Broadcast News Writing, Reporting, and Producing

by White; White

• ISBN13: 9780240804330
• ISBN10: 0240804333
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-10-25
• Publisher: Elsevier Science

Summary

Broadcast News Writing, Reporting and Producing examines the skills, techniques, and challenges of writing and reporting for broadcast. Along with complete coverage of the fundamentals, the text presents up-to-date examples and issues through actual scripts and interviews with the people who bring us the news. Ten out of twenty five chapters focus on reporting topics, ranging from basic skills to specialty reporting to ethics. This new edition features such timely topics as the Jonesboro and Littleton shootings, the Clinton sex scandal, the CNN Tailwind story, the Elian Gonzales story, and other contemporary examples. Broadcast News Writing Reporting and Producing emphasizes real-life situations; the problems that reporters, writers, assignment editors, and producers face every day are discussed in detail, as well as such topics as ethics, investigative reporting, the job market, legal issues, and interviewing techniques. Each chapter contains exercises for writing, review, and discussion so that students can learn and apply what they've read. This edition also includes new insights in civic journalism and computer-assisted reporting, and the impact of the Internet on news gathering.Broadcast The text also contains writing samples from famous broadcast journalists like the late Edward R. Murrow, Charles Kuralt, Eric Sevareid, Paul Harvey, Charles Osgood, Susan Stamberg and Richard Threlkeld and others, all of whom not only offer examples of quality news writing, but also discuss how they write and report. Features many examples of major recent news stories New chapter with on computer-assisted reporting and the impact of the Internet on news gathering Expanded chapters on producing and ethics in reporting

Author Biography

Ted White is the chair of the Mass Communications Department at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xvii
Preface	p. xix
Acknowledgments	p. xxvii
Introduction	p. xxix
A Changing Industry	p. xxx
Is Journalism for You?	p. xxxi
What Role to Play?	p. xxxi
Your College Education	p. xxxii
Internships	p. xxxiii
Your First Job	p. xxxiii
Responsibility and Accuracy	p. xxxiii
Broadcast News Writing Mechanics	p. 1
Some Basics	p. 1
Correcting Copy	p. 1
Slugs	p. 2
The Split Page	p. 3
Avoiding Abbreviations	p. 3
Avoiding Split Words and Sentences	p. 3
Punctuation	p. 4
Names and Titles	p. 4
Middle Names and Initials	p. 6
Foreign Names	p. 6
Ages	p. 7
Marital Status	p. 7
Race	p. 7
Numbers	p. 8
Timing Stories	p. 9
Review Questions	p. 9
Exercises	p. 10
Broadcast News Writing Style	p. 11
Rewriting Wire Copy	p. 11
Conversational Style	p. 12
Contractions	p. 12
Reading Your Copy Aloud	p. 13
Avoiding Information Overload	p. 13
Avoiding Relative Clauses	p. 15
Eliminating Long Words	p. 16
Conjunctions	p. 17
Prepositions	p. 17
Pronouns	p. 17
Modifying Phrases	p. 18
Avoiding Cliches	p. 18
Writing What You Mean	p. 20
Good Grammar and Some Exceptions	p. 20
Summary	p. 21
Review Questions	p. 21
Exercises	p. 22
More Style Rules	p. 23
Verbs	p. 23
Present Tense	p. 23
Present Perfect Tense	p. 24
Mixing Tenses	p. 24
Active Verbs	p. 24
Says Is a Good Verb	p. 25
Strong Verbs	p. 25
Limiting Use of Adverbs and Adjectives	p. 25
Attribution	p. 26
Using Quotes	p. 26
Expressing Time	p. 27
Looking Ahead	p. 28
Transitions	p. 29
People, Not Persons	p. 30
Summary	p. 30
Review Questions	p. 30
Exercises	p. 31
Writing Broadcast Copy	p. 32
Leads	p. 32
The "Five W's and H Rule"	p. 32
Hard and Soft Leads	p. 33
The "Right" Emotion	p. 34
The Quote Lead	p. 35
The Shotgun Lead	p. 36
The Suspense Lead	p. 36
The Delayed Lead	p. 38
Negative Leads	p. 39
Updating and Reworking the Lead	p. 39
Constructing the Rest of the Story	p. 40
Summary	p. 41
Review Questions	p. 41
Exercises	p. 41
Color: The Key to Good Writing	p. 43
Color Should Be Natural	p. 43
Emulate the Best	p. 45
Kuralt on the Road	p. 46
"A Postcard from Nebraska"	p. 49
Crisp and Clear	p. 52
Use Your Senses	p. 53
Color Comes in Many Shades	p. 60
Colorful Obituaries	p. 61
Frederick, Ellerbee, and Aaron	p. 64
Murrow and His "Boys"	p. 70
"This Is London"	p. 71
"Permit Me to Tell You"	p. 74
"The Fault, Dear Brutus"	p. 76
Eric Sevareid: Writing with Class	p. 77
Good Things from Local Stations	p. 78
Summary	p. 86
Review Questions	p. 87
Exercises	p. 87
Radio News	p. 88
You Need A Scorecard	p. 89
All News Radio Stations	p. 93
Good News Teams Are Also Found in Small Places	p. 94
Your Audience	p. 96
Organizing Material	p. 96
Writing from the Back	p. 97
The Lead Story	p. 98
The Rest of the Newscast	p. 99
Localizing the News	p. 99
Story Length	p. 100
Actualities	p. 100
Wraparounds	p. 100
Lead-Ins	p. 101
Teases	p. 102
Headlines	p. 102
Pad Copy	p. 103
Back Timing	p. 103
Summary	p. 103
Review Questions	p. 104
Exercises	p. 104
Writing for the Television Newscast	p. 106
Combining Words and Pictures	p. 106
Sound Bites	p. 106
The Television Newswriter	p. 107
Read Stories	p. 107
Voice-overs	p. 107
The Split Page	p. 109
Video Instructions	p. 109
Sound on Tape	p. 111
Lead-Ins	p. 112
Headlines and Teases	p. 113
A Team Effort	p. 114
Summary	p. 115
Review Questions	p. 115
Exercises	p. 115
Delivering the News	p. 117
Credibility	p. 117
One-Way Communication	p. 118
Getting Help with Your Delivery	p. 119
Dialects	p. 119
Listening to Yourself	p. 120
Getting Pronunciation Help	p. 121
Pacing	p. 124
Marking Copy	p. 126
Characteristics of Successful Anchors	p. 128
Ratings Wars	p. 128
Cosmetics	p. 129
Summary	p. 132
Review Questions	p. 132
Exercises	p. 133
Finding the News	p. 134
The Wires	p. 134
Television Satellite Feeds	p. 135
The Internet	p. 136
Newspapers	p. 136
Monitoring Radios	p. 137
Making Phone Calls	p. 138
Stringers	p. 138
Tipsters	p. 138
Employee Input	p. 139
Sounding the Alarm	p. 140
Developing Story Ideas	p. 142
Interaction	p. 142
Insights	p. 143
Assignment Boards	p. 144
Summary	p. 144
Review Questions	p. 145
Exercises	p. 145
Broadcast News Reporting	p. 146
Basic Skills	p. 146
Accuracy	p. 147
Election 2000: It's Better to Be Right than First	p. 147
New Problems in 2004	p. 149
The O. J. Simpson Trial	p. 150
News Judgment	p. 152
Curiosity	p. 154
Concern and Caring	p. 154
Persistence	p. 155
Aggressiveness	p. 155
Fairness	p. 155
Diversity	p. 156
Covering Stories about Gays and Lesbians	p. 158
Staying Well Informed	p. 161
Research	p. 161
Manners and Sensitivity	p. 162
Working with Colleagues	p. 164
Summary	p. 164
Review Questions	p. 164
Exercises	p. 165
Reporting Assignments	p. 166
Fires	p. 166
Accidents	p. 169
Crime	p. 170
Rape	p. 171
Be a Watchdog	p. 172
The Courts	p. 173
Criminal Courts	p. 173
Reporter Access	p. 174
Civil Courts	p. 174
Demonstrations	p. 175
Riots	p. 175
Disasters	p. 176
The Terrorist Attacks of 9-11	p. 177
Oklahoma City Bombing	p. 188
The 2004 Tsunami	p. 190
Tragedies	p. 192
Violence	p. 192
Schoolyard Shootings	p. 193
The Waco, Texas, Conflict	p. 201
War Reporting: The Rules Have Changed	p. 204
Embedded Journalists	p. 205
The Private Lynch Fiasco	p. 207
Are Reporters Acting too Much Like Soldiers?	p. 209
Journalist Deaths in Iraq	p. 210
The Tip of the Spear	p. 213
Beats	p. 220
Advancing the Story	p. 222
Avoiding the Pack	p. 222
Keeping in Touch	p. 223
Establishing Rapport with the Cameraperson	p. 223
One-Person Band	p. 224
Convergence	p. 225
Quality Suffers	p. 227
Summary	p. 228
Review Questions	p. 228
Exercises	p. 228
Covering Planned Events	p. 229
News Conferences	p. 229
Hard Questions	p. 232
Local Government	p. 233
Political Campaigns	p. 236
Putting Comments into Perspective	p. 239
Feature Stories	p. 240
Summary	p. 244
Review Questions	p. 245
Exercises	p. 245
Reporting Live	p. 246
Organizing Thoughts	p. 246
Ad-Libbing	p. 250
The Challenges of Electronic News Gathering	p. 251
Keeping Cool	p. 254
Memorizing and Delivering Live Reports	p. 254
Changing Lens Shots	p. 255
Summary	p. 255
Review Questions	p. 256
Exercises	p. 256
Putting the Television Story Together	p. 257
The Package	p. 257
At the Scene	p. 257
Taking Notes	p. 258
Opening the Story	p. 258
Good Pictures	p. 258
Good Writing	p. 259
Organizing the Story	p. 264
Selecting Sound	p. 265
Working with the Video Editor	p. 266
The Voiceover	p. 266
The Voiceover-Sound on Tape	p. 267
Reporter Involvement	p. 268
Summary	p. 269
Review Questions	p. 269
Exercises	p. 270
The Interview	p. 271
Preparing for the Interview	p. 271
Phrasing Questions Carefully	p. 273
Avoiding Leading Questions	p. 273
Listening Carefully	p. 273
Warming Up the Head	p. 274
The Tough Questions	p. 274
The Surprise Questions	p. 275
Questions to Ask Before the Interview	p. 276
Keeping Control of the Interview	p. 276
Asking Enough Questions	p. 277
"Did I Forget Something?"	p. 278
Off the Record	p. 278
Curbing Nods and Smiles	p. 279
The Phone Interview	p. 279
Checking Facts	p. 280
Some Other Tips	p. 280
Check out Charlie	p. 280
Summary	p. 282
Review Questions	p. 282
Exercises	p. 283
Collecting Information from Documents	p. 284
Public Records and the "Sunshine Laws"	p. 284
Filing an FOIA Request	p. 285
Supporting Video	p. 302
A Neglected Tool	p. 304
The Privacy Act	p. 305
Government Reports	p. 305
Business Publications and Indexes	p. 306
Trade Publications	p. 306
Database Services	p. 306
Great for Running Stories	p. 307
Other Public Files	p. 307
Police Records	p. 308
Court Records	p. 308
Birth and Death Records	p. 308
Licenses	p. 309
Land Records	p. 309
Financial Records	p. 309
Tax Records	p. 310
City Directories	p. 310
Summary	p. 310
Review Questions	p. 311
Exercises	p. 311
Computer-Assisted Reporting for Broadcast	p. 312
The Three Basic Tools	p. 312
Online Resources	p. 313
Search Engines and Guides	p. 313
Finding People	p. 314
Backgrounding Businesses	p. 315
Information on Disasters	p. 316
Covering Beats	p. 317
Downloading Databases	p. 318
Spreadsheets	p. 319
Using Downloaded Data	p. 320
Database Managers	p. 321
Searching	p. 321
Summarizing	p. 322
Comparing and Matching	p. 324
Building Your Own Database	p. 324
Acquiring Data	p. 325
CAR Stories	p. 325
Resources Needed	p. 326
Summary	p. 327
Review Questions	p. 327
Exercises	p. 327
Developing Sources	p. 328
Tips	p. 328
Confidentiality	p. 328
Accuracy of Sources	p. 329
Gaining Confidence	p. 330
Making Friends	p. 330
Leaks	p. 331
The Clarence Thomas Case	p. 332
Trial Balloons	p. 334
Authoritative or Informed Sources	p. 334
Background Briefings	p. 334
Summary	p. 335
Review Questions	p. 335
Exercises	p. 335
Specialty Reporting	p. 336
Investigative Reporting	p. 336
The Salt Lake City Scandal	p. 337
Environmental Reporting	p. 341
Business Reporting	p. 350
Health and Medical Reporting	p. 352
Consumer Reporting	p. 355
Sports Reporting	p. 357
Weather Reporting	p. 361
Summary	p. 366
Review Questions	p. 366
Exercises	p. 367
Ethics	p. 368
Objectivity: Does the Media Have a Bias?	p. 368
Is the Bias to the Left or the Right?	p. 370
Gratuities	p. 371
Conflict of Interest	p. 372
Accuracy and Responsibility	p. 372
The Jason Blair Scandal	p. 373
USA Today Also Has a Major Scandal	p. 375
Libel	p. 376
Defenses	p. 377
False Light	p. 377
Boundaries	p. 378
Controversial Techniques	p. 378
Hidden Cameras and Microphones	p. 380
Case Studies Involving Ethical Issues	p. 381
A Mercy Killing on TV	p. 381
Food Lion Sues ABC	p. 382
ABC Stings the Cops	p. 384
CNN Retracts Its Story	p. 386
CBS News Also Retracts a Story	p. 387
Other Stories That Backfired	p. 389
Ambush Interviews	p. 390
Reenactments	p. 391
Crime-Stoppers	p. 392
Staging	p. 392
Dateline Rigs a Truck	p. 393
CBS Also Blows Up a Truck	p. 393
"Unnatural" Sound	p. 394
Video Deception	p. 394
Improper Editing	p. 395
Avoiding Jump Cuts	p. 395
Inflating the News	p. 397
Will the Real Reporter Please Stand Up?	p. 397
Summary	p. 398
Review Questions	p. 399
Exercises	p. 399
More Ethical Issues	p. 400
Cameras in the Courtroom	p. 400
Pros and Cons	p. 401
Do Cameras Influence Witnesses?	p. 402
The Fourth Amendment	p. 403
Don Hewitt Has Second Thoughts	p. 405
Supreme Court Eases Rules-A Bit	p. 406
Checkbook Journalism	p. 406
The Fairness Doctrine	p. 407
Invasion of Privacy	p. 408
Civic Journalism	p. 409
Summary	p. 413
Review Questions	p. 413
Exercises	p. 414
Tabloid Journalism	p. 415
The Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal	p. 415
Unconfirmed Reports Abound	p. 417
Many Ways of Saying the Source Is Unreliable	p. 418
White House Scolds The Wall Street Journal	p. 418
Media Gripped by Sniper Obsession	p. 419
The JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case	p. 422
A Young Congressional Intern Dies and a Congressman Loses His Job	p. 426
A Star Pro Basketball Player Is Accused of Sexual Assault	p. 430
Are News Standards Dwindling?	p. 431
Producing	p. 433
The Producers	p. 433
The Executive Producer	p. 433
The Line Producer (Show Producer)	p. 434
Associate Producers	p. 434
Field Producers	p. 435
The Staff Meetings	p. 435
A Busy News City	p. 435
Who's the Real Boss?	p. 436
The Golden People	p. 437
Philosophy	p. 437
Ethics	p. 437
The Rundown (Lineup)	p. 438
Peaks and Valleys	p. 439
Rhythm and Flow	p. 440
A Difference of Opinion	p. 441
More Producing Tips	p. 442
Producers Need Good Writing Skills	p. 442
Enthusiasm	p. 444
Energy	p. 445
Still Pictures	p. 445
Live Shots	p. 445
Back Timing	p. 446
Bright Future	p. 447
Summary	p. 448
Review Questions	p. 448
Exercises	p. 448
Using the Hardware	p. 449
Checking the Equipment	p. 449
Batteries and AC Power	p. 449
Tripods	p. 450
Earphones	p. 451
Filters	p. 451
White Balancing	p. 451
Mixed Light	p. 452
Focusing	p. 453
Time Coding	p. 454
Shooting Techniques	p. 454
Cover Footage	p. 456
Establishing Shots	p. 456
Sequential Shooting	p. 457
Shooting Enough Footage	p. 457
Recording Natural Sound	p. 457
Videophone Technology	p. 458
The Job Search in a Changing Industry	p. 467
The Future of Broadcast News	p. 468
The New Players	p. 471
Demise of Radio News	p. 471
Getting Started	p. 472
"The Corn Fields"	p. 478
Education Is Essential	p. 479
The Job Search	p. 479
The Resume	p. 481
References	p. 481
Cover Letters	p. 483
Writing Tests	p. 483
The Job Interview	p. 483
Minority Opportunities	p. 485
Some Final Words	p. 487
Glossary	p. 488
Index	p. 493
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