BROADCAST NEWS WRITING BASICS

"Writing is hard work- its only easy for those who haven't learned to write."

Writing broadcast news can be divided into two story types. Both types are based on the time it takes to present the information to your targeted audience.

News Features are stories between 3 and 7 minutes long about things that have happened in the past. The ideas and pictures for feature news stories are usually planned out on a storyboard. Writing news feature storyboards envolves explaining how the audio (sounds) and the shots, (visual details) will present the researched background facts and information.

Breaking news and daily announcements are stories that are happening today or in the near future. Breaking news and daily announcements are usually written into a teleprompter to be read on-air by announcers. Writing breaking news and daily announcements involves presenting information in short stories between 15 seconds and 1 minute long. Sources of information may be limited. The information can be incomplete or possiblely inaccurate. Usually, you have a very short time to contact sources to confirm or correct information. A rule-of-thumb that advertising writers use to estimate a story's time is that at a normal speaking pace, 65 words equal 30 seconds.

Wheather you are writing news features, breaking news or daily announcements, the following are basic rules to follow:

1. WRITE CONVERSATIONALLY: Tell a story without being boring. Say it as though you were telling your best friend or your Mom or Dad with enthusiasm.

2. WRITE CONCISELY: Use short sentences. Use one idea per sentence. Avoid words you don't need.

3. SIMPLIFY COMPLICATED IDEAS: Present straight-forward facts in a way that does not talk down to people. Remember, they will only hear the information once, so it is important that what they hear is easy to understand.

4. RESEARCH & VERIFY ALL INFORMATION: Know what you are talking about. Check the facts. Get first hand information, not second hand opinion. Research will tell you which way your story will go in finding the truth. Be objective; there are always two sides to a story.

5. AVIOD NEWPAPER CONTRUCTION IN YOUR WRITING: The viewer "hears" your story. They can not read your script. Don't use terms like, "In the Headlines" - "Front Page News" or "Cover Story" Newspaper words: "vie" "nab" "bust" "laud" "grill" "foe" "woe" "fray" "hike"-for raise or increase "ink"-for signs "pact" "opt" "eye"-for watch "blast" "rap" "hit"-for criticize "slay, slew, or slain" "youth" -for young person "former, latter, or respectively" or "Accord" -for contract or agreement. Viewers want to hear you speak naturally- like they do in every-day conversations. Don't start or end stories with prefabricated phrases -(headlines) "It's Official" "It Shouldn't Come As a Surprise" "It Had to Happen Eventually"

6. DON'T SCARE THE VIEWERS: Why would you start a story with "This story is very complicated and confusing ? " Viewers don't want to know about the labor pains, they just want to see the baby!

7. DON'T GIVE ORDERS: "Listen Up" or "Attention" Just tell the information- don't tell them what to do with it...

8. DON'T BURY A STRONG VERB IN A NOUN: Say, "a bomb exploded" not "a bomb explosion" Use "VIGOROUS VERBS" for Go Power!

9. DON'T START A STORY WITH: "As expected" or "In a surprise move" People don't want the expected or like feeling as though they don't know what's going on. Phrases like "A new development" or "Making the news" are redundant. Why else would it be on the news?

10. DON'T CHARACTERIZE THE NEWS AS GOOD, BAD, INTERESTING, OR SHOCKING: Let the viewers decide what is good, bad, shocking, etc. What is good for one person might be bad for another.

11. DON'T START A LEAD SENTENCE WITH A PARTICIPLE PHRASE (ING-WORD) OR A DEPENDENT CLAUSE: We don't say, "needing new shoes, I will buy a new pair tomorrow." The best pattern for a broadcast lead sentence is SUBJECT-VERB-OBJECT (S-V-O) - "I bought new shoes." Don't start a story with a quotation. The viewers don't know if the words are your's or someone else's. Always put the source before the quote, it sounds more natural. "Assistant Principal Brown said, "blah, blah, blah." Don't start a lead sentence with a question. They sound like a quiz show or commercial. Viewers want answers and information- not questions.

12. DON'T START A STORY WITH "THERE IS"- "THERE ARE" OR "IT IS": "Is" and "are" are not "action verbs." They are "linking verbs" as are "have" "seen" "feel" and "become". Is-Are-Was-Were- and Will Be are weak verbs. What viewers hear first is crucial, if they are going to keep listening and watching.

13. DON'T START A LEAD SENTENCE WITH THE NAME OF AN UNKNOWN OR UNFAMILIAR PERSON: If the name means nothing to the viewers, they won't keep listening. Use a title or label before the name- "Seattle newspaper photographer..." "Tacoma mayor..." "President..." And don't use personal pronouns (he or she) to start a story.

14. DON'T WRITE A FIRST SENTENCE WITH "YESTERDAY" OR "CONTINUES": Yesterday is "old news." The word "continues" tells viewers that "nothing is new." If something is ongoing, find a new angle to describe it. The word "Details" is a dirty word! It's like the fine print in a legal contract and tells the viewer that, "there is more, but we can't really explain all that right now." Try to be positive in your leads. Avoid using "no" or "not" in a first sentence. Change "did not remember" to "forgot." "Did not pay attention" to "ignored" etc.

15. DON'T START A STORY WITH "ANOTHER" "MORE" OR "ONCE AGAIN": These are viewer/listener turn-off words. What they hear is "Old News" or "Just the Same Old Thing." Don't try to cram too much information into a story. Give the viewer the "highly concentrated essence of the story." Remember, the audience only gets to hear and see the piece once. (Who records the news on their VCR so they can review it later? Not normal people!) People have difficulty processing a steady stream of facts - (think of the teacher who just lectures.) Waste Words: "in order" "in the process" "literally" "actually" "really" "suddenly" "gradually" "finally" "flatly" "personally" "officially" "miraculously" "local" "nearby" "area" "separate" "a total of" "then" "the fact that" "meanwhile" "on a lighter note"

16. DON'T LOSE OR FAIL TO REACH THE VIEWERS: Talk "to" them, not "at" them. Don't make factual errors! If you lose your credibility, you lose your audience. Learn to spell correctly and properly pronounce names. If you are not sure about something, look it up or find someone who does know! Writing is hard work. It's only easy for those who haven't learned to write. Confucius should have said, "easy writing equals hard listening. Hard writing equals easy listening!"