www.medialearning.in | Writing a TV News Script- some Golden
Rules
Writing a TV News Script- some Golden Rules
Media educator Mr. Nilambar Rath offers some golden principles
to the beginners on how to write a good television news script
1. Writing for the Visuals. This is the
first step towards audio-visual writing.
2. Write according to the TV story format (say, dry anchor,
anchor-visuals, anchor-bytes, anchor-graphics, package etc.).
Distribution of the details content in different parts of the story
(copy) and the approach towards writing would vary from format to
format.
3. Do not repeat the same information in different levels of the
package (say Anchor Intro-Voiceovers-Bytes). Distribute the content
across the story meaningfully. 4. Use anchor-tag (the linked anchor
copy that appears after a particular package) where needed. As a
strategy, some parts of the information/story could be taken out
from the main package and presented as anchor-tag. Sometimes, new
developments or additional information (which has arrived a while
ago and need to be added to the story) can be taken in the form of
anchor-tag.
5. Focus on the art of story-telling. Your competitors could
have got the same information and the same audio-visual content as
you have. So, you can demonstrate your uniqueness through a
different approach or perspective using the art of story-telling.
It is the most powerful tool in the art of engaging the viewers. 6.
Have a comprehensive approach while dealing with special and lead
stories. Have details, discuss the story from all key angles (360
degrees coverage), bring diversity through points of view of people
concerned etc.
www.medialearning.in | Writing a TV News Script- some Golden
Rules
7. Write in simple language and short sentences. Avoid complex
thinking. Talk straight. Simple thinking and straight presentation
communicates well with a majority of your viewers.
8. Do not write a story like an activist. Instead, deal with the
story as a professional journalist. Let the turns and twists in the
story come directly from the horses-mouth (say the
common man, victims, newsmakers or concerned authorities). The
story would be more interesting and acceptable by the audience when
it is told through the faces, which are direct part of the actions
and reactions. Viewers do not bother about your speeches. They want
the story simple and straight. 9. Add colour, flavor and an
appropriate style to the language in case of soft, human interest
and profile stories. Stories on cinema, sports and life style would
also demand such a special approach. 10. Read aloud and to
yourself, while writing the script and once again it is complete.
Listen to your own words. Be your first listener/audience. Rewrite,
rewrite and rewrite, where required. 11. Do not write too much.
Allow the visuals, sound bytes and natural sound (ambience) to
narrate the story.
12. Time your script before you forward it for voiceover. In
general, an one and half minutes (90 seconds) news package could
have 3 voiceovers and thus 2 sound bytes in between. In such a
case, the total duration of the voiceovers could be hardly 1 minute
(60 seconds). Thus, if you calculate 3 words per second (as a
standard rate followed in the broadcast medium), you will have
maximum 180 words in the whole copy (excluding the anchor
lead).
(Contributed by: Mr. Nilambar Rath. www.nilambarrath.com)
