ECCB Media Training for ECCU Police Officers

Structure of a News Story

HEADLINE

LEAD

BODY

Hooks Audience

Keeps Audience

Prompts Action

Essence of the story...summary Present tense Active voice

Most important part of the story 5 “Ws” and the “H” One sentence paragraph No more than 35 words Present tense

Details and information to support the lead Background Premise Quotes Statistics

Simple and concise No articles: a, an, the, or forms of “to be” Subject and a verb Avoid acronyms No full stop