Five Ws

The Five Ws is a checklist used in journalism to ensure that the first paragraph (the "lead") contains all the essential points of a story. As far back as 1913, reporters were taught that the lead should answer these questions:^[1]

Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?

In modern times, journalism students are still taught that these are the fundamental six questions of newswriting.^[2] Reporters also use the "5 Ws" to guide research and interviews and to raise important ethical questions, such as "How do you know that?".^[3]

^ Bleyer, Willard Grosvenor (1913). "IV. Structure and Style in News Stories". Newspaper Writing and Editing. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin. p. 66. Archived from the original on December 18, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
^ "Writing Leads | NMU Writing Center". nmu.edu. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
^ "The 5 W's (and How) of writing for the web". The Buttry Diary. November 14, 2011. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.

[1] Bleyer, Willard Grosvenor (1913). "IV. Structure and Style in News Stories". Newspaper Writing and Editing. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin. p. 66. Archived from the original on December 18, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2024.

[:3-2] "Writing Leads | NMU Writing Center". nmu.edu. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2024.

[3] "The 5 W's (and How) of writing for the web". The Buttry Diary. November 14, 2011. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.

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