M M Kobiruzzaman, Author at Newsmoor

Inverted Pyramid Style

Inverted Pyramid Style refers to the hierarchical structure of news writing in which essential information is presented before the non-essential info in the news story. According to the Inverted pyramid style, the most essential info goes to the top, following the less important information. Many readers read only the main point of the news mentioned in the news lead section.

The mass media journalist comprehensively follows an inverted pyramid style to write a news story. It assists writers in illustrating the most crucial information on top of the news. This style prioritizes newsworthy information to write a news article, telegraph, blogs, editorial-column and sometimes in feature articles in journalism. It is one of the most effective strategies to grab readers’ attention to read the whole story.

Inverted Pyramid History

The inverted pyramid style has been used since the invention of the telegraph in 1844. Samuel F. B. Morse invented the telegraph in 1840. However, the written message was sent for long-distance interaction in 1844. People followed the inverted pyramid style to send breaking news through telegraph to inform others. They put essential info on top, following the non-essential information. Nowadays, journalists follow this inverted triangle style to report stories in the different types of journalism, including print, broadcast, and digital.

The inverted pyramid describes a triangle diagram pointing down feature, which is an inverted triangle writing style. The broader part of the pyramid goes top, and the narrow section goes down. It indicates that the essential news goes up to catch the reader’s attention.

Inverted Pyramid Model

The inverted pyramid framework contains three segments: the lead: the most newsworthy information; the body: essential details; and the tail: background info.

1. The Lead: Most Newsworthy Information

The Lead includes the most newsworthy information, followed by the 5w and 1h of report writing style. The journalist should answer the six questions (who, what, where, when, why, and how) to report the story. This information attracts the audience to read the entire story; hence, the writer keeps the most newsworthy words on the top of the news. The Lead segment includes around 30 words and 1-2 paragraphs. A good news lead must enclose 5w’s and 1h report writing formula. The readers can stop reading at any time; therefore, journalists put an essential fact on top of the report.

2. The Body: Essential Details

The body represents the details information to expand the story. It also extends the news lead to provide more background details. The main issue gets illustrated in this section. It is a broader part of the report where details info is explained.

3. The Tail: Background Info

The tail is the last part of the news report. It includes background and additional information to the story for readers. The background information keeps readers engaged with the news for a long time. The editor cuts unnecessary info from the news bottom.

In journalism, the inverted pyramid style is a strategic story structure where the most important details are presented first. The report’s 5w and 1 h questions appear at the story’s beginning, followed by supporting details and background information.

Inverted Pyramid Style of News Writing Examples

A Colorful Celebration of Malaysia’s National Day

By: M M Kobiruzzaman

UPDATED AUGUST 31, 2022, 12:13 AM

The Lead: Most Essential Info

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s 65 National Day parade brought a massive crowd to Dataran Merdeka, Independence Square, located in Kuala Lumpur’s capital. Around 100,000 visitors participated in the celebration on Wednesday (Aug 31) after a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa expressed that we are surprised to see overwhelming civilian participation in the celebration. He also mentioned that around 20,000 participants joined the parades to run the show smoothly.

The Body: Details and Essential Info

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob participated in the ‘Ambang Merdeka 2022’ program at Anjung Floria with family members to celebrate the 65th National Day. The Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim, deputy Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias, Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin, and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong also joined the program held present 4. At midnight, the national anthem ”Tanggal 31 Ogos”and patriotic songs reverberated through the Dataran Merdeka ground—the civilians shouted to usher the occasion cheerfully.

The 31 August is the official Independence Day in Malaysia, also known as Hari Merdeka. People celebrate this day with respect and joy to commemorate the declaration of independence on 31 August 1957. After two years, people celebrate Malaysia’s 65th National Day, full of patriotic spirit and amusement.

The most fantastic event was displaying fireworks for five minutes that lit up the Kuala Lumpur sky. The program has been blessed by the clear weather influencing people from all walks of life to cheer the crowd.

Earlier, many famous local artists such as Ella, Haqiem Rusli, Man Bai, and Ameng Spring perform to treat the crowd. The most local point in Kuala Lumpur, including KLCC and Botanical Gardens, was flooded with thousands of people to commemorate National Day.

The Tail: Additional Info

However, the gathering of thousands of people caused heavy traffic surrounding the area of KLCC. Kuala Lumpur police managed to control heavy traffic and ensured participants’ safety and security.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Inverted Pyramid

The inverted pyramid is used chiefly globally in traditional print journalism frameworks for news writing. It organizes the news story chronologically and presents the news’s main point in the first paragraph, including facts and evidence. The inverted pyramid style of news writing has advantages and disadvantages in news writing.

Advantages of the Inverted Pyramid News Writing Style

Facilitates Editor

The editors can modify the headline easily if it is necessary. The headline should be based on the main point of the story. Hence, the editor can rewrite the headline based on the news lead, and they do not need the whole report. Sometimes, editors cut unnecessary info from the news tail. The inverted pyramid style assists them in modifying news quickly.

Improve Writer Performance

The inverted pyramid style improves the author’s news writing performance. It shows them a chronological way to publish news easily. This model applies to all types of news writing, so authors follow the same structure regularly. It certainly saves time to write and deliver news content.

Improve Reader’s Comprehension

The reader can easily understand the whole topic while reading the news lead. The inverted pyramid suggests following the 5w and one h writing style, making the feature more attractive to readers.

Represent the Fact

The inverted pyramid news writing style represents the fact of the story in chronological sequence. It assists the author in identifying the uninteresting factors and separating them accordingly.

Save Time

The reader can understand the entire news story by reading the news lead so they can decide whether to read it. They can avoid the news if the story is not essential or relevant. So it does not tire the readers.

Improve News Values

The inverted pyramid journalism improve newsworthyness and news values. This model is applicable to all types of journalism including Personal influence, Controversy, Suitability, Impact and Bizarre.

Increase Revenue

The inverted pyramid news style encourages readers to narrow down to read the conclusion. The audiences spend more time online on news portals, t increases revenue.

Disadvantages of the Inverted Pyramid News Writing Style

The inverted pyramid style represents the main ideas on the top of the news; therefore, many light readers read the headline and lead and leave it. It cannot hold the audience on the same report for long. Hence, the most significant cons of the inverted pyramid style are that it provides the primary information o top and releases the audience.

No Suspense

This model does not influence to make suspense, but many readers find uncertainty in news stories. It demotivates readers from reading the news due to the suspense.

No Creativity

The writers can follow the same style to write all types of news. So, there is less opportunity to emphasize the author’s creativity. It does not influence writers to implement creativity.

Formulaic

It can feel the readers that reports are generated in the same formula. A backward style gives more value to the structure rather than facts.

No Begining

The story has no beginning or end. It focuses on the basic rules of the inverted pyramid style while writing news rather than the beginning point of the story. It demotivates journalists to write the story from the beginning point.

In conclusion, despite the pros and cons, most journalists, directly and indirectly, utilize the inverted pyramid style for report writing.

Lasswell Model of Communication

Lasswell’s linear communication model consists of five elements: who says what, in which channel, to whom with what effect. American psychologist and sociologist Harold Lasswell introduced a linear communication model in 1948. It is also known as the Action Model in communication. Harold Lasswell’s model describes the communication process with five questions; “Who? Says what? In which channel? To whom, and with what effect?” These are the five fundamental components of the Lasswell model. The researcher did not explain the feedback; therefore, it is a linear communication model. It was a significant model for explaining the verbal communication process.

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Example of Lasswell Model of Communication

A news reporter disseminates news regarding the negative impact of social media on BBC television to inform the general public.

Lasswell Model of Communication Components

The five components of Lasswell’s model are:

Who
Says What
In Which Channel
To Whom
With What Effect

Harrold Lasswell’s model is also known as the 5Ws model in the communication arena for these five elements.

Who

Who refers to the sender of the message who initiates the communication. It also indicates the speaker and writer of the communication process. For example, the message’s sender is the news presenter, journalist, or political speaker.

Says What

Says What refers to the message of the communication. The question “Says What” is intended to identify the sender’s statement. For example, a news presenter delivers a FIFA world cup 2022 news update.

In Which Channel

In Which Channel describes the message transmitting pathway. It shows how the information reaches target audiences. The channel of communication differs based on the communication way. For example, Television, radio, and newspapers are communication channels in mass media. In contrast, hearing, seeing, smelling, and touching are message-transmitting channels in face-to-face communication. In non-verbal communication, the communication channels are “Physical Appearance, Paralinguistics, Body Movement, Gestures, Posture, Facial Expression, Eye Contact, Proxemics, Haptics, Chronemics, Artifacts, and Environment.”

To Whom

To Whom describes the individuals to whom the message is delivered; it is also known as the receiver of the communication process. The receiver is the audience who receives the information. The sender disseminates the message through a particular channel to reach receivers (To Whom). For example, the news reporter conveys information to the audience who listens to them.

With What Effect

With What Effect illustrates the output of the message. It also validates whether the receivers comprehend the message or not. Sometimes, the sender cannot persuade the audience due to communication noise, faulty channels, and lack of speaker capability.

According to Lasswell’s communication model, there three functions of communication are Surveillance of the surroundings, Correlation of elements of society, and Cultural integration between generations.

Lasswell Model of Communication Examples

1. For example, if a news presenter broadcasts the FIFA World cup information to inform Football lovers, we can relate the Lasswell c model to this event. It analyzes who is disseminating information (News Presenter), What is saying (FIFA World cup information), Which channel the news presenter is using to transfer information (Television), and “Effect” is the objective of the news.

2. Another Lasswell model example of a situation is the newspaper advertisement. We can see that the organization promotes its products via newspaper channels to inform customers.

3. Politicians address speeches on radion to motivate voters to vote for their parties.

4. Lecturers send assignment instructions to students via email to get their information.

6. An organization sends appointment letters to candidates through postal and courier services.

7. Students submit assignments to the lecturer on an A4 paper sheet.

8. The HR manager posts current company rules and regulations on the notice board to inform all employees.

9. A writer publishes his latest book series for readers.

10. A motivational speaker gives a speech on how to lead a happy life with limited wealth through a YouTube channel.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Lasswell model communication

Advantages of the Lasswell model

Firstly, the Lasswell model explains the information-transmitting process by throwing five questions to the readers. The answer to these questions indeed describes the whole communication process.

Secondly, the model is suitable for all verbal communication processes, including human communication.

In addition, this model has excellent heuristic significance, and the concept has been utilized in several types of research.

Disadvantages of the Lasswell model

Firstly, the Lasswell model does not indicate the feedback clearly to this model; hence, it is suitable to explain only one-way conversation but not transactional communication like face-to-face interaction.

In addition, the Lasswell model does not appropriately explain the nonverbal communication process since it mentions the “Who Say” component. In the nonverbal communication context, senders convey messages without spoken words.

Moreover, the Lasswell model cannot explain effective communication adequately, such as the interaction between two individuals. In face-to-face communication, both the sender and receiver provide feedback simultaneously. There is no feedback in the Lasswell model that can explain interpersonal and group interaction.

Furthermore, Lasswell’s model completely ignores the communication noise barriers to effective communication.

Finally, it is a propaganda-based linear model. This model focused on describing social and political propaganda.

Lasswell’s Communication Model Explanation

Lasswell Linear Model of Communication Explanation Image or Photo

Who and when establishes the Lasswell communication model?

Harold Dwight Lasswell’s short name (Harold Lasswell) established the Lasswell model in 1948.

What type of model is it?

Lasswell’s communication model explains a one-way communication process; therefore, it is linear, like Aristotle’s communication model, Shannon-Weaver’s communication model, and Berlo’s SMCR communication model.

Reference For This Article- APA 7th Edition

Kobiruzzaman, M. M. (2023). Lasswell Model of Communication 1948 Examples & Components. Newsmoor. https://newsmoor.com/lasswell-model-of-communication-1948-examples-components/

In-text citation
According to Kobiruzzaman (2023)
In research from Kobiruzzaman (2023)