MAC212: News Writing Past Questions

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION

SECOND SEMESTER                2012/2013                             TIME: 2h30m

MAC212:      NEWS WRITING

INSTRUCTIONS:  Answer Question 1 and an

1. Use the information in the passage below to write a straight news story:

Argentine footballer, Lionel Messi, is currently Word Player of the Year. He is reportedly one of the highest-paid athletes in the world and is backed by various high-profile sponsors, Messi is being investigated by Spanish authorities for alleged tax fraud. He plays for FC Barcelona. This information came from a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in the Spanish region of Catalonia. The 25years is 10^th Forbes’ latest of top-earning athletes. On top of his salary of over 15 million euros a year, he pulls in about the same amount in endorsements for sponsors including Adidas Pepsi CO, and P$G (HE is suspected of filing fraudulent tax claims from 2006 to 2009, with a discrepancy totaling over four million Euros

2. Define 10 types of leads with one original example of each
3. Distinguish between hard news and soft news with examples explaining how they differ
4. Discuss the guidelines for writing news.
5. Explain the rules for writing summary leads.