forms of journalistic writings

Brief notes……..

News report writing always starts with the most important fact. When you report on a football game, you do not start with the kick-off; you begin with the final score. A news report has a beginning, middle and an end. The news reports aim is to meet the requirements of everyday life as lived by everyday readers. So it largely depends on elements like directness, pace, variety and information. It aims  to state the facts quickly and clearly.

An editorial is one of the writing styles used to express an opinion or reaction to timely news, event or an issue of concern. Most editorials are used to influence readers to think or act the same way the writer does. Most editorial pieces take the form of an essay or thesis, using arguments to promote a point of view. Newspapers often publish editorial pieces that are in line with their editorial slants, though dissenting opinions are often given space to promote balance and discussion. Requirements for article length varies according to each publication's guidelines, as do a number of other factors such as style and topic. An average editorial is 750 words or less

Features are journalism's shopping center. They're full of interesting people, ideas, color, lights, action and energy. Storytelling at its height! A good feature is about the people in your community and their struggles, victories and defeats. A feature takes a certain angle (i.e. Black youth returning to church) and explores it by interviewing the people involved and drawing conclusions from that information.

The writer takes an important issue of the day and explains it to the reader through comments from people involved in the story.

An article will analyze and interpret and provide arguments and counterarguments. An article will go to the root cause of an event or happening and provide background information. Then it describes the present situation and finally peeps into the future prospects too. Though it is not necessary that an article will follow the past-present-future course. An article may start with a insight into the future and than cover the past and present. It may start with the present situation, go to the past and then look into the future. Also, it may not be necessary that anarticle should always deal with the past or predict the future.