Page 174 - New Grammar with a Smile 6

Understanding a

7 Newspaper Article

A newspaper article appears in a newspaper. The structure of a newspaper article can
be depicted in the form of an inverted pyramid. It starts off with the most important
information first. As the pyramid progresses, the paragraphs contain information that
are less important.

Let’s understand the inverted pyramid.

♦ A newspaper article begins with a headline, a byline and a dateline. The headline
grabs the attention of the reader and also summarises the main point of the article.
The byline tells the reader who has written the article and what their job role is.
The dateline tells you when and where the story was written or filed.
♦ The lead paragraph is the first paragraph of the article and it summaries the

story and answers the 5 Ws (Who? What? Where? When? and Why?) and H
(How?). It tells the reader what the article is about and what is being reported.

♦ The body is the main section of the article. It contains all the details of the news
story. It should around three to four paragraphs long to help the reader digest the
information.
♦ The tail is the last paragraph of the article. It sums up the story and brings it up

to date.

The Lead Paragraph
Who, what, where, when

Background Info
In terviews with witness
Answers why/how

Extra details
Extra information,
nice to know, but
not needed.

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