MODULE 2, JOURNALISM 9

NEWS WRITING RADIO

INTRODUCTION
Creating a television or radio story is more than hitting “record” on a video camera or audio recorder. You must
first learn the process of writing an effective television and radio news story. 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 of
sounding good; when a listener hears the story, it has to read well to “the ear.” Also, for a radio news story,
listeners cannot see a 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 the video, audio, and text-based formats. It’s important to consider how
audiences will be taking in the information you share.
As with any type of news writing, you should try to identify the 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.

TELEVISION AND RADIO NEWS WRITING STRUCTURE

Be brief. A good newspaper story ranges from hundreds to thousands of words. The same story on television or
radio may have to fit into 30 seconds—perhaps no more than 100 words. If it is an important story, it may be 90
seconds or two minutes. You have to condense a lot of information into the most important points for broadcast
writing.
Use correct grammar. A broadcast news script with grammatical errors will embarrass the person reading it
aloud if the person stumbles over mistakes.
Put the important information first. Writing a broadcast news story is like writing a news story for print in that
you have to include important information first. The only difference is that you have to condense the
information presented.
Write good leads. Begin the story with clear, precise information. Because broadcast stories have to fit into 30,
60, or 90 seconds, broadcast stories are sometimes little more than the equivalent of newspaper headlines and
the lead paragraph.
Stick to short sentences of 20 words or less. The announcer has to breathe. Long sentences make it difficult for
the person voicing the script to take a breath.
Write the way people talk. Sentence fragments—as long as they make sense—are acceptable.
Use contractions. Use don’t instead of doing not. But be careful of contractions ending in -ve (e.g., would’ve,
could’ve), because they sound like “would of” and “could of.”
Use simple subject-verb-object sentence structures.
Use the active voice and active verbs. It is better to say “He hit the ball” than “The ball was hit by him.”
Use present-tense verbs, except when past-tense verbs are necessary. The present tense expresses the sense of
immediacy. Use past tense when something happened long ago. For example, do not say, “There were forty
people taken to the hospital following a train derailment that occurred early this morning.” Instead, say, “Forty
people are in the hospital as a result of an early morning train accident.”
For radio news stories, write with visual imagery. Make your listeners “see” what you are saying. Help them
visualize the situation you are describing. Some radio news scripts even include suggestions for environmental
noise to help set the scene for the listener.

TELEVISION AND RADIO NEWS WRITING TECHNIQUES

Use a person’s complete name (first and last name) in the first reference, then the person’s last name
thereafter.
Use phonetic spellings for unfamiliar words and words that are difficult to pronounce.
Omit obscure names and places if they are not meaningful to the story.
Titles precede names; therefore, avoid appositives. Do not write, “Tom Smith, mayor of Smallville, said
today….” Instead, write, “Smallville mayor Tom Smith said today….” (Other examples: “City councilman
Richard Smith,” not “Richard Smith, city councilman.” “Annville High School student Beth Baker,” not “Beth
Baker, Annville High School student.”)
In age reference, precede the name with the age. (Example: “The victim, 21-year-old Rob Roy…”)
Avoid writing direct quotations into a news script, if at all possible. Instead, let people say things in their own
words during soundbites. A soundbite is the exact words spoken by someone in his or her own recorded voice.
If you must use a direct quote, set it off with such phrases as "In the words of..." or "As he put it...," or try to
paraphrase as much as possible. Avoid saying "quote" and "unquote” to lead into or end a direct quote.
The attribution should come before a quotation, not after it. In contrast to writing for print media, the
attribution of paraphrased quotations in broadcast stories should be at the beginning of the sentence, before the
paraphrase. The listener should know where the quotation is coming from before hearing the quote. Example:
“Bill Brown said he would run for re-election.”
Avoid most all abbreviations, even on the second reference, unless it is a well-known abbreviation. This is
different from the Associated Press Style rules for print stories. Write out days, months, states, and military
titles each time. About the only acceptable abbreviations are Mr., Mrs., and Dr. Punctuate, by using a hyphen in
between, commonly used abbreviations. For example, write “U-S,” instead of “The US” (United States), and
“U-N” for “UN” (United Nations).
Avoid symbols when you write. For example, the dollar sign ($) should never be used in broadcast writing.
Always spell out the word “dollar.” This is different from the Associated Press Style for “dollar” when used in a
print news story. This helps the story be more readable for the person delivering the information.
Use correct punctuation. Do not use semicolons. Use double dash marks for longer pauses than commas. Use
underlines for emphasis.
Use numbers correctly. Spell out numerals through 11. (This is different from Associated Press Style for print
stories, which spells out one through nine, and starts using numerals for 10 and above.) Use numerals for 12
through 999. Use hyphenated combinations for numerals and words above 999. (Examples: 33-thousand; 214
million.) Round off numbers unless the exact number is significant. (Example: Use “a little more than 34
million dollars,” not “34-million, 200-thousand, 22 dollars.”) Use st, nd, th, and rd after dates, addresses, and
numbers above “eleventh” to be read as ordinary numbers. (Examples: "Second Street," "May 14th,” “Eleventh
Avenue,” “12th Division”—this is different from AP Style for print.)

TELEVISION AND RADIO NEWS STORY FORMAT

Broadcast news stories are typed, double-spaced, and in uppercase/lowercase. Many years ago, television
news scripts were written in all uppercase, but that practice has changed in recent years.
Make the sentence at the bottom of a page a complete sentence. Do not split a sentence between pages.
Never split words or hyphenated phrases from one line to the next.
Do not use copyediting symbols. Cross out the entire word and write the corrected word above it. This is one
reason why broadcast news scripts are double-spaced: so you will have room to make corrections between the
lines.

NARRATING TELEVISION AND RADIO NEWS STORIES

Follow these recommendations when you narrate (also referred to as “voicing”) television and radio news
scripts:
Position the microphone properly. Position the microphone 6 to 10 inches from your mouth and at a 45-degree
angle to the direct line of speech. This will help prevent “blasting” with explosive letters such as “P” and “B.”
Always maintain the same distance from the microphone as you speak.
Remove noise-making distractions. Remove all paper clips, pens, and other items that you would be tempted to
play with as you read the story. Any rustling of paper clips or pen clicking can be picked up by the microphone.
Narrate the news story. After you hit the “record” button on the video camera or audio recorder, wait
approximately 10 seconds before speaking. This prevents you from accidentally losing some of the narration if
you hit “record” and start narrating the script immediately. It is a good idea to use a standard reference opening,
such as the day, place, and subject’s name. You may want to use a countdown: “Honeybee story, coming in
three, two, one,” and then start the story. This also helps your voice stabilize as you start. The standard
reference opening and countdown will be edited out of the final story.
Articulate words correctly. Speak clearly. Do not run your words together. Practice proper articulation, and the
distinct pronunciation of words. The following words are often improperly articulated: “prob-ly” for “prob-ab-
ly,” “git” for “get,” and “just” for “just.” Also, do not drop the final “g” in “-ing” words, such as cooking,
running, and hunting.
Think the thought. Think about what you are going to say. If something has a positive idea, put a smile in your
voice by putting a smile on your face. This helps to project the personality of the story.
Think the thought through to the end. Keep half an eye on the end of the sentence while you are reading the
first part. Know how the sentence will come out before you start. This will help you interpret the meaning of the
phrases of the entire idea.
Talk at a natural speed. But change the rate occasionally to avoid sounding monotonous. The speed at that you
talk is your speaking rate. Vary the pitch and volume of your voice to get variety, emphasis, and
attention. Pitch is the high and low sounds of your voice. You will sound more assertive if you lower your pitch
and inflect downward; however, avoid dropping your pitch when it sounds unnatural to do so.
Breathe properly. Control your breathing to take breaths between units of thought. Otherwise, you will sound
choppy. Sit up straight or stand while narrating. This helps your breathing.
Use your body. A relaxed body helps produce a relaxed-sounding voice. Do a few exercises before going on the
air. A little activity reduces tension.
Listen to the final product. Listen to how it sounds. Listen to what you said as if you were an audience
member.
Time the story. In the end, be sure you time the story. If the story is going on the air of a radio or television
station, the story’s timing is important, and, in many cases, needs to be exact. Practice writing and narrating
news stories to determine what your normal reading time is.
Practice your narration skills. Never give up practicing speech and delivery techniques. Read aloud something
at least twice a week for practice.
5 Tips for Writing Better Headlines on Your Radio Station

Good headlines are a crucial component of your overall digital strategy because this is how you use your
content to draw people from social media and search engines back to your website. Compelling headlines can
have a significant impact on your overall website traffic. With that in mind, here are five tips for writing better
website content headlines:
 
1. Don’t Be Too Vague…
Don’t assume that people will only see your headline in the context of your website. Headlines should make
sense because people may encounter them off your site without any other clues about their meaning. For
example, your headline may appear in a retweet, in which case the reader wouldn’t even know that this headline
was written by a radio station! Headlines should give people all of the information they need to decide if they
want to read an article.
Example: Instead of “Concerts,” try “Boston Concerts.” Instead of “Interview with Brad Paisley,” try “WKRP’s
Johnny Fever Interviews Brad Paisley.”
 
2. …But Leave Some Mystery
Have you ever watched a movie trailer and thought, “I don’t need to see that movie now; I already know
everything that happens!” A bad headline can have the same effect. If you put too much information in the
headline, people may feel like they don’t need to click through to your website to read the post. A great headline
strikes a balance between telling people what a post is about, and also intriguing people enough to make them
click.
Example: Instead of “Katy Perry and Taylor Swift Are Fighting Over Backup Dancers,” try, “Here’s the Real
Cause of the Rift Between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.”
 
3. Include Proper Nouns
Search engines like Google use headlines to determine what a post is about and whether it should be included in
their search results. By including the proper nouns that people are most likely to type into Google when
searching, you can increase your website’s traffic. If you get too cute with blog post titles, it could hurt your
website in its search engine rankings.
Example: Instead of “The Fab 5 Remaster a Classic Album,” try “The Beatles Release Remastered ‘Sgt.
Pepper’s Album.”
 
4. Include Your Radio Station’s Keywords
Keywords are the words or phrases that people type into a search engine when looking for content. Your radio
station should know the most important keywords for its website and include these in headlines as much as is
appropriate. Your keywords might include your city, your format, your disc jockey’s name, etc. Don’t miss
opportunities to include these.
Example: Instead of “5 Things to Do This Weekend,” try “5 Fun Things to Do in Detroit This Weekend.”
 
5. Match the Style of Your Co-Authors
If your radio station’s website has multiple authors contributing content, make sure that they all match
stylistically. I often come across radio station websites where it’s obvious that different staffers wrote different
headlines: some use title case while others use sentence case; some abbreviate while others do not; some
include emojis while others don’t. It’s helpful to create a style guide for your radio station’s website content that
covers headline writing to ensure that everything has a consistent look to it.
 Stringer (journalism)

In journalism, a Stringer is a freelance journalist, photographer, or videographer who contributes reports,

photos, or videos to a news organization on an ongoing basis but is paid individually for each piece of published
or broadcast work.
As freelancers, stringers do not receive a regular salary and the amount and type of work are typically at their
discretion. However, stringers often have an ongoing relationship with one or more news organizations, to
which they provide content on particular topics or locations when the opportunities arise.
The term is typically confined to news industry jargon. In print or broadcast terms, stringers are sometimes
referred to as correspondents or contributors; at other times, they may not receive any public recognition for the
work they have contributed.
A reporter or photographer can "string" for a news organization in several different capacities and with varying
degrees of regularity so that the relationship between the organization and the stringer is typically very loose.
When it is difficult for a staff reporter or photographer to reach a location quickly for breaking news stories,
larger news organizations often rely on local stringers to provide rapid scene descriptions, quotations, or
photos. In this capacity, stringers are used heavily by most television news organizations and some print
publications for video footage, photos, and interviews.

Flash Report
 The term “flash report” refers to the management report that is usually used by the mid to senior
management to quickly gain an understanding of some of the company’s most important metrics. In
other words, the flash report is the periodic snapshot of the key operational and financial data, and it is
usually presented as a one-page report that the management uses to assess the subject company’s
performance. For instance, a flash report may present the actual vis-à-vis the budgeted data for a
particular month and then compare it to the actual performance of the same period last year. Some of the
flash reports even have columns for capturing the variance in performance in the form of traffic lights
that help draw attention to outliers.
 a report on an important piece of news that is given in the middle of another television or radio
show —often used ironically when one is saying something that is not new or surprising.
 A newsflash is a glance at the latest news. Sometimes, during major events, you will get new
information in the space of just a few hours. A news flash gives the listeners the latest developments. It
points out and informs, but does not offer developed stories. 
 A news flash lasts between one and three minutes.
 How to Create Flash Report?
The entire process of creating a flash report is that it should be as simple and stupid as possible. It doesn’t mean
that the output will be stupid, but what it means is that the preparation of the flash report should not take much
time and effort. Some experts believe that if the preparation of a flash report takes any longer than half an hour,
then it will be very difficult to generate these reports frequently, which is the main idea behind flash reports. So,
now let us understand step-by-step how to create a flash report.
Firstly, decide the title of the flash report based on its main objective. It can be the name of the company
followed by the report objective. For instance, “ABC Inc. Weekly Review” indicates that the report is being
prepared to review ABC Inc.’s performance every week. Otherwise, the name of the concerned department or
site can also be used if it is being created at that level.
Next, decide the operational and financial metrics that should be captured in the report. The number of metrics
in the report should be very less, but they should be some of the most critical ones for the business.
Next, decide on the periodicity or frequency of the report. It can be either daily, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly.
The frequency should be decided based on the most critical metric in the report.
Next, determine the target for the reported metrics based on the annual budget. These target values will get
pulled through to the periodic flash report as the budgeted values.
Next, capture the actual and the budgeted performance side-by-side so that they can be compared easily. The
comparison can also be between the current period’s performance with that of the same period from the
previous year. One can create an additional column to capture the deviation. [Please note that a flash report
always obtains its base information from the same financial and accounting database that is used to produce the
periodic financial statements and budgets.]
Finally, the flash report is ready for presentation. Now, one can add various charts or other graphical
representations to make the report visually appealing.
 a newsflash is so short, that it necessarily skates over the news. Only the major stories belong in a
newsflash. You need to get straight to the point. This is not the place to go into great detail on a story or
to bring an analysis.
Facts first and foremost. The latest news on what’s going on. This has to be the newsflash’s lead.
News you get at 9.45 must be in the 10 o’clock newsflash.
This very same news item does not necessarily have to be in the midday bulletin, because it’s not capital
anymore.
After you’ve told the major news, in a newsflash you can also:
Announce the story that will be developed at great length during the midday or evening newscast (promoting
the newsroom’s work).
Give out practical info: the traffic, the weather, a summary of a decree… (proximity with the listeners).
Eventually broadcast a very short soundbite or a voicer, if the news demand it and the anchor feels it belongs
in the newsflash.
End with a story announcing a show, a concert, or humorous news (a kicker) (this way you end the newsflash
with a smile).
 News Teases: What Are They?

 Teases are what the TV news anchors say to convince viewers to watch the newscast or to continue
watching. They typically come in some sort of headline format before the newscast begins and at the end
of each block of news, just before the commercial break.
 It is used to stimulate curiosity so that the listeners will stay tuned in to hear what it’s all about.
 A news anchorperson describes or previews an upcoming news item in a news teaser. The major
function of news teasers is to appeal to viewer interest and entice them to stay tuned for an upcoming
story

Bumper (broadcasting)
 It is used between the news and commercial breaks.
 It tells the listeners that there is a break but that there will be some more news coming up.
 In broadcasting, a commercial bumper, ident bumper, or break-bumper (often shortened to bump) is a
brief announcement, usually two to fifteen seconds in length that can contain a voiceover, placed
between a pause in the program and its commercial break, and vice versa. The host, the program
announcer, or a continuity announcer states the title (if any) of the presentation, the name of the
program, and the broadcast or cable network, though not necessarily in that order. Children's television
networks are sometimes called external eyecatchers due to the resemblance of internal eyecatchers in
anime and there is usually no voice-over, but some bumpers do feature one. Bumper music, often a
recurring signature or theme music segment, is nearly always featured. Bumpers can vary from simple
text to short films.

Example: “we’ll be back with more news, after these reminders from our sponsors…

Radio Script

 it refers to the written materials, which indicate the verbal and non-verbal action that has to go into a
radio program. It tells us what to do and say and when and how.


IMPORTANCE OF RADIO SCRIPT

1. To ensure technical accuracy
2. To ensure the continuity of the program
3. To maximize airtime
 Types of Script

1. News script
2. Interview script
3. Spot/ Plugs
4. Drama Script
5. Magazine Program Script
6. The Documentary Script

Things To Remember in Radio Script Writing

 Double or triple space-typewrite all lines and paragraphs.
 Type copy in a big letter so the newscaster can easily read it.
 All spoken lines should be typed in big and small letters.
 All instructions and non-spoken lines should be typed in big or capital letters.
 Have a duplicate of each copy
 Make each sentence a paragraph
 Write a page number on each script
 End each page with a paragraph before using another paper.
 Make your script clean.
 Mark “x” for erroneous words.
 Make sure the script is short and simple.
 Do not use words that are hard to pronounce.
 Don’t text write.
 Each sentence should not exceed 12 words. Break down long sentences for easy readability.
 Attribute the source of your story either at the beginning or at the end of your news.

BASIC STEPS/ PROCESS IN RADIO SCRIPT WRITING

 Get a good briefing, know your listener
 Research about the topic
 Prepare a content outline
 Write the first draft
 Read it aloud. Time the materials
 Visualize the script
 Review the script
 Revise the style, correct timing, and accuracy