I first came across the inverted pyramid system for writing news when I took my Masters degree in journalism – 11 years after I started working in newspapers. My initial reaction was, here is a meaningless title given by educators to a writing system that makes it look as if you can use a scientific approach when you learn to write news.
Of course, there is structured method to writing but what it has to do with an inverted pyramid was, and still is 10 years later, beyond me.
The inverted pyramid system tells us that, when writing journalistic articles, the most important information goes in the first paragraph. Duh!
You keep adding paragraphs in descending order of importance, and this is supposed to explain why an upended pyramid is used as its model.
Well, I still don’t get it. Surely, the better model would be a pyramid, without the “inverted” part. It would make sense for the pointy part of the pyramid, signifying a sharp opening paragraph, to be on top.
And as you expand on your intro, so does the pyramid. How does the wide base of an overturned pyramid tell me that this is where my most important piece of information goes?
I had not come across this method in 11 previous years of working for newspapers and wire agencies. And I’m sure not many journalists have.
You could even do a random poll of leading journalists around the world and most would either have not heard of the inverted pyramid writing technique or have chosen to ignore it.
The inverted pyramid, in my opinion, is an academic creation to give journalism a sense of belonging in tertiary education institutions.
This does not mean that journalism is out of place in the campus. Not by any means. However, in practical journalism, cadet reporters under good news editors do not learn inverted pyramid writing.
They learn to write by feel. The end result may not look much different from what is taught by the inverted pyramid method but these writers would not be visualizing an upside-down triangular object to structure their stories.
In some of the elite newspapers and global wire agencies, a completely different and more scientific news writing structure is taught that puts the inverted pyramid to shame. Indeed, many journalists themselves are ignorant of this approach.
But whatever method is used in the newsroom, it is highly unlikely that anyone is thinking of pyramids.
Nazvi Careem is an experienced journalist, writer and news writing coach who has written for several newspapers, magazines and global news agencies such as Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. To subscribe to his free newsletter and receive writing tips, check out The News Writers Post.
