Volume 35, Issue 2

Writing news and media articles can be difficult, especially for those unfamiliar with its format. Traditional structures you might find for academic writing are not as concise and may discourage readers from finishing articles. The bullets provided below serve as some guidelines to assist with the process for writing media. 

• Use the opening paragraph to highlight the key details/summarize your story and have the following paragraphs provide details to support the lead. 
• Be sure to obtain permission to use photographs; be sure to provide attribution to sources and photographers.
• Use active, not passive voice.
• Be objective and present well-rounded information that includes all major perspectives. 
• Use simple sentences to get your point across. 
• Avoid “Agenda Leads,” leads that place too much emphasis on the time and place that the story occurred. 
• Avoid stating the obvious. 
• Identify and emphasize the who, how, where, why, when, or what question that seems most important to your story. 
• If you experience any trouble organizing your article’s content, refer to the inverted pyramid below as a tool to help with the assembly.
• Most importantly, take pride in authorship and appeal to your audience. If you need any help or guidance feel free to contact us and we will be glad to assist.
• News stories should be objective in nature.

“Inverted pyramid in comprehensive form” by Christopher Schwartz is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0