radio journalism and production
TRANSCRIPT
RADIO JOURNALISM AND PRODUCTION RADIO JOURNALISM SIMPLIFIEDThis book is aimed at enabling the learner utilize radio to produce news and appropriate programmes for the benefit of society.
At the end of this course the learner should be able to:
Gather news from various sources using appropriate methods and techniques.
Process and present information to the audiences
Develop skills, attitudes and values in presenting radio news and other programmes
And for those using this as a guide to attain a diploma in journalism and mass communication at UMCAT SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION, ought to be prepared to attempt a two hours practice exam, of which one and half hours is planning session, and thirty minutes for presentation
Assessing ability of the candidate to:
Script writing, presentation, moderation, timing, coherence dress code, voice, clarity in presentation, accuracy, individual confidence among others.
2015
Katamu Eddy Nedinani
INTRODUCTION I. RADIO STUDIO SET UP
Radio studio is a special room where radio signals are originated. It affords various production
activities including recording, transmission, and other performances of the radio personals.
The studio is therefore specially built with certain features to make it a quiet place, and to prevent
unwanted sound from with inn: heavy door with air tight-lock; well-treated walls with acoustic
treatment; shaped ceiling; double glass window with corridor between them; noiseless air-
conditioner and suitable lightings.
Radio studio is divided up into two parts:
Studio floor or performance area
Studio control room which houses technical equipment.
Radio stations have two types or more studios:
On-Air Studio: this type is normally meant for live programmes like news, discussion,
talks, continuity announcement and other programmes that have a call-in segment.
Production Studio: this type is for the purpose of producing pre-recorded programmes like
drama, documentary, magazines, commercials, etc. it is also used for a rehearsal and voice
testing.
Talks studio
The talk’s studio is an acoustically treated room for interviews and discussions. Guests sit around a circular or hexagonal table facing individual microphones. There will be visual contact with the main studio through a large glass window.
Catering for every form of audio, old, new and emerging – computers, phone, CD, cart, record and tape decks, all input through the mixing desk.
Remote studios
Some radio stations serve large areas where reporters would struggle to cover a story and get back in time for the deadline. Likewise, because of the distance involved, guests might be unwilling or unable to travel to the station to record an interview.Recording everything by phone is quick and cheap, but at the expense of quality. Remote studios are a better solution. These are usually small rooms rented in well-placed larger buildings such as city hall. They contain a microphone, mixer and possibly a recording deck. The remote studio is connected to the radio station by a broadcast-quality telephone line. Guests can go there to be interviewed and reporters can use them to send back reports.
Some stations may have a broader categorization based on microphone placement and type, size
and activities performed thereof: drama studio; music studio; announcing studio, auditorium
studio; and general purpose studio.
STUDIO EQUIPMENT:
The studio equipment are many but the most common type includes the console
boards, microphones, recording devices, and loud speakers,
The Console Board: radio programmes are channeled to pass through the console board
which serves as the converging point of all signals sourced in the studio. It is design to
perform the following functions:
Selection: it can select from different audio sources on which one to go on air.
Mixing: It mixes and balances two or more sound signals or inputs
Amplifying: it amplifies to desired level, all the signals coming in its weaker form
Traducing: it converts sound energy into electrical impulse and moves it to boaster.
Shaping: it shapes sound to produce echo or thin pitch sound.
Measuring: measures the intensity of sound to detect over or under modulation.
Channeling: various sound inputs are attached to produce a needed programme.
Microphone: has two basic components: the diaphragm, which is a flexible device and
very sensitive to air pressure variation of a sound wave; and the generating element
attached to the diaphragm and it converts the diaphragm’s vibration into electrical energy.
The more you talk the more the diaphragm vibrates.
Types of Microphones
Microphones can be broadly categorized into three:
1) According to their internal construction and under this category we have:
a) Dynamic Microphones: This type of Microphone is capable of producing excellent sound
fidelity; it is rugged in construction which makes it relatively insensitive to harsh handling.
b) Ribbon/Velocity Microphones: This Microphone is similar to a dynamic microphone but tend
to be more fragile. It produces a very warm, rich and mellow sound which is often desirable for
announcers, singers and musical instruments.
c) Condenser Microphones: This type of Microphone offers excellent audio response
characteristics but it requires a power supply to both charge the capacitor and to amplify the
tiny out-put current.
2) According to how they are used
a) Lavalieres: tiny microphones attached to the shirt or blouse during production.
b) Boom Microphones: these are larger ones and desirable for drama production.
c) Hand-Held microphones: handled close to the mouse and mostly unidirectional. It is used by
musicians and outside interviews.
3) According to their pick up patterns:
a) Omni-Directional Microphones: pick sound from all directions, mostly used in round-table
discussion.
b) Bi-Directional Microphones: Pick sound from two angles and are desirable for two- person
interview.
c) Unidirectional Microphones: pick sound from one direction and are used for announcement
and news casting.
Recording Devices: these are the audio sources used to record and play recorded audio or
sound in the studio:
Tape recorder: records and plays music and other documented audio with tape.
Compact disc (CD) Player: functions like tape recorder but using CD plate.
Reel-to-Real Machine: used for recording and playback music.
Turn Table: an outcast device used for backup on which the record turns.
Monitor/ Loud Speaker: broadcast what is on the air. It houses a magnet, coil and
woofer. The magnet creates reaction. The reaction passes through the coil to the woofer
which vibrates and produces sound.
Characteristics of radio
Radio informs: The medium of radio is such that affords both the technical crew and the on-air
performer the opportunity to make information available on first time basis without the
complexities of film processing or visual consideration. All the performer needs to do is to speak
intelligently on the microphone while the audio console operator provides the technical support.
The medium in other words is a medium of immediacy where fast-breaking news is relayed first
to thousands of people in different places in a matter of minutes. Information about an
occurrence can be filed in by listeners via cell phones, sms and fax to presenters who
immediately relay such information without caution by calling for more information from other
witnesses around the event.
Radio educates: Radio can educate us and broaden our knowledge about issues and events.
Even more importantly, radio is now use to compliment the classroom teaching in a more
interesting and exiting way and at learners’ convenience.
Simplicity of radio: The simplicity of radio takes various forms. In the first instance radio
is easy to operate and as such does not require heavy equipment that is needed as compared to
all other media. In another instance it affords those working in the station to be creative and
express themselves freely but taking cognizance of the acceptable on-air norms. Again its
simplicity makes production process less cumbersome as compared to the production process in
television
Radio is inexpensive: Just like radio is simple, it is also financially healthy. Firstly, it is
cheaper it terms of purchasing receivers, secondly, it is financially healthy because it does not
require a full complement of staff that is needed for television. Some radio stations in Uganda
are managed by 10 staff and in some countries it could be less. This means that the station
gets to pay less staff and can use the money for other innovative programmes
Radio does not need electric power supply: The good thing about radio, particularly in
developing countries like Uganda where electric power is erratic, is that people can listen to
radio broadcast just by powering there receiver with batteries.
Radio receiver is portable and mobile: Radio receivers come in different shapes and sizes
which makes it possible for people to carry and move around with it without losing out any
aspect of their favorite programmes.
Radio receiver is portable and mobile: Radio receivers come in different shapes and sizes
which makes it possible for people to carry and move around with it without losing out any
aspect of their favorite programmes.
It is not a literate medium: Unlike the print medium which require ability to read and
write, radio does not require a literate audience. All that is required is a good ear and a
good listen habit.
Radio is an entertainment medium: it is a medium that provides entertainment to the different
category of listeners. Its raw material is sound and as such rely heavily on music from popular
types of music are classical, light classical, light, devotional, folk to reggae.
Radio is a medium of persuasion: when enlightening a large disperse audience is the ultimate
goal, radio may be the best medium to use, because it can be use to raise and motivate people
to action.
Radio signals can reach almost all corners of the world, with an instant message;
The message can be understood easily;
Radio appeals to the ear and other human faculties, particularly the imagination;
Radio programmes can be very stimulating to human emotions, depending on the
way they are presented; and
Radio is very profitable for group listening, because of the discussion which
naturally follows.
PERSONNEL IN RADIO STATIONS
Radio Announcers
Announcers in radio perform a variety of tasks on and off the air. They announce station program
information, such as program schedules and station breaks for commercials or public service
information as they introduce and close the programs. They are commonly referred to as Radio
Presenters or Radio DJ’s. Announcers read prepared scripts or ad-lib live commentary as they
present news, sports, weather, updates and commercials. While “On Air”, DJ’s provide
information about Music and Artists, Weather and the Traffic report. They may take requests from
listeners, interview guests; manage the social platforms like Face book or Twitter in addition to
managing listeners contests.
Radio Animators
Radio animators read prepared advert scripts or ad-lib dialogue in commercials suitable for the
selling of a product or service. These are usually free lance and report to the Production Manager.
They are expected to create interesting and ear catching radio spots and skits for the clients.
Play by play announcers
These provide an on spot account in sports narrative and provide a colorful play by play action of
live sports activities. In some radio enterprises they are referred to as “Commentator‘s”.
Radio Programs Manager/Director (PD)
The Radio programs manager or Head of Programming, is responsible for planning and
coordinating the day-to-day programming of a radio station. He/she manages programming
resources including personnel and locally and nationally generated broadcast materials. He/she
supervises both full-time and part time employees on a regular basis. He/she makes decisions
regarding hiring, evaluation, promotion and termination of employees, or makes related
recommendations that are given particular weight. Further still, the manager monitors broadcast
traffic and makes improvements where necessary to enhance programming format. The PD
evaluates materials prior to broadcast for accuracy, quality and adherence to commission
guidelines in addition to maintaining quality control of broadcast material.
Personnel/Administrative Manager (PAM)
The PAM manages and supervises administrative services and special projects run by the station.
He/she is responsible for a variety of administrative, fiscal and or personnel as well as specialized
functions. The primary difference between this job and other administrative portfolios relate to the
size and complexity of the department and the scope of responsibility. He/she assists in
administrative planning and evaluation of policies, procedures and services plus specialized
operational units within the department. These include the implementation of goals, evaluating
quality of services and executing changes recommended by other departmental heads.
News Editor
The News Editor has overall editorial and management powers of the station’s News and Current
Affairs programs. He/she has to oversee the news making process on a practical level ensuring
good liaison with external news sources and international outlets like the BBC and CNN. The news
editor gives the legality of any news package.
News Reporters
Reporters gather information from various sources, analyze and prepare news stories and
sometimes present the information on air. On the other hand, Correspondents file stories about
events happening in the regions they are stationed. News reporters are under the supervision of the
News editor.
Technical Department
Employees in this department operate and maintain the equipment ranging from studio machines to
transmitters. They are interchangeably referred to as “Engineer,” “Technician,” or “Operator”.
They manage equipment that regulates the signal strength, clarity and range of sounds. They
operate equipment to regulate the volume and audio quality of a broadcast. This department is
headed by the Chief Engineer.
Marketing/ Sales Executives
The Marketing executives sell advertising time to business companies, advertising agencies, and
other organizations on behalf of the radio station. They must be highly knowledgeable about the
station’s mission and vision, the reach, target format and other related listener demographics,
including income levels, gender, age and consumption patterns.
Traffic controller
He/she schedules and lines up spot adverts/commercials and promotions to be played by the
announcers. The traffic controller carefully schedules commercials, taking into account both the
timeslot in which a commercial is to be played, as well as spot adverts in relation to competitors in
the given business. For example, two car dealership spot adverts should not be played during the
same commercial break. This portfolio calls for high concentration, confidence and sensitivity.
Music Director
Every radio station must have somebody in charge of Music. In addition to producing music play
lists on a daily basis, he/she coordinates the compiling of new songs, stores old hits for future use,
and helps keep the station in line with the format. For example, Jazz music, R&B, Country music,
Local hits, Oldies, Rock etc. She/he works hand in hand with the PD to produce theme days and
nights.
Production Manager
The Production Manager is in charge of the production studio. He/she assigns
announcers/animators, schedules studio time for recording, produces commercial and station
promos. At times the Production Manager does the achieving of radio programs. In some radio
establishments, this manager doubles as a radio producer. He/she directs and produces recordings
of programs. Remember not all programs on a radio station are broadcast live.
Promotions Director
Coordinates and executes station promotion ideas and activities for both the programming and
marketing departments. He/she creates and manages listener contests and promotions in addition to
fulfilling other value added promotions on behalf of the clients.
Receptionist
Handles all incoming calls, receives guests plus letters in addition to a number of key
administrative activities in the day-to-day operations of clients.
Business Manager
This is the Financial Manager of the radio station. This portfolio calls for the understanding of the
business of the Media and how the media product differs from other consumable products or
services. The FM ensures a smooth flow of the station’s revenue including paying of all bills,
wages and staff salaries. The business manager heads the accounts section.
General Manager
He/she works for the station owners. He oversees the station operations. Must possess general
business knowledge, leadership ability, sales and programming skills and technical understanding
of how the station operates. In majority of radio stations, the General Manager doubles as the
Human Resource officer responsible for maintaining staff operational guidelines, company policies
and reinforcing company procedures.
Carrier opportunities in radio
Radio presenter Radio Presenters are the voice of a station or programme, whether they work in speech-based or music radio. They create the tone and style of radio output and establish a relationship with listeners.
TIPS FOR A GOOD RADIO PRESENTER
When you are a radio presenter, there are guidelines that when perfectly followed will make you a second to none as far as presentation is concerned and also gain as many listeners as possible.
The main thing to remember is that you need to be entertaining. On the radio, it is your personality that people will begin to know you for, so have it clear in your mind what type of radio personality you want to be and remain consistent at all times.
Let your natural self shine through the airwaves and this will be the way how people will remember you. In other words, be natural. Avoid imitating another good presenter. “Always be yourself’’
A radio presenter should always have interesting things to say, whether it is exciting news and facts, or simple anecdotes.
It helps if you are particularly knowledgeable about the topic that your show is based on. This means that if your radio programme is about music, then you should be very clued-up on this subject.
You should also be interested in what you are talking about. If you can show that you are passionate about something, then people will love to hear you talk about it and your show will become more popular.
Be able to generate original ideas and to think creatively about how to communicate them to audiences.
Understand how to use the voice effectively for radio.
Be able to learn how to use a variety of recording equipment and to operate different radio studios.
Be able to present while operating studio controls and coordinating a range of simultaneous technical activities.
Have excellent communication skills and be able to draw information from people. Make them listen for longer and get them to come back for more.
Be able to work calmly effectively under pressure, react quickly and meet tight deadlines.
Have knowledge of the law, ethics and industry regulations around radio production.
Understand the requirements of the relevant health and safety legislation and procedures.
Have knowledge of the radio market, different station and programme styles and audience demographics.
Read thoroughly ant text off air that you will be reading on air and rout out any strange pronunciations or uncommon words.
Establish the authority and confidence. (Nothing bothers an audience more than hearing a presenter who sounds unsure, tense, confused, or diffident)
Speak clearly and have a generally appealing voice and manner.
Set the tone of the programme depending on its nature and content. How serious do you want your programme to sound?
Know your running order before you start the programme. Have a plan for your show. Pre read and understand any scripts before you do them.
Don’t rely on newspapers to fill your show out. They are a tool, but think how you can put your own spin on a story. Anyone can read a newspaper out.
Concentrate. Personal problems are left at the door and remove any distractions.
Radio Producer The producer’s role and basic tips
Radio producers co-ordinate the content of a programme. They control the creative aspects of the show, and are often closely involved in the business and technical sides too. They may not appear on the air themselves, but they play a key part in creating what listeners hear.
Producers are found in national, local and digital stations. Most of them work in speech radio, such as news, features, documentaries and sports programmes. Others work on music shows.
A radio producer's tasks may include:
generating ideas and researching content creating a schedule, booking guests and selecting music
recording and editing
managing the budget
Working hours can be long and unpredictable. As many radio programmes are broadcast live, shift work is common, and may include evenings and weekends. Radio producers work in offices and recording studios.
A radio producer needs to be:
a strong communicator - verbally and in writing able to generate fresh ideas and make them happen
able to take the initiative and remain calm under pressure
good at working in a team
comfortable working with computers and broadcast equipment
knowledgeable and passionate about radio
Producers work for radio stations and production companies all over the Uganda. The widest opportunities are in kampala, where most of the national stations are based.
It is important to get early experience of radio and make contacts in the industry. Many radio producers start off by volunteering on student radio local fm, or gaining work experience on a local station. Radio producers develop their skills on the job. They are expected to keep up to date with advances and new technology in the industry.
News EditorWhat does a Radio News Editor do?Radio News Editors oversee and direct the work of a news team supplying news content for one or more different outlets, from single local radio stations to international news services.
They have day-to-day control of news output, identifying stories, and selecting and commissioning material for bulletins or programmes. They set and drive the news agenda in line with the approach and style of their station or programmes. They have editorial control over news output and ensure that professional journalistic standards are maintained, and that content complies with the law, broadcast regulation and organizational policy. They are the first point of contact for legal or editorial queries.
Radio News Editors must keep abreast of local, regional, national or international issues of relevance to their station or programme output. They should also have good contacts within the communities they serve.
It is the Radio News Editor’s role to generate original ideas and approaches to the way stories are covered. They assign work to their team, briefing and deploying Reporters and Broadcast Journalists. To do this role, you will need to:
understand and have an instinct for what makes a good news story and exercise sound editorial judgment
have excellent writing and storytelling skills, with the ability to tailor and adapt content for different audiences and platforms
be able to generate original ideas, and to think creatively about how to communicate them to audiences
be able to work calmly effectively under pressure, react quickly, and meet tight deadlines and lead with confidence and decisiveness
have excellent communication skills, complemented by diplomacy
be able to manage creative teams, and encourage acceptable creative risk-taking
be able to coach and develop talent in others
be able to give and receive constructive feedback, and manage performance
be able to encourage frank and constructive reviews of news or programme output
be able to manage programme budgets and resources and maintain objectivity in order to be fair and balanced in the treatment of stories
have an interest in news and current affairs and good general knowledge
be able to learn how to use a variety of recording equipment and to operate different radio studios
have knowledge of the law, ethics and industry regulations around radio production, and broad experience of their application in radio and the practice of journalism
understand the requirements of the relevant Health and Safety legislation and procedures
have strong IT skills, including word processing and data handling
have knowledge of the radio market, different station and programme styles, and audience demographics
INTRODUCTION What is News?
When asked to define the concept of news, most beginners simply say news is any information that
is new and reported by journalists. Their perspective of definition is founded on new events and
not past ones. Although this definition may be true, it is however looking at news writing from a
single perspective. Often there are events that have been reported in the past but which someone
stumble on a new twist to the information the public already has. The new twist to the information
quite frankly makes that old even news worthy.
News Treatment
News can sometimes involve good event that leave everyone happy at the end of the day. At other
times news can be bad that it leaves a nation sad for days and months.
Thus, news can be presented in two forms –hard news or soft news.
Hard news is an account of events that are serious, topical and timely and they have to be
reported immediately. Events such as accidents, disaster, speeches y senior government
officials, labour disputes, political campaigns and statement, major crimes, accidents are
stories that are regarded as hard news.
Soft news events are stories that though are not serious but contain the elements of news.
Soften news are stories geared towards informing and entertaining the public. Nwabueze
(2009) writes that “soft news may not be as timely as hard news but it is not necessarily
stale news. Soft news may not be breaking news but it could be interesting and exciting,
providing insight into serious matter.”
3.1 A news Bulletin
A news Bulletin is a radio program that carries a collection of news items about a variety of
topics (politics, economics/finance, culture, sports, etc.). These news items can again be
subdivided into categories like world news, regional news and local news business news sports
news among others.
Radio news is current, topical information on events, facts and opinions. It is objective and must
not contain the journalist’s opinion. In most cases, news reports are spoken texts only. Sometimes,
news items also include short sound bites from a reporter, a correspondent or a statement from a
person mentioned in the news item
Types of News Programmes News programmes are essential part of programming for any radio.
News is very important to everybody because it keeps people informed about current events and
developments happening in their community and other communities.
News satisfies people’s curiosity and concern and it provides basic facts, which enable people to
make up their minds and so join the general discussion that leads to community discussion.
News programmes may take the following formats
News in brief: this is a five minute newscast that presents five to 10 stories in their briefest form. It
does not necessarily include actualities and voice reports.
Integrated News format: this usually is between 10mins to more or different news presented in
different segment in the course of the news. It is usually hard news with each segment may be
handled by different newscaster. The segments include, sports, business and economy,
entertainment etc.
News magazine: though a news magazine is like the integrated news format, it however differs in
that news magazine approach stories form human interest angle. It is a combination of hard and
soft news. It usually starts with straight straights for about 15 to 20mins breaks away to
commercial before the anchor goes on to present the stories of the day. It makes use more of voice
reports.
Headlines news: this format is adopted by both radio and television stations. On radio, the
headline news is present for 60secs with each story been presented in a simple short sentence. This
usually precedes the bulleting or integrated news which is to come later in the station
programming.
3.2 Writing news items
The principle of writing news for radio is very simple:
Be precise,
Brief, (“clear Write it how you would say it. Get straight to the point at the beginning”).
Correct “Get your facts, spelling and grammar right”.
Neutral
Objective.
But nonetheless interesting.
This is what news language is all about.
Make short sentences to ensure that listeners can understand everything quickly.
Do not overload the sentences with information to make sure that the listeners are able to take in
what is carried in the news copy.
Be neutral and objective to make sure that listeners can make up their own minds about the news.
In radio news, the most important information comes first – though not necessarily at the
beginning of the sentence. The first sentence or the first two sentences contain the core of the
information (‘lead sentence’). Everything that follows just adds further detail or background,
which will help listeners understand the issue and put it into perspective.
News language
Radio news gives the listeners a lot of information in a very short time. Therefore, the news has to
be worded in a way that it is easy to understand and to follow.
News language has to be absolutely concise and neutral. And since the aim is to convey a
maximum of information in a minimum amount of time, there is no room for literary style in the
news
Here is a short overview over of the most important rules:
Repeat key words rather than using synonyms. Synonyms are often difficult for listeners to
understand and sometimes lead to misunderstandings.
Beware of foreign words. Do not base your manuscript on what you understand. Consider
whether your listeners will understand it. If there is no alternative for a foreign word, you
should use it and then explain it.
Abbreviations and acronyms need to be explained the first time they appear in a news item.
Do not assume that all listeners know what UNICEF means (United Nations Children’s
Fund) or UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
Keep numbers and figures to a minimum. They are hard to understand on the radio. If you
have to use numbers, try to round them off. However, there are cases when it is absolutely
necessary to give the exact figures and numbers down to the decimal points – particularly
when reporting election results, inflation rates or exchange rates.
Percentage rates often sound very abstract. Wherever possible, try to find different
expressions for them: ‘50 percent’ can also be described as ‘half ’, ‘200 percent’ are ‘twice’
or ‘double’.
Draw comparisons to visualize information about size and/or distance. If, for example, you
mention that a building site is about the size of two football fields, listeners will visualize
this better than if you say the size in square metres.
If possible, write your news in the active voice. This will make the news item sound livelier
and more natural. The passive voice often sounds like an official announcement: dry and
boring.
There are no quotation marks on the radio – unlike in print. So if you quote someone, use a
phrase like ‘end of quote’ to tell the listeners where the quote ends and where your
journalistic text continues. Or better yet: use indirect speech.
The use of sound clips/ Actualities/Sound Byte/Grabs
Sound clips make news or a report livelier, more interesting and more authentic. But not all sound
clips are good and make sense. Before you use a sound clip, you should consider whether it will
truly provide listeners with new insights.
3.4 Editing
Few raw interviews appear on air without some form of editing – live interviews are the obvious
exception. But where an interview has been pre-recorded, and time permits, the reporter will
usually want to tighten it up and trim it to the required length.
Just as important is editing out irrelevant questions and statements to throw into focus comments
that are newsworthy. You may also want to alter the sequence of questions and answers to point up
a strong angle that emerged during the interview.
Finally, recordings are usually fine edited to give them polish by removing hesitation, repetition
and intrusive background noise, such as a passing lorry or a ringing phone.
Editing has four main functions:
To reduce length
Removes unwanted material
Alters the sequence of the record material
Permit creative treatment
If you were to produce a 3 minute sound bite from an interview with minister Daudi Migereko
about his claims to land rights and you returned 7 with minutes then unless the material is
stunningly good, 4minutes will just have to go, so the last 4minutes can just be chopped off or the
best
Sound clips should be unique
Using sound clips makes sense if they contain, for example, strong feelings, expressions of
opinion or humour. Sound clips are also unique if they tell something about the personality of
the interviewee, if they are witness reports or historical sound documents.
Sound clips should be neither too short nor too long
The listener needs time to adapt to the new voice. However, the sound clip should not be so
long that it dominates the news bulletin or the report. In the case of news with clips, the sound
clips should not be longer than 20 seconds. For longer journalistic reports of between 2 and 4
minutes, each sound clip should be between 15 and 30 seconds long.
Be careful with expert language in sound clips
Journalists often use sound clips when they have to report about complex subject matters, e.g.
complicated scientific or business topics. Frequently, the journalists themselves have not fully
understood all details and aspects of these issues. But they fear that they might be unable to
translate the specialists’ jargon into generally understandable language. Such sound clips
containing expert lingo are
At the end of the sound clip the voice should be down
The listener should hear that the interviewee has come to the end of their sentence and/or
thought. If you cut a sound clip at a point where the interviewee’s voice is up, the listener will
suspect that the interviewee may have further expanded on his or her thought. So a statement
cut in mid-sentence may sound like you are trying to keep something from the listener –
manipulating what was actually said.
Be careful with the introduction of sound clips
When leading into a sound clip, journalists frequently make the mistake of saying exactly the same
things that the listener will hear again from the interviewee.
This is a waste of time and it is boring for the listener. Instead, guide the listener towards the
statement of the sound clip. Explain who is speaking and what they are speaking about, but do not
summarize what the statement is about in advance.
The use of Vox Pop
The meaning of Vox Pop is simply ‘the voice of people’. This is most often achieved by means of
stopping people in the street and asking them a question which is recorded in video or audio. With
vox pop you have to be quick and firm, the availability of minutes you will have will be at least
three minutes to ask the person the question, due to the fact it is being taken on the street; the
interviewee may urgently need to be somewhere else so as a journalist you have to make sure there
is a minimum of three questions and you have to ensure they are all open questions, this is vital in
order for you to be able to edit the opinions you want to keep and the ones you don’t need.
Each script is written for a presenter to read out. Think of a news script like the lines of a play
with an invisible PRESENTER: at the beginning.
Header, Tape Cues, Story Tags and Lead-in
The Header
Most broadcast media require reporters to put some basic information right at the top of the page.
This information is a brief description or keyword that identifies the story. This information is
called the slug in print journalism. These include:
The writer’s name or initials
Date the story was written
Tape Cues
Broadcast newscast is a combination of reports that are read by the newscaster without actuality
and reports with the voice of news makers and voice reports of reporters. Hausman et al (2011)
advised readers to take note of three things:
1. That there is a sound file (or tape) and it should run at this point in the story. The script should
contain an advisory listening name of the file –the title with which it is labeled
2. The time of the sound file (actuality). This is important so that the newcaster can be ready to
start reading at the appropriate time.
3. The out cue/ cue out. The cue out is a written transcription of the final words spoken on the tape.
This is the newscaster cue to begin reading the rest of the story.
Story Tags
The news report ending with the correspondence report is not always the best way to end a story
before picking another story to read. It is advisable to always end a report after the actuality with a
sentence or two – this is tags.
An example
Sample Slug:
10/12/2015 7AM SONKO SHALIF
(Date the story was written) (Time of filing the story) (The writer’s name or initials)
Police in Nakaseke District have impounded 103 heads of cattle for violation of quarantine
regulations. Seven trucks that were carrying the cattle were also impounded, and four people are
held by police over the charges.
The seven trucks were transporting cattle at night from a quarantined area to the different markets.
Two of the trucks carrying 22 heads of cattle are at Kiwoko police station, while the other five are
held at Wakyato sub-county.
Nakaseke District Police Commander, Denis Kamugisha says the animals and the trucks were
apprehended on Tuesday night after a tip off from concerned residents.
Luganda //Cue in: “Emmotoka zikwatidwa………
Cue Out:……………….emisango egyo.” //
Savannah region police spokesperson, Lameck Kigozi confirmed they impounded the cattle and
trucks, and arrested some suspects. Kigozi says these will be charged in court.
English //Cue In: “We impounded………….cue in/ cue out.
Cue out: …….blink an eye on anybody.”//
Dr. Moses Sekabembe, a veterinary officer at the district says the suspects will face charges of
spreading the Foot and Mouth Disease and face imprisonment for two years or a fine of two
million shillings, or both.
Luganda //Cue In: Abakwatiddwa……… cue in and out
Cue Out: ………….kutambuza nte.”//
In June this year, government announced a fresh cattle quarantine following the outbreak of the
Foot and Mouth Disease in Nakaseke. The disease was reported in Ngoma town
council, Kinoni, Wakyato and Ngoma sub-counties (tag)
End
Strong introduction
Always start with a strong opening, which catches the listeners’ attention, arouses their interest and
makes them want to hear more about the news. A slow, boring introduction will make listeners
switch off and turn their attention to other things.
The outward appearance of the radio script
When writing a radio news script, the contents and structure are undoubtedly the most
important factors. However, if you want to get your message across to the listeners, it is also
important how you present your piece. It’s helpful if your script is easy to read. This will make
a good and lively presentation possible. You can focus totally on the text and the presentation
instead of battling with unnecessary obstacles.
Only write on one side of the paper
If you have to turn the pages of your script to read text on the reverse sides, your listeners will
hear you rustling the pieces of paper. This unwanted sound will distract them. In addition, you
may get confused whether you’ve already read both sides of the paper. You can make things
easier for yourself if you just write on one side. You can then put each page aside once you
have read it and don’t have to look if there is anything written on the reverse side.
Define space between the lines and clear paragraphs
Generous space between the lines of your text will make it easier for you to focus on the text
while you are reading it on the air. It will prevent you from accidentally slipping into the wrong
line. If you leave space between the lines of your text, you can add pronunciation and
intonation marks over or under the words. Clearly define paragraphs within your text. This
visual aid will show you at first sight where to pause and take a breath.
Write legibly
When you are reading an illegible script on the air, you have to focus mainly on deciphering
the text. Your pronunciation and intonation will not be lively. It’s very likely that you will
stumble over certain words or phrases that are hard to read. Listeners will think that this sounds
unprofessional. Their attention will be diverted from the contents of your report.
Avoid words and expressions that are hard to pronounce
When writing a text, avoid words that you might stumble over later, when you present the text
on the air. If you think you could have a problem pronouncing a certain word, choose a simpler
one. Numbers and figures can also be linguistic stumbling blocks, especially large numbers. It
helps if you write out ‘thousands’, ‘millions’ and ‘billions’ in words rather than figures. It’s
easier to read ‘two million’ than to see a figure like ‘2,000,000’ and have to count the zeroes to
figure out whether you are dealing with millions or billions.
Check the script
If you stick to the above-mentioned tips and tricks, you should have a radio script that looks
virtually impeccable. But before you can present it in the studio, you should read it aloud at
least once. This way you will discover which sentences may be too long, where you may have
the odd unpronounceable word and whether your report has the intended total length. Finally,
ask a colleague to go over your script or to listen to you reading it aloud. Maybe your colleague
will spot phrases or words that are hard to understand or do not make sense. Once you have
been given the green light, you are ready to go into the studio and present your text on the air.
The form of the news bulletin as a whole
It’s just as important for your station or news desk to agree on a uniform design for all news
bulletins as it is to define a certain format for each individual news item.
Once again, you have numerous options:
Musical introduction of the news broadcast (news jingle/intro)
Music underlying the whole news bulletins (news bed)
Short jingles between the individual news items
A short overview of the most important news headlines at the beginning and/or at
the end of the bulletin. News Headline is the top line of each story of the day, its
role is to give a snapshot of the key story of the day, and a headline's aim is to
quickly and briefly draw attention to the story. The purpose of a headline is to
attract audience and to reassure the listeners to keep listening. In radio news
bulletin, the headline is recognised to be the significant reason in the
effectiveness of radio news.
The weather report at the beginning or at the end of the bulletin
Giving the name of the editor at the beginning and/or end
Giving the exact time before and/or after the news bulletin
Standard salutation
Ranking stories or News Alignment
One of the major problems in bulletin preparation is ranking the stories in correct order.
The job of the news producer (in some station it is the job of the news editor) is to decide which
story goes on air and the one that does not. As part of his duty, the producer must decide the order
of importance.
News assembly process can involve both choosing the stories and story order and choosing the
sound elements as well.
Just follow some simple steps.
First read through all the stories available. Then go through them again, making three lists (or
selecting the stories on to three piles). These categories should be:
1. Important stories which you must use;
2. Stories which you can use, but which are not so important;
3. Stories which you cannot use, for any reason.
REHEARSAL
There are two distinct kinds of rehearsal: the dry-run, sometimes called a read-through, and the
microphone rehearsal.
The dry-run is a rehearsal held in an office, a conference room or an unmanned studio that
is a studio without the equipment switched on.
It reduces the pressure on studios and technical services. A straightforward talk may need only one
dry-run whereas a complex drama may need several and the technical operator to attend at least
one so that he can familiarize himself with the dramatic production. For news anchors this give a
mastery of the copy scripts, strengthens diction among others.
The microphone rehearsal is held in a studio with all technical facilities working.
Talks seldom need any microphone rehearsal if' they have been read through before, but drama
and documentary need several. Drama producers frequently rehearse parts of productions
separately, with separate rehearsals for sound effects, music and actors before bringing all three
elements together at the microphone.
The producer has much to do at a rehearsal; he has to ensure that the performance follows his
interpretation of the hama-that the actors really live their roles, that the timing and pace of the
performance are right, pronunciation correct, cues properly taken, that the performance is smooth
and sounds as it should.
Use these guidelines for reading scripts: both at rehearsal and on air
Prepare. Unless there's a real emergency, never read anything on air that hasn't been
practiced aloud. Tongue-twisters are not always apparent until they are spoken aloud.
Understand. Never read anything that could be confusing to your listener.
Your voice will reflect it. Take the time to re-write the script before reading.
Mark the script. Underline key words, mark pauses (with "/" or another symbol), write
phonetic pronunciations for foreign words.
Choose the appropriate tone of voice. How much emotion/feeling should be conveyed?
Should the tone be light-hearted or serious?
Look ahead. Don't look at the script word by word. Train yourself to take in whole blocks
of words.
Handle mistakes professionally. If you make a mistake, don't panic. If it's a big error--one
that could cause confusion or misunderstanding—apologize and correct it. Otherwise, take
a breath and carry on. Don't draw attention to stumbles.
NEWS PRESENTATIONSNews reading is generally the preserve of a station’s leading and clearest Announcers. The news
reader should be well informed and familiar with the Background to every story that he/she reads.
S/he must be well versed with the language.
Things on which a news Anchor should put much emphasis while reading news;
Flaw (also means rhythm e.g. slow, fast or intermediate)
it is clear that a news cast with a reading speed that is too quick and with minimal breaks
impacts negatively on the understanding of the message, while a slow reading speed with too
many pauses negatively affects the listener's attention. It is thus necessary to find the
average between the two, and especially, to know that the speech rate has to vary depending
on the meaning of each part of the message.
Intonation
Intonation can be defined as a group of pitch variations produced in a spoken sequence that
characterizes the type of sentence, differentiates the syntactic units, and defines the emotions
and attitudes of the speaker. These pitch variations are expressed in phonetic or melodic groups,
that is, in units of verbal sense that are delimited by pauses or pitch movements. This pitch
distribution through delimitation in phonetic groups is particularly influential during
information processing, given that “the listener will base her decoding of the message mainly on
these (and possibly other) phonologic units, and not on the syntactic structure of the sentences”
Pronunciation: S/He should know accurately the pronunciation of all words which appear in the
bulletin-words in everyday speech and the names of places and people appearing in the news.
Punching with regard to the qualities of the voice, the studies indicate that the audience prefers
low pitched voices, resonant timbres, and clear and strong intensities. This combination is the
optimal to generate sensations of credibility, confidence, powerful and safety. These qualities are
very important in radio news.
Intro includes:
salutation which is a Greeting: Usually, good morning, good afternoon good evening, then the
time, the anchor’s name, frequency and station)
Outro: Outro includes name of station and frequency, thanking listeners, informing them to stay
tuned, repeating headlines and his/her name; Intro Speed and Timing (slow down, it’s not a race) to
end the news a quick look at the headlines once again,…. “Main stories”…., with that we come
to the end of the news. Thank you for listening and stay tuned to (name of the radio) or
announce the continuing program purposely for continuity of programming.
Am Andy mayuni
Voicing/Microphone practice
Keep the microphone 6 –12” from your mouth.
Generally, keep the microphone as close as possible to your mouth to avoid picking up unwanted
room reflections and reverberation. Do not get too close either.
Proximity effect, which is an increase in low frequency response that occurs as you get closer to a
directional microphone, can cause your voice to sound “muddy” or overly bassy.
Aim the microphone toward your mouth from below or above.
This placement minimizes “popping” caused by plosive consonants (e.g. “p” or “t”).
Use an external pop filter.
Though most microphones have some sort of built-in windscreen, an additional filter will provide
extra insurance against “p” pops. The pop filter can also serve as a reference to help you maintain a
consistent distance from the microphone.
Keep the microphone away from reflective surfaces.
Reflections caused by hard surfaces, such as tabletops or music stands, can adversely affect the
sound quality captured by the microphone
Speak directly into the microphone.
High frequencies are very directional, and if you turn your head away from the microphone, the
sound captured by the microphone will get noticeably duller
Wraps
News wrap is an audio piece with the news wrapped around it, this is added to provide
more information and to maintain the listener's attention.
A wrap can also mean a piece that is a summary of news lines or elements in a story.
Live Cross
A live cross is where a reporter has just finished he/she's part and passes it onto another
reporter to provide us more facts of the story. A live cross is done to give us the immediacy
of what's happened and most important to give the news of what's going on at that
particular time.
Two Way
A Two Way is a format of news report in which the newsreader interviews a reporter who
is generally out in the field and at the scene to get the information we need from the main
story. In an illustrated two way, the reporter introduces clips of audio if the news is on radio
or otherwise video if it’s being reported on television.
This is also when the newsreader is leading in the story with the sound giving us
specific vital details in the form of a live cross.
Closing stories
Sometimes called tail-enders, closing stories are almost as important as lead stories. They are the
last stories your listeners will hear and remember from the bulletin.
Script writing OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you should be able to:
Describe the different types of script formats
Understand broadcast markings
Identify the different sound element that can be incorporated in broadcast script
Write a broadcast script with little supervision
3.0 INTRODUCTION
A broadcast script is like a road map that guides the production and presentation of both live and
recorded programmes. Broadcast script writing means writing for radio and television. The radio
script is all about writing for the ear while scriptwriting for television is explained as writing for
the ears as well as the eyes. Broadcast writing is different from print writing in that print writing
comes in hard copy and can be read at when and where the reader wish, but in broadcast script
writing, simple and short sentences are employed to make it conversational to make it fit into its
transient nature. This unit is dedicated to taking student through the process of script writing,
scripts formats and other elements that can be incorporated into broadcast script.
3.1 Scripting
Writing for radio and television requires that the copywriter adopt a more natural friendly tone to
make the script appear as if the presenter is carrying on a conversation with another person even if
the message is targeted at millions of people. Doing this meant using the spoken words of everyday
speech. Writing for broadcast medium also entails understating the medium, the uniqueness,
advantages and challenges of the medium.
It is important to keep in mind when writing for radio and television, that the words spoken are
heard once as such it is critical to always use easy, simple short sentence and understandable words
that the audiences know. For radio, the scripts are delivered through sound and the in case of radio
of television sound and picture, the script should therefore try to bridge the gap between the
present and his/her audience.
The rules of writing broadcast script are presented below:
For Titles and names:
Titles must precede names.
Use complete name in the first reference, then last name or first name thereafter.
Drop obscure names or places that add nothing your story
For Quotations:
Use direct quotes sparingly.
Let people say their own words.
IF you must use a direct quote set it off with such phrases as: “In the words of...” or “As he
put it...” or try to paraphrase as much as possible. This will help you avoid the words
sounding as if they were yours.
Writing hints
Keep sentences short.
Prefer the simple to the complex.
Put action in your verbs.
Write like you talk.
Use plenty of pauses or music bridges.
Don’t use technical jargon. The medium is not a medium of explanation
Write with emphasis on picture.
Don’t get “wordy.”
Read the cop aloud
Words
Eliminate most abbreviations, but you can abbreviate Mr., Mrs., Dr.
Write out days, months, states, military titles.
Numbers
Spell out figures through eleven.
Use hyphenated combinations. Example: 33-thousand.
Use “st,” “nd,” “th,” and “rd” after dates, addresses and numbers to be read as ordinary
numbers.
Types of Script Format
There are different types of broadcast script format but basically they can be grouped under three:
fully scripted programme, the outline or semi-scripted programme, and the show format or the run-
down sheet.
The Fully scripted format: fully scripted programme format are scripts that contain all
audio material that would be spoken on air as well as the director’s instruction or makings.
Programmes that employ this format include news programmes, dramatic programmes
documentaries, commercials, station breaks.
The Outline Scripted format: this format is best suited for programmes that do not require
that every word be written down. Programmes that adopt this format include educational
programmes, variety shows, and interviews programmes. This format entails the writing of
the opening and closing credit. In other words the outline script is used in news or sport
coverage, where certain information for openings, closings and commercial introductions
are carefully written into the script.
The Show Format or Run-Down Sheet/semi-scripted format: this format is particularly
suitable for routine programmes that are either daily or weekly. This type of script format
provides all the vital information about a production precisely and concisely with each
segment of the programme showing the talent involved, where it is taking place and its
approximated running time. The beauty of this script format is that the same format is the
same.
Parts of broadcast script
Broadcast scripts are divided into three parts, the identification part both at the top of the script
and at the bottom of the script and the body. The information at the top of the script depends
largely on the in-house style of each station, but generally the identification (ID) part at the top
of a script contains station ID – name of the station; name of the programme, time of
transmission, date of transmission, name of presenter(s), the signature tune (sig tune) among
other information.
The information at the bottom ID also depend on a station in-house style and it may consist of
the name/initials of the writer, the editor/director and source of information which could be
coverage, agency report of press release. Note that the top ID and bottom ID are voiced in the
case of radio and are shown as opening and closing credits in television for people to read.
On the other hand, the body of the script contains all action and speech cues. The speech is
what the reader/presenter reads on air while the action cues are those instructions that are not to
be read but carried out on air. The action or instructions must be written in capitals capital
letters to show that it must not be voiced.
Editing Broadcast Copy
Broadcast scripts are not presented on air as written in the first draft; this is because the copy must
pass through the editor on duty, he/she must look out for the pitfalls, wrong spellings and likely
legal issues in the copy.
The following simple rules will help you ensure that your copy remains readable.
Insert punctuation: When you insert that missing period, quotation mark, comma, question
mark, etc., neatly place the mark where it belongs.
Correct Spelling Neatly: Never try to correct a letter within a word, block out the
misspelled word and write the corrected word on top of the block.
Inserting Words or Phrases: Insert a word or phrase by printing the word or words above
the line and indicating where you want to insert it.
3.2 Preparing the Copy
Although the product of radio is music and the spoken works while for TV is the spoken works and
the video, there are other basic elements like; style, timing and pacing that can aid the delivery of
the copy in the most interesting way.
Form and Style
Broadcast script must be typewritten and double-spaced to help the reader pick words
from each line clearly.
The copywriter must also try as much as possible to use fairly short sentence. This will
help the reader control his/her breathing and inflections, but most especially, punctuation
must contribute to readability.
Another way to make broadcast script interesting and meaningful is to underline phrases
that you want emphasized or stressed.
The heading or ID as stated earlier should contain information that will indentify the
station and the programme.
Just as each station has its own in-house style/format, copywriters and presenters also must
develop a style that define them and set them apart from others.
The style you develop is an individual thing, “it must reflect an aspect of your personality,
one with which you are comfortable with.
Specimen of A Radio Script
Name of Station: 90.7 Umcat Fm
Programme: A Day with Celebrity
Date of Broadcast: Tuesday 13th 0ct 2015
Time of Broadcast: 11.00 Hrs Gmt
Producer: Athieno Veronica
Table that carries the different programme segments, (refer to copy appended with the
interview program)
The voice quality is especially important in broadcast production.
While well-modulated tones may be of some advantage, they are not essential. Style compensate
for almost any voice quality…your style develop over a long period of time. It will be closely tied
to your personality and interests.
The style a presenter adopts in delivering his /her script will endear audience to his /her programme
and the personality. It wins audience loyalty to a station and more commercials for a station. it is a
method that becomes a part of a presenter over time. It includes the way he/she reads a copy, the
tone of his/her voice and his/her pacing and timing.
Pacing and Timing
Pace and timing plays a vital role in how the meaning and acceptance of a message.
The two elements are seen as the two most important elements in oral style and yet the most
elusive. Pacing includes rate of delivery, as well as the variations in the rate.
Variation can be described as variations of voice and it should be made to transit smoothly. Timing
on the other hand, according Hasling (1989), timing is the sense of knowing how long to “hold” on
a word or a pause before picking up the next line. Pennington (2006) adds that:
If you were listening to a piece of music which had the same pace and rhythm all the way
through, no crescendos, no allegros, no change of pace or mood, you would soon be bored! It’s
exactly the same with a programme. Particularly within a magazine programme, be aware of the
importance of changing the mood and pace as you move from one item to another…Timing is
crucial. Be aware of it from the beginning of your work on a programme. Don’t neglect it; don’t
continually leave it till later. You will need to be aware of overall timing of the programme, and
the timing of every item within it, including all the presentation (menu, links, closing).
3.3 Sound Elements in Broadcast Production
Words alone cannot tell the story a scriptwriter or the director of a radio/TV programme wants to
pass across to the audience. He needs other elements like music, sound effects, voice quality
among others. Here are ways by which music, sound effects and voice quality can add meaning to
an overall production.
Music
Music can be incorporated into radio and television programme for a variety of reasons. These
include:
Music can be use an audience along from one feeling to another for instance
music can be use to create an illusion of love, hatred, horror or happiness.
Music should be used to establish mood and atmosphere but it is important not
to over-emphasize emotional moments.
It can be employed as a programme identification tune which is otherwise called
signature tune.
In some cases, mu music can be use to bridge two segments of a programme
In some children and adult programmes music can be use to tell a story.
Music can be use in any radio or television programme; however when using music it must be a
song that the audience is familiar with, in other words it must be interesting and appealing to the
audience.
It is important that you do not speak over vocals. The announcer’s voice may clash with the lyrics
of the song playing under if it not carefully executed.
Music is such an evocative tool that it is used in a great many radio production task; unfortunately,
it is also frequently misuses and overused. By indicating that music can be misused or overused, I
implying that the radio or television scriptwriter and director be wary of how and when to use
music in any production. Hausman et al therefore identify what they called the “do use music” and
the “do not use music”.
Do use music
When you can find a logical reason to do so, use music to create and reinforce a theme.
When the music has a logical purpose and fits into the format of your station.
Do not use music
Do not use music strictly as reflect: don’t make it “other stations are using it, I have to use
it”, in “many times you’ll be better off without it”.
Do not use music indiscriminately. According to them this warning applies specifically to
the novice radio producer who is tempted to use currently popular music within
announcements or other productions, whether or not it serves to reinforce the message.
Sound Effects
Sound effects can come from audio files, pre-recorded tapes or CDs; and they are use to either
indicate location or action. When sound effect is applied to production appropriately it can add
meaning to the message on the one hand but if it is wrongly applied it may make the message
appear amateurish. According to Hausman et al (2010), there are two good reasons for using sound
effects which they called “do use of sound effects”.
Do use of sound effects
To save time and words
To inject drama into the programme
Do not use sound effect
Do not use sound effect just because they are there: According to them, sound effects are
excellent production tool, but if they’re used just for the sake of using them, they are
inappropriate and can detract from the message.
Voice quality
Most scriptwriters often want to have a say in who delivers the script they have written. Their
reason, though may sound ridiculous, is based on the quality and the inflections the reader can
bring into the script to drive the message home. A well-written script with a powerful message may
lose its power if the presenter failed to inject the right voice quality. Voice quality, according to
Hausman et al (2010), is the overall image that an announcer’s voice projects. In their opinion, the
voice of a reader should not have defects of any sort. They write further on possible factors that
may cause distractions in the voice of a reader:
One of the most common distractions is improper breathing by the announcer. Over-breathy
voices, except when they are a well-known novelty, sound amateurish. Often in experienced
announcers can be heard gasping for air between phrases. Such gasping sounds might not be
apparent in everyday speech, but a mic can be merciless
The way out of the above problem, is to maintain generous breath support instead of trying to talk
until all your breath is expanded. By planning where to take breaths you can hit the right
inflections
3.4 Useful tips for writing for Radio
The good thing about radio and television is that they carry programmes with powerful messages
that are capable of changing lives positively. So when you are writing for these media keep the
following in mind:
Decide what the programme is for: knowing what the programme sets out to achieve will
you as a scriptwriter to come up with a script that will do just that. Pennington (2000)
agrees that asking yourself what the programme is for may seem an odd, even a ridiculous
but according him, this seemingly obvious question is useful – because it forces you to
focus – and stay focused – on exactly what you’re trying to do.
Providing answer to this question will help you to re-focus, and make decisions about what
is right for the programme you want to make. The programme can be to inform, educate,
entertain or campaign or do all.
Who is the target audience: knowing who the message is targeted at. The demographics of
the target audience help you design appropriate message and language to use.
Decide on the format or approach you want to use
Research: Research is the foundation of any story, so carry out comprehensive research on
whatever topic or issue you are working on.
Be creative: being creative means selecting specific details that will help create vivid
pictures and allow the listener to imagine what is being described.
3.5 CONCLUSION
Words scripted down in the broadcast script are just one of the various elements that make a
radio/TV production meaningful and successful. Although important must be carefully selected to
add meaning to the overall image the production is trying to create. Also important to the success
of the production, is the ability of the presenter to develop distinct style that will give him an edge
over others anchoring similar programmes on other station; and his ability to control his pace and
timing.
3.6 SUMMARY
So far you have learnt from this unit:
Meaning and uses of sound effects
Different sound element in broadcast production
That individual style is a product of many factors
That pacing and timing contribute to the success of broadcast
copy
ASSIGNMENTS
1. What are sound effects and how do they influence a successful production
2. How is pace different from timing?
3. Discuss three strategies available to a presenter if he/she must deliver copy
effectively.
4.0 OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Understand the concept of programme format and why it is necessary in broadcast media;
Understand the concept of station philosophy;
How audience affect station format; and
The need to promote the station
3.1 Station format, philosophy and its implication
A station programme or station philosophy refers a certain kind of approach to fulfilling its role in
the society or toward its audience.
A stations programme reflects the philosophy of the station ie the programme is designed to
achieve the goals of the station.
Every station must have a programming structure. The most meaningful way we can organize radio
stations is according to their format, a type of consistent programming designed to appeal to a
certain segment of the audience.
4.2 How audiences affect a program format
Before a station determines the type of programmes it airs, a lot has to be put into consideration.
They must have researched into the market they are operating, the people and their needs. Their
efforts culminate into designing programmes that will appeal to the audience and advertisers.
A well arranged programme will attract a number of listeners to the station.
In other understanding a format is the arrangement of programme elements into sequence that will
attract and hold the audience segment a station is seeking.
On the other hand radio programming format:
Programming is the most important aspect of radio station operation. The message that is
communicated is, after all, the central reason for all of the technological talents and energies that
go into sound transmission.
In other words, programme does not match the needs and aspirations of the audience, getting
money to stay in business may be difficult. Generally speaking, the research that a station conducts
on its audience will reveal the categories of people who make up the audience, their profession,
age, gender, location and economic status. Station programme tend to tilt towards what the
research outcome is. If the audience has more teenager and young adult, the type of programme a
station will transmit will appeal more to this category of audience that it will to the older audience.
4.3 Programme format
Generally speaking, there are two main formats – music and talk. Every type of programme falls
under these two broad categories. The two categories are discussed below:
Music format
There are many variations of music formats; each variation is built around the specific genre of
music.
Country-western format: This programme format mostly attracts older generation and those who
love country music. Music in this format reveals emphasis on steel guitar and vocals in a
southwestern accent.
Folk: This is a broad category that can include contemporary music as well as traditional. This
could include highlife music that is found in most African society
Adult contemporary (AC): This consists of a blend of suitable oldies and current soft-rock hits.
Classical: This refers to serious music that has survived for several generations. It is the type of
music that is played by symphony orchestras in concerts hall.
Jazz: This type of music is highly rhythmical and often free-form music.
Gospel/Religious music: This type of music is often inspirational and used to spread the gospel.
Reggae music is associated with Jamaicans and is played among different African countries.
Top 40: On some radio stations it could be Top 10, Top 100 and are labeled so because they are
current hit records. It consists of selections that are most popular in terms of requests and record
sales.
Talk Format
Radio stations rely on speech and music to fill the air time.
Talk programmes are basic form of broadcasting and existed before radio began, so it is no surprise
that the other broadcast programmes is an off-shoot of talk.
The different programmes that emanate from talk is listed below, however these programmes will
be discussed extensively in the subsequent pages.
Talk shows, Drama, Documentary, News, News magazine, Interview and Discussion
5.0 CONCLUSION
Programming is the most important function of a radio stations the reason d’être of their
operations, but the truth is if the programme does not see the broadcast audience appeal to the
audience, the station would be out of business.
Although there are various ways a station can source for programme, it is often advisable for each
station to develop its own programme that will reflect its philosophy and at the same time attract
and hold the audience.
This is the ingredient that every station needs to get commercials or sponsors for their programmes.
5.1 Exercise
2. If you are the manger of UMCAT fm 90.7 a radio station that has the program format of less
talk more music and caters strictly for the Ugandan audience, make a suggestion of the type of
music that your station will play to satisfy your listening audience.
3. What do you understand by a station philosophy or program format?
RADIO PROGRAMME PRODUCTION
Now let us learn about the different stages of radio programme production.
Whatever we do, there has to be a clear plan. In the case of radio production also, there is a well
accepted process of production which is carried out in three stages.
Let us list them out.
a) Pre-production
b) Production and
c) Post-production
a) Pre-production
As the title suggests, this is the first stage before the actual production
i) An idea is born: This phase includes how a programme is born as an Idea and its
conceptualization. The topic or subject matter is decided.
ii) Plan of action: After the topic is decided, a plan of action is worked out. Here the format of the
progamme is determined i.e whether the programme is a talk, discussion, interview, drama,
documentary etc. Once that is clear, the right person for writing the script and the performers are
decided. The plan of action would also determine the equipment for outside recordings that are
required. The time and venue of the recording are also worked out.
iii) The script is examined to make it suitable for broadcast. It is examined according to the
principles of writing for radio or in other words ‘for the ear’. We will discuss this is detail in the
next section.
iv) Paper work: If people who are not working in the radio station are involved for writing or
providing voice for the programmes, they have to be invited with an agreement to accept the job or
assignment. This type of agreement is referred to as a contract. Similarly, permission is often
required to interview certain people if the programme is based on such interviews. Therefore, as
you can see, there is a lot of paper work at the pre-production stage.
v) Rehearsing the voices of speakers is also part of this stage.
b) Production: This is the actual process of recording and editing a radio programme. Proper
studios, microphones and computers are required to record and edit the programme.
c) Post production: Writing to inform people involved in the production is a major activity during
this phase. The progamme has to be given publicity both on radio and in other media. This is done
to ensure that people know about the programmes and also listen to them. The announcements for
the presentation of the programme are also written and provided for the actual broadcast of the
programme.
RADIO PROGRAMMING CONTENT
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Programming
3.2 Construction Programme Format
3.3 Sources of Programme
3.4 Programme Scheduling Strategies
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutored-Marked Assignment
7.0 References
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Broadcast programming or scheduling is the practice of arranging television or radio programmes in a daily, weekly, or season-long schedule.
Programme scheduling strategies are employed to give programs the best possible chance of attracting and retaining an audience. They are also used to deliver programs to audiences when they are most likely to want to listen to them and deliver audiences to advertisers in the composition that makes their advertising most likely to be effective. Having said that therefore, it is expedient to expose you to strategies broadcast stations use to arrange their programmes to hold loyal audience and to possibly get other potential audience in this unit.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
o Identify the different types of programme scheduling strategies.
o Distinguish between programme and programming
o Describe how programme formats are constructed
o Discuss the various programme sources
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 Programming
A radio programme is what a station has to offer to its listeners and advertisers. The type of programme a station has determines the type of people who listens to it and the amount of adverts it commands.
A radio program is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series.
Broadcast stations must through their programmes:
• convince listeners that they are on their side, and interested in what concerns them;
• encourage them to feel part of the programme;
• encourage them to contribute their views and concerns to you; and
• Not to patronize them.
On the basis of this therefore, the task of every programmer/producer/director is to:
Choose programs that meet the needs and wants of an audience.
Negotiate the development or “rights” to a program.
Organize those programs into a cohesive schedule that flows from one program to the next.
Market the programs to the appropriate audience.
Convince advertisers the programs will reach their consumers.
In view of the above, every station attempts to arrange their programmes in such a way that will suit the audience they cater for.
Broadcast Programming or scheduling is the defined as the practice of arranging television or radio programmes on a daily, weekly, or season-long schedule. The practice is used to schedule programmes to build an audience for a new show, retain audience, or compete with other stations’ programmes.
Station schedule programme in a particular time for the following reasons:
To maximize the size of an audience targeted by advertisers.
To attract audience for the programme;
To give the programmes the best chance to survive or be accepted by its target audience;
To match programmes with target audience available at the time; and
Deliver audiences to advertisers in the composition that makes their advertisements most likely to be effective.
3.2 Constructing programme formats
Broadcast stations (radio) have different formats. For commercial broadcast stations, their target is to get advertisers to bring their products and services to their station for airing and for sponsorship of some of the stations` programmes. The concerns of this type of station are to attract advertisers’ money so as to keep the station going while at the same time keeping the interest of their listeners high. Without the money from advertisers, the station may find itself at the brink of collapse.
Another station format is non-commercial broadcasting in which the station rely more on subvention and public goodwill. Unfortunately, there is no private broadcast station operating a non-commercial programme format and the few government stations transmitting public affairs programmes still commercialize some of their other programmes. Ubc radio, radio star, magic fm, ubc blue among others
Regardless of the kind of format a station adopts, it must also have a programming structure or programme format that suits the station as well as the audience of the station. The programme format a station adopts gives the station its identity as separate from other stations in the same market.
Reasons why station must have a well-defined programming structure
“Programming is the most important aspect of radio operation.
The message that is communicated is the central reason for all of the technological talents and energies that go into sound [audio] transmission.”
The message could be in form of speech or music. In this instance, some stations could adopt a music format with a mixture of talk which in most cases forms part of their evening programme. Others could adopt sports or news. It is however important to note that the language of transmission also form part of the station`s format.
3.3 Sources of radio programmes
A radio station sources its programmes two ways: internally and externally.
Internal programmes are those programmes that are developed and produced by staffs of the station or a programme a station developed in collaboration with another agency.
Programmes sourced internally include among others:
Networks may have lost its importance in some countries; they are still very relevant in Uganda. Such Agencies include Uganda Radio Network. One such program is the national perspective, a well researched documentary that is sent every week on the network with subscribing stations free to download and play it to their audiences.
Network programming implies that the there are local stations that depend for some part of their daily transmission even if they still have their own programmes that they transmit to their audience. The relevance of network programmes are often in the areas of news, public affairs programme, documentaries and even entertainment programmes like drama and talk shows.
In another way, a programme could be syndicated to stations who have agreed on the terms with the network to air the programmes.
When a station becomes affiliated with a network, it agrees to make a certain amount of its air time available for the broadcasting of network programmes. Stations can also develop a variety of programme from talk to drama to fill the air time. A station could also develop musical programmes that suits the audience that tune to the station.
Programmes sourced externally include among others:
Independent producers: there are independent producers who come up with programmes like drama, soap opera, discussion and talk shows as a means of livelihood. These producers may syndicate their programmes to interested stations. They buy air time from stations but source funds from sponsor of the programme.
These many times present written proposals for their programs to aired onto radio
The draft of aproogram proposal could take the following fomart
HOW TO WRITE A PROGRAMME PROPOSAL
Personal Information
None Address Phone Email Address
Program Information
Program Host(s) Program Producer(s)
Note: The producer organizes the show’s content, arranges guests and any special equipment needed.
Length of proposed program Duration of series (in case needed) Program description (specify the design of your program, how you plan to divide the time) What experience and skills do you bring to the radio station?
The general genre of your program
For example; will it be a sport or music program, or a talk show?
Target audience of program
Please be as specific as possible with regards to the targeted program audience. Think about specific subjects like age, level of education, field of interest and/or the ethnic background of your audience. Are you mainly targeting men or women? Also: what is the need of a program for this specific audience?
Production Information
Where will this program be produced – at the Station or elsewhere? What, if any, costs are associated with the production? What, if any, resources will you request from the radio station?
Promotion and Evaluation
What are the objectives of your program? How will you determine whether you achieved your objectives? Describe the contribution this program will make to the community? How do you plan to promote your program?
Note: Don’t forget to justify every point
Sign and Date.
Religious programmes: more stations are accepting religious programmes from sermons, live crusades and magazine programmes.
Reality shows: the trend world over is reality TV, and UGANDA is not left out. Today programmes Project Fame among others command good number of audience across the nation.
Live shows/coverage: stations like CBS (ENKUKA), SIMBA (EKIGUNDA), BUKEDDE (EMBUTU YE MBUTIKIZI), BEAT FM (LUWOMBO) KABOOZI FM organize different festival like, Christmas carnival; musical shows et cetera to fill the air and also source for funds. Although these programmes are seasonal, they are planned (depending on when the event occur) to fall into the station’s quarterly scheduling of programmes.
3.4 Programme scheduling strategies
Flow/Stacking: is a technique used to develop audience flow by grouping together programmes with similar appeals to “sweep” the listeners along from one programme to the next. This strategy revolves round audience of broadcast programmes; the idea is for audience of a particular programme to flow from one programme to another. For audience to flow into another programme, the station must be ready to schedule its programmes with similar appeal together.
Block programming: station schedules programmes back-to back for a period of time to retain viewership. Scheduling p rog rammes i n blocks to make WONDERFUL sense since so much of a programme rating success depend on habitual listership. Breaking viewers` habit can weaken the power of that juggernaut. Thus, a network will gain the rights to air a chartbuster drama o r popular rock concert and place it opposite a highly successful programme.
Day parting: most talk shows are scheduled for day time this is because they are geared towards a particular demographic group. Most day time talk shows target women, youth and singles, the reason for this is that it is the period of time they are available. Thus, day parting involves dividing the day into several parts, and different radio/television programmes appropriate for each day part are aired.
Stripping: this strategy involves running the same show in the same slot every day of the week so as to retain listership. Forexampl radio stations like radio one fm 90, 107.5innman fm, 93.3 kfm Uganda have reserved 7-8 pm Monday through Friday in which for about 60 minutes air political talk show program. For that slot, these radio station are assured that their listeners are there and waiting Monday to Friday. Again, this works in favour of both the station and advertisers. The station can use this to attract sponsorship, and in any case advertisers are ready to air their messages on a station they know people are viewing.
Hot switching: in hot switching the station eliminates any sort of commercial break. When one programme ends and another begins, this immediately hooks the audience into listening to the next programme without a chance to change the channel between programmes.
Tent pole programming: This strategy is similar to hammock programming in that a programme is sandwich in between two. However in the case of tent pole programming, a very strong programme with high followership is sandwich between two weak programmes at each end. The essence of this strategy is to make people listen to the first weak programme while they await the popular programme, and of cause most people will stay with the first weak one so as not to miss the interesting programme. Also, programmers hope that by the time the
interesting programme ends, some may stay around to watch the second weak programme. In other words, programmers bank on the strength of the central programme to draw viewers to the two other weak
4.0 CONCLUSION
As interesting as some programmes are, they may not have the desired effect, if radio programme directors did not place in the time slot when the target audience will be available to listen. To ensure that the target audience is waiting to watch a programme, the station must know the type of audience the programme is meant for; the time suitable for the programme; and the programme the competition is offering at the same time.
5.0 In this unit you have learnt:
The concept of programming;
How to programme a station;
The various strategies a station can use to place its programmes
How stations source programmes; and
How programmes are constructed.
6.0 TUTORED-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. Differentiate between programme and programming
2. What are the factors every programmer must take cognizance off when planning station programme scheduling?
3. What is the essence of scheduling programmes
THE INTERVIEW PROGRAMME Definition
The interview is a focused exchange of questions and answers with the objective of
acquiring information.
It aims to get comprehensive and clear information from the interview partner within the
shortest possible time.
An interview can be conducted with the intention of broadcasting the complete exchange of
questions and answers.
An interview can also be conducted in order to research information or to record individual
statements for news items or reports.
One thing holds true for any interview: the interviewee is the main person. His or her
answers are the most important thing in the interview.
Radio journalists only ask questions on behalf of the listeners – the questions they would
ask the interview partner if they had a chance to talk to him or her.
The questions should be short and precise and directly targeted to reach our information
goal. We have to stay unbiased and should avoid getting emotional. Our personal opinions
must not shine through at any time during the interview.
Length: between 3 and hours minutes
Strengths of an interview program
Authentic, credible First-hand information, opinions and emotions containing spontaneous,
unplanned elements that is surprising and attractive for the listener.
Makes the programme lively
Cheap and quick to produce
Weaknesses of an interview program
Risk of confusing the listener if you do not strictly adhere to a logical structure
Only presents one person’s opinion
It can be difficult for the journalist to stay in control of the interview – especially when
dealing with very experienced interview partners
Experts have a tendency to use jargon; here, the journalist has to intervene and ask the
expert to repeat the information using simpler words
Procedures for Conducting Interviews
Decide on the topic of the interview Focus on just one topic.
Don’t ask questions about side aspects – otherwise your interviewee will get carried away and the
listeners will be confused. Next, you should define your interview goal. Ask yourself what the
listeners want to know about this topic and what information is relevant for them. Do your research
properly. Nothing is more embarrassing than if an interviewee corrects mistakes in your questions
during an interview or if your interview partner gets away with making false statements because
you did not know enough about the topic and did not realize how you were being manipulated or
tricked. And finally: Define a lead question for
Decide on who to invite as the guest:
There are many things you need to consider when deciding whom to interview: their expertise,
their ability to explain things in a straightforward way, their position and views with regard to the
topic of the interview.
In addition, you need to know whether your interviewee will be available for the interview and
willing to talk on the radio. It is also good to know beforehand if your interview partner is someone
who is quiet and shy or someone who will talk a lot during the interview.
Write a letter of request to the guest
Before you start conducting an interview, you should always brief your interviewee about some
things:
What is the topic and the focus of the interview?
How long will the interview take?
Will the interview be recorded or broadcast live?
When will the interview be broadcast?
Will it be broadcast as a whole or is it just a research or statement interview?
When and where will the interview be conducted?
Will it be a one-on-one interview, or will other interviewees or additional journalists be
present?
An example of invitation card for interview guest
To The President General
Uganda People’s Congress
Dear sir/madam
RE: INVITATION FOR INTERVIEW PROGRAM
90.7 Umcat FM, an English broadcasting radio station located on Block 10, Plot 421, Grace Road
Adjacent to Mengo S.S.S Near UMEME offices Nakulabye, takes pleasure to invite you to our
Nature Of Program/ (recorded or live) interview program Called Name Of The Program (eg. talk
to my country) Duration/Running Time running 7-8pm on the 3rd of September 2015, Topic Of
And Focus Of Program eg.discussing the success of 2016 general election without electoral
reforms
I will be grateful for your positive response.
Your’s faithfully eg. (Athiono veronica)
Your contact eg (you phone number or email address)
Title eg. (Program Host).
Prepare a script and make it available to the presenter and technical Director for the
programme
PROGRAM SCRIPT
STATION FREQUENCY AND NAME SAY 90.7 FM UMCAT FM
PROGRAM NAME:……………………………………….
DATE ………………………… DURATION 1HOUR (7-8PM)
TOPIC OF DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………………..
PRESENTER ……………………………………………………………………………..
GUEST……………………………………………………………………………………..
Segment Content Timing
Intro Welcome the listener, reveal the
program name, the presenter’s
name , the guest’s name the topic
of the day
7:00-7:10pm
Break Adverts, program jingle 7:10-7:13pm
Introduction Topic
Back ground
Intro of guest
Interview Question and answer session
starting with the lead question
(Open questions) all question may
be listed for your guidance
7:13-7:48pm
Call in Invite phone calls from the listener
(as may deem necessary )
7:48- 7:50pm
Reaction Reaction to calls from listeners 7:50- 7:55pm
Closing remarks Last words from the guest, and your
closing remarks as well
7:55-8:00pm
Prepared by ………………….Approved by………………….
Types of interview questions
Closed questions
Yes/no question
This form of question only allows a ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘I don’t know’ answer. In most cases, you will
have to ask a follow-up question to find out more. This can be a waste of time. Yes/no questions
are good to pinpoint an interviewee on a certain topic, but they will not get the interviewee talking.
Information question
This form of a closed question is used if you want to get short and precise information.
It is also suitable as a follow-up question or in order to specify an issue.
Open questions
The answers to open questions are usually longer. You are giving the interviewee a chance to go
into more detail, to explain the background, reasons, developments or personal opinions
Special forms of question
Statement plus question:
The interviewer states a fact and then adds a question.
You should only choose this form of question if you are absolutely sure that the fact you are stating
is correct. If your statement is false or needs explanation, the interviewee will start a discussion
about your incorrect statement instead of answering your question. You run the risk of the
interview developing into an argument, something that you should avoid at all costs.
Suggestive question:
With a suggestive question, you are implying something in the hope that your interviewee will
agree or disagree in a very lively way. This form of question can force the interviewee to take a
stance and make the interview more dynamic.
But be careful: a suggestive question can sometimes be seen as a provocation by the interviewee.
This could spoil the atmosphere of your interview. A disturbance on the relationship level of the
interview will also affect the information level.
If things turn sour, your interviewee might even refuse to answer or ask a counter- question. In the
end, your listeners will perceive your questions as unfair or even aggressive.
Interpreting question
If the interviewee is not clear in his or her answers or tries to get away without making a clear
statement, you can offer a possible interpretation in a follow-up question. This would force the
interviewee to take a stance and make the original answer understandable for the listener.
Indirect question
In an indirect question, you confront your interviewee with a statement made by a third party.
Usually, this statement will be in opposition to what the interviewee thinks or says. Since you can
hide behind the critical remarks that someone else made, this method allows you to be somewhat
confrontational without hurting the interview atmosphere.
Sequence of questions
The interview as a whole should answer a lead question. Getting an answer to this lead question is
the information goal of your interview. It is usually best to start an interview with a general
question. This will give the interviewee a chance to talk freely and to get used to the interview
situation.
Your first question should be interesting and new for your interviewee and for your listeners. If
your first question is one that your interview partner has already answered frequently in other
interviews, he or she will not develop much interest in your interview, will be bored and provide
answers that sound like they’ve been rehearsed. However, if you ask your interview partner an
unusual question as an opener, he or she will be drawn into the interview – and so will your
listeners.
It is essential to get the listeners’ attention from the start of an interview and to make them feel
that it’s worth their time to keep on listening. Radio listeners decide within the first 30 seconds of
an interview whether they will keep listening or whether they will mentally switch off. So the first
question of your interview will already determine whether you will have an interested and
attentive audience or not.
One traditional form for an interview is the so-called funnel-structure. You start off with
rather general questions. During the course of the interview, you get more and more specific, until
you end with a yes/no question that pinpoints your interviewee. This way, your interview ends on a
clear statement from the interviewee.
And this will leave your listeners with the impression that the interview was worth their while
because it left them with clear and concise information
Do not stick to a sequence of questions that you may have prepared. Instead, try to derive your
questions out of the answers you get. This way, the flow of the interview sounds natural and
logical. It is vital that you listen to what your interviewee says. If you give interview partners the
feeling that you are personally interested in their answers, they will give much livelier answers than
if they feel that you are just ticking off a list of questions.
Badly worded questions
Either/or question
If you ask an either/or question, you narrow your interviewee down to only two alternatives.
But instead of the either-or alternative, your interviewee would possibly have mentioned a third
option that you did not think of. Either/or questions will usually require follow-up questions. This
wastes time and can be confusing to the listeners.
Multiple questions
Multiple questions create confusion and lead to you losing control of the interview.
Your interview partner can decide which part of the question he or she wishes to answer. It’s better
to always ask one question at a time.
TYPES/CATEGORIES OF INTERVIEW
Here are five categories of interview, but it should be remembered that an interview could be
made up of a combination of all or some of them.
I. Collecting information: The main purpose of this type of interview is to obtain facts or
elucidation about a subject and the interview can take place off- or on air. It will include
interviews with experts, spokespersons or eyewitnesses. You need to make sure you are
talking to the most knowledgeable person available, and to spend a fair amount of time
going over the questions you are likely to ask, ensuring that the topic is covered in a clear
and logical sequence.
II. Expressing opinion or offering explanation: Once facts are made available, you need
someone to interpret and comment on them for you and the listener. So once again you will
be contacting your friendly expert on the subject, or the spokesperson from an organization
for reaction. You may also want a snapshot of opinion from the general public; this is
usually in the form of a vox-pop or phone in.
III. Accountability: The aim of this interview is to ask someone responsible for decision
making and instigating a plan to explain and justify their reasons for embarking on a course
of action. As an interviewer you may need to challenge these actions, or invite comments
from another interviewee who opposes or disagrees with the actions.
IV. Emotional or sensitive: For many journalists this type of interview is the most problematic.
The knee-jerk cliché question they usually ask is ‘How do you feel?’ This is understandable
because they are trying to explore the interviewee’s state of mind – they may be a victim or
a relative of a victim involved in a tragedy or a crime. On a lighter note, it may be there turn
of a round-the-world yachtsperson. Whatever the subject, interviews that will produce an
emotional response need sensitive and non-intrusive questioning. Extra care should be
taken in making the initial approach for an interview. It is advisable not to attempt to
conduct an interview until permission has been obtained from the potential interviewee; if
the person appears to be in a state of shock. The interview should describe or explain what
happened, or contain information that would help others to avoid similar incidents in the
future.
V. Research interview
If you want to research or double-check information, you conduct a research interview. This kind
of interview is usually not broadcast. Your only aim is to get additional information that you will
use for writing a report, a commentary or a news item.
Take note. Technical stumbling blocks
Interesting interview partners and clever questions are worthless if technical problems ruin your
interview. Always make sure that your technical equipment is working before you start recording
an interview. Test your recording device, your microphone and the levels before the interview.
Always take a foam wind screen for your microphone with you to avoid wind noise. Check
whether your batteries are charged and bring spare batteries. After the interview, check whether the
recording is all right. Do this while your interviewee is still around. If you discover that technical
problems have spoiled your recording, you may be able to convince your interview partner to
repeat the interview
What to do if the interviewee’s answers are too long?
Non-verbal interruption: Open your mouth and take a breath as if you wanted to start
speaking. This will show your interview partner that you want to ask your next question.
You could also indicate with your hand that you would like to say something.
Direct interruption: If the interviewee takes a breath, interrupt with ‘but’ and add a short,
quick question like ‘why?’ or ‘can you give an example?’
You can also interrupt by calling interviewees by their name: ‘Mr./Mrs. I, …’. For most
people, hearing their own name is a key stimulus. It will startle them and make them come
to a halt.
A ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSIONDefinitionA round-table discussion is a debate about a controversial topic between two or more people with contrasting views. A neutral host chooses the participants and then leads a structured, yet lively debate. At the end of the discussion, the host briefly summarizes the different points of view and the key arguments that were brought forth. A round-table discussion can be broadcast live or it can be prerecorded, with or without an audience and with or without audience participation.
Strengths of the format
There are numerous elements that make a round-table discussion an attractive journalistic format for radio listeners.
They will hear an exchange of different opinions on a controversial topic.
Complicated contexts will become transparent through the direct exchange of views and arguments.
The arguments and counter-arguments will provide the listeners with new insights.
The discussion may help them find new arguments that support their own point of view or which are an inspiration to think differently about the topic.
Round-table discussions are usually very lively components of your programme because of the different voices and personalities of the participants.
Round-table discussions can be surprising, revealing, entertaining or enlightening. And this is what makes them interesting for the listeners.
How is it done?
Choosing the topicThe topics of round-table discussions can be from The world of politics, business, culture, Social issues, religion, Ecology, Sports, Almost any topic is conceivable – As long as it is interesting and relevant for as many listeners as possible. Most importantly, however, the topic should be controversial. If the participants do not hold diverse or even opposing views on a topic, the result will be mutual agreement, but not a fruitful debate.
Selecting the participants
The most important factor for the success of a round-table discussion is that you find good participants. It is essential that your participants be well informed about the topic of the discussion.
They have to have opposing opinions and must be able to explain their points of view. The more the participants enjoy debating, the livelier your round-table discussion will be.
The participants can be decision-makers (politicians, business people), experts(Scientists) or people affected by the issue.
Briefing the participants
As the host, you should brief your participants about some things before the discussion starts or goes on the air. The main purpose of this briefing is to agree on a set of rules and a structure for the round-table discussion.
In the briefing you should introduce your guests to each other to create a good atmosphere for the round table.
You should also tell the participants exactly what the discussion will be about. Explain what aspects of the topic you want the debate to focus on.
And tell your guests how long the discussion will be.
All this will help prevent them from digressing later on.
Please note: The briefing should not turn into a meaningful discussion before you actually go on the air. If the participants want to begin debating before you start recording or broadcasting, you should politely stop them. An off-air debate about your topic at this point would certainly deprive the round-table discussion of its spontaneity.
During the programme, the participants and the host usually sit in a circle around a studio desk. Everybody should see everybody else and be able to make eye contact. This applies especially to the host who has special responsibilities in a round-table discussion.
Tips for the host Do not allow any of the participants to take control of the discussion. You are the host
You are the one who should be in control. Point out politely but persistently that every guest will get an equal chance to have their say.
Dig deeper, if one of your guests does not make his or her viewpoint clear or tries to be evasive.
If one of your guests uses technical terms or jargon that some listeners might not understand, ask that guest to explain it again using simpler words.
Make sure that all aspects of the discussion topic which you consider relevant for your listeners are addressed.
Briefly summarize the state of the discussion a couple of times during the debate. This will work well as a structural element whenever you have finished discussing one aspect and
would like to move on to another. It is also a service to your listeners: not every one of them has been following the discussion from the beginning. Through brief summaries, you can bring all listeners up to date and you can remind them, which participant represents what viewpoint.
Keep an eye on the time. Breaking off the discussion because you have run out of time is both embarrassing and unprofessional. If you do not have a clock in the studio or at the venue of the discussion, place your watch in front of you and check the time out of the corner of your eye every now and then.
At the end of the debate, give your listeners a final brief summary of your guests’ position on the topic and possibly the main arguments they presented during the discussion. It is vital to stay neutral and objective in your summary.
Your own opinion and the conclusions you personally draw from the discussion are of no interest to your listeners.
The role of the hostYou will have to prepare extremely well if you want to host a round-table discussion, because you will need very good knowledge of the subject of the discussion.
In addition, you have to know the points of view and the lines of argumentation of all your guests. And you should know in advance, which of them tend to talk a lot and which are a little shy.
As the host, you should be self-confident and tolerant.
Your most important task is to steer the discussion. Make sure that your listeners get a clear idea of all your guests’ views and arguments. It goes without saying that you should remain impartial and unbiased. In a round table, you as the host of the debate should never present your own opinion or comment on what your guests are saying.
At the beginning of every round-table discussion, you must introduce all the participants: their title, first name, last name and function. If necessary, briefly say what position this guest has with regard to your topic or explain the reasons for inviting this guest.
Give each participant a chance to say a few words during the introductory round, so that the listeners do not only learn their names, but also get to know their voices. Keep addressing your guests by name throughout the programme to ensure that the listeners always know who is speaking. At the beginning of the discussion, you should give your listeners a short introduction into the topic of the discussion. If necessary you could also add some background information.Then, open the discussion with an interesting question to one of the participants.
DOCUMENTARIES1.0 INTRODUCTION
One important programme that radio invests money and time is documentary. The aspect of this
unit will take you through the meaning of documentary, how they are produced on radio and the
planning that goes into it.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you should be able to:
Write a documentary with little supervision;
Produce a documentary with little supervision;
Understand the importance of actualities to radio documentaries.
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.2 Documentary on radio
A radio documentary or feature is a purely acoustic performance devoted to covering a particular
topic in some depth, usually with a mixture of commentary and sound pictures. It is broadcast on
radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD.
Ideally, a documentary possesses a depth of research or proximity to its subject that
distinguishes it from a long feature or enterprise story.
Narrative documentaries are far more common in public radio than investigative projects,
because investigative reporting devours time and money.
Early radio documentaries strongly reflected the techniques of the talk, the outside
broadcast and drama. But the documentaries produced today are far better and more
technical than what it was in the beginning.
Today, documentaries can include recorded interviews, debates, and statistics to be shared
with listeners. Radio documentaries rely on audio techniques to engage the audience,
allowing listeners to visualize what is being described.
Tone of voice, use of background music, and choice of sound effects are all very important
in developing a quality radio documentary.
Steps in Creating a Radio Documentary
The procedure for developing a documentary to be broadcast through a radio station can vary
depending on the station, but the points stated below are common to most documentaries:
Develop an Idea/Research: the first step is to come up with a unique and flexible idea after
which you must create a basic outline. The topics covered must be appropriate for the
desired audience and well researched
Decide on equipment and set team roles: You' will need to make a list of materials and
equipment necessary for recording. Select the right microphone and sound effects that are
relevant to the message. Also select the team you want to work with.
Decide who to approach with your concept: Executive producers are the people in charge
of the programming for radio stations. Radio stations are usually designed to appeal to a
specific audience, so it is important to do some research and find the right station for your
show.
Write a proposal: You will need to write a detailed proposal that discusses the
documentary’s subject matter, its length, the people who will be involved, and the overall
purpose of the project. This proposal will give the producer all the necessary information he
or she will need in order to accept the show. It will also put your team on an organized path
to make the documentary.
Write a script: the storyline of your documentary is important, but don’t forget to use
music, background noises, and other types of audio techniques to illustrate the stories and
information that you share.
Record the show: once the script is written and reader is ready it is time to record.
Recording may take several hours but the most important thing is to get it right so be patient
Edit the show: edit the tape to meet the time, sound effects, mood music etc.
WRITING AND PRODUCING RADIO DRAMA.
1.0 Introduction
2.0 objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Radio Drama
3.2 The Structure of Drama
3.3 The Technical Consideration for Radio Drama
3.4 Audio Perspective in Radio Drama
1.0 INTRODUCTION
One way through which radio performs is entertainment and educational functions is through
drama. Radio drama is described as a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on
radio.
Because radio is an audio-only medium, radio drama has no visual component, rather it
depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to tell its story so as to help the listener relate
with the characters and story.
Radio drama is “auditory in the physical dimension but equally powerful as a visual force in
the psychological dimension”.
As intending writers and perhaps producers, you should understand the ground rules of
writing drama for radio so as to make it a standard programme instead of a minor
segment on a programme as it is on most radio programmes in Uganda.
This unit therefore will advance your knowledge about writing drama for radio.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able
to:
Understand the meaning of drama
Understand the distinct structure of radio drama
Understand the concept of audio perspective and balance
To appreciate the strengths and limitations of radio as a communication medium.
Identify a radio drama script.
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 The Radio Drama
Drama is an ancient Greek word meaning ‘act’ or ‘deed’ it is a composition that tells
a story through action and dialogue or an imitation of an action of a person or persons
in action with the ultimate objective to edify or entertain.
On the other hand radio drama can be described as a specific mode of fiction represented
in performance. It is right to say then that drama is a form of communication that
connects people, groups or societies for better. All radio drama therefore, whether it is a
part of a programme or it is a programme on its own is a form of communication.
Radio Drama takes us into the lives and thoughts of people and exposes their characters
and how these changes as a result of the conflicts, which face them and how these are
resolved.
The essence of this is to help us take informed decisions when faced with similar
situations.
A radio drama creates image in the mind that can give more information to the listener
than even the power of television or films. This is because it is the listener who is
creating the image from what the story described. This image stays with him even long
after the play had ended. This helps the listener in four ways:
The use of imagination;
powers of creative self expression;
decision making and problem solving skills; and
An understanding of self and the world.
Essentially, radio drama can be presented in three methods,
namely
As self contained programme: This is a way of presenting a full drama in one programme
without breaking it into parts. Often radio stations reserve a slot in their weekly
programme for this, allowing the producer to present different drama o n
each transmission time.
Serial: one in which the action progresses from one episode to another.
As a series drama: the idea behind this is for the principal character to re-appear in new
situations, in each new drama in the series
Radio drama is today phasing out with most radio station in Uganda only using drama as a
segment. The reason is not far fetch. With television presenting both audio and visual images in
drama, most people are turning to television to be entertained and informed.
1. Create a visual picture: Radio is a medium of imagination which implies that writing
for radio requires you to paint a picture in the audience's mind. Creating an image
means using descriptive words to build up images that enable the listening audience to
identify with the characters, the world the characters live in and the atmosphere for each
scene.
2. Use the narrator device: although it is not always the case, a narrator in radio drama
can lay out the scene, explain action sequences and wrap up the scene. The role of
the narrator is also to summarize the previous episode's action
3. Create believable characters: for a radio drama to be accepted, the writer
most introduces believable characters. That is, characters the listener can relate with,
the everyday people and not a larger than life character.
4. Use precise and clear language: every word use must help the listener to see the
actions and the silent actions like the facial expression of the characters.
SELF ASSESSMENT 1
1. Monitor a radio station for seven days to find out the station presents its
drama programmes.
2. Listen to any radio dramas tha t make use of narrator device and identify the impact
the narrator brings to the drama.
3.2 The Structure of Drama
Radio drama is structured into sequences with characters imitating fiction or real life events.
Radio drama is structured to capture the audience; as such what the scripter should be
aiming at the beginning of a play is hit the ground running
The features of radio and peculiarity of the medium makes Walker advise not so simple -
perhaps for a beginner. But working on the job overtime gives dexterity. Main dimensions to
the structure of communication in radio drama:
Crooks (1999:160) identified five main dimensions to the structure of communication in radio
drama. These dimensions, according to him, represent tracks or streams of narrative directions.
These dimensions are:
1. The word through voices: dialogue and narrative.
2. Music through instruments and choral voices.
3. Sound effects: natural atmosphere and spot effects or abstract sounds synthesized or
natural sounds that have been symbolized.
4. Post-modernist use of previously recorded actuality, archive or sound history, or
previously recorded narrative and dialogue.
5. The imagination of the listener: this is the physically a silent dimension. In terms of
consciousness it is immensely powerful. This is the existence of a significant part of the play in
the imagination of the audience.
Dialogue: The voices of the characters are very important when casting, this is because a good
voice will be more captivating than a hoarse voice.
Good dialogue is not simply a matter of stringing together
different conversations- every bit of speech must help the
plot move in some direction, increasingly involving the
listener as it does
In addition to speech, the writer needs to think about
sound effects, music, and, something rarely appreciated by
the inexperienced writer, silence. Silence can convey a
variety of things: suspense, anxiety, tranquility.
Pauses also help listeners take in what they have heard
and help prepare for what happens next. Remember that
while the audience can`t see the characters, they don’t
want to be told what they are doing in clunky dialogue.
Dialogue must be crafted to create illusion of what the characters would say, in the context
of the conflict at hand.
The purpose of using dialogue in a radio play is to move the storyline forward; reveal
aspects of characters; to present exposition and particulars of past and present events; and to
set the tone of the drama.
THE SCRIPT WRITER MUST TAKE THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLES INTO
CONSIDERATION:
o Dialogue must be a response to a situation, plot or action;
o Dialogue must be a response to each character in the scene;
o Dialogue must be comic relief;
o Dialogue must connect to the next scene;
o Avoid reflective, passive and neutral. Go for active, direct and emotional;
o Dialogue must be believable by being specific…by being specific to the
character`s background and emotional state;
o If dialogue is reacting to action or situation then it must be dramatic and
poised on polarities. The goals of the characters in each scene should be different;
o Dialogue must relate to function;
o You can mix direct with indirect between two characters because they have
different goals; and
o Humorous dialogue is not a character telling a joke but a line or lines
responding to the dramatic situation.
Plot: simply put the plot is the storyline of a play.
It is a planned series of interrelated actions and dialogue, that tells the story in the drama`,
each scene of action or dialogue must move the plot along and reinforce the message.
A radio play will be more interesting to the listeners if it has at least two story lines.
Conflict: people like conflict, and they want to see how the conflict in a play is resolved.
Conflicts in drama could be between people, people and a thing or nature and because of the
powerful emotions it conjure, it could make the listener cry, laugh, think, remorseful or
even bitter about the situation portrayed.
Suspense: suspense compels listeners to stay glued to the drama because they want to clear the
uncertainty that came with a particular scene that will be resolve in the next. A play with a lot
of good suspense will eventually turn listeners into loyal listeners of the station`s
drama programmes.
To achieve suspense in a play, plot writers must refrain from providing conflict and resolution
at the same time.
Exposition: exposition is the process of imparting information.
Exposition is about presenting details about what is happening in a drama to the
listener.
It is made up of the parts of drama that make the audiences know what has happened before,
thereby revealing their identity and relationship.
Characters: characters refer to men and women who act out the script. The characters try
to bring the script alive by revealing the story. A radio drama should not have more than
six characters; this is because of voice distinction, besides too many characters on radio that is
only an audio medium would end up confusing the listeners.
The audience may want to spend time with them and want to know what will happen to them. It
is not good to over-populate radio play with too many characters. The listener wants to be able
to identify each of the characters and this they do by the distinct voice quality of each
character. The following are the principles the director must consider when casting:
1. All the characters must be believable and recognizable, which is why the best
radio drama has fewer characters as possible;
2. A character should not be added for the fun of it if he/she has no purpose within the plot.
Every character has to be consistent with the allotted function;
3. Give each character a dominant physical or behavioural characteristic; and
4. The main character must be active and his voice must be distinctive.
Music: music performs two main functions in radio drama; it is either used to transit from one
scene to another or to convey the mood the characters are trying to portray. However,
when music is used as filter in production, it only conveys one message- that the director is
trying to kill time.
Sound Effect: this is one major element in radio drama because it is audio-only medium.
Sound effect is used to convey action. Sound effect like the horn of a car tells the listener the
actor is in his or her car.newseditor
Radio is not about sound- it`s about significant, meaningful
sound. So don’t be afraid of silence or varying the distance
between the speaker and the mike. The intimacy of a speaker with
the listener can be immensely powerful
Actions: the interaction of characters in a play gives the illusion of action. Actions are
conveyed through sounds, dialogue and sound effects. An action creates three things: illusion
of movement, illusion of place and illusion of believability. These elements will e discussed
fully later under technical considerations.
SELF ASSESSMENT 2
Listen to one radio drama each on public and private radio stations in your area and see if they
make use of suspense in their drama and identify station that employ it more effectively.
3.3 Technical Considerations of Radio Drama
Earlier, three functions of action in radio drama were identified as, giving the illusion of place,
movement and believability. These functions will now be discussed fully under technical
consideration.
Illusion of Place: by illusion of place, we mean the location of the character when the
action took place. This can be achieved through microphone placement, that is, the positioning
of the talent in relation to the microphone. if we want the talent to have audio presence or
proximity that matches their audio distance. For instance, if two talents are portrayed to
be having a conversation, with one of them cast in another room, what is needed here is for the
person on focus to speak on microphone and the other to move farther from the microphone
and speak off microphone.
Illusion of Movement: never forget that you want the imagination of the listener to come
alive so that he can visualize all actions taking place in the studio, and the only way to do this is
to act it out. For instance, if a character is supposed to leave the room, the words he has spoken
must be complemented with the sound of walking feet.
Illusion of Believability: the concern here is more of microphone perspective and balance.
When action is said to be taking place at an open market, it is the use of background sound that
is under the voice of the character that actually creates that believable element in the minds
of the listeners. You cannot say you are at a football match and there are no background sounds
of spectators or those on the field of play.
SELF ASSESSMENT
Create a five-minute drama that suggest farm setting scenario but which was produced in the
studio.
3.4 Audio perspective in radio drama
In radio drama we attempt to create the impression that actors are moving in and out of the
studio even when in real fact they did not. Creating the impression that people are moving
gives the impression of action but that is not all we want to create. We want to create the
audio presence and location of each actor in relation to the scene. Producers use microphone
to convey movement and perspective – position of the characters in relation to each other.
A prime item in perspective is how closely the speakers are heard in relation to the sound
centre. This will be due to their microphone placing (blocking), that is, their distance from the
microphone(s). If a scene involves two characters discussing in separate rooms, the two can be
placed in the same room while one speaks directly on the sensitive side on the microphone the
other can speak off mike to register distance. This suggests the location of the two characters in
relation to the scene. To register movement in a scene that involves two characters who appears
to be going out, the two can perform a bit of soft marching away from the microphone to
suggest they are walking away. Perspective is a prime item in radio drama for the reasons
below:
1. To eliminate unwanted sound;
2. To overcome poor acoustic of the studio;
3. To obtain proper ratio of direct to indirect sound
4. To ensure that sounds which logically occur in a common acoustic plane appear to
sound as though they do in fact occur in that plane;
General tips
1. Everyone loves a good story, so tell one. Try not to complicate the plots or sub
plots, characters or effects. Make it simple and interesting to the listener.
2. Vary the pace and length of your scenes otherwise it will appear bland.
3. Radio drama does not need too many characters, so limit your characters to six. There is
a risk of confusion if you have too many characters in radio play.
4. Avoid creating plays where characters tell each other information they already know.
5. Radio is not only about words. Use other elements like music, sound effects and
silence in addition to speech.
6. Know your ending and leave us satisfied - a poor ending is no reward for sticking with
a story. Finish with a strong resolution
7. Scripts should be typed.
8. Provide a synopsis of the play and full cast and brief notes on them at the top of the
script along with other information of the station.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Radio is a descriptive medium. It is a medium that is simple and inexpensive to express
creativity. However working for radio in any capacity demands a greater discipline of structure
and a more precise awareness of the nuances of language. It is a medium of speech and sound
where the writer must provide everything in dialogue. This implies that the writer must be able
to tell a good captivating story for the audience to stay tuned.. So use it to its full potential
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit you have been exposed to:
The structure of radio drama
The technical consideration of radio drama
Audio perspectives in radio drama
Suggestions on writing drama for radio
6.0 PRACTICLE ASSIGNMENT
1. Students should group themselves into a group of six or more and produce a five-
minute radio drama. Students should submit the script along with the CD.
2. Why is voice distinction important in radio drama?
3. Are there other programmes on radio that make use of dramatic elements? In what
way do they employ dramatic elements?
THE MUSIC PROGRAMME
Music fills by far the greater part of the broadcast day. It is the letterpress of radio between the
news bulletins and featured productions. The general tone and character of a station's music does
more to establish the image of a station than any of its other activities.
Listeners enjoy it for its rhythms, its melodies and its harmonies. Some music is predominantly
melodic-it has memorable tunes-while other music is dominated by its harmonic structure-the way
in which notes and groups of notes make pleasant sounds when heard together.
The music programme
A programme of popular music may open with a number having fast tempo but if we kept up the
same tempo throughout the programme it would begin to annoy the listener. After a fast tempo
opening, we may follow with something more melodic-a popular romantic vocalist for
example.
Then a medium-fast number building again to fast tempo and so on through the programme. The
final number is generally bright and tuneful.
This variety applies to all music programmes. Even ‘top twenty’ programmes can be varied by a
suitable placement of the various numbers.
They do not have to be played in the order in which they appear on the charts.
Presentation
Some radio stations require that the link-continuity in record programmes should be written out or
scripted in advance; others allow the announcers or disc-jockeys to ad lib. Where the announcer is
ad libbing he should have a good working arrangement with his technical operator who plays the
records -a wave of the hand or a nod of the head may be the cue for the operator to start the disc.
Link-continuity should be made interesting. It can tell us something about the artists or the
popularity of the number or even compare one rendition with another. But too much talking in a
musical programme can annoy the listener; after all he wants to hear the music not the voice.
The announcer who presents many popular disc programmes should familiarize himself with the
artists, their careers and what they are currently doing this message carried forward to listener
brightens the program, creating great presonality.
There are many musical magazines which contain this information.
The production of live music
The live music programme may be made in the studio or outside in a public hall or in a distant
village. The music producer of such programmes should know a great deal about microphones and
acoustics.
He should have a lively interest in this national music and should seek out new performers. He also
has a certain responsibility to research national music and build up a library of it.
Competitions
National competitions held for periods of several months or a year, prizes and awards being offered
by the radio station, can have a marked effect on the standard of live music output. These
competitions are often called eisteddfods -a Welsh term for the traditional national poetry and
music contests.
Judging of the competing groups can be divided between a qualified panel and audience reaction.
Competitions which invite audience reaction are also a form of audience research which helps to
inform the station about its listeners and their likes and dislikes.
Education by music
When we are young we learn a great deal about life through nursery-rhymes and lullabies. The
process of learning through music need not stop simply because we are grown up.
Popular folk-singers can be encouraged to write lyrics which teach village listeners some of the
things they should know about diet, hygiene, village government and more lucrative methods of
farming. A producer who is interested in this field can obtain the necessary information from the
various departments of government concerned with rural development and then work with the folk-
singer to develop suitable songs and verses.
Magazines Programme on radio
Magazine program on radio or television presents a variety of topics, usually on current
events, in a format that often includes interviews and commentary. By implication a
composite of segments are linked together by a theme that runs through the entire programme.
It can have one or two main anchors while each segments of the programme can be
anchored by different persons. Such segments may include health, fashion and style, football,
discussion, interviews, drama piece, music and studio performance.
Magazine programmes vary in length. Some radio magazines are scheduled to last for just
15mins, 30mins, and some (particularly news magazine programmes) are held for 1hr.
Magazine programmes also vary in terms of content. Magazine programmes could be general
interest magazines or special magazines. Some special magazine programmes are geared
toward a specified unit of audience like women or men and usually last for 3omins. The
general interest magazines programmes are targeted at a wider audience.
Tips for producing magazine programmes as follows:
1. Select items for magazine, carefully and arrange them in an appeasing sequence.
2. Use music breaks every 5 minutes to break the boredom jinx.
3. Open your programme with a short and topical item, to catch your listener/viewers
attention.
4. Reverse weightier material to 2/3 of the programme duration.
5. Leave lighter or humorous material to the end of the programme.
6. Maintain the same anchor person for each edition of the programme. This will give
the programme its own identity and allow the audience to develop a relationship with
the anchor person.
7. Transitions should be interesting and natural. It should tell us what we need to
know, about what to follow and it should make the magazine hold together.
8. The magazine script should include all that is necessary for the technical operator
and narrator to know.
9. Don’t live out the audience out of the joke. Programme break for commercial, when it
return and you are laughing with the studio crew, make sure your share the joke that
Made you laugh with the audience otherwise the audience might feel you are carrying on a
private conversation.
SELF ASSESMENT EXERCISE
Listen to a radio magazine and also watch a television magazine programme and come up with
a list of technical tips you notice while listening or viewing.
3.3 Writing Spot Announcement
Both radio and television depend on commercials or announcement to survive. These
announcement could be paid for which is known as Public paid announcements (PAP) or
not paid for which is known as publics service announcement (PSA). Public Service
Announcements are announcements that are not paid for but are for the generality of the
people.
The station or continuity announcer has no problem when a n advert has been written
and produced by the sponsored company, all he/she does is to insert the tape and play.
But some commercial copy calls for a re-write and voicing which a station must do on behalf
of the client and which must be to client taste while meeting the conventions of writing for
the broadcast media. The message of a spot announcement must be clear and easily
understood; inspire the listener to action; and must correspond with the time and the number
of words the advertiser has paid for.
Principles of Writing Commercial Copy
Length: the typical commercial copy is precisely less than 60sec/1minute –about 10 words at
the average speaking rate. As noted above, the advertiser is paying for the length or duration
of the commercial as such the time must correspond with what the sponsors specified and
paid for. It is also important to indicate the reading time of the spot at the top of the copy so
that whoever is reading the copy knows the duration. Note that:
10 second spot has approximately 20 words
20 second spot has approximately 50 words
30 second spot has approximately 75 words.
60 second spot has approximately 150 words
Information: the information to be included in the copy is supplied by the advertiser. So make
sure that the information included in the copy is correct and accurate. It is advisable to always
show the draft to the sponsor for approval. According to Hasling (1980) spots announcements
should include some specified information like the name of the product, the sponso r,
price, distribution channel, product description (uses and physical appearance). Vivid
description of the product is most important on radio to create the image on the minds of the
people.
Form and Style: the copy should be typed written and double-spaced. Check for spellings and
write neatly. Underline words and phrases you want to emphasize. The heading of the copy
should include:
The reading time. The name of the sponsor/advertiser. This is to help the traffic
director know how to log the announcement. It will also help the account department
know the bill will go to.
The “kill” date that is the date and time the announcement should no longer be aired.
In some PSA the kill date may not be indicated until the sponsors say so, in such instance
just write at the top of the copy –TFN (Till Further Notice). The information in this
category could come from the presidency, or NBC.
Format a Script for Your Voice Talent: the script readers need the scripts to be easily read.
The styles of script-writing used on the radio and TV that makes printed words easier to read
and illustrate verbally include:
Write out numbers example: 3 becomes three
Capitalize every word i.e. THIS IS A PREFERENCE
OR, Capitalize the first letter of every word i.e. This Is A Preference
Use short sentences that grab your potential customer's attention. You've got a
very limited time frame to capture your audience and you need to get your message across
quickly.
Your job is to overcome the listener or viewer’s apathy — create interest in your story motivate the listener to do something.
After writing the commercial read it aloud. If it does not sound right re-write but ensure
you grab attention from beginning to the end.
Register the key facts about project /product/organization strongly.
Mention the name of the product at least 3 times in a 60-second.
Spot and at least twice in any shorter spots?
Break lines where they seem most natural that is, create pauses where you want pauses
LIVE EVENT THE OUTSIDE BROADCAST
Outside Broadcast ("OB") refers to any radio programme which is broadcast from a location
away from the normal studio setting. The location doesn't actually have to be out-of-doors — the
"outside" simply means "outside the normal on air studio"
They are also called the on- spot broadcast meaning that they are broadcast at the same time
being heard on air, they can be live or recorded as played, and latter on ob is usually interesting
to both the broadcaster and the audience
A broadcaster normally gets chance to broadcast outside the studios, the audience also gets an
opportunity of listening to unedited material from the sources which is accompanies with un
edited sound effects and including other materials.
CLASSIFICATION OF OB
Events commonly covered by OB units include
Political occasions eg. The independence celebrations, Heroes day among other.
Games and sports like the world cup football match, boxing
Religious gatherings and social events
Concerts, ceremonies, etc.
OB units may specialize in a particular area; for example, a motorsports OB unit would carry
specialized camera equipment for in-car coverage and have staff which knows this particular
sport well.
PREPARATIONS OF AN OB
In order to make a successful ob, the commentator, the engineer and producer should prepare in
advance. Some of the preparations should be made by the radio itself while other preparations
must be done at the site itself whether live or recorded.
The following are reasons why we should visit the site before production to the outside
broadcast
In the presence of OB mobile van where the crew is going to use other techniques to relay the
broadcast, the crew should visit the site to establish whether there are essential facilities; there is
telephone network, electricity ports among others.
To establish where the vantage position should be. This is a point at which the
broadcaster is in full control of the entire occasion or event to broadcast.
To establish the number of cables and their length that will be enough for the occasion
including the microphones
To check the feature and hindrances to recording.
To ascertain the type of public system being used at the function. This may interact with
recording or the quality of sound on radio.
Other preparation may include
Writing the background of the event you are going to cover. The back ground
information gathered earlier help the presenter engage the audience in case the guest of
hoarer delayed to arrive as planned.
Have the name of and destination of the people coming to the occasion.
Establish the guest of honor and other delegates who are coming to the occasion
Obtain in advance the program of the event
Have a stop watch to tell the time
Do check on the time to check back to the on air studio for normal broadcasting or
always get in touch with the engineers who remain at the central control room for the
time of joining back to the station. It’s always advisable to record the commentator.
PRODUCTION OF AN OB
The main aim of the commentator is to create or express in the listener mind not to simply have a
picture but rather a total impression of the occasion or event.
The success of delivery at his level depends on how the words are wrapped and delivered into
the listener’s ear. This can be done in three ways
The words used at this level must be descriptive of the scene of event. Here the presenter
must be able to describe with appropriate words every moment of what is going on at the
event as it unfolds.
The speed and style of their delivery should underline or tell the mood of the event.
Additional effects on the microphone will tell re-inforce the action of public reaction to
the occasion. The sound effects produced will tell the audience what has happened
Please note, you are the listener’s eye as they can’t see what you see, imagine you’re as peaking
to the blind this should provoke you to report accurate, involving all the senses of mind so that
the listener will get total impression of the event as it unfolds. This means that the
commentator’s style of presentation of each item at the event at the site will to convince his
emotions.
Be prepared for the unexpected ie there are some events that can occur as you are
communicating such as fire during a foot ball match. The listener also wants to know how the
people [spectators] are reacting. So at this point you will give a section of person’s chance to air
their views and tell the listeners about how they feel about the shock of event
During the speech of dignitaries, let the audience hear what they are communicating without
interruption, assume you were broadcasting a wedding, at the time of exchanging vows, let the
religious leader officiating at the function speech and the couple exchange their views because
this is the only memorable time that need no interruption.
THE FORMAT FOR BEGINNING AN OB
Tell the time
Tell the station
The occasion or the site
Identify the team ie commentators, co-commentators, engineers’, co producer and the
entire crew
Tell the honor and dignitaries
Tell the time of rejoining back to the main studio for general broadcast
THE FORMAT FOR ENDING AN OB
Tell the listeners when you are about to end the ob broadcast before the top of the
hour
Provide the summary of what the guest of honor has said at the occasion including
other important happenings
Appreciate the listeners, the engineer at the station, sponsors, all utility suppliers etc
Sign off
Call the engineer at the station [hand over the broadcast to the station for normal
broadcast]