10 Chapter 7: Basics of Writing
Top of the News Story
The main goal of this textbook is to teach you how to write a hard news story effectively and accurately. We’ve introduced the tools of ethics, newsworthiness and interviews. Now it’s time to start building a story.
Writing in a news style is difficult because it requires simplicity. You should write clear and simple sentences. Every word is important. Every sentence needs only one idea that tells the reader something new and important. The point of news writing is not to impress the reader with your vast vocabulary, but to provide information succinctly and creatively.
Nut Graf
Perhaps the most important part of any news story is something called the nut paragraph or nut graf. The nut graf is the nut or summary of the story. If the reader sees no other part of the story, the nut graf summarizes the story in general terms.
The Poytner Institute is a nonprofit founded in 1975 that provides journalism training, information and courses. Its website features writing tips, including an article on the nut graf.
Poynter trainer Chip Scanlan writes that the “nut graf tells the reader what the writer is up to; it delivers a promise of the story’s content and message. It’s called the nut graf because, like a nut, it contains the ‘kernel,’ or essential theme, of the story.”
Scanlan outlines the purposes of the nut graf:
- It justifies the story by telling readers why they should care.
- It provides a transition from the lead and explains the lead and its connection to the rest of the story.
- It often tells readers why the story is timely.
- It often includes supporting material that helps readers see why the story is important.
Scanlan also notes a cardinal rule of the nut graf: Shorter is better. A single paragraph of one to two sentences is standard. Occasionally a story calls for more, but that is rare and saved for complicated stories by advanced writers. San Diego Union-Tribune writer David Garrick wrote an excellent nut graf in an Oct. 15, 2023 story about coyotes.
Example:
SAN DIEGO — One woman said her heart nearly stopped recently when she saw a coyote easily jump a 6-foot fence into a neighbor’s Clairemont yard where puppies were playing. Another recently ducked into a side yard in her North Park neighborhood to dodge a coyote walking boldly down Felton Street in broad daylight.
These incidents and many similar confrontations with urban coyotes have convinced people in many San Diego neighborhoods that the wild animals have gotten bolder and that more aggressive intervention is needed by state and local wildlife officials.
Notice that the story isn’t about one person or neighborhood but a countywide trend on coyotes. Another example of a nut graf is by San Diego Union-Tribune writer Kristen Taketa on Oct. 14, 2023.
Example:
Parents at several San Diego Unified schools are raising concerns about a routine district process that they say is increasing class sizes and transferring away valued tea