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Extra! Read All About It
Module 1, Activity 2.1 - Finding Stories
and Writing Releases
Student Page
(teacher lesson for this page)

Introduction:

There are stories all around us; we just need to ask the right questions, and search in the right places. In this lesson, you will spend time brainstorming story ideas, finding the primary question you would like to answer, and writing your own press release.

Activities:

Task One - Finding a Story
There are many things going on in every community that would make interesting news stories. For the purpose of this lesson, you should try to brainstorm a list of activities or ideas with which you may already be involved or have easy access.

Your task will be to write a news release that would interest a paper in "picking up the story".

For Example:

Your Students Against Drinking and Driving Chapter is holding an Awareness Week.

The Girls' Basketball Team was awarded the Sportsmanship Award at Provincials.

Your youth group in raising money for Toys for Tots.

Your SRC has decided to donate food to the Food Bank in time for Christmas.

Task Two - Prioritizing
The purpose of a news release is to grab the editor's attention and interest her in your story.

You must start by determining all of the basic facts of the potential story - the who, what, where, when, why and how (the 5Ws and the H).

Who - The SRC

What - wants to donate food to the local food bank in time for Christmas

Where - the location and name of the school

When - December 15-22

Why - to help people around the community

How - having a contest in the classrooms
Task Three - Questions to Answer
Once you have written down the basics of your story, you should create a list of other questions that might be interesting to readers.
Objectives:

You will be able to
- understand the purpose of a news release
- understand the role of a news bureau
Resources:

- list of ideas for stories
- access to a computer for typing

Task Three - Continued . . .

Has this ever been done before in your community?

Was it successful in other years?

How is the SRC encouraging students to get involved?

Task Four - What a News Release Should
Look Like
Now you must imagine that you are an editor. You receive hundreds of news releases a week from people hoping that you will cover their story. As a class determine what an editor would like to see in a news release by brainstorming a list.

Once you have come up with ideas about what a quality news release should look like, you will help to create the assessment tool that your teacher will use. Together with your teacher, you must decide on everything that must be in your release.

Remember to consider the type of information you should include and the style in which you should write.
Editors are very busy. It is imperative that your news release be informative, interesting and easy to scan.
 editor at desk

Task Five - Writing the Release
Once you have decided on a story, and a list of criteria for the news release, it is time to write.

Your news release must be:
- no longer than a page
- typed
- handed in to your teacher

Need a basic example of a new release?

The government of Saskatchewan posts their releases on-line.

Last Updated
June 6, 2005

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