Something happened

One reason news stories in the Bangkok Post are easier to understand than most other kinds of reading material is that they almost always tell basically the same story. Our news stories are essentially “something happened” stories. There are a few variations, of course, but not that many. This list covers most of them:

• Something happened.
• Something is happening.
• Something is going to/is expected to/might happen.
• Someone said something happened.
• Someone said something is happening.
• Someone said something is going to happen, etc.
• Someone said something should happen.
• Someone said something should not have happened.

Look at some news stories in the Bangkok Post (or your local newspaper) and try this idea out. You can usually tell what kind of a story it is just by reading the headline and the lead (first one or two paragraphs).

Not in chronological order

News stories seldom describe events in the order in which they happened (chronological order). News writers know their readers have limited time and they want the latest or most significant developments (the news) first. Thus, news stories are the direct opposite of fairy tales. Compare, for example, the opening of a typical children's story with how the Bangkok Post might tell the same story.

A big advantage with the news story is that you don’t have to read very much of it to find out what it is about. Thus, you can decide very quickly if you want to read it.

At least three chances to understand

There is still another reason why news stories are easy to understand. Most new stories have three distinct sections: the headline, lead and body. Since each of these sections repeat or expand upon the story's main points, you get at least three chances to understand them. And each of the three sections has its own style and content. For much more on this, see The style of the news story.