1. Writing for
Broadcasting
{ Radio and TV

2. Writing for the ear AND the eye
 This requires a number of changes from the way you write
for the print media. People have only one chance to hear
what you say. This means you must structure your news
stories to accommodate the ear. As you know, with print
media, you can go back and re-read something.
 Another difference: your broadcast should be
conversational and written in a way that the reporter seems
to be talking on an individual level. The best way to do this
is with short sentences. Keep your subject and verb close
together. Use the active voice. Avoid extra clauses and
phrases.

3. KISS
 Broadcasters want stories that provide information in a
simple, straightforward manner.
 Broadcast journalists should base their news stories on the
Four Cs: correctness, clarity, conciseness and color.
 Correctness means accuracy
 Clarity means being easily understood
 Conciseness means brevity, or shortness or time
 Color means interesting

4. Structure
 A good broadcast news story is built on the concept of
DRAMATIC UNITY – this means it has three parts, even if it
is a short story.
 Those three parts are climax, cause and effect
 The climax gives the listener the point of the story – just like the
lede in a print story
 The cause portion tells why it happened
 The effect portion gives the listener some insight into what the
story means

5. Structure
Here is a brief illustration of the three steps:
CLIMAX – Taxpayers in Florida will be paying an average of 15
dollars more in income taxes next year
CAUSE – The state senate passed the governor’s controversial
revenue-raising bill by a 15 to 14 vote.
EFFECT – The measure will raise about 40 million dollars in new
revenue for the state next year. Much of it will be used for the
governor’s education program.
Broadcast reporters usually gather far more info than they can use.
This requires some painful decisions on what to leave out.
Sometimes, the name and addresses that are essential to a print story
must be deleted from a broadcast story because they bog down the
report. At the same time, broadcast stories often repeat certain words
and terms in order to give the listener a second change to get
something in that story – such as the name of a location of the story
or a key person.

6. Writing for broadcast TIPS
Write in the ACTIVE voice – what is this?
- “Police want a tall, thing man who robbed a Casselberry bank
yesterday.”
Instead of: “A man who robbed a Casselberry bank yesterday is
wanted by police.”
- Also, avoid starting sentences “There is…”
Avoid long introductory clauses like: “Although he is still homeless, a
Winter Park man has a cardboard box in which to sleep.”
Put a human face to the story whenever possible. People are usually
more important in a story than facts. Also, and this is different than
print stories, make use of the word “you” whenever possible.
Put attribution first, which is opposite print. Tell who said it before
you tell what he or she said. Also, avoid first quotes in the copy. If
absolutely essential, precede with the word, “quote.”
Do not conclude with “unquote.” Or use as the lead-in, “And these
are her words…”

7. Writing for broadcast TIPS
Avoid contractions whenever possible. “Can’t” might be mumbled to
sound like “can,” which can change the meaning of the sentence
entirely. Say, “cannot” “will not” and the like.
Omit needless words: For example, words like “that” “which” “who”
are not always needed. Coordinating conjuctions like
“and, or, nor, but, for and yet,” can be eliminated by writing
short, sentences instead of compound sentences.
Limit the use of numbers in your broadcast stories. Spell numbers
one through eleven and use Arabic for other numbers.
Large numbers require a mix of Arabic and spelling.
The so-called Rule of Three is a good one to follow, which states that
the typical listener cannot keep straight more than three numbers in a
row.

8. Writing for broadcast TIPS
Write in ALL CAPS. This will, if for no other reason, remind you that
you are NOT writing a print media story.
- The TV news story’s beginning should be written to the visual
aspects – the video, photos or graphics that accompany the story.
The middle should concentrate on the three to five major points
dealing with the story. The ending should be strong and visual.
- The lede of a TV news story should contain the vital elements of
the journalists’ questions, but not all. Clutter and confusion will
result if you pack your broadcast lede with too many facts.
- Focus on the important ones: Where, When and Who.
The reason is that is requires more than one sentence to explain the
more complex How and Why.

9. Writing for broadcast TIPS
Where –is important because of the broad audience that TV stations
or radio stations can reach. So, lede with Where when it is the most
important element in the story
When – most broadcast stories are written to stress the “today”
aspect of the story. Avoid using “a.m. and p.m.” Instead, use “this
morning” or “this evening.”
Place time elements after the verb in the sentence: “Five students
were arrested today…
Who – place the title before the name of the person in broadcast
stories. Avoid unfamiliar names in the lede (use a delayed lead in
those situations). You can use a person’s age, occupation or other
marker as further means of identifying him or her in subsequent
sentences.

10. The Body
Broadcast stories are shot. Once you have written a compelling
lede, you will write the rest of the story, so focus on no more than
three or four main points that relate directly to the focus point of
your story.
Rank them in order of importance. Limit transitions. An effective
tool is to echo a word or phrase form one sentence by repeating it in
the following sentence.
This is called the “key word technique”
Another technique for the body of your story is problem/solution.
You state the problem, including supporting sound bites and
facts, then consider possible solution.

11.  Radio obviously does not have pictures. This
means you must create word pictures for your
listeners.
 And, radio newscasts tent to be shorter than TV
newscasts. Thus, your stories will be even
shorter.
 Each story will be from 13 to 20 seconds per
story, or less than 40 words. No more than two
or three sentences.
Radio

12.  You must tell your stories focusing on simplicity and
humanity. Write conversationally.
 Use a clear focus sentence – write as though you
were having a conversation with a listener. Put
another way, do not write in a style that people do
not use.
 Tell the story – avoid complex words and sentences
 Use active voice and present tense
 Use few numbers
 Type copy in all CAPS. Avoid punctuation as much
as possible by writing short sentences. Use dashes to
signify commas and dramatic pauses.
 Spell difficult words phonetically. Set the phonetic
spelling in parentheses following the difficult word.
Put in all caps the syllable that receives emphasis.
 Double space copy. Number every page. End each
page with a complete sentence.
Radio

13.  Avoid quote marks. Use the word “quote” as lead-in
to a direct quote but DO NOT follow with
“unquote.”
 Use combo of Arabic and spelling for large numbers:
 13-million
 250-thousand dollars
 Spell fractions – use “point” when referring to decimals.
Radio