ABSTRACT
Have you ever wondered; why we find the lead story in the farthest upper-right hand column? Like most people, we try to keep up with the news by watching it on television. That is how 65% of us get 100% of our news – from the 24-odd-minute television news broadcast. What television news bring is primarily a front-page headline service only. To get all one needs to know, one has to amplify these headlines with a complete account of the news from a well-edited and thorough newspaper.
HAVE YOU READ A NEWSPAPER?
Forethought
Have you ever wondered; why we find the lead story in the farthest upper-right hand column? The answer is Tradition! Newspapers used to appear on newsstands folded with their top right-hand quarter showing, so they made up the front page with the lead story there, to draw in passers-by.
If you are like most people, you try to keep up with the news by watching it on television. That is how 65% of us get 100% of our news – from the 24-odd-minute television news broadcast. What television news bring is primarily a front-page headline service only. To get all one needs to know, one has to amplify these headlines with a complete account of the news from a well-edited and thorough newspaper. Because, reporters write news stories in a special way called the “inverted pyramid”.
Knowing about the newspaper’s “inverted pyramid” should help you sift facts. That means; they start with the climax of the story, with the most important facts first, then build more details in order of significance. This is unlike telling or writing most stories, where one usually starts at the beginning and saves the climax for last.
But is it really necessary to get the whole story? Walter Cronkite, a renowned american journalist and television anchorman with CBS News says, “News people have a responsibility. And so do you. Ours is to report the news fairly, accurately, and completely.