TEMPLATE — THE SHAPE A NEWS ARTICLE TAKES
News article (template)
This is the shape a news article takes. Nothing in it is a real article — every part below is a labelled empty slot, so the layout can be read before there is anything to publish.
This is a template
Nothing has been published in the newsroom, and this is not an article. The slots below are the anatomy each one uses, and a real article replaces this page rather than joining it — carrying its author, its reviewer, its date and its sources.
The parts of an article
- Headline and dateWhat changed, and the day it was posted.
- The answer firstWhat this means for families, in the opening lines, before any background.
- Why it mattersThe detail for whoever needs it, in plain English rather than in the language of the announcement.
- What to do about itThe one practical thing that follows from it, and the route to doing it.
- Sources, author and reviewWhere the facts came from, who wrote it, who checked it, and the date of that check.
Why every page here ends in one thing
Best Chance gives one next move rather than a list, because six things to do is six things to be behind on. How it works sets out how that one move gets chosen.