Page 1 of 5
Title / Demonstrate understanding of news writing and write news stories suitable for community newspapers, internetand radio
Level / 4 / Credits / 20
Purpose / This unit standard is intended for people studying journalism in an off-job situation.
People credited with this unit standard are able to: demonstrate understandingof news writing for news stories for print, internet and radio; and write news stories suitable for publication in community newspapers and the internet and for broadcast on radio.
Classification / JournalismJournalism Skills
Available grade / Achieved
Entry information
Recommended skills and knowledge / Unit 27618,Gather material for writing news stories.
Explanatory notes
1This unit standard has been designed for learning and assessment off-job where scenarios may be used to gather evidence. This standard should not be used as part of a professional journalism course or qualification.
2Industry text
–Tully, Jim (ed), Intro:A Beginner's Guide to Professional News Journalism (Wellington: New Zealand Journalists Training Organisation, 4th edition, 2008).
3Definitions
–news journalism style refers to the standard required for news media outlets to consider publishing the material. It will recognise standards described in the industry text and may include but is not limited to newsworthiness; platforms; reliability, validity and usefulness; news values; introductions (impact, succinctness); structure (appropriate for story type and platform; arranged logically); grammar; spelling; punctuation; word selection (jargon and clichés avoided); attribution (mix of direct and indirect quotes including paraphrasing); understanding (issues in context, key questions answered); balance; fairness; media style; language used in news media publications and broadcasting;
–news storiesrefer to timely and succinct accounts of unfolding events of public interest;
–newswritingrefers to the writing style used for news reporting in media such as newspapers, radio, television and internet news sites. It encompasses vocabulary, sentence structure and the way in which stories present the information in terms of relative importance, tone, and intended audience;
–newsworthiness refers to events of sufficient interest or importance to the public to warrant reporting in the media;
–reliability, validity and usefulness when referring to a news source mean that the bona fides of the person, organisation or reference are established as a credible, knowledgeable, accurate and authoritative source;
–vox pop refers to an interviewing technique to gather public opinion on a public issue;
–writing for ear refers to the conversation style used in radio news reports.
Outcomes and evidence requirements
Outcome 1
Demonstrate understandingof newswritingfor news stories for print and the internet.
Rangeevidence is in accordance with the industry text;
Evidence requirements
1.1The use of written language for news story writing is demonstrated.
Rangeincludes but is not limited to –spelling, grammar, tenses, plural, punctuation: capitals, full stop, macron, accents, comma, apostrophe, quotation and speech marks, exclamation mark, question mark, colon, semi colon, hyphen, dash, brackets, and square brackets.
1.2The difference between the use of news writingconventions and other forms of written expression is demonstrated.
Rangeincludesbut is not limited to –story structure, paragraph structure, sentence structure, sentence length, grammatical requirements, length,inverted pyramid style and narrative writing, media style, the role of the intro.
1.3The reasons for the use of news writing conventions are explained.
Rangeincludes but is not limited to –immediacy, readability, conciseness, active voice, plain writing, lack of modifiers, avoidance of clichés, fluency, clarity.
1.4Journalistic devices used in print and internet news stories are explained.
Rangeincludes but is not limited to –attribution, direct and indirect quotes, verb tenses, pull quotes, side bars.
Outcome 2
Write news stories suitable for publication in community newspapers and on the internet.
Rangeevidence is required for a minimum of six news stories suitable for publication in a community newspaper and on the internet. All stories must include a range of photographs. One story must include statistical information, and one must be written from a vox pop survey. Information gathered for assessment against Unit 27610, Gather material suitable for writing news stories maybeused as the basis for writing the news stories.
Evidence requirements
2.1News stories suitable for publication in community newspapers and on the internet are written in accordance with news journalism style.
Rangeintro and supporting angles; clear, concise and coherent writing; short, plain sentences; active voice and vigorous verbs; accurate and consistent spelling, grammar and punctuation; fair, accurate and balanced.
2.2News stories are corrected in accordance with news journalism style and filed in accordance with training establishment practices.
Outcome 3
Demonstrate understandingof news writing for news storiesfor broadcast on radio.
Evidence requirements
3.1The correct use of writing for the ear is explained in accordance with the industry text.
Rangeconcise, crisp, conversational.
3.2Common style conventions for writing news stories for radio are complied with in accordance with news journalism style.
Range:formality of language, punctuation, abbreviations, honorifics, media style for radio news.
3.3Journalistic devices used in a radio news storyare explained in accordance with the industry text.
Range includes but is not limited to–listener accessibility, news reading simplicity, listener attention.
Outcome 4
Write news stories for broadcast on radio.
Rangeevidence is required for a minimum of four news stories suitable for broadcast on radio;
information gathered for assessment against Unit 27618, Gather material suitable for writing news stories, maybeused as the basis for writing the news stories.
Evidence requirements
4.1News stories suitable for broadcast on a radio station are written in accordance with news journalism style.
Rangewritten for the ear;intro and supporting angles; clear, concise and coherent writing; short, plain sentences; active voice and vigorous verbs; accurate and consistent spelling, grammar and punctuation; summarised information contains essential points; fair, accurate, and balanced.
4.2News stories are corrected in accordance with news journalism style and filed in accordance with training establishment practices.
Planned review date / 31 December 2016Status information and last date for assessment for superseded versions
Process / Version / Date / Last Date for AssessmentRegistration / 1 / 19 January 2012 / N/A
Consent and Moderation Requirements (CMR) reference / 0002
This CMR can be accessed at
Please note
Providers must be granted consent to assess against standards (accredited) by NZQA, before they can report credits from assessment against unit standards or deliver courses of study leading to that assessment.
Industry Training Organisations must be granted consent to assess against standards by NZQA before they can register credits from assessment against unit standards.
Providers and Industry Training Organisations, which have been granted consent and which are assessing against unit standards must engage with the moderation system that applies to those standards.
Requirements for consent to assess and an outline of the moderation system that applies to this standard are outlined in the Consent and Moderation Requirements (CMR). The CMR also includes useful information about special requirements for organisations wishing to develop education and training programmes, such as minimum qualifications for tutors and assessors, and special resource requirements.
Comments on this unit standard
Please contact if you wish to suggest changes to the content of this unit standard.
CompetenzSSB Code 101571 / New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2019