Seven Steps to an Effective News Article

Sharing news articles is an excellent method for gaining publicity for your small business, nonprofit, crowdfunding campaign or upcoming event. Publishing your article in a local newspaper is always ideal, as you want to promote your organization/project towards its surrounding community.

In addition to local publicity, you can gain national publicity by publishing your article in GrantNews.press, the premier newspaper for nonprofit and business leaders. We publish articles that provide ideas and inspiration for other organizations and communities. If your article promotes a replicable business method, crafty solution to a common problem, invoking notion, etc., send it our way!

We have given you information regarding how to write an article for GrantNews, but we haven’t given you any information on how to write an article in general. Where do you start and how should you end? If you find yourself stumbling over your first few sentences or struggling with the final paragraph, we have created this list of steps just for you:

1. Select Your Topic.

The first and easiest step of writing your news article is picking the topic of discussion. Considering you decided to write an article in the first place, it is safe to assume you already have an idea in mind.

However, the subject of the article should be newsworthy. That is, the article shouldn’t simply be about your company. You want your article to function as a type of announcement, such as for upcoming events, new management or interesting employees, campaign launches, etc.

2. Conduct Your Research.

Now that you have your topic, you can begin your research. Depending on the article’s subject, you want to seek out answers to six main questions: when, where, why and how is what is happening and who is making it happen?

Feel free to be messy with your research, gathering as much information as possible. Conduct interviews with associated individuals, as direct quotations add credibility to news texts, and/or read published materials for relative information. While you may not use all the information, the extensive research will help you pick suitable details to create a well-rounded, knowledgeable article.

3. Organize Your Details.

Create an outline to organize all your research into a coherent, easy-to-understand news piece. Start by picking out the most important details from your research—information that must be used in the article. Organize your details into at least three separate sections (introduction, body and conclusion). Group the details that pertain to the same general subtopic in one section.

Note that the most important information (when, where, why, what, who and how) should be used in the first paragraph following your leading sentence. The miscellaneous and/or supporting details and interview quotations will fill out the body paragraphs and the details regarding the audience should be saved for the conclusion.

4. Establish Your Writer Persona.

Before you begin writing, consider your ideal audience. Who will read your news piece? You want to write in a tone of voice that interests that specific market. In addition to crafting your tone of voice, consider the appropriate terminology. For example, you would not use business jargon in an article announcing new playground equipment at a local park.

5. Write a Compelling Sentence.

The first sentence is the most important part of your article. It must grab the audience by the gut—make them want to continue reading. When creating an interesting leading sentence, consider simply saying it aloud to someone unrelated to the article. Does he/she want to hear more?

6. Fluff Out Your Outline.

If you have an effective outline, the article will practically write itself. With your established tone of voice, simply write each section of your article using your chosen details and smooth transitions. Read it aloud and ask yourself (or a friend) if anything sounds out of place.

7. Write a Conclusion.

As mentioned before, your conclusion contains information specifically for your audience. You want to end the article by giving the audience something to take away. What have they learned? Should they make reservations for an upcoming event? Should they donate to your new crowdfunding campaign? If so, why? Your conclusion is the key to generating good publicity; tell your audience why this information should matter to them. Then, tell them what they should do with this information.

Now that you know how to write an article, start publicizing your business or nonprofit with a news piece on GrantNews.press. Click here for more information on publishing your article. We look forward to reading your work!

About the Author: Kayli Tomasheski is a Copy Editor for GrantNews.press.

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