how do you write a news article for students

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How to Write a News Article

Last Updated: April 28, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Gerald Posner . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 2,398,362 times.

Writing a news article is different from writing other articles or informative pieces because news articles present information in a specific way. It's important to be able to convey all the relevant information in a limited word count and give the facts to your target audience concisely. Knowing how to write a news article can help a career in journalism , develop your writing skills and help you convey information clearly and concisely.

Things You Should Know

• Outline your article with all the facts and interview quotes you’ve gathered. Decide what your point of view on the topic is before you start writing.
• Your first sentence is the most important one—craft an attention-getter that clearly states the most important information.
• Proofread for accurate information, consistent style and tone, and proper formatting.

Sample Articles

Planning Your Article

• If you’ve ever written a research paper you understand the work that goes into learning about your topic. The first phase of writing a news article or editorial is pretty similar.
• Who - who was involved?
• What - what happened?
• Where - where did it happen?
• Why - why did it happen?
• When - when did it happen?
• How - how did it happen?

• 1) those that need to be included in the article.
• 2) those that are interesting but not vital.
• 3) those that are related but not important to the purpose of the article.
• This fact list will help prevent you from leaving out any relevant information about the topic or story, and will also help you write a clean, succinct article.
• Be as specific as possible when writing down all of these facts. You can always trim down unnecessary information later, but it’s easier to cut down than it is to have to beef up an article.
• It’s okay at this point to have holes in your information – if you don’t have a pertinent fact, write down the question and highlight it so you won’t forget to find it out
• Now that you have your facts, if your editor has not already assigned the type of article, decide what kind of article you’re writing. Ask yourself whether this is an opinion article, an unbiased and straightforward relaying of information, or something in between. [2] X Research source

• If you’ve ever heard the term “burying the lead”, that is in reference to the structure of your article. [4] X Research source The “lead” is the first sentence of the article – the one you “lead” with. Not "burying the lead" simply means that you should not make your readers read several paragraphs before they get to the point of your article.
• Whatever forum you’re writing for, be it print or for the web, a lot of readers don’t make it to the end of the article. When writing a news article, you should focus on giving your readers what they want as soon as possible.
• Write above the fold. The fold comes from newspapers where there’s a crease because the page gets folded in half. If you look at a newspaper all the top stories are placed above the fold. The same goes for writing online. The virtual fold is the bottom of your screen before you have to scroll down. Put the best information at the top to engage your readers and encourage them to keep reading.

• Ask yourself the “5 W's” again, but this time in relation to your audience.
• Questions like what is the average age you are writing for, where is this audience, local or national, why is this audience reading your article, and what does your audience want out of your article will inform you on how to write.
• Once you know who you are writing for you can format an outline that will get the best information to the right audience as quickly as possible.

• Even if you are covering a popular story or topic that others are writing about, look for an angle that will make this one yours.
• Do you have a personal experience that relates to your topic? Maybe you know someone who is an expert that you can interview .

• People usually like to talk about personal experiences, especially if it will be featured somewhere, like your news article. Reach out through a phone call, email, or even social media and ask someone if you can interview them.
• When you do interview people you need to follow a few rules: identify yourself as a reporter. Keep an open mind . Stay objective. While you are encouraged to ask questions and listen to anecdotes, you are not there to judge.
• Record and write down important information from the interview, and be transparent with what you are doing and why you are doing this interview.

Writing Your News Article

• Your lead should be one sentence and should simply, but completely, state the topic of the article.
• Remember when you had to write essays for school? Your lead is like your thesis statement.
• Let your readers know what your news article is about, why it’s important, and what the rest of the article will contain.

• These details are important, because they are the focal point of the article that fully informs the reader.
• If you are writing an opinion piece , this is where you will state what your opinion is as well.

• This additional information helps round out the article and can help you transition to new points as you move along.
• If you have an opinion, this is where you will identify the opposing views and the people who hold them.
• A good news article will outline facts and information. A great news article will allow readers to engage on an emotional level.
• To engage your readers, you should provide enough information that anyone reading your news article can make an informed opinion, even if it contrasts with yours.
• This also applies to a news article where you the author don’t state your opinion but present it as an unbiased piece of information. Your readers should still be able to learn enough about your topic to form an opinion.

• Make sure your news article is complete and finished by giving it a good concluding sentence. This is often a restatement of the leading statement (thesis) or a statement indicating potential future developments relating to the article topic.
• Read other news articles for ideas on how to best accomplish this. Or, watch news stations or shows. See how a news anchor will wrap up a story and sign off, then try to emulate that.

Proofing Your Article

• Be sure to double check all the facts in your news article before you submit it, including names, dates, and contact information or addresses. Writing accurately is one of the best ways to establish yourself as a competent news article writer.

• If your news article is meant to convey direct facts, not the opinions of its writer, ensure you’ve kept your writing unbiased and objective. Avoid any language that is overly positive or negative or statements that could be construed as support or criticism.
• If your article is meant to be more in the style of interpretive journalism then check to make sure that you have given deep enough explanations of the larger story and offered multiple viewpoints throughout.

• When quoting someone, write down exactly what was said inside quotations and immediately cite the reference with the person’s proper title. Formal titles should be capitalized and appear before a person’s name. Ex: “Mayor John Smith”.
• Always write out numbers one through nine, but use numerals for numbers 10 and up.
• When writing a news article, be sure to only include one space after a period, not two. [12] X Research source

• You shouldn’t submit any news article for publication without first letting someone take a look at it. An extra pair of eyes can double check your facts and the information to ensure that what you have written is accurate.
• If you are writing a news article for school or your own personal website, then have a friend take a look at it and give you notes. Sometimes you may get notes that you want to defend or don’t agree with it. But these should be listened to. Remember, with so many news articles getting published every minute you need to ensure that your widest possible audience can easily digest the information you have provided.

Expert Q&A

• Start with research and ask the “5. Asking these questions will help you create an outline and a narrative to your article. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Interview people, and remember to be polite and honest about what you are writing. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Put the most important information at the beginning of your article. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about writing an article, check out our in-depth interview with Gerald Posner .

• ↑ https://libguides.mit.edu/select-topic
• ↑ https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/different-genres/news-writing-fundamentals
• ↑ https://libguides.southernct.edu/journalism/howtowrite
• ↑ https://spcollege.libguides.com/c.php?g=254319&p=1695313
• ↑ https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/cm360
• ↑ https://mediahelpingmedia.org/basics/how-to-find-and-develop-important-news-angles/
• ↑ https://www.northwestern.edu/brand/editorial-guidelines/newswriting-guidelines/
• ↑ https://tacomacc.libguides.com/c.php?g=599051&p=4147190
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/journalism_and_journalistic_writing/ap_style.html
• ↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/punctuation/space-after-period
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/

About This Article

To write a news article, open with a strong leading sentence that states what the article is about and why it’s important. Try to answer the questions who, what, where, when, and why as early in the article as possible. Once you’ve given the reader the most important facts, you can include any additional information to help round out the article, such as opposing views or contact information. Finish with a strong concluding sentence, such as an invitation to learn more or a statement indicating future developments. For tips on researching your article, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a News Article That's Effective

It's similar to writing academic papers, but with vital differences

• Writing Research Papers
• Writing Essays
• English Grammar
• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

Techniques for writing a news article differ from those needed for academic papers. Whether you're interested in writing for a school newspaper, fulfilling a requirement for a class, or seeking a writing job in journalism, you'll need to know the difference. To write like a real reporter, consider this guide for how to write a news article.

Choose Your Topic

First, you must decide what to write about. Sometimes an editor or instructor will give you assignments, but you’ll often have to find your own topics to cover.

If you get to choose your topic, you might be able to pick a subject related to your personal experience or family history, which would give you a strong framework and a dose of perspective. However, this route means you must work to avoid bias—you may have strong opinions that could affect your conclusions. You also could pick a topic that revolves around a personal interest, such as your favorite sport.

Research for Your News Article

Even if you end up with a topic close to your heart, you should begin with research, using books and articles that will give you a full understanding of the subject. Go to the library and find background information about people, organizations, and events you intend to cover.

Next, interview a few people to collect more information and quotes that give perspective on the topic. Don't be intimidated by the idea of interviewing important or newsworthy people—an interview can be as formal or informal as you want to make it, so relax and have fun with it. Find people with backgrounds in the topic and strong opinions, and carefully write down or record their responses for accuracy. Let the interviewees know that you will be quoting them.

Parts of a News Article

Before you write your first draft, you should be aware of the parts that make up a news story:

Headline or title

The headline  of your article should be catchy and to the point. You should punctuate your title using Associated Press style guidelines unless your publication specifies something else. Other members of the publication staff frequently write the headlines, but this will help focus your thoughts and maybe save those other staffers some time.

• "Lost dog finds his way home"
• "Debate tonight in Jasper Hall"
• "Panel chooses 3 essay winners"

The byline is the name of the writer—your name, in this case.

Lead (sometimes written "lede")

The lead is the first sentence or paragraph, written to provide a preview of the entire article. It summarizes the story and includes many of the basic facts. The lead will help readers decide if they want to read the rest of the news article or if they are satisfied knowing these details.

Once you’ve set the stage with a good lead, follow up with a well-written story that contains facts from your research and quotes from people you’ve interviewed. The article should not contain your opinions. Detail any events in chronological order. Use the active voice —not passive voice —when possible, and write in clear, short, direct sentences.

In a news article, you should use the inverted pyramid format—putting the most critical information in the early paragraphs and following with supporting information. This ensures that the reader sees the important details first. Hopefully they'll be intrigued enough to continue to the end.

The sources

Include your sources in the body with the information and quotes they provide. This is different from academic papers, where you would add these at the end of the piece.

Your conclusion can be your last bit of information, a summary, or a carefully chosen quote to leave the reader with a strong sense of your story.

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• These Are Frequently Used Journalism Terms You Need to Know
• Write an Attention-Grabbing Opening Sentence for an Essay
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• 5 Tips on How to Write a Speech Essay
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How to Write a News Article: A Step-by-Step Guide

Writing a news article may seem like a daunting task, but with the right approach and a clear understanding of the process, you can craft a compelling and informative piece that engages readers and delivers the news effectively. In this step-by-step guide, we will walk you through the essential elements of writing a news article, from gathering information to structuring your article for maximum impact.

Understanding the Basics of News Writing

Before you begin writing your news article, it’s important to understand the basic principles of news writing. News articles are meant to provide readers with factual information about current events, trends, or issues. They should be concise, clear, and objective, presenting the facts in a straightforward manner without bias or opinion.

Gathering Information

The first step in writing a news article is gathering information. This involves researching the topic, conducting interviews with relevant sources, and collecting data and facts to support your article. Make sure to verify the accuracy of your information and cross-check sources to ensure that your article is reliable and trustworthy.

Crafting a Strong Headline

The headline is the first thing readers will see when they come across your article, so it’s important to make it attention-grabbing and informative. A good headline should summarize the main point of your article in a clear and concise manner, enticing readers to click and read further.

Writing the Lead

The lead, or opening paragraph, is where you hook your readers and draw them into the rest of your article. It should provide a brief summary of the most important information in your article, answering the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the story. The lead should be compelling and engaging, setting the tone for the rest of the article.

Organizing the Body

The body of your news article should provide more detailed information and context about the topic. Organize the body of your article in a logical and coherent manner, presenting the information in a clear and structured format. Use paragraphs to break up the text and make it easier for readers to follow along.

Including Quotes and Attribution

Quotes from relevant sources can add depth and credibility to your news article. When including quotes, make sure to attribute them to the source and provide context for why the quote is relevant to the story. Use quotation marks to set off the quote from the rest of the text.

Adding Context and Background Information

In addition to providing the facts of the story, it’s important to include context and background information to help readers understand the significance of the news. This can include historical context, relevant statistics, or expert analysis that adds depth and insight to the story.

Checking for Accuracy and Fact-Checking

Before publishing your news article, it’s crucial to double-check your facts and ensure that the information is accurate and up-to-date. Fact-checking is an essential part of the news writing process, as errors or inaccuracies can damage your credibility as a writer.

Editing and Proofreading

Once you’ve written your news article, take the time to edit and proofread it carefully. Look for spelling and grammar errors, awkward phrasing, and inconsistencies in the tone or style of the article. Consider asking a colleague or editor to review your article for feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Q: How long should a news article be?

A: News articles can vary in length depending on the topic and publication. In general, news articles are typically between 300-800 words, but this can vary depending on the complexity of the story.

Q: How do I choose a news topic to write about?

A: When choosing a news topic to write about, consider current events, trends, or issues that are relevant and interesting to your audience. Look for stories that are newsworthy and have a unique angle or perspective.

Q: Can I include my opinion in a news article?

A: News articles should be objective and impartial, presenting the facts without bias or opinion. Avoid inserting your personal opinions or commentary into the article, as this can compromise the credibility of your reporting.

Q: How can I make my news article more engaging?

A: To make your news article more engaging, focus on writing a strong headline and lead that grab readers’ attention. Use quotes, anecdotes, and descriptive language to bring the story to life and keep readers interested.

Q: How can I improve my news writing skills?

A: Improving your news writing skills takes practice and dedication. Read news articles from reputable sources to study different writing styles and techniques. Practice writing regularly and seek feedback from editors or colleagues to help you refine your skills.

Writing a news article is a challenging but rewarding endeavor that requires careful research, attention to detail, and strong writing skills. By following this step-by-step guide, you can learn how to craft compelling and informative news articles that engage readers and deliver the news effectively.

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How to Write a News Story

Newspaper article outline, how to write a news story in 15 steps.

• Fact Checking
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• Journalism Websites

The Purdue Owl : Journalism and Journalistic Writing: Introduction

From Scholastic: Writing a newspaper article

Article outline

I. Lead sentence

Grab and hook your reader right away.

II. Introduction

Which facts and figures will ground your story? You have to tell your readers where and when this story is happening.

III. Opening quotation 

What will give the reader a sense of the people involved and what they are thinking?

IV. Main body

What is at the heart of your story?

V. Closing quotation

Find something that sums the article up in a few words.

VI. Conclusion  (optional—the closing quote may do the job)

The following is an excerpt from The Elements of News Writing by James W. Kershner (Pearson, 2009).  This book is available for checkout at Buley Library (Call number PN 4775 .K37 2009, on the 3rd floor)

1.       Select a newsworthy story. Your goal is to give a timely account of a recent, interesting, and significant event or development.

2.       Think about your goals and objectives in writing the story. What will the readers want and need to know about the subject? How can you best tell the story?

3.       Find out who can provide the most accurate information about the subject and how to contact that person. Find out what other sources you can use to obtain relevant information.

4.       Do your homework. Do research so that you have a basic understanding of the situation before interviewing anyone about it. Check clips of stories already written on the subject.

5.       Prepare a list of questions to ask about the story.

6.       Arrange to get the needed information. This may mean scheduling an interview or locating the appropriate people to interview.

7.       Interview the source and take notes. Ask your prepared questions, plus other questions that come up in the course of the conversation. Ask the source to suggest other sources. Ask if you may call the source back for further questions later.

8.       Interview second and third sources, ask follow-up questions, and do further research until you have a understanding of the story.

9.       Ask yourself, “What’s the story?” and “What’s the point?” Be sure you have a clear focus in your mind before you start writing. Rough out a lead in your head.

10.   Make a written outline or plan of your story.

11.   Write your first draft following your plan, but changing it as necessary.

12.   Read through your first draft looking for content problems, holes, or weak spots, and revise it as necessary. Delete extra words, sentences, and paragraphs. Make every word count.

13.   Read your second draft aloud, listening for problems in logic or syntax.

14.   Copyedit your story, checking carefully for spelling, punctuation, grammar, and style problems.

15.   Deliver your finished story to the editor before deadline.

Kershner, J.W. (2009). The Elements of News Writing. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

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• Last Updated: Feb 28, 2024 3:16 PM
• URL: https://libguides.southernct.edu/journalism

Creating a Classroom Newspaper

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

Students will enjoy this creative, exciting, and stimulating lesson in writing as they create authentic newspaper stories. As they are transformed into reporters and editors, they will become effective users of ICT in order to publish their own classroom newspaper. Various aspects of newspapers are covered, including parts of a newspaper, writing an article, online newspapers, newspaper reading habits, and layout and design techniques.

Featured Resources

• Printing Press : In this online interactive tool, your students can choose the "newspaper" option to help them complete their newspaper section.
• Newspaper Story Format : Your students will find completing their newspaper article a snap by first filling out this useful handout that helps them identify each key element of an authentic newspaper article.

From Theory to Practice

• Encouraging children to read and write in ways that allow them to make sense of real language in real contexts is more likely to help them develop the skills necessary to become fluent readers and writers. Creation of a class newspaper provides such a real context, and thus makes an excellent choice as the basis for a project designed with this goal in mind.
• Use of the computer motivates students to learn and students' attitudes toward the newspaper genre are affected by active participation in the production of an authentic and original newspaper of their own.
• Abilities in formal writing are best developed with a "process approach" that goes through five distinct phases: prewriting, composing or drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Using this approach helps students more fully understand the process of producing formal written documents, such as magazines and newspapers.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

Materials and Technology

• Computer lab with Internet access
• Multimedia software
• Access to a library of images/graphics
• Scanner (optional)
• Digital camera (optional)
• Deadline! From News to Newspaper by Gail Gibbons (HarperCollins, 1987)
• The Furry News: How to Make a Newspaper by Loreen Leedy (Holiday House, 1993)
• Freddy and the Bean Home News by Walter R. Brooks (Puffin, 2002)
• Inverted Pyramid Format
• Newspaper Story Format
• Story Feedback Form
• Newspaper Writing Assessment
• Reporting Tips
• Reporter's Guide

Preparation

*Prerequisite skills: Familiarization with an appropriate multimedia software program

Student Objectives

Students will

• Identify the parts of a newspaper
• Identify the format of a news article
• Write a newspaper story
• Edit newspaper articles
• Use ICT equipment and software
• Layout and publish a classroom newspaper

Hold up a sample front page from a selected newspaper. Ask students what they notice about the format that is different from other texts they read (e.g., black and white ink, graphics, headline, column format). Divide the students into groups of three to four members. Explain to the students that they will explore a newspaper, paying attention to the layout and format. Instruct students to study the front page first and discuss what different parts they notice. Ask each group to report back to the whole class what members noticed was contained on the front page. Make a list of parts on the board. (e.g., title, headlines, pictures or graphics, captions, date, subtitles, table of contents/index, etc.). Students should notice similarities between different newspapers. Discuss with the class how newspapers use a standard format. In their groups, have students continue to explore copies of newspapers. What kinds of things do they notice? Students should begin to identify sections and features that are specific to newspapers. Have the groups again report to the whole class what types of items they noticed in their paper. Continue keeping the list of items on the board. (Additional items may include: editorials, cartoons, horoscope, local news, weddings, classifieds, advertising, etc.) Explain to the class that people read newspapers differently than other types of texts. Discuss how people read newspapers. Reading a newspaper matches people's interests in certain things. They scan headlines, subtitles, and images to see if the story interests them or not. Read some sample headlines from newspapers. Ask, "How many of you would be interested in reading this story?" For homework, have students ask their family members what newspapers they read regularly and what sections they read most often. Give an example of your own newspaper reading habits. (For example, "First I check the weather to help me decide what to wear to school. Then I go to the local news to see what is happening in my town. Finally, I scan the headlines to see what is happening in the world. If I have time, I start the crossword puzzle.")

Ask the students to report about their family's newspaper reading habits. Make a list of newspapers that are read and determine which are the most common. List the words who, what, where, when, and why on the board, overhead, or chart paper. Answer each of the five W questions using the popular rhyme "Jack & Jill." Example:

• Who? Jack and Jill
• What? Fell down and broke crown
• Where? On the hill
• When? Sometime in the past
• Why? Trying to fetch water

Read "Bad Fall Injures Children" article from page 4 of the Grandview Newspaper lesson plan . Students clarify their previous responses to the five W s according to the article. Explain how these five questions help to summarize a news story. Put students in groups of three to four members. Ask the students to choose another famous rhyme or fairy tale and answer the five W questions. Have each group read just the answers to their questions, and then have the class try to guess what fairy tale or rhyme it is. Explain that these five W s help with the organization of a news story and that they make up the most important details of the story. Demonstrate to the class the organization of a good news story using the Inverted Pyramid Format overhead. Use a sample newspaper story to illustrate an example of this format For homework, ask students to select a newspaper article that they are interested in reading and bring it to school the next day.

Give students time to read the newspaper article they brought from home. Hand out the Newspaper Story Format sheet. Students should then complete the sheet using details from their particular article and share the summary of their newspaper article. Ask the students to rewrite the newspaper article in their own words as if they were a reporter for their local newspaper. What changes would they make and why? Have the students share their stories with a classmate using the following questions to guide their discussion:

• Were changes made to the lead? Why?
• Were changes made to the five W s? Why?
• Were changes made to the details? Why?

As a class, discuss fact versus opinion. Explain that news articles do not include the reporter's opinion. Have students go back and see if the changes that were made to their articles were strictly factual. Refer to original articles as needed for examples of fact-based stories.

Read-aloud to the class from one or more of the suggested titles:

• Deadline! From News to Newspaper by Gail Gibbons
• The Furry News: How to Make a Newspaper by Loreen Leedy
• Freddy and the Bean Home News by Walter R. Brooks

Have students brainstorm the types of articles they would like to write and list them on the board. Look at the list and ask students if the articles could be grouped into categories or "newspaper sections." Use the Reporting Tips overhead to present how to make newspaper articles more interesting. Go over each point and clarify any questions that students may raise. Group students based on interests to form an "editorial staff" for each newspaper section. Have the groups meet to decide who will write which stories. Students can use the Reporter's Guide handout as a guideline. When they have finished, students can begin collecting facts for their stories.

Session 5 and 6

Take students to the computer lab and have them write their first draft. They should not worry about font, size, or columns at this point. Be sure that they save their work and print a hard copy of their article for editing. Students' stories should then be self-edited and edited by two other members of their editorial staff (using the Story Feedback Form ). Students should make necessary revisions to their stories based on the comments from the Story Feedback Form.

In the computer lab, have students access the Internet Public Library website and explore newspapers from around the world. They should pay particular attention to the design and layout elements. For example, some articles may include graphics (e.g., photos, charts, graphs). Discuss what patterns of layout design the students noticed. As a whole class, discuss newspaper layout, addressing the following points:

• Headline News: Top priority articles are near the front (1-2 pages). These are typically of high interest to your entire audience of readers (e.g., town news such as a new park or community center). Long front-page articles can be continued on an inside page to provide room for other headline news.
• Feature Articles: Stories about topics or events that are of interest to a certain group of readers (e.g., sports, animal stories, academic topics, interviews with school staff, book reviews). These are typically grouped into sections.
• Pictures or graphics: The image should always appear with the story. A caption can be included. The size usually depends on how much space is available in the layout.

Give students the opportunity to explore these layout items in newspapers in the classroom and online. Students should look at the Junior Seahawk Newsletter to get ideas for their own layout.

Session 8 and 9

In the computer lab, students should complete final story revisions. They may then begin the newspaper layout using appropriate software. The ReadWriteThink Printing Press includes an option for creating a newspaper. Each editorial staff works together to complete their newspaper section. Note: 8 ½ X 11 size pages are optimal. They can be printed and copied back to back on 11 X 17 paper that can be folded like a real newspaper. The completed paper must have an even number of pages for this format. Pictures can be drawn or pasted into the layout. Depending on the available resources, pictures can also be scanned or downloaded from a digital camera. Tell students to play around with fonts and columns. They should experiment and be creative! Once pages are completed, they should be printed. The editorial staff should do a final reading for errors. Pages are then submitted to the teacher for publishing.

Distribute the class newspaper to the students and allow them time to read it. When they have finished, hand out the Newspaper Writing Assessment sheet and ask them to fill it out.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Assess students' comments from the Newspaper Writing Assessment sheet.

• Calendar Activities
• Student Interactives
• Lesson Plans

The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers.

Students analyze rhetorical strategies in online editorials, building knowledge of strategies and awareness of local and national issues. This lesson teaches students connections between subject, writer, and audience and how rhetorical strategies are used in everyday writing.

• Print this resource

Explore Resources by Grade

• Kindergarten K

How to Write an Article

 THE CRAFT OF ARTICLE WRITING

Writing is a complex skill. A very complex skill.

Not only do we put students under pressure to master the inconsistent spelling patterns and complex grammar of the English language, but we require them to know how to write for a variety of purposes in both fiction and nonfiction genres.

On top of this, writing is just one aspect of one subject among many.

The best way to help our students to overcome the challenge of writing in any genre is to help them to break things down into their component parts and give them a basic formula to follow.

In this article, we will break article writing down into its components and present a formulaic approach that will provide a basic structure for our students to follow.

Once this structure is mastered, students can, of course, begin to play with things.

But, until then, there is plenty of room within the discipline of the basic structure for students to express themselves in the article form.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING NEWS REPORTING

With over  FORTY GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS in this  ENGAGING   UNIT, you can complete a  WEEKLY  journalistic / Newspaper reporting task  ALL YEAR LONG   as classwork or homework.

These templates take students through a  PROVEN  four-step article writing process on some  AMAZING  images. Students will learn how to.

WHAT IS AN ARTICLE?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines an article as, “a piece of writing on a particular subject in a newspaper or magazine, or on the internet.”

An article’s shape and structure will vary depending on whether it’s intended for publication in a newspaper, magazine, or online.

Each of these media has its own requirements. For example, a magazine feature article may go into great depth on a topic, allowing for long, evocative paragraphs of exposition, while an online blog article may be full of lots of short paragraphs that get to the point without too much fanfare.

Each of these forms makes different demands on the writer, and it’s for this reason that most newspapers, magazines, and big websites provide writers with specific submission guidelines.

So, with such diverse demands placed on article writers, how do we go about teaching the diverse skill required to our students?

Luckily, we can break most types of articles down into some common key features.

Below we’ll take a look at the most important of these, along with an activity to get your students practicing each aspect right away.

Finally, we’ll take a look at a few general tips on article writing.

KEY WRITTEN FEATURES OF AN ARTICLE

The headline.

The purpose of the headline is to capture the reader’s attention and let them know what the article is about. All of this in usually no more than 4 or 5 words!

There is an art to good headline writing and all sorts of literary devices (e.g alliteration and metaphor) can be used to create an eye-catching and intriguing headline.

The best way for students to learn how headlines work is to view some historical samples.

Newspaper headlines especially are known for being short and pithy. Here are just a few examples to whet the appetite:

• Hitler Is Dead
• Lincoln Shot
• Men Walk On The Moon
• Berlin Wall Crumbles

You could encourage students to find some pithy examples of their own. It’s amazing how much information can be condensed into so few words – this is the essence of good headline writing.

Headlines Practice Activity:

Give students opportunities to practice headline writing in isolation from article writing itself. For example, take sample stories from newspapers and magazines and challenge students to write new headlines for them. Set a word limit appropriate to the skills and age of the students. For example, younger, more inexperienced students might write 9-word headlines, while older, more skilled students might thrive with the challenge of a 4-word limit.

THE SUBHEADING

Subheadings give the reader more information on what the article is about. For this reason, they’re often a little longer than headlines and use a smaller font, though still larger (or in bold) than the font used in the body of the text.

Subheadings provide a little more of the necessary detail to inform readers what’s going on. If a headline is a jab, the subheading is the cross.

In magazines and online articles especially, there are often subheadings throughout the article. In this context, they let the reader know what each paragraph/section is about.

Subheadings also help the reader’s eye to scan the article and quickly get a sense of the story, for the writer they help immensely to organize the structure of the story.

Practice Activity:

One way to help organize paragraphs in an article is to use parallel structure.

Parallel structure is when we use similar words, phrases, and grammar structures. We might see this being used in a series of subheadings in a ‘How to’ article where the subheadings all start with an imperative such as choose , attach , cut , etc.

Have you noticed how all the sections in this ‘Key Features’ part of this article start simply with the word ‘The’? This is another example of a parallel structure.

Yet another example of parallel structure is when all the subheadings appear in the form of a question.

Whichever type of parallel structure students use, they need to be sure that they all in some way relate to the original title of the article.

To give students a chance to practice writing subheadings using parallel structure, instruct them to write subheadings for a piece of text that doesn’t already have them.

THE BODY PARAGRAPHS

Writing good, solid paragraphs is an art in itself. Luckily, you’ll find comprehensive guidance on this aspect of writing articles elsewhere on this site.

But, for now, let’s take a look at some general considerations for students when writing articles.

The length of the paragraphs will depend on the medium. For example, for online articles paragraphs are generally brief and to the point. Usually no more than a sentence or two and rarely more than five.

This style is often replicated in newspapers and magazines of a more tabloid nature.

Short paragraphs allow for more white space on the page or screen. This is much less daunting for the reader and makes it easier for them to focus their attention on what’s being said – a crucial advantage in these attention-hungry times.

Lots of white space makes articles much more readable on devices with smaller screens such as phones and tablets. Chunking information into brief paragraphs enables online readers to scan articles more quickly too, which is how much of the information on the internet is consumed – I do hope you’re not scanning this!

Conversely, articles that are written more formally, for example, academic articles, can benefit from longer paragraphs which allow for more space to provide supporting evidence for the topic sentence.

Deciding on the length of paragraphs in an article can be done by first thinking about the intended audience, the purpose of the article, as well as the nature of the information to be communicated.

A fun activity to practice paragraphing is to organize your students into groups and provide them with a copy of an article with the original paragraph breaks removed. In their groups, students read the article and decide on where they think the paragraphs should go.

To do this successfully, they’ll need to consider the type of publication they think the article is intended for, the purpose of the article, the language level, and the nature of the information.

When the groups have finished adding in their paragraph breaks they can share and compare their decisions with the other groups before you finally reveal where the breaks were in the original article.

Article Photos and Captions

Photos and captions aren’t always necessary in articles, but when they are, our students must understand how to make the most of them.

Just like the previous key features on our list, there are specific things students need to know to make the most of this specific aspect of article writing.

  The internet has given us the gift of access to innumerable copyright-free images to accompany our articles, but what criteria should students use when choosing an image?

To choose the perfect accompanying image/s for their article, students need to identify images that match the tone of their article.

Quirky or risque images won’t match the more serious tone of an academic article well, but they might work perfectly for that feature of tattoo artists.

Photos are meant to bring value to an article – they speak a thousand words after all. It’s important then that the image is of a high enough resolution that the detail of those ‘thousand words’ is clearly visible to the reader.

Just as the tone of the photo should match the tone of the article, the tone of the caption should match the tone of the photo.

Captions should be informative and engaging. Often, the first thing a reader will look at in an article is the photos and then the caption. Frequently, they’ll use the information therein to decide whether or not they’ll continue to read.

When writing captions, students must avoid redundancy. They need to add information to that which is already available to the reader by looking at the image.

There’s no point merely describing in words what the reader can clearly see with their own two eyes. Students should describe things that are not immediately obvious, such as date, location, or the name of the event.

One last point, captions should be written in the present tense. By definition, the photo will show something that has happened already. Despite this, students should write as if the action in the image is happening right now.

Remind students that their captions should be brief; they must be careful not to waste words with such a tight format.

For this fun activity, you’ll need some old magazines and newspapers. Cut some of the photos out minus their captions. All the accompanying captions should be cut out and jumbled up. It’s the students’ job to match each image with the correct accompanying caption.

Students can present their decisions and explanations when they’ve finished.

A good extension exercise would be to challenge the students to write a superior caption for each of the images they’ve worked on.

TOP 5 TIPS FOR ARTICLE WRITING

Now your students have the key features of article writing sewn up tightly, let’s take a look at a few quick and easy tips to help them polish up their general article writing skills.

1. Read Widely – Reading widely, all manner of articles, is the best way students can internalize some of the habits of good article writing. Luckily, with the internet, it’s easy to find articles on any topic of interest at the click of a mouse.

2. Choose Interesting Topics – It’s hard to engage the reader when the writer is not themselves engaged. Be sure students choose article topics that pique their own interest (as far as possible!).

3. Research and Outline – Regardless of the type of article the student is writing, some research will be required. The research will help an article take shape in the form of an outline. Without these two crucial stages, articles run the danger of wandering aimlessly and, worse still, of containing inaccurate information and details.

4. Keep Things Simple – All articles are about communicating information in one form or another. The most effective way of doing this is to keep things easily understood by the reader. This is especially true when the topic is complex.

5. Edit and Proofread – This can be said of any type of writing, but it still bears repeating. Students need to ensure they comprehensively proofread and edit their work when they’ve ‘finished’. The importance of this part of the writing process can’t be overstated.

And to Conclude…

With time and plenty of practice, students will soon internalize the formula as outlined above.

This will enable students to efficiently research, outline, and structure their ideas before writing.

This ability, along with the general tips mentioned, will soon enable your students to produce well-written articles on a wide range of topics to meet the needs of a diverse range of audiences.

HUGE WRITING CHECKLIST & RUBRIC BUNDLE

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TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO WRITE AN ARTICLE

Master News Writing: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners

• Published: December 5, 2023
• By: Yellowbrick

News writing is a fundamental skill that every aspiring journalist or writer should master. Whether you’re interested in print journalism, online news reporting, or broadcast journalism, the ability to write compelling news stories is crucial. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the essential steps and techniques involved in news writing, equipping you with the necessary skills to excel in the field.

Understand the Basics

Before diving into news writing, it’s important to understand the basics of journalism. Familiarize yourself with the five W’s and one H: who, what, when, where, why, and how. These six elements form the foundation of any news story and should be addressed in the lead paragraph.

Research and Fact-check

Accurate and reliable information is the backbone of any news article. Conduct thorough research and gather information from credible sources. Verify the facts and cross-check the information to ensure its accuracy. Remember, your credibility as a journalist depends on the accuracy of your reporting.

Craft a Strong Headline

A compelling headline is essential to grab the reader’s attention and entice them to read the entire article. It should be concise, informative, and capture the essence of the story. Use strong action verbs and avoid vague or ambiguous language.

Write a Clear and Concise Lead

The lead paragraph, also known as the lede, is the most crucial part of a news article. It should summarize the main points of the story in a clear and concise manner. The lead should answer the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions, providing the reader with a solid understanding of the news.

Structure Your Article

Organize your article logically and coherently. Use the inverted pyramid structure, placing the most important information at the beginning and gradually providing additional details as the article progresses. This structure allows readers to grasp the main points even if they only read the first few paragraphs.

Use Objective Language

News writing should be objective and unbiased. Avoid using subjective language or expressing personal opinions. Stick to the facts and present multiple perspectives if applicable. Remember, your role as a journalist is to inform, not to persuade.

Incorporate Quotes

Including quotes from relevant sources adds credibility and depth to your news article. Interview key individuals involved in the story and select quotes that provide valuable insights or different perspectives. Always attribute quotes to the appropriate source.

Edit and Proofread

Editing and proofreading are crucial steps in the news writing process. Review your article for grammar and spelling errors, clarity, and overall flow. Ensure that the article adheres to the publication’s style guide and follows proper journalistic conventions.

Adapt to Different Formats

News writing encompasses various formats, including print, online, and broadcast. Familiarize yourself with the specific requirements and conventions of each format. Adapt your writing style accordingly, keeping in mind the target audience and medium.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Like any skill, news writing improves with practice. Write regularly, even if it’s just short news briefs or practice articles. Seek feedback from experienced journalists or editors to further refine your writing skills.

Mastering the art of news writing is essential for anyone aspiring to pursue a career in journalism or related fields. By understanding the basics, conducting thorough research, crafting compelling headlines, and adhering to journalistic principles, you can become a skilled news writer. Remember to practice regularly and seek feedback to continuously improve your skills.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding the basics of journalism, including the five W’s and one H, is crucial for news writing.
• Conduct thorough research and fact-check information to ensure accuracy and credibility.
• Craft strong headlines that grab readers’ attention and accurately represent the story.
• Write clear and concise leads that summarize the main points of the news.
• Organize your article using the inverted pyramid structure to prioritize important information.
• Maintain objectivity by avoiding subjective language and personal opinions.
• Incorporate quotes from relevant sources to add credibility and depth to your news article.
• Edit and proofread your work to ensure clarity, grammar, and adherence to journalistic conventions.
• Adapt your writing style to different formats, such as print, online, and broadcast.
• Practice regularly and seek feedback to continuously improve your news writing skills.

To further enhance your news writing abilities, consider enrolling in the online course and certificate program offered by NYU | Modern Journalism . These courses provide comprehensive training and guidance from experienced professionals in the field. Take your news writing skills to the next level and pursue a successful career in journalism.

Enter your email to learn more and get a full course catalog!

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Using news articles

Topical news stories are a great source of teaching material. This article presents different ways to exploit news reports in the classroom and focuses on raising the level of involvement and participation that the students have in the lesson.

• Selection criteria
• Before reading
• First reading
• Second reading
• Language focus

Selection criteria It is important that you choose your news article wisely. You should consider the following criteria.

• Appropriacy of topic Will your students be interested in the topic? Will it be upsetting for some students? Is it suitable for the age group?
• Length Be careful to avoid articles that are particularly long. Reading a news report in a second language is demanding, and if the article is too long it will discourage students. If the news report is lengthy, do not be afraid of editing. The style of news articles often means that entire paragraphs can be omitted without affecting the overall sense of the piece.
• Language content Besides the general interest in the topic, this may well be the most important selection criteria. Does the article contain a useful lexical set (crime, money)? Are there some good grammar exponents (past perfect, reported speech) or interesting syntax and sentence style? These will provide the basis of your language work on the text, how can the language be exploited?
• Generative? Can you think of a good way to follow up the basic textual work? Does the topic lend itself to discussion or role play? Can you practise the language further?
• Task suitability When working with authentic material there are issues concerning the authenticity of the tasks. The most authentic task is for students to simply read the article. Although we usually look to exploit the text a little more in the classroom, it is important to keep tasks as realistic as possible.

Before reading There are many things to do before students begin reading to generate interest, build confidence and to facilitate comprehension. Introduction exercises These are used to raise awareness of the topic, activate knowledge and current language. The following activities could be used.

• Students discuss questions related to the topic
• This can test their knowledge of the topic or people/places featured in the article
• Describing or discussing pictures that relate to the topic

Pre-reading Activities These are activities that are directly related to the text, rather than the topic in general

• The students may need dictionaries and you should be careful of puns and double meanings. Students should work in pairs, and feed back ideas to the board/teacher.
• Students predict the story from a picture accompanying the article
• Once students know the topic of the article, they predict words that they think they will read. Again, feed back these predictions to the board. As students read, they should tick the words they find. Which pair predicted the most words?
• In this activity, the students are given a group of words, some of which are from the article, others are not. The students decide which ones are from the article. Obviously, they need to know the topic of the article.
• This is the same as vocabulary selection, but students sort sentences instead.

First reading The first reading activities should avoid a large number of detailed questions. By the end of the reading the students should be able to give a brief summary of what the article is about, what the main points are.

• Check pre-reading ideas (story/vocabulary prediction)
• These questions should focus on the main point of the article
• Students are given the article which has been cut into sections. Working with a partner they have to reassemble the article. Be sure to make sensible cuts, so that either the sense of the piece or the language syntax can be used to put the story in order. News texts can often be put in several possible orders, so be careful - utilise dependent prepositions, pronouns and clauses.
• Remove lexis or clauses from the text. Students try to put the words in the correct places

Second reading The second reading should lead to a detailed understanding of the article.

• True or false
• Choose the best answer, a, b or c
• Which paragraph says…
• What do these numbers refer to?
• What do these people think?
• Students complete a table or chart with information from the article
• Students read the article and write comprehension questions for other students to answer. This is best done in pairs.

Language focus This is the time to exploit the article for its language content. News articles are rich sources of vocabulary, and also provide good grammar exponents.    

• An article may provide vocabulary associated with particular topics - money, crime, politics. Students either search the article for members of a given lexical set, or you could provide them with a sorting activity which uses words from the text.
• This is a key skill for students to develop. Either ask students to give definitions of certain words or you could give them choices or a matching exercise (match the word to a definition) students can then check their ideas with a dictionary (if there is time)
• News articles often use vocabulary that may be referred to as journalese, and the students' understanding of this register needs to be developed.

Grammar Often a news article provides good examples of grammar - for example the past perfect. In this case, asking students to put particular events in chronological order leads to further work on this verb form. Sentence structure/style Draw students attention to well-crafted sentences, or ask them to find sentences that they think are good or interesting examples. Follow up There are lots of opportunities to extend the work done on the article, and to use a different skill such as speaking or writing. This gives students a chance to use the language they have learnt from the text.

• e.g. an interview with a protagonist from the story
• Discussion of topic/ideas/argument of the text
• e.g. following an article on a new housing initiative, students plan a dream house
• e.g. following an article about Homelessness in UK, what is the situation in the students' own country
• e.g. the next day's story, someone involved in the news event writing to a friend
• A comparison with the same subject in the students' own press
• A comparison with radio or TV reports on the same event
• A comparison between different newspapers e.g. a quality paper and a popular paper.
• English language newspapers are available worldwide. Most papers also provide an online service
• BBC Learning English  
• The BBC World Service  has schedule and frequency listings
• Satellite TV

Gareth Rees, teacher and materials writer, London Metropolitan University  

Are there online ready to use texts from latest news with tasks?

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Very Practical Ideas

Useful practice for reading, student attention.

Probaby this is the great way to capture and keep student attention. So would like to try this in practise. Also I admit that you cannot grab attention if you are not smart enough in what you are teaching.

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Writing news reports

Newswise values.

This lesson focuses on  all  of the  NewsWise values .

Learning objective

To inform and engage an audience (first draft).

Learning outcomes

Write a first draft of a news report, using the structural and language features of news reports.

Explain how a news report meets the four NewsWise values.

Evaluate a peer’s news report, providing feedback on the language and structural features used.

Starter/baseline assessment

Pupils spend five minutes reviewing their pyramid plan, to remind themselves of the order of information in their reports, while also referring to their original news report plans for detailed information.

As a class, recap the structural and language features of news reporting. How will you begin your news report? Which information will you include in the middle section? How many quotes will you include? How will you end your report? What do you need to remember about using paragraphs in news reports?

Learning activity

Pupils write the first draft of their news reports, using the planning sheets which they created in previous lessons.

Give pupils deadlines throughout the session to replicate the newsroom experience. You may wish to split the sections of the report into separate tasks with a deadline for each one, eg: 5W introduction; quotes and reported speech from interviews; additional research on the topic; final paragraph.

Refer back to the class News report toolkit, as well as the Model news reports and News reporting language word banks from lesson 11 to support pupils to write in an authentic news report style and structure.

See Creating a newsroom for further ideas on how to create a newsroom in your classroom.

Note: pupils do not need to add ‘page furniture’ at this point - this happens in  lesson 15 .

Pupils share their news reports with a partner, providing feedback to each other based upon the following questions: which language features have they included in their news report? Have they begun their news report with a 5 W introduction? Have they included  interesting  information? Have they started a new paragraph for every new point? Is the news report  balanced ? Do you think it is a  truthful  and  fair  report? Why?

Questions for assessment

What is the purpose of your news report? 

Who is your audience? 

What do you need to include in your news report? 

How will you make sure that your news report is truthful, fair, balanced and interesting?

Core knowledge and skills

In this lesson, pupils write the first draft of their news reports (without the ‘page furniture’). 

Conduct the lesson as a writing lesson, in line with your usual practice. Remind pupils of the structural and language features of news reporting by referring to your class’s ‘news report toolkit’.

Use success criteria to remind pupils of the key features of a news report, including: inverted pyramid structure - beginning with the most important information, moving on to additional interesting details and quotes, finishing with what might happen next/similar stories that have happened before/a really good quote that sums up the story; 5 Ws introduction, starting with Who or What, not When; short paragraphs; concise, formal language; written in the third person and past tense; reported and direct speech; relative clauses.

Lesson plan pdf

Creating a newsroom in your classroom

News report toolkit

Inverted pyramid structure

5 W introductions

Model news reports

News reporting language

Curriculum links

Selecting appropriate form, grammar, vocabulary and punctuation; using paragraphs to structure ideas; building cohesion     

Reviewing and editing writing

Peer-editing   

Finished NewsWise?

Next lesson

Lesson 14: Subediting news reports

Previous lesson

Lesson 12: Recognising news report language

All lessons

All the NewsWise lesson plans

How to Write a News Article: Headlines

• What Is News?
• How to Interview
• The Intro or Lede
• Article Format/Narrative
• How To Write A Review
• Writing News Style
• Naming Sources
• Revising/Proofreading
• Photos/Graphics
• The Future of News?

About Headlines

Headlines are becoming increasingly important in the internet age. Not only do they capture the reader's attention, they serve as source material for search engines. Today a reader is just as likely to come across an article by reading a list of search engine results as by scanning a newspaper page.

Headlines should be clear and specific, telling the reader what the story is about, and be interesting enough to draw them into reading the article.

• 5-10 words at the most
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• Next: Revising/Proofreading >>
• Last Updated: Oct 23, 2023 11:28 AM
• URL: https://spcollege.libguides.com/news

Incorporate STEM journalism in your classroom

• Exercise type: Activity
• Topic: Animals
• Category: Literacy Practices

Think like a science journalist

• Download Student Worksheet
• Download Teacher Background Sheet

Purpose: Students will learn how journalists use scientific studies to develop news stories by analyzing a Science News article and the scientific study on which it is based.

Procedural overview: For homework, ask students to read the Science News article “ A new chameleon species may be the world’s tiniest reptile ” and the Nature study “ Extreme miniaturization of a new amniote vertebrate and insights into the evolution of genital size in chameleons .” Then, lead a class discussion about the basics of science journalism. Working in groups, students will compare the Science News article with the scientific study to figure out how the reporter put the news article together and think about different articles that could be written that are based on the study. If you want to use a different combination of open-access scientific study and Science News article with this activity, you can search the Science News archive to find another pairing. As a possible extension, students can write a 500-word news article based on an open-access scientific study.

Approximate class time: 1 class period

Whiteboard (optional)

Computer with word processing software

“ Science Journalism ” teacher background sheet  “ Think like a science journalist ” student worksheet

Directions for teachers:

Before students do this activity, ask them to read the Science News article “ A new chameleon species may be the world’s tiniest reptile ” and the Nature study “ Extreme miniaturization of a new amniote vertebrate and insights into the evolution of genital size in chameleons ” for homework. Another version of the Science News article, “A new chameleon species is extremely compact,” appears in the March 13, 2021 issue of Science News .

Suggest that students take a few notes when they read and highlight any facts they find interesting or consider to be important. The notes are meant to help students in their analysis. Students can use the activity “ Taking notes and creating visual summaries ” to help them with the homework assignment.

Want to make this a virtual lesson? Lead the class discussion using Zoom, Blackboard or some other meeting software. Students can submit their answers to questions and writing projects via e-mail.

Class discussion

Use the following questions and the Science Journalism background sheet to guide a class discussion about science journalism. Students should understand how science reporters dissect a scientific study to find information that will be presented in a news article. Explain how the study also can help the reporter formulate questions for interviews with the scientists who did the work and with other scientists who might comment on the study.

1. What factors does a journalist consider when deciding which scientific findings to cover?

The journalist will ask whether a scientific finding is a new discovery and whether it contradicts or more fully supports what was previously known. Will this finding save lives or change how people view the world, or is it simply something fascinating that people might want to know?

2. What is the subject of the scientific study and the related Science News article?

The Nature study describes how scientists found a new chameleon species, Brookesia nana , which may be the world’s smallest chameleon. The researchers are trying to understand the factors that led to the evolution of such a small chameleon. The Science News article is a more general introduction to this new species. 3. Is the scientific study a primary source or secondary source? What about the Science News article? Explain the difference between primary sources and secondary sources.

The Nature study is a primary source as it is a firsthand account of the researchers’ findings. Primary sources come from people with firsthand knowledge about a subject. A primary source can be scientific papers, review papers or autobiographies written by researchers or interviews they have given. The Science News article is a secondary source because it is a report of work done by other people. Secondary sources are interpretations or explanations of original sources.

4. Why do you think the Science News journalist chose to write an article about this particular discovery?

Maybe the reporter thought readers would find it interesting to know about the discovery of a new species, especially one that might be a record holder for its small size. The information about the genitalia of male chameleons relative to their size is also a curious fact that might make readers continue reading the news article after they get past the lede.

5. Who is the intended audience for the scientific study and the news article?

The scientific article is intended for other scientists with knowledge of the field. The Science News article is meant for the general public.

Dissecting stories

Working in groups, students will analyze the Science News article and Nature study. Students should apply what they learned in the class discussion and use their homework notes to answer the following questions. Emphasize to students that they are to think like a reporter and figure out what are the most important and interesting pieces of information in the scientific study.

1. How does the Science News article convey to readers that the findings of the scientific study are important or interesting?

The article headline mentions that the chameleon might be the world’s smallest reptile, which is very interesting and would catch readers’ attention. This claim is repeated in the article’s first paragraph. The rest of the article provides details about the chameleon and explains what the finding means for scientists’ understanding of reptile evolution and conservation — both important topics.   

2. Note key pieces of information (who, what, where, when, why and how) and where that information appears in the Science News article and in the scientific study. Who: Herpetologist Frank Glaw of the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich and his colleagues. In the Science News article, this information appears rather early, in the second paragraph. In the Nature study, this information appears under the study title before the introduction. What: Researchers found a new species of chameleon, named Brookesia nana, that may be the smallest reptile on Earth. In the Science News article, this information appears in the first paragraph right after the lede — the article’s first sentence that is meant to hook the reader. In the Nature study, this information appears in the abstract and in the Systematics section. Where: Researchers found the chameleon in a forest in northern Madagascar. In the Science News article, this information appears in the lede. In the Nature study, this information appears in the abstract and in the Systematics section. When: Researchers discovered the new species in 2012. This information does not appear in the Science News article. In the Nature study, this information appears in the Systematics section and in the Materials and Methods section. Why: It is unknown why B. nana is so small. In the Science News article, this information appears in the third paragraph, after the reporter details how small individuals of the species are and puts its size in context by comparing it with other small chameleons. In the Nature study, this information appears in the Discussion section. How: How B. nana and its relatives shrank is also unknown, though scientists suggest a concept known as the island rule might play a role. This information does not appear in the Science News article. In the Nature study, this information appears in the Discussion section. 3. How does the way that the Science News article organizes information compare with how the scientific study organizes information?

The Science News article presents the main finding of the scientific study first and explains why the finding is important before providing background information. The Nature study presents background information and methods before the main finding and discussion of why the finding is important.

4. Are there any elements of a news article that you learned about in the class discussion that are not included in the Science News article? Why might those elements be missing from the article? Student answers will vary. Students may note that the article does not include quotes from a coauthor of the scientific study or from an outside source. This might be because the scientists were unavailable for an interview before the reporter’s deadline or before the article was published.

5. Besides the scientific study, what other sources of information are cited in the Science News article? Why do you think the reporter included those sources in the article?

The article refers to a study from 2016 about chameleon tongues. That study found that small chameleons were better than larger chameleons at “ballistic tongue projection.” In other words, the small chameleons were better at sticking out their tongues quickly to catch dinner. The reporter may have included it in the article to help support the idea that there might be a feeding advantage in being a small chameleon. However, no research has been done to determine the ballistic tongue capabilities of Brookesia nana .

6. Compare and contrast the writing styles of the Science News article and scientific study. Think about the language, voice and tone used in each piece of writing.

Student answers will vary. Students may mention that the Nature study and the Science News article are both examples of expository writing. This kind of writing is meant to deliver information in a clear, factual and objective way. The authors of the Nature study used the language of science, which is clear to their fellow scientists. The Science News reporter conveyed several of the complicated ideas from the scientific study, but used simpler language that can be understood by people who can read at a high school level. The Nature study was written in first- and third-person voice, an appropriate combination for people writing about their own work and experiences. The Science News article was in third-person voice, the standard choice for most news articles. The tone for the scientific paper is formal; the reporter’s tone is less formal and more engaging and accessible. He immediately hooks the reader by saying the chameleon was small enough to “tumble off the tip of your finger.”

7. Provide examples where the reporter simplified scientific language or concepts to help the general reader.

Student answers will vary. Students may mention that the scientific study dealt with evolution and how various chameleons are related, but that the reporter left out the genetic and phylogenetic information. He instead focused more on natural history and conservation details, which are probably of greater interest to a general audience. The reporter also used familiar language. For example, he used “chameleons” instead of “amniotes” and “genitalia” instead of “hemipenes.” He also gave a simplified explanation for the advantages of being small — at least for a chameleon . The Science News article did not include direct quotes from the researchers. But the paraphrasing of the scientists’ ideas and using “the researchers say” and “colleagues suggest” made their research more accessible.

8. Practice simplifying. Take a sentence from the news article and phrase it in an even simpler way. Include the original sentence for reference.

Original sentence: Why  B. nana  and its cousins shrank to such minuscule proportions remains a mystery, though smallness does have its benefits: There’s some evidence that small chameleons are especially good shots with their ballistic tongues.

Rewrite: Why B. nana and its cousins became teeny-tiny remains a mystery. But being small can have benefits. Some evidence suggests that small chameleons are especially good shots, using their ballistic tongues to catch prey.

More stories to tell Students should think about what questions they have after reading the Science News article. They should also consider other things an article about the scientific study could have focused on. Then, putting themselves in a reporter’s shoes, students will propose an article they would write based on the scientific study. They will think about what questions the article should answer and who they would need to talk with to find the answers. If students cannot finish during class, have them complete the questions for homework.

1. After reading the Science News article, what additional questions would you want to ask the scientists who did this research?

Student answers will vary. Examples of questions students may ask include: Given that the chameleons are so tiny, can you tell me more about how you found them? How likely is it that there are more of them? What role might these chameleons have in their ecosystem? What did you do with the chameleons after you studied them?

2. When journalists read a scientific paper, they get different kinds of information from the various sections. Look at the abstract, materials and methods, discussion and references. Write down any pieces of information that interest you that are not mentioned in the Science News article.

Student answers will vary. Students may indicate they are curious about the “island rule” mentioned in the scientific article. The rule suggests that on islands small species of lizards become even smaller than their relatives on the mainland. I wondered how the chameleon work in Madagascar by Glaw and his colleagues and other scientists could address questions around the island rule. Why do small lizards go smaller and smaller, but when small mammals evolved on islands, they got bigger?

I was also interested in the information about the conservation status of chameleons.

3. Considering your answers to the previous two questions, propose an article that you would write. What would the article be about?

Answers will vary. I might want to write a broader article looking more specifically at the evolution of chameleons to explore the island rule. Who is big and who is small and why? The topic isn’t news in a general sense, but it could be a “gee whiz, isn’t that interesting story.”

The discovery of B. nana could be used as a jumping-off point for an article about the conservation status of reptiles generally in Madagascar. If this little species is still there, what other undiscovered species might still be there?

4. What additional information could help you write the article?

Answers will vary. If I am to write about the island rule and reptiles, I would need more information about the sizes of chameleons and other reptiles from a variety of islands and mainland locations, and I would need to fully understand the island rule.

If I write a conservation article, I need to know what is being done to look for species before they disappear and what protections the government of Madagascar has in place to protect reptiles, which don’t get the same kind of positive attention as birds and mammals.

5. Is the additional information included in the scientific study? If not, how could you find the information? What types of sources would you look for?

Answers will vary. Detailed information on the island rule and Madagascar’s conservation policies is not included in the scientific study. The researchers who did the original fieldwork would know about the island rule and would probably know a significant amount about conservation. I could interview them. I could also do a search of the scientific literature for primary sources about the island rule. Searching for secondary sources such as news stories might get me some current information about conservation in Madagascar.

6. If you want to get information from a different scientist who might know about this research, how would you find that person?

Answers will vary. I would look at the references from the Nature study to see who else is doing work on chameleons. I can find their institutions from the referenced work, and then I can Google them to get their specific contact information and more details about their research. I could also ask the scientists who coauthored the Nature study for suggestions of experts in their field who they have not collaborated with.

Optional extension

Have students write a 500-word news article based on an open-access scientific study that you assign. One place to find links to open-access studies is in the Science News archive. If you choose to assign a study that Science News has covered previously, do not give the students the Science News article until they have completed their writing project. The students can then see how their version compares with an article written by a journalist.

Students’ articles should include a lede, a nut graf, general background and a quote either from the scientific study or from an interview. Students must supply all other references they used to write their piece. Remind them that good science articles include evidence from primary sources, an analysis where the writer helps the reader understand why an article matters and lively, engaging language.

Some students might want to compete in the New York Times STEM Writing Contest , which is sponsored by the Times and Science News . The annual contest opens in January, and the rules governing the contest will be posted on the Learning Network at the New York Times .

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How to Write a ‘How-To’: A Step-by-Step Guide to Our Contest

We walk you through how to brainstorm a topic, interview an expert and write your own original “How to ….”

By Natalie Proulx and Katherine Schulten

“If you want to know how to do something, don’t just search the internet,” advises Malia Wollan , the longtime writer of Tip , a how-to column that ran weekly in The New York Times Magazine for seven years. “Instead, find a person who already knows how and ask them.”

That’s the challenge we are posing to students in “How to … ,” our new informational writing contest for teenagers : Interview an expert about (almost) any skill and then write an engaging and informative essay explaining it to readers.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to do that, with advice from the how-to expert herself, Ms. Wollan. You’ll start by getting familiar with the Tip format. Then you’ll brainstorm a topic for your own piece, find and interview an expert and, finally, put it all together.

When you’re ready, you can submit your completed how-to essay to our contest , which is accepting submissions through Feb. 14.

A step-by-step guide:

1. read some “tip” articles to understand the form., 2. look more closely at one piece., 3. brainstorm your topic., 4. find an expert., 5. conduct the interview., 6. put it all together..

What does a how-to essay look like? There are, of course, many ways to write one. For instance, you may have consulted wikiHow in the past, whether to learn how to make a realistic New Year’s resolution , fold a fitted sheet , reheat rice or do one of the many, many other things the site can teach you.

But since the inspiration for our contest comes from the Tip column in The Times, spending some time examining how it works is the logical first step in constructing your own.

Start by reading any three Tip articles of your choice.

If you don’t have a Times subscription, this guide can help. If you click on any of the 40-plus Tip topics we link here, you can access them for free, as long as you open them directly from this page. (Note to teachers: If your class does have a Times subscription and you are working from the column itself , be aware that some articles may not be appropriate. Please preview before sharing.)

Here are some options to help you choose:

Maybe you’re interested in learning a physical skill, such as how to build a sand castle , skip a stone , do the splits , tackle someone , spot a shooting star , crack a safe or find a four-leaf clover .

Or maybe you would rather up your emotional intelligence by, say, learning how to laugh at yourself , let your mind wander , recover from being ghosted , build an intentional community , be less fearful of the dark or forgive .

Perhaps you want to know how to do something practical, like break in boots , fix a brake light , mend a pair of jeans , use emojis , put out a grease fire , read faster , survive an avalanche , ask for an extension or find a lost hamster .

Or maybe you’d rather choose something offbeat, like how to start a family band , talk to dogs , communicate through facial expressions , make a love potion , build a fort , enjoy snowflakes , wash your hair in space or race pigeons .

After you’ve read three, answer these questions:

What do you notice about the structure, organization and language of a Tip column?

What predictable elements can readers expect to find in every edition?

If you did the activity above, you might have noticed some of these elements:

Tip articles are short: Each column is about 400 words and around four paragraphs long. Our challenge asks you to write something of about the same length.

The topics are usually ultra-specific: The skills described might be physical ( how to skip a stone ) or emotional ( how to forgive ), serious ( how to suture a wound ) or offbeat ( how to befriend an eagle ), but they are always small enough that they can be fully explained within the limited word count.

Each article features a single expert source: You probably noticed that each column begins and ends with a quote from an expert on the topic and that the same expert gives background and advice throughout the piece. For this contest, we are not requiring you to follow that same format, but we are asking you to find and interview an expert to inform your essay. And if you’d like to follow that format, you may.

The advice is practical, but the pieces are engaging to read. Each includes concrete tips for how to accomplish a task, but it’s never just a boring list of steps. The writer also provides context for the skill so that readers understand how and why they might use it in their own lives. And the quotes Ms. Wollan chooses from her interviews are often colorful or full of voice, as you can see in this piece about how to appreciate spiders .

They are written to the reader: The writer addresses the reader as “you,” and often uses the imperative to craft sentences that tell the reader what (or what not) to do.

Now let’s break it down even further. Choose one Tip article to read — either one you already read in Step 1 or a new one — and then respond to the following questions:

Whom does the writer quote in the piece? Why do you think the author chose this person? What makes him or her an expert in this skill? Do you think this person was a good source of information?

Look closely at when the author chooses to quote the expert and when she paraphrases the information that person gave. What is the difference? Why do you think she chose to quote the lines she did? Give some examples from the piece to explain your reasoning.

You may have been taught in school to cite your sources by using footnotes or by putting them in parentheses after you’ve referenced the information. That’s not how journalists do it, yet they still make their sources clear. Where do you see this in the piece you read? What punctuation or wording does the author use to tell us where certain facts and details come from?

Now let’s look at how the author balances explaining how to acquire a skill and showing why it’s needed: Underline or highlight in one color the lines in the piece that tell readers how to accomplish the task, and use another color to highlight lines that give context. What do you notice about the difference in language? What do you notice about the way these pieces of information are woven together throughout?

After reading this, do you feel confident that you could accomplish the task on your own? What tips, if any, did the expert share that surprised you?

When, where and for what purpose might you use this skill in your own life? What lines help readers see how this skill might be relevant to their lives?

What else do you admire about this piece, whether it’s the topic covered, the way it’s written or anything else?

Now that you better understand how to write a how-to, it’s your turn to write one!

First, of course, you must find a topic. For a Times Insider article about how the Tip column is made , Ms. Wollan and her editor, Dean Robinson, describe how they found their ideas:

She often gets suggestions. Many people ask her to write about navigating interpersonal relationships; Ms. Wollan acquiesced in the case of a highly-requested Tip on how to break up with a therapist. She thinks people come to her because “that stuff is hard to navigate and it’s also hard to Google.” Some of the more recognizable scenarios featured in Tip columns come from Ms. Wollan’s own life. She credits being a mother as the inspiration for columns on delivering babies , singing lullabies and apologizing to children . Mr. Robinson occasionally comes across ideas in his life, too. He suggested a piece on how to find a hamster in your house, he said, “because we’ve lost some hamsters.”

Brainstorm as many possible topics as you can for your how-to piece. Here are some ways to start:

Respond to our related Student Opinion forum . We pose 10 questions designed to help you brainstorm about what you’d like to learn to do, and what you already do well. We hope you’ll not only provide your own answers, but also scroll through the answers of others.

Ask for suggestions. What skills have your friends, family and neighbors always wanted to learn? What do they already consider themselves experts on? Keep a running list.

Get inspiration from the Tip column . As you scroll through the column, which headlines stand out to you? Could you take on a similar topic in a different way? Do any of them inspire other ideas for you?

Work with your class to compile as long a list as you can. After you’ve tried the three ideas above, come to class with your list, then share. Your ideas might spark those of others — and when it’s time to find experts, your classmates may have contacts they can share.

Once you’ve come up with as many ideas as you can, choose one for your piece and refine it until it is the right size for a 400-word piece.

These questions can help:

Which of the topics that you listed gets you most excited? Why?

For which do you think you could realistically find an expert to interview? (More on that in the next step.)

Which are already specific enough that you could thoroughly explain them in 400 words or fewer?

Which are big, but could be broken down? For instance, if you chose “learn to cook,” make a list of specific skills within that larger goal. Maybe you’d like to learn how to chop an onion, bake chocolate chip cookies, or build a healthy meal from the noodles in a ramen packet.

Which topics do you think might be most interesting to a general audience? Which feel especially unique, helpful or unexpected?

Maybe you chose your topic because you know someone who is already an expert at that task or skill. But even if you have, read through this step, because it might help you find someone even more suitable or interesting.

Here is how Ms. Wollan says she found experts for her column:

Ms. Wollan finds interview subjects by “just poking around” online and on the phone. Sometimes she has to talk to a few people before reaching the source she will feature in the column. She interviews most of her subjects by phone for about 45 minutes, sometimes longer. “I love talking to people who just maybe don’t care so much about being an expert,” Ms. Wollan said. Some of her favorite interviews have been with children and people in their 80s, who are often “looser and more generous with their advice.”

Who could be an expert on your topic? At minimum, it should be someone who is knowledgeable enough about your subject that your readers will trust his or her advice.

Some choices might be easy. For example, for her column on how to choose a karaoke song , Ms. Wollan interviewed a world karaoke champion; for her piece on how to recommend a book , she interviewed a librarian; and for her article on how to suture a wound , she interviewed a doctor.

Other choices, however, may be less obvious. For a column on how to breathe , Ms. Wollan interviewed a clarinet player; for one on how to slice a pie , she interviewed a restaurant owner; and for one on how to say goodbye , she interviewed a child-care worker who had bid farewell to many children during her career.

Brainstorm as many potential experts for your piece as you can and then choose one as the subject of your piece.

Your expert doesn’t have to be a world champion or the national head of an organization to have expertise. This person can be anyone with specialized knowledge of a field or topic. For example, if you were writing a piece on how to start bird-watching, you could interview someone who works at a local park or zoo, someone from a birding group in your town or a bird-watcher you know personally, such as a neighbor or teacher.

Like Ms. Wollan, you might start by “poking around online” for potential subjects. And you may have to talk to a few people before you decide on the person you want to feature in your piece.

If you are doing this assignment with classmates, now might be a good time to pool resources. Share your topics, and find out who might know someone with expertise in those areas. Remember that you are not allowed to interview your relatives — but you can suggest your woodworker grandma or your skateboarder cousin to someone who is writing about those topics.

When you reach out to people, keep in mind this advice from Corey Kilgannon, a New York Times reporter who has interviewed people for profiles and who was a guest on a Learning Network webinar about profile writing :

Tell the person what your goal is and where you’re coming from — that you’re writing a profile for a school assignment or a contest or a newspaper or whatever. Be straight with the person you’re interviewing. Some people might be a little nervous or shy about how this is going to turn out, or how they’re going to look. So tell them what it’s for, how long it’s going to be, that there will be photos, or whatever you can.

Once you’ve found the expert for your piece, it’s time to conduct your interview.

In “ The Art of Learning to Do Things ,” Ms. Wollan offers excellent advice that everyone participating in our challenge should take to heart:

If you want to know how to do something, don’t just search the internet. Instead, find a person who already knows how and ask them. At first, they’ll give you a hurried, broad-strokes kind of answer, assuming that you’re uninterested in all the procedural details. But of course that’s precisely what you’re after! Ask for a slowed-down, step-by-step guide through the minutiae of the thing. For seven years, I did exactly that — I called a stranger and asked that person to describe how to do a specific task or skill.

That might sound like a straightforward task, but you should come up with some questions — on your own or with your class — before you talk to your expert.

These might include questions like:

If you were to explain how to do this skill or task to someone who had never done it before, what advice would you give?

What are some common errors that those first learning this skill or trying this task often make? How can they be avoided?

What is your background in this skill? How did you get started with it? How did you learn how to do it?

When or why might a person have to use this skill? What are the benefits of knowing it?

You might also return to some of the Tip articles you read at the beginning of this lesson. Read them closely and see if you can guess what questions the writer may have asked to get the specific quotes and information the expert shared in the piece. Which of these questions might be helpful for your own interview?

Remember that interviewing is an art — and Times journalists can offer you advice.

In addition to asking good questions, it’s also your job as a journalist to make the interviewee feel comfortable, to listen carefully, to ask follow-up questions and to clarify that you have accurate information.

We have written our own extensive how-to on interviewing, filled with tips from Times journalists. Steps 3, 4 and 5 in this lesson will be especially helpful. Created for a contest we ran in 2022, the guide can walk you through preparing and practicing for an interview; keeping the conversation going while conducting it; and shaping the material into a useful piece when you’re done.

Finally, it’s time to write your piece. If you are submitting to our how-to writing contest, keep in mind that your essay must be 400 words or fewer.

Remember, too, that we are inviting you to take inspiration from the Tip column, but that you don’t have to copy its form and structure exactly — unless you’d like to. Most important, though, is to find a way to write what you want in a way that sounds and feels like you.

That said, there are a few key elements that are important to include, which can be found in our contest rubric . Below, we share some examples from the Tip column to illustrate these elements.

Introduce your expert source.

The person you interviewed will be the main source of information for your piece. Ask yourself: How will my readers know this person is an expert in the skill or task? What information should I include about this person to make my readers feel that they can trust the person’s knowledge and advice?

Here is how Ms. Wollan introduces her expert in “ How to Skip a Stone ”:

“Throw at a 20-degree angle,” says Lydéric Bocquet, a physics professor at École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

Later, she further explains Mr. Bocquet’s expertise:

Bocquet’s quest to understand how this happens — how a solid object can skim along water without immediately sinking — began more than a decade ago, while he was skipping stones on the Tarn River in southern France with his young son. “He turns to me,” Bocquet says, “and asks, ‘Why does the stone bounce on the water?’” To answer that question satisfactorily, Bocquet and his colleagues built a mechanical stone skipper and analyzed the angle of each toss using high-speed video. They also created a set of mathematical equations to predict the number of skips.

How do you know Bocquet is an expert in skipping stones? Do you, as the reader, trust him as an expert on this topic? Why or why not?

Explain how to do the task or skill.

The heart of your piece is, of course, your explanation. You might start by making a list of steps that your expert source shared and then paring it down to the most essential information.

Ask yourself:

What instructions are crucial to the reader’s understanding of how to accomplish this skill or task?

What did the expert share that I found surprising or may not have thought of?

What details can I leave out, either because they are not very interesting or because they are less important?

What sequence for the steps make the most sense for my readers?

Consider the first paragraph from “ How to Build a Sand Castle ”:

“Use your architect mind,” says Sudarsan Pattnaik, an award-winning sand sculptor from Puri, a seaside city in India. If you’re building from memory, first envision your castle. For Pattnaik, who is 42, that means well-known Hindu or Muslim sites. “I have made so many Taj Mahals,” he says. Build with fine-grained sand already wetted by an outgoing tide. “Dry sand is too, too difficult,” Pattnaik says. Bring tools: hand shovels, buckets with the bottoms cut off and squirt bottles. Tamp wet sand into your bucket molds, setting one layer and then the next, like bricks. Sculpt architectural details from the top of the mound down. Bring reference photographs if you’re aiming for realism.

See if you can identify all the steps to making a sand castle that the writer shares in this paragraph. What do you notice about the order? What, if anything, do you think the writer might have left out, and why do you think she made that choice? What tips did you find most surprising? What do these lines add to the piece?

Notice also the grammatical structure Ms. Wollan uses: “Build with fine-grained sand”; “bring tools”; “tamp wet sand into your bucket molds”; and so on. This is called the imperative mood and is often used when telling others how to do something.

Include at least one quote.

If you are submitting to our contest, you need to include a minimum of one direct quote from the expert. Ask yourself: What quotes from my interview are so interesting, important, surprising, informative or colorful that I need to find a way to fit them in?

Look at “ How to Do the Splits ,” in which Ms. Wollan interviewed Kendrick Young, a professional sumo wrestler:

Start by stretching every day after you get out of the shower (heat increases muscle and ligament flexibility). Wear comfortable, stretchy attire. “Definitely don’t try to do this in jeans,” Young says. Sit with your legs spread as wide as you can. Once you can do that without hunching, begin to lean toward the ground, exhaling as you go. “You don’t want to be bending over a big pocket of air in your lungs,” Young says. It might help to have someone push down on your midback (historically, sumo wrestlers often stood on one another’s backs to force the body to the floor).

Why do you think the writer chose to include these two specific quotes in the piece, while paraphrasing (or writing in her own words) the rest of what Young said? What additional context did the writer provide to help us understand the purpose and relevance of these quotations?

Provide a purpose for reading.

Remember that a how-to essay is not just a list of steps; your readers should also understand how this topic might be relevant to their lives. Ask yourself: Why should a reader care about this skill or task? Where, when or for what reasons might someone want or need to do it?

Consider the last paragraph in “ How to Start a Family Band ”:

To be in a family band, you have to be prepared to spend a lot of time together, actively working on cohesion. Music can act as a kind of binding agent. When they’re not in quarantine, the Haim sisters see, or at least talk to, each other every day. “Instead of camping as kids, or going hiking, it was like, ‘OK, we’re going to practice a few songs,’” Danielle says. “It was definitely my parents’ ploy to spend more time with us.”

What reason does the writer provide for why a reader might want to try this activity? What additional background does she share from the expert, Danielle Haim, to help explain why a family — even one that might not be musical — may want to start a band together?

Submit your final piece.

Once you’ve written and edited your essay, give it a title (“How to…”) and submit it to our contest by Feb. 14. We can’t wait to learn the skills you’ll teach us!

Natalie Proulx joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2017 after working as an English language arts teacher and curriculum writer. More about Natalie Proulx

Katherine Schulten has been a Learning Network editor since 2006. Before that, she spent 19 years in New York City public schools as an English teacher, school-newspaper adviser and literacy coach. More about Katherine Schulten

The ultimate guide for your school newspaper

Schools newspapers are a great way to inform and entertain highschool and college communities, but they are often not taken seriously. Perhaps the reason for that is the fact that some school newspapers are indeed amateurish. But they shouldn’t be. With the right team and with the right tools, it’s possible to produce a highly professional school paper.

It can be a daunting task, at first. There are so many things that you need to do, from team management and training to article writing , photojournalism, design, production and online student publishing. You might need a little help. We are here to provide that. This article is named “the ultimate guide for your school newspaper” because we have covered all the aspects of producing a student newspaper and managing the editorial team.

We simply want you to be a little less stressed, while producing a quality student paper.

This article is for everybody who is involved in the newspaper production, regardless of the role. You’ll find some valuable tips for running and contributing to your school newspaper.

Here’s a quick overview:

Staff management for school newspapers

Types of articles, news writing, newspaper design, school newspaper templates.

• Online student publishing and production  

Organizing a newspaper dream team (even if you’re not an expert)

Let’s talk about the structure of the student newspaper team. What roles must be present in your team? How should you structure it? How many people should be part of the team?

There are many different ways to organize the staff, but you’ll likely end up with a team that is more or less similar to traditional newspaper team structure, with the addition of the faculty advisor.

Let’s take a look at the typical roles in a newspaper team:

• Faculty advisor – gives the final approval to the school paper, is responsible for reading all articles and notifying the staff if a piece is not yet ready for press or if it doesn’t meet the newspaper’s standards
• Reporters (news, sports, photo, opinion, tech) – responsible for staying up to date with the latest and upcoming events happening in school. They should also stay informed on politics, sports, technology or culture according to the department they are in
• Editor / Department editors – editors plan and cover articles, proofread and edit reporter submissions. Department editors are responsible for all the articles that belong in their section and they work closely with the editors and reporters that are in their sections. They should be more experienced than editors, so the department editor role shouldn’t be assigned to a junior student
• Designers + Art director – The design/ art team is in charge of the visual aspect of the newspaper, including layouts, illustrations and everything that is related with the visual aspects. The art director oversees the entire design process, so he works closely with the designers
• Photo reporters + photo editor – in smaller teams the role of the photo editor is not necessarily required, because his responsibilities can be covered by the art director
• Production manager – responsible of setting the production schedule and making sure the all departments are meeting deadlines for copy, design, editing, proofreading and so on. He communicates directly with the printing house and with the technical department
• Technical staff – the technical department publishes the newspaper on the website. The online version of your newspaper can be an identical copy of the printed one, or you can decide to publish the articles on your website in a different format
• Business / Advertising – if you run ads in your school paper, you will need someone to mediate your relationship with advertisers and establish new business connections to grow the advertiser network

If there’s currently no structure in place or you have a very small team, you can start small. Baby steps.

You don’t necessarily need an entire department to cover a role. Sometimes a single student is enough, especially if your school newspaper isn’t long (eg. hire just one designer instead of an entire team + art director). You can also have students take on multiple roles (eg: a student can be both editor and production manager). In some cases the faculty advisor becomes so involved in the production that he acts as a production manager.

Make sure each one of these roles is covered, and start from there. As your team grows you will need more structure and clearly defined roles.

Write clear job descriptions for each role

This way each student will understand his place and purpose in the team, will know exactly who he has to report to, what is expected, duties and responsibilities.

Even though job descriptions are not a standard practice in school newsrooms, writing them will be very rewarding. Yes, it will take some time, but it will not be wasted time, for sure. These job descriptions will help students perform better, and it will make the manager’s role so much easier.

Hiring for school newspapers

Some colleges offer paid positions for the newspaper staff, but most high schools and colleges do not. However, there should still be a “hiring” or selection process in place.

Many students are interested in becoming involved in the production of the school newspaper, for various reasons: it’s fun, it’s a great learning experience, it looks good on college or job applications. That’s what it’s like to work on a college newspaper!

These are all valid reasons to join the school newspaper crew, but not everybody gets to be a part of it, if there are too many people interested in a position.

The best way to figure out if a student is a great candidate for a job is by interviewing him. These interviews usually take place in the first months of the first semester. After you finish all the interviews select the best candidates and let them know they’ve been selected.

When you’re a part of a student newspaper team, you know that you’ll be there for limited amount of time. The team will change every single year: the most experienced student journalists will graduate and leave the school, and a new of inexperienced juniors will need onboarding. This is why training and onboarding is a never ending process in the school newsroom. It’s a fact of life, and it’s definitely a challenge, but it can be dealt with.

Encourage the more experienced team members to train and coach the new hires. But oftentime, that won’t be enough, because not everyone is willing to take on this responsibility. Sometimes, they might need a little push. You might need to assign a trainer for each new person that joins the team.

You can also invest time in creating a coaching manual for trainers and guideline manuals for trainees. It will simplify the onboarding process and reduce the hours spent coaching new colleagues.

Ground rules

College newspapers function under the protection of the First Amendment, so students can truly express themselves and their opinions, even when their views are contradictory to those of the school. Yet, that doesn’t mean that the school has no control whatsoever over what gets to be published. The faculty advisor has the legal right to impose certain rules and standards, if the purpose is educating students.

If the faculty advisor isn’t happy with the quality of an article he may suggest edits or reject it altogether. This doesn’t mean that he’s censoring free speech.

There should also be some ground rules regarding copyrights, plagiarism, subjectivism and other sensitive issues such as violence and profanity.

School newspapers and regular newspapers are structured in a similar manner, even though the topics are tailored to the audience. If you need some ideas for articles, take a look at the article types below. It will help you get organized and produce a well rounded newspaper.

School news

News articles should cover various events, policies and other school news that are interesting for students. These news don’t have to be limited to your high school or college. You can write about national and even worldwide news, but only if they provide useful information.

For example, a worldwide student art competition could be the subject of a newspaper article. National laws and legislation regarding schools and education should also be covered in news articles, because they concern all students and will impact their lives. School news should be presented in an objective manner, presenting facts, not rumors or assumptions. They should be based on research and present different points of views.

Feature story

(over 1000 words) Each newspaper edition is likely to have a feature story. It’s the longest article in the paper, and the most in-depth. Feature stories revolve around facts, but they take a story to the next level by presenting context, quotes, reasons why it happened, ramifications of the story and implications. The article shouldn’t involve personal bias. It should be based on an elaborate investigation made by the journalist, interviewing multiple accounts. However, the feature isn’t limited to facts, it gives the journalist a little room for interpretation and embedding his opinion in the piece, in a subtle way.

The topic varies. It could be some big news, an in-depth analysis of a social school phenomenon, a new policy or something else.

(under 500 words)

Unlike the previous 2 types of articles, the editorial is an opinion piece. Still, the writer shouldn’t express his own views, but the opinion of the entire editorial staff.

For that reason, the editorial is usually not signed. It’s a piece of commentary that appears to be written by an entire team. That’s why the writer/ editor shouldn’t talk about himself using the singular form of the first person: I, me, myself.

The editorial should be entertaining or argumentative. In order to achieve that you can start by making a claim that could be controversial, then proceed by explaining your reasons and clarifying your claim. This flow will keep readers engaged. Some of them will agree with your point of view. Others won’t, but that’s alright. The purpose is to challenge readers.

Topics: school rules, policies, teaching methods, advice, announcements, school news

Just like editorials, columns are opinion-based articles. The content and topics are very much like an editorial. But the main difference between an editorial piece and a column is the signature. The editorial goes unsigned because it represents the collective views of editorial staff, but the columnist will publish his piece under his name. That’s why columnists can write about their opinions using the singular form of the first person. Sometimes an editor will publish a series of articles on the same topic/ similar topics, through several issues.

All of the big newspapers publish reviews because they help the general public make decisions. There’s no reason why school newspaper shouldn’t publish review articles on various topics: school textbooks, movies, books, or even classes.

Start by writing a short description of the thing that you are reviewing. Then add details about your personal experience. Include details about pros, cons, value for the money, performance mentions of other reviews, comparison to similar products. Try to be as objective and unbiased as possible.

Don’t forget to write a conclusion in which you summarize the review and give a verdict: whether you would recommend the product or not.

Promotional pieces

Companies pay money to have advertorials inserted in newspapers. The school context is different, but you will still need to include some promotional articles every once in a while. It may be for the school’s art or sports club, for a conference organized by the school or for a different event.

Your article should offer useful details about the event/ club that is promoted and it should also present the benefits it offers for students in order to encourage them to participate / join a program / buy a ticket.

Educational articles

This category includes tutorials and how-to articles with useful tips. Topics vary, but they should be school related, at least slightly. Here are a few examples: how to deal with stress, mnemonic learning techniques, tips for integrated digital learning, utilizing school resources, etc. These types of articles will help students deal with certain issues that almost everybody encounters.

If you have a talented illustrator in your crew, you should make the most of his skills. Assign a space in your newspaper’s layout specifically for the cartoon. The topic should be something school related, something that students can relate to. The cartoon will put a smile on the reader’s face.

Producing a professional school newspaper requires many skills and great teamwork. But building a team of talented journalists takes time and training. If you’re working with inexperienced student reporters and editors, you should start by teaching them the most basic news writings principles. Every journalist should know these.

The inverted pyramid style

The inverted pyramid refers to a very specific structure of a news article, which places the most important information at the beginning of the story. The information that is less vital to the reader’s understanding comes later in the story. This is how you should present school news.

The first paragraph which contains the most important details is “the lead”. The lead contains a very short and concise summary of the story. They should make sure that the first paragraph provides answers to the “5 Ws”:

Continue with a few paragraphs that contain other important details of the story.

Writers should also integrate relevant quotes from their interviews with witnesses, sources or other people involved in the event. The next paragraphs should include other general or background information.

Students decide what articles interest them from the school newspaper by simply scanning the newspaper and reading headlines. Every great writer understands the importance of a good, attention-grabbing headline, and young journalists should know it too.

A well written headline is acts as a hook that makes readers want to read the entire piece. There are different types of headlines: humourous, mysterious, informative. The headline’s style should match the article. There are many other things to consider, but you can start by reading these tips for writing great headlines .

There’s a lot of work that goes into an article. Sometimes the journalist has to gather all the information himself. In other cases, it involves interviewing witnesses or experts. There’s also that scenario in which the student will do research and find useful information in books, websites or other publications.

Regardless of how you collect data, you should always cite your source. It will add credibility to your story. It goes without saying that all journalists, including students, should check the reliability of their sources. Don’t just pick up information from dubious online sites.

In some cases your sources will ask you to protect their identity. It will probably not happen very often in the school context, but if they do, you must respect their wish.

Editing and proofreading

Make sure that the most experienced editors are reviewing and editing every article before publication. Obviously, the writer should be the first person to edit and check for spelling & grammar mistakes. But that’s not enough, not if you have high standards for your school’s paper (which… you should).

Submit each piece for peer review. The reviewer should analyze grammar, spelling, tone and voice, as well as other standards imposed by the production manager. Encourage students to provide useful, objective feedback. Don’t get offended if they make a lot of comments and suggestions. Writing for a school newspaper is a learning experience. You can’t get better if you don’t learn from your mistakes.

Obviously, the reviews should always be made by an experienced editor.

We recommend the art director and production manager to make a style manual because it will help students get familiar with the design guidelines and learn to respect them. The manual might change over time. You don’t have to provide extremely detailed guidelines to make it useful for newspaper design.

The newspaper style guide should cover the general layout, number of pages, font types and sizes, guidelines for photos and cropping. These rules will guarantee some visual consistency for your future newspaper editions. Ask all designers to get familiar with the rules, before they start working on their first assignment. It will help save a lot of time and headaches for the art director/ production manager.

The newsroom is a very busy and exciting place. Everybody works on something, and the production manager has to coordinate everything, making sure the design and the copy complement each other. Communication between designers, art director, editors and production manager is key. It’s challenging, but rewarding at the same time. Designers will work with dummy texts at the beginning, until editors finish their part. It also means that they will have to make edits to the design and make small adjustments so that everything looks great.

If you are a designer working for a school paper, learn about grids, composition and editorial design principles. Your design should look great and provide a great reading experience.

Perfect for online publishing and ready for print

We made a few school newspaper templates that are free to edit online and to publish them digitally. These templates are the perfect solution for very small or inexperienced teams, because they will save you a LOT of time.

Take a look the images below to see some of our school paper templates.

You won’t even need a designer or art director if you know how to edit and adapt these newspaper templates to your needs.

Start editing your favorite newspaper template very easily. Just click on images and register for an account. Then you can customize these layouts in the editor with a simple click on these images.

You can add more pages, duplicate pages, delete pages and do extensive customization.

There’s also another option for advanced designers. They can create their own layouts from scratch in our online editor, starting with blank pages.

Or, you can even upload a ready-made PDF to Flipsnack and we will turn it into a beautiful page-flip document that’s highly shareable.

When you’re done editing, proofreading and you get the final approval from the production manager, you can go ahead and download a PDF copy of the newspaper design on your computer. It requires a premium subscription, but it’s worthed. The downloaded PDF is printable, so you can take it to print right away.

Online student publishing and production

Nowadays many newspapers are digital-only, for various reasons. It completely removes printing costs and it’s eco-friendly. No more paper, no more trees being cut! We think this is a great solution for schools, especially because the young generations of students are digital natives.

If you decide to try online student publishing, you have 2 options: publish the newspaper as a website/ blog or publish it digitally as an online newspaper with turning pages. The second option is probably easier to produce, because it doesn’t require constant updating. The stylish look is an added bonus. And let’s not forget about the fact that you can start from a school newspaper template.

The digital version of your student newspaper is free with Flipsnack. We will host it online on our most secure servers, so you don’t have to worry about hosting (or anything else, for that matter). All you will have to do is share the link with students, or integrate the newspaper in your school’s website (very easily) with the help of the embed code. Anyone can do it, it doesn’t require tech skills.

— Hope you found this useful. What are your biggest challenges in writing for / designing or producing your school’s newspaper?

17 Comments

Thanks for this. As a newly appointed editor in chief (my 1st time), I have to re-access my knowledge about student paper and the ways so I’m glad I found this site!

[…] for the school newspaper is a blessing in disguise. As a kid, you may be scared at the beginning, but after you have written […]

As a newly appointed EIC, I think that being part of the editorial board is an indicator that we are indeed the cream of the crop, a thing that we must really be grateful for. But before proceeding to the complexes, it is vital to know first the basics, thanks to this! :-)

So glad that you found this useful!

This was very helpful!

I really appreciate your tip to have someone be in charge of the layout when you publish your newspaper so it looks natural. My wife and I have been thinking of getting our daughter into the school newspaper so she can make friends. I will be sure to tell her to ask about a layout specialist.

Hello. I find this article useful to my study. I would like to ask for the complete name of the author and the date of its publication so I can have the citation.

Hi Zacharia, here are the requested details: Author name: Janina Moza Date of publication: Feb 8, 2018

What I am looking for for my middle school journalism class is the ability for the students to have access to designing and writing directly on the program and then I complete the final editing before publication. Is this possible with Flipsnack? Can the students have their own individual access to the paper? The last online newspaper we did only allowed for me to do everything.

Hi Shannon! We highly recommend getting a classroom plan for your class: Classroom plan It includes up to 30 connected student accounts, fully controlled by the teacher, so you would be able to do the final editing on their designs. With this plan students can work on projects at the same time in Flipsnack (but the program might not save all their edits properly if they all work on the same project). If you’re looking for a free option, you can use Flipsnack to create projects that are up to 30 pages long, but it will only allow one user account. So you would have to use the same account as the student to log in and make the final edits.

This article is very useful? Thank you so much?

Hello.. thank you so much for sharing you expertise on these matter. I’m so thankful i found this site. I’ve been looking for this kind, a comprehensive guide for a school paper publication. It was so helpful especially for us neophytes.

Thank you very much for your kind words! We also have another article on the same subject. Check it here . Happy reading! :)

Hi. Your blog is easy to comprehend yet substancial. I can’t specifically find a direct answer to this. Can a published newspaper have multilingual articles in one issue? Like the news sections have an article written in full english while other news are in a foreign language. It’s a high school paper by the way. Thanks

Hello, Nory! Yes, you have the total freedom to insert multilingual articles in one issue if you want. Create your high school paper however you want! Have a nice day! :)

Hello, thank you so much for this article. I am about to start a college newspaper and I find the information here helpful

This is good information. It helps to build my confidence in my knowledge about the process of producing a newsletter. Thank you,

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How To Write An Editorial (7 Easy Steps, Examples, & Guide)

Writing an editorial is one of those things that sounds like it should be pretty straightforward. Easy, even.

But then you sit down to start typing. Your fingers freeze over the keyboard. You gaze into the perfectly blank white space of your computer screen.

Wait , you think. How do I write an editorial ?

Here’s how to write an editorial:

• Choose a newsworthy topic (Something with broad interest)
• Choose a clear purpose (This will guide your entire process)
• Select an editorial type (Opinion, solution, criticism, persuasive, etc)
• Gather research (Facts, quotes, statistics, etc)
• Write the editorial (Using an Editorial Template that includes an introduction, argument, rebuttal, and conclusion)
• Write the headline (Title)
• Edit your editorial (Grammar, facts, spelling, structure, etc)

In this article, we’ll go through each of these steps in detail so that you know exactly how to write an editorial.

What Is an Editorial? (Quick Definition)

Table of Contents

Before we jump into the mechanics of how to write an editorial, it’s helpful to get a good grasp on the definition of editorials.

Here is a simple definition to get us started:

An editorial is a brief essay-style piece of writing from a newspaper, magazine, or other publication. An editorial is generally written by the editorial staff, editors, or writers of a publication.

Of course, there’s a lot more to it than simply dashing out an essay.

There is the purpose, different types of editorials, elements of a good editorial, structure, steps to writing an editorial, and the actual mechanics of writing your editorial.

“In essence, an editorial is an opinionated news story.” – Alan Weintraut

What Is the Purpose of an Editorial?

The purpose of an editorial is to share a perspective, persuade others of your point of view, and possibly propose a solution to a problem.

The most important part is to pick one purpose and stick to it.

Rambling, incoherent editorials won’t do. They won’t get you the results or the response you might want.

When it comes to purpose, you want:

• Singular focus
• Personal connection

The first two probably make sense with no explanation. That last one (personal connection) deserves more attention.

The best editorials arise from personal passions, values, and concerns. You will naturally write with vigor and voice. Your emotion will find its way into your words.

Every bit of this will make your editorials instantly more compelling.

What Are the Different Types of Editorials?

There are two main types of editorials and a number of different subtypes.

One of the first steps in how to write an editorial is choosing the right type for your intended purpose or desired outcome.

The two main types of editorials:

Opinion Editorial

In an opinion editorial, the author shares a personal opinion about a local or national issue.

The issue can be anything from local regulations to national human trafficking.

Typically, the topic of an editorial is related to the topics covered in the publication. Some publications, like newspapers, cover many topics.

Solution Editorial

In a solution editorial, the author offers a solution to a local or national problem.

It’s often recommended for the author of solution editorials to cite credible sources as evidence for the validity of the proposed solution (BTW, research is also important for opinion editorials).

There are also several editorial subtypes based on purpose:

• Explain (you can explain a person, place, or thing)
• Criticism (you can critically examine a person, place, or thing)
• Praise (celebrate a person, place, or thing)
• Defend (you can defend a person, place, or thing)
• Endorsement (support a person, place, or thing)
• Catalyst (for conversation or change)

How To Write an Editorial (7 Easy Steps)

As a reminder, you can write an editorial by following seven simple steps.

• Choose a topic
• Choose a purpose
• Select an editorial type
• Gather research
• Write the editorial
• Write the headline
• Edit your editorial

If you want a short, visual explanation of how to write an editorial, check out this video from a bona fide New York Times Editor:

1) Choose a Newsworthy Topic

How do you choose a topic for your editorial?

You have several options. Your best bet is to go with a topic about which you feel strongly and that has broad appeal.

Consider these questions:

• What makes you angry?
• What makes your blood boil?
• What gets you excited?
• What is wrong with your community or the world?

When you write from a place of passion, you imbue your words with power. That’s how to write an editorial that resonates with readers.

2) Choose a Purpose

The next step for how to write an editorial is to choose your purpose.

What do you want to accomplish with your editorial? What ultimate outcome do you desire? Answering these questions will both focus your editorial and help you select the most effective editorial type.

Remember: a best practice is honing in on one specific purpose.

Your purpose might be:

• To trigger a specific action (such as voting)
• To raise awareness
• To change minds on an issue

3) Select a type

Now it’s time to select the best editorial type for your writing. Your type should align with your purpose.

In fact, your purpose probably tells you exactly what kind of editorial to write.

First, determine which major type of editorial best fits your purpose. You can do this by asking yourself, “Am I giving an opinion or offering a solution?”

Second, select your subtype. Again, look to your purpose. Do you want to explain? Persuade? Endorse? Defend?

Select one subtype and stick to it.

4) Gather Research

Don’t neglect this important step.

The research adds value, trust, credibility, and strength to your argument. Think of research as evidence. What kind of evidence do you need?

You might need:

• Research findings

All of these forms of evidence strengthen your argument.

Shoot for a mix of evidence that combines several different variations. For example, include an example, some statistics, and research findings.

What you want to avoid:

• Quote, quote, quote
• Story, story, story

Pro tip: you can find research articles related to your topic by going to Google Scholar.

For other evidence, try these sources:

• US Census Bureau
• US Government
• National Bureau of Economic Research

You might also want to check with your local librarian and community Chamber of Commerce for local information.

5) Write Your Editorial

Finally, you can start writing your editorial.

Aim to keep your editorial shorter than longer. However, there is no set length for an editorial.

For a more readable editorial, keep your words and sentences short. Use simple, clear language. Avoid slang, acronyms, or industry-specific language.

If you need to use specialized language, explain the words and terms to the reader.

The most common point of view in editorials is first person plural. In this point of view, you use the pronouns “we” and “us.”

When writing your editorial, it’s helpful to follow an Editorial Template. The best templates include all of the essential parts of an editorial.

Here is a basic Editorial template you can follow:

Introduction Response/Reaction Evidence Rebuttal Conclusion

Here is a brief breakdown of each part of an editorial:

Introduction: The introduction is the first part of an editorial. It is where the author introduces the topic that they will be discussing. In an editorial, the author typically responds to a current event or issue.

Response/Reaction: The response/reaction is the part of the editorial where the author gives their opinion on the topic. They state their position and give reasons for why they believe what they do.

Evidence: The evidence is typically a series of facts or examples that support the author’s position. These can be statistics, quotations from experts, or personal experiences.

Rebuttal: The rebuttal is the part of the editorial where the author addresses any arguments or counter-arguments that may be raised against their position. They refute these arguments and offer additional evidence to support their point of view.

Conclusion: The conclusion is the last part of an editorial. It wraps up the author’s argument and provides a final statement on the topic.

6) Write The Headline

Your headline must be catchy, not clickbait. There’s a fine line between the two, and it’s not always a clear line.

Characteristics of a catchy headline:

• Makes the reader curious
• Includes at least one strong emotion
• Clearly reveals the subject of the editorial
• Short and sweet
• Doesn’t overpromise or mislead (no clickbait)

Your headline will either grab a reader’s attention or it will not. I suggest you spend some time thinking about your title. It’s that important. You can also learn how to write headlines from experts.

Use these real editorial headlines as a source of inspiration to come up with your own:

• We Came All This Way to Let Vaccines Go Bad in the Freezer?
• What’s the matter with Kansas?
• War to end all wars
• Still No Exit
• Zimbabwe’s Stolen Election
• Running out of time
• Charter Schools = Choices

Suggested read: How To Write an Autobiography

7) Edit Your Editorial

The final step is to edit and proofread your editorial.

You will want to check your editorial for typos, spelling, grammatical, and punctuation mistakes.

I suggest that you also review your piece for structure, tone, voice, and logical flaws.

Your editorial will be out in the public domain where any troll with a keyboard or smartphone (which, let’s be honest, is everyone) can respond to you.

If you’ve done your job, your editorial will strike a nerve.

You might as well assume that hordes of people might descend on your opinion piece to dissect every detail. So check your sources. Check the accuracy of dates, numbers, and figures in your piece.

Double-check the spelling of names and places. Make sure your links work.

Triple-check everything.

Editorial Structures and Outlines

As you learn how to write an editorial, you have many choices.

One choice is your selection of structure.

There are several editorial structures, outlines, and templates. Choose the one that best fits your topic, purpose, and editorial type.

Every editorial will have a beginning, middle, and end.

Here are a few specific structures you can use:

• Problem, Solution, Call to Action
• Story, Message, Call to Action
• Thesis, Evidence, Recommendation
• Your View, Opposing Views, Conclusion

How Do You Start an Editorial?

A common way to start an editorial is to state your point or perspective.

Here are a few other ways to start your editorial:

• The problem
• Startling statement
• Tell a story
• Your solution

Other than the headline, the beginning of your editorial is what will grab your reader.

If you want to write an editorial that gets read, then you must write a powerful opening.

How Do You End an Editorial?

You can end with a call-to-action, a thoughtful reflection, or a restatement of your message.

Keep in mind that the end of your editorial is what readers will most likely remember.

You want your ending to resonate, to charge your reader with emotion, evidence, and excitement to take action.

After all, you wrote the editorial to change something (minds, policies, approaches, etc.).

In a few sections (see below), you will learn a few simple templates that you can “steal” to help you end your editorial. Of course, you don’t have to use the templates.

They are just suggestions.

Often, the best way to conclude is to restate your main point.

What Makes a Good Editorial?

Even if you learn how to write an editorial, it doesn’t mean the editorial will automatically be good. You may be asking, What makes a good editorial ?

A good editorial is clear, concise, and compelling.

Therefore, the best editorials are thought out with a clear purpose and point of view. What you want to avoid is a rambling, journal-type essay. This will be both confusing and boring to the reader.

That’s the last thing you want.

Here are some other elements of a good editorial:

• Clear and vivid voice
• Interesting point of view
• Gives opposing points of view
• Backed up by credible sources
• Analyzes a situation

“A good editorial is contemporary without being populist.” —Ajai Singh and Shakuntala Singh

How Do You Know If You’ve Written a Good Editorial?

Many people want to know how to tell if they have written a good editorial.

How do you know?

You can tell by the response you get from the readers. A good editorial sparks a community conversation. A good editorial might also result in some type of action based on the solution you propose.

An article by Ajai Singh and Shakuntala Singh in Mens Sana Monograph says this about good editorials:

It tackles recent events and issues, and attempts to formulate viewpoints based on an objective analysis of happenings and conflicting/contrary opinions. Hence a hard-hitting editorial is as legitimate as a balanced equipoise that reconciles apparently conflicting positions and controversial posturings, whether amongst politicians (in news papers), or amongst researchers (in academic journals).

Note that newsworthy events, controversy, and balance matter in editorials.

It’s also a best practice to include contradicting opinions in your piece. This lends credibility and even more balance to your peice.

Editorial Examples & Templates

As you write your own editorial, study the following example templates “stolen” from real editorials.

You can use these templates as “sentence starters” to inspire you to write your own completely original sentences.

Phrases for the beginning:

• It’s been two weeks since…
• Look no further than…
• The country can’t…

Phrases for the middle:

• That’s an astonishing failure
• It should never have come to this
• Other [counties, states, countries, etc.] are…
• Within a few days…
• Not everyone shares my [opinion, pessimism, optimism]
• Officials say…

Phrases for the end:

• Let’s commit to…
• Finally…
• If we can…we will…

Honestly, the best way to learn how to write an editorial is to read and study as many published editorials as possible. The more you study, the better you will understand what works.

Study more editorials at these links:

• New York Times editorials
• USA Today editorials
• The Washington Post

How To Write an Editorial for Students

Writing an editorial for students is virtually the same as writing an editorial at any other time.

However, your teacher or professor might give you specific instructions, guidelines, and restrictions. You’ll want to read all of these thoroughly, get clarity, and follow the “rules” as much as possible.

Writing an editorial is a skill that will come in handy throughout your life. Whether you’re writing a letter to the editor of your local paper or creating a post for your blog, being able to communicate your ideas clearly and persuasively is an important skill. Here are some tips to help you write an effective editorial:

• Know your audience. Who are you writing for? What are their concerns and interests? Keep this in mind as you craft your message.
• Make a clear argument. What is it that you want your readers to know? What do you want them to do? Be sure to state your case clearly and concisely.
• Support your argument with evidence. Use facts, statistics, and expert opinions to make your case.
• Use strong language . Choose words that will resonate with your readers and make them want to take action.
• Be persuasive, not blasting. You want your readers to be convinced by your argument, not turned off by aggressive language. Stay calm and collected as you make your case.

By following these tips, you can write an effective student editorial that will get results.

What Is an Editorial In a Newspaper?

The editorial section of a newspaper is where the publication’s editorial board weighs in on important issues facing the community. This section also includes columns from guest writers and staff members, as well as letters to the editor.

The editorial board is made up of the publication’s top editors, who are responsible for setting the tone and direction of the paper.

In addition to op-eds, the editorial section also features editorials, which are written by the editorial board and represent the official position of the paper on an issue.

While editorial boards may lean one way or another politically, they strive to present both sides of every issue in a fair and unbiased way.

Ultimately, the goal of the editorial section is to promote thoughtful discussion and debate on the topics that matter most to readers.

Tools for Writing an Editorial

If you want some extra help in writing an editorial, try these tools:

Final Thoughts: How To Write an Editorial

Whew , we have covered a lot of ground in this article. I hope that you have gained everything you need to know about how to write an editorial.

There are a lot of details that go into writing a good editorial.

If you get confused or overwhelmed, know that you are not alone. Know that many other writers have been there before, and have struggled with the same challenges.

Mostly, know that you got this .

Related posts:

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• Jasper Commands Template: Ultimate Guide + 300 Commands
• Best AI Essay Writer (With Examples)
• The Best Writing Books for Beginners
• How to Write a Topic Sentence (30+ Tips & Examples)

National Institute of Health (On Editorials)

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How to Write an Article for a Newspaper: A Step-by-Step Guide

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on June 15, 2023

Categories Writing

Newspaper articles are essential to journalism, providing readers with the latest news and information on various topics. Writing a newspaper article is not like writing any other informative article. It requires a specific format, style, and tone of voice.

If you are interested in writing a newspaper article, this article will provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to write an article for a newspaper.

Understanding Newspaper Articles:

Before you start writing a newspaper article, it is essential to understand the basic structure of a newspaper article. A newspaper article has a headline, byline, lead paragraph, body, and conclusion. Each section of a newspaper article serves a specific purpose, and knowing how to write each section effectively is essential. In addition, it is essential to understand the difference between a news article and an opinion piece, as they require different writing styles.

Preparing to Write:

Once you understand the structure and purpose of a newspaper article, it is time to prepare to write. This involves researching the topic, gathering information, and interviewing sources. It is essential to have at least two to three primary sources for your article and to contact them as far in advance as possible. This will make arranging interviews with them easier.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding the basic structure of a newspaper article is essential before writing one.
• Preparation is key when writing a newspaper article, including researching the topic and gathering information.
• Writing a newspaper article requires a specific format, style, and tone of voice; knowing the difference between a news article and an opinion piece is essential.

Understanding Newspaper Articles

Definition of newspaper articles.

Newspaper articles are written pieces of information reporting current events or issues. They are published in newspapers and are meant to inform readers about what is happening in the world around them.

The purpose of a newspaper article is to provide factual information in an objective and unbiased manner.

Newspaper articles are typically organized in a specific format, with a headline, a lead paragraph, and the body of the article. The headline is a short, attention-grabbing statement summarizing the article’s main point.

The lead paragraph, or lede, is the article’s opening paragraph, which provides the most important information and sets the tone for the rest of the article.

Types of Newspaper Articles

There are several newspaper articles, each with its purpose and style. Some common types of newspaper articles include:

• News articles: These articles report on current events and are meant to inform readers about what is happening around them. News articles are typically written in a straightforward, objective style.
• Feature articles: These articles are longer and more in-depth than news articles. They focus on a specific topic or issue and provide more background information and analysis. Feature articles are often written in a more narrative style and may include quotes from experts or people involved in the story.
• Opinion articles express the author’s opinion on a specific topic or issue. Columnists or editorial writers often write opinion articles to provide a perspective on the news.
• Reviews: These articles critically evaluate a book, movie, or other cultural product. Reviews are often written by critics and are meant to inform readers about the quality of the product.

In conclusion, understanding the different types of newspaper articles and their purpose is essential for writing a good article. By following a newspaper article’s basic structure and style, writers can effectively inform and engage readers with their stories.

Preparing to Write

Before starting to write a news article, one needs to prepare themselves. This section will cover the three essential sub-sections of preparing to write: researching the topic, identifying the target audience, and outlining the article.

Researching the Topic

The first step in preparing to write a news article is researching the topic. Journalists must gather information from primary and secondary sources to write a credible, well-structured article.

Primary sources are documents or objects created during the event or by someone with direct knowledge, such as interviews, letters, or audio recordings. Secondary sources analyze, interpret, or comment on primary sources, such as books, articles, and reviews.

When researching the topic, it is essential to identify the main points and background information. Journalists must present facts and avoid expressing personal opinions. They should also cite their sources and verify the accuracy of the information.

Identifying the Target Audience

The next step is identifying the target audience. Journalists need to know who their readers are to write an article that is relevant and interesting to them. They should consider the reader’s age, gender, education level, and interests.

For example, if the target audience is teenagers, the article should use simple words, short sentences, and examples that are relevant to their lives. If the target audience is professionals, the article should use technical terms and provide relevant details to their field.

Outlining the Article

The final step is outlining the article. The outline should include a headline, a lead paragraph, and subheadings. The headline should be catchy and summarize the article’s main point. The lead paragraph should provide background information and answer the story’s 5Ws and 1H (who, what, when, where, why, and how).

Subheadings should be used to break up the article into sections and make it easier to read. Each section should have a topic sentence that summarizes the section’s main point. Journalists should use complete sentences and avoid using jargon or technical terms that the reader may not understand.

In conclusion, preparing a news article is essential to writing a well-structured and credible article. Journalists should research the topic, identify the target audience, and outline the article to make it relevant and interesting to their readers.

Writing the Article

Crafting a news article for a newspaper requires a structured approach that ensures the article is informative, engaging, and easy to read. Writing involves crafting a lead paragraph, developing the body, and writing the conclusion.

Crafting the Lead Paragraph

The lead paragraph is the most critical part of a news story. It should grab the reader’s attention and summarize the article’s main points. A good lead paragraph should be concise, engaging, and informative. It should answer the questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Journalists should start with a topic sentence summarizing the article’s main point to craft a good lead paragraph. They should then provide background information, using secondary sources to support their claims. The lead paragraph should be written in short, complete sentences that are easy to understand.

Developing the Body

The body of a news article should provide details, examples, and personal opinions that support the article’s main point. Journalists should use English effectively, choosing strong verbs and avoiding passive voice. They should also use citations to support their claims and avoid plagiarism.

To develop the body of a news article, journalists should start with a clear topic sentence that introduces the paragraph’s main point. They should then provide details and examples that support the topic sentence. Journalists should use short sentences and avoid using complex words that may confuse the reader.

Writing the Conclusion

The conclusion of a news article should summarize the article’s main points and provide a personal opinion or call to action. Journalists should use the conclusion to tie together the article’s main points and give the reader a clear understanding of the topic.

Journalists should start with a topic sentence summarizing the article’s main points to write a good conclusion. They should then provide a personal opinion or call to action that encourages the reader to take action or further research the topic. The conclusion should be written in short, complete sentences that are easy to understand.

In conclusion, writing a news article for a newspaper requires a structured approach that ensures the article is informative, engaging, and easy to read. Journalists can create articles that inform and engage readers by crafting a lead paragraph, developing the body, and writing the conclusion.

Polishing the Article

Editing and revising.

After completing the article’s first draft, editing and revising it to make it more polished is essential. Editing involves checking the article for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. The writer should also ensure that the article flows smoothly and that the sentences are clear and concise.

On the other hand, revising involves changing the article’s content. The writer should evaluate the article’s structure and organization and ensure it is easy to read and understand. They should also remove any repetitive or irrelevant information and focus on the essential points.

Fact-Checking and Citations

Fact-checking is an essential part of writing an article for a newspaper. The writer should ensure that all the information in the article is accurate and factual. They should also verify the sources of information to ensure that they are reliable and trustworthy.

Citations are also crucial in article writing. The writer should give credit to their sources of information by citing them appropriately. This adds credibility to the article and helps readers find the sources to read more about the topic.

When citing sources, the writer should follow the guidelines provided by the newspaper or publication. They should also use the correct citation style, such as APA or MLA.

In conclusion, polishing an article involves editing, revising, fact-checking, and citing sources. By following these steps, the writer can ensure that their article is well-written, accurate, and credible.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you grab the reader’s attention in the first paragraph of a newspaper article.

The first paragraph of a news article is crucial because it sets the tone for the entire piece and determines whether the reader will continue reading.

To grab the reader’s attention, start with a strong lead summarizing the most important information engagingly. Use vivid language and descriptive details to create a sense of urgency and intrigue.

What are the essential elements of a news story?

A news story should include the five W’s: who, what, when, where, and why. It should also answer the H question: how. In addition, a news story should be objective, accurate, and timely. It should provide context and background information to help readers understand the significance of the events being reported.

How do you write a compelling headline for a newspaper article?

A good headline should be concise, informative, and attention-grabbing. It should accurately reflect the article’s content and entice the reader to want to learn more. Use active verbs and strong language to create a sense of urgency and importance. Avoid using puns or wordplay that might confuse or distract the reader.

What are some tips for conducting effective research for a newspaper article?

To conduct effective research for a news article, start by identifying reliable sources of information. These might include government websites, academic journals, and interviews with experts or eyewitnesses.

Be sure to fact-check all information and verify the credibility of your sources. Organize your notes and keep track of your sources to make it easier to write the article later.

How do you structure the body of a newspaper article?

The body of a newspaper article should be organized in a logical and easy-to-follow way. Start with the most important information and work down to the details.

Use short paragraphs and subheadings to break up the text and make it easier to read. Include quotes from sources to provide additional perspectives and insights.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when writing a newspaper article?

Some common mistakes to avoid when writing a news article include using biased language, making assumptions, and including irrelevant or inaccurate information. It’s important to remain objective and stick to the facts.

Avoid sensationalizing the story or injecting your opinions or biases into the article. Finally, proofread your work carefully for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

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Reading Academic Articles for Class

Creating strategies for reading academic material will help you organize your thoughts for class participation, writing for assignments, as well as conducting your own research. Each class might require you to adapt your reading strategies and it’s usually a good idea to take notes and annotate your readings in a way that makes sense for you and the particular class you’re reading for. 

Determining your Goals and Plan of Action

Asking yourself some questions before reading will help you focus on what is important from your reading. The first question you can ask yourself is: Who is the intended audience for this reading? Is it specific to a certain academic field? This could influence the author's writing style and word choice. You can also ask: what genre is this text? For example, is it a journal article? A chapter in an edited collection? An opinion article? Thinking about genre might also change the way that you prioritize information while reading.  

It may also be helpful to think about why the professor assigned this reading. How can this reading be used in class discussion based on the topics of the course/unit?  

Answering these types of questions before you begin reading can help you create a plan of action. For instance, reading an academic journal article is likely to require more time and different strategies than reading a short opinion piece written for a broader audience.   

One helpful strategy for reading texts is Skimming. Skimming is reading quickly while searching for keywords and scanning different sections of the text based on your goals. This allows you to do multiple things, such as gather information quickly, find answers to certain questions, and focus your attention on specific information. It is good to skim when you are asked to focus on one element of a text. When skimming, it is helpful to mark important information you find, and where you find it. This will help when you return to the text to look for more detailed and nuanced information.  

After skimming, a second helpful strategy is to start by reading the abstract, introduction, and then the conclusion before moving on to the other sections of a text.  This helps you focus on the main arguments, questions, and conclusions of a text. Read more below to learn what information these sections can have for you.  

Reading the Title and Abstract 

The title should have important key terms, and the abstract presents a little more context as well as some main points and findings. Make a note of important terms and phrases. Because abstracts are densely written and talk about the main points of a text, it is worth researching or looking for definitions of terms that are mentioned in this abstract that you do not know in the body of the text.  

Reading the Introduction 

Read the introduction, looking for information about the purpose of the article and its main questions and arguments. This is a good time to take some notes and annotate the central point(s) of the text. 

Reading the Body 

The body of the article is where reading an article may become more challenging. As you move through articles, summarize sections or paragraphs using your own words and vocabulary if they are particularly dense. Make annotations or notes that correspond to the section you are reading. Your notes can be as little as a few words or a phrase. Keeping it short will help you synthesize information. The first and last sentences of paragraphs should provide main information. Try to make note of how these smaller sub-ideas and points connect to the main argument. Depending on your own goals and the goals of the class, you may not need to engage deeply with every single word in the body. If you’re new to reading academic texts, focusing on understanding and being able to summarize the main ideas and arguments are great places to focus on.  

Reading the Conclusion 

Conclusions are important and may expand on the main arguments or ideas of the text. Make note of any limitations, calls for future research, or ways that you think the work might be expanded. 

This content was adapted by Marissa Burke from Brandeis University’s Academic Servies webpage on “Tips for Reading Scholarly and Journal Articles” and the George Mason University Writing Center document on “Strategies for Reading Academic Articles” 

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Reliable News Sources For Students

By Med Kharbach, PhD | Last Update: May 5, 2024

News reading is an important literacy practice that helps students not only improve their reading and literacy skills but also develop  global awareness and intercultural competencies preparing them to become responsible global citizens.

As I argued in Teaching with News , it is not only about reading news but more importantly how to read and interpret news. In other words, our students need to develop critical media literacy skills to be able to critically engage with news articles and understand global contexts.

Besides empowering our kids and students with the tools and know-how to critically evaluate news sources and determine their credibility, we, teachers and parents, can also provide them with reliable student-friendly news websites where they can access current news events and read news stories written in a language that is accessible to them.

The purpose of today’s post is to share with you a collection of some of the best news websites and news sources for students. These are websites that cover current world events in a language that caters to students learning needs and skill levels.

Importance of Teaching News for Kids

As I argued in  Teaching with News , teaching news to kids is an essential aspect of education, as it helps them develop a range of skills and understanding about the world they live in. Here are some reasons why teaching news is important for kids:

• Awareness of current events
• Critical thinking skills
• Media literacy
• Encouraging curiosity
• Developing empathy and understanding
• Building vocabulary and language skills
• Connecting to the curriculum
• Encouraging civic engagement
• Developing problem-solving skills
• Fostering a lifelong interest in learning

News Sources for Students

Here are some reliable news sources for students:

1. TIME for Kids

Time for Kids offers news for kids of different age and grade level. Simply select the grade you are interested in to start browsing reading materials. You can choose among the following grades: K-1, grade 2, grades 3-4, and grades 5-6. Featured news in Time for Kids cover various categories including art, science, media literacy, and more. 

You can also access news covering only the United States or go global and choose world news. Other features provided by Time for Kids include read aloud with the ability to adjust reading speed, the ability to print news articles, and many more.

2. National Geographic Kids

National Geographic Kids features a wide range of educational materials created specifically for  students and young adventurers. These include news stories covering ocean, space, world cultures, history, science, and many more. 

It also offers games (e.g., action, puzzle, funny fill-in), educational videos on animals and nature, and several other resources to help kids develop their global awareness and improve their literacy skills.

3. DoGOnews

DOGOnews is another good news website for students. It offers kids friendly news stories covering current events in the world. DOGOnews offers a unique feature that allows you to search for news articles by word count. 

For instance, you can filter your search by articles that are written in up to 200 words,  200–400 words, 400-600 words, and so on. You can also search for news articles by category. Major categories included are Current Events, Science, Social Studies, Civic, World, Environment, Fun, Video, and Sports.

Newsela is an educational platform that provides leveled cross-curricular reading materials for for k-12 students. Newsela’ s informational content is standards aligned and is meant to optimize students learning and get them excited about reading. 

Teachers can use it to enrich their lessons and create engaging learning experiences within and outside classroom.

Newsela provides tons of nonfiction texts (and some fiction) resourced from over 100 authority sources in the publishing realm namely: History, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, PBS NewsHour, Scientific American, Smithsonian, World History Encyclopedia, among others.

5- News-O-Matic

News-O-Matic is a daily newspaper  for kids. “It provides an exciting and engaging nonfiction experience for children, complete with valuable literacy tools for the classroom…Thanks to its unique combination of editorial and technology, News-O-Matic creates innovative solutions to help children become tomorrow’s responsible citizens. It gives young readers a window into the world — and a reason to love reading news”.

6. The Learning Network

The Learning Network from the New York Times offers various resources to help you teach with news. These include contests, lesson plans, writing prompts, quizzes and vocabulary, teaching ideas, and many more.

7. Scholastic Kids Press

Scholastic Kids Press is a service from Scholastic where talented kid reporters share news stories covering various topics including politics, breaking news, sports, entertainment, the environment, and more. Students from all around the world aged 10-14 can apply to become Kid Reporters in Scholastic Kids Press.

8. Science News Explores

Founded in 2003, Science News Explores offers news stories and reading materials tailored specifically for younger audiences as well as parents and educators. Stories cover the latest research and current events across STEM fields. 

“Each article is associated with free additional content that can aid in learning and boost impact in classrooms and on overall science literacy. Some of these learning-specific resources are available to all website readers; others are available for free with registration.”

CNN10 is another reliable news website for students. It offers news programs for kids 6 years and up. Its popular show Today’s News in 10 Minutes provides kids with a summarized version of current news that teachers can easily integrate in their classroom instruction.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, integrating news reading into the educational framework is vital for developing well-informed, empathetic, and critically thinking global citizens. By teaching students not just to read but to analyze and interpret news, we empower them with critical media literacy skills necessary for understanding complex global issues. Additionally, providing access to student-friendly news sources such as TIME for Kids, National Geographic Kids, DoGOnews, Newsela, News-O-Matic, The Learning Network, Scholastic Kids Press, Science News Explores, and CNN 10, we ensure that students engage with current events in a language and format that is accessible and appropriate for their learning level.

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Meet Med Kharbach, PhD

Dr. Med Kharbach is an influential voice in the global educational technology landscape, with an extensive background in educational studies and a decade-long experience as a K-12 teacher. Holding a Ph.D. from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada, he brings a unique perspective to the educational world by integrating his profound academic knowledge with his hands-on teaching experience. Dr. Kharbach's academic pursuits encompass curriculum studies, discourse analysis, language learning/teaching, language and identity, emerging literacies, educational technology, and research methodologies. His work has been presented at numerous national and international conferences and published in various esteemed academic journals.

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Gaza campus protests: what are students’ free speech rights and what can universities do?

Lecturer in Political Theory and Philosophy, Queen's University Belfast

Disclosure statement

Suzanne Whitten does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Queen's University Belfast provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK.

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Students expressing solidarity with Palestinians and protesting Israel’s war in Gaza have set up encampments on campuses around the UK. Around 15 encampments have emerged in Oxford , Cambridge , Edinburgh , Warwick Manchester and others. They’ve also emerged in other countries including France and Ireland .

Broadly, students are calling for transparency over and divestment from universities’ financial links with Israeli companies (particularly those involved in the arms industry). They are demanding university leaders cut ties with Israeli universities, increase resources (including scholarships for Palestinian students and make long-term commitments relating to the rebuilding of higher education in Palestine.

The encampments follow similar action at more than 140 universities in the US. There, scenes of police arresting protesters have sparked intense debate about when (if ever) it is permissible to limit the free expression of students.

Read more: US student Gaza protests: five things that have been missed

Universities have a difficult balance to strike between protecting student speech rights and ensuring campus safety.

In the US, public universities (as “arms of government”) are prevented from interfering with free speech under the constitution’s first amendment. While this doesn’t apply in the same way to private universities, most have agreed to uphold policies that closely resemble it. These rights must be balanced against reasonable considerations about the time, place and manner of the speech, as well as civil rights laws against harassment.

The UK does not have the same free speech protections, but many university leaders have made clear that their institutions support freedom of expression . They have reminded students of their duties to ensure that protest activities remain lawful and do not risk the safety of others.

They have encouraged students to follow university policy , and be mindful of other students, staff and members of the public. This generally means that they should not obstruct their access to work or get in the way of their education.

Rishi Sunak met with 17 vice-chancellors and representatives from the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), seeking reassurance that any antisemitism arising from the protests would be swiftly dealt with. And the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, called for vice-chancellors to “show leadership” to ensure that campuses are a safe place for all students.

Are the protests legal?

Protests that take place on university campuses in the UK are considered legal exercises of the right to freedom of expression. The rights of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, which is enshrined in UK law under the Human Rights Act .

These rights are further reinforced by a 1986 UK education law , which requires universities to take “reasonably practicable” steps to protect freedom of speech on campus. This includes permitting and facilitating the right to protest.

There are notable exceptions. In England and Wales, speech that incites violence is considered unlawful, as is harassment on the basis of protected characteristics (race, religion, sexuality and so on). The law is slightly different in Scotland and Northern Ireland .

Expressed support for one of the UK government’s 79 proscribed organisations (including Hezbollah and Hamas) is also criminalised by the Terrorism Act .

When it comes to semi-permanent occupations, duties to facilitate freedom of expression will be in tension with universities’ obligations to keep students and staff safe. Sally Mapstone, the president of the vice-chancellors’ group Universities UK, said universities “may need to take action ” if encampments interfere with the ability to take exams, graduate or go about other business.

In the past, universities have ended occupations by applying for a “possession order” from the High Court. This can lead to students being removed by bailiffs, as happened in March 2023 when the University of Bristol evicted students taking part in a rent strike.

In April 2024 , Bristol Students Occupy for Palestine ended a four-week occupation of the university’s executive management building after they were served with a possession order.

Any universities that take this route would need to show that they have considered protestors’ freedom of expression and assembly rights , and that these have been outweighed by other competing obligations.

The encampments could also risk breaching the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act and the Public Order Act, introduced in 2022 and 2023. These controversial laws limit noisy protests and make it unlawful to cause “public nuisance”.

They also ban protests that cause serious disruption to the life of the community , including by tunnelling , locking-on and taking part in slow-walking protests . Again, any interventions (from either the university or the police) must be weighed against the freedom of expression rights of protesters.

Successful negotiations

So far, some of the protests have been successful. Management at Goldsmiths, University of London agreed to protesters’ demands, including investing in a number of scholarships for Palestinian students and reviewing the university’s investment policy. The encampment at Trinity College Dublin has ended after the university agreed to divest from “Israeli companies that have activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and appear on the UN blacklist in this regard”.

The University of York has also agreed to divest from weapons manufacturers. Other universities have established meetings between protesters and management, though most negotiations are still in the early stages.

Apart from upholding their legal obligations, universities should maintain open lines of dialogue with protesters. Doing so is not only essential from a safety perspective, but ensures that all are able to exercise their rights effectively. So far, most universities have been clear about their commitment to free expression, acknowledging lawful protest as a fundamental component of university life.

The free exchange of ideas will often make some people feel uncomfortable . But speech which harasses or threatens others is not only unlawful, it prevents them from taking part in university life as equals. Universities must also offer accessible channels of complaint for students and staff who have experienced abuse from others on campus.

• UK higher education
• Student protests
• UK universities
• Campus free speech
• encampments
• Gaza Protests

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HECS indexation to be overhauled in budget with $3 billion in student debt 'wiped out'

Millions of Australians with student loans will have hundreds of dollars wiped from their HECS debts as the federal government rolls out its plans for cost-of-living relief in the upcoming budget.

Every June HECS debts are indexed and bumped up a few percentage points to make sure the amount owed keeps up with inflation.

For almost 35 years indexation has been calculated based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is now at historic highs.

Last year's 7.1 per cent increase was the largest hike since 1990 leaving some in a debt spiral with loans increasing faster than they could be repaid .

Annual HECS indexation will now be calculated on whichever figure is lower out of CPI and the Wage Price Index (WPI).

The policy will be backdated to June 1 2023, which means last year's 7.1 per cent indexation will be lowered to the WPI of 3.2 per cent.

"This will wipe out around $3 billion in student debt from more than three million Australians," Education Minister Jason Clare said.

HECS debt indexation to 'wipe out what happened last year'

The government released a wide-ranging review of higher education called the Australian Universities Accord earlier this year.

It warned student debt levels, which had reached $74 billion, were turning people off universities and recommended making HECS "simpler and fairer".

Among its recommendations was indexing HELP loans to whichever was lower out of CPI and WPI.

Mr Clare said adopting the reform and backdating it to last year would help ensure HECS debts did not rise faster than wages in future.

"This will wipe out what happened last year and make sure it never happens again," he said.

Students and graduates had been bracing for another large indexation hit this year of about 4.7 per cent .

The increases had led to a growing backlash with some students so despondent they were considering leaving the country .

How much will you save on your HECS debt?

Instead of another dreaded rise, students will now receive an indexation credit.

Last year's indexation rise of 7.1 per cent will be lowered to 3.2 per cent under the new policy.

For a student with the average debt of $26,494 that means an indexation credit of about $1,200 for the last two years if legislation reforming HECS is passed after the budget.

The debt relief will also apply to apprentices who owe money through the VET Student Loan program or Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan.

These loans work in a similar way to HECS but for young people undertaking a course at TAFE or an independent higher education provider.

According to the latest available figures from 2022 around 30,000 students owed about $220 million.

"This continues our work to ease cost-of-living pressures for more apprentices, trainees and students, and reduce and remove financial barriers to education and training," Skills and Training Minister Brendan O'Connor said.

"By backdating this reform to last year, we're making sure that apprentices, trainees and students affected by last year's jump in indexation get this important cost-of-living relief."

Wider university reforms may be ahead in the budget

There will likely be more money to fund wider-ranging changes to universities recommended in the government's Accord review.

Its other recommendations included:

• reviewing bank lending practices so that HECS debts didn't prevent people from borrowing money to buy a house
• changing the timing of indexation so it occurred after annual compulsory payments
• repealing the previous governments Job-ready Graduates program which increased the cost of some degrees and lowered others

The Greens have been pushing the government to go further and may demand further changes to support the legislation in the Senate.

As cost-of-living pressures have grown, so too has momentum for change.

A recent petition from MP Monique Ryan calling for indexation changes attracted more than 285,000 signatures.

Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson has also called for the government to act .

The government's budget will be delivered on May 14.

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