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How to write an article
  1. Pick something current?
  2. Use two independent sources?
  3. Read your sources before writing the story in your own words?. Do choose a unique title? before you start.
  4. Follow Wikinews' structure? for articles, answering as many of who what when where why and how? as you can; summarised in a short, two- or three-sentence opening paragraph. Once complete, your article must be three or more paragraphs.
  5. If you need help, you can add {{helpme}} to your talkpage, along with a question, or alternatively, just ask?

  • Use this tab to enter your title and get a basic article template.
    [RECOMMENDED. Starts your article through the semi-automated {{develop}}—>{{review}}—>{{publish}} collaboration process.]

 Welcome, Abram samuelson! Thank you for joining Wikinews; we'd love for you to stick around and get more involved. To help you get started we have an essay that will guide you through the process of writing your first full article. There are many other things you can do on the project, but its lifeblood is new, current, stories written neutrally.
As you get more involved, you will need to look into key project policies and other discussions you can participate in; so, keep this message on this page and refer to the other links in it when you want to learn more, or have any problems.

Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
  Used to contributing to Wikipedia? See here.
All Wikimedia projects have rules. Here are ours.

Listed here are the official policies of the project, you may be referred to some of them if your early attempts at writing articles don't follow them. Don't let this discourage you, we all had to start somewhere.

The rules and guides laid out here are intended to keep content to high standards and meet certain rules the Wikimedia Foundation applies to all projects. It may seem like a lot to read, but you do not have to go through it all in one sitting, or know them all before you can start contributing.

Remember, you should enjoy contributing to the project. If you're really stuck come chat with the regulars. There's usually someone in chat who will be happy to help, but they may not respond instantly.

The core policies
Places to go, people to meet

Wiki projects work because a sense of community forms around the project. Although writing news is far more individualistic than contributing to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, people often need minor help with things like spelling and copyediting. If a story isn't too old you might be able to expand it, or if it is disputed you may be able to find some more sources and rescue it before it is listed for deletion.

There are always discussions going on about how the site could be improved, and your input is of value. Check the links here to see where you can give input to the running of the Wikinews project.

Find help and get involved
Write your first article for Wikinews!

Use the following box to help you create your first article. Simply type in a title to your story and press "Create page". Then start typing text to your story into the new box that will come up. When you're done, press "save page". That's all there is to it!



It is recommended you read the article guide before starting. Also make sure to check the list of recently created articles to see if your story hasn't already been reported upon.


-- 01:57, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

Welcome Abram samuelson edit

Thank you for your contribution to the article about National Human Trafficking Awareness Day! Crtew (talk) 03:05, 12 January 2012 (UTC)Reply

Great work edit

Fantastic work on the Komen Foundation story! —Tom Morris (talk) 17:38, 3 February 2012 (UTC)Reply

Er, the story is wrong. Komen reversed course and changed their mind.[1]

Wikinews Shorts: February 21, 2012 edit

Hi. I found it not-ready on review. I see there's been some awkwardness over the ticklish boundary between standalone length and 'short' length; well, three (or better yet, four) medium-length paragraphs do suffice for a standalone article. Anyway, here are my review comments, and history of edits during review. --Pi zero (talk) 00:55, 21 February 2012 (UTC)Reply

Found not ready, needs a lede. Note that I did not do source-checking; I did however do about all I could short of that; see the edit history during review, and reviewer comments. --Pi zero (talk) 03:15, 27 February 2012 (UTC)Reply

Graphic edit

Abram, Where in the upload process are you? You're tyring to put it on Wikimedia Commons? How large is the file? Crtew (talk) 23:51, 25 March 2012 (UTC)Reply

Abram, Just looked over the article... You may have some problem with NPOV with the lead. I know you're going for a soft feature approach but make it neutral and put the nut graph up top. / I would like to see you data where you're making the connections. Are you going to include some of those points in the article? / Another point you might ask about in Indiana is that because the state doesn't include sexual orientation and relies on the city or county for protecting that group, homosexuals do not enjoy the same protections as heterosexuals in employment. / I know you're still in the development phase, so I don't want to burden you with too much. I'll be checking in to get more info on the your graphic Crtew (talk) 00:07, 26 March 2012 (UTC)Reply

French serial killer article edit

Hi, I've left a comment on this. At-present it is just a list of sentences. I've reproduced my comment from the talk page below:

Style edit

Per Wikinews' style guide, articles should be a minimum of three paragraphs, presented in w:Inverted pyramid structure, and use w:active voice.
It is also recommended, to speed the review process, that you include html comments marking facts and quotes in the article with a note of which specific source they are taken from. Thanks for any help you can give in making reviewing easier!

Sorry to "tag 'n' dash", but I've not much time. --Brian McNeil / talk 12:49, 8 April 2012 (UTC)Reply

Published (France fears serial killer responsible for recent murders) edit

Congratulations.

There were some passages that wanted to be further from the sources, and I believe I pulled one bit that I didn't manage to find. See my review comments, and the detailed history of edits during review. --Pi zero (talk) 00:28, 10 April 2012 (UTC)Reply

Hidden costs of debit cards edit

Hi,

I've, very quickly, looked at this article. You do have a story, but it needs a huge amount of work. Wikinews does not publish blog-style content, but items have to be well-researched - either through mainstream press, or with copious Original Reporting notes.

Plus, a conversational tone, appropriate for a blog, is not accepted on Wikinews.

I'd like to see you take a much more hard-nosed, and hard-facts approach to this topic, and I think you could produce something that could be published. I'm not saying it will be easy, quite the opposite. However, the standards we set will mean your work is far, far harder for anyone to challenge. We, perhaps, are the last news outlet that demands credible sourcing and quality research. Whilst we might agree, at least anecdotally, with what you're asserting, it has to be presented in an unassailable manner. The rewards are, I assure you, worth the effort of fitting in to our standards. --Brian McNeil / talk 14:19, 24 April 2012 (UTC)Reply

Ferry boat article edit

Excellent work.....tighten it up just a bit and re-submit!! Much better on active voice by the way!! Bddpaux (talk) 23:58, 1 May 2012 (UTC)Reply