Writing Like a Journalist: 7 Tips for Writing a Good Newspaper Article

7 Tips for Writing a Good Newspaper Article

Journalists follow a different formula when writing a newspaper article as compared to writers from other fields. However, an underlying rule that remains constant is publishing information that is easy to grasp and makes total sense.

Despite being a beginner, you can produce a good newspaper article. This blog will teach you exactly how to use the following tips for writing a good newspaper article.

But, before you begin, you need to remember that a newspaper article carries greater significance than many other forms of articles since it informs the masses about a current event. Your information will be shaping the opinions of readers. Being unbiased is the first rule for writing a newspaper article.

To make it easier for you, these fantastic seven tips for writing a good newspaper article will point you in the right direction. Follow them closely and incorporate them into your writing.

1. Conduct In-Depth Research

One of the first tips for writing a good newspaper article is research. Research is the key to producing informative newspaper articles. Such articles have the ingredients to create an impact in the minds of readers. Gather and collect your information, so it is used to construct an informative article that tells an exciting story.

Writing like a journalist is different from other writing fields as it may require you to visit the location where the story or event has taken place. You may need to back your story with interviews of witnesses or other people who have a link to the event.

Your story may also require you to contact your sources. An essential rule of acquiring reliable information in journalism is to choose at least two primary resources. This must include a source giving views opposite to the subject and topic of your article. The purpose is to perceive and report the event or issue from all angles. This style, if followed carefully, will help make your newspaper article well-rounded.

Another useful resource that helps your writing is the online research. You can always go the extra mile by looking up the internet for more information. Once you have collected all the information, you can move to the next step.

2. Find an Angle

Every newspaper article has a story that needs an angle. You may call this the theme or focus of your newspaper article. The angle is critical as it makes an article newsworthy. The essence of a newspaper article writing would be lost if it were to lack an angle.  

Humans are natural storytellers and are always interested in listening to or reading exciting stories. This interest also encompasses learning about the angle right from the onset of the story. So always include an angle in the first paragraph.

3. Create a Catchy Headline

The headline is one of the essential features of a newspaper article as it has the power to spark the interest of the readers or turn them away. If you fail to compose a headline that does not engage and lacks creativity, the reader will probably not read the complete article.

It would help if you had a catchy, creative, and engaging headline to grab the reader’s attention. Also, keep it precise and concise so you can virtually sum up what your newspaper article is about.

Your headline needs to answer the crucial questions of “what, when, and where” to your readers. Another essential piece of advice on making a successful headline is to keep it brief and clear. Try not using more than five words.

An approach followed by some journalists is to compose the headline at the end of their work once they have written the entire article. This will give you a better focus on summing up your article in a few words.

4. Creating the Opening Paragraph or Lede

In journalism, the lede refers to the article’s opening part to start with a great story. It would help if you incorporated a lede in your newspaper article. Focus on the five Ws, which are known as:

• Who
• What
• Where
• When
• Why

It would help if you utilized each Ws as a building block to write your article. This step requires a lot of practice before you can create the perfect piece. However, if you write the lede with a summary of events, this will encourage readers to read the entire article.  

Try composing a lede that conveys all critical information to the reader concisely and interestingly. Also, remember that the lede will establish the direction and tone of your entire newspaper article. Hence, it is essential to use this fantastic tip for writing a good newspaper article.

Apart from answering the five Ws, you may also write about any prevalent conflict and highlight it to generate the users’ interest. You may also try being concise with words as the briefer your information is, the better it would be for the reader to grasp and recall.

Try using as many active sentences as possible since strong verbs make a story more interesting to read. Writing in the passive voice sounds dull, and you also risk missing out on important information. Excessive passive voice use leads to a newspaper article’s ruination as it often leads to incomplete information.

Since most readers these days become aware of a story as soon as it breaks, your newspaper article must do a lot more than mere recalling of the story.

5. Structure Your Information

One of the basic journalism rules is presenting a story’s information in an orderly manner known as the ‘inverted pyramid structure.’ This part requires you to present the story in order of relevance and importance. This means that the lede is placed at the very beginning or on the top.

The lede would be followed by the body section, which will essentially be penning down all the supporting details.

In the end, the bottom section will contain any extra information that may ignite or generate the interest of the readers.

6. Include as Many Supporting Quotations as Possible

Referring to the sources is essential. When you attribute information to a source, you add credibility to the article for readers to find it more reliable. Quoting sources also adds to the value your article gives readers and serves to validate your included information.

However, it is important to use short and brief quotations that convey relevant information. Avoid quotations that do not convey any relevant information.

You will also need to attribute the quotes adequately. For example, “The accident caused no casualties but only minor damages to cars,” stated the Police officer Michael Williamson.

7. Always Polish Your Article Before Submission

Once you are have written the newspaper article, always reread it to polish it. The revision will help you develop an improved piece that is further refined and ready to be published. Editors like complete articles and not the ones where they have to do a lot of work.

An easy way to know whether or not you have written the right piece is to read your article from a reader’s perspective. Think carefully to decide whether or not the article is engaging and informative. Find out if the article is communicating what it intended to do so.

You need to realize that a newspaper environment is fast-paced, one where there is a constant influx of news to the editor from reporters and writers. Writers can earn the right name by checking for spelling and other errors.

Editors admire and prefer to work with writers who submit an error-free article. They also like to work with writers who edit their work for all aspects of clarity and content before submitting it. This is why checking for errors is an essential tip for writing a good newspaper article.

Summing It Up

It can be concluded that writing a newspaper article requires you to collect all the necessary, factual information and details from verified sources. An interesting lede and catchy headlines are important factors that generate the readers’ interest to read your entire article.

This blog was meant to help you compose a good newspaper article by providing you with seven tips for writing a good newspaper article. If you wish to learn more about what it takes to craft the perfect newspaper article, contact our writers today. Our writers are available to help you understand the process of journalistic writing right from the start to the end.