Web Page: How to Write News Stories
Web Page: 5 Ws and H
346
Asking Journalistic Questions
All journalists set out to find answers to the same essential questions: Who is involved? What is happening? Where is it happening? When is it happening? Why is it happening? How is it happening? These journalistic questions are also known as the 5 W’s and H. Indeed, asking journalistic questions can help you assess most situations, whether you are planning a project, researching a topic, or evaluating finished work. The following chart shows the questions you could ask in each situation.
5 W’s and H Chart
Journalistic Questions | Observing an Event or Situation | Researching a Topic | Planning a Project | Evaluating a Project |
Who? | Who is involved? | Who caused this? Who is most affected by it? | Who is involved with this project? Who will benefit in the end? | Who created each part? Who provided the most help to others? |
What? | What is happening? | What is the nature of this? What is the extent? | What goal do we have? What tasks should we complete? | What feature is strongest? What feature is weakest? |
Where? | Where is it happening? | Where is this? Where else might it be? | Where will we work? Where will we present? | Where should we present this project? |
When? | When is it happening? | When did this first appear? When will it cease? | When is it the project due? When is each task due? | When was it due? When did we complete work? |
Why? | Why is it happening? | Why is this important? Why does it impact our lives? | Why are we doing this project? Why will our project stand out? | Why did we choose this project? Why did it turn out as it did? |
How? | How is it happening? | How is this useful now? How could it be used in the future? | How will we complete the work? How will others judge what we did? | How did our plan work? How did the team work together? |
Your Turn Ask the journalistic questions about an event that just happened or about a new school project.