writing is plain writing. Avoid using the wrong word (like using “sentiment” when you mean “confidence”).
- Keep sentences simple and avoid overloading them:
- Start with a simple sentence structure (subject-verb-object) for clarity (e.g., “Albert kicked Caspar”). While you can add descriptive clauses, be careful not to extend the sentence too far, as it risks becoming overloaded and confusing.
- Read what you have written aloud (or back to yourself):
- Read what you have written back to yourself. Be sure that it makes sense, and that the words you have used are the right ones. If you don’t understand it, there is very little chance that anyone else will.
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