QUARTER 4- JOURNALISM

BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Delivering your ideas in reporting news needs interesting and relevant
topics. Journalists like you must become familiar with the process of writing news
stories. This lesson will serve as your review on the types and techniques on writing
news stories.

KEY POINTS
News
A news story should be objective. It is the simplest, often shorter type of
story. The biggest part of writing a news story is data gathering. Eyewitnesses or
experts are people sources while pertinent documents are information sources.

Understanding your audience or readers will make it easier for you to choose
a topic. Since you are a campus journalist, your main audience are your fellow
learners followed by internal and external stakeholders of the school.

Since you know your audience, your next thing to consider are the topics
that are interesting to them. Your topics should be specific for your audience.

Best way to write your news story is by creating an outline. It will help you
organize the content of your article considering the structure of the inverted
pyramid which was discussed before. Then, you need to write your first draft. After
that, edit or revise the article until it becomes your final copy. You should avoid
descriptive language and unnecessary words in writing a news story.

A news story should have a headline or title. It traditionally follows a

subject-verb-object sentence pattern. Then, the first paragraph or the lead. It
contains the most essential 5W’s and H information. It should be specific and short.
Finally, the details or the body of the news. It includes several quotes or information
gathered from different sources.

Another part of the news story is the byline which identifies the author. If
possible, you might include images, graphs or maps that accompany the article. It
generally has a caption explaining the image which also includes the
photojournalist’s name.

There are several types of lead, but in this lesson, we will just discuss the
three most common types namely: summary, anecdotal and contrast leads.
Summary lead or conventional lead just present facts often with answering the
essential 5W’s and H. Anecdotal and contrast leads belong to non-conventional
types or novelty leads.

Anecdotal leads introduce the personal story of someone involved in an

event in order to grab the attention of the reader. This lead is often used in soft
 news stories. Contrast leads, on the other hand, use opposite ideas or facts to grab
the reader’s attention.

Write your answer in a clean sheet of one pad paper.

TASK 1: A. Directions: Read the following leads carefully. Write on the space provided whether
the given type of lead is summary, anecdotal, or contrast.
________ 1. Before, Ms. Salazar was collecting newspapers on the streets. Now, she is the
owner of an online news agency.
________ 2. Filipinos living in the capital’s region have not seen the view of the Sierra Madre
mountain range because of the city’s polluted air but after months of imposed quarantine to
contain COVID-19, smog free skyline with the mountain backdrop can now be seen. ________
3. A 28-year-old mother and her two children aged 6 and 3 died in a fire that swept their two-
story house in Project 2, Quezon City, last night.
________ 4. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday clarified the ban on motorcycle
taxis would remain in effect, however, privately owned motorcycles would be allowed to have
back riders.
________ 5. He started selling shoes in the streets of Manila at a young age. Now, he is the
owner of a famous mall that you can visit in almost every corner of the streets.
________6. Drivers of conventional jeepneys appealed to transport authorities to allow them to
return to the streets of Metro Manila.
________ 7. Cris Martinez didn’t plan to miss going to school especially because it’s their
foundation week at Jose P. Laurel High School. But because of COVID-19 classes were
suspended -- for good.
________ 8. A total of 136 volcano-tectonic earthquakes have been recorded from the western
flanks of Kanlaon Volcano in Negros Occidental in the last 24 hours as it emitted white steam-
laden plumes, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said on
Monday.
________ 9. For Mark Zuckerberg, nothing has changed. He wears his grey T-shirt daily even if
he is the youngest billionaire in the world.
 ________ 10. At the morgue in the city’s capital, Director AJ Sanchez walks over securely
covered corpses. He counts them in the queue for cremation which all of them died from
COVID-19 disease.

Task 2: B. Directions: Read the facts carefully. Encircle the letter of the most appropriate lead.

1. -Jun Bunsi, 28 years old, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Philippine General Hospital
(PGH), Taft Avenue, Manila. -He died of multiple fractures in the head and body which he
sustained as a result of a fall. - Bunsi was a carpenter. He fell from the thirteenth floor of a
building under construction on Adriatico Street, Ermita, Manila. The accident happened last
Monday.

A. A 28-year old carpenter was pronounced dead on arrival after he accidentally fell from
the 13th floor of the construction, he is working from at Ermita, Manila last Monday.
B. Jun Bunsi, 28 years old was pronounced dead on arrival after he accidentally fell from
the 13th floor of the construction he is working from at Ermita, Manila last Monday.
C. There was a man who accidentally fell from the 13th floor.
D. A 28-year old carpenter with multiple head fractures was pronounced dead on arrival at
the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

2. The Supreme Student Government (SSG) will sponsor a virtual acquaintance party.
-The purpose of the affair is to welcome the new students of Jose P. Laurel High School amidst
this COVID-19 pandemic.
- It will be held via Zoom, this Friday at 3:00 p.m.
- The announcement of the activity came from Mrs. Fely Tamayo, SSG adviser.
- The Abat Twins will render a couple of songs.
- Prizes will be given to the winners in the virtual parlor games.

A. The school Supreme Student Government (SSG) will hold its first virtual acquaintance
party this Friday.
B. The Abat Twins will render a couple of songs to the first virtual acquaintance party this
Friday.
C. Mrs. Fely Tamayo announced the use of the Zoom application on Friday.
D. Amidst the pandemic COVID-19, the Supreme Student Government (SSG) will sponsor a
virtual acquaintance party this coming Friday.

Task 3: Directions: Let’s test what you’ve learned by answering the following questions.
Choose only the letter of the correct answer and write it on the blank.
________ 1. Which refers to conventional lead?
A. anecdotal Lead C. summary lead
B. contrast Lead D. punch lead
________ 2. Which type of lead is this? Mr. Alexander Chayapol, Journalism teacher
prepares his lesson in the new normal by uploading his lessons to a Web site and
sending post messages to notify lectures for the week.
A. summary lead C. contrast lead
B. anecdotal lead D. punch lead
________ 3. Which refers to a short description about an accompanying photo or
image of the news story?
A. byline C. photojournalist
B. caption D. content creator
________ 4. Which refers to the most essential information in the news story?
A. body C. headline
B. byline D. lead
________ 5. Which refers to the lead that is often used in soft news stories?
A. contrast lead C. anecdotal lead
B. summary lead D. one-word lead
________ 6. Which refers to the biggest part of a news story?
A. database C. data gathering
B. data manipulation D. data encoding
________ 7. Which refers to pertinent documents?
A. spokesperson C. health certificate
B. virologist D. station commander
________ 8. Which refers to the traditional headline sentence pattern?
A. subject only C. subject, verb and object
B. verb only D. object, verb, subject
________ 9. Which refers to details of a news story?
A. headline C. byline
B. body D. photos
________ 10. Which refers to the title of the news story?
A. lead C. headline
B. byline D. caption

Performance Task: Do this in a short bond paper with 1 inch margin. Make your handwriting
comprehensible.

Write a news story based on the following facts. Your news story will be evaluated using the
score sheet for news writing.

Alfredo S. Lim, died on Saturday afternoon, August 8 at the age of 90.

Manila Mayor Franciso “Isko Moreno” Domagoso ordered the lights fo the City
Hall’s clock tower turned off as a sign of the Manileños’ collective mourning for
the passing of former Mayor Alfredo S. Lim.

Among Lim’s chief legacies is the establishment of several local government-run

hospitals and the University of Manila, where tuition is free for the city’s poorest
students.

Lim rose from the world of law enforcement cultivating a tough, “Dirty Harry”
image to become mayor of Manila, senator, and interior secretary.