by Vee Hall
Journalists adhere to an incredibly structured form of writing. The purpose of journalistic writing is to convey information to a reader, in the most succinct manner possible. As a peer writing tutor at the UCWbl, knowing how to tutor journalistic style writing is a helpful skill to have. At the UCWbL, especially in the loop, we serve a number of students who study journalism and other fields (PR, Marketing, etc.) that adhere to journalistic style writing. Knowing how to tutor in the journalistic style also gives you the tools to teach writers to explain their ideas with brevity. There are four main components of journalistic style writing: AP style, inverted pyramid, attribution, and short paragraphs.
AP style: AP style is the rule and style guide that journalists follow when writing. The AP style guide is your best resource when you are tutoring someone in AP style. It contains a spelling dictionary, acronyms, structure rules, and more. If there is no style guide available Purdue Owl has a AP style basics section on the website.
Inverted pyramid: Journalists typically adhere to a ‘inverted pyramid’ structure when writing news. The inverted pyramid structure is essentially when one puts the most important information in the beginning. A journalistic style news story will typically answer the who, what, when, and where in the first paragraph. The subsequent paragraphs will add context or answer the how and why. Journalists use this structure in order to keep the reader reading. People have short attention spans. Giving the reader all of the answers first typically helps them decide whether or not they are interested in a story.
Attribution: This is the process by which a source is quoted. When you attribute a quote to a source the writer should never use ‘flowery’ verbs. That includes words such as chuckled, screamed, snorted, etc. They should only ever use said. When a writer uses any verb other than said they run the risk of angering a source. When you anger a source that can end in termination of that relationship with a source or a libel lawsuit.
Upon first reference a source should be quoted as “xxxxxx,” said John Doe, 44, CEO.
Ever reference after is “xxxx,” Doe said.
Short paragraphs: As mentioned earlier, people have short attention spans. When writing a story in the journalistic style the writer should be sure to keep their paragraphs short. By doing this a reader will remain engaged with the text. Paragraphs should be around 3-4 sentences, no more than 5.
As a UCWbL peer tutor everytime that you tutor someone in journalistic style writing you are embracing four UCWbl core values including collaboration, revision, and transparency. Journalistic style writing upholds collaboration and revision in the peer editing process that journalists have to constantly do. It also upholds our transparency value because a majority value transparency in their writing. Journalistic style writing is in its current form so that it is easily accessible and readable for as many people as possible. Knowing how to tutor in the journalistic style will help tutors gain a better understanding of how to organize ideas while also keeping them brief.