- KISS – Keep It Short and Simple. In any newspaper, whether it is national or local, keeping sentences short and simple makes better news and it is easier to read.
- Reading For Speed – Everything on a newspaper should be created for speed reading, enabling the audience to read through articles fast without hesitation or delay. Articles should be straight forward without any unnecessary text. This text should be reduced or cut out.
- Never Use 3 Words When One Will Do - This will slow down the audiences reading and adds in useless text, meaning the rule of reading for speed is not followed.
- Don’t Repeat & Use Active Verbs - Engages the readers further.
- Use Puns In Headlines - Some humour lightens up the atmosphere of articles making the reader at ease and more likely to have a positive response to the article.
- Personalise The Story – Make it relevant to people and places. Audiences like to read articles that concern themselves as they feel more involved and are more likley to look out for articles that are relevant to themselves specifically.
- Categorise People – e.g Cheap Thief
- Avoid – Overuse of clichés, euphemisms, being too chatty, foreign phrases - This could lead to looking unprofessional and make difficult reading for the audience.
Grammar and quote use
When I use quotes in my articles, I need to make sure the quote is either direct or indirect. The use of grammar in articles changes compared with usual written text. A direct quote is something somebody has actually said. These need speech marks. Indirect quotes usually come after. This quote could have been taken from an outside/close source. Standard English grammar is often dropped when writing articles. This is because it makes the article easier to read, enabling reading for speed and in some cases can create a certain 'feel' to the article.
Text layout
Newspaper text is always written in columns that are aligned to reach both sides of the margins, covering the majority of the page, making them efficient and easy to read, as well as easy to quick read. Usually there are one to three sentences per paragraph, and font size is quite often small, around a size 8 or 10, so that a lot of text can fit into the article, giving value for money and allow the article to have lots on content. The paragraphs are always indented to establish a different point, per paragraph. The establishing paragraph should always sum up the article, letting the reader know exactly all the information that will be included in the article. Newspapers sum this up my including specific point in the establishing paragraph. These are:“WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY”, this is written in short and ages are always shown after names. (Only in the first paragraph, unless introducing a new subject later on in the article). Text is mostly placed below or to the side of the photograph, if the article has one. It is rarely placed on top, as the headline is placed there.
Layout, typical features and technical terms
Some or all of these may be found on the front pages of newspapers.
Box-out – A small part of the page, shaded in a different colour.
By-line – The name of the reporter, if they are important is often included at the beginning of the feature, rather than at the end, or not at all.
Caption – Typed text under photographs explaining the image.
Credits – The author of a feature may be given credit in the form of a beeline. Photographs may have the name of the person who took them or the agency that supplied them alongside them.
Crosshead – This is a subheading that appears in the body of the text and is centred above the column of text. If it is to one side then it is called a side-head.
Exclusive – This means that newspaper and no one else solely cover the story. The paper will pay their interviewees, buying the story so it cannot be used by another paper.
Feature – Not necessarily a ‘news’ item (current affairs), but usually with a human-interest angle presented as a spread.
Headline – This is the main statement, usually in the largest and boldest font, describing the main story. A banner headline spans the full width of the page.
Kicker – This is a story designed to stand out from the rest of the page by the use of a different font (typeface) and layout.
Lead Story - The main story on the front page, usually a splash.
Lure – A word or phrase directing the reader to look inside the paper at a particular story or feature.
Masthead – The masthead is the title block or logo identifying the newspaper at the top of the front-page. Sometimes an emblem or a motto is also placed within the masthead. The masthead is often set into a block of black or red print or boxed with a border; the ‘Red-tops’ (The Sun, The Mirror, The News of the World) are categorised by style and the use of a red background in the masthead.
Menu – The list of contents inside the paper.
Pugs – These are at the top left and right-hand corners of the paper and are known as the ‘ears’ of the page. The prices of the paper, the logo or a promotion are positioned there. They are well placed to catch the reader’s eye.
Secondary Lead – This is usually only a picture and headline, it gives a sneak preview of a story that you might find inside the paper.
Sidebar – When a main feature has an additional box or tinted panel along side of it.
Splash – The splash is the main story on the front of the paper. The largest headline will accompany this, along with a photograph.
Spread –A story that covers more than one page.
Standfirst – This is an introductory paragraph before the start of the feature. Sometimes it may be in bold.
Strapline – This is an introductory headline below the headline.
Tag – A word or phrase used to engage a reader’s interest in a story by categorising it e.g. ‘Exclusive’, ‘Sensational’
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