Television news writing

             

                 Television news writing

• 1. WRITING OF THE NEWS•News is very important thing in todays media scenarioand there are a numbers of factors to modify theimportance of news in actual practice.•The policy of news medium may increase or diminishthe importance of the story.The class of viewers andlisteners that dominates the audience of a channeldetermines largely what is news for that medium.•The amount of time available on television determineswhether is told briefly or in detail and thus time alters thevalue of a news story.•Repeating the same news also sometimes decreases theimportance of a news story.
• 2. How to write the news?• The news story is totally and radically different from all other kinds of composition. A narrative, a short story, a novel, a play, a drama, book, or a film script begins with a description of the background or with the introduction of various characters and conditions. The story ends soon after the climax is reached.On the contrary, a standard news story starts with the climax and leaves the details for the closing sentence.• The story in all other cases opens gradually and major information is given in middle of a story while innews it opens with a bang all concrete things are mentioned at start and then the relevant detail is described
• 3. Contents of newsWhat?What happened? What is the event?When?When it occurred, at what time it took place?Where?The place, where the incident occurred.Who?The persons involved at that occasion.Why?The reason of that particular issue.How?The sequence of the event
• 4. Characteristics of Writing• There are four Cs to broadcast journalism: – Correctness—or accuracy – Clarity—clear, precise language that contains no ambiguity; viewers cannot re-hear broadcast news— they must understand it the first time – Conversational—broadcast news must sound more conversational b/c people will be reading it aloud – Color—writing that allows the listener to paint a picture of the story or event being reported.
• 5. Characteristics of Writing• News more than an hour or two old may be considered stale.• The maximum length for almost any story is two minutes; normal length is 30 seconds.• Slang and colorful phrasing is generally not permitted in broadcast news.• Should be written in the present tense.• Omit the time element in most news stories.• Broadcast writers have to produce in a highly pressurized atmosphere: deadlines are imminent.
• 6. Story Structure• Dramatic Structure—most common structure for broadcast news; it has three parts: – Climax—gives the listener the point of the story in about the same way the lead of a print news story does; it tells the listener what happened. – Cause—tells why the story happened—the circumstance surrounding the event. – Effect—gives the listener the context of the story and possibly some insight about what the story means.
• 7. Story Structure• Broadcast journalists think of their stories as completed circles, not inverted pyramids.• Stories must be written to fit into the time designated by the editor or news director.• Getting the listener’s attention is of top importance in broadcast news! The first broadcast news story sentence should be an attention getter!• Broadcast news stories cannot go into the detail and explanation that print or web stories can.
• 8. Style of writing• Conventions of Broadcast Writing: – Titles usually come before names. – Avoid abbreviations, even on the second reference— except FBI and UN. – Avoid direct quotations if possible. – Attribution should come before a quotation, not after it. – Use as little punctuation as possible, but enough to help the newscaster through the copy.
• 9. Style of writing• Numbers and statistics should be rounded off: – Numbers one through nine should be spelled out; numbers 10 through 999 should be written as numerals; write out hundred, thousand, million, billion, and use a combination of numerals w/these numbers where appropriate (i.e. 15-hundred) – Don’t write a million or a billion, but one million, one billion
• 10. Style of writing• Personalize the news when possible and appropriate (use the word “you”).• Avoid external description—President and chief executive office of the University of South Alabama should just be stated: USA President…• Avoid using symbols when you write.• Use phonetic spelling for unfamiliar and hard to pronounce names and words.• Avoid pronouns whenever possible.• Avoid apposition—a word or set of words that renames a noun: ie: Tom Smith, Mayor of Mobile.
• 11. Style of writing• Use the present tense when it is appropriate.• Avoid dependent clauses at the beginning of the sentences. – Ex: Stopping at the first leg of his European tour…
• 12. Types of formats• Mini documentary—This format allows a story to run more than a minute, and as long as 15 minutes. It allows for a variety of sound bites, interviews and even music to be incorporated into the broadcast.
• 13. Types of formats.– Reader copy: Read by an anchor– Voiceovers: Reporter speaks over video, with original sound turned down, or off– Voiceover to Soundbite: Reporter talks over the video until time for the soundbite, then his voice is turned down and the soundbite is turned up
• 14. Types of formats• Television newscasts can use any of the following formats: – Package Stories: Anchor introduces a prerecorded mix of video, sound, voice and standup reporting – Live Shots: An anchor will introduce the story and tell the audience that the broadcast is going live to the scene, then the reporter on the scene takes the story from there, either with standup, or interview.
• 15. Piece to camera