By Ben Saperstein & Wei-Lin Zhou
West Hills Press
West Hills MS
1st Place Division MS, News Writing
News Story
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscores news story importance
- Uses inverted pyramid
- Emphasizes news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact, and prominence
- Shows thorough reporting skills
- Effective use of facts/quotes from both primary and secondary sources
- Avoids opinion unless properly attributed
- Sentences, paragraphs of varied length; written clearly, concisely, and vividly
- Proper diction/grammar; use of third person