Lesson 4 - Role of the Editor
Materials: Preparation: This lesson takes some work, but you can save time by using a photocopier. Assignment Assessment: Group marks can be assigned based on knowledge of what a news story is. Neatness will count.
Cut out a variety of news stories, feature articles, sports stories, photographs, advertisements, comics, banners, even the advice columns. You must have enough cut out so that a group of students can choose articles and advertisements for the front page of a newspaper. Use a photocopier to duplicate the stories, but try to vary the contents of each envelope so that it is unlikely that two front pages will look the same.
What makes information newsworthy?
Some clippings may have to be cut to fit. Before cutting, read the story over carefully. You should identify the most important information in the story. Less important information and detail can be cut out. In a news story the facts are arranged in an Inverted Pyramid style. The information at the bottom of the story contains details that are not crucial to the story.
As a reminder of what a front page looks like, see examples of real front pages linked here. If you have time, visit a news stand where international papers are sold and display front pages from other cities.