In order start your own newspaper it's best if you look at several examples of newspapers first. This way you can get an idea of how you want your paper to look and what type of stories you want to include. Here are a few sites you can check out to view newspapers online. http://www.ipl.org/div/news/ http://newslink.org/ http://newsdirectory.com/ http://library.uncg.edu/news/ Most news stories are similar to regular conversation. A piece typically begins with the most exciting information or highlights the main points and trickles down to the least important information. This method of starting with the most important information and then going to the least important information is called the inverted pyramid. The lead is what usually starts your story. Within the lead, which is typically one sentence long, the writer must cover the 5 w's (who, what, when, where, why) and the how. It often determines the organization of the rest of the story. The lead can be done in various ways. You can use a quote, write a summary, or give a detailed description. A few examples are as follows: News lead (summary): In one of the most amazing feats in years, the gymnast completed a series of extraordinary leaps, flips, and jumps as she twirled two flaming batons on last Saturday afternoon at Illinois' state championship. Quote lead: "I have the worst job in the Army." (www.freep.com/jobspage/academy/writing.htm). This really gets readers interested in finding out why and how could anything be that bad. Description lead: "Penciled sketches of an air strike, complete with renderings of F14s and Patriot missiles. And on the ground, tiny people run for cover. That's how 8-yar old Jimmy Zayas pictures war in the Middle East…" (www.freep.com). These types of leads should be used in all stories included in all articles in your newspaper. The articles in the paper can be classified as hard news stories, columns, the editorial page, features, comics, advertisements, cutlines, letters to the editor, and headlines. Hard News Stories These stories always use the inverted pyramid style discussed above. Reporters typically write them, they are reported through fact not opinion, and follow typical rules of grammar. They are usually those stories set u to tell us about important events going on in our world today; and therefore, their purpose is to inform the reader. Columns These stories have less structure in style than hard news stories. They don't necessarily need to follow the inverted pyramid style of writing. They still follow the usual rules of grammar and are written with the intent to advise, analyze, entertain or give comments on a particular subject. Features These are more personal in style based on the author. They follow typical rules of grammar and are usually written by reporters. They give factual information, though some interpretations are included. Their purpose is to explain information to the public and is often longer in length than the hard news stories. Advertise here! Place your descriptive, but short ads in this section. Don't worry about grammar here - it doesn't matter as long as it makes sense to the viewer! You may want to have a professional help you out on this part. Be sure your ad is persuasive and informative! Letters to the editor To Whom It May Concern: When writing a letter to an editor you should write in essay form and follow typical rules of grammar for letter writing. Please remember whom your audience is when writing your opinion. Also, your purpose here is to remember that this is where your readers' comments belong. Sincerely, The Media Matters Team Editorial Page Our opinion of an editorial page is that it is used to present the newspaper's opinion on a particular topic of public interest. In this essay it is the newspaper's job to persuade its readers to side with the newspaper's viewpoint. You want to get your readers really thinking about your topic of interest. Headlines Be brief! No sentences needed! Copy editors to write this! Get readers interested! Inform! Cutlines These articles are written by copy editors to inform the public about facts from pictures or other stories included in the paper. Index The index is a listing of each section and the page number the section falls on.