Broadcast News Writing

Broadcast News Writing

RTV 440 -- NOT FROM OUR TEXT --take good notes

Writing the News Story

Goals for this lesson: To learn the news elements and how they are

applied To learn how to write a broadcast news lead To learn how to organize a news story To learn how to update a news story and make it

relevant to the audience To learn what is effective communication

Writing the News Storyas noted at start of semester

Elements of News Timeliness Proximity Significance Conflict Prominence Human Interest

News Elements TIMELINESS

News is what happens now, what happens in the immediate present or what may happen

*What has already happened (historical and background information) is mentioned briefly in stories to provide perspective and explain “why.” This usually occurs in follow-up reports when you have had time to investigate the background.

Examples….

timelinessFirefighters controlling blaze at local

post office late afternoon Five o’clock newscast

Story focus = fire at post office, authorities on the scene, injury report, damage estimate

Ten o’clock newscast Story focus = update on blaze (how long to get

under control), damages, injuries, speculation of cause from authorities

News Elements PROXIMITY

News is what happens close to us - either geographically or emotionally - so we can identify with the event

Examples…

proximity

“The railroad crossing at Main Street and Jefferson Avenue was the scene of an early morning accident as a trailer truck tried to make it through descending crossing guards.…”

Stories that happen in our communities are of interest because we relate to the situation.

A good journalist must determine what is most momentous, interesting or signifcant about the story to the audience.

News Elements SIGNIFICANCE

News is what affects us in some way, whether financially (increase in gas prices), physically (mad cow disease detected), emotionally (school shooting), or in some other way that has a direct bearing on our lives.

Examples….

significanceIf the story is

newsworthy, the information will have direct relevance to our lives.

Information related to our personal health and financial stability is often significant.

“The Centers for Disease Control reports that increased obesity among children is responsible for many kids having hypertension and diabetes by age 12.

News ElementsCONFLICT

News is whatever happens between two opposing forces - whether between individuals, nations or as the result of fateful occurrences.

Examples…

conflict Person v. Person

Political race for public office Person v. Self

Student earns GED after dropping out of school Person v. Fate

Accident victim learns to walk again Person v. Nature

Family stays together despite losing home in tornado

News ElementsPROMINENCE

News is what happens to famous people, places or things.

Examples…

prominenceCelebrities, pro athletes,

rock stars, and national politicians get a lot of attention.

Charlie Sheen...

It is important for journalists to cover such famous people when they do newsworthy things.

“The President will be in town Saturday to give the commencement address at SMU. The place is jumping with Secret Service agents and news media everywhere.”

News ElementsHUMAN INTEREST

Ultimately, news is anything in which people are interested. If you think a story would interest a majority of your audience, it is probably newsworthy.

Examples…

human interest

Stories that highlight unique human behavior often attract our attention because they are out of the ordinary. “These two football

fans have traveled more than 8,000 miles, camped outside three stadiums and braved sub-zero temperatures to see every Denver Bronco game this season.”

But -- Civic Journalism videos...

• Framing a story -- when you determine a focus, what kind of ‘frame’ are you putting around it? --conflict?

• ‘Two sides to every story’? (no -- many)• Instead, spend more time ‘in the middle’ -- instead of the extremes on the ends• The concept is that your well-developed story can generate ‘more light’

(understanding) and ‘less heat’ (friction)

“These two football fans have traveled more than 8,000 miles, camped outside three stadiums and braved sub-zero temperatures to see every Denver Bronco game this season.”

Writing the news story

Understanding the news elements helps us know what to emphasize when we put the story together.

Always start with the most important news element that will capture the most attention from your audience.

Writing the lead The LEAD - the sentence that begins the

report by summarizing the essence of the story to come.

A good lead grabs the attention of viewers and causes them to need to know more

The lead should highlight the “news” element The most typical lead is the summary

Writing the lead Summary Lead

A summary lead emphasizes the outcome of the story so far to give viewers the most important news up front

Highlights one or two main facts to help audience get into the story

Hard news v. Soft news Hard News = Used for breaking news or major stories in which

the audience expects just facts Soft News = Can be used for lighter stories or interpretive pieces

when you want to emphasize the human interest and emotional aspects of a story

Let’s see how this works…

Writing the lead Facts:

It is July, and sanitation workers have been negotiating for higher wages

Workers are planning to strike if requests are not met this week

City Council is scheduled to meet in three weeks What is important to viewers about this?

If workers strike, it could be three weeks before trash is picked up

How can we write this in a one-sentence intro? …

Writing the Lead Hard News Lead:

This lead emphasizes the latest news in the conflict but keeps a serious tone

“Your trash pick-up could be delayed a few weeks if city sanitation workers strike as promised and city council refuses to discuss the issue for another three weeks.”

Writing the Lead Soft News Lead

This lead emphasizes the bad smell of the problem with a slightly lighter tone than the hard news lead.

“We’ll soon be smelling themounting garbage instead of the roses if City Council doesn’t reschedule their meeting.”

Writing the Lead Other Lead types:

Suspended interest Question Freak events Well-known expressions Staccato Metaphor Literary allusion Parody

Writing the Lead Suspended

interest Delays the

climax or essence of story until end of the lead.

“A Montana woman wondered why her dog kept jumping into her bed as she tried to sleep. The reason became clear when she got up to find a python in the bathroom.”

Writing the Lead Question

Use this lead type sparingly. It is dangerous because if the question lacks substance, the audience will lose interest.

“Would you like 5,000 turkeys? An Atlanta brother and sister are searching for that many to donate to the needy this Thanksgiving. …”

Writing the Lead Freak Events

Crazy occurrences are natural material for leads that introduce an unusual story

“At zero degrees, it was a chilling sight to see a Colorado couple in swimsuits at Bear Lake saying their wedding vows. It was their plan to take a ‘second plunge’ at the conclusion of the ceremony.”

Writing the Lead Well-known

expressions Use sparingly as

well since clichés can be trite and uninteresting

“Chicago firemen today learned that you can “teach an old dog new tricks” when they coaxed a German shepherd from a two story building onto a stretcher below.”

Writing the Lead Staccato Leads

Sets the tone with a one-two punch that gets the story off the ground

“Rain…then sleet, snow, and wind… that is how the day began for the residents in our nation’s capital.”

Writing the Lead Metaphor

Uses figures of speech that connect us to other aspects of life with which we are familiar

“Florida has been anything but the ‘Sunshine State’ for the past week. The entire area is under a severe weather watch and flooding is expected.”

Writing the Lead Literary allusion

References to fictional or historical characters to begin a story

“Will Rogers said, ‘I never met a man I didn’t like.’ Well, Will Rogers never met…”

Writing the Lead Parody

A take-off on events and sayings currently in vogue and of widespread interest

“You’ve heard ‘Let Mikey do it?’ Well, two men are resting well tonight because Mikey rescued them after a Copper Mountain avalanche. This was a first for Mikey, a St. Bernard pup, owned by one of the men.”

Writing the story Once you have the lead, you must organize

the rest of the information in a logical format

INVERTED PYRAMID style was developed in the Civil War by newspaper journalists Included the five W’s/H (who, what, when, where, why,

how) Facts listed in descending order of importance in case

entire story did not get transmitted from battlefield to news office

Broadcast style modifies the inverted pyramid…

Lead

Link to body

Body

Writing the news storyBroadcast style often follows

a PYRAMID (conversational) format Concise lead with one or two W’s (who,

what) Story follows in informal style presenting

facts in descending order of importance Place emphasis on the event not the time

to keep news fresh and appear as if just occurred

Lead

Body

Writing the news story Audiences expect to

hear news that is happening now

Although news happens before the newscast, write as if just occurring

“Sanitation workers will be on their regularly scheduled routes tomorrow with a retroactive pay increase of 50 cents per hour. Our air will smell cleaner thanks to City Council’s decision last night.”

“Sanitation workers will be on their regularly scheduled routes tomorrow with a retroactive pay increase of 50 cents per hour. Our air will smell cleaner thanks to City Council’s decision last night.”

Communicating effectively Conversational

Don’t you know, contractions can help?

Whassssup? - It should not be street jargon

Should sound as if we are speaking to the audience, not reading

Related Information must be relevant Answer the question, “What

does this have to do with me?” for audience in first two sentences

Creative Important facts can

become dull without lively writing

Make sense Organization with logical

flow and progression Technically correct

Anchors, producers and others involved must be able to read the copy and understand it to deliver it properly.

Communicating effectively :20 to :30 for a reader or VO story

8 lines 10 pound bag

:30 / :15 / :15 for a VSV Balance Lead main point 1 Reaction and comment Main point 2 and close

1:30 for a PKG Lead and main point 1 Reaction and comment Main point 2 Reaction and comment Main pointt 2 b and reaction and comment Main point 3 and close

Communicating effectively List your main facts Outline the main ideas W W W W W H and so what? Conversational and

grammatically correct You have to first know what

you’re talking about You have to then be able to

relate that story to an individual -- write to one -- third person, objective

Take-home Challenge Think of a “newsworthy” story from your own

life (use the news elements to determine an event that could be newsworthy to you or your friends) and practice writing a hard news and soft news lead for it.

Write the full story for a one-minute VSV news report. Make up a person’s SB comments

TV News writing reminders ‘Write to the pictures’ -- start with a strong

visual lead that telescopes the story to come Balance in story between reporter track with

b-roll / sound bites / stand - up Reporter tells Who, What, When, Where,

Why and How (only the facts) Sound bites should mostly be ‘reaction and

commentary’ from people connected to the story

TV News writing -- Chap. 1 Television is a language Words, but effective visuals

Focus, information gathering, meaning, 5 W’s Lighting, Audio, Images, composition Visual storytelling, NPPA

Eyewash, wallpaper Clear focus, write the pictures first, shoot sequences,

prove the focus visually, story focus in spot news, tell story through people, strong nat sound, build in surprises, keep sound bites short

More...

TV News writing -- Chap. 1 Address the larger issue, make the report

memorable, writing the lead (handout) Provide visual proof -- butcher with his cleaver at Ft.

Worth meat market: inflation’s effects The close: so strong that nothing else can top it White space, nat sound, pacing, write to the picture,

reportorial editing Incues and outcues -- see sample script Producer: prompter file -- include outcue for every

VSV