News Writing – In-company training

News is the hook that brings readers into paper and online publications.

But some news stories fail to grab readers because intros are flat or the structure is poor. Our training shows you how to improve your news writing to grab your readers and keep them coming back for more.

Introductory News Writing

Get the skills to know what makes news, where you can find it and how to write it.  This introductory course will help you improve your news writing so you can grab readers and keep them reading.

One day course covering:

  • What is news and making it work whether it is classic; product or news in brief
  • Different audiences, different news - understanding what makes news for your reader
  • The classic news questions
  • Finding the angle -  answering the key reader questions: why should I care?
  • The impact of websites on news coverage
  • Structuring news and the classic pyramid underneath it all
  • Varying the structure of the story depending on its content
  • Planning and why order matters
  • Selling your news story - summary and hook intros and which to use
  • Quotes and how to use them
  • Making it feel new – spinning the news
  • Appropriate techniques for writing news on paper and online

Advanced News Writing

This highly practical course, using your own news, will allow you to take stock of what you are doing now; identify weak points and bad habits; and use the techniques outlined to change and improve your news writing.

One day in-company course covering:

  • Your readers - what do they want, how are they changing and how does this affect the news you are giving them?
  • Are you working hard enough to keep your news fresh or are you in a rut and churning out the same stories over and over again?
  • Are you finding exclusive sources, and are you coming up with the best spin on a story?
  • The news pyramid - its strengths and weaknesses and alternatives
  • What non textual treatments can you use?
  • Putting the key elements of threat, opportunity or entertainment for the reader/visitor top in the content
  • Making a strong start and what alternatives to the summary can you use
  • Taking the reader through the content
  • Paragraph structures and making quality transitions
  • Moving beyond the standard news story
  • How can you weave multiple threads into a story?
  • What makes a successful news analysis?

Actions and follow-up

These courses provide you with practical skills that you can apply immediately to your own news. We send you away with a list of “To dos” to focus on after your training, so you can put into practice what you have learned; and we follow-up with you afterwards to see how you are getting on. We are always available if you have any queries at all, so you just need to let us know.

Helpful - on both the level of personal writing and general tips for structuring news stories, finding news stories, and thinking of interesting spins/ways to vary content

Editorial assistant, Immediate Media