The Shortest short-course in the history of college journalism

What's new?

Humorous writing checklist

Plagiarism cautions

Documenting quotes

Fixing writing problems

Proof-reading

Writing with pizzazz

An African's martyr's statement on commitment

Mission trip fund raising ideas

10 ways to ruin mission trips

Youth in Mission

Nazarene Missions International resource pages



Linking to me
 

A one-day seminar done at Mid-America Nazarene University

Part 1: What makes news?

News is information about anything that is interesting or significant. News is also a highly perishable commodity. Nothing is deader than yesterday's newspaper. That's why we throw old newspapers away or use them in the bottom of birdcages or in the house-training of puppies.

If readers want to know something, that means it has become newsworthy.

If something has happened or is going to happen in which people would be interested, that happening is news.

The alphabet soup of news stories:

Action Beauty and romance Critters Death Exploits and adventures Fights and struggles Government and politics Humor and Novelty Immediacy (is it new?) Kids and babies Location

Mystery and suspense Novelty Oddity Proximity or nearness Real estate and belongings Size Timing Uniqueness Victory Woes and anguish

Now that you have the idea, how do you go about writing the story?

Your article must sustain interest from beginning to end. It must be accurate. "Almost right" is not enough. [ read more ]

SNU missions course materials and syllabi

Howard Culbertson, Southern Nazarene University, 6729 NW 39th, Bethany, OK 73008  |  Phone: 405-491-6693 - Fax: 405-491-6658
Copyright © 2000, 2001 - Last Updated: April 24, 2007 |  URL: http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/news.htm