This lesson plan will help students prioritise the most important elements of a news story, ensuring readers grasp the most important facts even if they read the first few lines only.
It’s based on the article ‘Essential elements of a news story‘ which we recommend you read first before adapting the lesson outline below for your own purposes.
Introduction
The ability to identify and organise the core components of a news story is a fundamental skill for any journalist. This training day is designed to deconstruct the essential elements that make a story compelling, accurate, and relevant. Participants will move from understanding basic news values to crafting introductions and structuring complex information for their audiences.
Sessions timetable
09:00–10:00 – Session 1: Identifying news value and the essential questions
- Aims: To understand what makes a story news and identify the core facts required for any report.
- Presentation: Define news values such as timeliness, impact, and proximity. Introduce the six essential questions of Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. Explain that these are the building blocks of every solid news report.
- Activity: Provide a series of short, unorganised fact sheets. In small groups, participants must highlight the six questions in each scenario.
- Discussion: Which of the six questions was the hardest to find? Why is the Why often the most critical element for audience engagement?
10:00–11:00 – Session 2: The inverted pyramid and news priority
- Aims: To teach the traditional structure of news writing and how to prioritise information.
- Presentation: Explain the concept of the inverted pyramid where the most important information is at the top. Detail how this serves the audience by giving them the essentials immediately.
- Activity: Take a jumbled news story and ask participants to rank the sentences in order of importance from 1 to 10.
- Discussion: Did everyone agree on the most important fact? How does the medium (radio, web, or print) change what we put at the top?
11:00-11:15 – Break
11:15–12:45 – Session 3: Crafting the perfect lead
- Aims: To master the art of writing a punchy, informative introduction.
- Presentation: Discuss the importance of the intro or lead. It must be a standalone summary that hooks the reader. Focus on keeping leads under 25-30 words and avoiding clutter.
- Activity: Participants write three different leads for a single set of facts: one hard news lead, one human-interest lead, and one question-based lead.
- Discussion: Review the leads as a group. Which ones would make you want to keep reading?
12:45–13:45 – Lunch
13:45–15:00 – Session 4: Accuracy, attribution, and quotes
- Aims: To ensure stories are accurate and credible through the proper use of sourcing and attribution, and the effective use of quotes.
- Presentation: Explain the difference between a fact and an opinion. Detail how to attribute information to sources and when to use direct quotes versus paraphrasing.
- Activity: Listen to a mock interview recording. Participants must extract two direct quotes that add emotion or opinion and paraphrase the factual information.
- Discussion: Why is it dangerous to use a quote that only contains a basic fact? How does attribution protect the journalist?
15:00-15:15 – Break
15:15–16:15 – Session 5: Adding context and background
- Aims: To help audiences understand why a story matters by providing necessary history.
- Presentation: Discuss the ‘so what’? factor. A news story needs context to explain the significance of the event. Explain how to weave background information into the lower half of the inverted pyramid.
- Activity: Participants are given a breaking news update about a local policy change. They must research and add two sentences of historical context to explain how this differs from previous years.
- Discussion: How much background is too much? How do we keep the story moving while looking backward?
16:15–17:00 – Session 6: Review and refining the narrative
Aims: To polish the day’s work and ensure clarity and flow.
Presentation: Final checks for a news story: checking names, dates, and titles. Ensure the transition between the lead and the body of the story is seamless.
Activity: Peer-to-peer sub-editing. Participants swap their drafted stories from the day and use a checklist to suggest improvements.
Discussion: What were the most common mistakes found during the sub-editing process?
Assignment
Participants are required to find a local event or news release and write a 250-word story. The story must follow the inverted pyramid structure, include a strong lead of no more than 25 words, contain at least two attributed quotes, and provide essential background context. This must be submitted by the start of the next training module.
Materials needed
- Handouts of the MHM article: Essential elements of a news story.
- Fact sheets for the six questions activity.
- Audio or video clips of a mock interview.
- Notepads, pens, or laptops for writing exercises.
- Whiteboard and markers for group brainstorming.
Assessment
- Participation: Engagement in group discussions and peer-review sessions.
- Accuracy: Ability to correctly identify the six questions and attribute quotes accurately.
- Performance: The quality and structure of the final 250-word news story, specifically the effectiveness of the lead and the use of the inverted pyramid.
Summary
This lesson plan provides a comprehensive guide to the foundational pillars of journalism. By moving from basic fact-finding to lead writing and contextual analysis, trainers can equip participants with the tools to build professional news reports.
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