Learning how to write a news story for broadcast

Transcription

1 Learning how to write a news story for broadcast News is the reporterʹs view of reality gathered quickly under difficult circumstances. Writing news stories for radio or television is very different from writing an essay for class or writing for newspapers. Only one person reads your class essay and people read the newspaper by themselves. In radio and television, people cannot go back and re read what you just said, so you need to be clear, concise, and descriptive. You are writing for the ear not the eye so make it simple for people to hear and understand. This Web site will hopefully give you more information about what you need to know to write a news story for radio. Although many of the same ideas also apply to television, this site concentrates on radio news writing. Once you learn how to write for radio you can learn how to write for television. But baby steps right now. Some things to keep in mind to write creatively for the news: Write like you would talk Tell a good story the news is more than information it also has to be interesting Capture the attention of the audience through mental images and interesting stories and statistics Tongue twisters cause the newscaster to stumble, hiss or pop, and this can be distracting to the listener

2 Don t use: Consecutive words that start with ʺSʺ sounds make a hissing noise Consecutive words that start with ʺPʺ or ʺBʺ sounds make exploding noises in the mic Remember that in broadcast, words should be written the way they are to be said to make it easier for the announcer to read: Symbols, Numbers, and abbreviations need to be written out: Gov. should be Governor Ave. should be Avenue 1 should be written one UF should be written U F With Web sites, put in the dashes so the announcer can read it correctly. So it is w w w dot facebook dot com There are many more that you will learn but think about how it looks and if it looks like how you would say it Some more quick writing tips Words underlined signal to the announcer to read with emphasis Ellipses show a pause Commas are good for newspapers, but you aren t writing for a newspaper so leave them out So what is the news? Think about: Timeliness, Relevance, Proximity, Conflict/Drama, Magnitude, Prominence and Novelty: Timeliness means Events that are happening are more newsworthy than events that have happened earlier in the day. A story s importance declines with age Relevance means what is of the most relevance to the most number of people

3 Proximity means events that happen closer to the audience are more important to the audience Conflict/Drama emphasizes events that involve a struggle Magnitude means that the size of an event makes it newsworthy Prominence translates to the idea that we like to hear about famous people Novelty occurs when stories tell us about something out of the ordinary But the most important thing is news should be local. Once you work in New York or CNN then you can think about national stories, but until then make it local. The Lead is the most important part to any news story Writing a broadcast lead is not the same as writing a newspaper lead In newspapers the lead captures the entire story with who, what, where, when, why and how and you add details in descending order of importance, putting the least important details of the story at the end Broadcast news stories are shorter than newspaper stories and must maintain the information level and interest throughout a story Few people read an entire newspaper story, but most people listen to the entire TV and Radio news story, so keep it interesting and in the lead: Capture the essence of the story without giving too much detail Make the lead simple and wet the appetite Command the attention of the audience Grabs the listener s attention the rest of the story should keep that attention Make the listeners want to listen to the rest of the story by giving them just enough in that first sentence that they will want to know more Think about what the story is and in the lead start with whatever carries the most impact Ask yourself, what is it that is in the story that makes it newsworthy? And then use that for the lead Three Keys to writing a good lead: Simplicity: KISS Keep It Simple Stupid. Make the lead a simple sentence with basic information Active voice: Make sure your subject is doing something, not having something done to it Present tense: The news is about what is happening not what happened or what might happen

4 When writing your lead, leave out: The ordinary A name if it is unfamiliar An age if it is not interesting Addresses Some things to avoid writing in your lead: A Jammed lead where you try to get too much information into the first sentence A Cliché lead using worn out expressions A Question lead where you ask the audience to think the audience doesn t want to think, they want to be told A Quote lead where you lead with someone else s words A time remember the news gets recycled A number people will forget the number or not be paying attention by the time they know what that number meant The Body of your news story is where you tell the news When writing news stories remember to: Write conversationally write your stories how you would say them, this is radio not a newspaper Use short sentences no run ons and no long eloquent statements. Your listeners want to know the news, not how smart you are Use small words the average listener is not a PhD and may not even have a college education so avoid big words Use simple ideas if you can t say it so that anyone can understand then you need to say it better Personalize stories to make people think you are talking to them Use the pronouns You and We Write in the Active Voice not Passive Voice to give your words energy Use the Present tense

5 The news is about what is going on now not what happened. If people want to learn history they can read a history book People want to know what is happening right now: When using Sound Bites in your story: Remember to include the running time of the sound bite and the out cue The out cue lets the anchor know the last words being said so they are prepared to go back on air. Without the out cue the anchor will think they have more time to practice reading the newscast and will not be prepared to go back on the air. The lead in sentence to sound bite is the sentence that leads into or introduces a soundbite and should do the following: Identifies the speaker Does not duplicate what the speaker is about to say otherwise you are being redundant and wasting time Says something of significance Can stand on its own The lead out is the sentence immediately following the sound bite and should do the following: Reference what the speaker said but does not repeat what was said in the sound bite Should move the story along in a logic flow The Quote:

6 Should be something that the newsmaker says better than the writer, otherwise there is no justification for using it Should be between 10 to 20 seconds Should be factual. Remember, theories are not facts When including a sound bite in a story remember to always give the source of the sound bite before inserting the audio into your script: Reporters are never the source Tell the listener what the source said. Say, says and said are the simplest ways of informing listeners of what someone said. There is a difference between said and mentioned, claimed, argued, exclaimed, etc. So use said it is what they said after all. Ending your news story: The Close Think about how you want to end your story. This is the last thing listeners will hear about this story. Build the rest of story toward the close Your news story should build to a powerful, obvious and definitive ending in the close. Make your close either emotional or informative Often you will include contact information or phone numbers for listeners so they can learn more or so they can provide information to the police or authorities. Anchors have their own close or signoff that are different from the type of close you will normally write, but none were more famous that Walter Cronkite s: Being a good and accurate reporter requires you to remember a few simple tips: Every story must be based on facts and evidence. Donʹt speculate and donʹt guess Have some knowledge about a story before going out for an interview it will help with follow up questions You should have a firm idea of the questions you want to ask before you start the interview Prepare ahead of time for an interview, sometimes the interview will be days in advance which will give you time to prepare Have enough knowledge to understand the significance of a source s responses. If you don t understand a story you may miss something Don t try to show off your knowledge. A reporter is not the news

7 Don t ask ʺYes Noʺ questions or you will get ʺYes Noʺ responses. You want 10 to 15 second sound bites and ʺYes Noʺ does not cut it Ask ʺwhat,ʺ ʺhow,ʺ and ʺwhyʺ questions Ask questions the listener would ask Ask the question over again if you did not get a good enough answer. Sometimes the best questions are ones you didn t think about before hand and the best answers can come when an interviewee is asked to repeat their answer. Some things to keep in mind when you start working in a studio: The basic requirement for a successful career in the field is writing ability. If you can t write then it does not matter how good looking or talented you might be reading the news, no one will want to hire you You need to work fast. The news is always happening and always changing and if you can t keep up they will find someone who can You need to work under pressure. You work with tight deadlines and if you don t make the deadline then you don t make the news You need to be accurate. News is not fiction and the last thing you want to do is be wrong because if you are you will hear about it and you might lose your job too You need to be dependable. I once had a boss who told me ʺIf you are early you are on time. If you are on time you are late. And if you are late don t bother showing upʺ You have to be at the station to tell people there is bad weather Internships are important for you to get your foot in the door so get one! Taken from: Writing Broadcast News Stories,