By Olivia Coleman
Guest Writer
Too often, news stories are seen as boring yarns comprised solely of dry factoids. This view is not surprising considering the amount of mediocre news pieces splashed on the front pages of newspapers and on the pages of news websites today. Society's need for instant news has caused a sharp decline in journalistic quality, but for those who are currently working in the field or endeavor to someday become journalists, there are ways to bring the color back to the facts and make journalism engaging again.
The news industry is a competitive one and many journalists rush to publish news articles as soon as the news event occurs in order to bring in more readers. As a result of this rushed method of reporting, most journalists do not have time to write up a proper news story. Instead, they simply string together as many of the facts of the article as possible and submit it for publication without bothering to explore the story of the news piece. Though this is undoubtedly important because it keeps the public informed about what is going on, it also makes for dry and uninteresting reading. Those who wish to create engaging stories that will captivate readers must be willing to spend more time working on the article in order to create an engaging news story.
One of the best ways to make a news story more interesting is to realize that it is called a news story for a reason journalists must find the story behind the news piece. Consider what makes up a fascinating story, such as the combination of strong characters and a carefully plotted plot and narrative. Journalists can use these same elements to tell their news stories. All of the people who are involved in the news piece as well as those being interviewed are characters in a story. As such, journalists should introduce them in the article like an author would introduce a character in a fictional tale, taking the extra step to describe them if it would add to the piece. After all, it is people who drive most of the stories that journalists work on, making it important to capture the human characters in news pieces in order to give life to the article's events. In addition, characterizing the major players in the article will allow readers to better relate to the story because while the average reader may not relate to bankruptcy or politics, he or she would relate to the basic human experiences of strife, conflict, and emotion.
In addition to characters, journalists should also look for the "plot" behind the news events. Instead of just relating the events one after another like in a bare bones police report, journalists should analyze which events took place when and whether the sequence of actions is significant. For the important events, journalists can heighten the tension through dramatic narrative just as a fiction author would during the climax of the story. Chances are the events leading up to the climax would lend themselves to creating a tense environment anyway. Writing in an active voice with colorful verbs and phrases would also go far to create a compelling news story.
However, the most important thing that journalists need to keep in mind when creating an engaging news story is that the facts are still the most important things in the article. Though journalists may use the same techniques as a fiction writer to make the article fascinating, they still must stick with only the facts and avoid inserting any personal bias into the story. This means that they can only characterize the people involved in objective terms and only use the exact quotes provided. Journalism does not have to be dry thanks to engaging journalistic techniques, but it does still have to offer only the concrete facts.
Olivia Coleman writes most frequently about online colleges and universities. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: olivia.coleman33-at-gmail-dot-com.
Image Credit: Interaccess.org.
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