JOMC 491Teaching Broadcast Journalism

JOMC 491

Why Inverted Pyramid•Get important information out first.•Stories must fit the page.•Pressure.

JOMC 491

Why Inverted Pyramid doesn’t work•Not enough space or time.•One chance to get the news.•Get the attention of the listener.•Can lead to excesses.

JOMC 491

Broadcast Writing•Clarity.• Simple declarative sentences with

active verbs.• “The bat hit the bat.” NOT “The ball

was hit by the bat.”•Passive voice weak and NOT

conversational.

JOMC 491

Format• Script on right side of page.• Audio/video instructions on left side of page.• Double or triple spaced.• Upper and lower case.• Three-word slug.• Date• Name.• Total running time.

JOMC 491

Punctuation• Don’t over punctuate.• Use period, comma, question mark and

dash.•Maybe the ellipsis.• Do NOT hyphenate at end of sentence.• Do hyphenate some words even when it is

grammatically incorrect.

JOMC 424

Direct Quotes•Do NOT Use direct quotes.• “I’m innocent.”• If it is distinctive, colorful, dramatic,

emotional, or adds special meaning.•Paraphrase.

JOMC 491

Sound bites• Emotion.•Reaction.• “Write objectively; use subjective

sound.”

JOMC 491

Abbreviations•Avoid.•Writing for the ear.•Hard to read.•Use well-known abbreviations…FBI,

CIA, UNC (here), NASA.

JOMC 491

Numbers•Spell out one through nine.•Use figures for others.•Write out thousand, million, billion.•3-million, 8-thousand, etc.

JOMC 491

Dates•May 16th

NOT May 16• January first NOT January 1

JOMC 491

Symbols•Don’t use them.

$, %, #

JOMC 491

4 Important Differences• Telling NOT chronicling.• The fewer the better.•One idea per sentence.•Brief.