Writing For Electronic Media Lecture Notes

4/1/2021
Writing for Eletronic

Media
Lecture Notes
Dr VICTOR L LUTSILI
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MOMBASA
Dr. V.L. Lutsili Writing for Electronic Media
LECTURE 1
UNDERSTANDING BROADCAST NEWS
1.0. Introduction
In this lecture, we introduce the nature of broadcast news. You must be familiar with news from the knowledge and
skills you got from Introduction to Broadcast Media course. We will also look at the characteristics of broadcast news
and the criteria for selecting stories for broadcast news.
2.0. Objectives
At the end of this lecture, you should be able to:
• explain the technical definition of news
• explain the nature of broadcast news
• describe the characteristics of broadcast news
• provide the criteria for selecting broadcast news.
3.1. Nature of Broadcast News
News is a timely account or report of facts or opinion that holds interest or importance or both for a considerable
number of people. From this definition we can say:
- that nothing can be news until it is reported.
- the report must come out on time and,
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- it must interest a considerable number of people (news values).
Although print and broadcast media share the same definition of news, the way the two write their stories is different.
In broadcast, you must write for
- speech patterns,
- design stories around the various sound and visual recordings made in the field,
- work within severe time limitations.
- the writer must consider the needs of the audience.
People receive broadcast messages while doing so many different things. Some people may just sit and listen to radio
or television, but others may be washing, cooking, driving, taking care of children, lying in bed, or even reading
newspapers. This brings about the possibility that audience attention may drift in and out. It therefore, takes clever
leads and an interesting broadcast style to bring the audience into each and every story.
3.2. Origin of Broadcast News
Broadcast news may have begun in the 1920s. Before this print news were already flourishing. Broadcast news was
then written by print media experts. The implication is that the bulk of news being churned out from the electronic
broadcast then was highly inundated with news from newspaper wire services or stylistic copies of newspaper wires.”
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As time passed, it was realized that structuring broadcast news in the pattern of newspaper style not only made the
news boring and clumsy, but also inhibited its comprehension. This was because newspaper news conforms strictly to
the rules of written language as against the rules of spoken languages, which broadcast news demands.
The print media news are largely written in the inverted pyramid format primarily to highlight the major facts of the
news first and to ensure easy trimming of the news from the bottom, while retaining the main gist of the news. This is
not possible with radio and television news trimming from the tail of the story would amount to “throwing out entire
stories.”
It was discovered the solution would be narrative treatment of the news after the lead. This became the most effective
way of presenting broadcast news. The discovery marked the gradual departure from packaging broadcast news
using the style of print media news.
Radio and television news writers began to tailor their news in a manner that will suit electronic media. Today, radio
and television news are written to be spoken and hardly to be read. This makes it important for broadcast news to be
written in conversational format in order to appeal to a good number of audience. This marks out the difference
between broadcast and print media news stories.
Quiz
Trace the origin of broadcast news, stating why its style of writing differs from that of print media news.
3.3. What is Newsworthy?

To determine the value of a piece of news ask yourself the following questions:
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a) Is there conflict?
- A news story should have conflict.
- Most news stories contain a central conflict or disagreement that contributes to the news value.
- The stress point may be found among people or in opposing social forces. The tension can be the old way
versus the news way, good versus evil, right versus wrong.
b) Is the story unique or unusual?
- The more unusual the story, the more newsworthy and interesting it is. In fact, stories about crime are
considered newsworthy because they are unusual.
c) Is someone or something prominent involved?
- If you catch a cold no one beyond your family and friends will know because your problem has no significance
because you are not prominent.
- On the other hand, insignificant events become newsworthy when they are related to someone or something
widely known. If Uhuru Kenyatta, the president of Kenya catches a cold, the condition could easily become
national news, especially if symptoms of the cold are apparent in a major appearance.
d) What is the impact of the story?
- People are naturally interested in information that affects them in a personal way.
- For this reason, occurrences that have an impact on a large number of people become important news.
- For instance, if a company announces a large layoff of employees, the information is vital to employees and
their families.
- When taxes go up or developers propose a new shopping mall in a community, the story is newsworthy to that
community.
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e) Is the story relevant?
- Information that is relevant or connects to people in some way is newsworthy.

- Some stories may be interesting and give insight into the lives of other people but may be irrelevant to the lives
of media audience.
f) What is the location?
- The location of a story can determine whether it has news value or not.
- A widespread 24-hour power failure in a town 100 kilometers away would not be very important or interesting
unless the cause was unique or unless it affected people in unusual way.
- Similarly, when some people die in unusual way in a remote county of Kenya, it would interest Kenyan media
more than when double of that same number of people die in another country.
g) Does the story offer human interest and emotional impact?
- Much of the reality of our daily lives exists in our thoughts and feelings.
- Many of us carry out similar actions and routines each day, but our individual reactions to people and events
can be very similar to – or very different from – those of others.
- As we go through life, we discover and define ourselves in part by this comparison to others.
- Stories about other people are interesting and important to us. For this reason, stories that stir emotions become
news, but in a different way from the stories that lead the newscast.
- Stories that focus on emotional elements and do not generally affect people’s lives in other ways are known as
human interest stories.
3.4. Criteria for selecting broadcast news
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Broadcast news are written in a special way because of the peculiarities of the media. Therefore, must meet the general
criteria for selecting news stories:
Timeliness
- The broadcast media are the “now” media.

- They are instantaneous because, as events are occurring so are they being reported.
- For this reason, the broadcast news writer emphasises timeliness above all criteria.
- Because importance is greatly attached to timely events, regular programming is often interrupted when an
event is considered significant and timely enough.
- This sense of immediacy influences everything in broadcast news from what is reported to how it is reported.
- Even when television and radio air documentaries or in-depth segments, they typically try to infuse a sense of
urgency, a strong feeling of the present, an emphasis on what is happening now.
Information
- While the print media are heavily constrained by space, the broadcast media are constrained by time.
- Time determines how an event is reported. The fact that airtime is precious often makes the broadcast news
writer emphasize the ‘what’ and the ‘where’ at the expense of the ‘why’ and the ‘how’.
- This means that broadcasters generally care more about informing ‘what’ and where it happened.
- The why and how elements will consume time, which is often lacking in the broadcast media.
- The objective of broadcast news is mainly to provide the public with basic information quickly and succinctly.
- The broadcast writer’s job is to get the story idea across without detail. To communicate events in such short
bursts to an audience that cannot read or hear the material again.
Audio- visual impact
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- Broadcast news should have audio-visual impact.

- Radio and television are concerned with sound and sight.
- Sometimes, news is selected for radio because it contains an actuality which is more likely to convince the
audience of the event reported.
- Some news stories are selected for television because they are visually appealing or exciting.
- For this reason, news of accidents or fire outbreak that may get attention only in the record, column of the
newspaper may get important play on a television newscast.
People
- Broadcasting more often attempts to tell the news through people.

- Broadcasting is generally concerned with finding problems.
- Identifying ‘who’ is at the centre of the problems and knowing how the person is going about solving the
problems.
- Broadcast journalists are concerned with people or someone who is affected by the story.
- This is probably why broadcasting is said to humanize the story.
Quiz
What are the criteria for writing broadcast news?
3.5. Characteristics of Broadcast news
Broadcast news writing is couched in timeliness. This necessarily demands from news writers the characteristics of
immediacy, conversional style, tight phrasing and clarity.
Immediacy
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- One constant with broadcasting is its sense of immediacy - “newness”.

- This is achieved through the avoidance of the past tense and emphasis on the present tense as much as possible.
- For this reason, the progressive form is chosen at the expense of the past.
- The progressive form usually indicates continuing action.
Example 1:
Governor Joho says (instead of ‘said’).
- The progressive form usually indicates continuing action.

Example 2:
The cause of fire is not yet known but eye witness accounts are saying that…
- When it is imperative to use past tense, broadcasters don’t hesitate.

- However, sometimes they achieve a sense of immediacy by adding time element.
- Without deceiving an audience by treating an old story as if it were fresh, the broadcast news writer’s job is to
tell the news as though it is in progress or has just recently happened.
- One way of avoiding the past tense is to avoid yesterday’s story, except where the intention is to upgrade
yesterday’s story through follow ups.
- Radio and television are the now media and it is only desirable that their stories convey this important
characteristic.
Conversational style
- In broadcast news we write the way we talk and then read our copy aloud.
- We talk (converse) naturally with informal choice of words (not slang or colloquialism though), the use of
contractions such as that’s, can’t don’t, shouldn’t isn’t.
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- We also use simple ways and words. That is the chief characteristic of broadcast news writing.
- We are encouraged to read aloud what we write so that we can ascertain the level of conversationality in our
writing.
- If we have difficulty in reading what we write, then it would be more difficult for the anchorperson to read.
- Above all, it would be difficult for the anchor to be fluent and achieve a conversational style which is a
desirable goal in broadcast media writing.
- To achieve conversational style in news writing writers must use simple short sentences written with transitive
verbs in the active voice.
- Writers are to remember that the broadcast media are credited with raising the standard of spoken English so it
is imperative for them to make their contribution in this regard.
Example
The floods forced families in Budalangi, Busia County, to flee from their houses.
And not
Families in Budalangi were forced to flee from their houses by the floods.
Tight phrasing
- This means being concise, cutting down adjectives and adverbs, eliminating the passive voice, using strong
active verbs.
- It also means making every word count.
- In fact, it refers to embarking on economy of words.
- Since the writer rarely has time for the whole story selecting facts carefully is what is required of him or her.
- In broadcast writing even when there is enough time, tight phrasing is given top priority.
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Example:
“The governor says”
instead of
“The governor, who is walking down the road, says.”
Clarity
- Broadcast news should be clear and precise is an important characteristic of broadcast new writing.
- The choice of words should convey a clear and precise meaning (remember the essence of writing is to
effectively communicate your intended meaning to the audience).
- This is why the choice of clear and precise words which assist in conveying meaning is necessary for broadcast
news writers.
- Remember listeners and viewers can’t go back over the copy as newspaper readers do, because broadcast media
messages are transient in nature, the words chosen to communicate such messages need to be clear and precise.
Example:
It is better to say: “Members of the construction company voted to stop building the bridge”
than to say
“Members of the construction company voted to terminate the construction of the bridge.”
- In writing news stories, words:- their order, their meaning and their rhythm - can be considered to have a
production value.
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- Writing also involves the way sound elements are assembled therefore, what is written must sound right when
it is read aloud and must be conversational.
- The listeners have only one opportunity to understand what is being said; they cannot look back as they can
with a newspaper article.”
- Broadcast news stories especially those for radio demand short sentences and active verb tenses.
- This style of writing is quite different from newspaper journalism as they say ‘radio writing is written for the
ear, not the eye,’ will drive home the point.
Example:
A newspaper lead might read:
Twenty-four year old John Opiyo was killed in an accident today near Kongowea Market when his car collided with a truck that
was travelling the wrong way, police said.
- Broadcast news would have it as:
A man died today when his car collided with a truck, police say he was heading the wrong way on an expressway.
- Sentences in broadcast news writing should be kept short (20 or 25 words or fewer) attribution is usually put
first.
Example:
Division Police Officer, Issa Juma said today that there is no word on the fate of the missing hunter,
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rather than
There is no word on the fate of the missing hunter, said Issa Juma of the police division.
Quiz
Discuss the characteristics of broadcast news.
Assignment
Pick five news stories from a national daily, read the stories carefully and rewrite them for broadcast, taking into
consideration the characteristics of broadcast news.
Further Reading
i. Brooks, B. et al. (1996). News Reporting and Writing. New York: St. Martins Press.
ii. Hewitt, J. (1995). Writing for Broadcast News. (2nd ed.). London: Mayfield Publishing Company.
iii. Keller, T. & Hawkins, S. A. (2002). Television News – A Handbook for Writing, Reporting, Shooting and
Editing. Scottsdale, Arizona: Holcomb Hathway Publishers.
iv. Mencher, M. (1997). News Reporting and Writing. (7th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
v. O’Donell, L., Benoit, P. & Hausman, C. (1990). Modern Radio Production. (2nd ed.). California: Wadsworth
Publishing Company.
vi. White, T. (1996). Broadcast News Writing, Reporting and Production. (2nd ed.). Boston: Focal Press.
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LECTURE 2
NEWS GATHERING FOR BROADCAST
1.0. Introduction
- It takes a ‘nose for news’ to smell out what is news from what is not.
- It also takes an aggressive and efficient search for facts and behind it all, plus solid preparation to effectively
gather stories worth reporting.
- Broadcast reporters must be fast.
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- Most radio and TV reporters have deadline every hour because many stations now report news on an hourly
basis so they are always ready to give new accounts.
- However, gathering news for radio or television is more than just a race. Being first means nothing if there are
holes in the story or it is erroneous.
- Facts are very important to reporters and that is why it is necessary for the reporters to begin the business of
gathering facts with preparation.
- In this lecture we discuss how to prepare for news gathering; methods of news gathering; and sources of news
stories.
2. O. Objectives
At the end of this lecture, you should be able to:
i. State the need for preparation for news gathering.
ii. Identify the methods of news gathering
iii. Use the methods effectively when assigned to work
iv. Mention the sources of broadcast news
v. explain how to maintain sources of news.
2.1. What is News?

News is many different things to different people; however, there are some traditional news criteria that should be
kept in mind when deciding what to cover and how.
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The news criteria include:
 Stories that are interesting (know your viewers)

 Stories that have an impact
 Stories that inform
 Stories that are unusual
 Stories about something new
 Stories about conflict
 Stories with strong characters
1.1. The 5Ws
When researching your story always remember the 5 Ws. Each one is essential to the whole. Together they tell the
story.
 Who? What? When? Where? Why? And: How? What really happened?
 Additional questions for news value consideration are:
- Why is it important?
- What’s going to happen next?
- What is the point?
- Always ask the money question (Where did the money come from? What is the money being spent on?)
and always look for irony.
 When covering a story there are several steps you’ll have to go through before the story finally makes it to air:
i. Researching means all the preparation work that precedes going into the field to record or shoot
material for broadcast.
ii. Fact checking is making sure everything to be reported on the air is correct.
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iii. Accuracy is getting it right.

iv. Balance is making sure that the other side/s of a story gets its/their say.
2.1. Storytelling
A journalist’s primary job is to tell engaging stories. You are essentially an engaging storyteller or else viewers will
lose interest and not pay attention. Television stories, told properly, can change the way people think and live their
lives. How do we do that?
Elements of a story
Every story told should have:
- Strong Character (a person or personalization)
- Plotline (builds viewer interest and then hit them with the story)
- Surprise/suspense (hold back, hold back and then reveal)
- Conflict and Resolution (emotion and drama)
Once you have the elements, you weave them into a beginning, middle and end. Not all stories can be (nor should
they be) told in the same way. It is up to you as the journalist to decide how each particular story should be reported.
For instance you need to answer the following question:
- Should the story be told in a simple 30 second story, or
- is the story so compelling it should be produced in a full package?
Formats
You will then choose the type of format you want to tell your story from.
Focus
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Focus is the angle of a story.

Example:
You pitch your story on street kids. You must decide:
- what precisely is the story?
- What is the angle?
- What is the focus?
What is the process of coming up with a focus?
i. Start with an IDEA. Clearly, any production, like any news report, begins with an IDEA.
In the example above, the idea is “street kids”.
ii. The idea: For an idea to become a news report or feature it should satisfy certain criteria:
- The first and most important question: Will anyone care? How do they feel about it? If they don’t care or
have no feelings we either move on to another person or re-think the story. We can find out by asking
ourselves: Is it relevant to people’s health/income, their family or friends, their quality of life, their neighborhood,
their country? That’s a descending order on purpose.
- The second question: Will it hurt or help them? Make them happy or mad? Touch them or leave them
cold. The selfish side wins most of the time. But when the story is not so obvious, what do you do? You
must have a reason to do the story and it must mean something to somebody.
iii. The process:
Research: Fast proving research helps you establish the credentials of a story. If after this initial research you
can’t find a good reason to do the story – again, it should mean something to a good number of people –
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then you must decide whether to go ahead with it at all. If that proving research tells you the IDEA has a
chance, then you can move to the next stage:
FOCUS. Focus: So what is focus and why should you care? This is your most valuable journalistic tool – in
print, radio, or TV, a short news item or a documentary.
A focus statement is a simple sentence that contains three elements:

- who,
- what and
- why.
- Or simply: someone is doing something because.
Why Focus:
- is crucial for you as it helps you to clearly define what your story is
- Helps you to identify what elements you’ll need in order to do the story.
- A focus also helps keep you on track, as you do your story, it reminds you what the story is about and
where you’re going.
Without a clear focus, your story will be all over the place, will have too many elements and will likely be
confusing for the audience
Elements of a good Focus Statement

Focus statements have the following common elements:
- each is a simple declarative statement
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- each contains cause and effect

- each is based on research
- each contains a reference to people
- each has an emotional as well as factual side to it
- each defines what should be put IN and what left OUT
- each has a subject, verb and object
The street kids’ story.
- Your RESEARCH will quickly tell you this is an interesting topic about which many might care – but it’s
an enormous topic, which must be narrowed down or focused.
- Without a FOCUS you could be researching for months.
How do you narrow it down?
Your research will offer several choices. For instance:
- Authorities are concerned because the number of street children is rising.
- Street children are living on the streets because of abuse at home.
- Tourists feel unsafe because the street kids harass them.
2.2. POINT- OF- VIEW (POV) and TONE

- Now along with FOCUS there are two other elements: POINT-OF-VIEW (POV) and TONE.
- POV shows the point of view, in other words, through which main character/s will you tell the story?
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In focus #1 : we are telling the story from the POV of the authorities as they are likely to dominate the story.
However, this does not mean that we will not hear from other characters. Indeed, we must also speak to street
children as they are crucial to the story.
As for tone, this particular story will likely be official and serious in tone with comments from the authorities,
but it will also include comments from street children.
FOCUS#2: Tourists feel unsafe because the street children harass them. The focus is now from the POV of
tourists – that means you’ll be researching mostly for tourists. Again, this does not mean you’ll lose objectivity!
Obviously the claims of tourists will be balanced with those of the street children and perhaps also local
officials. The tone will be different, more emotional than story #1 as ordinary people will play a larger part.
Quiz
Come up with a number of different focus statements for this story with each one suggesting what makes it in to the
story and what is left out. You will also consider how the research can be narrowed, how the characters and their POV
might vary and how the tone will change depending on the focus.
3.0. Research for Facts

After you’ve done your research, established your focus, tone and point of view, then you need to do your full
research for facts. It is important to bear in mind, however, that if your full research shows that your focus is wrong or
not precise, you’ll have to change it according to the facts of the story.
So, to tell an effective story you can follow this process:
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- Gather all the essential and interesting facts – then pare them down to what is needed to tell the story well and
honestly…the story of your FOCUS; stay on your chosen route, don’t wander all over the map.
- Seek out, build in, and never waste your natural sound.
- Add context – Use it to show your understanding of the story’s essence and also how it fits into the larger
picture.
- The human drama to make the story live and breathe and kick up its heels – without dramatic tension your
story will be lifeless. (Not hype or faked drama.)
- The people with whose story the listener/viewer can identify. Most good reporting has people in it – real
people like those around you – not the homogenous institutional officials and experts with which most stories
unfortunately abound, but real people who speak with a passion that affects the viewers.
- Finally, build the story to a climax, or some kind of resolution.
Enterprising Stories
In many cases there are obvious stories that we need to cover: breaking news, news conferences, policy-
oriented stories and the like. However, we often get into the habit of relying on the news releases that arrive by
fax or phone calls from government ministries announcing an event. Every press release should be considered
a starting point not an ending point. Ask yourself:
 why is it being released?
 Why now?
 Who does it effect and how?
 Who can I call to shed light on it other than the author?
 What’s the message behind the message?
What we often forget, however, is that there are endless stories in our community that go unnoticed, but which are
indeed newsworthy. Too we spend our time in the newsroom complaining that there’s no news or that it’s a slow
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news day, when in fact we couldn’t be further from the truth. There is always news happening, it’s just not
happening in our newsrooms! We should be outside, in our communities, walking or driving through different
neighborhoods, talking to different people and looking around us – that’s where the best stories are!
Some tips in developing story ideas

This can help you out of government business “handouts” and moving towards reporting real stories involving your
community.
 listen – what are people talking about on the streets, in the buses, in the shops?
 always be on the hunt for a story
 be curious and ask questions
 look around you
 talk to your photographers, peers and friends
 if you cover a beat find appropriate discussion groups on-line
 change the focus of a story – often that will give you a new angle
 start with your own experiences
 read everything you can get your hands on
 go wandering (do a “walkabout”)
 listen for a different point of view
 measure change – look at who’s affected by the statistics; look inside the numbers
 don’t just cover an event – look at the issue that’s behind that event
 compare and contrast – provide context
 localize – look for the local connection of a national or international story
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 look towards the future

 follow up; assume every story has a follow up
 always ask (and answer) the question why
 brainstorm
 create new contacts
 go to where the pack isn’t
 when out in the field, look in the opposite direction
 arrive early for meetings  when covering meetings make sure to look at the entire agenda – you may spot
something you weren’t aware of
 pay attention to advertisements
 drive (or walk) around your beat or community as often as possible. Visit your beat at night.
 vary your commute every now and then
 switch your focus
 turn a story on its head. If the macro view has been done, do the micro view and vice versa
 check in with sources periodically
 always end interviews by asking if there is “anything else going on?”
3.1 Preparation
a. How to get stories: Preparation for news gathering begins with digging. As a reporter you must have a nose for
news. You must always be ready to pry into things. For example if you drive past a construction site you may
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wish to know what is being built, how much it costs, who is paying, who is getting the jobs and what this will
mean for the local economy and environment. This means, stories could be found everywhere and to get them
you must sniff around and smell them out.”
Stories have to be dug out of reticent people as well as out of dense volumes. People do not always realise that a
strange tale they have been telling friends qualifies as news, and when they realise they have a story, they
sometimes prefer to keep it quiet. The reporter’s job is to share these tales with the community and to ensure that
controversial stories are heard. To accomplish this, shyness must be left at home. Reporters do not have to be
outgoing. In fact, some journalists are said to have chosen the profession to compensate for a retiring nature, but
they must be industrious and aggressive enough to pull a story out of its protagonists.” Stephens (1986: 130)
b. Assignments: Besides digging, reporters also have assignment. They may be assigned specific beats-political
news, court news, for instance, or go for general assignment. Where reporters are sent is determined by a
combination of their own news judgment and that of their superiors. The raw materials for that determination
are news sources such as the wires, tips, police radio, along with the station’s future file or schedules prepared
by the station.
c. Preparation is necessary for carrying out these assignments – be they preplanned events, breaking news or
stories reporters originate themselves. Preparation for preplanned events is not so difficult because the
reporters are informed early enough for them to get ready for the events. To serve as reminder, when the
station is notified, it files the notice under that date in the future and assigns reporters to cover them.
Preplanned events are too often merely media events – staged strictly for publicity.
d. For breaking news, reporters are always prepared and anxious to toss out their schedules to track the
unexpected event that gives news its reputation as a live wire. Most times, the news room learns of breaking
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developments first. That is why it is so important for reporters to check in regularly. As a matter of necessity
too, reporters should always have their writing materials with them and recorders to take report of the events.
e. Background information: Another approach to preparation is the need to be equipped with background
information all the time. With or without advance notice, as a reporter, you have to try to approach a story with
as much of the background information as possible already in your head, or in your notes. It is always
important that you are knowledgeable, well read and, if you know what your assignment is going to be, do
some research beforehand.
f. On a planned story there is no excuse for failure to do the homework. You can go through news releases,
newspaper previous reports on such an assignment, other stories the station has done on that subject. Phone
calls can also be an important element in a reporter’s preparation.
g. On breaking stories there may be no time for detailed research, but an abbreviated form of that information
hunt is still worth the moment or two it requires. Reporters should at least grab whatever is around. If reporters
are given a story while still in the field, or if they have to dash off before looking through the files, background
information should be secured by others in the newsroom and communicated by phone at the first opportunity.
Preparation pays. It is necessary to be informed before proceeding to become well informed.”
Quiz
Explain how a reporter can prepare for news gathering.
3.2 Methods of News Gathering

i. On the Phone
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Telephones are powerful devices. In some big and government establishments, phone numbers are listed and there are
people whose job is to help the press get facts. The telephone is the all-purpose reporting instrument. It fills holes in
stories, finds local angles, determines exact spellings, pursues leads. It will be very helpful if you have a book where
you can store important phone numbers.
ii. On the Scene
Stephens (1986: 136) stresses that the best place to be when covering a news event is at that event. The telephone
restricts reporters to one person at a time and one sense (their hearing) at a time. When you are present at the scene of
event, you are more able to get the flavour of the event. Your presence also gives you opportunity to meet people and
make contacts that can be useful on future stories.
iii. Questioning
- Reporting is the search for answers, and they are usually uncovered by intensive questioning.
- To do it well, reporters need the right questions. Questions should always be to the point. It is not acceptable
for you to ask a question like:
“I heard you were around when that man started shooting. I really want to know what your thought it was at that time?
What do you think really happened?”
- It is better for you to ask questions one after the other. Stick to the subject – one subject at a time. You can ask,
“What happened?” Then later, ask “how did you react?”
- When you go out to ask people, make sure you have at least a little understanding of the subject matter.
- A question that sounds ignorant sometimes may be dismissed with a joke.
- It is unacceptable for you to ask, “When are you going to start work on that new hospital? Where is it?”
- To show that you know the site for the building, you can ask,
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“When will work begin on the new hospital at Nyerere Road?

- The right question sometimes requires research; it may take a whole day for you to reflect on what to ask.
- If there is time, it is wise to write the questions out beforehand.
- Even if you do not refer to them, the act of writing questions down can help focus thoughts, and written
questions are a hedge against forgetting under pressure.
- With all this in mind, it is still important to remember that the job of a question is to get information, not to
prove how much a reporter knows.
- It is better for you to ask and sound uninformed in an interview than not to ask and sound uninformed on the
air.
iv. Preparing a Beat

- All reporters have areas for which they are responsible.
- Since most radio and television reporters are on general assignment, the area could be as large as the city of
Mombasa or as small as just Mtwapa, or it could be the general hospital or police division office.
- When assigned to an area, reporters have to plan to know certain things about that area.
- They will have to read through some issues of newspapers or news letters from the areas they are assigned to
familiarise themselves with the major ongoing issues.
- Reporter preparing a beat will also want to find out where the relevant public records can be found.
- If they are covering the courts those records would include, for example, the calendar of scheduled cases,
transcripts of hearings and trials or depositions (sworn statements by witnesses).
- Covering politics, reporters would want to know the political parties that exist in the county, their various
activities and where their offices are located.
- Of course, most stories will be about people, not papers.
- A reporter starting out in an area must get to know the characters most likely to be performing in upcoming
stories.
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• Who wields power in the town?

• Who leads the different political factions?
• Who are the major business leaders?
- As the reporters try to find out all of these and more, names and titles will start pouring out.
- Then it’s time to get to know the people behind the names and titles.
v. Contacts
- Some things do not get mentioned in news releases or announced at news conferences.
- This means reporters need contacts, sources, people who are willing to inform them about happenings.
- Contacts also help reporters to get stories faster.
- If an accident occurs, for instance, a friendly police officer might decide to give a reporter a call.
- If there is a clash among members of a political party, a concerned person may call the reporter to find out
what is going on.
- News travels through people, so reporters benefit from establishing a personal relationship with as many
people as possible.
- Contacts can be found by hanging around with newsmakers, acting friendly, asking questions and listening.
Quiz
You are in the newsroom and the university in your community has just received 10 million shillings to establish an e-
library. List the people you would call and the questions you would ask.
3.3 Sources of News
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- News gathering is the process of collecting raw information from various sources to be reported as news.
- A source is a person or a document with information the reporter needs for a story or for background.
- Anyone on the inside of any given news situation is a potential source but they only turn real sources when
they come up with a bit or a lot of, relevant information.
- There are two types of sources:
a) physical sources
b) human sources.
a) The physical sources

- The physical sources consist of records, documents, reference works and newspaper clippings.
- Documents could be routine written sources from the police and courts such as traffic offences, accidents,
complaints, arrests, fines and files.
- Wire service can constitute good sources.
- Media houses subscribe to news agency or press association services which collect and distribute news to them
in return for their subscription.
- News agency services are wire service which means that only subscribers connected to their services by wire or
cables can receive their (telex) transmissions.
- The wire services have large network of teleprompter circuits connecting hundreds of cities and towns from
where their reporters gather news and after processing it deliver to media houses subscribes in their newsroom
at a teleprompter receiver set.
- News releases or news statements or handout can also be a good source of news. It is a statement on behalf of a
government, political party, institution or even an individual given to the media. Normally, it is signed by an
office which is competent to issue it.
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- Speeches delivered at news conferences could also be used for news reports.
- News conferences are usually organised to intimate newsmen about happenings in the organisations.
- The Internet has also become a very good source of news for journalist. Earlier, journalist considered the
Internet a toy for the technologically minded. But beginning in the mid-nineties, it received growing acceptance.
Much of the acceptance, Itule and Anderson (1997: 157) believe, is due to the enormous number of publications
that are published both printed pages and background research on the world wide web (www), the graphical
representation of the Internet that combines text, video and sound in one format.
- Other standard information sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, telephone directories, state directories
and biographical references.
b) The human sources

- The human sources consist of authorities and people involved in events.
- They are often less reliable than physical sources because they may have interest to protect and they are
untrained observers and sometime tell reporters what they think the reporter wants to hear.
- Human sources also include the reporter himself.
- The reporter usually approaches the events, ideas, situations and personalities that make news with his own
background knowledge.
- The background knowledge is what he has within him before his exposure to the news situation.
- It can be the knowledge of his community, its prominent citizens, groups and institutions, its socio-economic
and political life, beliefs, norms and values.
- The background knowledge may be just what he knows or is being able to research of the event, idea, situation
or personality that is his assignment.
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- This knowledge shapes and influences his perception of whatever he is exposed to, how he tackles his
assignment and what questions he asks.
- Facts for news stories can be obtained wholly from humans through observation and personal contact.
• Observations
- The reporter is a major source of news through observation.

- Observation usually is done on the spot and requires that the reporter be on the scene of the event.
- Events or situations observed can be planned for or they may be inadvertent.
- The reporter can observe in two ways: either as a participant in the news situation or as a mere observer.
- Participant is through personal involvement in the story.
- As mere observer, reporters usually are staffed to cover pre-planned events or breaking news in person.
- Some events are staffed as a matter of routine, such as legislature sessions, launchings, meetings, sporting
competitions.
• Personal contact
- Often times, reporters are never physically present on the scene of events.
- When this happens, reporters rely on persons who were present for firsthand accounts of such events.
- The reporter gets facts from these persons through the process of questioning.
- He or she asks appropriate and probing questions to elicit these facts.
- Questions then become the instruments for ascertaining the elusive truth about the happenings.
- Persons that serve as sources through contacts are acquaintances that can be trusted to supply straight
information or a written report or document.
Quiz
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What are the sources of news?

Assignment
1. Write extensively on the process of preparing and conducting interview.
2. Identify different human sources of news and discuss how you can maintain them.
LECTURE 3,4 and 5

WRITING BROADCAST COPY
1.0 Introduction
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- Writing for the broadcast media means writing for speech.

- This means whatever is written is meant to be heard.
- Therefore, the writer of broadcast copy must be familiar with the requirements for broadcast writing.
- S/he needs to understand the writing styles as well as the demand of preparing the radio and TV newscast.
- In this lecture we look at all these requirements.
2.0 learning objectives

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
i. identify the writing styles for broadcast media
ii. explain the qualities of the broadcast copy writer
iii. discuss the way radio newscast is prepared
iv. discuss the way television newscast is prepared
v. explain the differences between radio and television newscast.
3.1 Writing Style
- Broadcast style is very different from other styles of writing, principally because broadcast copy is written for
the ear, not the eye, unlike most other writings.
- For this reason, there are guidelines broadcast writers must follow to arouse and sustain audience interest in the
news. Here are some tips on the writing style.
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• Use of conversational style
- Writing in a conversational style means writing in a way someone would listen to you.
- Newspapers obviously are written for the eye, which means that if readers do not understand something, they
can return to the paragraph or sentence and read it a second time.
- In broadcast news, however, the audience has no such luxury; they hear the copy just once; so broadcast copy
must be written clearly and simply.
- Thoughts must be expressed clearly with brief, crisp, declarative sentences.
• Use of contractions
- Broadcast news writers must write the way most people speak.
- When we have a discussion with another person, we automatically do a number of things of which we are not
usually aware.
- For example, we almost always use contractions. We are more likely to say “I’m going to work now, James,” than
“I am going to work now, James,” And we might add, “let’s get together for lunch again soon,” instead of “Let us
get together again soon.”
- In other words, if we contract our words in conversation, we should do the same in broadcast copy.
• Avoid information overload
- When you have one sentence, it should have just one meaning.
- In that way, people do not have difficulty understanding you.
- Some newspapers are guilty of overloading sentences; but readers can always reread complicated passages.
- Here is an example of a copy from a newspaper and how it could be simplified for broadcast.
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President Uhuru Kenyatta worried by attacks from Al Shabaab terrorists that continued to threaten the security of the people,
Monday made broad security measures that he said would ensure safety of lives and properties.
- For this copy to sound better in broadcast, you will need to break it into two sentences. Check it for the most
important detail. So the story could start out like this:
President Uhuru Kenyatta promises to beef up security in the country for better living of the citizens. Kenyatta made the promise
on Monday, as the Al Shabaab terrorist continue to threaten security of Kenyans.
- Avoiding information overload also means that you avoid relative clauses.
- Relative clauses are introduced by the relative pronouns who, which, that, what, whoever, whichever, and whatever
and add information to simple sentences.
• Eliminate long words
- Short words are usually easier to understand than long ones and, crucially for broadcast news, where time is
precious, they take less time to deliver. Example:
Police abandoned the search, is more difficult to say than Police gave up the search.
Examples:
Avoid Use
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Extraordinary Unusual
Acknowledge Admit
Initiate Start, begin
Transform Change.
• Avoid direct quotes
- Quotation marks cannot be heard, and since broadcast copy is meant for the ears, broadcast writers need to
paraphrase what someone said.
- If however, a direct quote becomes imperative, then special language is sometimes inserted like:
His or her words, “…”
Responding, the president says, “…”
Other tips to help the broadcast writer to maintain broadcast writing style is to:
 use present tense

 avoid highly technical words, professional jargons and clichés. For example: “the doctor will carry out
myomectomy on the lady today.” Myomectomy is a medical term which refers to the surgical removal of a
uterine fibroid. Use simpler term like operation instead
 find the lead, then tell story chronologically
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 avoid sexism in pronouns. For example: “Each student is responsible for planning his own schedule.” The
pronoun is sexist because it assumes that all students are male
 use humour sparingly.
Quiz
Explain the guidelines necessary for broadcast news writing.
3.2 Qualities of a Broadcast Writer

Innate talents
Writers are born not made. The truism about this saying is that a writer cannot begin to write successfully because
they have been taught to write. Those who write do already have innate talents, which are often reinforced by
instructions. If natural talents do not already exist, no matter how well one is taught, one can hardly be a successful
writer.
Language facility
A writer’s tools are words and he must have a special way with them. Clarity and precision in word choice, for
example, are essential for the new writer who must describe events accurately.
The ability to create
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Writing is a creative endeavour and broadcast writing is indeed creativity. While experience and knowledge
contribute largely to writing, creativity makes a major contribution to attract the wavering attention of the audience;
the writer needs to create something that never existed before.
The capacity to re-experience
Writers must have good memories and ability to recall events. They should be able to live through experiences again
by recalling and painting vivid pictures of what happened before their very eyes. Making use of one’s experience
creatively is what is required of the broadcast writer.
Story telling ability
The broadcast writer needs the ability to tell stories. It is possible to make a dull story interesting once you have the
ability to tell stories. Although not all broadcast scripts require storytelling, drama and other documentaries heavily
depend on storytelling. The writer’s ability to handle these scripts well will also depend on his story telling ability.
Self-evaluation
The broadcast writer needs a gift of self-criticism to be able to measure his or her success objectively and
independently. Writing is an art, which requires the writer to be alone when writing, if a writer does not develop self-
evaluation, he may see nothing wrong with what he writes, even if there are problems with what is written. This can
mar rather than make a writer.
Quiz
What qualities should broadcast writer possess to function well?
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4.0. Writing a Broadcast Copy

4.1. Introduction
- Understanding the news elements helps us know what to emphasize when we put the story together.
- Always start with the most important news element that will capture the most attention from your audience.
- The greatest challenge in writing broadcast copy is getting started. There are times when you will have
difficulty moving your fingers.
- You will find difficulties with frozen brain, fingers, may feel hypnotized by the glow from your computer
screen.
- To break the spell – just type something, the first thing that comes into your mind……it may be good or bad.
- Do not worry for you must get started. As you go on it will get easier
- The first sentence you write works as an opening for your story, or you may need to write a few sentences
before you come up with one that you like. We shall look at how to write an effective opening sentence, or lead,
for a news story.
4.2. Leads
- The LEAD - the sentence that begins the report by summarizing the essence of the story to come.
- The lead is the most important part of a news story because it sets the tone of the story.
- A good lead grabs or hooks the attention of viewers and causes them to need to know more
- The lead should highlight the “news” element
- The hook can be an exciting or dramatic sentence, clever phrase, an intriguing fact or provocative quote
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4.3. The “Five W’s and H Rule”

- Unless the story is a feature, the lead must include an element of news.
- It must begin to address the traditional journalistic concept of discovering information.
- To guarantee that all of the important news elements are reported in a story, it must answer six basic questions:
who, what, where, when, why, and how.
- This rule is referred to as the “five W’s and H rule.”
- Newspaper editors once upon a time expected every lead to answer all the six questions but it is no longer
necessary.
- Broadcasters never follow the rule.
- However, at least one or more of the questions must be answered in the lead of the story for it to be news.
- By the end of the story, most—if not all—of the questions should be answered.
Example:
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell has met with reporters.
- This an example of a non-news lead because it contains no news.
- It can be made news by answering some of the journalistic questions. Why did the chairman meet with
reporters? What did he tell them?
Let us try this:
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, told reporters this morning that the United States would probably continue
to keep troops in Iraq for a number of months.
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- This version does not deal with the 5Ws and H but answers some
- The who is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
- The what is the issue of maintaining troops in Iraq.
- The where is Iraq.
- The when is for a number of months.
- Still unanswered are the why and the how.
- These questions would be answered in the balance of the story—if the answers are available.
- This revised lead is an example of a hard lead.

- Such leads address the most important aspect of a story immediately.
- There are a variety of ways to lead your story, and all of them will be examined in the following sections.
- The decision about which kind of lead to use depends on the nature of the story.
• Is it a feature or breaking news?

• Is the story sad or upbeat?
• Is it about people or an event?
• Is the story about politics, a war, a medical development, or the kidnapping of a child?
• Is the story brand new or a continuing one?
- The lead sentence determines how the rest of the story should be constructed.
a. Hard Leads
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- A hard lead tells the audience the vital details of the story immediately.
- Hard leads are usually used for breaking news:
Example:
1) At least 30 people were injured in the collapse of the building.
2) More than a dozen people were arrested in the drug bust.
3) The government announced today that 150 thousand more Americans were employed in November.
b. Soft Leads
- A soft lead takes a more subtle approach; it alerts the audience to the news that is to follow.
- This approach is sometimes called “warming up” the audience.
The following soft leads could be used for the above stories:
1) A building collapses in Centre City. At least 30 people have been injured.

2) A major drug bust in New York City. More than a dozen people are under arrest.
3) Improvement in the unemployment figures. The government announced that 150 thousand more Americans were
employed in November.
- The soft leads invite the audience to keep listening.

- Notice that two of the example soft leads are not full sentences but phrases that serve the same purpose as
headlines in a print story.
- Soft leads can be helpful to listeners carrying out other tasks or fighting traffic on the way to the office, by
giving them time to shift their attention to the news.
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- Soft leads tend to slow down a newscast, particularly if used too often.
- But used in moderation, soft leads add variety to broadcast copy.
4.4. The “Right” Emotion

- One challenge in writing a lead is deciding on the appropriate emotion, or tone, to express in the story.
- The tone depends mainly on the kind of story you are going to tell.
- For example, if the story is about something amusing, you would establish a lighthearted tone in the lead. Let’s
look at an example:
A Center City schoolteacher got enough kisses today to last—well, maybe not a lifetime, but a few weeks, anyway. Kathy Long
kissed 110 men at the annual fund-raiser for the local zoo. At ten bucks a kiss, Long raised eleven hundred dollars for the zoo, and
when she turned the money over to zoo officials she joked that all the animals were not behind bars.
- Even stories about accidents can sometimes be treated lightly:

“I’ll never drink hot coffee in the car again.” That’s what Tony Nieves said when he left the Center City hospital. This morning,
his car struck a fire hydrant, bounced off a tree and smashed into the window of a flower shop.
Nieves said he had bought a container of coffee at a McDonald’s drive-through, and as he tried to add sugar and cream he lost
control of the car when the hot coffee fell between his legs.
- Stories about tragedies, as you would expect, require a more serious, straight-forward approach:
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It’s now believed that the death toll in the earthquake in Mexico has reached more than 50.
or
At least three people are reported dead in the collision this morning of a half-dozen cars on the freeway.
- Here the writers chose to give just the facts; which creates a quiet tone that underscores the loss of life described
in the stories.
- Every story requires the writer to choose a certain tone, except for features and nonbreaking news stories which
more flexible than does breaking news.
- Some writers are very effective at evoking joy, pathos, and other emotions from an audience through the tone
they create.
- Look, for example, at these leads written by former CNN anchor Reid Collins. His story about the invasion of
Kuwait began:
“A rich little country died at dawn today.”
The Quote Lead
Sometimes a quote, like the “hot coffee” example used earlier, can provide an excellent hook for a story:
“Life is short and life is sweet. So take time to enjoy what you have.” Marine Captain Russell Sanborn says that’s one of the
lessons he learned as a prisoner of war in Iraq. He and some other former P-O-W’s told their stories today at news conferences in
the Washington area. (AP Broadcast Wire)
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“The first thing I’m going to do is quit my job and take a trip around the world.” That’s what lottery winner Bill Turpin said
when he redeemed his ten million dollar winning lottery ticket.
- Use quote leads sparingly - Unless the quote is comparatively short, the listener may miss its connection with
the rest of the story.
The Shotgun Lead
- The shotgun, or umbrella, lead can be effective for combining two or more related stories:
Forest fires continue to roar out of control in California, Oregon, and Washington State. The drought that
has plagued the three states is now in its second month. Fires have scorched more than a million acres of
timberland in California and another half million acres in Oregon and Washington.
- The shotgun lead allows the writer to report the three fires simultaneously instead of reporting the fires in three
separate, back-to-back stories.
Example:
Parliament today is looking at administration proposals that would increase the number of crimes punishable
by the death penalty and make it easier for police to collect evidence.
The writer would then devote a few sentences to each of the parliament recommendations.
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Suspended Lead
- Suspended interest
- Delays the climax or essence of story until end of the lead.
.Example
“A Miritini widow wondered why her dog kept jumping into her bed as she tried to sleep. The reason became clear when she got
up to find a python under her bed.”
Freak Events Lead
- Crazy occurrences are natural material for leads that introduce an unusual story
Example
“At zero degrees, it was a chilling sight to see a Colorado couple in swimsuits at Bear Lake saying their wedding vows. It was
their plan to take a ‘second plunge’ at the conclusion of the ceremony.”
Well-known expressions Leads

- Use sparingly as well since clichés can be trite and uninteresting
“Chicago firemen today learned that you can “teach an old dog new tricks” when they coaxed a German shepherd from a two story
building onto a stretcher below.”
Staccato Leads
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- Sets the tone with a one-two punch that gets the story off the ground
Example
“Rain…then floods, fog, and wind… that is how the day began for the residents of the City of Nairobi.”
Metaphor Leads
- Uses figures of speech that connect us to other aspects of life with which we are familiar
Example
“Mombasa has been anything but the ‘Sunshine City’ for the past week. The entire area is under a severe weather watch and
flooding is expected.”
Literary allusion Leads
- References to fictional or historical characters to begin a story
Example
“Will Rogers said, ‘I never met a man I didn’t like.’ Well, Will Rogers never met…”
Chinua Achebe said, ‘when you see a toad move in broad daylight something is after its life’. William Ruto and Sang, have never
prayed and may never have prayed as they have done over the last seven years.
Parody Leads
A take-off on events and sayings currently in vogue and of widespread interest
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Example
“You’ve heard ‘Let Mike do it?’ Well, two men are resting well tonight because Mike rescued them after a Copper Mountain
avalanche. This was a first for Mike, a St. Bernard pup, owned by one of the men.”
4.5. Updating and Reworking the Lead

- One of the most effective ways to attract and hold listeners is to convince them that the news is fresh.
- There will be days when news is plentiful, but on slow days newswriters need certain skills to make the news
sound exciting and timely.
- One skill is the ability to update leads, which means finding some-thing new to say in stories used in an earlier
newscast.
- Another is the ability to rework the original lead to include new developments.
- For example, take a story about the arrest of a dozen men on narcotics charges.
Police say the men were found in a cocaine “factory” where they were “cutting” more than one hundred million dollars’
worth of cocaine.
First version of the lead:

Police have arrested a dozen men during a raid on a cocaine factory in Mtwapa, Kilifi County. They say the men were cutting
more than 100 million dollars’ worth of cocaine.
An hour later, the lead might say:
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A dozen men are under arrest after police raided a building in Mtwapa town, Kilifi County. Police say the men were cutting more
than 100 million dollars in cocaine.
Still later, the lead might read:
Police are guarding an estimated 100 million dollars in cocaine that they scooped up in a raid on a Mtwapa town building, in
Kilifi County. A dozen men are behind bars in connection with the raid. Police say the men were cutting the cocaine when the raid
took place.
Another possible updated lead might say:
A dozen men are being held for arraignment on narcotics charges following a raid on a Mtwapa town building, in Kilifi County.
Police say they found about 100 million dollars’ worth of cocaine in the building. Police say the men were in the process of cutting
the cocaine when the officers broke into the building.
- As new developments occur in the story, there will be added opportunities to rework the lead.
- Within a few hours, detectives may reveal details about how they found out about the cocaine factory. They
also may give more details about the raid.
Example:
Mombasa County police boss now says that their raid on a cocaine factory that resulted in the arrest of a dozen men came after two
months of surveillance by detectives.
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-You should be able to tell the story many times without making it sound stale.
5.0. Constructing the Rest of the Story

- Once you have the lead of a story, its foundation, you are ready to construct the rest of the story by building on
the lead.
- The audience has been prepared for what is to come. Now you must provide the details in a clear and logical
manner.
- Broadcast news allows to use more than just words to accomplish your goal.
- You can employ sound on radio
- Or use both sound and pictures to help tell the story on television. Those techniques will be examined later.
- For now, let’s just deal with words, returning to the story on General Colin Powell men-tioned earlier in the
chapter. We’ll start with a hard lead:
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell, says U.S. troops will stay in Iraq for a number of
months.
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The listeners now know part of the story. It’s not much, but it is sufficient to grab interest. A general whom they
have come to know over the months is telling them something important: that their sons, daughters, husbands,
wives, and other relatives and friends—at least some of them—are not coming home right away. The audience will
want to hear the general’s explanation:
General Powell says American forces will stay in Iraq to enforce provisions of a pending U.N. cease-fire agreement. He says the
troops would also prevent Iraq from using chemicals and air strikes to defeat rebels trying to overthrow President Saddam
Hussein.
Now the audience knows why troops will remain in Iraq. What it does not know yet is how the troops are going to
prevent Iraq from using chemical weapons and air attacks against the rebels. The next sentence addresses the
question:
General Powell did not explain how U.S. forces would prevent Iraq from using chemicals and air attacks against the rebels.
Once the general made reference to the chemicals and air attacks, the statement had to be explained to the audience
even if the general did not elaborate. Otherwise, the audience might have been asking the question and accusing
the newscaster of withholding the information. What next? Because the third sentence mentions the rebels, that
aspect of the story could be expanded:
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General Powell also said he was surprised by the strength of the revolt against the Saddam regime. He also denied that the U.S.
forces are trying to play a role in influencing the outcome of the rebellion.
The general had much more to say to reporters, and newspapers carried the story in greater detail. But the
broadcast newswriter, who had eight other stories to cover in a three-minute newscast, told the Powell story in just
20 seconds. The essential details were given; nothing vital was left out. This is key to broadcast newswriting:
condense the important material and eliminate the unimportant without distorting the story or the facts.
5.1. Tips for Writing Radio Newscast
- Newscast refers to radio or television broadcast of news.

- Radio news operations keep changing, getting shorter, especially now that people are in a hurry to get the news
and do other things. In order to have a good newscast certain factors should be considered.
Knowledge of the audience
- One of the continuing debate in both print and broadcast news is whether the news should provide the kind of
information that people need to know or the information they want to know.
- Most journalists agree that the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
- People must be informed, but it also makes sense to tailor the news for the audience.
- It is expected that the story selection would be different for news delivered in urban and rural areas.
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- Stories about the weather would be important in farm countries, whereas stories about traffic congestion would
be important in the city.
Organisation of material
- Before radio news producer decides which story should lead the newscast and which story should follow, he
must know what news he has to work with.
- A good way to start is to call the important departments in the area your station is located to see if anything is
going on, then read the newspaper carefully.
Selection of the lead story
- The method for selecting the first story in the newscast the lead story – may sound simple: just pick the most
important story.
- But how do you decide which story is most important?
- Should a local, national, or international story be the lead?
- Does the story affect the local audience in some way?
- The answer to these questions can help in some way?
- The answers to these questions can help you determine which story should lead the newscast.
The rest of the newscast
- You can use the formula you established for choosing the lead story to pick the rest of the stories in the
newscast.
- Once you have selected the lead, determine which of the remaining stories would hold the most interest for
your audience, then the next most interest, and so on.
- The stories would then be broadcast in that order.
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- There are important exceptions to this formula, however, sometimes; it makes sense to place stories back-to-
back because they have something in common.
- For instance, reporting terrorist attack in a particular community may be followed up with a story from the
security agents or the government house on the measures taken.
- This might also be followed by a reaction-type story on the attack from a poll of the community opinion.
Story length
- The length of a story is determined by the length of the news to report.

- The stories may have to be longer than they would be normally.
- If there is a lot of news, most stories should be short to allow sufficient time for the major stories.
Actualities
- The voices of the newsmakers are called actualities or sound bites.

- Actualities are the heart of radio news.
- Colour is often provided by the voices of the people in the story.
- A good writer can tell the story without the actual voice, but he or she faces a great challenge.
- Even the best news writers would tell you that if given a choice, they would rather have the actual sound bite
provide the colour than their paraphrase of what was in the sound bite.
- Regardless of the writer and newscaster’s talent, it’s not possible to capture all of the nuances in a sound bite
with a paraphrase and the newscaster’s voice. Good tape is essential.
Lead-in
- Almost every radio field report is preceded by a studio introduction, read by the newscaster, called a lead-in.
- A lead-in prepares the ground not tell the story.
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- It serves as a perspective funnel, wider at the beginning and narrower at the point immediately before the
reporter’s voicer, wrap, remote, or package.
- It is a place to put story information crucial to the story that would not fit in the field report.
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Wrap around
- The combination of sound and words is known as a wrap around.

- This technique, as the name suggests, uses the voice of the newscaster or reporter at the beginning and end of a
story or report and the voice of the news maker in the middle.
- Wraparounds frequently have more than one sound bite in the middle.
- The anchor or reporter may wrap several different pieces of sound with script.
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Teases
- The short sentences used in a script to hold the audience’s attention just before a commercial break is called
teases.
- The idea of a tease is to give the audience some reason to keep listening, rather than turning the dial.
- This is best accomplished by giving just a hint of what is to come after the commercial. The clearer the tease, the
greater the chance the audience will put up with the commercial.
- If a wraparound were to follow a commercial, this is the way it might be teased:
Inspector General of police promises a crime-free society. The details after this (Then commercial comes in).
- If the news is long enough, or being written for an all-news station, it is effective to tease two or more stories
before going to a commercial.
- Such a tease gives the writer more opportunities to hook listeners. If they are not interested in the first story that
is teased, they might go for the second or third one.
Headlines
- Headlines are another form of tease. Headlines come at the top of a newscast and should reflect the most
interesting and exciting stories to be presented in the upcoming newscast.
Quiz
What factors enhance radio newscast?
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3.3. Radio news script

A radio script generally extends across the page with 1 – inch margins. This gives the announcer the chance to read 1
line for four seconds and about 8 lines for 30 seconds. Because radio does not employ a large control room staff, the
scripts do not need extensive technical information.
Technical information is usually a matter of indicating which CART you will be using, whether or not it is cued, what
the incue and the outcue are, and what the TRT is on the actuality. For example:
BANK
ESTHER 1/1
10/04 6:00am
Central Bank Audits are promising to investigate all banks for charges of fraud.
Some depositors say they are afraid they will lose their money.
(CART # 1F TRT = : 25)
Incue: “we think this is a scandal”
Outcue: “…are prepared for anything.”
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Officials of the Central Bank of Kenya say investigations begins as early as this Tuesday.
=#=
- The script opens with the slug (BANK) and (ESTHER) the name of the reporter or writer.
- Then the date and time of broadcast.
- This is followed by the first paragraph that is the lead, read by the newscaster.
- Notice that after the introduction of the second paragraph, an actuality or sound bite comes in – (CART # IF
TRT =:25)
- CART means the cartridges on which the actuality is recorded and which will be inserted into a radio newscast.
- The letters after CART, i.e. 1F refers to the number given to the CART for identification –
- TRT stands for total tape running time. It is used for the tape only, not the news copy.
- Incue is a phrase written to tell the man in the control room at what point in the CART to play. It usually
includes the first four or five words of the bite.
- While the Outcue usually includes the last four or five words of an actuality. This helps the director know when
to cue the newscaster to resume reading.
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3.4 Writing for the TV Newscast
- The major difference between radio and TV news is the use of pictures.
- When you write for television, pictures are always crucial to a story.
- In radio, you must create mental pictures in the audience minds and then find the words to paint those mental
pictures.
- In television, you can show the actual pictures.
Some of the considerations in writing for TV newscast include:
Combining words and pictures
- The battle over which are more important in television news –words or the pictures – is endless.
- There is no doubt that words are vital and that some broadcast writers use them more effectively than others.
- Great pictures and great words make great television news.
- The beauty of good pictures is that they do not need a lot of words – just some good ones.
- The challenge for TV writers is to avoid clashes with the video.
- Do not tell viewers what they are seeing. Instead, support the video by saying what the video does not or
cannot reveal.
- Fill in the blanks, but do not over power the video.
- Give your viewers time to savour the pictures.
Sound bites
- As in radio, sound bites, the words of newsmakers, are key to telling a good TV news story.
- An advantage for TV writers is that TV sound bites feature the faces of the newsmakers as well as their voices.
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- Good TV news writers weave their copy between and around the sound bites, much in the way that radio
writers create wraparounds.
- This combination, called a package, is the best way to tell a news story on television.
The television news writer
- In television, as in radio, a writer’s duties depend on the size of the newsroom.

- For small newsroom, fewer writers are needed but in a large newsroom a big market and at the networks,
several writers and, perhaps, associate producers who also write are required.
- Television news writers have three basic writing tasks:
- prepare stories that are read by the newscasters only;
- prepare voice-overs, that is copy that the newscaster reads while video or other graphics are shown and
- lead-ins, that is the information the newscaster give before the voice of the newsmakers in the middle of the
story.
Headlines and teases
- Depending on the size of the news operation, headlines and teases usually are turned out by the writer, the
editor, or the producer.
- As always, the major difference between headlines for television and those for radio is that headlines and teases
on television are normally supported with pictures.
- Most television stations present headlines with flashes of video.
Here’s a sample of how a television newsroom scripts headlines should be:
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(LLOYD) SHEILA
V/O #5 (JTF with Coming up on CTV at nine
arms beside bomb- Joint Task Force intercept bomb-laden car in Mandera.
laden car)
RUNS: 04 LLOYD
WIPE TO V/O #3 Police arrest two suspected suicide bombers; discover
(POLICEMEN IN bomb factories in Mikindani.
FRONT OF A
BUILDING)
RUNS: 04 SHEILA
WIPE TO V/O #2 Uhuru mourns the death of Ndolo Ayah
(PHOTOGRAPH OF
PRIME MINISTER)
RUNS: 03 SHEILA
O/C SHEILA Good evening, I am SHEILA ADWAR
LLOYD
And I’m LLOYD AYAGO
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- In the left column, SHEILA indicates that one newscaster reads the opening line of the newscast and the first
headline, while (LLOYD) – note the parentheses – indicates that the other anchor is also on camera, both
newscasters quickly disappear from the screen, but LLOYD is heard reading the first headline over video
showing the JTF beside the bomb-laden car.
- The video runs about 4 seconds.
- After the first headline, the video wipes to a shot of police men in front of a building while LLOYD reads that
headline.
- The second voice-over also runs for four seconds.
- The video wipes a third time to a three-second shot of photograph of prime minister.
- SHEILA reads that headline, as indicated, over the video.
- Then both newscasters return on camera as SHEILA says “good evening” and identifies himself. LLOYD does
the same.
- The numbers next to the voice-over symbols indicate which playback machines will be used in the control
room, information that is vital to the director.
- If the director or the assistant calls for the wrong machine, the wrong video would appear, and the newscast
would get off to a confusing start.
- Some stations give numbers to the tapes instead of the machines. In that case, the tape numbers would be
placed on the scripts so that the director could call for the proper one.
Quiz
What are the requirements for preparing television newscast?
3.5 Broadcast News Copy Format
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- Broadcast news copy format vary from station to station, newscaster to newscaster.
- While some want it double-spaced, others prefer it triple-spaced. Here are some elements that are common to in
every broadcast script format.
• The story slug
- Every story on both radio and television carries a single word identifier known as the slug.
- Its purpose is to standardise the identification of the story.
- The slug stays the same through the entire day, ending up as the newscast ends.
- The slug should be a single word that relates to the topic. For example, in a story about Central Bank of Kenya
action on banking, you might use “BANK”,
-
• The header
- A header refers to some basic information right on the top of the page. This includes the slug, the writer’s name
or initials, the date and time of broadcast.
- The header provides an easy means of identifying the story itself and who wrote it in case something about the
story is questioned or another reporter needs additional information and must talk with the writer.
- The exact location of the header varies from station to station. Some stations put the slug items on separate
lines, flush against the left margin, e.g.
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MOMBASA
SHARON
23/08 5:00pm
Yet some stations put it across the top line for example
MOMBASA SHARON 23/08 5: 00pm
4.0. Television News Scripts
- Television scripts differ from radio scripts because they contain both the newscaster’s words and an explanation
of how the video is to be used.
- The format for a TV script is known as the split page.
- The split page is divided vertically so that about 60 percent of the page is in the right column and about 40
percent is in the left.
- Most TV stations now provide their staff with computers to write their scripts, which are often sent
electronically to the teleprompters.
- However, typewriters are still used at some stations.
- The right side of the split page is reserved for the copy that will be read by the newscaster, while the left side of
the script contains information relating to the slug, the video, the audio instructions and tape times for the
director.
- Because of the limited space on the left side of the script, acronyms are used for the various technical
instructions.
-
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Common TV Script Acronyms
1. O/C “on camera”, tells the director that at this point in the script the newscaster will be on camera.
2. V/O, “voice – over”, means the newscaster is reading copy while the audience is seeing something else, such as silent
videotape or graphics.
3. SIL indicates “silent” videotape and is used in combination with the V/O symbol.
4. SOT, “sound on tape”, it could be a sound bite with a news maker or a report from the field that was taped earlier.
5. NAT SOUND UNDER – it means that the tape sound should be kept at a loud level.
6. CG – ‘Character Generated’ – This indicated that names, titles and other information are superimposed over video or graphics
to identify newsmakers, locations, and various other pictures appearing on TV screens.
7. REMOTE – where this is a line shot. A remote is a production outside of the studio to televise live and or live-record a large
scheduled event that has not been staged specifically for television. Examples include sporting events, parades, political
gatherings, and studio shows that are taken on the road.
8. TRT – Total tape running time.
9. SL, ESS, or ADDA Indicate that pictures or graphics of some sort will be shown next to the newscaster. SL stands for “slide”,
ESS refers to Electronic Still Storage, an electronic graphics and video computer system; ADDA is the name of a computer system
that also provides electronic storage. If the word box appears next to any of these abbreviations, the graphic will be enclosed in a
box next to the anchor, rather than fill the entire screen.
10. Camera shots may also be indicated – CU, LS, MS, MCU, etc. CU means close-up, LS means long shot, MS means medium
shot (between close-up and long shot), MCU means medium close-up.
Quiz
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i. Read the front page of a newspaper and decide which of the stories you would lead within a newscast.
ii. What is the major difference between writing for radio and writing for television?
ASSIGNMENT
Bearing in mind the writing style for broadcast news, take five stories from a newspaper and rewrite them to be read
on radio as a news bulletin. Take note of the organization and technicalities involved in radio news writing.
LECTURE 5
Story Structure
- You have several options when it comes to the structure of your story.
- You can choose a chronological order, where you present the key events in your story as they occurred.
- It is more likely, though, that you will use one of the three traditional news forms:
• Inverted pyramid
• The narrative structure
• The hourglass.
Inverted Pyramid
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- The most popular structure for news stories is the inverted pyramid.
- In the inverted pyramid, the information is arranged in descending order of importance.
- The most important material is placed at the beginning of the story, and less important material follows.
- The inverted pyramid format turns traditional storytelling on its head. In a short story or novel, the most
important moment – the climax - typically comes near the very end. But in news writing the most important
moment is right at the start
- Succeeding paragraphs explain and support the lead.
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Inverted Pyramid: Origin

- The format was developed during the Civil War.
- Newspaper correspondents covering that war’s great battles relied on telegraph machines to transmit
their stories back to their newspapers’ offices.
- But often saboteurs would cut the telegraph lines, so reporters learned to transmit the most important
information – France defeats Germany, for instance – at the very start of the transmission to make sure
it got through successfully.
- The news writing format developed then has served
reporters well ever since
An Example
Let’s say you’re writing a story about a fire in which two people are
killed and their house is burned down.
In your reporting you’ve gathered a lot of details including the victims’
names, The address of their home, what time the blaze broke out, etc.
72 | P a g e
An Example Cont’d…
- Obviously the most important information is the fact that two people died in the fire. That’s what you
want at the top of your story.
- Other details – the names of the deceased, the address of their home, when the fire occurred – should
certainly be included. But they should be placed lower down in the story, not at the very top.
- And the least important information - things like what the weather was like at the time, or the color of the
home - should be at the very bottom of the story.
Inverted Pyramid- Advantages
- The inverted pyramid is popular because it still serves readers well by telling them quickly what
happened.
- It tells them quickly what they want to know.
- It also serves the reporter by forcing them to sharpen their news judgment, to identify and rank the most
important elements of the story. i.e It forces the reporter to identify key elements in the story
Inverted Pyramid Disadvantages
- Although it delivers the most important news first, it does not encourage good writing
- Many times stories do not have an ending crafted by the writer; they simply end
- There is no suspense.
- Reporters tend to lose interest, time and energy.
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- Writing in the second half of the story is casual at best, and poor at worst.
Narrative Structure
- One alternative to the inverted pyramid is narration or storytelling.
- Narration uses scenes, anecdotes and dialogue to build to a climax.
- People are prominent in the story, and they are responsible for the action.
- The story has a beginning, middle and end.
- Quotations sound like real speech.
- The words and actions of the characters reveal motives.
Narrative structure
- A story or a narrative is an account of events. But it is not just any sort of account of any events. It is a
selection and ordering of events into a meaningful pattern. More simply put, narrative structure is about
the ways in which a story has been structured or put together.
- It is consequential sequence of events. Its typical structure begins with a setting of the scene and
introduction of characters in an initial situation, a state of relative equilibrium.
- It then proceeds to a disruption of this equilibrium, with the emergence of some sort of catalyst for the
eruption of tension, conflict, misunderstanding, contradiction, mystery or loss.
- There follows an exploration of the causes, implications or consequences. Then come various attempts at
resolution, which build toward a climax, a high point of tension, bringing revelation or catharsis.
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- It ends with a resolution in a new state of relative equilibrium.
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Hourglass Structure
- What if you have news to break – but also a great story to tell?
- This combines some of the best elements of both the inverted pyramid and the narrative
- It consists of three parts: a top, which tells the news quickly; the turn, a nimble transition; and the narrative,
a chronological retelling of events.
- The hourglass works well with police stories, courtroom dramas and other incidents that lend themselves to
chronological narration.
76 | P a g e
Dr. V.L. Lutsili
Writing for Electronic Media
77 | P a g e
THE TOP
- Here you deliver the news in a summary lead, followed by three or four
paragraphs that answer the reader’s most pressing questions.
- In the top you give the basic news, enough to satisfy a time-pressed reader.
You report the story in its most concise form.
- If all that is read is the top, the reader is still informed. Because it’s limited to
four to six paragraphs, the top of the story should contain only the most
significant information.
THE TURN
- THE TURN: The transition is short, alerting the reader that the news report is
shifting to storytelling form and indicating the sources for the chronicle to
come.
- Here you signal the reader that a narrative, usually chronological, is beginning.
- Usually, the turn is a transitional phrase that contains attribution for the
narrative that follows: according to police, eyewitnesses described the event
this way, the shooting unfolded this way, law enforcement sources and
neighbours agree.
BEHIND THE HOURGLASS
- In the top globe, break your news in inverted-pyramid form with the most
important information coming first, followed by other highlights.
- In the bottom globe, tell your story in narrative form, from beginning to middle
to end.
- This is a good form for any news story that can get readers to ask those great
narrative questions: How did that happen? What happened next?
- Lots of crime stories look good in hourglass form, but any story with a cause
and effect, or a complication and resolution, works: rescue stories, accident
stories, journeys, quests and many others.
The Hourglass: Advantages

- Readers get the news high in the story
- The hourglass is a form that satisfies editors who prefer a traditional approach
to news writing as well as impatient readers who tire easily of leisurely
approaches to stories that take forever to get to the point.
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- Readers who want a more complete story, who like to see a story unfold as
they read it, are happy as well.
- The hourglass serves readers’ need for news and their natural desire for story.
- The writer gets to use storytelling techniques,
- It encourages a real ending.
Story Structuring
- Learning how to properly structure a news story is one first steps to landing
and maintaining a job. Every story should have a clear structure that provides
convenience for the reader.
- The very first sentence or paragraph of your story is called the lead, and should
contain the single most important piece of information.
- Leads can often make or break a story, so must be done right. Think of the lead
as being the one sentence you would write if you could only write one sentence
for the entire story.
- Within the next few paragraphs should come the details. This is where most of
the sources, quotes and statistics should go. This is the part of the story where
the reader learns about the entire situation surrounding your story, not just the
basics of what happened.
- Once all of the necessary details are included, stop writing. News stories
typically do not have endings like feature articles or novels do. Keep it as short
as possible unless absolutely necessary
FURTHER READING
Hewitt, J. (1995). Air Words, Writing for Broadcast News. (2nd ed.). London: Mayfield
Publishing Company.
White, T. (1996). Broadcast News Writing, Reporting and Producing. (2nd ed.). Boston:
Focal Press.
Willis, E. (1967). Writing Television and Radio Programmes. London: Holf, Reinhard
and Nintson Inc.
79 | P a g e

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4/1/2021

Writing for Eletronic

- it must interest a considerable number of people (news values).

3.3. What is Newsworthy?

e) Is the story relevant?

- Information that is relevant or connects to people in some way is newsworthy.

- The broadcast media are the “now” media.

- Broadcast news should have audio-visual impact.

- Broadcasting more often attempts to tell the news through people.

- One constant with broadcasting is its sense of immediacy - “newness”.

- The progressive form usually indicates continuing action.

- When it is imperative to use past tense, broadcasters don’t hesitate.

- Broadcast news would have it as:

2.1. What is News?

The news criteria include:

 Stories that are interesting (know your viewers)

iii. Accuracy is getting it right.

Focus is the angle of a story.

A focus statement is a simple sentence that contains three elements:

Elements of a good Focus Statement

- each contains cause and effect

2.2. POINT- OF- VIEW (POV) and TONE

3.0. Research for Facts

Some tips in developing story ideas

 look towards the future

3.2 Methods of News Gathering

“When will work begin on the new hospital at Nyerere Road?

iv. Preparing a Beat

• Who wields power in the town?

3.3 Sources of News

a) The physical sources

b) The human sources

- The reporter is a major source of news through observation.

What are the sources of news?

LECTURE 3,4 and 5

- Writing for the broadcast media means writing for speech.

2.0 learning objectives

3.1 Writing Style

• Use of conversational style

• Avoid direct quotes

 use present tense

3.2 Qualities of a Broadcast Writer

4.0. Writing a Broadcast Copy

4.3. The “Five W’s and H Rule”

- This revised lead is an example of a hard lead.

• Is it a feature or breaking news?

1) A building collapses in Centre City. At least 30 people have been injured.

- The soft leads invite the audience to keep listening.

4.4. The “Right” Emotion

- Even stories about accidents can sometimes be treated lightly:

The Shotgun Lead

Well-known expressions Leads

4.5. Updating and Reworking the Lead

First version of the lead:

Still later, the lead might read:

5.0. Constructing the Rest of the Story

- You can employ sound on radio

5.1. Tips for Writing Radio Newscast

- Newscast refers to radio or television broadcast of news.

Knowledge of the audience

- The length of a story is determined by the length of the news to report.

- The voices of the newsmakers are called actualities or sound bites.