Why do most people open a newspaper? Usually, it's because they want to be up to date on what is happening in their community and around the world. In other words, they want answers to questions like: What happened? What's happening? What's going to happen?

It is our job at the newspaper to supply these answers. In fact, every day we spend most of our time telling the same stories - stories like something happened, something is happening, and something is going to happen. Look at the three examples below and decide into which category each one falls.

Elephant dies in rescue bid
A wild elephant with injured front legs died yesterday during an attempt to lure it out of the jungle for treatment.

Suthep to launch privatisation tour
Transport and Communications Minister Suthep Thueksuban will launch a nationwide tour next month to convince staff of the Telephone Organisation of Thailand and Communications Authority of Thailand of the need to privatise both agencies.

Canada allows Thais to work off-campus
The Canadian government is allowing Thai students to take work off-campus to relieve their financial burden in the wake of the baht depreciation.

Of course, there are a few variations on the above. For example, sometimes writers will say that "something has happened" to make it sound a bit fresher and more important. And we can't always be certain that something is going to happen or will happen. Thus we often see expressions like "something is expected to happen" or "something might happen" instead.

Someone said...

Look carefully at the example below. Do you see that it doesn't really fit into the categories we have discussed so far?

Afghanistan suffers
Huge mudslides and powerful aftershocks are terrifying quake survivors huddling without food or shelter in the mountains of northeast Afghanistan, aid workers said yesterday.

Like most news stories, the information was obtained from a source - in this case some aid workers (like the one at the top of this page) who were helping the earthquake victims in Afghanistan. Thus we have to add a new category to our list - one which begins with "Someone said...." In the above case, the full sentence would read: "Someone said something is happening".

This is not always obvious from the first paragraph. Sometimes you need to read the second paragraph as well. Here's an example:

Free food scheme to deflect criticism
A nationwide programme to provide the poor and jobless with free food is being considered by the government in its efforts to counter accusations it cares only for the wealthy.

Arkom Engchuan, deputy education minister, said he had discussed with Tarrin Nimmanhaeminda, the finance minister, the proposal to allocate 100 million baht from the national budget to start the project.

What kind of story is it? It's a "Someone said something might happen" story. The "someone", of course, is Mr Arkom Engchuan. (Note: "is being considered" really means "might".)

There are many types of "someone said" stories - a fact which is not really surprising since we depend very heavily on sources for most of our information. We can't see or hear everything for ourselves. Here are some of the most common "someone said" stories. You may find a few more by yourself as you read.

• Someone said something happened.
• Someone said something is happening.
• Someone said something is going to happen/ is expected to happen/ might happen/ could happen, etc.
• Someone said something is not going to happen, etc.
• Someone said something should (must, needs to) happen/ should not (must not, needs not) happen.
• Someone said something is good/ something is bad/ something is strange, etc.
• Someone told someone to do something.
• Someone told someone not to do something.

The point of this exercise is to help you see that news stories aren't really difficult. They are simply answering some very basic everyday questions. Some stories may appear difficult at first, but if you stop and think for a moment you can usually figure them out. And - as you should remember from last week - you should usually be able to find all the main ideas just from reading the headline and lead (first paragraph).

Once you have understood the main idea in the headline and lead, you have an excellent start at understanding the rest of the story. This is because the rest of the story will simply be answering another series of basic questions - like when, why, where or how many. Let's save that for another lesson, however.

Read the headline and leads for each of the stories below. Then decide what kind of a it is (e.g., Something happened, Someone said something happened, etc.). Then put the main points into a short sentence. Look at the two examples below before you begin.

Example 1
Worker badly hurt as huge block falls from rail project
A construction worker was badly injured when a five-tonne concrete block tumbled off the upper section of the skytrain project onto a lower tier.

Something happened.
A worker was badly injured.

Example 2
War on pests
Asian countries should use nuclear technology in a war against pests that destroy crops worth billions of dollars each year, a UN expert said yesterday.

Someone said something should happen.
A UN expert said Asian countries should use nuclear technology in a war against pests.

1. Government to submit report card next month
   The Chuan Leekpai government will report its six-month achievements early next month with an emphasis on its ability to regain confidence from other countries, government spokesman Akrapol Sorasuchart said yesterday.

2. Robot used in open-heart surgery
   Robot technology guided by a surgeon with the assistance of a computer has been used in open-heart operations on humans for the first time in the world.

3. Tarrin against free handouts
   Investment in social projects must not turn into free handouts for the poor, said Finance Minister Tarrin Nimmanhaeminda.

4. Highway cut by angry villagers
   About 10,000 people blocked a road in Chom Thong district after the cabinet refused to consider evicting 20,000 highlanders from Doi Inthanon.

5. Magic turtle
   Hundreds of people are flocking to a spot on Cambodia's Tonle Sap River every day in the belief that a turtle which regularly emerges from the murky waters has special healing powers.
6. Court gets final say on motion
   The Constitutional Court is expected to rule today on whether the four executive decrees initiated by the government are in breach of the constitution.
7. Call for airport no-go zone for no-meter taxis
   Old and non-metered taxis should be banned from picking up passengers at Don Muang Airport, Airports Authority of Thailand governor ACM Chanin Chantarubeksa said.
8. Enforcement 'will not be postponed'
   Enforcement of the Labour Protection Bill will not be postponed despite the delayed drafting of related ministerial regulations, the permanent secretary for labour said yesterday.
9. Temple to introduce free food halls
   A scheme to set up food halls in some temples for the poor and the jobless will be launched next week, Chart Pattana Party MP Paveena Honsakul said yesterday.
10. Singers face arrest over draft tests
    Warrants for the arrests of singers Sornrarm Thepphithak, and Fundee and Funden Janyathanakorn for their alleged failure to turn up for last month's draft examinations will be issued soon.

    An Army source said the Army had already asked the Bangkok Noi district office and police station to issue an arrest warrant for actor and singer Sornrarm. He allegedly failed to report to the draft board on April 2 although he received a conscription letter on September 27, 1997.

11. Decision on Chalerm's son
    Prosecutors are expected to decide next week whether to indict New Aspiration deputy leader Chalerm Yubamrung's son, Wanchalerm, and two other officers charged with assault.
12. Carelessness caused deaths - politician
    At least 90 percent of the victims of India's devastating cyclone earlier this week could have been saved, a politician claimed as officials yesterday put the death toll near 1,000.

The next step is to try your skills with the Bangkok Post itself. Quickly look through the news section of your Bangkok Post and try to categorise some the stories in the same way as you did in the exercise. What type of stories seem to be the most common?

Teacher’s Note

My main suggestion for this lesson is to "keep it simple". The purpose of the lesson is to show that news stories are not mysterious and they are not especially difficult. Essentially, they simply answer the question "What happened?" - with a few variations, of course.

In my explanation, I listed the common variations and, in most cases, it is quite obvious which category a story falls into. It is possible to find stories that are not so obvious, but I suggest you avoid them unless you have some very advanced students. Spending a lot of time arguing over which category a story belongs to can cause the students to miss the main point of the lesson: news stories are actually quite easy.

Begin with the first three examples in the first column. The first (about the elephant) is simply a "something happened" story. The second is a "something is going to happen" story and the third is a "something is happening story".

Most stories in the Bangkok Post come from named sources. Thus, they are best categorised as "someone said..." stories. There is quite a variety of such stories and that is what makes the main exercise an interesting one. The answers are below. I have given relatively short, abbreviated answers for the second part of each question. Longer answers are possible.

1. Someone said something is going to happen. Akrapol Sorasuchart said the Chuan Leekpai government will report its six-month achievements.
2. Something has happened. Robot technology has been used in open-heart operations.
3. Someone said something must not happen. Tarrin Nimmanhaeminda said social projects must not turn into free handouts.
4. Something happened. About 10,000 people blocked a road.
5. Something is happening. Hundreds of people are flocking to a spot on Cambodia's Tonle Sap River.
6. Something is expected to happen. The Constitutional Court is expected to rule today on four consitutional decrees.
7. Someone said something should happen. ACM Chanin Chantarubeksa said old and non-metered taxis should be banned from picking up passengers at Don Muang Airport.
8. Someone said something is not going to happen. The permanent secretary for labour said the enforcement of the Labour Protection Bill will not be postponed.
9. Someone said something is going to happen. Paveena Honsakul said a scheme to set up food halls for the poor and jobless will be launched.
10. Someone said something is going to happen. An army source said warrants for the arrests of three singers will be issued soon.
11. Something is expected to happen. Prosecutors are expected to decide whether to indict Wanchalerm Yubamrung and two other officers.
12. Someone said something could have happened. A politician claimed 90 percent of the victims of India's cyclone could have been saved.