I had an important lesson in the media writing skills class I teach once a week, to do with news angles.
At the end of the class, the students were asked to spot news angles from a speech by a former Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Happily, most of them did well but they were still not entirely comfortable with the concept of angles for news writing.
I spent another 30-40 minutes with them going over it, looking at other examples and analysing writing techniques and it appears they have it sussed.
I hope so, because for successful news writing, you simply MUST know about news angles.
the 14-week course is pretty much covered in my ebook on news writing.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Bashing it out
Journalists are trained to bash out article after article, as long as the information is available. At work today (Monday, Jan 5, 2009), I managed to churn out eight.
Nothing spectacular, lengthy or too in-depth. Just simple articles written in standard news writing style, providing the essence of what needed to be said. I could have done 20 of those in a usual shift but, as it turned out, only eight were needed today.
News writing techniques allow journalists to write at speed. And anyone can learn these methods. Check out my website on news writing.
Cheers
Nothing spectacular, lengthy or too in-depth. Just simple articles written in standard news writing style, providing the essence of what needed to be said. I could have done 20 of those in a usual shift but, as it turned out, only eight were needed today.
News writing techniques allow journalists to write at speed. And anyone can learn these methods. Check out my website on news writing.
Cheers
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Stand-up comedian ... er, I mean, teaching
I just started lecturing on media writing skills at one of the local universities here. It's a part-time thing, once a week, which suits me fine and I enjoy imparting the knowledge I've gain from more than two decades in the business.
My first act on the first day of the course was to trip over as I climbed on to the stage. The students thought I was a comedian. But I turned it into an exercise and told them to write one paragraph about what happened. It was a great news writing initiation for them and gave me an idea of where they were in terms of grasping the essence of writing a news article.
Hopefully no more comedy acts in future lectures. The next one is about angles, which I've outlined in detail in my news writing book.
Later people.
My first act on the first day of the course was to trip over as I climbed on to the stage. The students thought I was a comedian. But I turned it into an exercise and told them to write one paragraph about what happened. It was a great news writing initiation for them and gave me an idea of where they were in terms of grasping the essence of writing a news article.
Hopefully no more comedy acts in future lectures. The next one is about angles, which I've outlined in detail in my news writing book.
Later people.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Remembering Everest man Sir Edmund Hillary and a hard-nosed hack
Recently, New Zealand's pioneering Everest-conquerer Sir Edmund Hillary passed away. Several days later, veteran Hong Kong journalist Kevin Sinclair died. Both had an ever-so-slight influence on my news writing career.
Sinclair, while hardly a global figure on the scale of Hillary, was nonetheless a well-known name in Hong Kong, having covered and commented on the political developments of the former British colony for more than 40 years.
For me, who was just learning news writing, it was ironic that these two personalities died within days of each other because both had a major impact on me as a budding journalist.
In the mid-80s, when I was just starting out as a reporter in a business information company in Hong Kong, I was assigned to my first-ever press conference, which was about Hillary promoting the Indian Himalayas as a tourism destination.
Kevin Sinclair was also there. Sinclair was known as much for his rasping voice as his columns. He had his cancer-ridden throat removed earlier in life and he spoke with a guttural, grating voice that was difficult to understand.
Because of his voice, he had a female assistant who asked questions on his behalf. Anyway, on this occasion, the Indian delegation and Hillary were singing the praises of the Indian side of the Himalayas as a great place for tourism.
I, as a rookie journalist, was dumbstruck at the thought of being in the same room as the first man to climb Everest, AND being able to ask him a question.
Towards the end of the conference, Sinclair's assistant stood up and asked the following question (can't remember the exact words): “With border tensions with China, do you think it is safe for tourists to go to that part of the Himalayas?”
One of the head table answered that they don't want journalists to ask questions about those issues because the conference was about positive aspects of the Himalayas as a tourist haven.
Sinclair was furious. Normally hesitant to speak publicly because of his voice, he stood up and rasped: “If we can't ask questions, why are we here?!”
With that, he packed up his brief case and stormed off with his assistant scampering behind him. Hillary and the head table did not really knowing where to look.
That one incident taught me a lot. There was everyone else, in awe of Hillary. And along comes a veteran hack and brings them down to the level of mere mortals.
Don't get me wrong. It was great for me to be in that press conference and Hillary was brilliant. He answered my question about the Yeti eloquently and many of the newspapers went with that angle the following day.
But Sinclair's action made me realise that no matter how famous the name, journalists shouldn't feel they are in the presence of divinity. Yes, they deserve respect for their achievements but they are, after all, only human.
And that's why they passed away. Hillary deservedly received global tributes upon his passing, and Sinclair received fitting obituaries in the Hong Kong media and was also feted by the Chief Executive Donald Tsang.
I will remember them for that incident 22 years ago, when an icon of the 20th Century and a hard-nosed journalist made a big impression on my career.
*If you want to write learn journalism news writing, in double-quick time, don't forget to purchase my ebook, “Secrets to How Top Pros Write News”. For only US$27, you can learn the writing techniques of leading news agencies and publications. You can see for yourself just how easy it is to write like a journalist. Try it now. Click here.
Sinclair, while hardly a global figure on the scale of Hillary, was nonetheless a well-known name in Hong Kong, having covered and commented on the political developments of the former British colony for more than 40 years.
For me, who was just learning news writing, it was ironic that these two personalities died within days of each other because both had a major impact on me as a budding journalist.
In the mid-80s, when I was just starting out as a reporter in a business information company in Hong Kong, I was assigned to my first-ever press conference, which was about Hillary promoting the Indian Himalayas as a tourism destination.
Kevin Sinclair was also there. Sinclair was known as much for his rasping voice as his columns. He had his cancer-ridden throat removed earlier in life and he spoke with a guttural, grating voice that was difficult to understand.
Because of his voice, he had a female assistant who asked questions on his behalf. Anyway, on this occasion, the Indian delegation and Hillary were singing the praises of the Indian side of the Himalayas as a great place for tourism.
I, as a rookie journalist, was dumbstruck at the thought of being in the same room as the first man to climb Everest, AND being able to ask him a question.
Towards the end of the conference, Sinclair's assistant stood up and asked the following question (can't remember the exact words): “With border tensions with China, do you think it is safe for tourists to go to that part of the Himalayas?”
One of the head table answered that they don't want journalists to ask questions about those issues because the conference was about positive aspects of the Himalayas as a tourist haven.
Sinclair was furious. Normally hesitant to speak publicly because of his voice, he stood up and rasped: “If we can't ask questions, why are we here?!”
With that, he packed up his brief case and stormed off with his assistant scampering behind him. Hillary and the head table did not really knowing where to look.
That one incident taught me a lot. There was everyone else, in awe of Hillary. And along comes a veteran hack and brings them down to the level of mere mortals.
Don't get me wrong. It was great for me to be in that press conference and Hillary was brilliant. He answered my question about the Yeti eloquently and many of the newspapers went with that angle the following day.
But Sinclair's action made me realise that no matter how famous the name, journalists shouldn't feel they are in the presence of divinity. Yes, they deserve respect for their achievements but they are, after all, only human.
And that's why they passed away. Hillary deservedly received global tributes upon his passing, and Sinclair received fitting obituaries in the Hong Kong media and was also feted by the Chief Executive Donald Tsang.
I will remember them for that incident 22 years ago, when an icon of the 20th Century and a hard-nosed journalist made a big impression on my career.
*If you want to write learn journalism news writing, in double-quick time, don't forget to purchase my ebook, “Secrets to How Top Pros Write News”. For only US$27, you can learn the writing techniques of leading news agencies and publications. You can see for yourself just how easy it is to write like a journalist. Try it now. Click here.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Chasing Tennis Stars
Well, three out of four ain’t bad.
News writing is never simple when you don’t have someone or something to write about. I was supposed to show you a transcript of an interview with world number one tennis player, Roger Federer.
The interview is there, but it was not done by me. Long story, but worth telling.
Federer played former world number one Pete Sampras in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on November 22, 2007. Spain’s Rafael Nadal and France’s Richard Gasquet played each other on Tuesday, November 20.
I was supposed to have five minutes with each player. Reuters, one of my clients, wanted me to ask each of them about the match-fixing controversy in tennis.
On Tuesday, I interviewed Nadal and Gasquet and wrote an article about how they are confident of catching Federer. You can read the article here.
I had also asked them about match-fixing but wanted to save my quotes until after I sat with Sampras and Federer the next day.
On Wednesday, I had my five minutes with Sampras and was about to go inside the room to interview Federer only to be told by organizers that time was running short and the players were in a rush to have dinner with Malaysia’s deputy prime minister.
Naturally, as world number one, Federer’s quotes were the most important to the story. Still, I discussed it with the Reuters Asian sports editor and we agreed that something had to go out that night.
We had to somehow work Federer into the story and the result is this article, done in simple news writing style.
The next day, the Reuters reporter from the Kuala Lumpur bureau, Hsu Chuang Khoo, contacted me and told me he was going to watch the match.
I told him there was no point two of us going for one match, so I would stay at home
Couple of hours before the match started, I got a call from the organizers saying Federer had agreed to pay back his five minutes about an hour before he was due to go on court.
I contacted Chuang and informed him about the interview. We agreed that he would complete the interview, phone the quotes over to me, and I would file the article.
And that’s the story, and here’s the article.
Check out my website about news writing and learn how you can write like a journalist.
News writing is never simple when you don’t have someone or something to write about. I was supposed to show you a transcript of an interview with world number one tennis player, Roger Federer.
The interview is there, but it was not done by me. Long story, but worth telling.
Federer played former world number one Pete Sampras in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on November 22, 2007. Spain’s Rafael Nadal and France’s Richard Gasquet played each other on Tuesday, November 20.
I was supposed to have five minutes with each player. Reuters, one of my clients, wanted me to ask each of them about the match-fixing controversy in tennis.
On Tuesday, I interviewed Nadal and Gasquet and wrote an article about how they are confident of catching Federer. You can read the article here.
I had also asked them about match-fixing but wanted to save my quotes until after I sat with Sampras and Federer the next day.
On Wednesday, I had my five minutes with Sampras and was about to go inside the room to interview Federer only to be told by organizers that time was running short and the players were in a rush to have dinner with Malaysia’s deputy prime minister.
Naturally, as world number one, Federer’s quotes were the most important to the story. Still, I discussed it with the Reuters Asian sports editor and we agreed that something had to go out that night.
We had to somehow work Federer into the story and the result is this article, done in simple news writing style.
The next day, the Reuters reporter from the Kuala Lumpur bureau, Hsu Chuang Khoo, contacted me and told me he was going to watch the match.
I told him there was no point two of us going for one match, so I would stay at home
Couple of hours before the match started, I got a call from the organizers saying Federer had agreed to pay back his five minutes about an hour before he was due to go on court.
I contacted Chuang and informed him about the interview. We agreed that he would complete the interview, phone the quotes over to me, and I would file the article.
And that’s the story, and here’s the article.
Check out my website about news writing and learn how you can write like a journalist.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Gearing Up for Federer and Sampras
Sport is a great opportunity for journalists to test their news writing skills. Writing sport employs the same principles as news, business, entertainment or any other kind of journalism writing.
It has been a long time since I've covered any big-time tennis. However, I'll have to brush up pretty quick because some star names are coming to Kuala Lumpur.
I'm down to cover two exhibition matches: Roger Federer v Pete Sampras and Raphael Nadal v Richard Gasquet.
After both matches, the players will be required to attend post-match interviews with all the media.
I've been told that I would have five minutes one-to-one with each player. So, I'll have to prepare some good questions.
Reuters have already told me what line of questioning they want, which I can't reveal at the moment.
However, my experience of these types of interviews tells me not to expect much.
These players are there on appearance money and may not want to say anything too controversial for fear of upsetting sponsors.
But you never know. Because there are no ranking points at stake, they may be a bit more relaxed and decide to let everything out.
Also, there is the possibility that my "five minutes" may never happen, as I've experienced in the past. Injuries or flight delays can easily be drawn upon as an excuse to get out of an interview.
In any case, I'm looking forward to some good tennis and trying to use the news writing techniques that I recommend to churn out my article.
Tune in on Nov. 24 and I'll tell you what happened.
It has been a long time since I've covered any big-time tennis. However, I'll have to brush up pretty quick because some star names are coming to Kuala Lumpur.
I'm down to cover two exhibition matches: Roger Federer v Pete Sampras and Raphael Nadal v Richard Gasquet.
After both matches, the players will be required to attend post-match interviews with all the media.
I've been told that I would have five minutes one-to-one with each player. So, I'll have to prepare some good questions.
Reuters have already told me what line of questioning they want, which I can't reveal at the moment.
However, my experience of these types of interviews tells me not to expect much.
These players are there on appearance money and may not want to say anything too controversial for fear of upsetting sponsors.
But you never know. Because there are no ranking points at stake, they may be a bit more relaxed and decide to let everything out.
Also, there is the possibility that my "five minutes" may never happen, as I've experienced in the past. Injuries or flight delays can easily be drawn upon as an excuse to get out of an interview.
In any case, I'm looking forward to some good tennis and trying to use the news writing techniques that I recommend to churn out my article.
Tune in on Nov. 24 and I'll tell you what happened.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
News Writing Will Stand Strong
News writing versus writing off the top of your head. Is the Associated Press really dead?
Well, according to an article in WebProNews, that is the presumed scenario.
Rich Ord, CEO of iEntry, writes: "The old news order is dead, the AP will have to adapt or die."
He says the explosion of blogs and news aggregation sites will kill off AP, which is suing Moreover.com for linking to its stories.
To me, this highlights an ignorance of what journalism is. The lack of knowledge of the media industry is enhanced by the statement: "In the pre-Internet days the AP had little competition beyond a few other news syndicators like Reuters and UPI".
Maybe in the United States. But where is Agence France-Presse, a news agency that is equally good as Reuters? And as for UPI, well ... many news outlets gave them up long time ago.
The main point Ord has missed is that news agencies such as AP, Reuters and AFP cater to a completely different market.
Blogs and news aggregation sites are brilliant. As long as copyright laws are adhered to, you can pull together the best and latest stories in the world and stick them on to a single portal for easy consumption.
New agencies primarily cater to other outlets, such as newspapers, Internet websites, magazines, television and radio stations and others who require news written by qualified journalists employing proper journalism standards to gather, write and deliver news articles.
Of course, not all journalists are good or ethical but they work within a coded industry in which they are (often) accountable) and must stick to certain standards.
Do you get bloggers with accreditation for White House press conferences? How many bloggers would take the time to interview newsmakers? How many would verify a source?
Maybe some would, but the truth is, they can still write whatever they want, true or false, and post it on their blogs.
AP doesn't do that. Whatever they write, whoever they quote, they must ensure its veracity. The same goes for Reuters, AFP, UPI and other global and regional news agencies.
They also use the tried and tested news writing methods used by journalists all over the world.
Blogging and aggregation are great additions to the media family. However, AP do not need to feel threatened.
However, Ord is right in that, as in any industry, AP and other journalists must keep up with an evolving environment and tailor the way news is written and delivered to meet the needs of a changing market.
But until bloggers use the same principles of writing, sourcing and delivering as journalists, their genre will remain "blogging" and not "news". Both can live side by side and both can enjoy healthy growth.
Well, according to an article in WebProNews, that is the presumed scenario.
Rich Ord, CEO of iEntry, writes: "The old news order is dead, the AP will have to adapt or die."
He says the explosion of blogs and news aggregation sites will kill off AP, which is suing Moreover.com for linking to its stories.
To me, this highlights an ignorance of what journalism is. The lack of knowledge of the media industry is enhanced by the statement: "In the pre-Internet days the AP had little competition beyond a few other news syndicators like Reuters and UPI".
Maybe in the United States. But where is Agence France-Presse, a news agency that is equally good as Reuters? And as for UPI, well ... many news outlets gave them up long time ago.
The main point Ord has missed is that news agencies such as AP, Reuters and AFP cater to a completely different market.
Blogs and news aggregation sites are brilliant. As long as copyright laws are adhered to, you can pull together the best and latest stories in the world and stick them on to a single portal for easy consumption.
New agencies primarily cater to other outlets, such as newspapers, Internet websites, magazines, television and radio stations and others who require news written by qualified journalists employing proper journalism standards to gather, write and deliver news articles.
Of course, not all journalists are good or ethical but they work within a coded industry in which they are (often) accountable) and must stick to certain standards.
Do you get bloggers with accreditation for White House press conferences? How many bloggers would take the time to interview newsmakers? How many would verify a source?
Maybe some would, but the truth is, they can still write whatever they want, true or false, and post it on their blogs.
AP doesn't do that. Whatever they write, whoever they quote, they must ensure its veracity. The same goes for Reuters, AFP, UPI and other global and regional news agencies.
They also use the tried and tested news writing methods used by journalists all over the world.
Blogging and aggregation are great additions to the media family. However, AP do not need to feel threatened.
However, Ord is right in that, as in any industry, AP and other journalists must keep up with an evolving environment and tailor the way news is written and delivered to meet the needs of a changing market.
But until bloggers use the same principles of writing, sourcing and delivering as journalists, their genre will remain "blogging" and not "news". Both can live side by side and both can enjoy healthy growth.
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