The daily newspaper brings a world of possibilities into the classroom. To use the newspaperto its full potential, it is important that you and your students are familiar with its content and writing styles. This section is intended to provide you with a few newspaper “basics” and discussion topics to share with your class. Introductory activities are also includedthroughout the section.

About the Newspaper

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In addition, the newspaper serves the followingfunctions:

• The newspaper is a business. It is owned bystockholders who expect to make a profit. It isalso a major employer in the community.

• The newspaper is a member of the communityin which it is published. What the communitythinks is important, right or wrong, good orbad is reflected in the pages of the newspaper.The newspaper also promotes and participatesin many community projects and events.

• The newspaper is a watch-dog for its readersand its community. When something is wrong,

newspapers investigate. Because reporters arealways asking questions and digging up facts, it helps keep people honest. Newspapers alsoprint the “little guy’s” story, giving him achance to be heard.

• Some people call newspapers the “unofficialopposition” to governments. Newspapersreport what government officials do and say,and investigate policies and programs, and any wrong-doings or cover-ups.

• Newspapers are “living textbooks.” They are asource of information and learning. Newspaperswrite about history – as it happens!

Divide a large sheet of paper into four sec-tions, labelled “Inform”, “Entertain”, “ExpressOpinion” and “Provide Marketplace”. In eachsection, list items from today’s newspaper thatfulfill the purpose indicated. Be ready toexplain your choices.

1. The purpose of the newspaperThe newspaper serves a variety of purposes for its readers, most notably:

• to inform• to entertain• to provide a forum for views and opinions• provide a marketplace for goods and services

ACTIVITY:

2. Newspaper contentIn simple terms, newspaper content includes:

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3. Newspaper writing stylesIt is important for students to be aware of the different writing styles used in different parts of thenewspaper. There’s more to the newspaper than hard facts – opinion plays a vital role as well.

A worthwhile introductory activity for students at all levels is to look through the newspaper for good examples of each of the following writing styles. Other suggested activities are presented at the bottom of each category.

About the Newspaper

Hard news stories provide the reader with thefacts (Who, What, When, Where, Why andHow) about an issue, event, person or topic.They may be local, regional, national or international in scope.

The vast majority of hard news stories arewritten in the inverted pyramid style (see diagram), with the most important facts presented first. The main idea of the storyappears in the headline, and most of the 5 Ws can be found at the beginning of thestory (the lead). The remaining details appear in descending order of importancethrough to the end of the story.

There are two reasons for this. Sometimes stories have to be cut, often just before deadline, to fit the available space, and this

style of hard news writing ensures that if any facts are deleted they will be the leastimportant ones.

Also, not everyone has the time or the interest to read every word in every story. So, if the main facts are in the headline andthe first part of the story, people can be quitewell informed without reading right to theend of the news item.

Hard news stories: facts

HEADLINE

LEAD

REST OF STORY

Writing tips:

About the Newspaper

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Choose an interesting photograph. Without looking at thedescription below it (the cutline), try to answer the 5 Ws (Who is in the picture? What is happening? etc.) Now read the cutline and compare it to your answers.

• A news story is designed to inform the reader of something in acrisp, concise, easily-read manner.

• Each paragraph should develop a single thought and one-sen-tence paragraphs should often be used.

• Generally, keep sentences short, but vary their lengths.

• Check and re-check your facts.

• Always use both a person’s first and second names in the first ref-erence and be absolutely sure of the spelling.

• Where possible, try to use quotes and be sure they are near thetop of the story.

• Never use “I” or “we” in a hard news story. Those words belongin columns.

• Be fair and accurate and don’t let your own views creep into thestory. Only columnists and editorial writers are supposed to giveopinions.

• Avoid the trap of starting almost every sentence with “The”.

• Avoid clichés like the plague. (Think about that for a moment!)

• Don’t start writing until you’re sure you understand the situationand if you’re in doubt, go back to the source and check.

• Don’t use big words when shorter words will do just as well.

NOTE: Facts are also presented in the newspaper through photo-graphs, illustrations, lists, charts and maps.

Here are some of thethings you have to know inorder to successfully write

a hard news story:

ACTIVITY:

• They generally are not late-breaking news, but cover subjects that are timely.

• They often present another way of looking at a current event.

• Feature stories do not follow the inverted pyramid style of writing. They may be written in different styles – and at times use a first- orsecond-person approach.

• Feature stories are people-oriented. They cover topics such as social trends, health and

wellness, fashion, food, “slice of life” views ofsituations, travel, consciousness-raising, personality profiles and “behind the headline”stories.

• They are more descriptive than news stories,but they are not opinion pieces (such ascolumns and editorials). They provide observa-tions – generally from many sources – about atopic, rather than the writer’s own opinion.

About the Newspaper

Features: general interestFeature articles, often referred to as “soft news” stories, are different from hard news stories in several ways:

ACTIVITY: ACTIVITY:

Write your own news story.Choose a topic, such as somethingthat happened at your school inthe last week. List the 5 Ws of yourstory. Then, using the invertedpyramid style of writing (mostimportant details first), write yourown news report.

Choose a front-page news story and identify the answers to the 5 Ws. Where did you findmost of this information? Why do you think the story waswritten in this way? What is thepurpose of a hard news story?

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Write your own feature story.

Choose your own topic, or select from the ones listed below. Remember, this isnot an opinion piece. Base your feature story on facts, and quote or paraphrasethe opinions of others.

About the Newspaper

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Comparing News Writing and Feature Writing

NEWSSTORY

FEATURESTORY

5 WsNewsworthy

Who, What, When, Where

Why & How

Why & How

Catchy,exciting

Sequencesinformation

Reaches conclusion

Narrative or expository

CONTENT BEGINNING MIDDLE ENDING

ACTIVITY:

Teenagers’ lives today

Leading a fit lifestyle

The reality of owning a car

Quebec, the best place to live

Schools: A view from within

Teenagers’ heroes

The sport of shopping

Censorship

Dating today

How the internet has changed our world

What it means to be Canadian

Teens and today’s music

Travels to _______________

ACTIVITY: Choose a hard news story. Make a list of possible “soft news” stories or background stories that could bewritten based on elements of the hard news story. (Forexample, a hard news story about a large donation toa children’s hospital could be followed by a soft newsprofile of the person who made the donation.) Whichsoft news story from your list do you think would make the most interesting feature story?

While news stories should only report the facts, the writer’s opinion is encouraged in other parts of the newspaper. To become a criticalreader, it is important to be able to distinguish between fact and opinion, and to use the information and views provided to reach yourown conclusions.

In opinion pieces, the writer tells what he/she thinks about somethingimportant to him/her, and hopefully important to the readers. Andwhile an opinion piece is based on facts, it is still how the writer feelsabout the issue once the facts have been considered.

The most likely place to find opinions is on the editorial pages. Hereyou’ll find, first, the editorials. These are written by the editorialboard, a group of senior writers chosen by the management of thenewspaper. They give their collective opinion about an importantissue or event in today’s news.

Editorial cartoons express the opinion of the cartoonist. The cartoonist relies on drawings, sometimes with a few select words, to express his or her opinion on major issues or events in the news. An editorial cartoon is different from a comic strip because it looks at a serious and very current issue. Its first goal is to make you think;its second goal is to make you smile. Being able to understand thehumour, irony or pathos in an editorial cartoon is one of the pleasuresof being informed about current issues.

Opposite the editorial, you will find the op-ed page, with opinionpieces written by Gazette columnists, guest writers or other editorialwriters from across the country.

In addition, letters to the editor appear in this section. Here, readers have an opportunity to express their views and voice their concerns about recent news stories and newsmakers, or about the newspaper itself. It is one of the most important parts of the news-paper, because it reflects the opinions of readers. It is one way newspapers are able to keep in touch with their readers and their responses to the job it is doing.

Both letters to the editor and editorials are short essays in which an opinion is stated, then supported by facts and background information. They end with a concluding sentence or paragraph.

About the Newspaper

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Editorials, letters to the editor, editorial cartoons, columns: opinion

The rest of the newspaper is filled with opinionpieces, too. Columns are found in every part of thenewspaper and vary greatly in content and subjectmatter, but all are based on the personal opinions of their authors. Columns can be humorous; offerpolitical views; provide advice; review films, music,books or food; or simply talk about city happenings.Columnists have the freedom to develop their ownstyle of presentation.

Columns written by local editors and syndicatedwriters allow readers to consider informed opinionson important issues. Readers may not agree withthose opinions, but can gain understanding byreading them.

About the Newspaper

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ACTIVITY:

ACTIVITY:

ACTIVITY:

Find an example of each of the following: an editorial, a letter to the editor, and a column. Ineach, identify the writer’s opinion. What words areused to express the opinion? What facts supportthe opinion?

Look at an editorial cartoon and identify the issueupon which the cartoon is based. What was the cartoonist’s opinion? Do you agree? Now draw yourown editorial cartoon that expresses your opinionabout something that has happened at school or in your community recently.

Read today’s editorialpages in The Gazette.Choose an item that youeither strongly agree or disagree with. Write yourown opinion piece in theform of a letter to the editor. You may have to do some research. It’simportant to give youropinion, but always base it on facts.

Urge ACTION from the consumer

ATTRACT the reader’s attention

Develop INTEREST in the product or service

Create a DESIRE for the product or service

Advertising

Display advertising

About the Newspaper

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Advertisements are an essential part of any daily newspaper. They provide another source of information in the newspaper –information on the products and services available to the customer.If read critically, this information is very helpful to the consumer.

Advertisements make the daily newspaper a marketplace – bringingbuyers and sellers together. It allows buyers to research from thecomfort of their homes before they buy, and allows sellers to markettheir products or services to potential customers.

Also, if it wasn’t for advertisements, most newspapers would be too expensive for the average reader to purchase. The majority ofthe costs of putting out a new edition each day is paid for by therevenue gained from selling ad space.

There are two kinds of advertising: display ads and classified ads.

Display ads are found throughout the newspaper. They can bealmost any size, often use different styles of lettering (fonts), andusually contain photos or illustrations.

There is an art to creating good advertising. A good ad gives thebuyer enough information to persuade him/her to act upon it – tosearch out and buy the product. A good ad must use copy, art anddesign and follow the AIDA principal, as outlined below.

Copy: Good ads start with good copy – the words used to describethe product or service and to persuade the potential customer to act.Good copy is clear and uncluttered. It says what it has to say in simpleterms, but the words are used to paint a picture in the customer’smind.

Layout: A good advertisement should be eye-catching, butunclutered. The ad’s elements should be arranged in a logical order,so that the reader naturally flows through the ad. It should go fromheadline to illustration (artwork) to explanatory copy to a call foraction, to price, to the store’s name and logo.

White space: A good ad should not be overfilled with elements. In fact, less is more. A lot of white space – the part of the ad with nocopy or art – should be used. It makes the ad more appealing at firstglance, and it makes it easier for the reader to move through the ad.

Branding: A good advertiser who advertises regularly should create a consistent look to his ads. Before you look at the ad closely,the reader should be able to identify the store or business. This isdone through the use of consistent style, layout, font and art. And, ofcourse, the most important element of branding is the company’slogo. This should be clearly seen and near the end of the ad (bottomright), because then it will be the last thing people see and thereforeremember.

Headline: A prominent headline should jump off the page and capture the reader’s interest. It should also give some hint about what the advertisement is selling.

Dominant element: The ad should have a dominant element, usually a piece of art, that again grabs the reader’s attention and provides some clue about what the advertisement is for.

Call to action: Every ad should have a call to action. What is thereader supposed to do once he has read this ad? Should he call thestore? Should he go down to the store as soon as possible because it is a limited sale?

About the Newspaper

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Advertising design

Many display ads are created by advertising agencies and submitted prior to publication. Others are written and designed by the newspaper’s own creative department, according to the needs andobjectives of the advertiser. Whoever creates the ad, it takes skilled personnel to put the words andillustrations together in a way that is clear, informative and persuasive. Here are some of the things to consider when designing an ad:

Card-stacking: This technique provides a selection of good factsabout the product. Of course, negatives are left out – so while thecopy is factional, it may be incomplete.

Bandwagoning: You are persuaded to purchase by the ad focusingon the popularity of a product. (e.g. “500,000 Quebecers can’t bewrong.”)

Testimonial: This is perhaps the most effective with younger people. The ad provides an endorsement by a well-known celebrity.Often the celebrity doesn’t even verbally endorse the product in theadvertisement, but by his/her presence in the ad, it creates a need insome people to have that product.

Common folks: This type of ad focuses on the product as being thechoice of the common people. Just as with the testimonial ad, it iseffective with people who want to belong. This is often used to selleconomical or “sensible” products.

Snobbery: This technique is aimed at people for whom status andwealth are important (even though they may not be famous or rich).The ads appeal to their sense of good taste, class and elegance – ortheir desire to have these attributes.

Transference: These ads play on our emotions. They often use lovely illustrations of cuddly animals, parents with their newborn,patriotic symbols, fields of flowers, etc. They are trying to creat a posi-tive association between these special things or moments and their product. This appeals more to women than men.

Glittering Generalities: Statements are given that leave a goodimpression, but don’t give very many pertinent details. For instance,an ad may say that a soft drink tastes great. It backs up this impressiononly with an illustration of a group of friends enjoying life and drink-ing that brand of soft drink.

About the Newspaper

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Advertising techniques

Advertisements use a variety of techniques to encourage the consumer to act. All of them are veryeffective, depending on the target audience, the product/service and the ad campaign. Some of themost common ones are below. Most ads use one of the techniques; some use more than one.

Classified ads are grouped accordingto various classifications (cars forsale, help wanted, etc.) in one ormore sections of the newspaper. An index on the front page of theclassified section lists the variousclassifications. The ads are written by newspaper readers who pay foreach word printed, and therefore the ads tend to be very brief.

About the Newspaper

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Classified advertisingACTIVITY:

ACTIVITY: Find the Sporting Goods classification. Look athow the ads are written. Pretend you want to sell a bike. What would your ad say?

You have just moved into town. Use the classifiedads to find an apartment, furniture, a car and a jobyou would like.

ACTIVITY: Pretend you have developeda new product or service.Using the design tips andone or more of the advertis-ing techniques listed above,create a display ad to introduce your product or service to consumers.

Go through today’s edition of The Gazette and findan example of each of the techniques described onthe previous page. Then compare all the ads.

• Which ads attract attention, develop interest, create a desire and urge action?

• Which ad was the most compelling to you? Why?

• Which ad’s layout was most appealing? Why?

• Which ad was the easiest to follow?

• Which ad provided the most useful information in order for you as a consumer to make a decision about whether or not to purchase that product or service?

ACTIVITY:

The following discussion topics will help you introduce the newspaper to your students, and will provide a basis for examining related issues, such as freedom of speech and the role of the free press in society.

About the Newspaper

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4. Discussion topics

TimelinessMost news stories are about what just happened, is happening or is just about to happen. A story that brokeout last night will have morechance of making the news-paper than a story that hap-pened last week, even if thecircumstances are almost the same.

ClosenessProximity can refer to physicalor psychological nearness.Things that happen locally or to people close to us aregenerally more interesting orimportant to all of us. That’swhy a story about our Premierwould rate higher than a storyabout the leader of a SouthAmerican nation.

SignificanceUsually, the more people are affected by an event, the more newsworthy thestory. Because thousands ofpeople attend an Alouettesfootball game and only a couple dozen watch a children’s soccer game, the football game is usuallydeemed more newsworthy.

Most news stories that make the daily paper have a combination of these five elements. And it is these five factors which also determine where in the newspaper a story or photograph will run. Forinstance, a photo of a crop circle and its accompanying story might have human interest, but it mayor may not make the paper, depending on the volume of news that day. But if that crop circle wasfound close to Montreal, then it meets two of these factors, and will likely run. Where it runs would bedependent on how it ranked on these five factors compared to other news stories of the day.

a. What is newsworthy?

Human InterestStories that are unusual, have emotional appeal, or show conflict capture our interest. That’s why a photo of a snakefound in someone’s toilet would likely make the newspaperover a photo of a man patting a dog.

As John Bogart, City Editor of the New York Sun once said, “When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog, that is news.”

ProminenceThe fame of a person, place,thing or situation makes it moreinteresting to more people.That’s why there are more stories in the paper about a federal politician or a popularmovie star, than your next-doorneighbour.

Have your students scan today’s newspaper and look at the kinds of stories included. Then ask them what they think makes an event or issue newsworthy. List the criteria they come up with, and comparethem to those listed below.

Readers often question why some stories make the daily newspaper and others do not. And they want to know what determines where stories are placed.

There is, in fact, a logical process for determining what stories are run and where they’re positioned. In simple terms, each story is judged on the following five factors, or a combination of two or more.

About the Newspaper

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Is it true, as some people say, that newspapers contain mostly badnews? To help answer this question, ask students to examine today’snewspaper and list “good news stories” and “bad news stories”.Is it possible that a single article could belong in both categories? Why? Why do they think the “bad news” stories were included in thenewspaper? What “good news” stories would they like to have seenincluded?

In the news-gathering process, news is not judged as being good orbad, but by the criteria listed on page 17. A bad news story tends to bemore unusual than a good news story. This is a good thing, but it mayalso mean that the bad news story is more newsworthy.

b. Where does news come from?

d. Why is there so much bad news in the newspaper?

Give students a few minutes to scan the newspaper and locate the“dateline” or “placeline” of each story, which indicates where thestory originated. Ask the students how they think the newspapergets the story from each of these places.

Local and some provincial news comes from staff reporters who workfor the newspaper. Provincial, national and international news usuallycomes from wire services such as CanWest News Service or Reuters.These services can supply news from any point on the globe to theirsubscribers in as little as seconds, via satellite.

c. Why are there so many advertisements in the newspaper?

Have students estimate how much of thenewspaper’s content consists of advertising.Why do they think there is so much advertis-ing in the newspaper?

The newspaper has two sources of income:the people who buy printed copies or sub-scribe to the online newspaper, and peoplewho buy space for advertising. Ads typicallytake up about 60% of the space of the news-

paper, but ads also account for 75-80% ofthe newspaper’s revenue. Without ads, thenewspaper would be unaffordable to theaverage reader.

Note also that retail ads help stores attractcustomers and help consumers decide whereto shop. In addition, classified ads provide amarketplace for readers, with informationabout jobs, houses, services, etc.

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Ask students to imagine what our society would be like if freedom of the press did not exist.What wouldbe different? How might the front page of today’s newspaper look?

The ability to report on events as they happen – truthfully and without pressure or censorship frompeople in positions of power – is one of the corner-stones of freedom and democracy. Having a free press is essential to having a free country. Considerthat one of the first steps taken by a dictator or aninvading army is censoring the newspaper of the conquered people.

As U.S. Senator William E. Borah stated, “If the press is not free, if speech is not independent and untrammelled, if the mind is shackled or made impotent through fear, it makes no difference underwhat form of government you live, you are a subjectand not a citizen.”

e. Why is it important to include opinion in the newspaper?

f. Why is freedom of the press important?

Many students think all non-advertising newspaper content is factual;they don’t realize that opinion also plays an important role.

Ask your students to look for opinion pieces in the newspaper. Help them identify editorials, letters to the editor, editorial cartoons andcolumns. Ask them why they think it is important to include opinion in the newspaper. Why is it important to know the difference betweenfact and opinion?

Opinion pieces help readers benefit from the thoughtful views ofinformed writers and concerned readers. While the reader may notagree with the opinions expressed, they may be exposed to points of view that broaden their thinking and – along with the factual information in the newspaper - help them to make their own informed decisions.

Ask your students to look through the newspaper to find the items listed below.For each, they should write down what they found and the page on which theyfound it. The students can work individually, in pairs, or in small groups. You maywant to set a time limit.

About the Newspaper

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5. Other introductory activities

Scavenger Hunt

• the name, date and price of the newspaper

• the name of a TV program on at 7:00 p.m., andthe channel on which it is shown

• a news story about another country

• a picture of someone wearing glasses

• a headline from the sports section

• the weather in Hong Kong

• the name of the cartoonist who draws Hagar theHorrible

• the most expensive item advertised in the first section

• the topic of today’s first editorial

• what’s for sale under classified index number 685

• For young children, give instructions orally.Ask them to find simple items such as theword “car”, the number 5, somethinground, etc.

• Limit the hunt to one part of the newspaper, such as the sports section, theTV listings or the weather report.

• Design scavenger hunts by themes, such as the environment (find examples

of pollution, something that could be recycled, an environmentally friendly product, etc.)

• Give a page number and a clue. For example: On page 3, it says that someonewas arrested yesterday. Who was it?

• Encourage students to make up scavengerhunts for each other.

Scavenger hunts can be adapted in many ways to meet your students’ needs.For example:

Find the following:

About the Newspaper 16

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The 30-minute reading plan is an effectivemeans of introducing students to the formatand content of the newspaper. Have your students do the following for the time periodindicated:

3 minutes: Scan the entire newspaper, looking at headlines and pictures. Note stories of interest.

12 minutes: Go back and read the articlesthat attracted your attention when youscanned the newspaper. Identify their mostimportant points. Since most news stories arewritten in the inverted pyramid style, the mostimportant facts will be found in the first fewparagraphs of each story.

5 minutes: Read the editorial page and lookat the editorial cartoon. Try to understand theopinions being expressed.

10 minutes: Read whatever else you care to.This is recreational reading time.

30-Minute Reader