UNIT 3 WRITING FOR PRINT MEDIA

Structure
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Learning outcomes
3.2 Writing for Newspaper
3.2.1 Hard News
3.2.2 Soft News

3.3 Feature Writing

3.4 Article Writing
3.5 Editorial Writing
3.6 Headline Writing
3.7 Writing Intros
3.8 Writing for Magazines
3.9 Let Us Sum Up
3.10 Further Readings
3.11 Check Your Progress: Possible Answers

3.0 INTRODUCTION
In the previous units you were exposed to the basics of writing and how to
write effectively using different styles and approaches. In this unit, we shall extend
the discussion to cover various aspects of writing for Print media which includes
newspapers and magazines. Writing for newspaper is different from writing for
magazines and periodicals. Similarly, writing different formats such as feature
is different from writing articles or editorials. Thus, different approaches and
styles of writing are required for developing content for different forms and genres
of print media.
In this unit we shall discuss different forms of writing for print media such as
hard and soft news, features, articles, editorials and writing for magazines. Some
of these formats will be discussed in greater detail in Block 2 of this course.

3.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After reading this unit you should be able to:
describe how to write hard and soft stories for newspapers;
analyse the difference in writing features, editorials and articles;
discuss the essential elements of writing headlines and intros; and
explain the difference in writing for newspapers and magazines.

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Writing Skills
3.2 WRITING FOR NEWSPAPER
Newspaper, as you know, is a daily publication covering variety of content for
general as well as specialised audiences. The presentation of the content also
varies as per the needs and requirements of the format followed. However,
the basic functions remain the same - to inform, educate and entertain.
Two types of stories are published in newspapers - hard news and soft news.

3.2.1 Hard News

Hard news pertains to current events and incidents that have greater political,
social, economic and cultural importance at the local, regional, national or
international levels. Hard news present the facts in a straight forward manner,
focusing on the basic rules of news writing - who, what, where, when, why
and how (5W&1H). Facts are very important for hard stories. ‘Inverted
pyramid’ style is one of the most common ways of writing hard news story.
According to this style, the most important information is given right at the
beginning, followed by less important information, emphasising the need to
prioritise the content of a story. One of the challenges in writing a hard story
is to cite suitable quotes. A well placed verbatim quote contributes to the success
of a hard news story. While conducting interviews, you should be careful in
recording, as unrecorded quotes can create problems at a later stage if the
source refuses to accept the printed quotes and declares them inaccurate.

3.2.2 Soft News

While hard news stories report current events or incidents, soft stories are related
to events or incidents and provide an angle to this so that people feel connected
and get involved. To write a soft story one need not follow the news writing
format of hard news. While hard stories focus on 5W and 1H; soft news gives
a wider perspectives on the facts and gives overall observations. It, however,
does not mean that soft stories lack in seriousness – they treat a subject with
a different approach and provide minute observations on it. There is a clear
stylistic difference in writing and reporting hard and soft news stories which
requires specific skills and knowledge. In addition, for doing such stories, one
needs to be a keen observer with excellent command of language.
You can cover the same incident as hard or soft news. For example, retirement
of a prominent player is a hard story but if you focus on his childhood and
stories related to his personal life it will become soft story with a human interest
angle. Similarly, stories related to environment, health and gender issues can
be both hard as well as soft stories depending upon the treatment given to
them. While writing a soft story you may keep the following points in mind.
Interesting headline and introduction: Soft stories generally do not start
straight away - the gist of the story comes in third or fourth paragraph. Headline
and introduction should be inviting enough to make the readers curious to know
more and go through the entire story. The first few sentences need to be very
powerful. The story can begin with a quote or description of the subject. To
make readers stay with the story you have to sustain their interest till the end
in what is being said.
Angle to the story: There can be many angles to a soft story and you have
38 to find the most interesting angle to draw the attention of readers. For example:
beggary is a serious problem in any city engaging children. If you find children Writing for Print Media
involved in beggary and you simply report it following the basic rules of writing
a story then it becomes a hard story. However, if you bring out their innocence
by reporting their lifestyle in native places and the changes taken place since
then, it will be a soft story. Thus you are not reducing the seriousness of the
topic; instead adding human interest angle to it.
Background research: To bring depth to your story you need to do
considerable amount of research which enables you to understand various angles
which can be provided to the story. After knowing variety of things about the
subject or the event, you will be in position to use that information to make
the story indepth and interesting.
Character:. Writing your story with a character tends to improve the quality
of your story. The readers feel connected to the characters and even if you
are covering a story of larger issue, introducing a character tends to make a
difference.
Use of quotes: Quotes are important to take your story forward. Quotes which
bring some emotions to your story and leave some impression on the mind
of your readers should be used. However, use of excessive quotes may make
the story lengthy and unimpressive. Thus, quotes should be used with care.
Convey a message at the end: Soft stories generally end with some message
which the writer wants to convey. To take the same example of retirement
announcement of a player; writer may say that now the audience will not see
him/her on field playing but whenever you will go to watch a match you will
miss his/her presence-to add a touch of nostalgia.
Check Your Progress 1
Note: 1) Use the space below for you answers.
2) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this unit.
1. What is ‘inverted pyramid’ style of news writing?
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2. What is the main difference between hard story and soft story?
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3.3 FEATURE WRITING

A feature resembles a news story in some respects but also differs from it in
some ways. Like a news story, a feature deals with facts. But it differs from
a news story in that it may be longer than its news value justifies and it need
not follow the standard form of news presentation. A news story has two main
components – the lead and the body. A feature also has a third component
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Writing Skills – the conclusion. The lead consists of a summary of the subject matter, the
body elaborates on it and the conclusion sums it up or draws a moral from
it. The feature writer has far greater flexibility than a news reporter.

There are no rigid or inflexible rules about feature writing except that the feature
writer must know how to collect the necessary information and present it in
an attractive and readable manner. S/he should be more reflective than a news
reporter, use his/her imagination but should not confuse feature writing with fiction
writing. A feature is based on solid facts and only in the manner in which it
is presented does the writer exercise his/her imagination.

The feature writer may take recourse to humour where necessary but in doing
so s/he must not cross the boundary of good taste and decency. Indeed, taste
is the operative word when it comes to feature writing.

Unlike news writers, a feature writer has the time and space to frame the theme.
Features are generally longer than hard news stories and delve deeper into
subject to bring up some key points. Some popular types of features are
informative, human interest, historical, entertainment and advocacy features
discussed below:

Informative Feature: It is the most common type of feature aimed to provide

information on a topic. It is well researched including relevant information of
the recent developments on an issue. The tone of the writing flows from the
topic being discussed. For example: an feature on ISRO, Polio, or findings of
a research on any health issue are written in serious style. In this type of writing
words from local language can also be used depending upon the target audience.

Human Interest feature: Human interest features are stories about events,
persons or issues in which people generally show interest. These stories share
the subject in a lighter or sometimes funny way. It can cover stories which
are unusual or inspiring.

Historical feature: Historical features focus on historical events. In writing these

types of features you must ensure that the facts are accurate. For example,
if you are writing a feature on Taj Mahal then you should use some facts related
to that monument and ensure that the facts are correct.

Satirical features: As the name suggests, satirical features aim to highlight a

problem, issue or person with irony and sarcasm. Satirical features attempt to
bring about change using humour and satire. It is a challenge for writers not
to get personal and ensure that the satire does not cross limits and becomes
objectionable. For example: if you are writing a satirical piece on current political
system then you must not be a party member and your writing should be based
on genuine reasoning supported by facts.

‘How-to’ feature: provide guidance for doing something or achieving something

in life. You must have gone through write-ups telling you how to prepare for
a particular exam or how to decorate your house. Such features fall under this
category. How-to features are to the point and written in easy to understand
language.

Feature on seasonal themes: These types of features are written around a

40 particular season or on a festival. Writings on Durga Puja, Christmas or Eid
etc. suggesting how to celebrate or how to budget an occasion or what to Writing for Print Media
buy or where to go are seasonal features.
You will read more about Features in Unit 5, Block 2 of this course.

3.4 ARTICLE WRITING

Article is a well-researched analytical story on a subject written in a serious
style. It involves a thorough understanding and expertise in the subject matter.
There are some important points which need to be kept in view writing an
article, some of these have been discussed in the previous units and are applicable
to other forms of writing while some are specific to article writing.

Find Motivation: Motivation is the first step which influences you to take up
a topic for writing. This can come from an incident, situation, person or a group
of persons. Motivation makes you enthusiastic about the topic which reflects
in your writing and makes it engaging for your readers.

Know the need of reader: Knowing the need of readers helps you in selection
of topic. It also helps you to assess your own knowledge on the subject and
in doing further research on the subject that you propose to write.

Research your idea: Writing an article needs indepth knowledge hence you
need to research the area or the topic you want to write. You should read
books, journals and available material on websites and talk to experts in the
subject, if needed. You also need to collect relevant data, diagrams, tables which
can be incorporated to your article.

Title: Title is very important part of your article which should complement the
article. An appropriate title works as a teaser for your readers. A good way
of writing a title is to start with a few working titles and the most appropriate
one may be later selected and fine tuned after finishing the article.

Be concise: The length of your article depends on the topic you are writing
and the kind of information you want to share with your audience. Sometimes
in order to fill space we tend to write more which is not desirable for the
story. Therefore, it is important to have a sense of the length and word count
before you start writing.

Style and Structure:: Style and format of an article depends on the topic,
the target audience and the publication you are writing for. For example: if you
are writing a scholarly academic article for a research journal the language will
be academic and formal. Similarly, if you are writing on a scientific topic for
those conversant with science then you may write in technical language. However,
if you are writing on a scientific topic for common readers, then your language
should be simple, devoid of jargons and technical terms.

Offer solutions: Your article should not be like news report which only provides
information to the people. Article is a product of deep research on a topic
and based on analysis. Therefore, it should also focus on providing solutions
to the problem being discussed.

You may also keep in view the points discussed in the previous units while
writing to enhance the readability of your article. 41
Writing Skills
3.5 EDITORIAL WRITING
A conventional editorial may be defined as a critical interpretation of significant,
usually contemporary, events so that the publication’s typical reader will be
informed, influenced or entertained. The world ‘critical’ is used as evaluating
and not exclusively as fault-finding. In other word it usually is a considered
statement of opinion. An editorial may also be defined as a journalistic essay
which either attempts (1) to inform or explain, (2) to persuade or convince,
or (3) to stimulate insight in an entertaining or humourous manner. It has an
introduction, a body and a conclusion. News interpretation and background
articles are different from the editorials in that they do not seek to convey the
editorial views on the subject.
Types of Editorials
Perhaps you would know that editorials are not always written by the editor
of a newspaper/magazine. The editor of a big paper has a band of writers
know as editorial writers, leader writers, assistant editors. Some of them are
specialists such as on economics, international affairs (further sub-divided into
global division – West Asia, Africa, Central Europe), disarmament, UN agencies,
education, literature, law, science, media.
An, editorial writers job is to study, and write the piece according to the style
of their newspapers. Journalism text books classify editorial in different ways.
The classification could be according to the purpose of editorial, i.e. it may
be informative, argumentative, or entertaining. An editorial may also be classified
on the basis of its form of composition, i.e. it may be narrative, descriptive
or expository. It can also be classified on the basis of its appeal to readers
emotion or intellect. An editorial may also be classified on the basis of its contents
which may be political, social, economic, historical, scientific, etc., grouped under
local, national, regional and International heads.
Interpretative and explanatory editorials seek to expand the dimension of the
news reports. Both type of editorials as well as reporters have to keep in view
the requirements of a busy reader as well as of the well-read person with a
critical mind. The general length of an editorial in most Indian newspapers is
between 300 to 400 words. The reader may not have the time or patience
to read longer pieces unless it is of gripping interest.
Check Your Progress 2
Note: 1) Use the space below for you answers.
2) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this unit.
1. What are the objectives of editorial?
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2. What are the qualities of a good editorial? Writing for Print Media

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3.6 HOW TO WRITE HEADLINES

Headline is the soul of a news item which tells the readers what the story is
about. The goal of the headline is to grab readers’ attention in five to ten
words focusing on the most important aspect of a story. While framing headlines,
following points should be kept in mind:
Accuracy: The headline must be accurate. The words used in the headline must
accurately represent the story. A headline giving inacurate information will harm
your as well as the organisation’s credibility. Sometimes, inaccuracy takes place
because of laziness of reporters and editors. For example, “hundreds feared
dead in a train accident”. This headline does not give an accurate figure of
death toll but gives vague and incomplete information. Take another example:
“short circuit causes fire at hotel”. In your story if you write that police suspect
that short circuit might be a reason, then your headline is inaccurate because
it says about a definite reason of fire which may not be the case.
Logical: Headlines should be based on logic. Sometimes, to sensationalise the
story headlines editors give obscure headline. For instance, “Defence Minister
likes travelling in Metro train” is a headline of a story about the defence minister
who decided to travel in metro train as an austerity drive. By doing this, he
wants common people to follow him. Here to get the full picture readers have
to read the story, as the headline may be confusing.
Specific: Sometimes, writers do not have a clear idea about what a headline
should say about an incident. In that case they try to cover all the aspects
of a story. For example, “Students on strike vandalise VC office, three injured.”
This headline reveals that headline writer has no clear idea about what the
headline should say. Therefore there is a need to identify the most important
aspect of an incident for highlighting in headline. You should keep the purpose
and your target audience in mind.
Concise: Headline should be concise because it goes in a larger font size,
therefore writers have limited space. A good headline should not be more than
7-8 words and it must come in a single line. For example, “Girl killed by her
lover”. This headline is not concise and the word by her is unwanted here.
It should be ‘Lover kills girl’ using active verb.

Activity 1
Identify any 5 headlines from a newspaper which you find do not properly
reflect the content of the story. Rewrite the headlines keeping in view the
points discussed above.

3.7 WRITING INTROS

The intro is the most important part of a story. It should be straight, simple
and grammatically correct and contain the most relevant information of the story.
43
Writing Skills It should grab attention and compel readers to read the full story. The readers
should get most relevant and important facts in intro. There are some key points
that need to be kept in view while writing intro of a story.
Newsworthy: Introduction of a story should be newsworthy. It should highlight
the most important aspect so that just by reading the intro readers get the most
important information. There may be several things which are important but you
have to find out the most newsworthy aspect.
Keep it simple: Introduction should use simple and grammatically correct
language. There is no rule of thumb regarding the length of an intro but the
general practice is to write an intro in not more than 2 lines. The sentences
of intro should not have more that 9-10 words. Sometimes, writers follow
two sentences rule comprising too many words which may confuse readers.
Style: Style of an intro should be based on the concept of 5Ws+1H, which
is a widely accepted form of writing news. As discussed earlier, six questions
- What? When? Where? Who? Why? And How? Have to be answered in
a story. However, you need not answer all these in the intro itself. Intro of
the story should carry only the most important question and remaining questions
answered in the rest of the story. For example- if the PM delivers a speech
in which he makes several announcements, then journalists try to answer only
one question- what?- in introduction, remaining Ws and one H should be
answered in the body of the story.
Style also includes the treatment of the story which should be appropriate
according to the situation. For example tragic events will require a serious and
somber angle similarly a light hearted incident may be accorded humorous intro.
Importance to facts: Facts are important for the introduction of a story for
validating your story. Sometimes more importance is given to the names and
places from where an announcement has been made, but the most important
thing is the announcement which is made. For instance, “Union ministry of forest
and state government of UP agree to plant one million trees in Uttar Pradesh.”
The best way to make an intro from above example should be that one million
trees will be planted in Uttar Pradesh in the coming month. There is no need
to name the ministry and state government in the intro and that can be given
in the body of the story.
Avoid direct quotes: Avoid starting your news story with somebody’s quote.
Quotes are opinion of a person or organisation. Therefore, the name of the
person and organisation become important and it should not be given first in
the intro. When you are giving facts there is no need to give the names but
if you are giving statement then names become important. Always try to use
indirect speech while using quotes in intro. Quotes can be used in the body
of the story.
Use Active Voice: Content creators should use sentences in active voice in
their stories. “PM addresses the rally” is active voice and “Rally is addressed
by PM” is passive voice. Avoid passive voice while framing news. Active voice
is not only shorter but also gives information directly and it is easy to understand.
In a country like India it becomes more important where English is second or
third language of readers.

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 Writing for Print Media
3.8 WRITING FOR MAGAZINES
Magazine journalism is different from daily newspapers not only on the basis
of look, size and feel of the presentation but also on the basis of coverage
of news events. Where daily newspapers focus on reporting the events,
magazines focus on covering the events in detail with well researched stories.
The following are the main differences between writing for newspapers and
magazines:
In magazine writing there is no pressure of daily deadlines which do exist,
but these are for an extended period of time. Therefore, magazine writers
get more time to develop their stories.
Magazine provides space to the writers to pick up interesting topics and
can apply their own style of writing, which is not the case with newspaper
writers.
Magazines also give better display to the stories of writers in comparison
to newspapers. In magazine, stories do not compete with each other for
importance. The design is such that it gives equal importance to most of
the stories.
It is also believed that magazines have more impact on their readers as
the readers of magazines are specialised in nature who are interested in
getting indepth and specific information related to an area/topic.
Thus magazine writing needs indepth understanding and deep knowledge of
socio-cultural political and economic issues. They must maintain high level of
journalistic ethics which includes accurate, unbiased and fair reporting. They
should also have a clear idea of the purpose of the publication and target
audience. The types of writings which are generally included in a magazine
are given below.
Extended Feature story: Extended feature story is different from newspaper
feature story as it is not event-centric but issue based. The extended feature
story is longer than newspaper feature; it usually ranges from a minimum of
thousand words to more. An extended feature story has room for writer’s point
of view. One or two summarising lines are always good for the understanding
of the readers. But writers should avoid giving overt opinions which should
emerge in a natural way duly supported by evidence.
Articles on personality: This is also a very popular type of magazine writing.
People are interested in reading about a popular personality or celebrity but
they will not read about already known facts about a celebrity. You will have
to find some new interesting things related to his/her life, which will require
research on your part. To get more ideas, writers should conduct interviews
with the concerned person and/or talk to those close to him or her to find
some new angles to the story.
Analytical and interpretative: Magazines focus on analytical and interpretative
stories. For this, writers need to develop expertise on the topic and
should have good sources from where they can get reliable information.
Analysis and interpretation should be based on the facts and evidences presented
in the story.
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Writing Skills Travelogue: Travel articles are a popular writing format for magazines. It has
a long history when travellers used to produce their account of the places they
had visited. Good travel writing gives a sense of being at the place being
discussed interspersed with facts, descriptions and details. Writers should try
to find out how people of the land enjoy their life, what are their customs and
give some insightful thoughts at the end. The success of this kind of writing
lies in interesting presentation interspersed with information and humour to take
their readers along.
Check Your Progress 3
Note: 1) Use the space below for you answers.
2) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this unit.
1. How is writing for magazines different from writing for newspaper?
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2. What points will you keep in mind while writing an introduction to a news
story?
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3.9 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we discussed various issues about writing for Print Media. We started
with the basics of journalistic writing, difference between hard news and soft
news then we moved on to the inverted pyramid style and the 5Ws+1H style
of writing. Different writing styles for articles, features and editorials and the
specific points need to be kept in view while writing these genres were outlined.
You were exposed to write effective headlines and intro to grab readers’
attention. Towards the end a distinction was made between writing for
newspapers and magazines.
We hope that these three units of the block have given you good grounding
on the fundamental of good writing, and prepared you to write effectively in
general and print media in particular. The last unit of this block deals with
translation and will expose you to the basics of translation.

3.10 FURTHER READINGS

Hohenberg, J. (1973). The professional journalist: a guide to the practices and
principles of the news media
Kamath, M.V. (2009), The Journalists Handbook, New Delhi: Vikas
Keeble, R. (2005), Print Journalism: A Critical Introduction, London: Routledge
Mckane, A. (2006), News Writing, New York: Sage
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 Writing for Print Media
3.11 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS: POSSIBLE
ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1
1. Inverted pyramid style of news writing outlines the most important
information at the beginning followed by less important information emphasising
the need to prioritise the information in a story.
2. Hard stories present the facts in a straight forward manner, focusing on
the basic rules of news writing – including who, what, where, when, why
and how (5Ws+1H) – soft news gives a wider perspective on the facts
and provides overall observations.
Check Your Progress 2
1. An editorial gives the opinion of a newspaper on a certain issue. Editorials
aim to promote critical thinking, influence public opinion and help readers
in taking a position on an issue.
2. Good editorials are written in a professional and unbiased manner and focus
on issues. They not only criticise certain developments but play a proactive
role in giving solution to a problem. They engage people in a constructive
manner and try to create an informed opinion.
Check Your Progress 3
1. Magazine writing is different from newspaper writing because it focuses
on covering events in detail and provide well researched stories to the
readers. In magazine writing there is no pressure of daily deadlines and
it gives better display to the articles in comparison to newspapers.
2. An intro should be straight forward with the most relevant information. It
should be based on facts, newsworthy and written to grab the attention
of the readers.

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