INTERPRETIVE.— In an interpretive story, the
reporter attempts to give an in-depth analysis and survey
of the causes or possible consequences of important
news events.
SCIENCE.— With this story, the reporter attempts
to explain, in layman’s language, scientific and
technological news.
CONSUMER.— The writer of a consumer story
attempts to help his audience buy more wisely, maintain
products and homes better, cook or garden better, and
so forth.
FINANCIAL.— Writers of financial news focus on
business, commercial or investment stories.
Writers of these stories are usually expected to have
an academic background or experience in their subject
matter, as well as the ability to observe and write well.
NEWS STYLE VS. LITERARY ENGLISH
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Recognize the
differences between the news and literary
English writing styles; identify the ABCs of
journalism.
Many great writers have been known for their
dramatic styles, vivid descriptions and the eloquent
conversation of their characters. It is obvious, however,
that these great writers were not concerned with news
style writing or the fundamentals of newswriting.
Consider the following quotation for example:
“It is a thing well known to both
American and English whaleships, and
as well . a thing placed upon
authoritative record years ago by
Scoresby, that some whales have been
captured far north in the Pacific, in
whose bodies have been found the
barbs of harpoons darted in the
Greenland seas. Nor is it to be gainsaid,
that in some of these instances two
assaults could not have exceeded very
many days. Hence, the inference, it has
been believed by some whalemen, that
the North West Passage, so long a
problem to men, was never a problem
to the whale.”
Perhaps this quotation is famtiliar to you. It is from
Moby Dick, which is one of the greatest sea stories ever
written. It was published more than 100 years ago and
is still read today. Its author, Herman Melville, was
known for his moving literary style.
A modern journalist writing this piece for a
newspaper might put it on paper as follows:
“The Northwest Passage, long
sought by man, maybe known and used
by whales.
.
“American and British sailors have
reported finding the barbs of harpoons
from Greenland in the bodies of whales
killed in the North Pacific. In some
cases, the wounds were only a few days
old. This has led some whalers to
believe that whales must use some
shortcut from the North Atlantic to the
North Pacific.”
The preceding contrast shows the difference
between literary writing of more than 100 years ago and
newspaper English today.
Media writing is geared to the public, not the
professor. The purpose is to inform, not to impress. All
the frills are stripped away. Unnecessary wording costs
the media money in terms of time (electronic) or space
(print).
Newspapers are read in a hurry. They are read at
breakfast, on the subway, against the blare of radio or
television, or over someone’s shoulder. Many readers
scan the headlines and read only the opening paragraphs
of a few articles. These readers have neither the time nor
the desire to wade through literary writing. Many may
have limited educations. Surveys show that the average
newspaper reader has the reading ability of a
12-year-old child.
Does this mean that you have to write for
12-year-olds? No, it does not. We are not speaking of
the readers’ ability to grasp ideas, but rather of their
ability to understand difficult words. There is a great
difference. For example, consider the following
paragraph:
Gravitation is omnipresent; it is
exerted by every body on every other
body, no matter how remote or minute.
Between two given objects, its force
varies directly with the product of the
two masses and inversely with the
squares of the distance between their
centers. Exerting itself throughout the
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