UNIT 14

REPORTING NEWS

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News reporting or broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting of various news events and other
information via television, radio, or internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is
usually either produced locally in a radio studio or television studio newsroom, or by a broadcast
network. It may include material such as sports coverage, weather forecasts, traffic
reports, political commentary, expert opinions, editorial content, and other material that the
broadcaster feels is relevant to their audience. An individual news program is typically reported in
a series of individual stories that are presented by one or more anchors. A frequent inclusion are
live or recorded interviews by field reporters.

A. What are the steps in broadcasting news?

There are four steps in broadcasting news, they are:
1. Finding News
2. Gathering News
3. Writing News
4. Broadcasting News
B. Where do journalists find their news?
Here are resources we can use to find news:
1. News Agency (Ex: Reuteurs news, association press, etc.)
2. Media (Ex: newspapers, magazines, online outlets, radio news, TV news, newsletter,
podcasts, Twitter lists, forums, comment sections, subreddits, blogs, etc.)
3. Press Releases
4. Events (Ex: Conferences, festivals, meetups, and lectures, etc)
5. Ranking and Research
6. Social media (Ex: Twitter, Facebook, Quora, etc.)
7. Contacts (Informan)
8. (Almost) Everything else (ex: Catalogue, Ebay, etc)

C. What is interesting enough to broadcast?

1. Timing
Typical “hard” news is supposed to be delivered as fast as possible. Events that happened
more than 24 hours ago (not a set-in-stone time frame) are usually already deemed as old
news.
2. Localization or proximity
 Localization or proximity is defined by both geographical and emotional closeness to a
particular event. A natural disaster, political turmoil or a sporting success will obviously
resonate more with people that are affected by them.
3. Impact
Impact looks at the consequences of a certain event has on people. A worker’s strike of a
local company is less important for the general public in the country as a nation-wide
power outage, but it might be more important to people living in the community affected
by the strike.
4. Conflict
Conflict is another element of assessing newsworthiness. Readers are drawn to
disagreements, fights and arguments since they make stories more compelling and
exciting.
5. Prominence
Prominence is also a useful guiding principle. It identifies people who are in the public
interest and, therefore, newsworthy. Politicians and other people who hold public offices
are especially scrutinized.

D. How to gather news?

1. In the field reporters and their camera men go to the sources and start accumulating
information. This can be done through observation while writing and recording, listening to
what people say for example if it is a meeting, interviewing sources and eye witnesses and
being credible enough to have actualities in your news items.
2. In print media, there is use of digital cameras in the field which can capture very good colored
still images and store them in the memory cards.
3. In broadcast media, there is use of digital tools in news gathering process. These includes,
digital recorders for radio, digital cameras for TV and digital editing programs such as adobe
premier pro and adobe audition.
4. Radio reporters use portable digital recorders in gathering news and they store the
information in memory cards so as to take to the editor for editorial work.
5. For TV news gathering process, reporters go to the field with the camera men who shoot live
events using digital cameras and stream them live to the TV station as they happen. Where
news gathering is not done live, digital cameras also use memory cards and hard disks to store
audio and footages. Reporters can give a voice over during editing and combine videos and
audio for news presentation purposes.
6. For online journalism, news gathering process involves even citizen journalists who can
collect news and publish it online. Online journalism allows linkages where one news item can
 be linked with another similar item for background information. Reporters can interact with
the audience online and get more credible information before presenting.

E. TV & Podcast News Writing Structure

1. Be brief. A good newspaper story ranges from hundreds to thousands of words. The same
story on television or radio may have to fit into 30 seconds—perhaps no more than 100
words. If it is an important story, it may be 90 seconds or two minutes. You have to
condense a lot of information into the most important points for broadcast writing.
2. Use correct grammar. A broadcast news script with grammatical errors will embarrass the
person reading it aloud if the person stumbles over mistakes.
3. Put the important information first. Writing a broadcast news story is similar to writing a
news story for print in that you have to include the important information first. The only
difference is that you have to condense the information presented.
4. Write good leads. Begin the story with clear, precise information. Because broadcast
stories have to fit into 30, 60, or 90 seconds, broadcast stories are sometimes little more
than the equivalent of newspaper headlines and the lead paragraph.
5. Stick to short sentences of 20 words or less. The announcer has to breathe. Long
sentences make it difficult for the person voicing the script to take a breath.
6. Write the way people talk. Sentence fragments—as long as they make sense—are
acceptable.
7. Use contractions. Use don’t instead of do not. But be careful of contractions ending in -
ve (e.g., would’ve, could’ve), because they sound like “would of” and “could of.”
8. Use simple subject-verb-object sentence structures.
9. Use the active voice and active verbs. It is better to say “He hit the ball” than “The ball
was hit by him.”
10. Use present-tense verbs, except when past-tense verbs are necessary. Present tense
expresses the sense of immediacy. Use past tense when something happened long ago.
For example, do not say, “There were forty people taken to the hospital following a train
derailment that occurred early this morning.” Instead, say, “Forty people are in the
hospital as a result of an early morning train accident.”
11. For radio or podcast news stories, write with visual imagery. Make your listeners “see”
what you are saying. Help them visualize the situation you are describing. Some radio
news scripts even include suggestions for environmental noise to help set the scene for
the listener.

Below is a sample Podcast Intro and Outro Script:

Intro Option 1 (10 – 30 seconds):

Welcome to [Name of the podcast]!

A podcast about [pithy description of your show or a tagline.]

[One sentence that goes more in depth about what the podcast covers. For example, something like
“Each week, we deliver the best hard hitting analysis of industry news.”]

Now here’s your host, [name, ex. “Joe Shmoe!”]

Intro Option 2 (5 – 10 seconds):

You’re listening to the [Name of your podcast] Podcast, the show that brings you [cute, short
tagline.] With your host, [Host]!”

Intro Option 3 (5 – 10 seconds):

A skit – maybe a conversation between two characters, the host as a character doing something, part
of a serialized story – get creative!

Outro (30 seconds – 1:00):

Thanks for joining us this week on [name of the podcast!]

[Calls to action.] For example:

“Make sure to visit our website, [name of your website], where you can subscribe to the show in
iTunes, Stitcher, or via RSS so you’ll never miss a show. While you’re at it, if you found value in this
show we’d appreciate a rating on iTunes – or if you’d simply tell a friend about the show, that would
help us out too. If you liked this show you might want to check out our eBook, [title of the book].
[Host] is available for private coaching.” etc. etc.

*Pick one to three of your most important calls to action for the outro. If you have more than two
to spotlight, it may be appropriate to make a middle bumper that goes in a break in the middle of the
show prompting listeners to subscribe, rate/review your podcast, buy your book or product, etc.

Be sure to tune in [next week or however often the podcast is released] for our next episode.

[Signoff]

*The signoff could be your tagline again, or something else cute, short, and memorable.

F. Television, radio or Podcast News Writing Techniques

1. Use a person’s complete name (first and last name) in the first reference, then the
person’s last name thereafter.
2. Use phonetic spellings for unfamiliar words and words that are difficult to pronounce.
3. Omit obscure names and places if they are not meaningful to the story.
 4. Titles precede names; therefore, avoid appositives. Do not write, “Tom Smith, mayor of
Smallville, said today….” Instead, write, “Smallville mayor Tom Smith said today….” (Other
examples: “City councilman Richard Smith,” not “Richard Smith, city councilman.”
“Anyville High School student Beth Baker,” not “Beth Baker, Anyville High School
student.”)
5. In age reference, precede the name with the age. (Example: “The victim, 21-year-old Rob
Roy…”)
6. Avoid writing direct quotations into a news script, if at all possible. Instead, let people say
things in their own words during soundbites. A soundbite is the exact words spoken by
someone in his or her own recorded voice. If you must use a direct quote, set it off with
such phrases as "In the words of..." or "As he put it...," or try to paraphrase as much as
possible. Avoid saying "quote" and "unquote” to lead into or end a direct quote.
7. The attribution should come before a quotation, not after it. In contrast to writing for print
media, the attribution of paraphrased quotations in broadcast stories should be at the
beginning of the sentence, before the paraphrase. The listener should know where the
quotation is coming from before hearing the quote. Example: “Bill Brown said he would
run for re-election.”
8. Avoid most all abbreviations, even on second reference, unless it is a well-known
abbreviation. This is different from the Associated Press Style rules for print stories. Write
out days, months, states, and military titles each time. About the only acceptable
abbreviations are Mr., Mrs., and Dr. Punctuate, by using a hyphen in between, commonly
used abbreviations. For example, write “U-S,” instead of “US” (United States), and “U-N”
for “UN” (United Nations).
9. Avoid symbols when you write. For example, the dollar sign ($) should never be used in
broadcast writing. Always spell out the word “dollar.” This is different from the Associated
Press Style for “dollar” when used in a print news story. This helps the story be more
readable for the person delivering the information.
10. Use correct punctuation. Do not use semicolons. Use double dash marks for longer pauses
than commas. Use underlines for emphasis.
11. Use numbers correctly. Spell out numerals through 11. (This is different from Associated
Press Style for print stories, which spells out one through nine, and starts using numerals
for 10 and above.) Use numerals for 12 through 999. Use hyphenated combinations for
numerals and words above 999. (Examples: 33-thousand; 214-million.) Round off
numbers unless the exact number is significant. (Example: Use “a little more than 34
million dollars,” not “34-million, 200-thousand, 22 dollars.”) Use st, nd, th, and rd after
dates, addresses, and numbers above “eleventh” to be read as ordinary numbers.
(Examples: "Second Street," "May 14th,” “Eleventh Avenue,” “12th Division”—this is
different from AP Style for print.)

G. Narrating Televison, Radio or Podcast News Stories

 StockPhotos

Follow these recommendations when you narrate (also referred to as “voicing”) television and
radio news scripts:

1. Position the microphone properly. Position the microphone 6 to 10 inches from your
mouth and at a 45-degree angle to the direct line of speech. This will help prevent
“blasting” with explosive letters such as “P” and “B.” Always maintain the same distance
from the microphone as you speak.
2. Remove noise-making distractions. Remove all paper clips, pens, and other items that
you would be tempted to play with as you read the story. Any rustling of paper clips or
pen clicking can be picked up by the microphone.
3. Narrate the news story. After you hit the “record” button on the video camera or audio
recorder, wait approximately 10 seconds before speaking. This prevents you from
accidentally losing some of the narration if you hit “record” and start narrating the script
immediately. It is a good idea to use a standard reference opening, such as the day, place,
and subject’s name. You may want to use a countdown: “Honeybee story, coming in three,
two, one,” and then start the story. This also helps your voice stabilize as you start. The
standard reference opening and countdown will be edited out of the final story.
4. Articulate words correctly. Speak clearly. Do not run your words together. Practice proper
articulation, the distinct pronunciation of words. The following words are often
improperly articulated: “prob-ly” for “prob-ab-ly,” “git” for “get,” and “jist” for “just.”
Also, do not drop the final “g” in “-ing” words, such as cooking, running, and hunting.
5. Think the thought. Think about what you are going to say. If something has a positive
idea, put a smile in your voice by putting a smile on your face. This helps to project the
personality of the story.
6. Think the thought through to the end. Keep half an eye on the end of the sentence while
you are reading the first part. Know how the sentence will come out before you start. This
will help you interpret the meaning of the phrases of the entire idea.
7. Talk at a natural speed. But change the rate occasionally to avoid sounding monotonous.
The speed that you talk is your speaking rate. Vary the pitch and volume of your voice to
get variety, emphasis, and attention. Pitch is the high and low sounds of your voice. You
will sound more assertive if you lower your pitch and inflect downward; however, avoid
dropping your pitch when it sounds unnatural to do so.
8. Breathe properly. Control your breathing to take breaths between units of thought.
Otherwise, you will sound choppy. Sit up straight or stand while narrating. This helps your
breathing.
9. Use your body. A relaxed body helps produce a relaxed-sounding voice. Do a few exercises
before going on the air. A little activity reduces tension.
10. Listen to the final product. Listen to how it sounds. Listen to what you said as if you were
an audience member.
 11. Time the story. At the end, be sure you time the story. If the story is going on the air of a
radio or television station, the story’s timing is important, and, in many cases, needs to be
exact. Practice writing and narrating news stories to determine what your normal reading
time is.
12. Practice your narration skills. Never give up practicing speech and delivery techniques.
Read aloud something at least twice a week for practice.

H. Exercise
Choose one of the roleplay cards below and pretend to be news reporters who are reporting
news. Students pretend to be news reporters who are reporting news. Students have 15-30
minutes to prepare a short news segment. They can then act it out together. Role Play 3
requires 2 people: The interviewer and the actor. Role plays 4 and 5 could also use 2 people:
The reporter could pretend to stop someone in the street and ask them questions.
Below are video links for further study:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcqIxJL9oF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzPA-YKJmVk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B2TUJyCnDQ

References

https://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/27697544
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/news-report
https://medium.com/@blazej.kupec/how-journalists-find-stories-and-write-articles-2174e902591c
http://zabgichia.blogspot.com/2016/04/news-gathering-process.html
https://www.stephaniemurphyvoice.com/sample-podcast-intro-and-outro-script/