Broadcast Newswriting
Packed with practical advice and examples, there's a book available from
writing coach Merv Block. Broadcast Newswriting: The RTNDA Reference Guide is based
on his WordWatching columns, published in the Communicator. "Words are
a writer's tools, so this book is a tool chest for professionals. It's full of tips. Tips
about words --- about writing, about language, about journalism," is the way he
explains the work.
Here are random opinions excerpted from Block --- the captions are ours:
Drop the clutter
Don't start with the expected. News is the unexpected. Otherwise, it's usually not news;
as expected or as predicted detracts from whatever follows. And don't say, "We begin
with ..." Listeners know when you've begun. Another non-starter, "Topping our
news tonight," sounds like Reddi-Wip.
Write directly
Go with S-V-O: subject, verb, object. That's the best sequence for a sentence. It's the
way we speak: "Jane (subject) told (verb) me (object) she wants out."
One-word leads
Pow! Wham! Bam! Slam-bang language in the comics doesn't hurt anyone, but must we jolt
our listeners like that? A recent example from local radio: "Guilty! That's the
verdict from a Boulder County jury after a strangulation death. We get the details from
..." And from network television: "Indicted! The federal government comes down
hard on Eastern Airlines." The anchor opened the newscast by reading that headline
over a videotape showing the inside of a hangar and an Eastern jet. ... Confused! That's
what I am by one-word leads. Why? Conversational, they're not. People don't talk that way.
And people don't listen that way. Our ears are accustomed to the standard speech pattern
among English-speaking people: subject-verb-object. ... People usually start conversations
with a subject, then go on to a verb: "Don dropped dead." No one would tell you:
"Dead. That's what Don is."
Quotation leads
A network anchor began a story with a bang: "We're going to burn them with smoke,
gas, fire and bullets. We will burn this house down. (Newsroom frictions turning ugly?)
Threatening words. Oh, so those aren't the anchor's own threats. Why didn't he write it
right and put attribution before assertion? That way we'd know at the outset who said what
and to whom. All of which illustrates how dangerous it is to start a story with a
quotation, especially with we.
Let it stand on it's own
"Here at home tonight, a story rivaling any made-for- television movie. This one
involves a respected chief judge of New York state's highest court .... ..." Here at
whose home? What are listeners in Peoria and Pocatello to make of here at home? Not only
is here at home a cliche, it's also unnecessary, inaccurate and disorienting. Is
comparison to a made-for-TV movie intended as praise? Why compare the story to anything?
Why not just tell the story without the ballyhoo? Let it stand on its own.
Retire sports cliches from general news
Sports jargon is often sent in to pinch hit for simple, clear English and usually
strikes out. The arena where it almost always should be out of bounds is in general news
stories. "The Soviets kicked off with a pre-summit news conference
Western-style." When so many events are kicked off, aren't you ticked off?
Don't lead with a place name
"In Tucson, Arizona, jury selection today in the U.S. government's controversial case
against 11 people, featuring federal evidence from undercover informants." ... Why
start with a place-name? Every story occurs somewhere. A place-name doesn't arrest
listeners. When listeners in Maine hear a story begin, "In Tucson," do they drop
their cribbage boards and listen up? And when a story starts "In Maine," do
listeners in Tucson freeze? ... The place-name in that script is important, but it's
probably the least interesting element.
THE RUNDOWN has debriefed many television newspeople and documented their specific
advice. Is there a subject that you would like us
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