Here are the universally accepted practice of writing numbers in newspaper reports:

1. Spell out the numbers one through nine; for 10 and up, use Arabic numerals.
For writing ages and percentages, always use Arabic numerals, even for numbers less than 10.

2. Spell out numerals that start a sentence; if the result is awkward, recast the sentence:
(E-g) Twenty-seven were allowed entry to the show.
Yesterday, the school received 223 applications for admission to higher secondary class.

3.The one exception to this rule is in a sentence that begins with a calendar year.
(e-g) 1947 was an important year in the Indian history.

4. Use Roman numerals for wars, monarchs and Popes
(e-g) : World War II, King George VI, Pope John XXIII

5. Do not use commas between words that are part of one number.
(e-g) One thousand one hundred fifty-five.

6. Proper names: use words or numerals according to an organization’s practice.
(e-g) 21st Century Leasing, Big Ten

How to write dates?

1. Always use Arabic figures, without st, nd, rd or th

2. When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year with commas.
Aug. 21, 2009, was the day they had all been waiting for.

After writing your copy, go back and check if your have written the numbers correctly. The way you write tell you how much homework you have done and how much importance you give to your report to make it ready for publishing

The online search has become inevitable.

Even when you think of adding  historical background about the school you are writing on, you  check the Net for info.

When you want to do a project in Science or Math you refer to online sources.

Many times, you not only check change in telephone numbers online, but the map of a particular location, if you haven’t been there yet!

What is more important than mere attributions for the online searches, is two things that one MUST follow:

- Be sure of the credibility of the website you are referring to.

- Always verify with alternate sources.

Apart from that, if you want to add a visual to your story and just ‘steal’ an image from the Net, be careful, you may be sued for unauthorised use.

Remember, photographs belong to the person who have clicked them and they are their intellectual property. Any use of them should be with their permission or at least with a credit to them, if they do not explicitly mention about their copyright.

Oh, then what’s the difference between quote and attribution?
Well, it goes like this – All quotes are attributions and all attributions are not quotes!
If it further complicates the very idea, here are two links to read.

On Quotes

On Attribution

Many times, we go beyond just observing the event. We talk to related (sometimes unrelated) persons and gather more info.

But how do we quote them? When do we put their words within a pair of inverted commas?

This is one which pops up as speed breaker during the flow of writing a report.

Generally, the junior reporters have the habit of alternating between reporting in their own words and in quotes throughout the report. Perhaps, to make the report appear interesting!

In the process they end up with a dangerous habit of ‘quoting’ all unimportant facts and ‘writing’ important points in their own words.

After a few sacrifices to the scissors of the editors , they learn what to ‘quote’ and what to ‘write’.

Here goes what I learnt and find them useful even now:

- Do not quote anything unless there is something striking in what the person has said.
- Do quote verbatim, when there is an immediate and strong reaction to your question.
- Do quote if there is an interpretation on any statement or issue raised by the concerned person or issue.
- Do make sure that the words that go between the pair of inverted commas are the speaker’s own. Not a single word is added by you!
- Do not repeat whatever is quoted,  in your own words anywhere in your report.

This is one sentence that inspired me to look for story ideas in whatever I observe on the road, at a street corner or in a conversation.

When you are in the process of learning, anything could inspire you.
A word or two, on the go from your seniors, especially the head of the news desk.

How can an ordinary event be an interesting story for the readers?

On that day, I could get a few tips falling off casually while walking with my editor to the next cabin. “Just look around, even a queue at a venue is a story by itself. If you can share a useful info for the reader, that makes him sit up and read the report entirely!”

And that evening, I found the ‘real’ queue and a story. It was a long queue for a music album at a concert venue. The artiste of the evening was a popular singer. But the queue at the counter was not for the tickets of the concert. But was for a rare music album from the archives that All India radio was selling at the venue at a huge discount.

So when you step out of your home the next time, just keep looking around, you will find plenty of stories that would interest your readers.

There are no dearth of story ideas around you and in your neighbourhood. Just keep your eyes open!

Same way, if a TV journalist writes an article for a newspaper, you cannot make out the style of hers.

When you write and get published with a byline, the readers know the journalist by their names.

In all the above cases, the readers, viewers and listeners know the reporter / journalist by their names and can identify their reports and writings just by their styles of presentation.

The journalists are no more faceless.

However, the different media – print, radio, TV and the web – demand differently from the journalists.

Talking,  rather speaking in front of the camera and writing are two different poles.

You talk on the spot, spontaneously but you read again and again your written copy before filing it for print!

But to me, it was always – writing first.

We tell a story. Just report what we see. Add the right facts to it. Ensure all the five ‘w’s and the ‘h’ are perfectly answered. And any useful info readers look for is added. If a box containing the introduction about the subject is included, nothing like that.

Any medium that conforms to the rules of story telling interestingly is good. You just write the story for print, string it with a photo or two.
Narrate the story through voices for broadcast.
Videograph the sequence for the TV or make it a multimedia story with a set of photographs and narration.
All are interesting!

Reading it again? Yes, it is not WYSIWYG, the popular computer jargon.
WYSIWYG is What You See Is What You Get, for those who are yet to be introduced to the term. (Pronounced as ‘Visiwig’)

By WYSWYR I mean What You See Is What You Report! And you report exactly and not approximately.

This is another skill that should be acquired in the early stages of writing.

When I was writing project appraisals for a bank, the funda of ‘getting the facts right’ was of utmost importance.

For example:

• If the company is 9 years old today, it was started on 20th of January 1999.
• If the company is producing undersea cable manufacturers, they are manufacturing undersea fibreoptic telecommunication cables!

I could apply this easily to reporting. When I was assigned to report on an event of making a gold plated temple chariot, I was also guided to touch on a few details that would interest the readers.

• What is the quantity of the precious metal that goes into the work?
• How is the malleable metal applied in different tiers of the work?
• How long did it take? At one go or dis any part of the work needed the time for the adhesives to dry up?
• Where did the artisans come from?

• What was special about the artisans from that particular area?
• Where can we find the other such works of the artisans?
• Where does the money come from?
• And how was the metal under purchase regulations were bought up?

When the report was published I could see that it contained all that a reader would want to know.

In the quest for knowing the facts right and in detail you learn much more than writing and reporting skills
In the above example, the reporter could have learnt many things from chemistry to economics!

Go for the facts and details in all your report. But put them in a tight capsule.

Or would you like to write on an event held at your school for a website like YOCee?

Some tips to start with:

- Always start with a small report.

- Let that report have all the elements – who, what, when, where and why. The ‘how’ part is yours. The way you write about the event goes into this section.

- Write in simple language, but the grammar and punctuation be in place.

- After writing your piece, read it for yourself and cut out the unwanted explanations and information.

- Check all the facts again.

That’s all, you are done.

Look at a sample news story here. Observe that it has all the info – what, where, when, who…

But the article is really small!

But what skills you should possess to make the most of such opportunities.

Definitely you should have a passion for writing. A flair for the language. Love what you do. What else beyond this?

What qualities do newspaper editors look for?

· an interest in current affairs at all levels
· a lively interest in people, places and events
· an ability to write in a style which is easy to understand
· good spelling, grammar and punctuation
· an appreciation of the part a local newspaper plays in the community
· a willingness to work at  irregular hours
· an ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines.
· determination and persistence.

But add another point – a good health to support your activities you undertake!

Do you too have these qualities in you? Go ahead and sharpen your pencils, neaten up your notepad and and take your bicycle out. That’s the best vehicle for a journalist!

In simple terms it is ‘Most Important things First – Least Important things Last’. Just that.

Though the present day newspapers and TV channels tend to present the stories in new and innovative forms, they are with underlying emphasis on this most traditional form of inverted pyramid story telling.

The first few lines have to hint what the rest of the story is all about. This is called the lead. But the rest of the story should also hold the reader up to know why, wher, when and who of the first para.
A good article should make the reader sit up to read the complete story..

Once when I searched on the internet for tips I found this.
What stunned me was Point no. 8, the last point.