1. Entrepreneurial Journalism
Writing for the Ear
Entrepreneurial Journalism

2. Why Writing to be Read Out Loud is Important
A great deal of modern journalistic media – including material found on YouTube and in podcasts – is written in “broadcast” style
We use the word ”broadcast” for lack of a better term…it simply means the type of writing you would see on radio or TV or Internet audio and video
And...you may actually wind up writing for radio and TV
In this era of media convergence, what starts out as a “print”-style writing assignment may end up with your on-air or writing for someone on-air

3. Where Did Writing for the Ear Come From?
Actually, the concept is not new at all…
Epic poems, storytellers, plays
For centuries, information was passed by word of mouth
The idea of newswriting for broadcast developed with the new technology

4. Broadcast Journalistic Writing Essentially Developed During WWII
At first, no one knew what radio news was “supposed” to sound like
Was the person delivering the news or orator or a conversational friend or someone reading a newspaper out loud?
Edward R. Murrow was not the first broadcast journalist, but he codified much of the style
He refined much of the style as he went along
It was a personal, narrative, conversational style that brought the war into people’s living rooms

5. Murrow and the Development of Broadcast Journalistic Writing
Murrow developed a precise, vivid form of writing…
He made it so you could hear the war through his words-- “the roll of thunder down crooked streets”
He wrote in such a way you could see the conflict – the flash of guns, the embers as they melted their way into the pavement
He also told stories with vivid detail…
About the courage of the people crammed into stinking air raid shelters
The “little people in little houses” who bore the burden of being bombarded

6. When Television Came Along…
Again, no one was sure what it was supposed to sound and look like
Early television news looked like a narrator showing newsreels, which it was
Early TV presenters and those who wrote for them adopted an air of showmanship
But later – say, with the ascension of Walter Cronkite – the TV anchor became someone conversational and relatively informal, the intelligent next-door-neighbor or the wise uncle
Television also weaved images into the presentation, sometimes over voice, sometimes as clips with sound

7. And the Outcome Was…
Broadcast writing became a format that mimics informal speech patterns
It must, therefore, be easy to read aloud and easy to pronounce
It must also be economical, painting vivid pictures in a few words…remember, the words in an average television newscast would barely fill one page of a newspaper, so every word counts

8. What is the Difference Between Broadcast and Print Style?
Let’s start with an example of a print-style story…
Governor Smith and statehouse leaders started slowly Saturday toward their goal of slashing more than $10 million from the state budget, sources close to the negotiations said.
State Senate Majority Leader Dan Jones, D-Springfield, said there was no agreement on a timetable but…
It’s very difficult to read it out loud…
Having “sources close to the negotiations said” at the end of the sentence is awkward when spoken
Saying “started slowly Saturday”makes you sound like a snake
And how on earth do you say, “D-Springfield”?

9. But Broadcast Style is Conversational…
Sources close to the negotiations tell us Governor Smith and statehouse leaders kicked off the weekend by trying to cut the state budget by ten million dollars. Springfield Democrat Dan Jones, the assembly majority leader, says there’s no timetable but….

10. So, We’ve Just Figured Out Three Attributes of Broadcast Style…
Keep in conversational
Watch out for tongue twisters
Put attribution – the source of the information -- first

11. Additional Techniques of Writing Broadcast News…
Paraphrase quotes, unless it is something controversial and you feel the need to cite exact wording
Get to the point quickly
Write short sentences
Make sure what you write is absolutely clear
Watch out for “can” and “can’t” – they sound alike
Don’t say “the latter option” because a listener has no way to go back and see which was the former and which was the latter
Write in the present tense whenever possible

12. Broadcast Leads Standard hard lead: A broadcast feature lead:
Governor Bob Smith is dead following an apparent heart attack early this morning.
A broadcast feature lead:
A company that makes solar shingles claims it can cut your utility bills in half.
The headline lead:
Four die in the crash of an Marine helicopter…

13. To Sum Up the Conventions of Broadcast Journalistic Writing…
Keep in conversational
Watch out for tongue twisters
Put attribution – the source of the information -- first
Paraphrase quotes, unless it is something controversial and you feel the need to cite exact wording
Get to the point quickly
Write short sentences
Make sure what you write is absolutely clear
Watch out for “can” and “can’t” – they sound alike
Don’t say “the latter option” because a listener has no way to go back and see which was the former and which was the latter
Write in the present tense whenever possible #