Your first full story assignment will be a safe one in some ways and a difficult one in others. You will have one primary interview source--me. That's the good news. The bad news is that because I am the primary source, I'll know when you make errors. In this assignment, I'll be looking for the basics of news story design and execution (a strong lead, inverted pyramid organization, accurate information, good quotes, proper attribution, flawless grammar and concise, clear style).
Your assignment will be to write 400-500 words on the upcoming information meeting for students interested in applying for a Fulbright grant for study abroad. On Thursday, I will hold a "press conference" in class where I will give basic information and allow you to ask questions. A good reporter will come to the press conference prepared with some background information about the topic, just as a good reporter won't rely on a singe source (which means that if you want an A, you should do some work before the press conference as well as some further investigation and interviewing afterward). The story is due on Tuesday.
Now that you know you have to write a story using the elements outlined in this chapter, I hope anticipation of that task will keep you focused on the chapter's content.
In this chapter, we will cover the basic traditional news story structure, known as the Inverted Pyramid, and the key role played by the "lead" or first sentence of the story.
The Inverted Pyramid, in brief, is a story structure in which you start with the most important material and progress through the details of the story in descending order of importance, ending with the least important.
Such stories are designed so that the most important information can be discerned quickly; interested readers will continue on for the details. It's called the Inverted Pyramid because you're supposed to picture it that way--with the weightiest material at the top and material that dwindles in significance below it.
As a result, it's not surprising that the most important element of the story will be its very first sentence--called the "lead" or "lede" sentence. This sentence should contain a summary of the key elements of the story. A person should be able to read the first sentence and have all the most important and relevant information in the story.
Read the rest of the sections in this chapter carefully (Lead, Pyramid, Accuracy, Editing), knowing that you will be expected to apply the information to your first story.
Also read:
Three
questions to ask before you write