During my first of year at the University of South Dakota's Media & Journalism Department, I was focused on writing for our weekly student-run newspaper, The Volante. While I enjoyed my time here, I ultimately made the switch to broadcast journalism, (for many reasons, but that's a different blog post entirely). In typical freshman fashion, I thought that the writing skills I had acquired at The Volante would seamlessly transfer over to writing for our campus' weekly TV newscast.
I was wrong.
Writing for print and writing for broadcast are two completely different animals. I can't even tell you how long it took me to switch from print to broadcast style. Thankfully, I've had some excellent teachers and mentors along the way, and I can confidently say that writing in broadcast style is pretty much second nature to me now.
But, as I've said, it wasn't always this way. I had to endure a lot of friendly reminders, marked-up scripts, and an infinite amount of time sitting at my editor's desk to learn what I have, (and I'm not even close to knowing everything there is to know about broadcast writing). However, I do know a lot of simple steps that will save you the heartache of listening to your editor correct the same thing over and over again in your scripts.
1. "Says," NEVER "Said"
In TV journalism, it's all about staying current and up-to-date with the latest information. The key is to make everything sound timely and useful for the viewer right now. That's why we use "says," and NEVER "said." The verb "said" implies a past-tense, and we want the viewers to be present. That's why we always use "says" when attributing information to a source.
Example: "President Abbott says the university is trying its hardest to rectify the situation."
2. Keep Your Writing Simple
There's nothing more distracting than listening to a news anchor stumble over the nightly news. Although a lot of this often has to do with the level of talent possessed by the anchor, the other side of the story is how the script was written. Although the goal is always to sound educated on-air, the most important thing is to make sure the readers understand what you're saying. Although your freshman year English class may have pushed you to whip out the Thesaurus and search for the "smartest-sounding" word every three sentences, that's not what broadcast writing is about. If the average viewer, (lower your academic standards quite a bit for this one), isn't going to recognize the word, then don't use it.
This simple rule is especially applicable when writing about somewhat confusing topics, such as a scientific break-through, and extensive surgical research. Avoid the big, confusing words, but if you have to use them, be sure to break it down and explain it for the viewer.
I.e. "(insert big medical term here) means the difference between blah blah blah blah."
3. Keep Your Writing Conversational
You want your writing to sound like you're talking to your mother or grandmother. While it sounds proper and educated, you still want it to be easy to listen to. You're not writing a creative novel here. You're writing news. Write as if you're having a conversation with someone.
I.e. "The students traversed through the Muenster University Center while conversing with fellow scholars about the studies of molecular biology."
No. Absolutely not. Throw that sentence away. Forever.
(Notice how I made the font color a disgusting yellow color? That's to persuade you into never writing like that. Because it looks, and sounds like garbage).
Here it is again, in broadcast style.
"A group of students walks through the MUC while discussing the study of molecules."
4. Active Voice, Never Passive Voice
This is a big one. I'll admit that distinguishing between active and passive voice is harder than changing "said" to "says." But the more you seek out active voice in your broadcast writing, the easier it becomes to use, and the easier it becomes to spot those pesky passive sentences. (For educational purposes, I'm highlighting everything about active voice blue. Pay attention to the blue - always follow the blue).
The main difference between active and passive voice is how the subject is represented. In passive voice, the subject is receiving the verb, and in active voice, the subject is performing the verb. The picture below perfectly sums up the difference between the two.
Here's another example:
PASSIVE: "George was arrested by police for possession of marijuana."
ACTIVE: "Police arrested George for possession of marijuana."
5. Write To Your Video
I'll discuss this more when I get to my Blog about video shooting, (stay tuned!), but it's an important concept to master early on. It's easy to write a random paragraph of words that doesn't match up with what the viewer is seeing on their screen. Good broadcast journalists write copy that compliments the video. For example, let's say you're writing a story about Carla, and her battle with cancer. If your copy is detailing how many months she spent in the hospital, the best visual to pair with this would be either video of her in the hospital, or a picture of her in the hospital.
A quick anecdote for you to illustrate how important this tip is:
This summer, I was covering a charity event for the Make-A-Wish Foundation that involved a car show. I talked to several families whose children had been granted wishes, and it was a really touching story. I was very happy with how the script turned out, but when I sat down to edit the footage to my script, I found that all I had was shots of cars. Of course, this didn't match up with what I was talking about, and the whole story was just off. Did I get fired? No. Did I learn a valuable lesson? Yes.
Don't show cars when you're focusing on cancer.
6. Don't Waste The Viewer's Time
I've seen this a lot in scripts, where writers take up two to three sentences simply saying that people filed into an auditorium to hear a speaker talk about topic X, Y, and Z. They continue to outline who introduced the speaker, and explain that there was a question/answer portion of the program before everyone stood and clapped, and the program was over after that.
After reading that paragraph, what did you learn? Not much.
When writing for broadcast (or any form of journalism, really), you have to make sure the reader leaves your story with valuable information.
Instead of talking about how students "listened intently to the speaker," get rid of that sentence, and tell me something interesting that the speaker said. Write your copy around an inspiring, or funny anecdote he or she shared.
7. ALWAYS Read Your Copy Out-Loud Before Taking It To An Editor
I firmly believe that the above image is one of a reporter's worst nightmares, (right next to missing a deadline). If you'd like to avoid a scenario where you're silently weeping in the bathroom over your blood-red edited script, follow this rule.
It's easy to think that everything you write is going to sound beautiful and fluent once you're voicing it in the audio booth, but that is a major misconception. To avoid run-on sentences, repeated words, and a whole mess of other writing faux pas, please read your script out loud before you have an editor approve it. No one in the newsroom will judge you, I promise.
8. Contractions. Contractions. Contractions.
This one is very self-explanatory, but very important. When you can, always use contractions. It makes your writing sound more conversational.
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