5 Cs of effective news writing:

Unlike English literature, news writing is simple and brief. Journalists are not writing for selfexpression. In news writing, self-expression is subordinated by the needs of the readers.

News caters to mass audience/listeners/ readers that come from diverse background and level of education. To reach everyone, news story to find the common denominator so that no one is alienated. And this is usually achieved by making sure that all stories are CLEAR, CONCISE, CORRECT, CREDIBLE and COMPLETE

CLEAR

A news storys clarity depend on three basic things the logical order of the story, the simplicity of the words used and the correctness of the sentence structure.

The logical order of a news story is achieved by maintaining an INVENTED PYRAMID format, outlining from the most important detail to the lease significant detail.

Clarify is also helped by the use of SIMPLE WORDS. As a rule of thumb, the level of vocabulary used for news is for Grade 6 students. For example: terminate (end), purchase (buy), endeavor (try) enormous (big) and utilize (use)

CONCISE

Apart from choosing simple words, a news story should be written with brevity due to space and time limitations. Sometimes there are many unnecessary words in a sentence or WORDINESS. For example, these phrases can be simplified:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

in the company of (with) at the present time (now) in the vicinity of (near. Located) put in an appearance (came) in spite of the fact that (despite) over the period of (during) in the event that (if)

Other times wordiness is caused by the limitations of our vocabulary. For example, many words can be replaced by a single word:

1. The donation came from someone who did not want to be identified. (The donation was

anonymous)
2. Maria believed but could not confirm that Jose would come for the meeting. (Maria

assumed that Jose would come to the meeting.

Avoid using HEDGE WORDS or empty words or phrases such as I believe, in my opinion, it appears, etc.

REDUNDANCY is another cause of wordiness. A redundant sentence has many unnecessary words or phrases. Example. President Benigno Aquino wore a color yellow shirt at a political rally as a symbol of his anti-corruption campaign. Many journalists were fatally killed in the Maguindanao massacre.

CORRECTNESS

The correctness of a news story can be understood from two perspectives technical and conceptual

Technical correctness refers to the structure, grammar and style of a news story. A news story must also be COHERENT every paragraph, every phrase and every sentence contribute to the meaning of the entire story,

Coherence is again achieved through an inverted pyramid format and by making sure that the lede is supported with details in the body of the story. There should be paragraph unity and correct sentence structure. (subject verb - direct object)

Conceptual correctness refers to accuracy of the data presented in the story. As usual, the data should be accurate, objective and fair. In any case, some basic data to watch out for are: names, ages, dates and numbers. You also have to be extra careful in using QUOTES.

CREDIBILITY and COMPLETENESS

The last two Cs come as a package. For a news story to be credible, it has to be complete, and viceversa.