Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook, 5th Edition

Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook, 5th Edition

by Robert A. Papper
Released July 2015
Publisher(s): Focal Press
ISBN: 9781317349754

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Book description

Updated in its 5th edition, Papper's Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook is the first and most widely used handbook in broadcast news. This book clearly and concisely outlines the rules of broadcast news writing, reporting, grammar, style, and usage. With chapter-by-chapter coverage of story types, from business stories to crime and legal reporting, education, government, health, the environment, weather, and sports, the Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook lays out the particular demands of composition, form, style, and usage in all the diverse areas of broadcast news. Because the news business has changed -- and continues to evolve -- so has this text.Written by the person who has overseen the major industry research for the past 18 years, the latest edition looks into the future of news by exploring the business of news. Citing the latest data and trends, the book takes a hard look at where the industry stands and where it appears to be headed.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Table of Contents
  5. New to This Edition
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. 1 The Business of News
    1. Ratings
    2. The Scope of Media Use
    3. Media Use Is More Complex Than It Used to Be
    4. It's Hard to Measure Media Use
    5. What We Think We Know About Media Use
    6. What We Don't Know About Media Use
    7. So Where Are We Going?
    8. Summary
    9. Key Words & Phrases
    10. Exercises
  8. 2 News
    1. What Is News?
    2. Balancing News Values
    3. Types of Stories
      1. Breaking News
      2. Planned Event Reporting
      3. Enterprise Reporting
      4. Investigative Reporting
      5. Special Segment Reporting
      6. Features
    4. Where Story Ideas Come From
    5. The Assignment Desk
    6. The Morning and Afternoon Meetings
    7. Summary
    8. Key Words & Phrases
    9. Exercises
  9. 3 Readability
    1. Broadcast News Writing
    2. Writing for the Ear v. Writing for the Eye
    3. Rules of Readability
      1. Newsroom Computer System
      2. The Slug
      3. The Printed Word
      4. Hyphenation
      5. Abbreviation
      6. Symbols
      7. Initials and Acronyms
      8. Names
      9. Numbers
      10. Ages
      11. Emphasis
      12. Pronouncers
      13. Spelling
    4. Summary
    5. Key Words & Phrases
    6. Exercises
  10. 4 Words
    1. Keep It Simple
    2. Keep It Conversational
      1. Informal Words
      2. Contractions
      3. Formal Terminology
      4. People … Not Persons
    3. Keep It Clear
      1. Common Usage
      2. Technical Terms
      3. Definite and Indefinite Articles
    4. Keep It Tight
    5. Make It Powerful
      1. Use Strong Nouns and Verbs
      2. Avoid Weak Qualifiers
    6. Get It Right
      1. Says
      2. Saying Too Much
      3. Think
    7. Common Problems
    8. Summary
    9. Key Words & Phrases
    10. Exercises
  11. 5 Phrases and Phrasing
    1. How to Say It
      1. Voice
      2. Tense
      3. Clarity
      4. Conciseness
      5. Clauses and Phrases
      6. Positive Phrasing
      7. Pronouns
      8. That
      9. Time and Space Problems
    2. What to Say
      1. Titles and Identifiers
      2. Attribution
      3. Quotations
      4. Numbers
      5. Race
    3. What You Didn't Mean to Say
      1. Dates
      2. Unintended Meanings
      3. Editorials
      4. Clichés
      5. Sexism
      6. Personalization
    4. Last Note
    5. Summary
    6. Key Words & Phrases
    7. Exercises
  12. 6 Sentences
    1. Keep It Short
      1. One Important Idea
      2. Put People First
      3. Keep It Simple: Subject-Verb-Object
      4. Use Some Variety for Interest
      5. Split Up Complex Sentences
    2. Make It Clean, Clear and Concise
      1. Make Every Sentence Count
      2. Avoid Repetition
      3. Stay Positive
      4. Make Sense
      5. End Strong
    3. Last Note
    4. Summary
    5. Key Words & Phrases
    6. Exercises
  13. 7 Leads and Endings
    1. Types of Leads
      1. Hard Main Point Lead
      2. Soft Main Point Lead
      3. Throwaway Lead
      4. Umbrella Lead
      5. Delayed or Suspense Lead
      6. Question Lead
    2. Figuring Out the Lead
      1. What's the Story About?
      2. Say Something Meaningful
      3. Keep It Simple
      4. Start with New News
      5. Focus on People
      6. Focus on Local
      7. Put Location in the Lead
      8. Be Direct and to the Point
      9. Save the Name for Later
      10. Save the Day and Date for Later
      11. Update Leads
      12. Responsibility
    3. Types of Endings
      1. Future Ramification Close
      2. Summary Point Close
      3. Information Close
      4. Opposition Point of View Close
      5. Punch Line
    4. Summary
    5. Key Words & Phrases
    6. Exercises
  14. 8 Stories
    1. Plan and Focus
      1. Why Run the Story?
      2. Do You Understand?
      3. What's the Story About?
      4. What's the Lead?
      5. In What Order Do You Tell the Story?
    2. Story Logic
      1. Handling the Basics
      2. Will It Stand on Its Own?
      3. Answer the Logical Questions
    3. Story Structure
      1. Make the Writing Structure Interesting
    4. Transitions
      1. Within Stories
      2. Between Stories
    5. Before You're Done
      1. Does the Story Support the Lead?
      2. Will the Audience Understand?
      3. Use Humor Sparingly
      4. Read the Story Aloud
    6. Summary
    7. Key Words & Phrases
    8. Exercises
  15. 9 Working with and Gathering Bites, Actualities and Natural Sound
    1. The Feel of Natural Sound
      1. Natural Sound as Pacing and Punctuation
    2. Collecting Sound
      1. Good Bites and Bad Bites: Technical
      2. Good Bites and Bad Bites: Content
      3. An Alternative to Traditional Bites
    3. Working with Bites, Actualities and Natural Sound
      1. Don't Stop the Story
      2. Don't Repeat
      3. Watch Out for Partial Lead-Ins
      4. Making the Story Flow
      5. Finding the Lead-In
      6. Television Lead-Ins
      7. Writing Out of Bites
    4. Packages
      1. Writing into Packages
      2. Introducing a Package That Starts with a Bite
      3. Understand Where the Story Begins
      4. Package Tags
    5. Summary
    6. Key Words & Phrases
    7. Exercises
  16. 10 Interviewing
    1. Conducting Successful Interviews
      1. Plan
      2. Listen
      3. Technical Concerns
      4. Make the Interviewee Comfortable
      5. Ask Questions That Deliver What You're After
      6. Use Silence
      7. Maintain Strong Eye Contact
      8. Learn to Respond Inaudibly
      9. Follow Up and Clarify
      10. Maintain Control
      11. Ask for More … Twice
      12. Make Notes Afterward
    2. Beyond the Interview
      1. Being Human
      2. A Closing Thought
    3. Summary
    4. Key Words & Phrases
    5. Exercises
  17. 11 Radio/Audio: Story Forms and Working with Sound
    1. Radio Story Forms
    2. Drawing Radio Pictures
      1. The Words
      2. Using Nat Sound
      3. Listen to the Sound Quality
      4. Putting It All Together
    3. Summary
    4. Key Words & Phrases
    5. Exercises
  18. 12 TV: Story Forms
    1. Story Forms
      1. Readers
      2. Voiceovers
      3. VO/SOT
      4. Packages
      5. Live
    2. Putting Packages Together
      1. Pacing
      2. Don't Outdate Packages
    3. Live Reporting
      1. Planning
      2. Crosstalk
      3. Live Look
    4. Golden Rules
    5. Summary
    6. Key Words & Phrases
    7. Exercises
  19. 13 TV: Working with Pictures
    1. The Power of the Visual Image
      1. Working with Strong Pictures
      2. Working Without Strong Pictures
    2. The TV Balancing Act
      1. Use Pictures and Words for What They Do Best
      2. Use Natural Sound and SOT
      3. Write TV Loosely
      4. Coordinate Words and Pictures
      5. Visualizing the Story
    3. Picture Cautions
      1. Use Meaningful Pictures
      2. Today's Pictures
      3. Watch Your Supers
    4. Care About the Story
    5. Strong Stories Have Central Characters and a Plot
    6. Prove Your Story
    7. The Element of Surprise
    8. Connecting with Truths
    9. Summary
    10. Key Words & Phrases
    11. Exercises
  20. 14 Online News
    1. Some Basic Terms and Concerns
    2. Research and the Web
    3. The Information Website
      1. Web Design
      2. News on the Web
      3. Constructing Web News
      4. Online Writing Rules
      5. Other Issues
    4. Hyperlocal News
    5. Multimedia
    6. Three-Screen Approach to News
    7. Summary
    8. Key Words & Phrases
    9. Exercises
  21. 15 Social Media and News
    1. Social Networking
    2. Facebook
    3. Twitter
    4. The Bottom Line
    5. Summary
    6. Key Words & Phrases
    7. Exercises
    8. The Radio-Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Social Media and Blogging Guidelines
  22. 16 Convergence, Cooperation and the New TV Newsroom
    1. The New TV Newsroom
    2. Convergence
    3. Cooperation
    4. Mobile
    5. MMJ, Backpack Journalists and One-Man-Bands
    6. Summary
    7. Key Words & Phrases
    8. Exercises
  23. 17 Producing News on TV
    1. Overview
    2. Audience
      1. Audience Flow
    3. Newscast Structure
      1. News, Weather and Sports
      2. Special Segments, Franchises and Features
    4. Building a Local Newscast
    5. Summary
    6. Key Words & Phrases
    7. Exercises
  24. 18 News, Weather and Sports
    1. Why News, Weather and Sports?
    2. Reporting Weather
      1. Severe Weather
    3. Defining Terms
    4. Reporting Sports
      1. Reporting Scores
      2. Common Mistakes
    5. Sports and Teams
      1. Auto Racing
      2. Baseball—Major Leagues
      3. Basketball-National Basketball Association
      4. Basketball—Women's National Basketball Association
      5. Boxing
      6. Football—National Football League
      7. Football—Arena Football League
      8. Football—Canadian Football League
      9. Golf
      10. Hockey—National Hockey League
      11. Soccer—Major League Soccer
    6. 19 Reporting: Seasonal Coverage and the Calendar
    7. Seasonal Reporting
    8. Solar and Lunar and the World's Major Religions
    9. Calendar Holidays
      1. Buddhist Holidays
      2. Hindu Holidays
      3. Muslim Holidays
    10. State Holidays
  25. 20 Reporting: Specialized Coverage
    1. The General Assignment Reporter
    2. Business, Economy and Taxes
      1. Top Money Terms
    3. Crime and Legal
      1. Attribution
      2. Alleged
      3. Misplaced Attribution
      4. Cautions
      5. Get the Terms Right
      6. Top Crime and Legal Terms
    4. Education
      1. Top Education Terms
    5. The Environment
      1. Top Environment Terms
    6. Geography
      1. Major U.S. Geographic Terms
      2. Voice of America Pronunciation Guide
      3. Major World Geographic Terms
    7. Government
      1. Top Government Terms
    8. Health and Medicine
      1. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
      2. HIPAA
      3. Hospital Conditions
    9. Top Health and Medical Terms
  26. 21 Teases and Promos
    1. Promotion
    2. Tease … Don't Tell
    3. Make Them Care
    4. Going Too Far
    5. Summary
    6. Key Words & Phrases
  27. 22 Ethics and the RTDNA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
    1. Ethics
    2. The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
    3. Summary
  28. 23 TV Script Form, Supers and Glossary
    1. Abbreviations
    2. Script Form
      1. Standard Anchor Read
      2. Standard 2-Shot
      3. Standard Anchor Read with Gfx
      4. Anchor with Voiceover
      5. Anchor with VO/SOT
      6. Anchor VO/SOT with Package Intro
    3. Supers
      1. Names
      2. Location, Date and Miscellaneous
    4. Glossary of Broadcast and Online Terms
  29. Index

Product information

  • Title: Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook, 5th Edition
  • Author(s): Robert A. Papper
  • Release date: July 2015
  • Publisher(s): Focal Press
  • ISBN: 9781317349754