There are so many ways to write an article especially when it comes to journalism. Some people are really slanted with their own agenda and some are balanced. My question is how do you write a solid article that does what it is supposed to do....which is inform people?

Hi butterfly1! Journalist here.

It would be hard to give a succint answer to your question. It could be said that the answer is the whole journalism program at college... But I'll try a possible approach.

It may surprise you, but in journalism the crux of the matter is very rarely "how do you write". There are a few simple rules to write an article, and you can learn them in an afternoon, so no journalist worth their salt will spend a lot of time fretting about this. The real questions often have to do with "what do you write about", "how do you figure out what is going on", and "why do you write". None of these have a lot to do with the act of writing itself, because, unlike fiction, journalism begins elsewhere and only ends in the written words.

So, how do you write a solid article? Well, you must have a solid article to write. You must be sure you have the correct information, and it must be complete. You must consider the points of view of all involved, even indirectly. You must exercise your ethical judgment about how to approach the subject. Only after you have done the work and made your decisions, you can worry about the wording, the structure, the hooks in the prose. This won't typically take you long. Most of your time will be spent before grabbing the pen.

Now, you talk about people with their own agendas and people who are balanced, and that's a very valid concern. I don't think any of these people are asking themselves how to write a balanced article. They all know how, only some care about it and some don't.

If you have more specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them. Have a nice day!

Absolutely perfect advice there elbitjusticiero, I don't think any of us could disagree!

A good journalist must be sure that the story is accurate and the information has a reliable source. I find often that the story being told cant go back to a source that is legit and this makes the journalist look desperate and unprofessional.