SMS Press
Home Staff Articles/Deadlines Writing a News Article

 

The SMS Press is published by members of the  Newspaper Club at St. Margaret Middle School.  Three issues of the paper are published each school year.  The inaugural issue of the paper was published in November 2004.
Club Moderators:  Mrs. Murphy and Mr. Ballweber.
Club Membership Requirements:  Because of the large size of the middle school student body and the nature of the club, membership is open to seventh and eighth grade students only and is limited.
Meetings:  The club meets every other Wednesday from 3:00 to 4:00.

 

ACCESSING THE NEWSPAPER FILES

·        There is a file on the server for each issue of the newspaper, including the current issue. 

·        The file for the current issue has 10 pages – pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and one labeled last page. 

·        There is also a picture file where the Photography Editor(s) should place all pictures so they are accessible to everyone. 

·        When you are typing your article for publication, you will need to do the following to access the newspaper file and current issue: 

Ø     Network

Ø     Students

Ø     Middle School

Ø     MS Shared Files

Ø     Newspaper

Ø     Volume 2

Ø     Issue #(current issue – 1, 2, or 3)

Ø     Page you will be working on 

·        Only one person can be typing on any one page at one time. 

·        Type a headline for your article and a byline.  Make sure names are spelled correctly. 

·        Add a caption to pictures, making sure names are spelled correctly. 

·        Make sure you proofread anything you type very carefully and then save all your work.

 

 

 

WRITING A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Newspaper articles require a different style of writing from what is used when writing a story.  When writing a newspaper article, picture an inverted triangle.  The newspaper article has all of the important information in the opening paragraph.  This information includes who, what, when, where, why, and how.  It is written this way because most people do not read an entire newspaper article all the way through.  So newspaper writers put the most important information at the beginning.

A typical newspaper article contains five (5) parts:

Headline:                          This is a short, attention-getting statement about the event.

Byline:                              This tells who wrote the story.

Lead Paragraph:                This has ALL the who, what, when, where, why, and how in it.  A writer must find the answers to these questions and write them into the opening sentence(s) of the article.

Explanation:                      After the lead paragraph has been written, the writer must decide what other facts or details the reader might want to know.  The writer must make sure that he/she has enough information to answer any important questions a reader might have after reading the headline and the lead paragraph.  This section can also include direct quotes from witnesses or bystanders.

Additional Informational:  This information is the least important.  Thus, if the news article is too long for the space it needs to fill, it can be shortened without rewriting any other part.  This part can include information about a similar event.