GAiN EUROPE for ADVENTIST COMMUNICATORS

What do you tell 40 media professionals in a workshop on newswriting.  For Ansel Oliver it is simple, "Go in deeper"

As assistant Director for News at ANN (the Adventist World Church News Service), he is concerned that too much Adventist journalism only scratches the surface of the story.  He says, "Focus on issue and the results, not just that the meeting occurred."  Headlines don't say 'Brazil played Argentina', but rather that 'Brazil defeats Argentina 2:1'. 

His suggestion was that writers and editors report the very most important thing in the first sentence – rather than give a chronological account of a whole day of events, most of which may not be of interest or keep the attention of the reader.

 He also says that first paragraph must say something real, not that the preacher preached a nice sermon on the theme of forgiveness – but a challenge – what did he say that was different.  Did it change people's attitudes.  Make sure you answer the journalists questions: Who, what, where, why and when?