A journalist writing a news story is the author, organiser and decision maker. Without them the story may never be told. All stories need to be interesting and informative.
This workshop focuses on the essential initial decisions a journalist makes: determining newsworthiness and applying sound journalistic judgement and values when structuring a story. It emphasises that the journalist must be guided by clear editorial ethics.
The workshop is presented in two-hour and four-hour versions. Trainers are invited to select the version that better meets the needs and availability of those they are training. The source material for the workshop is ‘News writing tips for beginners‘.
Workshop outline 1: Two-hour session
(For those familiar with the topic)
09:00–10:00 – Session 1: Making the editorial decision
- Aims: Participants will be able to apply the core criteria of news judgement to decide if an event is a story.
- Presentation: The trainer will set out the primary roles of a journalist: author, organiser, and decision-maker. Emphasise that the most important decision is answering the question: “Is there a story?” Discuss how the application of a journalist’s own judgement and values (subjectivity) must be anchored by strong journalistic principles, referencing the importance of ethics.
- Activity: Trainer presents two current event scenarios – one with high prominence (e.g., a minister’s routine meeting) and one with high impact/surprise (e.g., an unusual local animal rescue). Trainees work in small groups to argue for running or dropping each story, using the criteria: The people, The surprise, and The yawn.
- Discussion: A group discussion is led by the trainer to compare decisions. The discussion must focus on how personal bias can subtly influence a decision and the professional obligation to demonstrate integrity when applying news judgement.
10:00–10:45 – Session 2: Refining the angle and content selection
- Aims: Participants will be able to determine the angle and main points of a story, and confidently justify excluding material due to time or space constraints.
- Presentation: Trainer explains that once the decision to run the story is made, the next stage is organisation and structure. This involves selecting the angle, the main points to convey, and understanding that content to be left out. The presentation will also detail the crucial role of the source in building credibility, noting that a reliable source is essential for accuracy.
- Activity: Trainees are given a set of six verifiable facts from a recent local court case. They must select the two most important facts and draft a short, clear opening sentence (the ‘lead’) for a popular, celebrity-focused newspaper. They must also list the criteria they used to justify excluding the other four facts (e.g., relevance, audience appeal, timing).
- Discussion: Groups share their leads and exclusions. The trainer facilitates a discussion on ensuring fairness and impartiality are maintained in the facts that are selected, and how respecting privacy may also influence the exclusion of some material.
10:45–11:00 – Assignment
- Participants must select a non-published event from their own experience (e.g., a local council meeting, a minor protest, a community event) and apply all eight newsworthiness factors (Source, Subject, People, Audience, Surprise, Knowledge, Timing, Yawn) to determine if it is a story. They must then write a 150-word justification for running or dropping the story, focusing on the ethical implications of their decision.
Workshop outline 2: Four-hour session
(For those new to the topic)
09:00–10:00 – Session 1: The journalist’s role and the basics of news judgement
- Aims: Participants will be able to define the journalist’s core roles and articulate the difference between an event and a news story.
- Presentation: Trainer explicitly defines the three roles: author, organiser, and decision-maker. Explain the news judgement process using the contrasting examples from the MHM source (ordinary citizen accident vs. president accident). Define complex terms like subjectivity (the use of personal judgement and values) and objectivity (the ideal of reporting facts without influence) and explain why journalistic principles must guide subjectivity and introduce ethics.
- Activity: The trainer provides 10 short scenarios (events). Working in groups, participants must categorise them as ‘News’ or ‘Not News’ and provide a one-sentence reason for their decision.
- Discussion: A group review of the sorting activity. The discussion focuses on the two most crucial newsworthiness factors introduced: The people and The audience, and how these factors influence the initial assessment.
10:00–11:00 – Session 2: Applying the newsworthiness criteria
- Aims: Participants will be able to analyse the key criteria for newsworthiness, with a focus on source reliability and the need for accuracy.
- Presentation: Trainer systematically reviews the remaining six newsworthiness considerations from the source: The source (reliability, trustworthiness, independence), The subject (fit for the output), The surprise (unusual events), The knowledge (is it new?), The timing (new information coming to light), and The yawn (avoiding boredom). Emphasise that checking the source and facts is critical for journalistic trust and accuracy.
- Activity: The trainer presents a story based on a single anonymous source and a separate story where the event is old but new details have just been released. Trainees discuss in pairs: 1) What steps they must take to verify the anonymous source to meet the standard of integrity. 2) Why the old story is still considered newsworthy due to The timing factor.
- Discussion: Trainer leads a discussion on the ethical dilemma of pursuing a story that might cause offence and the need to respect privacy, only invading it when public interest clearly justifies it. The discussion must also cover avoiding bias in source selection.
11:15–12:45 – Session 3: Selecting the angle and structuring the material
- Aims: Participants will be able to select the main angle of a story, identify main points, and organise material for publication, understanding that selective exclusion is necessary.
- Presentation: The trainer explains that once the decision to run the story is certain, the journalist must move to organisation and structure. This involves selecting the angle (the focus), the main points (what the audience needs to know), and making the decision of what to leave out due to space/time, or irrelevance. This requires disciplined editorial judgement.
- Activity: Trainees are given a long transcript (e.g., a speech or official statement) that contains multiple themes. Groups must: 1) Identify the single best ‘hook’ or angle (the main point). 2) Select the three most important quotes/facts to support that angle. 3) Justify why they excluded the rest of the material, referencing the subject and the audience criteria.
- Discussion: Group presentations of their angle and selections. Discussion is led on the importance of impartiality in how the angle is framed and ensuring fairness to all parties mentioned by using the selected material accurately and in context.
12:45–13:00 – Assignment
- Participants must find three different local news stories. For each story, they must identify the primary Newsworthiness Factor (e.g., The People, The Surprise, The Timing) that led to its publication. They must then write an alternative angle for one of the stories and list three facts that would be excluded based on their new angle, justifying their editorial judgement.
Materials needed for the workshop
- Handouts summarising interview types and essentials.
- Example interview transcripts.
- Research resources (internet or printouts).
- Recording devices (optional, for mock interviews).
Assessment
- Participation in discussions and activities.
- Quality of drafted questions and peer feedback.
- Performance in mock interviews and reflection.
Conclusion
This workshop has focused on the foundational discipline of news reporting: the editorial judgement required to determine if an event is a story and how to select, organise, and structure the material for publication. The core takeaway is that while a journalist inevitably uses personal judgement, that judgement must be rigorously guided by professional journalistic principles, ensuring the story is robust, relevant, credible, interesting and informative. Further guidance on structuring content, such as the use of the inverted pyramid model, can be found in the original source material: news writing tips for beginners.
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