Broadcast Journalism

What broadcast journalism is

Broadcast journalism is news that is carried on

radio, television, and the Internet.

Broadcast journalism is a powerful medium, it

can shape public opinion, touch hearts,

influence, and inspire.

How broadcasting is different

• Think about how seeing something on television or hearing a person on radio is different than seeing still photos and reading a story.

• Broadcasting ads an emotional element.

• Always make your stories accurate, use solid news judgment and strong writing.

News Packages

• How to make one! Plus a fishy sample

• Here’s more sample packages. Plus, an example with only 8 shots.

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Broadcast news

All the news that fits – and that’s really not

much

•70% of stories last less

than one minute.

•75% of stories are local.

•Crime stories appear

most often.

•Most stories of

controversies

give one point

of view.

Broadcast writing steps (part one)

• Keep it simple. Viewer and listeners only have

one chance to hear and understand the news.

• Keep it conversational (pretend you are telling

the story to your best friend).

• Use present tense making the story immediate.

• Try something besides the who, what, when,

where, why and how in your lead. Use a

sentence for each idea. You should be able to

read each sentence aloud in just one breath.

Broadcast writing steps (part two)

• Boil down your story to the most essential elements. Broadcast news is constrained by time. The simplest stories tend to run in just 30 seconds.

• Use the differences between print and broadcast to your advantage. For example on TV you can show a parade, on radio you can use the sound (blare of a brass band) to transport viewers and listeners to the scene.

Broadcast writing steps (part

two)

• Use transition from one story to another so

the one following seems like a logical next

step. You pick the order of the stories, it

should be done in a way that makes sense

to the audience (for example going from

one business story to another). Start from

the most important news, then going to the

least important.

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Writing for broadcast

– Use friendlier,

conversational tone.

– Keep it short. Simple.

And easy to follow.

– Don’t use inverted-

pyramid form.

Stories require different styles

•Use present tense as often as possible. •Contractions are acceptable. •Treat attributions and quotes differently.

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Television news reporting

Collaborate.

Write to the video.

Don’t overload with

facts.

TV journalism’s unique approach

Engage viewers’

emotions.

Look professional.

Talk into camera and depend on video.

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Television news reporting

Find location.

Maintain eye

contact.

Rephrase and re-ask

questions.

TV journalism’s unique approach Interviewing tips

Watch for good

sound bites.

Avoid “stepping on”

sound bites.

Shoot cutaways.

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Television news reporting

B-roll – video images

shot at news scene

(also called cover).

Stand-up – shot of

reporter at news

scene.

Package – story

prepared by reporter.

Common TV news terms & jargon

Audio – sound heard on

TV.

Video – images seen on

TV.

Sound bite – recorded

comment.

Track – audio recording of

reporter.

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Toss – what’s said as

one reporter hands off to

another.

On cam –

on-camera.

VO – voice-over.

SOT – sound on tape.

Television news reporting

Anchor intro –introduction to piece

read by anchor (also

called lead-in).

Bridge – stand-up

that moves story from

one angle to another.

Common TV news terms & jargon

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Television news reporting

Rundown – order

stories will appear.

Prompter – device

that projects script for

anchor to read.

Common TV news terms & jargon

Talking head –

person being

interviewed.

A more detailed list is

here.

Setting up scripts

WRITE SCRIPTS ENTIRELY IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

Each sentence is a new paragraph.

Use a narrow margin that is about three words long. (A TV anchors eyes won’t have to go too far from side to side.)

Write story so it is easy to read and understand. (Put pronunciations in parenthesis directly after the word in question.)

Make your script organized and easy to follow.

Indicate production elements in your script-when video or sound come in.

Use a teleprompter if possible for the TV anchor(s).

A television script

A television script requires different information

than radio script, such as when to start video,

superimpose titles and words etc.

Divide the page in two, the right side is for the

anchor to read. The left side is for technical

instruction.

Video taping

We will also video tape news

stories (using a TV script) and

put them online also.

We will have one-two people

(anchors) at a time read news

stories just like they do on TV.

Assignment

Watch at least 3 news story packages and take notes today on what you see and hear. Be detailed and complete. Sample sites are posted here and here and here and here. Share headphones if need be.

You are also to write a ½ page reflection on your choice projects regarding how you think they went, which one is your best work, and which one we should watch as a class this week and why.