Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook

Bob Papper is professor and chair of the Department of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations at Hofstra University. A graduate of Columbia College and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, he has worked as a producer, writer and manager at television stations in Minneapolis, Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Columbus, Ohio.

  1     The Business of News  

Ratings

The Scope of Media Use

Media Use Is More Complex Than It Used to Be

It’s Hard to Measure Media Use

What We Think We Know About Media Use

What We Don’t Know About Media Use

So Where Are We Going?

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

  2     News      

What Is News?

Balancing News Values

Types of Stories

Where Story Ideas Come From

The Assignment Desk

The Morning and Afternoon Meetings

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

  3     Readability        

Broadcast News Writing

Writing for the Ear v. Writing for the Eye

Rules of Readability

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

  4     Words    

Keep It Simple

Keep It Conversational

Keep It Clear

Keep It Tight

Make It Powerful

Get It Right

Common Problems

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

  5     Phrases and Phrasing   

How to Say It

What to Say

What You Didn’t Mean to Say

Last Note

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

  6     Sentences          

Keep It Short

Make It Clean, Clear and Concise

Last Note

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

  7     Leads and Endings        

Types of Leads

Figuring out the Lead

Types of Endings

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

  8     Stories   

Plan and Focus

Story Logic

Story Structure

Transitions

Before You’re Done

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

  9     Working with and Gathering Bites, Actualities and Natural Sound  

The Feel of Natural Sound

Collecting Sound

Working with Bites, Actualities and Natural Sound

Packages

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

10    Interviewing      

Conducting Successful Interviews

Beyond the Interview

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

11    Radio/Audio: Story Forms and Working with Sound  

Radio Story Forms

Drawing Radio Pictures

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

12    TV: Story Forms           

Story Forms

Putting Packages Together

Live Reporting

Golden Rules

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

13    TV: Working with Pictures       

The Power of the Visual Image

The TV Balancing Act

Picture Cautions

Care About the Story

Strong Stories Have Central Characters and a Plot

Prove Your Story

The Element of Surprise

Connecting with Truths

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

14    Online News      

Some Basic Terms and Concerns

Research and the Web

The Information Web Site

Hyperlocal News

Multimedia

3 Screen Approach to News

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

   

15    Social Media & News   

Social Networking

Facebook

Twitter

The Bottom Line

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

The Radio-Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Social Media and Blogging Guidelines

 



16    Convergence, Cooperation & the New TV Newsroom           



The New TV Newsroom

Convergence

Cooperation

Mobile

MMJ, Backpack Journalists and One-Man-Bands

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

17    Producing News on TV 

Overview

Audience

Newscast Structure

Building a Local Newscast

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

Exercises

 

18    News, Weather & Sports         

Why News, Weather & Sports?

Reporting Weather

Defining Terms

Reporting Sports

Sports and Teams

 

19    Reporting: Seasonal Coverage & the Calendar         

Seasonal Reporting

Solar and Lunar and the World’s Major Religions

Calendar Holidays

State Holidays

 

20    Reporting: Specialized Coverage        

The General Assignment Reporter

Business, Economy & Taxes

Crime and Legal

Education

The Environment

Geography

Government

Heath and Medicine

 

21    Teases and Promos       

Promotion

Tease ... Don’t Tell

Make Them Care

Going Too Far

Summary

Key Words & Phrases

 

22    Ethics and the RTDNA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct    

Ethics

The Radio-Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Summary

 

23    TV Script Form, Supers, and Glossary

Abbreviations

Script Form

Supers

Glossary of Broadcast and Online Terms

 

Index