Sentence fragments-as long as they make sense-are acceptable. Long sentences make it difficult for the person voicing the script to take a breath. Stick to short sentences of 20 words or less.Because broadcast stories have to fit into 30, 60, or 90 seconds, broadcast stories are sometimes little more than the equivalent of newspaper headlines and the lead paragraph.
Begin the story with clear, precise information. The only difference is that you have to condense the information presented. Writing a broadcast news story is similar to writing a news story for print in that you have to include the important information first. A broadcast news script with grammatical errors will embarrass the person reading it aloud if the person stumbles over mistakes. You have to condense a lot of information into the most important points for broadcast writing. If it is an important story, it may be 90 seconds or two minutes. The same story on television or radio may have to fit into 30 seconds-perhaps no more than 100 words. A good newspaper story ranges from hundreds to thousands of words. Television and Radio News Writing Structure Your audience will hear your television or radio news story, so the story has to be appealing to the ear. This will give you a feeling for timing, transitions, information flow, and conversation style. The most important attribute for writing for “the ear” is to read the story aloud. Choose words that are familiar to everyone. If you give your audience too much information, your audience cannot take it in. Each sentence should focus on one particular idea. Shorter sentences are better in broadcast news writing.
ANOTHER WORD FOR THINGS THAT ARE NOT IMPORTANT SERIES
Use the criteria of newsworthiness presented in News Media Writing in this publication series to help you determine if your television or radio news story idea has news value. It’s important to consider the various ways audiences will be taking in the information you are sharing.Īs with any type of news writing, you should try to identify characteristics of your audience so you know what type of information your audience wants. In today’s media landscape, many stories are shared in video, audio, and text-based formats. The television or radio news story has the added complexity that it has to sound good when a listener hears the story it has to read well to “the ear.” Also, for a radio news story, listeners cannot see video of what you are saying, so you must paint word pictures with the words you use in your radio news story so people can “see” images just through your verbal descriptions. And third, you are writing for “the ear.” In print news stories, you are writing for “the eye” the story must read well to your eye. As a result, you have to keep your writing simple and clear. Therefore, you must prioritize and summarize the information carefully. Second, your listeners cannot reread sentences they did not understand the first time they have to understand the information in a broadcast story as they hear it or see it. First, you have less space and time to present news information. Writing for radio and television is different from writing for print for several reasons.
The term broadcast writing will be used interchangeably for television and radio news writing throughout this publication. You have to learn the process of writing an effective television and radio news story first. IntroductionĬreating a television or radio story is more than hitting “record” on a video camera or audio recorder. This series also covers an introduction to news media writing, news writing for print, grammar and punctuation, and interviews for news stories. This publication on news writing television and radio is the fourth of a five-part series on news media writing.
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