The headline, byline, lead, body, and tail are the four main parts of a newspaper and may all be broken down into one another.
Introduction
You may learn more about newspaper construction here, which can improve your instruction and the creative writing of your students.
An illustration of this newspaper construction in the shape of an inverted pyramid may be found below. When providing a proposed format for a newspaper report, this shape is frequently utilised. The most crucial information is presented initially, and as the pyramid proceeds, each part includes less crucial information. This is not to argue that the text's body is not significant; rather, it would not be possible for it to exist without a lead, headline, or byline.
The Headline:
The headline functions to grab the reader’s attention while successfully summarising the main point of the article. It needs to be short and snappy, which can sometimes mean missing out non-essential words such as ‘the’, ‘a’, or ‘to’. Headlines also need to be eye-catching, which can be achieved by using humour, alliteration, or a pun. Write in the present tense even if the event has already happened. This will help to simplify your language choices.
It should be written in the third person.
The Byline:
The byline is the easiest part of the entire article as it does not require much creativity. It functions to tell the reader who the article is by, what their job role is, and how to find more of their content.
The byline structure:
Start your byline by inserting your full name after the word ‘by’.
Add your speciality, so you may be a sports reporter, education reporter, or a food writer, for example.
Then detail how the reader can find more of your opinions or your work, so add in a made-up social media name, such as @JoeBloggs.
The Lead:
The lead could be seen as the most essential part of the newspaper structure. It should be one paragraph long, and by reading it, your audience should be able to understand exactly what your article is about and what you are reporting on.
The Body:
This is the main section of your newspaper article, so it will include lots of important information about what happened, along with more detail about what you said in your lead section. The body should be around 3-4 paragraphs long, depending on how much your teacher has instructed you to write.
Conclusion
The tail includes the least important information from your report and functions to sum-up the events. Add any extra or surrounding information about the event or related topics.
Include links for where to find extra information about the topic or other news reports.
You could also feature a quote from an expert or witness to sum up the story or imply what may unfold next. You can also download our app from the playstore or visit our website.
