When writing as the Association in news items, social media posts, public documents (etc), our written style must be used for brand consistancy. For a quick reference of common written style queries, take a look at our branding page.
Please flag any new news items with oustudents-media@open.ac.uk.
News items
You can find guidance on publishing news items on the website guide.
- News articles should be concise, and to the point. It may help to write them in Microsoft Word and use the “editor” tab. This is helpful to use, but do not feel pressured to accept all of the suggestions given.
- Keep to between 250 – 400 words.
- Always start with the most important information first, answering “who, what, where, when, how” (The 5 Ws).
- Make sure hyperlinks are integrated into text (do not use “click here” etc.).
- Use quotes to add interest and personality where possible.
- Do not use too many images – one or two is best.
- Consider writing a Hoot article if you need a longer word count, more interactive style, or more pictures.
- Keep your headline short, ideally five to ten words. If the article wasn’t written by a staff member, include the name and title of the author at the end. E.g., President, Margaret Greenaway.
An example structure of a news article is as follows:
Headline – What is the article about?
e.g., “How to write a news article”
Introduction – This should be a brief summary of the most key information. The 5 Ws need to be here, and it should be one to two sentences long.
Body paragraphs – When writing a news article, sentences should be short and factual, with no unnecessary embellishments or overly emotive language. People have short attention spans, so make sure you are still saying the most important information first. Also keep these paragraphs as short as you can. Imagine the article is going to be printed somewhere with limited space – an editor should be able to cut off the last couple of paragraphs without the article ceasing to make sense.
Quotes – Write these in the following format:
Lou said: “Quotes can be used to add emotion to a news article. They can be from staff or students and will make the reader feel more connected to the subject matter.”
Call to action – If your news article contains a call to action, you should add it at the end of the article but weaving it through the article by using hyperlinks is also a good idea.
e.g., For more help with writing news articles, take inspiration from pieces we have previously published.
- These types of articles work well for event/campaign announcements/recaps.
Less 'formal' features
Writing a Statement
- Statements are factual and well-structured and must include very carefully chosen emotive language.
- All statements should be approved by the President, Deputy President and/or senior staff team.
- They can still contain quotes and calls to action.
- See these examples.
Hoot articles
- Features can be longer, up to 750 words is a good aim.
- Use large pull-out quotes, sub-headings, images, and graphics to break up the text.
Interviews
- Interviews can be written into feature articles with quotes or follow a Q&A style like these.
- Q&A style interviews do not need to be a direct transcript of what was said; they can still be summaries. A direct quote of somebody’s exact words in an interview should be in quotation marks “like this”.
Images
- When it comes to stock images, we use non-copyright images or those we’ve purchased.
- Please select stock images for news item thumbnails if an existing suitable graphic doesn’t exist. This will help release staff capacity within the Digi Comms Team.
- Please visit Pixabay or Unsplash to search for and download images (which are free to use and modify if needed).
- Please take extra care to ensure the image you choose doesn’t display any brands. These may not be permitted on the terms and conditions of Pixabay and Unsplash’s websites, but they still can crop up.
How to select a suitable image
- Images for news article uploads should be square and (at least) 1000 x 1000 pixels. That way, the image shouldn’t be blurred when it’s uploaded. Let the Digi Comms team know if you need assistance resizing.
- When it comes to the style of image, please aim for something which looks like an authentic photo, as opposed to something which is overly staged and posed.
- When we take photos of our volunteers, we’re happy for the people featuring to face the camera, but in stock images, this is not the style we’re going for.
- To maintain the authentic look of our images, please also avoid those with a noticeable filter or where the colour has clearly been enhanced.