Intro. to Media Writing Class Notes on Broadcasting

Class Notes on Broadcasting - Day 3
Broadcasting Notes - Attribution
Grammar and AP
Every class session we will go over a common problem in grammar and AP. The grammar examples are things not normally caught by a spell-checker. Write these down, you will be tested on them.

Grammar: first / firstly

first - proper form for listing things by number
Example:

firstly - jargon; avoid -ly endings
Example: use first, second, third and so forth.
AP: Broadcast Standards (see Ch. 11 too for titles and abbreviations)
The goal is to write so that an announcer reading the copy cold can do so easily and correctly. Here are some common AP standards

Broadcasting Notes - Attribution

See how professionals use sound in their stories: Broadcast Journalism News Links

Writing Tips:

Choose your words to inform, not dazzle your audience.: Say it simply.
Your story is only as good as your facts.: Your facts are only as good as your sources, so attribution is critical.
Attribute everything.: Your audience deserves the right to know who told you the things you're reporting. That makes you accurate and credible.
Report the facts - only what you know to be true.: Don't draw conclusions or guess. Cite your sources.
Don't attribute accepted facts.: If you have many confirmations of the information, it is common knowledge.

Attribution Style:

Be conversational.: Cite the source in a natural way.
Put the attribution at the front of the sentence.: Police say... The mayor says... But don't get lazy and use this all the time!
Work the attribution into your sentence.: The flood relief efforts continue, and the Red Cross says almost 70-thousand hours have been volunteered by the community to feed hungry workers.
Shorten titles or work them into the script.

Quotes:

In broadcast copy, the best quote is the one on tape.: It's generally easier and clearer to play a sound bite of a news-maker talking than it is for the anchor to read the quote in the copy.
When there's no tape available, paraphrase or summarize what was said.: It's difficult to recount the newsmaker's exact words. "And I quote..."

Using Sound: Here are some tips from the AP Broadcast News Handbook's chapter on "Telling the Story: Style"

Broadcast journalism has the ability to take the audience to the scene of the event. Let them see or hear what happened. Sounds and pictures make things more concrete for the audience, assisting in comprehension.

Let the actuality (the newsmaker's words) convey the mood of the story. Let the actuality tell the main part of the story. Sources should express opinions that the anchor never can.

Sound bites shouldn't run so long that it loses its focus or starts to feel long-winded, and shouldn't be so short that the audience doesn't have a chance to mentally establish who's talking and what he or she is talking about.
This roughly translates to actualities of at least 10 seconds and no more than 30 seconds.

Write into your sound. Prepare the listener for what they're about to see or hear. Television stations can use supers (Character Generated or CG titles superimposed on the bottom of the screen) and not mention the newsmaker's name in the lead-in sentence. Radio stations must mention who's talking before the sound bite runs. Just like newspaper transitions, you lead-in should give the audience a context to understand the sound bite.

Assignments:

5 p.m. today - Actuality and Sound bite exercise as assigned in class.

Professor Name: Candace Decker
Last Updated: 4/3/00
Published by North Dakota State University