FactualRecountsWriting News Reports

SINGAPOREENGLISHNEWSPAPERS

The Straits Times The New Paper Business Times TODAY

EXAMPLES

Why do we read papers?

Learn current events & new information

Publish comments

Provide opportunity to express opinion on issues

Provide entertainment

SECTIONS in The Straits TimesPrimeAsiaWorld

Singapore TodayHomeForum

SportsObituariesMoney

HEADLINEa heading at the top of an article or page in a newspaper or magazine.

Man Drowned in Quarry Chicken flu hits HK again

COE prices drop to all-time low Farming goes hi-tech

NEWS HEADLINESThe Memory Lingers on

Father-son Team in Perfect Harmony

The Sound of Silence

Better Late than Never

Types of News Reports

Hard NewsImmediate reports of recent

events

Soft NewsNews which provide readers with information which is of

general interest

Hard News

Road Accidents Criminal Acts Natural Disaster National EventsAnnouncements

on Public Policies

Sports Events

Soft News

New InventionsTrends in Society

and Lifestyle Choices

Celebrity Profiles Travel Destinations

Exercise 1

For Headlines A-G, decide if they are

Hard News Soft News

A) Victorious Lions return home to roaring welcome

B) Dismembered kittens found outside Chong Pang flat

C) 7.7 quake hits off Alaska, triggers local tsunami

D) Top 10 little-known dream islands

E) Worker dies from fall at Sengkang site

F) Thousands flee wildfires in southern Australia

G) Thinner, lighter iPad launching March 2013?

Purpose Hard NewsInformFactualObjective

Soft NewsEntertainNeed not be factualSubjective

Our FocusHard News

Structure of News Report1. Headline2. Byline3. Introduction [Lead]4. Body [Detail]5. Conclusion

Exercise 2

1. Headline2. Byline3. Introduction [Lead]4. Body [Detail]5. Conclusion

Arrange this news report according to this structure:

Let’s go through the answer now

Robbery Suspects nabbed after chase By Jalelah BakerTaxi driver Tan Chai Cheng, 52, had picked three passengers up at 7.40am yesterday and was about to drop them off at West Coast Park when he was held at knife point.

Byline

Headline

Introduction

BodyHe was then forced to hand over about $250, his

cellphone and also the key to his taxi.Although stranded, the quick-thinking cabby

stopped a car on West Coast Highway. The driver, 60-year-old man, then called the police before agreeing to drive around to look for the suspects.

They were spotted minutes later and Mr Tan gave chase. Student Michael Theofanis, 19, who had heard Mr. Tan’s cries for help, instinctively joined in.

When the three suspects tried to escape by taking a bus, Mr. Tan stopped it by standing in front of it. He then did the same when they tried to board a taxi. Even threats by one of the suspects welding a knife failed to deter the pair.

The police arrived shortly and caught a man and a woman. The third suspect was arrested at his house about eight hours later. The three suspects are aged between 18 and 22.

Yesterday evening, at the Clementi Police Division headquarters, Mr Theofanis was given a plaque and commended for his actions.

ConclusionMr. Tan who had remained calm throughout the incident, had learnt his lesson from a previous experience—he was robbed of $10 000 eight years ago in a lift by three knife-welding men and still has a scar to show for it.

Those convicted of armed robbery with hurt may be jailed up to 20 years and are liable to a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane.

The End