by Bob Simon
First ever step for writing a news story is to have an idea about the topic you want. But most likely the subject may change while searching or gathering your records or information. This happens often when you discover something new while collecting data (photo, video, and print media).
If we already have an idea about the topic, so no need to select one. We start by gathering information about environment, water utility reports, looking for interviews from City leaders or experts and the households. Also digging into some media achieved could be a good option.
Now, it’s time to organize our data, then writing down the news story lead-in according to the 5 w’s rule. Another important step is to verify your information from different sources if possible. Asking for copy rights to make sure you aren’t against journalistic ethics.
Lead: “Tampa Utilities Leaders have alerted about the maximum water level usage during dry hot summer, August 12th, at City of Tampa. The need for watering increases the amount of energy consumed for water treatment which impact the environment”.
The next step is to create an outlines which will help to give a clear direction to the news story. Also, to structure the story we have choosing the inverted pyramid format base on the notes taken on the subject.
Now build up the news story outline.
- Households water usage has been impacting the environment.
- City Leaders revealed the facts that link to energy consumed.
- Environmental experts called for limited of water usage and an alternative to fight dry hot summer.
- Households understanding and participation for reasonable utilization of water.
So, we are well prepared to start writing our news story.
DC of Tampa 