Broadcast News Writing Writing for the ear instead of the eye of the audience

Have the courage to write simply. -Merv Block

BROADCAST NEWS WRITING: Writing for television and radio Keep in mind Listeners/viewers cannot “flip back” and review the information Writing is more for the ear Writing is linear — Shorter, sharper, stronger

WRITING SIMPLY MEANS: Shorter Say only what needs to be said in the simplest way possible Sharper Precise and concise - make each word count Stronger Speak with an active voice Waste no words

HOW DO I DO THAT? Remember, you are just relating the events of a story How would you tell it to your best friend? How would you tell it over the phone? Use short sentences A single thought per sentence Speak in an ACTIVE voice Subject Verb Object EXAMPLE: Taco Bell was robbed by an armed gunman last night. SHOULD BE: An armed gunman robbed Taco Bell last night.

THE ZOMBIE TEST How do you know you are using active voice? If you can add “by zombies” to the sentence and it makes sense, it’s passive. EXAMPLE: Taco Bell was robbed… by zombies. (PASSIVE) SHOULD BE: Zombies robbed Taco Bell. (ACTIVE) HINT: Usually if the sentenced ends with any part of speech other than an object or direct object, it’s passive.

GETTING TENSE: Broadcaster speaks in the present tense… The viewer sees and hears it as it is happening (video) The commentary should be equal to that experience Create a false present tense to create a sense of immediacy (after all, this is the NEWS!)

MAKING EVERY WORD COUNT: Remember the construct: subject verb object Add in the necessary denotative articles to make it make sense Use attribution to give your story credibility Attribution comes BEFORE the quote - tell the viewer who they are going to see or hear before they see or hear it ALWAYS READ YOUR STORY OUT LOUD ALWAYS USE THE SUBJECT - OBJECT - VERB CONSTRUCT

Broadcast News Writing Writing for the ear instead of the eye of the audience