The Basics of Broadcast Journalism Newswriting Mr. Dudek

The Basics ofBroadcast Journalism Newswriting

Mr. Dudek

Short, Lean Sentences

Average Length: 20 words Natural, conversational flow Alternate long sentences with short ones Alternate simple declarative sentences with

sentences starting with and, but, or because Write the way you talk.

Short, Lean Sentences

“Speaking before a group of Lindblom students in Keeler Hall, State Senator Tim Bergman today announced his candidacy for governor of Illinois in 2014.”

“State Senator Tim Bergman told a group of Lindblom students today that he’s going to run for governor.”

Write “Lean” Sentences

Get rid of excess words

No adverbs Limit use of

adjectives Be brief, but don’t

omit details.

Write “Lean” Sentences

“Looking happy and excited, Mayor Emanuel walked quickly to the podium.”

“Mayor Emanuel raced to the podium.”

Keep Leads Simple

You cannot answer the five Ws in one sentence

Limit sentences to one idea each.

Keep Leads Simple

“Governor Quinn says he paid only 50 dollars in state income taxes last year, be cause he suffered heavy losses in the stock market and donated his gubernatorial papers to Southern Illinois University where officials set the value of those papers at $300 thousand dollars.

Keep Leads Simple

“Governor Quinn says he paid only 50 dollars in state income taxes last year for two main reasons.

First… he suffered heavy losses in the stock market.

And second… he donated his gubernatorial papers to Southern Illinois university. The school claims those papers are worth about 300 thousand dollars.

The Fewer Syllables, the Better Don’t use a multi-syllable word when a mono-

syllable word will do Transmit Lacerations Sufficient Interrogate Deceased.

SendCutsEnoughQuestionDead

Easy to Hear AND Easy to Read The goal is to write something that will be

easily understood when heard …but…. It should also be easy to read. Your “talent”

needs to be able to read it without error.

The Specifics ofBroadcast Journalism Newswriting

Mr. Dudek

Writing the Lead (Yes, we have to do Leads again) The Emphasis Lead Start with most important fact Who, What and When (maybe why) “Mayor Emanuel resigned this morning” “A hurricane blasted Hawaii yesterday.”

Writing the Lead

The Umbrella/Blanket Lead Less specific; more general It covers a number of things, but they are all

related “The Supreme Court ruled on three landmark

cases today” “There will be a number of changes next year

at Lindblom.”

Writing the Lead

The Verbless Lead Don’t use this one much, because is not the

way we talk “A busy day at City Hall” “More good weather in our future..”

Writing the Lead

The Chronological/Narrative Lead Start with the first thing that happened; then

the 2nd; then the 3rd. Good for less-serious features

Writing the Lead

No Questions, Please.

Writing the Lead

Broadcast Journalism Activity #1 - Leads

Names and Titles

For names that are hard to pronounce, you should put a pronunciation guide next to their name

Nick Khabibulun (Hah-bee-BULL-in) David Chriseoman (KRISH-oh-man)

Names and Titles

For unknown names, never use them in the first sentence of a lead.

“Peter Jones of Midcity won the World Scrabble Championships last night. He said it was the most fun he had ever had.”

“A Midcity man won the World Scrabble Championships last night. Peter Jones said it was the most fun he had ever had.”

Names and Titles

When a person is well know you can start a lead with them.

In fact, if they are well know because of their position, you can even omit their first name:

President Obama Mayor Emanuel Principal Mather

Names and Titles

For really long titles, don’t put it all in front of the person’s name.

“The vice president of the Englewood Mothers for the Protection of our Youth, Lori McFadden, says her group will sponsor an “Awareness Fair” next Friday. She says…”

“The vice president of a local child safety group says her group will sponsor an “Awareness Fair” next Friday. Lori McFadden, the Englewood Mothers for the Protection of our Youth, says…”

Names and Titles

First names are given the first time only Every following reference is last name only Omit middle initials unless the initial has

become associated with that person. Barrack H. Obama (no) George W. Bush (yes)

Names and Titles

Broadcast Journalism Activity #2 – Names

Names and Titles


6. Barack Obama

Names and Titles


7. John Boehner

Names and Titles


8. Agnes Hammarskjöld

Names and Titles


9. Eintracht Braunschweig

Names and Titles


10. Edinburgh, Scotland

Attributions

An attribution is telling the listener who said something; a quote

Unlike newspapers, attributions are never at the end, or in the middle of a quote

Attribution always comes first.

Attributions

Print Journalism: “I’ve discovered a cure for cancer and it really

works,” Dr. Beverly Atwater said. Broadcast Journalism: Doctor Beverly Atwater says she discovered

a cure for cancer that really works.

Attributions

Says Reports What’s wrong with “claims”? “insists”?

“discloses”?

Names and Titles

Only use direct quotes when something is too important or unique to be paraphrased

“…and we are quoting him here…” “…and these are her exact words…” “… what he called…”

Attributions

Broadcast Journalism Activity #3 - Attributions

Verbs

Voice: Active voice is better Tense: Present tense is better

Verbs

Broadcast Journalism Activity #4 - Verbs

Abbreviations and Numbers

Avoid standard abbreviations Bad: Calif., IL, Wed., Nov., Gov, Sgt. Good: California, Illinois, Wednesday,

Governor, Sergeant


Organizations should be written out the first time, then you can use abbreviations after that.

“People Opposed to Pornography … known as POP … is at it again. POP members are hosting a book burning…”

Well know organization can be abbreviated right away: NASA, F-B-I, U-S-A.


Use Hyphens to separate letters in acronyms and abbreviations:

F-B-I, C-I-A, N-double A-C-P Don’t use hyphens if the name is read as a

word: NASA, MADD, NATO


Numbers 1-9: spell out the words 10-999: write the numbers Anything larger is a combination: 26-thousand 147-thousand-834 One-thousand-5 (Except at the beginning sentences…)


Symbols Do not use symbols. Spell it out: 123-dollars 10-cents 35 feet 72-degrees


Ordinals Use st, nd, th after numbers in dates and

addresses, Still spell out 1-9: 63rd Street First Place Fifth Avenue May 19th


Bits and Pieces 12.5 million = “12-point-five-million” 1/3 = “one-third” 33% = “33-percent”


Rounding Numbers Complex numbers are confusing to hear;

don’t be afraid to round numbers 1,604 = “about 16-hundred” 999,987 = “slight less than one million”


Grouping Numbers The year 1996 is typed “19-96” The address of our school: 61-30 South Wolcott 6-1-3-0 South Wolcott Single digits are acceptable


Telling Time Do not use a.m. or p.m. Use “this morning”, “tomorrow afternoon”,

“yesterday evening”. O’clock is acceptable


Broadcast Journalism Activity #5 – Numbers and Abbreviations

Write a Broadcast Story

Broadcast Journalism Homework Activity– Write a Story

Documents

The Basics of Broadcast Journalism Newswriting Mr. Dudek