CHAPTER – 4

WRITING TECHNIQUES FOR A TV NEWS STORY

Just as radio-news writing evolved from newspaper writing, so television news writing
evolved from radio-news. If a television news item has no pictures, the story is ‘dry’ and the
news reader is “in vision” or “on camera”. Such stories are not different from radio-news
items. But in case of visuals things change. The basic and most essential principle is that the
words and pictures should go together; the news copy should match the picture. And
therefore, the news writer in television must see the visual input of the ENG (Electronic News
Gathering) with the picture editor and the final edited version before writing the story. He
must also have the shot list of the finally edited version to time his words accordingly.

The television news writer has to make sure that he uses words to tell the story with the help
of visuals. Depending upon the duration and content of the various shots he can write the
story taking three words a second as a general guideline for time calculation. This does not
mean that he should cram the script with details while the visual is being shown and thus, 30
seconds would mean 90 words. A television news writer must remember that the pictures also
communicate and a picture is said to be equal to a thousand words. Words should be used to
help the picture communicate, for example, a person or object in medium shot or close-up
must be identified the first time he/it appears on the screen so that the viewer is not left to
wonder who/what he is looking at.

The news script should supplement the picture giving additional relevant information. It
should not, however, repeat in detail what the viewer can see or hear for himself. Similarly,
there is no point in giving details of something which the viewer is not able to see. The best
script is the one which uses minimum words but with the pictures has the maximum impact.

There are some common pitfalls that a television news writer should avoid. Firstly, to
introduce a visual input he should not use phrases like, “Here we have.”, “We are looking
at…” ; or “Here is…” Even the slightest difference in timings may become highly
embarrassing. Words like, “The Prime Minister has this to say.”; “he added.”; or “Watch this
scene.” should be avoided as they are redundant and insult the intelligence of the viewer, after
all he is clearly seeing or listening to what is being presented.

Obsession with the inverted pyramid style of news writing which is a rule in newspaper
journalism creates problems in television news writing. Many who come to television from
the newspapers suffer from the disease. In television one is in the “story telling mode”. The
scriptwriter seems to be talking to the viewer and telling them the news. In television, a
writer’s story is generally not shortened from the production team for want of space. It usually
goes as it is. If there is a very important development, the story may be crowded out
completely to accommodate the new development or just the intro of the story may be read
out by the presenter.

Thus, the best way to write a television story is to make sure that the introduction is the
microcosm of the story and can stand without the visual. After the lead or the intro, the
television news story should be in chronological order. It should be interesting and devoid of
unrelated details and be in conversational language. The copy preceding the video-tape should
set up and indicate the overall content of the tape but should not have the words that are
coming on tape. The writer is presenting the story and not presenting the proof of what he has
said in the news item.

The television news writer and the bulletin editor should keep in mind why viewers switch on
the news on television in the first place. They do not watch television only to get the latest
news, radio perhaps does it better. They also do not watch television to get all the news local,
national and international since the newspaper does that well. Similarly, they do not see
television news for depth of coverage or analysis because a news magazine can do that better.
Television viewers prefer the newscasts because they are taken to the scenes of action and
shown what is happening or what has happened recently. Well-presented stories on television
should therefore be able to move the viewer more deeply than radio or newspaper. The power
of television lies in its appeal to the two human senses of sight and hearing and therefore a
television news writer must use both in coordination to tell the story. The script and the tape
should go together and not against each other.

The news writer should take into account possible use of captions: stills, charts, graphs, maps,
the like to help communicate the content of the story effectively to the audience. While using
these visual aids the news writer should be in constant touch with the graphic artist or caption
designer and should make sure that he has what he wants. All networks can cite a faux
pas/where a wrong still or graphic spoilt the show. Doordarshan once showed a photograph of
a living Member of Parliament while reporting the death of another. The correct picture was
selected from a Lok Sabha publication and passed on to the graphics department for mounting
it on a caption card. On the other side of the page, was a photograph of another MP who
looked older than the one who died. The man who finally mounted the photograph on the
caption card took this into account and corrected God’s ‘mistake’ leading to a disaster in the
bulletin.

TERMINOLOGY USED IN TELEVISION NEWS WRITING

 Like newspaper and other forms of media, TV news writing has its own terminologies. For a
scriptwriter, it becomes important to be aware of these terms as they are widely used in the
industry.

 Slug line, date, location, time of telecast and name of reporter:

Slug lines become important in scripts as they give identification to a particular news report.
Slugs are normally written on the right side of the copy.
Example of a slug line: Uttarakhand Rain Floods, Uttarkashi, 20/06/2013, 4 PM, Sneha Roy.
 Anchor lead:
The lead in TV news is generally read by the anchor in the studio. The rest of the visual story
usually follows the anchor lead.
 Sound bite (SB):
The actual portion of an interview with the people is called as the sound bite. When a sound
bite is used in the script the exact time code (TC, the reading on the tape) is given along with
the name of the person and their designation. Generally sound bites range between 20 seconds
to a minute depending on the importance of the person and the story.
For example: SB-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Actress, India (TC: 05:00-05:30)
 Time code (TC):
Time code is a numeric code burnt into the video tape which helps in identifying each
moment in terms of hours, minutes, seconds and frames. It can be seen when the tape is
logged into the player/recorder. Time codes of sound bites and visuals should be listed on the
left hand column of the script to make it convenient during editing.
 Stand up or Piece to Camera (PTC):
Piece to Camera provides the occasion for the reporter to present real information and insight
or to demonstrate how a complex process or technology works. PTCs allow reporters to
establish credibility in front of their viewers and back the news with authority. Piece to
Camera can in between the story, at the end, or at regular intervals in a lengthier story.
Though most commonly, Piece to Camera come at the end of the script.
 Vox pop:
Vox pop is short for Vox-Populi. In broadcast news, vox pop is used in reports where matters
concerning general public are discussed. For example, a channel might telecast a series of
quick responses on whether reservations for SC/ST candidates should exceed by 10 per cent.
They are used one after another in bunches of 5-10 with usually some for and some against
the issue.
 Anchor tag/Sign off:
Many times there is more information gathered on the location that can be worked into the
report. This extra information can be used in anchor tag, which essentially means giving
control of the newscast back to the anchor or to sign off.
 For example: ‘With Aishwarya Rai Bachchan saying that she wants to fully enjoy the special
feeling of motherhood and not pay any attention to her increasing body weight, the question
that arises is whether Aishwarya has forgotten her responsibilities as a star? This question will
only be answered when Aishwarya decides come out of her motherhood phase. Sneha Roy,
ZOOM TV, Mumbai.’

DIFFERENT TYPES OF TV NEWS SCRIPTS

 News Item:
This kind of script does not give any video support. The entire news script is read by the
anchor. This script is usually short than any other type of script format lasting for about 30
seconds only. Producers allow the news item only if the content of the story is very important.
 Silent:
This news script has a portion of the script containing a video support but only the voice of
the reader/anchor can be heard. The entire script is read by the anchor and the duration of
such a script is usually of less than 1 minute. Silent script is adopted when file video are being
used.
 Sound on Tape (SOT):
Sound on Tape refers to voice clips taken in interviews. In a sound on tape script the entire
script is read by the anchor but does not contain any video support. The anchor has to pause to
play the sound on tape at any portion of the script. This type of script generally comes to use
when no video footage relating to the news story can be found.
 Silent Sound on Tape (SILSOT):
This news script has a combination of Silent and Sound on tape script formats. The script
contains video support and a sound on tape is inserted at particular points in the script. The
duration of the script is of less than a minute and is used when file video support is used but
with a fresh sound on tape.
 Natural Sound on the Tape (NATSOT):
This particular script has a video support along with the natural sound on the video/tape which
can be heard in the background while the anchor is narrating the story. The entire script is
read by the anchor and as in the silent script, the duration of NATSOT is of less than 1
minute. This news script is adopted when a writer wants to emphasize natural sound like fire
incident.
 Natural Sound on Tape Sot:
This type of script has a combination of NATSOT and SOT scripts. The entire script is read
by the anchor and the script contains video support with natural sound, however, at some
point a sound on tape is inserted within the script. The duration of the script is less than a
minute and is used when natural sounds needs to be emphasized.
 Voiceover (V.O):
Voiceovers are the most common of news script formats where a reporter delivers the main
content of the news story. The anchor reads the lead paragraph and leads in the reporter’s pre-
recorded report. The script of the reporter contains video support along with a sound on tape
included within. The duration of the script usually exceeds over 1 minute but not over
1:30min. This kind of script format is encouraged in all news stories.
 Voiceover with actuality/Sound bite (VOSOT):
This script format is read by the anchor while corresponding footage is shown and is followed
with a sound bite or sound on tape. This is further followed by an anchor tag after the sound
bite.
 Tease:
It is a preview of a story that will supposed to air later in the newscast. It is also sometimes
referred to as Bump.
 Cold open:
It is an opening script in any newscast. It begins right away before the anchors have
introduced themselves to the camera.
 Live shots:
In this the anchor introduces the story after which the audience is connected to a reporter who
is present at a location to present a stand-up or to interview someone or simply to introduce a
voiceover.
 Package:
A package tries to tell the whole news story and is generally used in interesting or complex
stories. Packages are however written and read by the reporters themselves.
 Toss:
It is an intro or a lead-in. This script format is intended to introduce a package (a pre-recorded
report by the reporter), a live shot (live images or report from the reporter) or a pre-recorded
segment.

SCRIPTING THE NEWS STORY

After the shots have been logged, the next thing that needs to be done is to write the script.
Writing a news story and editing the video can be a fun process; however deadlines need to be
met by the production team and therefore it requires the writer to master his writing skills.

The first step is to visualize the story. The writer needs to do this to be able to successfully
know what he will be dealing with.
 Secondly, the writer has to put himself in the audience’s shoes and have to think about one
aspect of the story that will hook the audience. Elements of the story and the sequence of
shots that will make the story need to be thought of the scriptwriter. Any video story should
present an overall picture; proceed to the present the sequence and finally ending with a
strong summary.

The next thing that comes in the process is the lead of the story. If the lead is attention
catching only then the story goes down well with the audience. A lead should generally use
the Five Ws and One H formula. However, it can also be a quote, intriguing fact or a
provocative statement. The lead suggests to the audience what the story is going to be. A
writer should aim for a good brief lead in comparison to longer leads which often end up
boring.

After having written the lead, the next that needs to be done is to write the story in detail. The
writer may want to substantiate the story with sound bites as they lend both power and
authenticity to the story.

The pace of the story also needs to be kept in mind. The writer needs to make sure that the
story does not drag on in the middle and end abruptly. The visuals that accompany the voice-
over should not repeat what is already said in the sound bite. If the story requires graphics
then the writer needs to tell the same to the graphics team so that they can prepare the
graphics in time.

Lastly, the story needs to be summed up and this can be done by sign offs or piece to cameras
as they reflect the analytical ability of the reporter. After the sum up, the reporter normally
signs off with her name, location and channel name. Signing off becomes an indication that
the story has come to an end.

Once the story script has been written, the writer should recheck the whole story for a story
angle, factual errors, etc. before submitting the script to the news editor.

STRUCTURE OF A TV NEWS SCRIPT FORMAT

Every channel has its own standard way of writing news scripts. There may be some
differences in the terminologies used but most of the times, news script have similar
components, i.e., the slug line, anchor lead-in, voice over, sound bite, stand up or piece to
camera, visuals with location, sound, music, sound effects and anchor tags or sign offs all are
used in different innovative combinations.

There are two kinds of formats in television news scripts. The most popular one is the split-
page format. In this format, the script is divided into two columns. All the technical
 instructions and identification of video and graphics appear in the left hand column of the split
page and the right hand column contains information about the story which is read by the
anchor or the reporter along with sound bites and out cues (TC). Music and sound effects are
also included in the right hand column. All VIDEO CUES appear in all caps.

Split page formats should be used in:

 Video News(TV and Internet)

 Television Promotional (public service ads, promo, advertising and infomercials)
 Television education and documentaries

Example of a split column TV news script:

Name: Sneha Roy Slug: Bio-diversity fest NDTV News: 10 May 2013, 11 a.m.

VIDEO / DIRECTIONSCRIPT / AUDIO

Anchor/Reader Anchor: A festival to celebrate diversity of

crops has just concluded in Medak district.
Over 6,000 farmers belonging to over 60
villages participated in this festival. What
started off as an annual festival in 1999 has
now become a regular mobile festival. Sneha
Roy captures snapshots of the concluding
ceremony to the festival.

Shots of procession, people dancing, the Voice-over: This procession is the

bullock carts with exhibits concluding part of the bio-diversity fest. The
fest celebrates the diversity of local crops,
seeds, and animals in about 60 villages.

Arrival of the procession to the farewell The 10-day festival saw the participation of
venue over 3000 dalit farmers, mostly women.
Farmers from neighbouring countries shared
concerns similar to that of Indian farmers at
the farewell.
 Audience sitting, the stage, the ambience. Speakers complimented the Deccan
Development Society (DDS), for organizing the
Shots of speakers at the farewell mobile fest and its work on bio-diversity in the
semi-arid region.

SB: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural

Development (NABARD) deputy manager (Sound bites of NABARD deputy manager Alice Keys)
Alice Keys

Sreeman speaking at the valedictory DDS director Sreeman said Indian farmers could
do with globalism rather than globalisation,
Cutaway of audience
which is under corporate control.
Sreeman honouring diversity farmers, shots (Sound bite of Sreeman)
DDS honoured five farmer groups which
of felicitation cultivated crops without using chemical fertilizers
and pesticides.
Various shots

Leela Rani, farmer thanks the DDS for their

Leela Rani, dalit farmer woman speaking at active participation for promoting growth within
the valedictory the rural community in the Medak district.

Shots of the farmer speaking at the stage

Piece to camera: These are farmers determined

to promote bio-diversity and organic farming. It
Sneha Roy, reporter is such groups of farmers that are slowly setting
the agenda for the country’s agricultural policy.
When it’s a practice that runs against the popular
mode of growing crops, festivals such as these
serve a great purpose. Sneha in Pastapur, NDTV
News.

END

The second kind of format used in news script is that of a news copy layout. In this particular
format, in the top right corner of the news copy is the date. This enables in easing filing of the
copy in a chronological order. Under the date, comes the slug line. The slug or catch line is one
or two words about the news story. The writer should avoid using general words like
‘government’ or ‘meeting’ in the script and should instead use specific words like ‘Panchayat
meeting’ or ‘tomato prices’. Under the slug line comes the time of the broadcast of the show.
The first sentence starts with at least three spaces from the above. If the copy does not the page,
‘more’ should be written at the bottom right corner of the copy. Each page should end with a full
stop-with a complete sentence and a writer should keep in mind to avoid continuing a sentence
onto the next page. Once the copy is written, the name of the reporter/source is written at the
bottom left corner.

Example of such type of news script format:

October 26,2012
Sarovar lathi-charge: Gandhinagar
1 p.m.

Anchor: Ten people are battling for life and 24 others receiving medical treatment at the Desai
Hospital after police lathi-charged Sardar Sarovar protestors at the chief minister’s residence.

Voice-over (V/O): Sudha Ketkar and her supporters requested that the chief minster meet them
to listen to their demands. They waited for over five hours near his office. When the chief minister
didn’t turn up and reportedly refused to meet them, the angry protestors went to his residence to
stage a dharna.

Sudha Ketkar sound bite (00:10:30:00-00:11:15:00)

(V/O): Police say they had to resort to a lathi-charge since the prtestors refused to leave the
premises even when repeatedly asked to do so.

-more-

Gandhinagar CI’s sound bit. (00:06:35:00-00:07:10:00)

(V/O): The protestors have declared their agitation will intensify if the government fails to
meet their demands.

-end-

Sneha Roy

STRUCTURING A NEWS BULLETIN

A news bulletin refers to a short television broadcast of news reports. A news bulletin is
equivalent to news on a page of a newspaper except that in television, the writer becomes more
limited when it comes to placing of different parts of a news story. Since, news bulletins are
linear, all elements involved in making a news bulletin needs to be placed along the line of time
in order to be used efficiently.

Starting a news bulletin

The starting is the most important part of a news bulletin. It decides whether the audience will
stay to see the entire bulletin or not. If the lead item of a news bulletin is boring, the audience
will assume that there is nothing better to come.

If it happens that a writer is faced with choosing between two stories of equal importance for the
bulletin lead then they should go for the story which is more dramatic in nature. However, if the
obvious lead story for the bulletin is dull then the writer should aim to write it in such a way as to
add more life to it. Though every story should be written well, special attention needs to be given
to the lead story. The writer should try to keep the sentences short and ideas simple and clear.

Headlines for a news bulletin

Once the order of the stories has been decided, the next thing in line is to write a headline for the
news bulletin. Generally, a long bulletin starts by headlining the major stories. However, this is
not necessary for a short or three minute news bulletin but in longer bulletins, the audience
desires to know what kind of stories they can expect from the bulletin.

Headlines should be written in a way so as to promote the stories. A writer should try to headline
the important and the dramatic stories first. Many TV news channel like to headline their final
story in a bulletin with the hope that if the headline of the last story is attractive, the viewers will
stay to watch the entire bulletin to order to see the last story.

Headlines for dramatic stories should be written in a way so that they give a hint of drama but do
not give away all the details. In English TV news channel bulletins, headlines need not be
grammatically complete, they could simply be stripped down to the main words of the story. For
example: “Six die in a mining accident.”

Closing stories in a bulletin

In longer bulletins, the writer can use closing headlines to remind the viewers of stories they may
or may not have seen earlier when the bulletin was shown. Closing headlines simply for the
preference of those viewers who had switched on the TV late and that missed out the major part
of the bulletin.
Each closing headline of a news bulletin should have a summary of the main point of the story
shortened down to a single sentence. The writer should avoid repeating the opening headline of
every story as the closing headline.

Layout of the script in a news bulletin

A script for a news bulletin needs to be neatly typed and any last minute changes in the script
should be crossed out. If the printed script has too many crossings-outs then the script should be
re-printed.

Each sentence should start with a new paragraph and should be typed double-spaced. Only one
story should be typed per sheet as this makes it easier to find stories that need to be dropped or
inserted during a bulletin. The writer should avoid turning a phrase from one to the next one and
should not hyphenate words from one line to the next.

TIPS FOR WRITING A SUCCESFUL TV NEWS SCRIPT

There are some basic tips a scriptwriter needs to keep in mind while writing the script of a TV
news story:

 A writer should try writing the script according to the TV story format which could be
anything from anchor-visuals, sound bites to package. Equal distribution of important
details throughout the story/script could vary from format to format.
 Avoid repeating same information at different levels of a news package. Try distributing
the content equally throughout the story.
 A writer should try using the strategy of ‘anchor-tag’ so that some part of the story could
be taken out from the news package and be presented in the ‘anchor tag’. New
developments in an old story could also be included in anchor tags.
 Avoid the use of passive voice in the story; the script should use active voice wherever
possible.
 Using present tense wherever its appropriate is also important in TV news since they are
designed to report events that are taking place ‘now’. A TV news story needs to sound
fresh to its viewers because that gives an edge to it as compared to stories in a newspaper.
For example: “The chief minister of UP decided to slash the rate of petrol in the state by
20 per cent. The announcement was made at a news conference…” In this example, the
hook of the story starts with the present tense and later shifts into the past tense.
 A TV news writer should have a comprehensive approach when it comes to dealing with
lead and special stories. They should go through all the details and discuss the story from
different angles and thus bring diversity in the story.
  A news writer should remember that he needs to write stories for the people and therefore
it should be focused on matters that concern them. If the viewer feels that the story
doesn’t affect them directly, they might not take any interest in it.
 The news writer needs to be unbiased while writing a story and let the news story convey
the truth as it is. The story becomes more interesting and acceptable when it is told by
people who are directly involved in the particular event or incident.
 One needs to be careful when it comes to numbers in a news story. If there are big
numbers in the story which the audience can’t easily understand then it’s better to
translate it into something much simpler and meaningful. For example, instead of stating
that “X company made a profit of Rs 10,00,00,000 this year”, it could be simplified to “X
company had a profit of 10 crores this year.”
 Add spice and colour to stories of human interest which are generally considered as soft
stories. Movie reviews, stories about lifestyle, health and sports requires such an
approach.
 Connection of the words in the story to the video being played on the TV is very
important and a news writer should try to master this skill. Moreover, the news writer
should allow more visuals and sound bites explain the story and avoid cramming the
story with too many words.
 Once the script is written completely with all the facts and figures, it should be read aloud
to figure out whether it will sounds right to one’s ear because the same needs to be felt by
the viewers when the story is read on TV by a newsreader.
 Timing of the script is also important. Generally, a news package should be of a minute
and a half, i.e., 90 seconds which can have 2-3 voiceovers, 2-3 sound bites in between in
order to have a pace in the story. The standard rate in broadcast medium is 3 words per
second which allows maximum of 180 words in the news copy excluding the anchor lead.

CONCLUSION
Of all the various kinds of scriptwriters in the broadcast media, it is generally the news writer
whose work is the most difficult. A TV news writer needs to work efficiently and under a lot of
pressure in order to meet the deadlines that are common in TV news industry. This chapter deals
with the various kinds of scripts being used to write a particular news story and the kind of
format a news script has. It also discusses the various terminologies that a news writer needs to
be aware of while structuring a new copy. The chapter also provides some tips that should be
followed by all news writers in order to write a successful news script.