Your assignment, should you choose to accept it (and you will) is to write a six (6) paragraph newspaper report based on the story “The Silent Hostages.” You will take on the role of a hard-hitting crime reporter and write an article that includes all major events and facts of the story.
Follow the step by step process using the outline provided to write your article.
Decide what angle you are going to take when writing your article. Think about an attention grabbing headline!
Decide what is going to be in your lead paragraph. This is the paragraph with the most important information.
You will probably want to break up the 5 W’s (Who, What, Where, When, Why) and How and not have all that information in the same paragraph. So choose three (3) of the W’s to write about in the first paragraph, then write the other two W’s and How in the second paragraph.
After you have written about the 5 W’s and How, move on to writing quotations from other characters. Here you will have to start using your imagination to determine what witnesses would say to a reporter about the incident. Think about who would make the best people to interview and choose two (2) characters that you will quote in your article. This section of your article will consist of two (2) paragraphs, one for each witness.
Finally, in the last two (2) paragraphs of your article, outline the least important information. For example, this event has never happened before – or maybe it has, notify readers that the investigation is ongoing.
Remember, all paragraphs should be very short and accessible for everyone to read. Paragraphs should be no more than three (3) sentences long.
Avoid using overly complicated words and sentences. Keep it simple.
MOST IMPORTANT: As a journalist, you are only reporting the facts. Do not insert your own opinion into the article. Further to this, no using personal pronouns AT ALL!
In addition, your article must be formatted to resemble an actual newspaper article. Accordingly, be sure that you divide the paper in half (below the headline and deck) and write your paragraphs in two (2) columns.
Your article must also feature an appropriate graphic with a short caption that explains the scene depicted in the image.