Writing for News Media

Writing for News Media is a down-to-earth guide on how to write news stories for online, print and broadcast audiences. It celebrates the craft of storytelling, arguing for its continued importance in a modern newsroom. With dynamism and humour, Ian Pickering, a journalist with 30 years’ experience, offers readers practical advice on being a news journalist, with step-by-step guidance on creating a great story and writing the perfect news copy.Chapters include:extracts from published news articles to help illustrate the dos and don’ts of storytelling;the ten golden rules for structuring and putting together a successful news article, including ‘Nail the intro’, ‘Let it flow’ and ‘Keep it simple’;instruction on writing stories for different specialist subjects, including politics, court cases, economics, funnies and celebrity;help for readers on how to write for broadcast news;tips on how to write headlines, how to use pictures, how to make the most of quotations and how to avoid common style and grammar mistakes;glossaries covering a range of different aspects of news journalism, including types of news story, online and data journalism, typesetting and broadcasting.This is an instructive and insightful manual which champions brilliant storytelling and writing with flair. It introduces a set of key creative and analytical techniques that will help students of journalism and young professionals hone and refi ne their story-writing skills.

Kathryn Bowd, Department of Media, University of Adelaide, South Australia – ‘Strong focus on writing; critical engagement with information; different types of stories… Given the number of journalists working across media platforms, its breadth seems fairly limited. it could be valuable in a course that is heavily focused on developing English language writing skills with a particular focus on journalism… The fact that this is a non-US publication would work in its favour, given that the US experience has limited relevance to journalism students and practitioners in many other parts of the world.’Clare Lovell, Journalism and Publishing, Kingston University, UK – ‘It appears to be quite focused on basic skills of news writing. It looks quite brief and handy as an aide memoire and "how to" volume for busy (or distracted) students. The author is keen to emphasise writing for digital media. The idea of 10 + skills is engaging… as a core text it would need other texts to supplement it. These would need to focus on reporting/interviewing, research etc… It sounds very practical and useful for news writers just starting out.’Wendy Sloane, Journalism, London Metropolitan University, UK – ‘The book seeks to sum up all aspects of News Writing and covers most things. It doesn’t tell how students can FIND a story, however, which they find very difficult. It also does not tell how to pitch a story. … I think he needs to write more on writing for different audiences and writing in different formats.’, ‘From raw trainees through to the most experienced journalists, this is an essential handbook for any writer. Writing for News Media has been created by someone who clearly loves words and knows the importance of using them correctly for effective storytelling.’Dave Morgan, Head of Copy and Style, The Sun, UK

Ian Pickering has spent more than 30 years as a journalist, working on print and digital publications in regional and national news organisations. He has trained and mentored many young journalists . . . and is still learning himself.