This lesson plan teaches students about the six essential questions – What? Why? When? How? Where? and Who? – which which journalists should consider when producing a piece of journalism.
It’s based on the article ‘The questions every journalist should ask‘ which we recommend trainers read before adapting this lesson plan for your own needs.
Introduction
This training day is designed to equip journalists and media students with the fundamental tools of news gathering: the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. By mastering these six essential questions, reporters can ensure their stories are comprehensive, factual, and engaging. This plan moves from the basic theory of information gathering to the practical application of these questions in complex reporting scenarios.
Sessions timetable
- 09:00–10:00 – Session 1: The foundations of news gathering
- Aims: To understand the historical and practical importance of the six essential questions in journalism.
- Presentation: Explain that every news story must answer six basic questions to be considered complete. Introduce the concept of the inverted pyramid and how these questions usually form the lead of a story.
- Activity: Provide participants with three short, published news leads. Ask them to identify which of the six questions are answered in the first two sentences of each.
- Discussion: Why is it dangerous for a journalist to miss even one of these questions? Which questions are usually the most important for a breaking news story?
- 10:00–11:00 – Session 2: Who, what, where, and when
- Aims: To master the factual pillars of a news report.
- Presentation: Focus on the hard facts. Explain the importance of accuracy in names (Who), the sequence of events (What), the specific location (Where), and the timeline (When).
- Activity: In pairs, participants are given a disorganised list of facts from a real-life local event. They must sort these facts into the four categories and write a 30-word summary.
- Discussion: How do you verify the Who when sources are reluctant to speak? How specific does a Where need to be in a digital age?
- 11:00-11:15 – Break
- 11:15–12:45 – Session 3: The power of why and how
- Aims: To move beyond surface-level reporting into analysis and context.
- Presentation: Explain that while the first four questions provide the skeleton, Why and How provide the meat of the story. These questions often require deeper investigation and more diverse sources.
- Activity: Watch a short video clip of a complex news event (e.g., a policy change or a protest). Participants must brainstorm the six questions they would ask the officials involved.
- Discussion: Why are Why and How often the hardest to answer? How do they help a journalist avoid bias?
- 12:45–13:45 – Lunch
- 13:45–15:00 – Session 4: Interviewing for the six questions.
- Aims: To apply the six questions to live interviewing techniques.
- Presentation: Discuss how to structure an interview to ensure all six questions are covered. Introduce the use of open-ended questions to elicit more than just a yes or no response.
- Activity: Role-play exercise. One participant is a witness to an incident; the other is a reporter. The reporter has five minutes to extract all six essential elements through interviewing.
- Discussion: What happens if a source avoids answering the Why? How can a reporter politely but firmly circle back to missing information?
- 15:00-15:15 – Break
- 15:15–16:15 – Session 5: Drafting the comprehensive news story
- Aims: To combine the gathered information into a cohesive written piece.
- Presentation: Demonstrate how to weave the answers to the six questions into a narrative that flows logically, ensuring the most critical information is at the top.
- Activity: Using the information gathered in previous sessions, participants write a 200-word news report. They must highlight where each of the six questions is answered in their text.
- Discussion: Did anyone find it difficult to include all six? Does including all six make the story too long or more precise?
- 16:15–17:00 – Session 6: Peer review and refinement
- Aims: To critically evaluate work based on the essential questions framework.
- Presentation: Briefing on how to provide constructive feedback focused on clarity and completeness.
- Activity: Participants swap their 200-word stories. The reviewer must check off each of the six questions. If one is missing or unclear, they must suggest how to fix it.
- Discussion: What was the most common question omitted? How does peer review improve the final output?
Assignment
Find a current local news story that you feel is incomplete. Identify which of the six essential questions are missing or poorly answered. Conduct your own brief research or mock-interviews to find the missing information and rewrite the story as a 300-word comprehensive news piece.
Materials needed
- Notebooks and pens.
- Access to digital news sites or physical newspapers.
- Handouts of the original MHM article.
- Whiteboard or flip chart for brainstorming.
- Recording devices or smartphones for role-play interviews.
Assessment
- Participation: Engagement in role-play and group discussions.
- Performance: Ability to correctly identify and apply the six questions in the writing activity.
- Accuracy: Ensuring all facts in the final assignment are attributed and the six questions are answered clearly.
Summary
This lesson plan provides a structured approach to mastering the six essential questions of journalism. By moving from identification to application, participants learn that a story is only as strong as the facts it contains. Mastering the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How is the first step toward becoming a professional and reliable journalist.
