ADVANTEGES: This method is a good compromise in that gives equal importance to both the words and the pictures. It also enables the report to 'breath' by the inclusion of pauses for natural sound. DISADVANTEGES: It requires practice and takes longer than text-first editing. But the result demonstrates that it is worth it. It is particularly appropriate to the editing of 'special news reports ' lasting three minutes or more, when there is generally more time allowed in the editing suite.

GENERAL SCRIPTING PRINCIPLES NOTE: These are guidelines only – not rigid rules. Write the studio introduction first- before you start writing the script. This will help you focus on the story and will avoid your first piece of text being a repetition of what has just been said by the presenter in the studio. It is possible that your news editor will change it but he/she will still be grateful for your suggestion. Remember: you know your story better than anyone.

Generally, scripts are for conveying facts and figures; interviews for conveying opinion, emotion, anecdotes and examples. This is not an absolute rule, but a useful guideline. Keep your text SHORT! You are not writing a newspaper article. In television the pictures tell the story. The total length of you script should be between a third and a half of the total length of the report. Each piece of script should normally be no more than twenty seconds. If it is longer, put in a short [two or three second] pause with natural sound. Remember: you are 'feeding' the viewer information. Don’t give them indigestion.

Keep your sentences simple. The art of good TV script-writing is to write simply but without simplifying. Try to avoid subordinate clauses. Television is Doha; this is better than: 'Ahmad, who lives in Doha, is a television reporter; short sentences are also easier to rearrange when you have to change the words to fit the picture.

Do not describe what the picture already shows. Don't tell me what I can see but why I am seeing it [BBC Trainer, Frank Ash].for example, don’t tell me that 'the president arrived in a large black Mercedes with four motorbikes ' - when I can see that for my self on the screen.

Use the ordinary language of ordinary people. Yours words should be conversational, not literary or poetic. Remember: you are speaking to the viewer, not writing a letter to him/her. Don't be afraid to ask the occasional question. Addressing your viewer directly gets their attention. For example: \so how doses the government plan to reduse traffic?'

Have the pictures in your head as you write the words – like a cinema projector inside your skull. If facts and/or figures are disputed or uncertain, attribute them to a specific source –for example:'according to the united nations …. Try to simplify figures by using fractions instead of percentages. Instead of 54% you can say 'more than half ' or even 'most'. Instead of 72%, you can say "nearly three- quarters" or "roughly seven out of ten". But, when reporting election or referendums, you should usually quote the exact percentage.

Say some thing specific – not woolly generation or philosophical musings. You are a journalist, not a poet or a prophet. Something the pictures 'speak for themselves '. If so, let them. There are times when the best script is not script. Learn to ' write silence' [former BBC War Correspondent, Marten Bell].

Keep your language politically and emotionally neutral. 'Terrorists, freedom fighters, guerrillas' all imply partiality. Choose a word that describes without implying. Avoid adjective & adverbs. These are descriptive words. The pictures should be doing the describing. Check your script for adjectives and, each time you find one, ask your self if it really necessary.