Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook is the go-to resource for writing broadcast news, offering a concise introduction to writing engaging stories for television, radio, podcasts, and online media.
Covering the nuances of reporting, grammar, style, and usage, readers will learn how to craft stories on government, crime, weather, education, health, sports and more. This eighth edition is updated to include:
- New sections on industry challenges and opportunities from artificial intelligence, deepfakes and streaming.
- Fully updated examples, exercises and glossary.
- An expanded focus on ethics with ethical issues discussed in virtually every chapter.
Drawing on over a quarter of a century of broadcast news and industry research experience, authors Papper and Kolodzy once again ensure this vital text contains all the information necessary for being a successful news writer today.
Whether you’re a journalism student or a working broadcast professional, Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook is a definitive reference for your bookshelf.
This book also features an accompanying Instructor Manual, found at www.routledge.com/9781032519845
Acknowledgments
1 News Now, News Next
What Is News?
Types of Stories
Finding Stories
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
2 Challenges in News Today
Financial Challenges
Ratings
Misinformation, Disinformation and Fake News
Artificial Intelligence
Journalists, Trust in the Media Under Attack
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
3 Challenges Bring Opportunities
Why Social Media?
Why Mobile?
Measuring Engagement and Driving Traffic
Streaming/OTT (Over the Top)
Artificial Intelligence … AI
Other Opportunities
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
4 Research, Collecting Information and Bites
The Assignment Desk
Online
On Social Media
Morning and Afternoon Meetings
Artificial Intelligence
What Makes a Good Bite
Conducting Successful Interviews
Beyond the Interview
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
5 Readability
Broadcast News Writing
Writing for the Ear vs. Writing for the Eye
Rules of Readability
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
6 Words
Keep It Simple
Keep It Conversational
Keep It Clear
Keep It Tight
Make It Powerful
Get It Right
Common Problems
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
7 Phrases and Phrasing
How to Say It
What to Say
What You Didn’t Mean to Say
Last Note
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
8 Sentences
Keep It Short
Make It Clean, Clear and Concise
Last Note
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
9 Leads and Endings
Types of Leads
Figuring Out the Lead
Types of Endings
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
10 Stories
Plan and Focus
Story Logic
Story Structure
Transitions
Before You’re Done
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
11 Working with Bites, Actualities and Natural Sound
The Feel of Natural Sound
Working with Bites, Actualities and Natural Sound
Packages
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
12 TV: Story Forms
Story Forms
Putting Packages Together
MMJ … VJ … One-Man Band
Live Reporting
Golden Rules
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
13 TV: Working with Pictures
The Power of the Visual Image
The TV Balancing Act
Picture Cautions
Drones
Strong Stories Have Central Characters and a Plot
Prove Your Story
The Element of Surprise
Connecting with Truths
Care About the Story
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
14 Producing News on TV
Overview
Audience
Newscast Structure
Building a Local Newscast
Teases and Promos
Promotion
Tease … Don’t Tell
Make Them Care
Don’t Ever Do This
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
15 Producing News on Social Media
Branding
Do Everything, Distribute the Most Engaging
Be Everywhere
Taking Better Pictures
20 Survival and Growth Tips
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
16 Producing News on Websites and Mobile
Streaming Video
Constructing Web News
Beyond Text, Pictures and Video
Multimedia
Constructing Mobile News
SEO, SMO and Keywords
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
17 Radio, Audio, Podcasts: Story Forms and Working with Sound
Radio Story Forms
Drawing Radio Pictures
Podcasts
Audio and Social Media
The Business of Radio
Summary
Ethics
Key Words and Phrases
Exercises
18 News, Weather and Sports
Why News, Weather and Sports?
Reporting Weather
Defining Weather Terms
Reporting Sports
Sports and Teams
19 Reporting: Seasonal Coverage and the Calendar
Seasonal Reporting
Solar and Lunar and the World’s Major Religions
Calendar Holidays
State Holidays
20 Reporting: The GA and Specialized Coverage
The General Assignment Reporter
Business, Economy and Taxes
Crime and Legal
Education
The Environment
Geography
Government
Heath and Medicine
21 Ethics, Legality and the RTDNA and SPJ Codes of Ethics
Ethics
Ethical Decision-Making Starts at the Top
Issues in Media Law
The Radio-Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics
Summary
Exercises
22 TV Script Form, Supers and Glossary
Abbreviations
Script Form
Glossary of Broadcast and Online Terms
Index
Biography
Bob Papper is Research Professor at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. A graduate of Columbia College and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, he has worked as a producer, writer and manager at TV stations in Minneapolis, San Francisco, Washington, DC and Columbus, OH and radio stations in New York, Maine and Indiana. He has won more than a hundred awards including the top honors in broadcast journalism (duPont-Columbia) and in broadcast journalism education (Ed Bliss Award).
Prof. Janet Kolodzy teaches multimedia and broadcast journalism at Emerson College in Boston. A Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism graduate, she has worked as a writer, copyeditor and producer at CNN and CNN International. She was the education reporter and an editor at the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Arkansas Democrat. She is the author of Practicing Convergence Journalism.
