2.en.04 A talk about refugees

On Monday 21st November we attended a talk about refugees by Joan Reventós, coordinator of the Catalan Comitee of UNHCR (ACNUR in Spanish).

If you would like to know more about what exactly the mission of UNHCR is, click on the following link:

We also heard the personal story of Romina Pulido, public prosecutor in Venezuela.

To hear some of these voices click on the link below from Refugee Action, a British charity for refugees:

Writing an article

Now, use your notes to write a newspaper article (225 to 250 words).

Features of your Article

Headline: Font type: ARIAL; Font size: 28

Text Font type: ARIAL; Font size: 12

Text in two columns

Images: Include at least one image, don’t forget to add caption (and source if possible)

Here you are some guidelines on how to do it:

Structure of a newspaper article

Newspaper articles usually have a title (called the headline) that is set in large type. The writer of a newspaper article is often not credited; if the author is mentioned, this credit is called the author’s byline.

The beginning of each newspaper article (the first paragraph) is called the lead (one or two sentences long); the lead should summarize the main facts of the article, telling the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where, and why) and how. The first paragraph should also contain a hook, something that grabs the reader’s attention and makes the reader want to read the rest of the article.

The rest of the paragraphs form the body of the article. It can consist of several supporting paragraphs which go into more detail about the topic, often including quotes and interesting facts. The less important information should appear later in the article, since the article may be cropped (shortened) by the editor (the person who puts the newspaper together) to make the article fit on the newspaper page.

This layout is usually called the inverted pyramid layout:     

Task: Imagine you work as a reporter for an English newspaper. Your boss has sent you to cover the talk and write in the next edition of the paper. Use your notes and any extra information you can gather in the web to write a short article (between 175 and 200 words) reflecting the content and the development of the talk.

Don’t forget to follow the Inverted Pyramid layout and include all the different parts of a newspaper article.

To learn more about writing a newspaper article follow this link:

Writing Newspaper Articles