What's News

The secret of good writing is not in knowing what to put in, but in knowing what to leave out.

   There are at least five aspects of any story, and many more ways to handle a story.
   Start by listing the Five Ws of basic journalism -- Who, What, Where, When and Why. In addition, there is the How aspect of any news story. Which of the five a writer uses to begin the story is the writer's choice, and helps determine whether it will be written as so-called "hard news" or as a feature.
   It's often difficult, if not impossible, to put all six elements in the opening sentence of the story. For one thing, the sentence would be too long and too complex. For another, it would be so long as to be dull. Either way, you lose the attention of the reader even before you get to the details of the story.
   Moreover, there is the issue of what readers need to know versus what they want to know. The first is newsworthy; the second is gossip. A reporter's job, then, is to tell people what they need to know and to tell them in such a way that they want to know. And that is the secret of good, successful journalism.
   The goal is not to push for agreement -- to persuade readers that one side is right and all other are wrong -- that belongs on the opinion page or with broadcast pundits and commentators.
   A straight news story, especially one that's important enough to go on Page One, explains all aspects of the story, providing enough information so readers can form their own opinions on the value of each side of an issue or controversy.
   This is what makes a free and independent press -- and that includes broadcasting -- essential to a free society, where an informed society knows what a nation's government is up to, whether the public approves, and if not, what to do about it.
   Generally, that means the public gets to vote the rascals out. It also means another segment of the public gets to vote their own rascals in.