You are a radio newsreader. Prepare a news report, giving an update on recent developments in any field of your interest. The news report must include, at least, two arguments with supporting evidence.
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Answer:
This publication on news writing television and radio is the fourth of a five-part series on news media writing. This series also covers an introduction to news media writing, news writing for print, grammar and punctuation, and interviews for news stories.
INTRODUCTION
Creating a television or radio story is more than hitting “record” on a video camera or audio recorder. You have to learn the process of writing an effective television and radio news story first. The term broadcast writing will be used interchangeably for television and radio news writing throughout this publication.
WRITING FOR THE EYE AND EAR
Writing for radio and television is different from writing for print for several reasons. First, you have less space and time to present news information. Therefore, you must prioritize and summarize the information carefully. Second, your listeners cannot reread sentences they did not understand the first time; they have to understand the information in a broadcast story as they hear it or see it. As a result, you have to keep your writing simple and clear. And third, you are writing for “the ear.” In print news stories, you are writing for “the eye”; the story must read well to your eye. The television or radio news story has the added complexity that it has to sound good; when a listener hears the story it has to read well to “the ear.” Also, for a radio news story, listeners cannot see video of what you are saying, so you must paint word pictures with the words you use in your radio news story so people can “see” images just through your verbal descriptions. In today’s media landscape, many stories are shared in video, audio, and text-based formats. It’s important to consider the various ways audiences will be taking in the information you are sharing.
As with any type of news writing, you should try to identify characteristics of your audience so you know what type of information your audience wants. Use the criteria of newsworthiness presented in News Media Writing in this publication series to help you determine if your television or radio news story idea has news value. Television and radio news stories must have these attributes:
The writing style should be conversational. Write the way you talk.
Each sentence should be brief and contain only one idea. We do not always talk in long sentences. Shorter sentences are better in broadcast news writing. Each sentence should focus on one particular idea.
Be simple and direct. If you give your audience too much information, your audience cannot take it in. Choose words that are familiar to everyone.
Read the story out loud. The most important attribute for writing for “the ear” is to read the story aloud. This will give you a feeling for timing, transitions, information flow, and conversation style. Your audience will hear your television or radio news story, so the story has to be appealing to the ear.