Chapter 10 Newswriting for Broadcast
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Assistant Activity
Write a news story. Keep “writing for the ear” in mind while writing and
revising your story. Read the story out loud to a friend or family member. At
the end of the story, simply stop talking and wait. If your listener asks a single
question about the topic, that question needs to be addressed in the story.
Perhaps you need to word something differently or you accidentally
left something out. Fix your story and read it to another person—do not read
it to the same person again. Continue to read aloud and revise your story until
your listener has no questions at the end. Television does
not allow conversation between the reporter and viewers;
the audience cannot ask the reporter questions. Television
is similar to a lecture format, without the opportunity for
questions and answers at the end.
With the very fi rst line of a story, viewers decide if they will continue
paying attention. Phrasing is crucial in delivering your message to the
audience. To effectively communicate with viewers, the content of a story
should be stated as clearly and accurately as possible. The following are
suggestions for good news story writing.
• Never start a story with a participle or word ending in -ing: “Saving
the resources of the Chesapeake Bay was always in the thoughts of
the conservation group.” The listener must unscramble the sentence
to make sense of it—it’s just not the way people talk.
• Avoid introducing a story by asking viewers a question: “How do
you feel when you receive a speeding ticket in the mail?” Instead,
make an attention-grabbing statement: “Drivers caught by traffi c
cameras are speaking out.”
• Do not begin a story with a quote read by the reporter.
• Do not scare the audience with your words. Say: “Officials urge you
to go into your basement and move near a masonry wall until the
tornado passes.” Don’t say: “The tornado will destroy your house and
everything in it. Hide in your basement until the danger has passed.”
• Give suggestions that repeat the message of offi cials; do not give
orders. If an order needs to be communicated, turn the mic over to an
offi cial to state the order.
Visualize This
A snowstorm has started and the reporter goes on air with a
story about the local transportation offi cials mobilizing the snowplows,
drivers, and salt spreaders. Viewers are usually interested in stories
about preparations for weather events that may affect them personally.
In the newscast, the reporter passes along a request from the head
of transportation, “Transportation offi cials request that citizens stay off
the roads during the snow clean-up efforts.” The reporter is not actually
telling the public to do or not to do something, but is passing a message
along from the offi cials. The reporter attributes the action
to the offi cial who gave the recommendation, which takes
the reporter out of the story. It would not be acceptable for
a reporter to tell the audience to do something on his own
authority.