Breaking news refers to newsworthy events that are happening right now, such as a crime in progress or a natural disaster. These types of events can be covered with short-form updates such as alert crawls on TV screens, or long-form coverage such as an investigative journalism piece or a profile of a public figure.
When writing a breaking news article, it is important to be as accurate and truthful as possible. It is also a good idea to use active language and avoid passive constructions. When describing the scene, use vivid imagery to engage readers and paint a picture of what is occurring.
Start your story with a strong lead that captures the news value of your piece. A good lead answers the six essential questions of a news story: who, what, when, where, why and how. It should also be clear and concise, with quotes to add depth to the story.
After capturing the news value of your story, order your article content in terms of importance. A good rule of thumb is to have the most newsworthy facts at the top, followed by secondary and then tertiary. If you’re covering a crime in progress, for example, this could mean starting with police descriptions of the suspects and including their names as soon as they are known. It is also important to include the source of your information. In general, you will want to indicate whether the information came from a police report or an interview, a court document or the Census, and so on. This is called sourcing and it helps readers evaluate the accuracy and credibility of the information they are reading.
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