NEWS WRITING II

Finding the right angle18 October 2010

Writing the story……finding your angle

Stories must be interesting The best stories told badly will not be read – it’s that

simple Find something to hinge the story on

There must be a SO WHAT factor in your story Must go “wow, that’s interesting” and read on Without this, the story is pointless because it won’t be read

This is not always easy But there are ways to find what is the most interesting

1 – Summarise the story in one sentence (this makes you choose the most interesting piece of information)

2 – Write down the 5 W’s and the H and work out what stands out the most in your mind. List them

3 – Talk to your colleagues and ask them what stands out to them. Talk to a senior person, if possible.

Writing the story……finding your angle

Collect all important or interesting pieces of information

You’ve gathered your info, now you need to classify it Break it down into simple phrases and list those Now it’s a step-by-step process:

1 – Highlight the most important/quirky/interesting pieces of information you have (the things that might have the “wow” factor)

2 – From that list of 2/3, work out which one/ones you want to go with (remember, an intro/angle can have more than one element, but they need to be linked – and have a strong link, not a tenuous one)

3 – Write those into sentence form 4 – Read the sentence to see if it makes sense and reads well

That, my friends, is the best way to write an intro Eventually, this will come naturally and you won’t have to write

it down

Writing the story……finding your angle

THE UNIVERSAL ANGLE-FINDER

Writing the story……finding your angle

Class exercise - Find the best angle from the following pieces of information:

Police’s undercover traffic unit, the Ghost Squad arrest a taxi driver at a roadblock at Keizergracht, District Six, Cape Town

School children in the taxi, aged between six and seven Friday morning (‘yesterday’ in your story) 7am Driver was found to be drunk – eight times over the legal

limit Driver taken into custody Children taken to school in another vehicle

Writing the story……finding your angle

My suggested angle: Most NB facts: driver was drunk, taxi had children in it Angle: Drunk taxi driver puts children’s lives at risk Typical hard news intro: A taxi driver transporting pre-

school children was arrested for being eight times over the legal drink driving limit at a road block in Cape Town yesterday.

A story like this would normally get a more creative intro, but we’re learning about up-and-down news intros here

Try incorporate as many of the most NB facts in the intro to strengthen your angle

But don’t overload it (like that taxi) with too much information. Let the intro speak for itself

The other details can come later on What have you been told about the 5W&H?

Writing the story……finding your angle CT TAXI DRIVER EIGHT TIMES OVER LIMIT A Cape Town taxi driver transporting schoolchildren was arrested after testing

eight times over the alcohol limit on Friday morning, Cape Town traffic authorities said.

The arrest happened at a roadblock set up in Keizergracht in District Six in a bid to crack down on drivers transporting schoolchildren in unroadworthy vehicles.

The city's undercover traffic unit, the Ghost Squad, arrested the driver after his breathalyser test indicated 0.88mg per 1000 ml of breath, compared to the legal maximum of 0.10 mg.

"An adult passenger in the vehicle was also found to be under the influence of alcohol, after displaying unruly behaviour when confronted," said city traffic services spokeswoman Merle Lourens.

"The taxi was conveying school children aged between six and seven years old."

Eighteen of the taxi drivers transporting children who were checked did not have valid driving licences and 11 no professional driving permit.

Twenty-eight drivers were charged for overloading, and 12 taxis were suspended due to mechanical defects.

In a VW Microbus taxi, officers found that the rear seats had been removed to create additional seating space for children while in another taxi there were two to three children per seat.

Sapa – October 8

Writing the story……finding your angle

Check what’s been written No point in rehashing what has already been done – so

check and find something new Doesn’t apply if you have the first go at the story, then

anything you write will be new (this often means you have to write it simply)

Simple rule: If you’re bored, your reader is bored

So make yourself go: “Hey, this is interesting.” The reader will react the same way.

Writing the story……finding your angle

Class exercise – Find the angle, write an intro and turn into a 100-word brief Ref to handout #1

Writing the story……finding your angle

My suggested answer: Most NB facts: Durban man is among those

missing; 350 dead; 200 missing; typhoon hit Angle: Durban businessman among 350

missing after a Typhoon hit Indonesia Typical hard news intro: A Durban

businessman is among 350 people missing after Typhoon Olga lashed the Indonesian capital Djakarta yesterday, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Always try localise – readers will identify with one of their own

Writing the story……finding your angle

Class exercise - Find the best angle from the following pieces of information:

Crime lab bust in early hours of the morning by The Hawks Lab is in the garage of a house in an upmarket

Johannesburg suburb Police found 210 litre drms and 25kg plastic containers of

chemicals used to make mandrax Other chemicals found in a hut next to the garage Mandrax tablets found in the house Value of drugs and chemicals estimated at R10m

Writing the story……finding your angle

My suggested angle: Most NB facts: Value of drug (always NB), location (it’s

unique that it’s in an upmarket suburb), elite cops (crack units are cool!)

Angle: Elite police unit bust massive drug operation in upmarket home

Typical hard news intro: Elite crime-fighting unit, The Hawks, swooped on an upmarket home in Johannesburg yesterday, seizing R10 million worth of mandrax tablets and chemicals used in the manufacturing of the highly addictive drug.

Writing the story……finding your angle

Class exercise - Find the best angle from the following pieces of information:

Police shoot prison escapee Went to his KwaDukuza house at 2am, he was sleeping in a

room Intelligence-driven operation, involving elite police unit Escapee shot at police but missed. Police returned fire,

killing him Man was one of nine to escape from Westville Prison two

weeks ago Two had already been re-arrested

Writing the story……finding your angle

My suggested angle: Most NB facts: He’s an escapee, he was shot dead, elite police force using

intelligence information Angle: Man who escaped from Westville Prison shot dead by elite police

force Typical hard news intro: Police yesterday shot and killed one of the nine

men who escaped from the Westville Prison two weeks ago. (yes, this is a little boring, but it’s straight up-and-down and uncomplicated)

This is the one I wrote on Sunday: Westville Prison escapee Nhlanhla Lucky Mhlongo didn’t stand a chance.

At 2.30am yesterday a crack 10-man police unit stormed a house in Groutville, KwaDukuza, to arrest the alleged ATM bomber and cop-killer who was one of nine men who escaped from the Westville Prison on February 21. Mhlongo apparently opened fire on police, missing each of his four shots.

An officer fired a single shot, hitting Mhlongo in the check. He was dead minutes later

** Clearly this is not a typical hard news intro. We’ll look at different types of intros next week, but this was just to show you what you can do once you’ve got the basics right