Write All About It: Newspapers

The Language of News Stories

News writing tends to be:

impersonal to make it appear objective (to distance the reporter from the story) hence:
- written in the third person
- use of direct speech or indirect speech which is attributed to someone other than the reporter.
- some use of passive verbs but usually only when someone who is being quoted wants to distance themselves from an issue and to show their objectivity about an issue.
about something that has taken place so mostly written in the past tense
simple - in fact close to the way we talk - so relatively short sentences and words and some use of cliches which the whole audience understands.
punchy - it must grab the reader's attention so often uses:
- short rather than long words
- active verbs
- relatively short sentences
- concrete rather than abstract vocabulary
- See this Assessment Resource Bank resource on Types of Nouns
- sometimes emotive and colourful vocabulary
- some use (but not overuse) of adjectives
but also relatively formal hence
- no use of contractions
- sentences written in full (no elision) or eliptical sentences
sometimes imagery is used to help create a clearer mental picture for the reader.
often including the reporter's bi-line and/or a date-line