newspaper grammar.doc

What is news? There are many answers to that question because the elements that constitute news are constantly changing. Different reporters have different tastes for news in the first place. What may be news in one community, for example, may not be news in another. However, there is a general agreement that news is a combination of information people are or should be interested in and that items of news have the following intrinsic characteristics known as news values:1) Timeliness-Is it a recent development, or is it old news?2) Conflict - Is the issue developing or does anybody care?3) Prominence- Are any well-known or famous people involved;4) Consequence- What impact will the story have on individuals or the community?5) Novelty- Is it interesting, unusual, even bizarre?Timeliness Freshness is a very important measure of news. An accident today that held up the local rush-hour traffic for one hour is more timely than one that happened three days ago with the same consequence. When a storm hits, readers want to know what is the immediate effect and what is happening now. The stories of recent happening will get more attention in a newspaper.Conflict Most conflicts-whether it involves individuals, administrative bodies or sports teams- are newsworthy. Physical conflicts may lead to injuries and damages, which often arouse emotions and can therefore be of enormous and immediate importance. Wars are a classic example of conflicts of a more disruptive nature that always occupy space on the front page.Prominence Some occurrences are newsworthy simply because prominent people are involved. Whatever they do or whatever happens to them makes news because of its consequences. Big names make big news.Consequence Any event that affects many people is newsworthy. Some events are of more consequence than others, and they will take more space and larger headlines. The impact of mass layoffs by major employers is not limited to the employees and their families only, but is also felt throughout their communities. It is not surprising that media give prominent play to these happenings. Novelty Readers and editors alike love novelties in the news: the three-eyed baby, the 60-kilo cabbage, the tortoise finds its way to the person who saved its life 20 years ago, etc. Anything unusual, even bizarre, have strong reader appeal. (TCR, p33) 2. Journalistic English style:The newspaper is mainly written to be read in a hurry; therefore, in news writing simple and accurate and common words are preferred, unnecessary words should be eliminated, and sentences and paragraphs should be kept short. In other words, the basic news style consists of short words, short sentences, short paragraphs. Of course sentences must vary in length if the reader is to be kept interested, and some paragraphs are warranted by their content to be longer than others. Normally skilled reporters average 15 words per sentence and 40 words per paragraph. Besides, news stories are supposed to report issues objectively, rather than render verdicts or give judgments. The reporters should learn how to tell personal opinions from facts. That is to say, let the fact speak for itself, either favourably or unfavourably. After all, news reports are written to express, not to impress. 1) Using simple, accurate and common words:man (gentleman); died (passed away); left (departed);seldom (never); probably true (absolutely true); cancer (carcinoma); money (currency)2) Eliminating unnecessary words: Weak: The director said that he would stay. Strong: The director said he would stay.3) Keeping sentences and paragraphs short. Weak: The committee will hold a meeting. Strong: The committee will meet.4) Letting the fact speak for itself.Improper: Mr. Li Weiling is well qualified for the post.Proper: Mr. Li Weiling is a PhD graduate from Fu Dan University and has 10 years of experience in the field.Improper: The boss lost his temper with his secretary.Proper: The boss shouted at his secretary and slammed the door behind him.Improper: The suspect lied.Proper: The witness said that the suspect lied.3. The making of headlinesHeadlines are advertisements of news. Good headlines reach out and grab the reader. Most newspapers have a set of guidelines for writing headlines. Although the rules can vary according to the particular views of reporters, they often include the following 4 “donts”: Dont begin headlines with a verb. Dont place conjunctions, prepositions and modifiers at the end of the headlines. Dont pile modifiers one after another. Dont use pronouns alone and unidentified.In modern typography there is a trend toward simplicity. Main heads are shorter and secondary headlines, if any, fewer. Very often only the first letter of the first word in the headline and any proper names are capitalized. Most common headlines are straight forward statements, made up ofNouns: Nightingales song (Guardian 89,12,17)Noun phrases: A conductor without arrogance (Guardian, 89, 12, 17)Home where the art is (Guardian, 89, 12, 17)Research on “Gay Gene” Confirmed (Guardian Weekly, 95,11,12)Verb phrases: Making Morality Everybodys Business (Guadian Weekly, 95, 11,12)Adjective phrases: Ready to fight to the last drop (G W, 95,08,20)Better safe than sorry (finance) G W, 95, 11, 26)Complete sentences:“Baby On Board” Signs Reduce U.S. Auto Fatalities 70 Percent (Nov.22)However, many news writers love to exercise their rhetorical skills to give their headlines special favour. They have adopted a variety of headline techniques, similar to those used in magazine advertising. Whatever technique the news reporters may use, a good headline is clear in the first place so as not to puzzle a hurried reader, informative so as to help the reader to get the gist of the story at a glance and witty so as to engage the readers immediate attention.The headline “ND vs IP in HR”, for example, is too far-fetched for the reader to understand it immediately. It requires translation: New District vs. Industrial Park in Human Resources. In fact, headline composing is often the most demanding part of news writing. Whatever is in a 40-word lead, the headline will have to say in 5 or 6 sharp, punchy and dramatic words. Most important of all, it requires imagination. (TCR pp.506-8) 4. The news leadThe opening sentence that tells the reader what the story is about, if possible, or the most newsworthy aspects of the piece is always a news lead. The news lead is always followed by paragraphs of facts arranged in order of their newsworthiness. A good news lead requires clear, crisp, precise English organized in various short sentences and short paragraphs. The most common sentence structure is the subject-predicate:News leads can roughly be divided into two groups in terms of their focuses: summary leads and special leads.1) Summary leads A summary lead will reveal the whole story. It gives equal weight to two or more of the primary aspects of a story and informs the reader immediately that more than one major event is happening up till the last moment. The summary lead can also be used to invite readers into a variety of feature stories, very often following the breaking news reported earlier on or elsewhere.E.g. A double murderer who cut off the head of his ex-girl friends mother was given two life sentences yesterday at Winchester crown court. (The G., 87,06,11)2) Special leadsThe special lead is an umbrella term covering the leads that do not summarize the stories but refer to specific questions of Who or Where or When or Why of the news events.The “Who” Lead The name of an important person or place or thing is alone more newsworthy than anything else in the story and it should stand out in the lead to attract the readers attention. In fact, the “Who” lead is the most popular news lead. When the persons concerned are not widely known, their occupation, sex, age will make the major features of the “Who” lead.e.g. THE HOME SECRETARY Michael Howard, had yet another run-in with the judiciary when he was declared to have acted unlawfully in the way he tried to ban the entry to Britain of the Rev Sun Myung Moon, the Korean founder of the Unification Church. (G.W.,95,11,12)The “Where” Lead Sometimes the location of an action or event is more important than the persons involved and it outweighs the other Ws, indeed. This “where” should be properly presented as a lead.e.g.: More than 11 years after scientists predicted it would occur, a strong earthquake rocked the Central California town of Parkfield on Tuesday morning, triggering almost 200 aftershocks and sending emergency crews scrambling in a radius of several hundred miles.(New York Times, 2004,9,29) The “Why” Lead Although the motive or cause of an event can be the most important aspect of a news story, many reporters shy away from making it the lead, simply because the “Why” lead can become wordy. Nevertheless, sometimes, the “Why” lead can be very powerful if the story requires an explanation for its “what”.e.g.:Footballer Hi Tackler will miss Saturdays game against Midtown (the what) because he injured his knee at training (the why) last night.Obviously there is no single formula for writing adequate leads. Reporters have to develop their own ways. Today reporters have tremendous freedom in writing news leads. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are as many ways to measure leads as there are imaginative writers.Here are some forms of novelty leads.The Question Lead The question form is a good way to attract attention. A good question can make a powerful headline. A carefully posed question can also be an effective lead, especially when a problem with public interest is the central point of the news story. After the question lead come the details leading to the answer to the question. However, the question lead should not be used as a poor substitute to other more effective leads that a bit more effort on the part of the reporters would make possible.e.g.:“What happens when the most popular sport in the world meets the most populous nation in the world?The Quotation Lead The quotation lead is to have someone else speak, either the one who is a well-known or powerful or directly involved figure in the story or the one whose words can serve as an introductory remarks of the story. The form of the direct-quotation renders to the lead the force of the speaker or freshness of the statement. But the quote should not be too long or too complicated. e.g.:“There s more going out than coming in,” said Mayor Jim Sells somberly at Tuesday