Inverted Pyramid in technical writing - A dissenting note

As a former journalist, I have written news stories according to the Inverted Pyramid style. As a technical writer, I have not tried that.

Writing user manuals according to the Inverted Pyramid style, which still is a distinctive characteristic of news writing, may work. However, I do have some reservations. What I would like to point out here to non-journalist technical writers is the "context" and "news values" that are used to select a news story is 'fundamentally different" from writing a section in a user manual. The "analysis" that precedes the actual process of writing in both the cases is entirely different.

For example, one of the important news value or determinant used to select a news story is "Significance." Any event that affects or interests a large number of people merits a news story. For example, the recent hike in petrol prices in India affects not just the entire population, but it has a larger impact on the economy as well.

"Proximity' is another important news value. An accident in Bangalore is given more importance than another one in Chennai. But if the accident in Chennai has more casualties, then that news may get prominence in the front pages. Similarly, "Prominence" is another important news value. For example, the Indian Prime Minister's comment on the economy may be given more importance than a credit rating agency's comments.

Moreover, certain news items will be presented according to the "slant" of the newspaper. The lead or the main story in one newspaper may not be the same as the one in another newspaper. The type of headline, whether it should be single deck or multi-deck, and the words used in each and every headline are very carefully chosen.

So, when someone says that the Inverted Pyramid style can be used in technical writing, then is it that the introduction becomes the most important section? So, is it that the procedural tasks are less important than the section introduction? I don't know.