Definition:
The questions answered in the lead of a conventional newspaper article: who, what, when, where, why and how. See also:
Examples and Observations:
- "It is not often one finds a walk-in refrigerator in a private home. When it happens, even the most hard-boiled of home reporters may be so flummoxed that she reverts to the journalism basics: Who? What? When? Where? Why? In this case, the who is simple enough--Neal I. Rosenthal, founder of the wine importing business that bears his name; the where is his newly renovated house in Dutchess County, about two and a half hours north of New York City.
"But why a fridge you can walk into?
"'Another moment of excesses,' Mr. Rosenthal says of the refrigerator, which cost $23,000. He has, after all, just completed the last step in a $3 million-plus renovation."
(Joyce Wadler, "In Dutchess County, a Wine Merchant’s Renovated Home." The New York Times, June 19, 2008) - "News stories are about providing information, and there is nothing more frustrating for the reader that finishing a story with unanswered questions still hanging. Journalism students are taught about the five Ws: who, what, when, where and why. They are a useful tool to check you have covered all the bases, though not all will always apply."
(Peter Cole, "News Writing." The Guardian, Sep. 25, 2008) - "Journalists' questions (Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?), or the questions that are referred to as the five Ws and one H, have been the mainstay of newsrooms across the country. Likewise, these questions have not lost their value in classroom instruction, regardless of the content area. Having your students answer these questions focuses their attention on the specifics of a given topic."
(Vicki Urquhart and Monette McIver, Teaching Writing in the Content Areas. ASCD, 2005)
Also Known As: Five Ws and an H, reporters' questions
