A news report describes a particular event or topic which is of interest to the public. It is always written in a formal impersonal style and gives accurate facts only, not chatty descriptions. A good news report should consist of:

1. a short eye-catching headline which introduces the subject of the report;
2. an introduction which summarises the event giving information about the
   time, place and the people involved;
3. a main body consisting of two or more paragraphs in which the event is
   developed in detail. Information about the cause(s) and result(s) of the
   incident should also be included; and
4. a conclusion in which action to be taken or people's comments on the event
   are given.

Such pieces of writing can be found in newspapers, magazines and newsletters.
Points to consider

Introduction

Paragraph I

summary of the event — time, place, people involved

Main Body

Paragraphs 2. 3. 4

description of the main events and people involved — give detailed facts

Conclusion Final

Paragraph

comments, reference to future developments

Unit 14 News Reports

2    Read the news report below and write down the topic of each paragraph, then underline all the words related to a car crash.

Two seriously injured in car crash

Two people were seriously injured in a collision at the junction of Road and Wrights Lane, Westbridge, early yesterday morning.

Jackie Hill, 22, was driving a yellow Nissan Cherry when she approached the junction and crashed into a delivery van coming out of Wrights Lane. A local resident who witnessed the accident said that it was obvious that Mrs Hill had not seen the stop sign at the junction as she had not even slowed down.

Mrs Hill was on her way home from her job as a night nurse when the accident happened. She is said to be in a serious but sta­ble condition at St Michael's Hospital. The driver of the van, William Stephens, 27, is being treated for head and back injuries.

A neighbourhood association spokesman commented later: "This is the fourth accident to happen at the crossroads in the past month. We have been lobbying for a set of traffic lights there for months, ^but so far nothing has happened." According to city councillor David 'wilkins, plans are being made to put up traffic lights at the junction in the near future

Headlines are an important feature of news reports. They should both catch the reader's attention and inform the reader about the subject of the report. Since headlines must be short, words such as articles, parts of tenses, etc. are omitted. For example, instead of writing SOME ILLEGAL WEAPONS WERE FOUND IN AN ABANDONED FACTORY, the headline would read: ILLEGAL WEAPONS FOUND IN ABANDONED FACTORY.

3    Write headlines for the following opening sentences of news reports. What do you think the reports go on to say?

1. A bridge collapsed last Monday as a result of an earthquake which hit Southern California.
2. Last night's blackout has been traced to a mistake made by an employee at Peterville's central power plant. Engineer Harold Petty, 27, admitted having pushed the wrong button on a control panel.
3. Medical researchers in Britain say they may have found a cure for the common cold. In a series of controlled tests a combination of certain vitamins has been found to reduce symptoms dramatically.
4. It was announced yesterday that the planned motorway extension outside Peterfield will go ahead despite protests from environmental groups.
5. Two brothers who had gone missing three days before were found last night by a farmer, David Jones. They had been hiding in an abandoned barn on his property.

The style in which news reports are written differs in a number of ways from the style used in narratives (stories). A narrative is normally written in an informal, chatty style and calls for detailed descriptions, including the characters' feelings and sensations. Descriptive techniques can be employed to make the story more vivid. You can begin or end a narrative:

1. by describing weather, surroundings, people, etc. using the
   senses;
2. by using direct speech;
3. by addressing the reader (usually asking a question);
4. with a dramatic sentence creating mystery or suspense; or
5. by referring to your feelings or moods.

5     Rewrite the following sen­tences in the passive.

1. Police finally caught convicted arsonist Thomas Wells early last Sunday morning. Prison guards found that Wells had escaped fen days earlier. Investigators believe that he has set two warehouses' on fire since his escape.

2 The Council is providing temporary housing for citizens of Newton after Tuesday's flood damaged hundreds of homes. The location of the shelters is the nearby town of Holbrook, and authorities will allow the residents to stay in them until the Council rebuilds their homes.

3 Late Monday morning the police arrested two men who were selling stolen car stereo systems to unsuspec­ting customers. They seized all the stolen goods and are holding the men in custody   

4    Match the beginnings with the endings, then decide which belong to news reports and which to stories, justifying your answers

BEGINNINGS

1.  A hurricane hit northern Scotland yesterday morning, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to buildings and littering the area with debris
2. Underground workers remind on strike yesterday as negotiations with transport bosses broke down for the third time in two month
3. “I don’t know what we’re going to do!” Cathy cried as she watched their boat drift further and further away. “Do you think anyone will find us?”

…ENDINGS

1. As they set by the fire, shivering with fear, they suddenly heard the distant sound of a motor. Bob jumped up, took a lighted brunch from the fire and run towards the beach. Help had come at last!
2. “This is one of the worst natural disasters to hit the area for a long time”,   sad the mayor of Thurso, one of the worst hit towns. Clean-up operations are already under way in an attempt to reduce the disruption caused by the damage
3. Transport authorities announced that they would be providing alternative means of transport for commuters, but long delays are expected at peak hours today.

Read the following models, then decide which is a narrative and which is a news report, justifying your answers. Who was each model written by? Which person is each model written in? Give the paragraph plan, and suggest a headline/title for each model.

MODEL A
Disabled swimmer Peter Carlton raced ahead of his opponents to take the gold medal in an incredible moment at yesterday's World Championship Watersports in Sydney. Carlton, a paraplegic, established a firm lead at the start of the race, his powerful arms more than making up— for his weak legs. His final time was an impressive 1 minute 53 seconds
which gave him the gold.
Carlton who was badly injured in a car crash in 1992, is a former world N champion. The accident, however, left him in a wheelchair with almost no < feeling or movement in either of his legs. Following three major operations, he was told by doctors that he would never swim competitively again.
Since that time Carlton has made amazing improvement under his train­er, Phil Stretton. His devotion to the sport made Carlton determined to prove the doctors wrong, and that determination has paid off.

"I'm ecstatic," Carlton told reporters after the race. "But the real credit for winning has to go to Phil, for his patience and faith in my ability."

MODEL В

I heard the roar of the crowd, saw the constant flashing and clicking of cameras, felt water dripping down my back, and then I was being turned around and pushed towards the podium. On this slow motion journey, I began thinking about how familiar, and at the same time strange, all this was.
This time the faces weren't my manager's or trainer's - they were ambulancemen and nurses; the flashing wasn't cameras but police car lights; the liquid dripping was not from the swimming pool but blood from my own legs, and I was being carried on a stretcher towards the waiting ambulance.
Strangely enough, the worst moment wasn't the car accident itself, nor the pain, but when the doctor told me I wouldn't be doing very much swimming in the future. "What do you mean? What are you trying to tell me?" I yelled, knowing from his expression exactly what he meant. My resentment against that doctor — a man who didn't have the courage to tell me clearly that I would never swim or walk again — was such that I was determined to prove him wrong. And so I spent the next five years struggling against the odds, learning how to swim again with just my arms, fighting with those who said I couldn't and with myself when my body said I couldn't.
And now I'd done it. I'd won the World Championship, and I'd broken my own record. When I received the medal, I heard a voice from behind saying, "Congratulations! I sup­pose you don't remember me. I was your doctor about five years ago."

7    Put the words listed below under the appropriate headline. Can you think of other related words? Now write a short news report about each one of the events. gun, security guard, flashing lights, country lane, silver spacecraft, hover above, cashier, staff, threaten to shoot, activate the alarm, strange whirring sound

A

B
UFO   SIGHTED

News Reports

News reports are short pieces of writing about current events which are of interest to the public (e.g. natural disasters, accidents, political or sports events, social events etc). They are formal and impersonal in style and they present facts accurately, objectively and unemotionally. Therefore, they do not include feelings or chatty descriptions unless these are part of someone's comments quoted in direct speech. A news report should consist of:

1. a short, eye-catching headline;
2. an introduction which summarises the event, giving information about the time,
   place and people involved;
3. a main body consisting of two or more paragraphs in which the event is described in
   detail, including information about incidents and the people involved; and
4. a conclusion which includes people's comments on the event, action(s) to be taken
   and/or future developments.

News reports are found in newspapers, magazines, etc. You normally use past tenses, the passive and appropriate reporting verbs in this type of writing.
2   Read the rubric and underline the key words, then answer the questions.
You work for The Bridgeton Herald and have been asked to write a news report about a young child who received an award for bravery. Include details about the reason the award was given and information about the prize-giving ceremony.

1. Who is going to read your report?
A   your school friends
В   readers of the newspaper you work for

2. Which of the following should your article not be about? Give reasons.
A   a man who saved a child from drowning
В   a boy who risked his own life to save his father
С   a woman who stopped a bank robbery from taking place

3. Which of the following must you include in your article? Tick (\/).
A   when and where the award ceremony took place
В   a description of the young child's appearance
С   why the award was presented
D   the weather on the day of the ceremony

4.In which paragraph of your report should you give a brief summary of the
event?

5.In which paragraph should you include people's comments on the event?

6.Should you use short forms? colloquial language? chatty descriptions? If
so, where in your report should you use them?

Introduction

Paragraph 1

summary of the event -what/who/when/where

Main Body

Paragraphs 2, 3, 4

description and detailed information about event, people involved, etc

Conclusion

Final Paragraph

comments and/or actions to be taken and/or future developments

*The number of main body paragraphs may vary depending on the rubric.

1 Was presented presented with an   award
2 award for........................................
3 the decision....................................
4   ............................. his father's life
5   .................................. his own life
6   ........................... under a boulder
7   ................................... by his side
8   ........................................... team
9   .......................................... lunch
10    the event was .............................
11   ........................................ his life
e.g. Thomas was presented with an award by the mayor.

Para 1

summary of event

Para 2
……………………………………….

Para 3
……………………………………….

Para 4
……………………………………….

4   Change the sentences into headlines, as in the example.                              

1. A bomb was found on a train which was heading for London yesterday morning. Bomb found on train heading for London
2. Many fans were injured at the football match
   
3. A sixty-year-old man has been shot by sonic car thieves
4. A team of local climbers reached the top of Mount Everest at three o'clock yesterday afternoon
5. This has been a brilliant season for Manchester United football club
6. A young girl rescued her brother from some kidnappers

5  a) Match the headlines to the paragraphs. There is one extra headline.

a. "MISSING" WINS
      FINALLY FOUND

b FANS INJURED AT MATCH

с VOLCANO CAUSES WAVES

d FARMER WINS E2m ON NATIONAL LOTTERY

Long-lost twin sisters Lucy Wells and Lily Summers met yesterday for the first time, thirty years after having been separated at birth.
Ron Dudd, a 45-year-old farmer from Brumsville, has won two million pounds on the National Lottery.
Scientists on a research ship in the Pacific Ocean had a surprise yesterday when an underwater crater suddenly erupted, causing 20-
metre waves.

b) Write a suitable introduction for the headline which has not been used.

6 Use the notes to write beginnings for the following news reports. Then, give a headline for each.

  1

1. valuable Renoir painting
2. steal late last night
3. Terrence Wagner Museum
4. worth over 2 million poundsin museum since 1983

• 
  

2
Kennedy yesterday
-remain in orbit around earth
-New space station, Hermes
-successfully launched from Cape

7   Join the sentences below using the words in brackets.

1. Mrs Gingell gave birth to seven baby boys. They are all said to be doing well, (who)
2. An elephant was caught yesterday. It had escaped from Janneto's Circus, (which)
3. Doctor Tina White was awarded a prize. Her discovery will help save many lives, (whose)
4. The police have closed the road. The accident happened there, (where)
5. Ten people were injured yesterday. A bus overturned over in Westville. (when)

 


8   a) Use words from the lists to fill in the blanks in the extracts below.


damage, struck, homeless, casualties


1.An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale 1).........................................
the seaside town of Rexford early yesterday morning. No 2)....................................
were reported but there was serious 3).................................... to the area and
hundreds of people were left 4).....................................                         ^
alarm, broken into, witness, armed
2.The Westside Jewellery Shop on Main Street was 5).................................... late
Sunday night. The burglars managed to get into the building without
setting off the 6).......................... One 7)........................ said she saw two
8)…….men running away from the shop carrying large bags.
survivors, cause, rescue workers, debris, trapped
3   9)…….        yesterday freed the two remaining 10)……who were 11)…………under 12)……….from a collapsed warehouse on Friday. The 13)……..of the accident is still unknown.
goals, celebrating, residents, championship, victory
14)............................. of Brockton ran through the streets late last night
15)....................................... Sussex United's 16) .................................
over Leeds. Although Sussex were losing 2 - 0, they managed to score 3
17)...................... in injury time to win the 18)..............................................

 

b) Which of the extracts above is about

1. an accident?
2. a natural disaster?
3. a sports event?
4. a crime?

 

c) Match the extracts to the following headlines. 1 SURVIVORS SAFE AND SOUND

SURVIVORS SAFE AND SOUND

FANS CELEBRATE SUSSEX'S TRIUMPH

JEWELLERYSHOP BURGLED

RESIDENTS  SHAKEN AWAKE

1. News reports, like narratives, describe events that happened in the past. However, the style is different. When writing a report you should:



begin with a summary of the event
include accurate facts
use formal and impersonal style
use the passive
use direct speech to quote what
people have said and reported
speech to rephrase people's
comments


When writing a story you should:

2. begin by setting the scene
3. use chatty style
4. use short forms, colloquial expressions, variety of adjectives/ adverbs
5. refer to the writer's/characters' feelings

 

9  Match the beginnings to the endings, then answer the questions.

BEGINNINGS…
Cyclist Neil Simms, aged 12 is recovering in hospital after being hit yesterday by a lorry belonging to Swifty Delivery

It was a sunny afternoon and Neil Simms was cycling home from school. He was thinking about his plans for the weekend and he didn't see the delivery lorry which pulled out from a side road.
…ENDINGS

a   Weil's dad smiled. "Thank goodness you're going to be alright," he said.

b Policeannounced that the driver would be charged with dangerous driving. Neil's father said that his son was lucky to be alive

a   Which beginning and ending is from a news report? Which is from a narrative?
b   Do they describe the same event?
с  Which extracts contain formal language?
d  Which extracts contain colloquial language, adjectives and short forms?

10 Read the sentences below and replace the words or phrases in bold with those given in the list.
praised, furious, take action, comment on, presented with, denied all knowledge of, seriously injured, suffering from exhaustion, admitted responsibility for, refused to cooperate with

1. The Mayor of London was badly
   hurt in an accident on the motorway
   yesterday.
2. The young boy was told he was
   good for what he had done.
3. The factory owner refused to say
   anything about the story.
4. Local workers are angry about the
   plan.
5. He was eventually rescued from the
   cave when he was feeling very tired.
6. They are putting pressure on the
   government to do something.
7. Neither Suggs nor Dimkins said
   they had caused the accident.
8. Farnwell was given an award for his
   contribution.
9. Mrs Gaston said she knew nothing
   about the stolen painting.

10 The man who was arrested said he would not help the police

11    Rewrite the following sentences in the passive.

1. A fire destroyed one of the museum's most valuable paintings.
2. We will give a prize to the writer of the best story.
3. A rescue team found the lost child in the mountains.
4. Heavy storms hit the east coast of the island late last night.

 

12  Read the introduction and conclusion of the news report below and put
the verbs in brackets into the correct active or passive tense. Then, use
the pictures and prompts to write the main body of the report.


Brunton Bomb Made Safe


A bomb left at Brunton train station 1)............................ .................. (make) safe by explosives experts early this morning. Thej station 2)........................     (close) for two hours

bomb/hide/large
shopping bag/left under
bench/ platform 2
it/report/by passenger/
at 7:00 am

 

 



 

police immediately/evacuated/station while/ explosives experts/ call nobody/hurt/in incident

No one knows who 3)..................... (leave) the bomb at the
station and police do not know why Brunton 4)...................
(choose). Detective George Browning said, "We 5)..............
(want) to speak to people who were in the area between 6:00 and 7:00
this morning. If you 6)......................... (notice) anything unusual,
or if you saw anyone with a brown paper shopping bag, please call Brunton police station on 895.4117."


13 Rewrite the following sentences in reported speech, using verbs from the list

promised, denied, informed, refused, announced, commented

1 "I give you my word that I will do everything in my power to help the victims of the earthquake," said the Mayor at the press conference.
2 The manager of the factory, Mr G Graham, said, "I will not say anything until I have all the facts."
3 When he was arrested, Mr Smith said, "I didn't take the money or the gold."
4  Doctor Godfrey told us, "The situation is serious but we are doing all we can."
5  Headmaster Mr P Brown said, "This is a great achievement for our students. I am proud of them all". "The price of petrol will increase by 2p per litre from midnight on Tuesday," the Prime Minister said.


14   Last week a new music club opened in London. Read the
advertisement and fill in the plan below. Then, use the completed plan to talk about the event.

The BEST Music Club in the World!
No.1 pop singer ANY WONDER will open the club and perform live!
Don't Miss IT
5 Brunei Street, East London

 


SUMMARY OF EVENT

1. Who:                                           
2. Where:                                        
3. When:                                         
4. What:     Shake! music club opened

DETAILS

1. 6pm:     fans started queuing outside club
2. 8.15pm: Any Wonder arrived - black limousine — signed autographs
3. 9pm:      Club opened doors
4. 10pm:    Any Wonder on stage

COMMENTS
• club owner Martin Lowe - "I hope the club will be a great success




15   a) Read the rubric, underline the key words and answer the questions.


You are a reporter for Music Echo magazine and have been asked to write a news report about the opening of Shake! club. Write your report, giving a detailed description of the event and adding a suitable headline. (120-180 words)

1. What type of composition should you write?
2. Who is going to read it?
3. Should you include factual information?
4. Which of the following should you use? Tick (\/).

everyday language___ ; passive voice___ ; formal linking words____ ;
variety of adjectives/adverbs ____  ; variety of reporting verbs ___  ;
colloquial expressions__ .



b) Use the notes in Ex. 14 to write your report about the opening of Shake! club. You can use the report in Ex. 3a) as a model.