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Writing for the Mass Media“Writing for Broadcast”
UCSD ExtensionMike Lawson760/845-8146
Selection of News
• Timeliness– News must be up-to-the-minute
• Information, Not Explanation– Stories that don’t require much explanation– Can be told in a straightforward manner
• Audio or Visual Impact– Stories that the audience can hear or see
Four Cs
• Correctness• Clarity• Conciseness• Color
Other considerations
• Written in conversational style• Emphasis on the immediate• Use present tense as much as possible• Use short, simple sentences• Subjegation to imminent deadlines• Allows for humor and human interest
Story structure• Dramatic unity
– Climax: point of the story or what happened– Cause: why it happened– Effect: insight to what the story means
Broadcast journalists think of their stories as completed circles rather than the inverted pyramid.
Time
• Broadcast stories are measured in time– 2 minutes for a story or time allowed– Keep time factor in mind when producing
story
Writing style• Titles come before names• Avoid direct quotes• Attribution comes before quotes• Use little punctuation• Numbers and stats rounded off• Number written differently
– 1,500 is 15-hundred– $4,123,098 is “just over four million dollars”
More style• Personalize news when possible (you)• Avoid extended descriptions• Avoid using symbols• Use phonetic spelling for odd words• Avoid pronouns• Avoid apposition• Use present tense• Avoid dependent clauses at the beginning of
sentences
Broadcast copy prep
• Type only one story per page• Use caps and lowercase• Don’t continue a paragraph onto
another page.• Don’t hyphenate at the end of a line• Broadcasters want to work to tapes of
interviews in their stories
Producing a newscast• Written copy or voicers• Soundbites or actualities• Wrap-around• Mini-documentary• Reader copy• Voiceovers• Voiceover to soundbite• Package stories• Live shots
Future of broadcast• Everything moving online
– Get the news whenever, wherever your want
– Don’t have to wait for evening newscast– Number of news broadcast viewers down– More viewers watching news online– Post stories anytime for viewers– Literally up-to-the-minute stories
More future…
• Social media– YouTube– Twitter links– Facebook fanpages– Blogs– Newscasts referring to station’s website for
more details
Finally…
Questions?
