News Story Structure

Question 1

What news story structures do we have?

Answer 1

Inverted pyramid
Hourglass
Narrative story-telling

Question 2

What is the inverted pyramid?

Answer 2

The most basic news story form
The one that best expresses the element of urgency in reporting

Question 3

What kind of news is inverted pyramid commonly used for?

Answer 3

Hard news

Question 4

What is the most traditional story form?

Answer 4

The inverted pyramid

Question 5

What idea is the inverted pyramid structure based on?

Answer 5

That the elements of a story should be arranged in a decreasing order of importance
The most important ones at the top
The less important (e.g. Background info) following down below

Question 6

What is the general order of content in the inverted pyramid?

Answer 6

1) Lead
2) supporting info
3) least important info

Question 7

What are the advantages of the inverted pyramid for the readers?

Answer 7

Allows them to assimilate the crucial elements of the story quickly & clearly
And to decide whether or not they want to continue reading» valuable in today’s fast-paced life as the readers may have a limited time to read the papers

Question 8

What are the advantages of inverted pyramid for the editors?

Answer 8

To fit the story in the space assigned, they can trim it from the bottom without any significant loss of info

Question 9

What are the advantages of the inverted pyramid for online news?

Answer 9

• suites the reading pattern of the impatient web-user who prefers to scan the news rather than read them
• the important info at the top portion of the screen» no necessity for the reader to scroll down
• facilitates daily updates of online stories by allowing the editors to add info to the top part of the story and leave the info at the bottom unaltered

Question 10

What are the drawbacks of the inverted pyramid?

Answer 10

• doesn’t encourage the readers to read beyond the first part of the story
• while it leads reporters to use their best skills to write the most effective and concise beginning:
  Doesn’t encourage them to compose well-written story endings
  Or give the same news value to all the paragraphs of the news story
  May lead them to over-simplification

Question 11

Where are the main facts told in the hourglass structure?

Answer 11

First paragraphs of the story

Question 12

What’s the similarity between the hourglass and IP?

Answer 12

Content being presented in order of decreasing importance

Question 13

What happens in the second part of the story in The Hourglass structure?

Answer 13

The events are narrated in a chronological order

Question 14

How is the chronological narration of events usually introduced?

Answer 14

By a turn, or transition, which provides overall attribution for the following narrative

Question 15

What’s the outcome of the attribution being given in the transition?

Answer 15

The writer doesn’t need to attribute every sentence of the narrated events
E.g.: Police gave the following account of the accident…, The victim told the jury what happened…, Johnson said that he was attacked shortly after he left work …

Question 16

What is the general order of content in the hourglass structure?

Answer 16

1) main news
2) turn
3) the story as a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end

Question 17

With what types of stories does the hourglass structure work well?

Answer 17

Police stories
Dramatic events
Any story that lends itself to chronological narration

Question 18

What are the advantages of the hourglass structure?

Answer 18

While readers can still get the basic facts quickly,
The story is made more dramatic by the narrative style
Benefits from having a balanced structure and a real ending

Question 19

What is the drawback of the hourglass structure?

Answer 19

Some info at the top of the story may reappear in the narrative portion, making the story longer than the inverted pyramid

Question 20

What’s the idea at the core of the narrative story-telling?

Answer 20

True-life stories should be written using the same codes and conventions of narrative, rather than those of journalism

Question 21

How are stories in narrative s-t different from those in IP?

Answer 21

1) they don’t contain a lead in the traditional sense
2) don’t provide info in decreasing order of importance

Question 22

What is the role of the first paragraphs in narrative s-t?

Answer 22

1) they set the scene
2) often a description of the situation or place where the event occurred
3) don’t provide detailed contextual info
4) include a summary & outcomes of events» inviting the audience to read on

Question 23

How are events narrated in narrative s-t?

Answer 23

In chronological order, following the traditional scheme of beginning, middle, and end

Question 24

How are people portrayed in narrative s-t?

Answer 24

People are prominent, and their actions are portrayed vividly and with details

Question 25

How are the sources described in narrative s-t?

Answer 25

As real characters that live the events being reported

Question 26

Why is dialogue often used in narrative s-t?

Answer 26

To increase the vividness and effectiveness of the story, which appears to be developing before the reader’s eyes

Question 27

What does the narration in the narrative s-t resemble?

Answer 27

The style used in novels, more than in hard news stories

Question 28

How are narrative news stories different from novels?

Answer 28

They are documented and based on actual facts

Question 29

What is story-telling suitable for?

Answer 29

The main feature stories
Also widely adopted for stories that may have a high emotional impact on the reader, such as court & crime stories

Question 30

Where is the use of narrative s-t being encouraged and why?

Answer 30

In online news, beacuse it aids reading news by presenting it in a way that is both involving and appealing to the reader