JUNIORJOURNALIST

JUNIORJOURNALIST

GUIDEGUIDE

IN THIS GUIDE

I’m Nicky, Editor of First News, the award-winning newspaper for young people in the UK. The First News team love putting our newspaper together

each week and this booklet will tell you just how it’s done. You’ll learn everything, from what makes a

good front page to how to edit your work. We hope you’ll be inspired to write your own newspaper reports, or maybe even have a go at putting a whole newspaper together. Most importantly,

we hope you have fun!

Nicky Cox, MBEEditor, First News

“What you should be doing if you want to write is keep your eyes,

ears and hearts open and to read lots of books and newspapers, like

First News, so that your head is filled with the world around you.”

Michael MorpurgoJune 2011

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IN THIS GUIDE

p4-5 What’s on the front page of a newspaper?

p6-7 What’s in a newspaper report?

p8-9 What’s in an interview?

p10-11 The perfect headline

p12-13 Essential editing

p14 Top tips for writing a newspaper report

p15 Write your own article!

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wHAT’S ON THE fRONT pAGE

Of A NEwSpApER?

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fRONT pAGE AcTIvITy

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wHAT’S ON THE fRONT pAGE

Of A NEwSpApER?

fRONT pAGE AcTIvITy

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ACTIvITY 1 – FRONT PAGE FEATURESLook at three newspaper front pages and identify the different sections. Can you find:

the logo? the cover story? the headlines? the masthead? the teasers?

Tick off each section on the page opposite if you find them on any of your three newspapers.Do you notice any similarities in the layout between the different newspapers?

ACTIvITY 2 – ENGAGING READERS The front page of a newspaper has to persuade potential readers in a newsagent to pick up the paper and read it. What does First News, and other publications, do on the front page to engage the readers? Write a list below:

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ACTIvITY 3 – DESIGN YOUR lOGODesign a logo for your own newspaper in the box below. What name will you give your newspaper? What colours will you use in the logo?What style will the letters be?

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wHAT’S IN A NEwSpApER REpORT?

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NEwSpApER REpORT AcTIvITy

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wHAT’S IN A NEwSpApER REpORT?

NEwSpApER REpORT AcTIvITy

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ACTIvITY 1 – lEADSWrite the lead paragraph for this newspaper report using the following information. Remember, include the most important and interesting information to summarise the story.WHO – Mrs Green, an eighty-year-old grandma from BasingstokeWHAT – Stopped a thief by tripping him over using her walking stickWHERE – Basingstoke city centreWHEN – 12 June 2011WHY – He tried to steal her handbag

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ACTIvITY 2 – CAPTIONSLook at the pictures below. Make up a suitable caption to put under each one.

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ACTIvITY 3 – DIRECT QUOTESDirect quotes help to bring a story to life and add eye-witness viewpoints. As a journalist, when you are researching a story you will collect more quotes than you need. The skill is to pick out the best, most interesting ones for your report. Which two of these quotes would you include in an article about comedian David Walliams charity sponsored swim in the River Thames for Sport Relief. Put a tick by your choices.

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“What an momentous occasion!” commented a bystander in the crowd.

After his swim, David Walliams said, “I think a bath is the only water I want to see for a while!”

“He’s done an amazing thing” said Stan from Bicester. “We’ve come to cheer David on, see the sights and have a picnic.”

“It is an unbelievable feat to swim such a long way. The effort David has made to raise over £1million is very much appreciated,” said a spokesperson from Sport Relief.

wHAT’S IN AN INTERvIEw?

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INTERvIEw AcTIvITy

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INTERvIEW WRITING TIMElINE

What do you like the most about your character?I love the Richard Branson-esque quality of Miles. I like his style and his love of great new ideas, even though there is a twist to my character that takes him to a different place. He’s been a lot of fun to play.

Did you have Richard Branson in mind when you recorded the dialogue for your character?The idea of Richard Branson was mentioned early on in the production and I definitely identify with the businessman in Sir Miles Axlerod, so the character was a great fit. I love his style of doing business and the idea of being very positive while thinking outside of the box.

How difficult is it to work in the sound booth alone?This is my fourth animated movie, so I’ve gotten used to it by now. You have to tap into that childlike sensibility you had when you were a little kid, because you’re imagining the entire world of Cars 2. Even though you’re standing

alone in a little space, you have to imagine you’re standing alongside all these wonderful characters.

What is it like to visit Pixar Animation Studios in California?It’s amazing. You feel like you’re walking into a whole new world when you step inside Pixar. The animators are allowed to decorate their work areas however they want to, so you see their imagination come to life as you wander around the place. It’s very exciting. It’s certainly not a drab, gray business office. There’s a lot of life and imagination there. Cars 2 is out now on Disney Blu-ray and DVD. Go to www.firstnews.co.uk now to watch the trailer.

WE interviewed Eddie Izzard to find what it’ s like to be the voice of Sir Miles Axlerod in the brilliant Cars 2!

I love his Richard Branson-esque quality

Headline

The title should summarise the story and grab the readers attention. It could also be an engaging quote from the interview.

Introductory Sentence

A brief introduction to introduce the interviewee and to explain why they are being interviewed.

Photograph or Image

This could be of the interviewee or of the topic they are talking about in the interview.

Interview Questions

The questions the journalists asked are included.

Concluding Sentence

A brief sentence explaining where you can find out more about the interviewee or the main item being discussed in the interview. In magazines and newspapers, if a film, book or TV programme is being promoted, the details will be ‘plugged’ here.

Step OneTHE PREPARATION

Find an interesting person with a story to tell (they’ve acted in a film, climbed a mountain for charity, have an interesting job or pet, etc.) to interview.

Write a set of questions that should give interesting answers. Put them in a logical order.

Practice saying your questions so you almost know them off by heart.

Find a sound recording device.

Step TwoTHE INTERVIEW

Set up your recording device to record the interview.

Ask your questions. Listen very carefully to what your

interviewee says. You may need to ask an additional question, such as ‘why ….?’, to explain something they say in an answer.

Make sure you ask all your questions. Take a photograph.

Step ThreeTHE WRITE UP

Listen back to your interview and transcribe it (write it down) word-for-word.

Choose the most interesting questions and answers to include in your write up of the interview.

Tidy up the answers given by removing unneeded spoken words and pauses. Put in punctuation needed to make it easy to read.

Write your introductory and concluding sentences, and a headline.

Interview Answers

The responses given by the interviewee form the majority of the interview. These are ‘tidied up’ by the journalist as people don’t always speak in full sentences. They also need to put in punctuation to ensure the answers are clear to read. The journalist does not need to include everything that was recorded, but they can’t add information or invent things they would have liked the interviewee to say!

wHAT’S IN AN INTERvIEw? INTERvIEw AcTIvITy

ACTIvITY 1 – OPEN & ClOSED QUESTIONSIn an interview, a journalist will use open questions that encourage the person being interviewed to talk. They will not usually use closed questions. Closed questions can be answered by just YES or NO and these answers would not be very interesting to read in an interview in a newspaper!Can you identify open and closed questions? Read these questions and tick the relevant box.

Are you pleased with the book you have written?

What is your new book is about?

Why do you think your football team didn’t win their match yesterday?

Will you be starring in any other films this year?

Did you raise a lot of money for charity?

What other films can we watch you in this year?

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Open Closed

ACTIvITY 2 – WRITING INTERvIEW QUESTIONSWrite six questions that you could use to interview wildlife TV presenter, Steve Backshall, about his TV series Deadly 360 which finds out about some of the world’s most fearsome predators.

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ACTIvITY 3 – TIDY UP THESE TRANSCRIPSAfter an interview, the journalist writes up the interview word for word. They have to tidy it up and transform it from the spoken word of the interview into the written word that can be easily read in a newspaper. Can you add the punctuation and capital letters that are needed to make diver Tom Daley’s responses to these interview questions clear and easy to understand?

When you first started diving, what did you think of it?I found it scary that was the main thing it’s a re-ally scary thing to do and when you’re stood on the edge of a 10m diving board it’s a long way down but once you do it once it’s a lot of fun

How do you start learning a new dive?you start on a trampoline learning the basics of it then you learn in a harness then you have to learn it off the lower boards and just gradually work your way up adding extra somersaults as you go it takes a long time a couple of months to learn a new dive

THE pERfEcT HEADLINE

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WHAT JOB DOES A HEADlINE DO?Headlines simply tell the news story in as few words as possible. They try to engage the reader and make them want to read the whole article to find out more.

Every word counts in a headline and any unnecessary words are left out. For example:

WRITING THE PERFECT HEADlINEA perfect newspaper headline also sounds good! This helps to grab the reader’s attention and hook them into the story. To do this, journalists play with the language in the headline. Tricks of the headline-writing-trade include puns, rhymes, well-known phrases, cliches, song references, alliteration and assonance. Rhythm and puctuation also play an important role in making a good headlines. Here are some examples:

HEADLINE AcTIvITy

Libya celebrates the future after the death of Colonel Gaddafi

A baby is found alive two days after the earthquake in Turkey

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Generous kids visit downinG streetHealtH fears for cHildren cauGHt in Pakistan floods

Pets abandoneddesert mystery

Rhyming words:

owl on the prowlRhymes sound appealing, like mini-poems.

Alliteration:

bamboo bikes in britainSeveral of the words begin with the same letter.

Puns – altering words:

baa-rilliant news!Instead of ‘brilliant news’ for a story about Shaun the Sheep having new website pages.

Puns – homophones:

oh dear oh deerThe well-known phrase is altered with a homophone for a story about problems an increase in the deer population is causing.

Designed to cause shock & intrigue:

i was constantly upside down!With these type of headlines the reader can’t resist reading to find out the details in the story.

Questions:

could time travel be real?Intriguing questions make effective headlines as you need to read the story to find the answer.

Assonance:

oil rig spillThe use of similar vowel or consonant sounds in words near to each other. ‘Heat wave hits India’ is another example of the use of assonance.

Well-known phrases:

ready steady cooke!A well-known phrase is alterered slightly to fit the story. The sporty phrase ‘Ready steady go!’ is changed for a report on athlete Jamie Cooke winning the pentathlon.

THE pERfEcT HEADLINE HEADLINE AcTIvITy

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ACTIvITY 1 – HEADlINE HOOKSRead the headlines below. Think about and discuss:

i) Which ones do you like best? Why? ii) Which stories would you be hooked into reading first? Why?iii) All these are headlines from First News. What might the story behind the headline be?

Now, identify and write down the headline techniques the journalists have used.

ACTIvITY 2 – SHORT & SNAPPYGet rid of the unnecessary words to make these headlines as short and snappy as possible. Cross out the unneeded words.

Very rare sea horses have been found in the River Thames

Pandas are on their way to Scotland from China

ACTIvITY 3 – WRITE THE HEADlINESWrite two possible headlines for each of these stories. Try out different techniques and try to improve on your first ideas.

Story ATeachers at Netherthorpe School in Chesterfield might think they have double vision… there are nine sets of twins in Year 7!

Headline 1 ..................................................................................................................................................................................

Headline 2 ..................................................................................................................................................................................

Story BUS president Barack Obama said that the framed crocodile insurance policy he received this week was the “most unigue gift” he’s ever had.

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Story CTwo species of manta rays, the gentle giants of the sea, have been added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red list, meaning they are a vulnerable species.

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Now, identify the best headline you have come up with for each story. Turn to page 14 to find out the headlines the journalists from First News wrote for these stories.

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Headline techniques used

Taste not wasteNuns learn karate to protect conventUn-bee-lievableClever fish caught on cameraFingertip grows from stomachCan weather start a war?

ESSENTIAL EDITING

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IS YOUR WRITING READY FOR PUBlISHING? Editing is an essential part of writing for newspapers. It is really important that no mistakes go unnoticed and end up being printed in the paper. Errors in an article distract the reader and can make it difficult to understand the story.Here are examples of common errors to look out for:

EDITING AcTIvITy

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Common Punctuation Mistakes

When you are concentrating on the content of your writing, it is easy to miss out or add unnessary apostrophes. Always double check that all apostrophes are in the right place. ‘... it’s oil..’ does not need one as this word is not short for ‘it is’.

Common Spelling Mistakes

It is also easy to muddle homophones. Always double check them when editing.Leek is the vegetable. The spelling should be ‘leak’ here meaning ‘a spill from a hole’.

Last Minute Improvements

Try not to repeat key words or phrases. Try to write them in a different way. ‘Around’ was used to start the third paragraph. Use a word like ‘approximately’ instead to start the fifth paragraph.

What exactly have you written?!

It is easy to miss out words that you think you have written or to accidently repeat a word. Here, the word ‘on’ is missing from the first sentence. It should say ‘... stuck on a reef..’

Capital letters

These are needed for the beginning of each sentence and also for proper nouns – the names of people, places and institutions.The country ‘New Zealand’ needs capital letters.

Punctuation

As well as full stops, question marks or exclamation marks at the end of every sentence, check for commas needed for lists, additional information and phrases.Commas are needed around ‘the Rena’ as it is additional information about the ship - ‘...the ship, the Rena, was in danger ..’

Grammar

Check you have used the correct verb forms for singular and plural subjects.Here, ‘has’ should be ‘have’.

Salvage teams decided to carry out the tricky operation as the ship the Rena was in danger of breaking apart.

Around 1,000 sea birds has already been killed by an oil leek, but many more birds along with other marine life would have been at risk from the oil.

The ship is stranded in the Bay of Plenty, an area afmous for its wildlife, including dolphins and ppenguins, and also its long sandy beaches.

Around 1,300 containers are still on board and a special crane will start removing these too.

The ship ran aground on a reef last month. The captain and second-in-charge may face prosicution.

A GIANT cargo ship which got stuck a reef off the coast of new zealand has had all it’s oil pumped off to avoid an ecological disaster.

Oil pumped off stranded cargo ship

Dictionary Check

Always check the spellings of any words you are uncertain of in a dictionary.‘Prosicution’ should be ‘prosecution’.

Typos

Typing errors can happen easily.The letters in ‘famous’ have been typed in the wrong order and there is an extra ‘p’ at the beginning of ‘penguin’.

ESSENTIAL EDITING EDITING AcTIvITy

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HOW GOOD ARE YOU AT FINDING ERRORS?Now it’s your turn. Edit this science article.Use the Editing Checklist to help you and to identify the type of error.

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Editing checklist Tick when checked

1. Have you told the whole story accurately?2. Can you make any last minute improvements?3. Have you written exactly what you think you’ve written?4. Have you done a dictionary check?5. Have you checked your grammar?6. Is all your punctuation in place?7. Do you have all the capital letters needed?8. Check for common spelling mistakes, e.g. muddled homophones.9. Check for common punctuation mistakes, e.g. unneeded apostrophes.10. Check for typing mistakes.

Can you find the 16 errors? Annotate the article and make a note of the changes that would be needed before printing.

What goes up might come down

How the Phobos-Grunt probe should have looked

as it approached Mars

AS First News went to press, the russians was desperately trying to make contact with there Mars probe, which is stuck in orbit around Earth.

The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) launched the the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft on 8 November. Unfortunatly once the craft reached orbit and seperated from its launch rocket, the probe’s thrusters failed to fire.

A Russian official said that the agency have two weeks to try to fix the problem, before the probe lost for good.

The spacecraft has two parts. One was due to orbit Mars, while the other was supposed to head to the surface of the red planets largest moon, Phobos once there, it wood take soil sample’s and return them to Earth in a tiny rrocket.

Latest reports suggest that things aren’t looking good for the the mission, but check www.firstnews.co.uk/discover to find out whether negineers figure out the problem.

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TOp TEN TIpS fOR wRITING A NEwSpApER REpORT

wRITE yOUR OwN ARTIcLE

ANSWERS Page 11 Activity Three: the headlines First News journalists chose – A. It’s twin-credible B. Peculiar present C. Vulnerable giants. Page 13 The 16 errors P1: capital letter for Russians; grammar error - the Russians were desperately; homophone spelling error - their Mars probe,

P2: spelling errors - unfortunately & separated; punctuation error - comma needed after unfortunately .. Unfortunately, once the ...P3: grammar error - the agency has two weeks; missing word - before the probe is lost for good

P4: missed apostrophe - the red planet’s largest moon; full stop and capital letters missing to mark new sentence - ... largest moon, Phobos. Once there, it... ; homophone spelling error - it would take; unnecessary apostrophe - soil samples; typo - tiny rocket

P5: repeated word - for the the mission; typo - engineers

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wRITE yOUR OwN ARTIcLE

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Now, it’s your turn to be the journalist and write a news report.STEP ONE: PlAN YOUR ARTIClEWhat are you going to write about? E.g. a charity event, a school trip, etc.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................Who would want to read this article? E.g. your school, local community, etc.

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lead Paragraph Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 3

Paragraph 4

Quote Which paragraph will this go in?

Photograph

Headline

STEP TWO: WRITE YOUR ARTIClE

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