Constructing news

Construction is like the process a builder uses to build a house from raw material.

Relative news values
“My reader is like me, therefore what I like, my reader likes” –
this approach focus on voices of mainstream and ignores alternative points of view.

Writing news
News writing always starts with the most important fact

If someone were blow up the building across the street you write…
“Today seemed like an ordinary day, little did I know how it would turn out…”
“Someone blew up the building across the street…”

News story blurt out something and then explain themselves by attributing each assertion to the evidence of a source with authority to speak on the subject.
For example,

In constructing a news story speech might contain 800 words, but reporter has a limit of 300 words
ONLY THE CORE OF THE STORY

Follow the advice of Australian newspaper editor, Sid Deamer
“There is no such thing as a good objective journalist. If you are not sensitive enough to feel for your subject, to have a point of view, to suffer joy or agony or sympathy about a story you are covering, you will never be a good journalist”.

In constructing a news story, you must always consider 6 elements:
Who (the subjects in the story)
What (the action in the story)
Where (the physical context)
When (the time context)
How (substantiates)
Why (authoritative comment)

News Writing Basics

Basic News Structure

Use quotes!
Direct speech is lively;
Due to quotes readers pick up clues about the speaker;
Quotes add variety to the massage.

For something to be accurate it must be demonstrably correct within the clearly defined context in which it is offered.

Construction news in action
In pulling together the story from several sources, look for inaccuracies, anomalies, hidden leads, time differences another factors that affect how you evaluate the information you have.

To decide the news values that will drive your selection of the facts, you will consider those facts in terms of
Timeliness,
Proximity,
Prominence,
Consequence
Human interest.

Choosing the news
Consider the relative news values
Consider the reliability of information
Decide whether the inf. you select is substantiated
Prioritise the elements of news writing – who, what, where, when and how
Evaluate the elements of the story that must be included