Video Clip 1 Video Clip 1 Video Clip 2 Video Clip 2 We get one opportunity to make ourselves understood Writing for the eye (print) Allows for re-reading for clarity Writing for the ear (broadcast) Audience needs to get it the 1 st time around Make sentences clear Keep them simple Read it aloud to hear what it sounds like Conversational Tone Broadcast writing is less formal than print But more formal than when talking to friends Goal is to tell a story to the less informed Use common words but use them well Radio & TV news flows one way Audience cant re-read or ask for clarity Using Contractions To avoid a stiff/unnatural sounding delivery Use contractions, but not in every instance Not when emphasizing something Not if they dont sound right when read aloud Be careful of contractions that cloud singular and plural The plans giving her hope Radio and TV only know what they hear Use short declarative sentences This relates to conversational tone Dont make sentences too simple Such as He ran fast Keep subject & verb as close as possible This morning police arrested a suspect Stick to sentence structure that makes the message very clear Active voice vs Passive voice Active voice - Someone doing something Passive Something being done Active voice is the norm for broadcast writing Use passive voice only if necessary for message clarity Active Voice or Passive Voice Examples: which is which? The local Red Cross set up a three day blood drive in Hayward The tree was cut down after being infected by a virus 17 students fell ill after eating tainted eggs Doctors diagnosed the man with diabetes The computer was taken by the desk clerk The track team one the conference championship The play was performed by the theater department What tense do I use Broadcasters should focus on present or future tense when appropriate The goal is to give TODAYs news not YESTERDAYS news However sometimes past tense is needed Be consistent with tense Dont mix your tense in a single sentence Police arrest a Carrville man and charged him with arson Write stories in Today language Writing in a way that implies it is current Dont use Yesterday in your lead sentence May be inserted within story if appropriate Freshen stories for your audience Dont use This morning to start an evening news broadcast Why? Handout Broadcast Sentence Activity Dates and days of the week When referencing within a week say the day More than a week before or after use the date The concert is Sunday (This Sunday) The concert is Sept 5 th (Next Sunday) Video Clip 3Video Clip 3 Use Last Names & Put Titles First Except on first mention Start with Bill Smith refer as Smith throughout Unless two people have same name Except with children Start with Tommy Jones refer as Tommy throughout Titles Mention titles first Former City Mayor . Adjust long titles for audience to digest (pg 7) It is recommended to verbally identify on camera sources Even if they are identified with a graphic Use phonetic spelling & Avoid foreign names when possible Why would we want to do this in broadcast? Sometimes when spelling a word correctly May result in mispronunciation Mahmoud ahmadinejad Kazakhstan Diphtheria Nabukwasi Avoid most abbreviations and acronyms Use Mr. Mrs. Etc only if necessary Or referring to a head of state What do these abbreviations mean St Dr When using acronyms Place a hyphen between the letters so anchor knows to spell it out N-C-A-A, F-B-I, Etc Writing Tips Keep hyphenated words on the same line Keep sentences on the same page Why are these important? Dont use symbols Spell out all references to Dollars Cents Percentages Why does this matter Dealing with numbers Round off numbers when possible Nearly Two million vs one million 865 thousand Writing numbers 1 through 9 (write out the word) 10 through 999 (use numerals) Over 999(Use combination words and numbers) How would this be written? Who wants to try? 37, 915, 776 Addresses and Ages Use areas of town vs specific addresses There are exceptions but this is the norm So viewers can get a better sense of where it is Use age when the age is significant 10-year old college graduate 73-year old kickboxing champ Genreal Dos & Donts Do Be clear and concise Make it easy for anchor Write like people talk Watch your pronouns Dont Forget you know more than audience Depend on computer catching mistakes Fail to make copy & Prompter corrections