How to write a newspaper report

• The Times is the UK’s oldest current daily national newspaper, founded as The Daily Universal Register in 1785 before changing its name to The Times in 1788.
• The Daily Mail is currently Britain’s biggest selling daily newspaper.
• The Metro is the most highly circulated daily newspaper.
• The Observer was first published in 1791 and is the world’s oldest Sunday paper.

Have you ever wondered how newspapers came to exist or how newspapers decide what is ‘news’?

Key learning points

• A brief history of newspapers.
• The differences between broadsheet and tabloid newspapers.
• How to write like a journalist, creating memorable headlines and writing informative articles.

Broadsheets

• Historically broadsheets were much larger than tabloid newspapers.
• They first appeared in the 18th century to reduce the number of pages a newspaper needed, so as to reduce the amount of tax paid.
• As they focused on political and business news, they had fewer readers.
• They tend to have more in-depth, longer articles.

Tabloids

• Traditionally, tabloid newspapers, were significantly smaller than broadsheets.
• Their content was viewed as less ‘serious,’ less in-depth, for entertainment and easier to read.
• Sometimes known as ‘red tops’ in the UK they were instantly recognisable because of their red mastheads.
• Also recognisable by their large photographs and less text on the front page.

However, both tabloid and broadsheet newspapers have shared elements of serious news, business, general interest and entertainment. Today, some of the traditional broadsheet newspapers have become smaller in size and some newspapers are now entirely online – so it is not as easy to split them into these two types.

To attract people to buy and read the news, newspaper articles need to grab readers’ attention. One way every article does this is through the use of headlines.

Headlines inform the reader about the content and purpose of the article. Headlines are usually short and remove unnecessary words, for example, this headline: ‘Baby found alive after earthquake’ has removed all the little words: A baby is found alive after an earthquake.

Headlines can:

• be informative
• be humorous
• use famous quotes
• use puns (word play) or alliteration
• make bold statements
• ask a question
• shock the reader

They are often accompanied by subheadlines or subheadings. A subheadline is a smaller title beneath the headline that adds information or makes it clearer what the article is about.

Near the headline or sub-headline, there is a by-line. By-lines give the names of the journalists that are involved in researching, writing and contributing to an article. This gives credibility to an article by showcasing the author, who may be an expert or well-informed about the subject matter in the article.

Grabbing the reader’s attention through headlines needs more than a big bold font. The words selected for headlines are important. The way they are arranged requires linguistic creativity. Since headlines need to be short and punchy, linguistic devices can be used to create as much impact as possible in the least number of words.

To attract a reader's attention, newspaper articles often use images that support the headline and the content in articles. Photographs in a newspaper are chosen by a picture editor and these choices play a crucial role in determining the look of a newspaper, especially the front page.

Photographs can provide evidence that the news article is authentic and truthful. They are usually accompanied by captions, below the picture, which describe what is happening in the picture.

Images can also include infographics, timelines, graphs – all of which collate and breakdown large and complex information for readers. Other images such as caricatures (distorted and exaggerated cartoons) can also be used to mock and parody the subjects of the article.

Why images are used

Images provide fast and easily accessible information. The choice of photograph also plays a key role in influencing the reading of a story.

Images can influence readers through their ability to:

• evoke emotion
• ‘see’ what is being written about
• allow the reader to view the evidence for themselves

News articles are usually written in short sentences with key information given straightaway. The journalist must hook the reader in and ensure they keep reading in the first few sentences. To do this, they must capture the key points of the story using as few words as possible.

The language reflects the readership of the paper, for example, tabloids may use shorter sentences with more informal language - broadsheets may use more formal and complex language.

The language used in newspaper articles also needs to reflect the topic. Lighter, less serious news can be written using humour, unlike more serious news articles on natural disasters or crime.

Click on the interactive graphic below to learn how news articles use an inverted pyramid structure: