Broadcast style

Broadcast style

Introduction

Without a doubt, electronic journalism can be easy for listeners or viewers to absorb. But it also can be more difficult to comprehend because viewers typically are doing other things during newscasts; electronic journalism information is often one time only; the viewer or listeners use ASTRO recording device or another recording device for review of news stories. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that reports in the electronic media write clearly and simply. The fact- filled lead including who, what, why, where, when and how can be a tongue twister and could cause the best newscaster to run out of breath. Besides, these leads normally contain too much information for the listener to digest.

 

Rules of style

Numbers

Of all the categories customarily covered in style sheets, numerals are perhaps of greatest importance to the beginning writer of broadcast news. Two premises should be established: first, some stories, such as those on the national budget, may have many large figures, and they are of such significance that they deserve intelligent coverage. (with such stories, reporters must decide which figures are of paramount importance, and they must weed out those that are not essential.) Second, a story that presents numerical information should be written in such a way that the announcer can read it easily and the listener can readily comprehend and remember it.

 

To facilitate the process, here are the given suggestions:

-         Whenever reasonable, simplify complicated numbers. It is often convenient and honest to use terms such as approximately, more than about and almost.

-         Vary wording to help both the announcer and the listener. To avoid repetition and to make trends or changes clearer, use phrases such as dropped sharply, tumbled 40 percent, more than doubled, cut in half and slightly more than 15 percent.

-         Spell out numbers under 12. Use numerals from 12 to 999. Keep in mind however, that such rules differ from newsroom to newsroom. Some news directors prefer that reporters spell out all numbers (twenty- five, two-thousand-two-hundred-fifty-three). That minimizes mistakes in copying numerals (such as a misplaced comma or extra numeral) and leaves no doubt about what the number is.

-         Use a hyphenated combination of numerals and words to express thousands; for example, 35-thousand farmers. For millions, billions and trillions, hyphens are not needed to separate the numerals and the words, but the writer should precede the word by its first letter to help guard against typographical errors. For example: 21 (m) million families.

-         Translate Many figures, especially large ones, into round numbers whenever feasible: rm 2,001,897.46, in most cases, should be written as “slightly more than two(m) million dollars.”

-         Spell out symbols for dollars and cents: 29-dollars and 60-cents.

-         Write fractions as words, and hyphenate them: two-thrids.

-         Write out and hyphenate decimals: 5.3 percent should be “ five-point- three percent.” Instead of 12.3percent, write “ twelve-point-three percent.”

-         Remember that, in most stories, ages are not essential. In deaths, accidents or special situations where the age is needed, do not use this common newspaper style, because it is not conversational:” Marvin smith,6 , was honored.” For broadcasting , write “ Six-year-old Marvin Smith was honored.”

-         For Certain types of numerical information, such as automobile licenses and telephone numbers, Use a hyphen to break the break the sequence into its component parts in the way they would ordinary be read aloud: “Illinois license number J-U-M-8-3-2.”

 

Time References

Because the element of immediacy is one of the strongest assets of the broadcast news media, every effort should be made to give up-to-the-minute reports and to write copy in a way that makes it sound fresh and timely. With this in mind, present tense should be used whenever accurate and appropriate. For example, if there is a long-running strike by tuckers, it is preferable to write in the present tense:” Striking truckers are still deciding when they will return to the highways.” Thor Wasbotten, general manager of television operations and senior lecturer at Penn State, who is a former news director, offers a word of caution: Using “ false present tense” is one if the fastest – growing  and most disturbing trends in electronic journalism, especially television. The reason for this trend is simple; writers confuse tense and voice. They are not interchangeable. A writer should not take an even that occurred in the past and repot it as if it is still happening. For example, do not write:” A car rolls off a bridge, and plunges into the river below.” Instead, flesh out of a story an element that is current:” Police are trying to answer why a car rolled off a bridge and plunged into a river.”

 

-         If the subject performs the action of the verb, we call the verb”active.”

-         If the subject receives the action of the verb, we call the verb”passive.”

-         A verb that is neither active nor passive is a linking verb, a form of the verb “ to be.”

 

Some suggestions

-         As much as possible, Avoid Emphasizing old time elements. Be wary of emphasizing such words as last night in lead sentences. Look for a new development and a fresh approach when possible.

-         Avoid undue repetition of “today.” In some instances, the day should be broken into its component parts: “late this morning,” “this afternoon” and so forth.

-         When appropriate, try to pinpoint times in terms that listeners can relate to. It would generally be more effective, for example, to report that one lane of the freeway will be closed “during rush hour” than to report the precise time, such as from 5p.m. until 6p.m.

-         In capitalizing on immediacy, be alert to occasional uses of interest- catching time references. These include “ at broadcast time this noon,” “ within the past half-hour” and so forth. There is, however, no defense for referring to a “ late bulletin” when the bulletin was transmitted an hour ago.

 

Names and titles

Most broadcasters agree that writers should ever start a lead sentence for radio or television with an unfamiliar name. Without a “warm up” for the ear, it is too easy for listener to miss the name entirely or to misunderstand it. The newspaper style “John Jones, a well-known Hill city banker, was named chairman” would become in broadcast style, “Hill city bank named a new chairman today.

 

Suggestion

-         Titles should precede names, preparing the listener or viewer for the name to come; for example, Massachusetts senator Edward Kennedy.

-         If an official is well-known within a given listening are (such as the governor of the state in which the station is located), omit the first name; for example, governor smith. Likewise, you can omit the first name of the president of the United States.

-         If the title is needed to put the story in perspective but it is so long that the newscaster would have difficulty running it together with the name, use two sentences; for example, “that’s according to jerry smith. Smith is vice president for academic affairs at the University of United States.

-         Shorten long titles, or break them up. Placing part of the title in from of the name and the other part after the name can be effective; for example, “ Senator John Jones, the chairman of the armed services Committee, Said that a meeting will be held soon.”

Punctuation

Correct punctuation for other forms of writing is also correct for broadcast news. Punctuation marks are highly valuable to the silent reader; and they are even more valuable to the person at the microphone who is striving for instantaneous interpretation, for inflections, for phrasing, for emphasis and for other qualities that will make the reading more intelligible and more interesting to the listeners.

Two somewhat unconventional punctuation practices are popular among broadcasters. First, many announcers feel that the dash is useful in setting off certain types of explanatory or identifying material. For example, “the new chairman of the budget committee- Senator sam smith- will make his recommendations to the entire legislature.” The second device is the use of dots as a guide for a long , dramatic pasuse. Often, such dots are used where a comma would naturally be placed. For instance, “ he gingerly touched the flywheel of the new machine, adjusted his safety mask and reached for the switch… and a deafening explosion rocked the laboratory.” Three dots are sufficient. Some writers will use a series if five or more dots. This, however, takes more time, is more difficult to read and serves no functional purpose.

Always remember to end a sentence with a period.

Naturally, style elements can vary slightly based on the preferences of the anchor who reads the copy on the air. As is the case at newspapers, the nuances of style often differ from newsroom to newsroom. Broadcast journalists who are well grounded in basic style, however, can readily make appropriate adjustment.