Writing TV and radio news (2023)

This publication on writing news for television and radio is the fourth in a five-part series on writing for news media. The series also includes news media writing, print news writing, grammar and punctuation, and interviewing for news reports.

introduce

Making a TV or radio story involves more than just "recording" it with a video camera or tape recorder. You must first learn how to write effective TV and radio news. the termradio writing is used interchangeablyWriting TV and radio newsin this publication.

Writing for eyes and ears

Writing for radio and television differs from writing for the print media for several reasons. First, you have less space and time to view news information. Therefore, you must carefully prioritize and summarize information. Second, your listeners can't reread sentences they didn't understand the first time; they need to understand the message when they hear or see the radio broadcast. Therefore, you must keep your texts simple and clear. Third, write for the "ear." When reporting in print media, write for "the eyes"; the story must be read for your eyes. A television or radio news story has the added complexity of having to sound good; when the listener hears the story, it must be easy for the "ears" to read. Also, when you're covering broadcast news, listeners can't see video of what you're saying. Therefore, you need to draw a word picture with the words you use in your reporting so that people can "see" the picture through your description. In today's media environment, many stories are shared in video, audio, and text-based formats. It's important to consider the different ways your audience will receive the information you share.

As with any type of journalistic writing, you should try to identify the characteristics of your audience to understand what type of information your audience wants. Using the newsworthiness criteria suggested inWriting in news media This series of publications will help you determine if your TV or radio news story idea is relevant. TV and radio news must have the following characteristics:

• The writing style should be conversational.Write down how you speak.
• Each sentence should be short and contain only one thought.We don't always talk in long sentences. When writing radio news, the shorter the sentences, the better. Each sentence should focus on a specific idea.
• simple and direct. If you give your audience too much information, your audience won't understand it. Choose words that are familiar to everyone.
• Read the story aloud.The most important quality of writing for the "ear" is reading the story aloud. This will give you a feel for timing, transitions, information flow and conversational style. Your audience will hear your TV or radio news story, so the story needs to appeal to their ears.

Writing structure for TV and radio news

• Concise.A good newspaper story can be anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand words. The same story on TV or radio could last 30 seconds - probably no more than 100 words. If it's an important story, maybe 90 seconds or two minutes. When writing programs, you have to summarize a lot of information on the most important points.
• Use the correct syntax.A script for a television show with grammatical errors can embarrass someone reading it aloud when that person stumbles upon the error.
• Important information first. Writing a radio news story is similar to writing a print news story in that you must first provide important information. The only difference is that you need to compress the information provided.
• write notes.Begin the story with a clear, concise message. Because radio features have to fit in 30, 60, or 90 seconds, radio features are sometimes no more than newspaper headlines and headlines.
• Stick to short sentences of no more than 20 words.The announcer needed to catch his breath. Long sentences make it difficult for the speaker to catch his breath.
• Write down how people speak.Sentence fragments are permitted, provided they make sense.
• use abbreviations.use NOsubstitutedo not want.but watch out for contractions to-already(For example.,could have), because they sound like "would of" and "could of".
• Use a simple subject-predicate-object structure.
• Use active form and active verbs.It's better to say "he hit the ball" than "the ball was hit by him".
• Use present tense verbs unless past tense verbs are required.The present expresses immediacy. Use the past tense when something happened a long time ago. For example, instead of saying, “This morning there was a train derailment that took forty people to the hospital.” Instead, say, “This morning there was a train accident that took forty people to the hospital.”
• For broadcast news reportsWrite with visual images. Let your audience "see" what you're saying. Help them imagine the situation you are describing. Some broadcast news scripts even suggest ambient sounds to ease the listener's mood.

TV and radio news writing skills

• In the first citation, use a person's full name (first and last name) followed by the person's last name.
• Use pinyin for unfamiliar words and words that are difficult to pronounce.
• Leave out unfamiliar names and places if they don't make sense to the story.
• Titles come before names; therefore avoid appositions.Don't write, "Tom Smith, the Mayor of Smallville, said today that..." Instead, write, "Tom Smith, the Mayor of Smallville, said today that..." (Other example: "Councilman Richard Smith" instead of "Richard Smith, Alderman." "Beth Baker, Annievale High School student," not "Beth Baker, Annievale High School student."
• When specifying an age, precede the name with the age. (e.g.: "Victim, 21-year-old Rob Roy...")
• If possible, avoid direct quotes in message scripts. Instead, let people express themselves in their own words during the speech. AAudio clipare the exact words someone says in their own recorded voice. If you must use a direct quote, end it with a sentence like "In the words of..." or "As he put it..." or try to paraphrase as much as possible. Avoid saying "quote" and "decite" to start or end a direct quote.
• The byline should come before the citation, not after it.In contrast to writing for print media, the source of quoted quotations in a radio story should be given at the beginning of the sentence and before the paraphrase. The listener should know where the quote is coming from before hearing it. Example: "Bill Brown says he's running for re-election."
• Avoid most abbreviations, even for duplicate references, unless the abbreviation is a well-known one.This differs from the AP style rules for print stories. Write down the day, month, state, and rank of each time. The only acceptable abbreviations are "Mr.", "Ms.", and "Dr." with hyphens between common abbreviations. For example, write "US" (United States) as "U-S" and "UN" (United Nations) as "U-N".
• When writing, avoid symbols.For example, the dollar sign ($) should never be used in radio broadcast writing. Always spell the word "dollar". This differs from the "dollar" style used by the Associated Press in its print news. This helps make the story more readable for the person providing the information.
• Use the correct punctuation.Don't use semicolons. For pauses longer than a comma, use double hyphens. Use underscores for emphasis.
• Use numbers correctly. Spell the numbers 11 through 11. (This is a different style from the AP print story, which spells 1 through 9 and then uses numbers starting at 10.) Use numbers for 12 through 999. For the numbers, use and Words above the hyphen combination 999. (Example: 33,000; 214 million.) Round up unless the exact number is important. (Example: Use "a little over $34 million" instead of "34 million, $200,000, $22.") Use st, nd, th, and rd after dates, addresses, and numbers over eleven to represent them as to read ordinary numbers. (Example: "Second Street", "May 14th", "Eleventh Avenue", "12th Division" - this differs from the printed AP style.)

Format for television and radio news reports

• Broadcast messages are typed, double-spaced, and case-sensitive.Many years ago television news scripts were written in all caps, but the practice has changed in recent years.
• Make the sentences at the bottom of the page into complete sentences.Don't split sentences between pages.
• Never hyphenate words or separate phrases from one line to the next.
• Do not use editing symbols.Cross out the entire word and write the corrected word above it. This is one of the reasons that broadcast news scripts are double-spaced: so you have room for corrections between the lines.

Tell TV and radio news

When narrating (aka "voicing") TV and radio news scripts, follow these tips:

• Place the microphone correctly.Place the microphone 6 to 10 inches from your mouth and at a 45 degree angle to the speaking line. This will help prevent "blasting" with explosive letters like "P" and "B". Always keep the same distance from the microphone when speaking.
• Eliminate noise distractions.Bring any paperclips, pens, and other items you want to play with while reading the story. Any rustle of a paper clip or click of a pen can be picked up by the microphone.
• tell a news story.After pressing the "Record" button on your video camera or recorder, wait about 10 seconds before speaking. This prevents you from accidentally missing a comment when you click record and start narrating the script right away. It's a good idea to start with standard references like date, location, and subject name. You might want to use a countdown: "The story of the bee, three, two, one" and start telling the story. This will also help you stabilize the sound early on. Default reference beginnings and countdowns are clipped from the final story.
• correct pronunciation.say clearly. Don't keep your words together. proper practicetogether, different pronunciations of words. The following words are often mispronounced: "prob-ly" for "prob-ab-ly", "git" for "get", "jist" for "just". Also, don't omit the final "g" in "-ing" words, e.g. B.cooking, running,Andhunt.
• Think about this idea.Think about what you're going to say. When you have a positive thought about something, put a smile on your face and a smile in your voice. This helps bring out the personality of the story.
• think about it. As you read the first part, pay attention to the end of the sentence. Think about how the sentence will end before you start. This will help you explain the meaning of the whole thought sentence.
• Speak at a natural pace.but change the speed occasionally to avoid it sounding monotonous. How fast you speak is how fast you speakspeed.Vary the pitch and volume of your voice for variety, focus, and attention.AsphaltIt's the high and low tones of your voice. Lowering the pitch and transposing down will make you sound more confident. However, don't give up pitch if it sounds unnatural.
• breathe properly. Control your breathing, breathing in between thought units. Otherwise your voice will be muted. Sit up straight or stand as you speak. This will help your breathing.
• use your body. A relaxed body contributes to a relaxing sound. Practice before you start broadcasting. A little movement can relieve tension.
• Listen to the final product.Listen to its sound. Listen to what you have to say like an audience.
• contemporary history.Finally, make sure you time the story. When the story is broadcast on radio or television, the timing of the story is important and in many cases must be accurate. Practice writing and telling messages to find your normal reading time.
• Practice your storytelling skills. Never give up practicing your speaking and presentation skills. Practice by reading aloud at least twice a week.

Further information

Associated Press. (2022).AP Style Manual and media briefingLaw(Issue 55). New York: Associated Press.

Burnett, C. & Tucker, T. (2001)。 Writing for Farmers: A New Approach Using Proven Ideas (Version 2). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunter.

Oliu, W. E., Brusaw, C. T. und Alred, G. J. (2007)。Effective Writing: Effective communication at work (9 Hrsg.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.

Telg, R. & Irani, T.A. (2012)。Agricultural Communication in Action: A Practical Approach.Clifton Park, NY: Delmar.