News Writing (Revised Edition)

Author: Hu Xin / Country:
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-02-01
Features: Broadcast and television news are faster than newspaper news. They can not only report news that happened minutes ago but also achieve live reporting as the event unfolds. The key to news lies in its speed; otherwise, it may lead to humorous mistakes. For example, a reporter from a city newspaper saw heavy snowfall in the city and wrote a news story titled "Heavy Snow Falls, Vegetables Prices Unchanged" three days later. He reported that vegetables did not increase in price on the day of the snowfall, but by then, prices had risen and supplies were scarce. The public responded to the news by saying, "Heavy snow falls, vegetables prices unchanged—this reporter is lying, the party secretary should be blamed." Many great news stories win out through speed. For instance, the news story "Our Country's Athletes Win Gold Medals at the Olympics" won the first prize in the 1984 National Good News Award. Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Dianmin sent this dispatch from Los Angeles, USA (July 29, 1984, the th day after the opening of the 23rd Olympics), 20 minutes ahead of the Associated Press and 15 minutes ahead of Reuters, bringing honor to Chinese journalism worldwide. That afternoon, three reporters from Kyodo News Agency congratulated the Chinese journalists, praising them for "also winning a gold medal" in the Olympic coverage. In fact, the writing quality of this news story was not as high as the news commentary "A Breakthrough of 'Zero'" published on the same day, but it was published earlier and faster. (3) Short news must be fast, and thus concise. With the of social life rhythms and information dissemination, people need shorter news more than ever. This aligns with people's habits of receiving news and allows news media to publish more stories. Conciseness requires brief language, minimal filler, and the removal of any words, sentences, or paragraphs that can be cut to accurately capture the essence of the subject. However, conciseness must also adhere to the principles of rich content and clear narration, achieving "concise yet substantial" writing. To achieve this, one must be skilled in summarizing facts. Marx once said in "The Defense of the Moselle Journalists" that news reporting "is based on facts and strives to concisely present these facts." This means that one must not write about everything but instead summarize the essential facts, focusing on the main points to provide accurate reporting, which reflects conciseness. For example, during the liberation war, Comrade Mao Zedong wrote news stories for Xinhua News Agency such as "My 300,000 Army Successfully Crosses the Yangtze River" and "The Nationalist Government of Nanjing Declares Its Fall," which were major news stories that shook the world and only contained a few hundred words. Additionally, the Japan Times reported the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in a mere 22 words: "The U.S. Government Recognizes the People's Republic of China as the Sole Legitimate Government of China." Generally, news stories are best between 300 and 500 words. A 500-word news story can clearly explain the event. Every edition of the "China News Award" has set word limits and time constraints: written news must be under 1,000 words, while broadcast and television news must be under 4 minutes. This is to make news "shorter, even shorter." (4) "Real" means specific facts. Since news reports facts, facts are the core of news. The task of news is to report factual news, which primarily relies on factual material to persuade the audience. Without specific facts, how can one persuade the audience? The more specific, accurate, vivid, and detailed the news report, the more moving and persuasive it becomes. Comrade Hu Qiaojun once said: "powerful opinions are invisible opinions—on the surface, the speaker merely objectively and plainly narrates what they have seen and heard (and each narration is based on a certain viewpoint). This way, people feel as though they are receiving facts from them, rather than opinions (and every person with self-respect generally prefers to believe facts rather than opinions)."① This is the essence of objectively reporting specific facts. For example, the news story "Intelligent Distribution Creates Billions of Wealth" that won the first prize in the 11th "China News Award" is entirely based on facts, with the author's "opinion" implied in the narration of the facts. There are no vague expressions or empty or grand words to praise, allowing readers to accept the facts and draw their own conclusions. When presenting facts, the author clearly explains the five "Ws" and one "H": Who—Professor Zhang Tingbi from the Life Science College of Wuhan University; What—China's first scientist with assets exceeding 100 million yuan; When—yesterday (February 22, 2000); Where—Wuhan Hongtao K Group; Why—Professor Zhang promoted the application of porphyrin iron, the invention of German scientist Fischer, which won the Nobel Prize in 1930, and solved the global challenge of industrializing porphyrin iron production through biological methods, thereby developing affordable health products to prevent iron deficiency anemia; How—successfully produced a high-tech, affordable, and widely accessible health product, "Hongtao K Blood-Boosting Agent." In this brief 400-word news story, the combination of facts is both specific and clear, truly achieving "concise yet substantial." Below is the full text of this news story:
Intelligent Distribution Creates Billions of Wealth
Reporter: Lu Pingchuan
Wuhan, China
Recently, the Wuhan Zhonghua Accounting Firm audited the assets of the Hongtao K Group. The audit conclusion released yesterday showed that the personal assets of the group's technical director, Professor Zhang Tingbi, had reached 131.18 million yuan. In addition, Professor Zhang owns a villa worth over 4 million yuan and a luxury car worth over 800,000 yuan. Among the scientists in Hubei Province, Zhang is the first to have assets exceeding 100 million yuan.
At the age of 62, Zhang is a professor at the Life Science College of Wuhan University and had been engaged in scientific research and teaching at the university until 1992. That year, while researching natural plant pigments, he had a scientific idea—to promote the application of porphyrin iron, the invention of German scientist Fischer, which won the Nobel Prize in 1930, and to solve the global challenge of industrializing porphyrin iron production through biological methods, thereby developing affordable health products to prevent iron deficiency anemia. This idea was supported by entrepreneurs like Xie Shengming, who invested 500,000 yuan to conduct research and development, ultimately successfully producing the high-tech, affordable, and widely accessible health product—Hongtao K Blood-Boosting Agent.
In 1996, when the Hongtao K Group clarified its property rights, Professor Zhang held more than 10% of the group's shares and became one of the eight directors of the board. Since 1997, Hongtao K Blood-Boosting Agent has sold over 1 billion yuan in sales for three consecutive years.
Recently, "Hongtao K" was awarded the only Chinese well-known brand in the biological health product industry by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
（《Hubei Daily》February 23, 2000）
This news story sparked a strong response both domestically and internationally. Over 50 well-known media outlets, including Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television, People's Daily Online, Xinhua News Agency, and Canada's Oriental Times and Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, reported on it or followed up on the story. Zhang Tingbi went from an ordinary retired professor to a featured guest on CCTV's prestigious program The Orientals. This news not only made Zhang a celebrity but also prompted people to reflect on social issues such as the value of knowledge and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Many overseas students were inspired and expressed their willingness to return to serve their country; four academicians joined the Hongtao K Group through technology investment; and the Hubei Provincial Government accelerated the formulation of new policies to encourage more scientists and entrepreneurs to collaborate. This demonstrates the immense power of news reporting, with the primary factor being the use of specific facts, which are also true.
II. The Status and Role of News
News is the protagonist of news media. In the daily news programs of newspapers, radio stations, and television stations, it is always placed first and has the highest usage frequency. In developed Western countries, the number of news reports in daily broadcasts accounts for 70% to 80% of the entire news program, with some exceeding this proportion. Newspapers are called "newspapers" because their pages are primarily used to publish news (reports). The front page of a newspaper is called the "major news page," which mainly publishes important news related to the newspaper's nature, while other pages also publish various types of news (reports). Radio stations and television stations in their prime time (the time with the highest viewership) first broadcast news; in addition, news is broadcast every hour, and "rolling" reports also begin with news. It is clear that in news reporting formats, news holds a dominant position and is the most commonly used and frequently encountered genre.