On Thursday (28/11), the Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada (SPs UGM) organized a workshop titled “Enhancing News Writing Skills.” This event was aimed at the news writing team within SPs UGM, focusing on strengthening their understanding of quality news writing techniques.
Agung Ismiyanto, a journalist and editor at Tribun Jogja, served as the speaker for the workshop. Agung presented material on proper and effective news writing methods, emphasizing that writing can be enjoyable. Essentially, news writing involves structuring the 5W + 1H elements—what, who, when, where, why, and how—related to an event or activity.
He also highlighted the key aspects of journalistic language, which include brevity, clarity, logical flow, ease of understanding, short sentences, and active voice. Agung stressed the importance of using active sentence structures in news writing to ensure clarity and readability. He also provided insights into structuring headlines and shared tips for crafting them.
“News headlines should consist of 5 to 10 words, reflect a complete thought, and represent the content of the news,” Agung explained.
Beyond news writing, Agung also discussed journalistic interviewing techniques. While he mentioned that there are no strict rules for conducting interviews as they depend on the situation, he offered tips such as using “how” questions and avoiding interrogative or yes-no questions.
The workshop was interactive, with participants engaging in discussions and Q&A sessions. Agung also reviewed several articles already published on SPs UGM’s official website and encouraged participants to actively practice writing news.
SPs UGM hopes this workshop will equip its news writing team with a deeper understanding of effective news writing techniques. The institution also aims to motivate each study program to actively publicize their activities at the program level.
Writer: Muthia Nur Arifah