Image of Globe
OLC40P: Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course

Unit 4: Reading Informational Texts – The News Report

Activity 1: "What is Wrong with the World?" – Introduction to News Report

Overview | Expectations | Content | Assignment |

Content

Glossary

Byline : The name of the writer of the news report, usually appearing below the Headline. For example, you might see below the Headline or Subheading "Natalie Boss, Staff Writer" OR just "Natalie Boss". This would indicate that Natalie Boss was the reporter of the News Report.

Headline : Display type placed over a story summarizing the story for the reader. For example, this is easily identified as the font size is much larger than the text of the news report.

Lead or Lead Paragraph : The opening paragraphs of a news story containing the answers to who, what, where, when, why and how.

News report : A report of a current happening or happenings or current events in a newspaper by a journalist or reporter. For example, a news report could be about an earthquake or a shooting.

News article : An article reporting news.

Journalist : A person who practices journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues and people.

Reporter or Newsperson : A person who investigates and reports or edits news stories. A reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information in certain types of mass media.

Newspaper headline : The heading or caption of a newspaper article.

Newspaper : A daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements.

News Item : An item in a newspaper.

Forms of informational texts : Examples include: history book, geography text, report, and essay

INTRODUCTION

Writing a news report is an example of an informational text. Newspaper articles require a different style of writing from what is used when writing a story. If you compare this text form to the graphic texts in Unit 1, or the narrative texts in Unit 2, you will see the difference. Not only are they different in form or structure, but also in the style of writing.

Newspaper reporters are careful not to show their personal feelings, but instead, report as accurately as possible the facts of an event.  But, even though writing for the newspaper is factual, it should not sound boring. The article should still be interesting to the reader. Otherwise, no one will read the article.

In this unit, we will look at the structure of the news report. We will divide the structure into "tiers". In this lesson, you will be introduced to the news report and the form or structure. You will see "the big picture" in terms of the "look" and structure of the entire news report,

In the next lesson, we will focus on headlines, placement of the name of the newspaper and the news reporter. The next three lessons will focus on the three "tiers" of the body of the news report. Then, it will be your turn to write a news report.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD NEWSPAPER REPORT?

Here are some important tips to consider:

  1. Ask these questions:
  2. Information: A newspaper story gives information about: 
  3. Interest – Your audience
  4. Truth: When writing reports, ask yourself these questions:
  5. Pictures 
    6.  
  6. Edit 

 

Before Reading: Features of the text

Before reading the news report, let us look at a news report in the Globe and Mail. I will use numbers to label the basic parts of a news report.

  1. 75 cents to $100,000

  2. Montreal student Warren Hill picked up this rare recording for pennies at a street sale in New York. Now he's put the disc on eBay and a bidding war has exploded

  3. JAMES ADAMS
  4. From Tuesday's Globe and Mail (2006)
  5. A fragile preliminary pressing of the legendary 1967 debut vinyl recording by the Velvet Underground, bought by a Canadian collector four years ago for only 75 cents, is now for sale on eBay. As of yesterday afternoon, bidding had passed $110,000 ( U.S.). The auction concludes Friday evening.
  6. The acetate -- as the acetone-covered aluminums disc is called in music circles -- was posted for sale on Nov. 28 and in less than 72 hours it had scored more than 10,000 hits, with 70 individuals submitting bids, including the kick-off offer of $26.24. Bidding leaped to the $100,000 threshold early Sunday after various collectors had slowly pushed the action into the mid-five figures. Montrealer Warren Hill bought the acetate at a street sale in lower Manhattan in September 2002. A history student at the time at Concordia University, Hill, then 25, didn't know what he had purchased -- but later he and a friend, Eric Isaacson, proprietor of Mississippi Records and Repairs in Portland, Ore., determined that it was, in fact, a high-quality, likely heretofore never-played alternate version of The Velvet Underground and Nico, produced in New York in mid-1966. Yesterday, Hill said he "[didn't] want to get too excited" by the interest the acetate is eliciting. "I don't know if people are scamming or what. If it comes true, great. But I'm not going to get super excited until the auction is over and the buyer is legit. I've been excited before and it didn't pan out."
  7. Released in March 1967, The Velvet Underground and Nico, with a cover (of a "peel slowly and see" banana) designed by the group's mentor, Andy Warhol, reportedly sold less than 50,000 copies on its first pass. But 36 years later, Rolling Stone magazine was naming it the 13th-greatest rock album of all time. The acetate is of the Velvets' first studio recording session and features two fewer songs than the 11-track recording that was sold. However, at least four of the songs have completely different arrangements than those on the official release while the remainder have alternative sound mixes. Songs include such classics as Heroin, Venus in Furs, Femme Fatale and I'll Be Your Mirror, most written by Lou Reed, all of which have been cited as major influences by artists as varied as David Bowie, U2, REM, Joy Division, Roxy Music and Sonic Youth.
  8. Before going with eBay, Hill and Isaacson had thought they might sell the acetate via live auction, perhaps at one of the many collectors conventions held in the U.S., where they figured it might fetch at least $40,000. Discussions, too, were held with record companies -- but at least one label shied away from a deal after it was discovered that a Japanese bootlegger had released a three-CD set of Velvet rarities, Ultimate Mono and Acetates Album, featuring some of the same mixes on the acetate. Had the Japanese material originated from tapes made from Hill's acetate decades before he purchased it? Or was there another acetate in circulation? No one seems to know.

Here is an explanation of the parts of the news report:

Number

Parts of the news report

1

Headline

2

Sub Heading

3

By Line

4

Name of the news paper

5

Lead Paragraph

6

Explanation (could be two or more paragraphs)

7

Explanation

8

Additional Information

The "Inverted Pyramid" is another way of representing the structure of the news report, and identifies the parts as follows:

Inverted Pyramid Image

Before Reading: Features of the text

As with any text – narrative, graphical or informational – the same before reading strategies apply. You were introduced to these in Unit 2. Even though the "form" is different, look at the text for the hints that will help in your understanding of the text.

Before reading a text, here are some helpful hints:

Look at the text and note the following:

Similarly, you need to ask yourself the same questions that guided you to a better comprehension of the narrative and graphical texts in Units 1 and 2.

The next step is to ask yourself these questions BEFORE reading:

Pre-Reading: Skimming and Scanning:

Likewise, as we read the news report, it is important to apply the skimming and scanning skills you acquired in Units 1, 2 and 3.

Stop Icon If you have any questions, please ask your teacher before proceeding to the practice activity.

Example Icon Exemplar: Pre-reading

Using the exemplar above, let us apply pre-reading strategies to the news report. When you do your assignment, refer to this exemplar as a model.

Areas

Globe and Mail

Was there a Headline?

Yes

Was there a Sub heading?

Yes

Was there a By line?

Yes

Was a newspaper acknowledged?

Yes

Was there a lead paragraph? How many sentences made up the lead paragraph?

Yes. 3 sentences

How many more paragraphs were there in the news report?

3 more paragraphs

What parts were bolded or had larger fonts?

The headline and the sub heading

Were there italics in the news report?

Yes.

What punctuation marks other than the period or the comma stood out in the news report?

Brackets, dashes, question marks, quotation marks

Were there pictures with captions in the news report?

No

Were there charts or diagrams or any other graphical features in the news report?

No

External Links Icon Resources

  1. The Toronto Star
  2. The Globe and Mail
  3. The Toronto Sun

Journal Icon Journal

You will create a folder and keep all your reflective journal entries. You will need these for the final evaluation as you will have to reflect on your reading, writing and oral skills at the end of the course.

In your journal, reflect on the pre-reading strategies used in this activity. How can these strategies help you to better understand a text in any subject in school? Were the applications of these strategies similar to narrative and graphical texts?

Do you feel more confident as a reader with new material such as a news report?

Review Icon Review

Review the example from the Globe and Mail before starting the assignment.

This is a disclaimer. Not responsible for external links.

Overview | Expectations | Content | Assignment