Writing for Radio and TV

Writing for Radio and TelevisionSCRIPTWRITING – SEYMOUR B. SANCHEZ

Writing for Radio

If journalists are advised to write the way they speak, they would be advised to write the way they would want to hear if they are writing for radio.

Writing for radio is primarily writing for the ears and not for the eyes as in the case of the newspaper.

In a radio broadcast, the ear can only take a word after word in a sentence. The listener cannot go back to recheck the facts.

The listener also has to wait until the end of the sentence to find out its real meaning.

Broadcast News

Written simply and directly in everyday language and conversational style

Use short words in short sentences and use the present tense whenever possible

When attribution is necessary, the writer places it first in the sentence so that the listener or viewer knows at once the source of information

The report is brief, to the point, and clear

Goals of Broadcast Writing

Clarity

Accuracy

Fairness and balance

Honesty of expression

Clarity

Language – Broadcast news writers use everyday words, the language of conversation

Ideas – Broadcast writers simplify the complex by reducing the event to a central theme or idea and by avoiding secondary matter

Style – Broadcast writers think in short sentences, even in phrases.

Accuracy

Unless news stories are accurate, they are misleading and, therefore, worthless.

Words and names must be spelled correctly.

Addresses must be verified.

Words must be used as the dictionary defines them.

Sources must be quoted without distortion.

Figures and computations must be double checked.

Fairness and Balance

Fairness means that all those involved in the news are treated without favoritism. It requires that a reporter tie charge and reply together whenever possible.

Balance means that all sides in a controversy are given their say. In a political campaign, for example, all candidates are given enough space and time to present their major points.

Writing for Listeners

Think listener, not reader.

Your listeners get only one crack at what you write.

Your listeners can’t read your script or replay it, or reflect on it.

In broadcast writing one of the most important decisions you have to make is not what you can put into your story but what you have to leave out.

Making It Conversational

1. Abbreviations

In general, it is easier to read a word that has been written in full rather than its truncated abbreviation

e.g., Lieutenant, rather than Lt.; sergeant first class, rather than S-F-C

2. Acronyms and Initials

Use familiar acronyms

e.g., N-B-I, C-I-D-G, N-C-Double-A, AIDS, NASA, MAD


3. Addresses

Spell out all names in addresses: avenue, street, highway, place, boulevard, road, and route, north, south, east, west

However, broadcast news stories rarely include them, unless they are integral to the story

4. Ages

Broadcast reports rarely include ages of the people in the story, unless age is germane to the story

e.g., obituary profile, unusual angles regarding age


5. Attribution

most basic tool of journalism, be it print or broadcast

Reporters gather information and the information they gather is credited to the source, the person from whom the reporter got the information

In broadcast news, the source always comes at the beginning of the sentence

6. Dates

Numerals are used for years, whether they begin a sentence or not

Spell out dates from the first to the tenth


7. Fractions and Decimals

Spell out fractions and join them with hyphens

Spell out decimals one through ten and use hyphens to join them

e.g. one-fourth, two-thirds, three-eighths, eight-point-two, 15-point-seven

8. Names

First and last names only are the general use when writing names for broadcast news

Omit middle names and initials unless a person is well known by his or her middle initial or middle name

Do not use courtesy titles


9. Numbers

Too many numbers confuse people

Too many numbers in a sentence can start to run together

Use hyphens to connect numerals and spelled-out numbers

e.g., six-million-800-thousand, two-thousand-999

Spell out numbers when they begin a sentence

10. Ordinals

Spell out ordinals from the first to the tenth

After that, use the ordinal suffix: 12th, 32nd, 43rd


11. Time

Separate a-m and p-m with hyphens

Use a colon to separate hours from minutes

e.g., 9:30, 10 a-m, 10 this morning

12. Symbols

not used in broadcast copy

Instead of writing the symbol, write out the word

Symbols require a quick mental interpretation that can cause the reader to stumble

13. Titles

Try to shorten titles

Do not use a comma between the title and the name

Writing for Rhythm and Pace

1. Active voice

Broadcast journalists strive to write in the active voice using active verbs rather than in the passive voice using passive verbs

This facilitates writing short, declarative sentences that approximate conversation

2. Contractions

when you want to make a point, dropping the contraction can give your words more impact

Writing for Rhythm and Pace

3. Quotations

The listener will mistake the quoted words for those of the newsperson

However, there are those rare times when a quote might be the best option

e.g., "empty-headed bozo"

4. Tense

Broadcast journalists write in the present tense whenever possible

5. Succinctness

Short, concise declarative sentences written by broadcast news writers contain no more than one complete thought

Need for Good Writing

Good writing is the basis of what broadcasting is about.

Good writing is not insulting your audience.

Good writing is not talking down to your audience.

Good writing is not being arrogant.

It is the most important thing there is because it will give you a seamless newscast.

Print vs. Broadcast Style

PRINT STYLE

Seven people died and 35 were injured in a bus crash along Sumulong Highway in Antipolo today, the Rizal police said.

BROADCAST STYLE

The Rizal police says seven people were killed and 35 were hurt when a transit bus crashed along Sumulong Highway in Antipolo City.

More on Broadcast Writing

Broadcast news writers also avoid leads that begin with quotations – the listener cannot see or hear quotation marks and may think the words are those of the broadcaster.

The function of the broadcast lead is to capture the listener’s interest by providing the essence of the story’s status at that hour.

Don’t summarize the day’s major development in a long, complex sentence.

Immediacy

Broadcast writers frequently use the present tense in their leads.

The reason for using the present tense is simple – broadcast news is supposed to give the listener or viewer a sense of immediacy, of events being covered as they happen.

Mayor Jun Santos says he will not seek re-election. The mayor made his intention clear at noon today in a news conference. He said he wants to go back to running the family business.

Unnecessary Introductory Phrase

WEAK – Stressing the increased number of cars on campus, the Student Council has asked for more parking spaces near dormitories.

IMPROVED – The Student Council wants more parking spaces near dormitories.

Attribution Placed Incorrectly

WEAK – There are two cars for every parking space, says Student Council President Danica Reyes.

IMPROVED – Student Council President Danica Reyes says there are two cars for every parking space.

Action Verb Lacking

WEAK – The Council was unanimous in its vote for the proposal.

IMPROVED – The Council voted unanimously for the proposal.

Unnecessary Adjective

WEAK – Dean Albert Cruz reacted with strong criticism to the vote.

IMPROVED – Dean Albert Cruz criticized the vote. (Or: Dean Albert Cruz condemned the vote.)

Rewriting the Wires

NEWS WIRE

DALLAS [AP] – Grade school children who watch two hours of television a day are at increased risk of having high cholesterol levels, and the risk climbs the more they watch, researchers said Tuesday.

Children watching television four hours a day are four times as likely to have high cholesterol levels as are children who watch less than two hours, the researchers reported.

Previous research showed that children who watched too much television exercised less, were overweight and had bad diets.

Rewriting the Wires

“We made the next step – to look at TV and cholesterol,” said Thomas K. Hei, who reported the findings at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association.

“The message is if you can’t get your children to stop watching TV, maybe get them to exercise more and keep them from unhealthy food,” said Hei, a student at the University of California, Irvine.

The study of 1,077 suburban southern California children demonstrated that television habits are the best clue to identifying children with high cholesterol, said Dr. Kurt V. Gold of the University of California, Irvine, who directed the study.

Broadcast Account

A new study says grade-school children who watch T-V two hours a day are at increased risk of higher cholesterol. And the more they watch, the study says, the more the risk goes up. The average American child reportedly watches T-V more than three hours a day. The study was done by researchers at the University of California –Irvine, and it covered a thousand suburban children.

Preparing Broadcast Copy

Radio and television copy are prepared in different formats – radio copy runs the full width of the page, TV audio copy begins on the right half of the page


Prepare your copy in caps and lowercase, the same as newspaper copy. Many people think they should write in all caps. But there is nothing harder to read than all-cap writing.

Be concise. Write short, simple sentences.

Listen to radio and TV newscasters. Notice how they construct their stories. Listen to the pivot words (the same as transitions). Note their “headlines” (often used as a summary).


Remember, words are time. In radio or television the clock is your enemy because it tells you when you must quit. Use adverbs, adjectives, and descriptive phrases sparingly. There is not much time to go into detail.

Spell out numbers to make them easier to read.

Use present tense if at all possible. Broadcast news is immediate; you are there as the news happens.


Use phonetic spellings of confusing words or names. Place the emphasis for ease in reading and hearing. Verify identifications.

Place the speaker’s name at the beginning in all cases, not at the end. It is much harder for a listener to tie a quote with a source, than it is for a reader.

Double-space news copy and keep it clean of errors and too many pencil corrections.

Using Broadcast Terms

ACTUALITY – recorded comments from a news source. Same as a sound bite, but this is the term used in radio.

ANCHOR – reads the news.

BRIEFS – short news stories, from 15 to 20 seconds long for TV, even shorter for radio.

BUMP – “Stay-tuned” teaser before a commercial, to entice viewers to continue watching the broadcast for stories that will follow after the break.


CHARACTER GENERATOR – computer-type machine that produces the letters, numbers or words superimposed on the screen to label a visual image, such as a person or place.

IN – indicates the first few words of the source’s quote to start a sound bite.

OUT – indicates the last few words of the source’s quote, ending the sound bite.

NEWS DIRECTOR – oversees all news operations at the station.


PACKAGE – reporter’s story that includes narration, visual images, and interviews with sources.

PRODUCER – writes the copy that anchors read for the newscast.

READER – story the anchor reads without visuals or sound bites.

VOICER – radio news story narrated by a reporter live or on tape; same as a reader only the reporter, not the anchor, reads it.


SOT (sound on tape) – similar to a sound bite; indicated in copy along with the amount of time the taped comments will take.

SOUND BITE – video segment showing the source speaking.

SUPER – letters, numbers or words produced by the character generator and superimposed over visual images; often used to identify the person appearing on the tape.


TEASER – introduction to a story on the next newscast, to tease viewers to tune in.

TELEPROMPTER – video terminal that displays the script for the anchor to read.

VO (voice over) – anchor’s voice over video images. Words and images should coincide.

VOB (voice over bite) – anchor’s voice over video images with a sound bite from a source.

The Radio Script Format

ACR: “A-C-R” STANDS FOR ANCHOR, AND THIS IS WHERE YOU PUT YOUR ACTOR IN ACTION. THE ANCHOR LEAD IS ALL CAPS, SINGLE SPACED, AND TWO SENTENCES ONLY.

V: “V” STANDS FOR VOICER. THIS IS WHERE YOU BEGIN WRITING THE PART YOU WILL RECORD. IT IS DOUBLE SPACED, AND IT IS GENERALLY THREE TO FOUR SENTENCES

The Radio Script Format

ACTUALITY: Real person’s name, title – this is where you type the excerpted part of your “real person’s” recorded interview that you have chosen for your actuality. It is upper- and lowercase and single-spaced.

V – TRANSITION TO YOUR OFFICIAL

ACTUALITY: Official’s name, title

V – CLOSING PART OF THE REPORTER NARRATION

Television Narrative:

STORY STRUCTURE

Television Narrative

Story structure development for film is similar for television

TV writing is more tightly structured

TV writing involves:

viewer expectations of established genres

presence of commercial breaks

time constraints (half-hour, one-hour)

hooking the audience quickly

familiar characters and typical situations

Television Writing

Surprise the audience with unexpected developments

- even if your stories are clear enough for them to understand what’s going on and know who to root for

A series must maintain a certain consistency from week-to-week to meet viewer expectations

This familiarity is comfortable for the audience but may become predictable

Television Writing

So look for:

- TWISTS

- CLIFF-HANGERS

- UNEXPECTED PLOT TURNS

to make stories fresh and involving

The most significant attractions in a series are its characters

Their appeal most contributes to the series’ success.

1-Hour Episodic Series or Sequential Plot Series

Structured around FOUR TELEVISION ACTS, each about 12 minutes long

Typically, each of the first three acts ends with a physical or emotional jeopardy beat (cliff-hanger)

Each act contains a beginning, middle, and end, rising from a problem to an act climax

1-Hour Episodic Series or Sequential Plot Series

Beginning sets up the problem

Middle attempts to solve the problem, but unexpected developments cause the situation to deteriorate

End sees the problem(s) become even worse despite the extreme measures taken to try to solve things. The thrilling climax arrives, and the problem is solved

Half-hour Daily Serials (SOAPS)

Soap opera is a specialized writing area. Stories develop slowly, day by day

They lack the tight build to the climax

A typical soap may have five stories going and have major plot points

It is a very specialized field that requires skill in writing dialogue and creating relationships between characters

Techniques and Guidelines:

TELEVISION NARRATIVE

Techniques & Guidelines

1. Write television act endings – endings of the TV acts that precede the commercials

Writing to your television act endings means a dynamic close just before the commercial break

It could be a strong JEOPARDY BEAT – a suspenseful cliff-hanger that makes us want to see how a character will get out of a jeopardy, threat, problem, a new and challenging information, or some other surprise


2. Try to have the act break escalate tension and suspense either physically or emotionally (or both)

Use TWISTS, CLIFF-HANGERS, and UNEXPECTED PLOT TURNS


3. Keep central characters PROACTIVE. Let their actions move the story forward

4. Bear in mind budget considerations. Don’t be extravagant (special effects, international locations, animals, excessive destruction of sets or pros, etc)

Education

Writing for Radio and TV