In television, reporters almost always write material that they will record in the field and often write wraparound copy to be read by the station's anchors to lead into and out of the video "package," which they edit themselves or have edited under their supervision.
Radio
Radio newscasts are composed of three basic components:
l. Readers. These are taken from newswires, newspapers, TV news, etc. They ALL must be re-written in a style which will convey the information in as few words as possible and "sound" right. Some guidelines for writing style will be given later, however the best guide is reading your material aloud.2. Actualities. Have a recorder wired to a phone and try to get phone interviews as much as possible. Reporters can take recorders to press conferences and other such events. Don't use actualities just because you have them, but rather when they dramatize a story. Write surrounding material carefully to avoid having the newscaster or reporter duplicate the information in the actuality. For example:
NEWSCASTER: At a press conference this afternoon the mayor said that the garbage strike has been resolved. MAYOR (ON TAPE): The garbage strike has been resolved.3. Reports. On-scene reports are used less in radio than TV, but they add life to the newscast and can be accomplished easily with a cell phone.
Writing the Story.
The elements of any news story are:
l. The who in a story is the "newsmaker" and is always first identified with title, first name, and last name (no middle initial). Later references use just the last name. For example:l. Who 2. What 3. When 4. Where 5. Why Secretary of State Colin Powell . . . . Powell also said . . .If the who is an agency, give the full name in the initial reference, but you may use acronyms in later references if the acronym is generally understood. For example:
The American Civil Liberties Union went to court . . . A-C-L-U lawyers hope to prove . . .2. The what is the news event. Try to report this in terms your audience can relate to. Localize stories whenever possible.
3. When deals with the time element. Remember that radio is an immediate medium. Use the present tense whenever possible and use time references like "This morning" or "an hour ago" when an event is over. For example:
Firemen are battling a blaze at the BOCO Refinery . . . An hour ago the fire at the BOCO refinery was brought under control . . .4. Where tells the location of the story. This is frequently a good way to begin a story and can become a transition. For example:
Turning to state news . . . Meanwhile in Berks County . . .5. Sadly, why is usually left to the print journalists. We just do not have enough time on most radio newscasts to delve into the whys behind the stories.
Organizing the Newscast.
Teasers. Teasers are short statements which are intended to build maximum interest while usually imparting minimum information. They are used at the beginning of newscasts and prior to commercial breaks to help maintain audience. For example:
New fighting in the Middle East. Details right after this . . .Lead. The text refers to the "lead" as the first sentence of any news story which is essentially an electronic version of the headlines used in print media. This technique is most important for the first story of each section of the newscast, and especially the first story following a commercial break.
Lead Story. The lead story is the first story of the newscast. This is usually a little longer than average, and obviously should be the most interesting and topical story you can find. While we frequently lead with a national or international story, try to localize it. For example:
Secretary of the Navy Lehman announced today that he is returning to private life. Lehman, a Philadelphia native, has been criticized in his home district for terminating jobs at the Philadelphia Navy Yard . . .Story Length. The range in radio is 10 to 45 seconds, with 20-25 seconds being most common. Variety is helpful. A story may change in depth of coverage through the broadcast day.
Story Placement. After the lead, group stories in some logical way. Three techniques include:
Sports. Sports traditionally comes after news and should be reported in as straight forward a manner as possible. Concentrate on teams likely to be popular with your listening audience. Scores usually come first and only the most dramatic "background" stories are included.l. Subject matter- such as all economic stories, all political campaign stories, etc. 2. Geography- international, national, local 3. Newsmaker- such as Congress, the Supreme Court, the President, etc. Weather. By convention, the last element in a newscast. Allow some pad to adjust for time. Concentrate on the current conditions and 24 hour forecast, leaving the fancy statistics to the TV people.
Mechanics.
The mechanics of preparing a radio news script vary from station to station. The following are some general guidelines which we will use in class.
l. Typing. All news stories are typed double (or triple) spaced, one story to a page. Upper and lower case typing is best (although some stations use all caps). Wide margins are necessary for editing. We will use 12 point Courier with a 55 character line (1.5 inch margins left and right) for this purpose. The "template" for news readers downloadable from the class Web page conforms to this format.
2. Slug. A slug which is a description of the story in 2 or 3 words is placed at the top of the page, usually to the right.
3. Timing. A time for the story is placed immediately below the slug at the top of the page. This is sometimes rounded to the nearest 5 seconds.
4. Spelling. Spelling affects pronunciation and also professionalism. Proofread and correct spelling.
5. Numbers. Spell out one to nine and any that would be confusing. For example: 90 thousand.
6. Abbreviations. If there is any doubt, spell it out.
A sample script showing correct format is show below:
Story Format Run Time. 0:15 Electronic Media students were notified today that news stories should be prepared according to the format illustrated on this page. Copy should be double spaced, and lines should not exceed 55 characters. Slugs and timings should be placed at the top of the page and to the right.
Television
Television newscasts are composed of four basic components:
l. Readers. These are stories to be read by the station news anchors, sometimes supported with computer-generated graphics or B-Roll video. These stories are often written by the anchors themselves.2. B-Roll. This is video that illustrates a story being voiced by the new anchors. It may be silent (frequently abbreviated MOS) or have natural sound (NAT SOUND) which will be bedded under the anchor's voice.
3. Field Packages. Reporters, often with the help of videographers and video editors, produce complete segments, including intros, sound bites (on-camera interviews with newsmakers or bystanders) background information and outros. The reporter may also write the wraparound copy for the news anchors to read.
4. Live Shots. Many stations have the capability of broadcasting live video from microwave trucks or helicopters. While this can be overused, this can add a sense of immediacy and involve the audience in breaking news. These stories are commonly voiced by both the field reporter and the anchors, but since this is live, there is seldom time to write any copy and everything must be ad lib.
Organizing the Newscast.
The organization of the newscast will be controlled by the News Director. Sports and weather copy will typically be written by the specialists who will anchor those segments.
While some radio stations have gone totally digital and produce scripts which on-air talent read off of computer screens, the vast majority of television news operations have adopted this technology. The director of a news program (as opposed to the News Director) will have two screens, one showing a run-down sheet detailing the order of the stories and other elements (often being updated by the News Director during the show), and another showing the actual stories as displayed on the Teleprompter for the anchors.
The following run-down sheet is modeled after one used at WGAL-TV in Lancaster:
Mechanics.Item Clock Time Start Time Run Time Video Audio Music/Montage 2:00 :00 :15 VCR #1 S-O-T Open 1:45 :15 :05 Studio Studio Drug Bust 1:40 :20 :17 Studio/CG Studio Shack 1:23 :37 :14 TBC #4 Studio Intro Capt. Q 1:09 :51 :07 Studio Studio Capt. Q 1:02 :58 :23 VCR #1 S-O-T Balloon :39 1:21 :17 Studio/CG Studio Med. Tech. :22 1:38 :16 Studio/CG Studio Close :06 1:54 :06 Studio/CG Studio
The mechanics of preparing a television news script vary from station to station. We will follow the same general guidelines detailed for radio scripts above. Multi-column scripts for television news are virtually non-existent today so we will type each story on a separate page with slug, timing, font and margins as shown above. This will closely simulate how a story would be entered into a station's news management software.
