MODULE FOUR: BROADCASTING THE NEWS

Table of Contents
Module Four Overview ..................................................................................................................................................2
The Language of Broadcast Journalism .........................................................................................................................3
The People of Broadcast Journalism..............................................................................................................................5
Quiz 16: Broadcast Journalism Vocabulary....................................................................................................................8
Types of Stories for Broadcast Journalism.....................................................................................................................9
Using Conversational Style ..........................................................................................................................................11
Language Focus: Present Tense and Active Voice .......................................................................................................13
Quiz 18: Print vs. Broadcast Journalism.......................................................................................................................15
Private Journal 13: Transform Your Article for a TV News Segment ...........................................................................16
Discussion: Transform Your Article for a TV News Segment .......................................................................................17
Ratings in TV News: How Journalists Compete ...........................................................................................................18
Sensationalism in TV News ..........................................................................................................................................21
The 24-Hour News Cycle..............................................................................................................................................24
Language Focus: Stress and Pausing............................................................................................................................25
Quiz 19: Stress and Pausing .........................................................................................................................................27
Optional: Orally Present Your Story.............................................................................................................................28
Optional Self-Evaluation: Orally Present Your Story and Evaluate Yourself ................................................................28
Module Four Check......................................................................................................................................................29

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MODULE FOUR OVERVIEW

Welcome to Module Four of English for Journalism! A broadcast journalist must use a specific conversational style
and the right intonation for each story. Also, there is a big difference between writing a script that will be read “on
air” and writing an article for print. Through several video lectures and sample media, you will analyze different
delivery styles, write a broadcast script, and deliver a story using appropriate voice.
Learning Objectives:
• Identify the features of broadcast journalism.
• Compare broadcast journalism and print media.
• Identify and practice using stress, rhythm, and intonation to show meaning and emphasis when delivering
a news story.

2
THE LANGUAGE OF BROADCAST JOURNALISM

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

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LeeRosario via Pixabay under Pixabay license. This derivative is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for use in the Online Professional English Network (OPEN),
sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Hello. Welcome to this unit on broadcasting the news. In this first lesson, we will describe broadcast journalism
and introduce some vocabulary we need to talk about broadcast journalism. In the next lesson, we will talk about
specific roles people have in delivering the news on television, the internet, or radio.

Let's start with the term broadcast. Broadcasting is the process for displaying the news this way. Broadcasting
means to use a video camera (or microphone for radio) and sending that recording to television sets, radios, and
computers all over the world.

We can use this word as a verb, noun, or an adjective:

1. “Channel 3 broadcasts the news twice a day.” Here, it's used as a verb.
2. We can also say, “the Channel 3 news broadcast is on TV twice a day.” Here, it's a noun.
3. “This unit is on broadcast journalism.” Here, “broadcast” is an adjective. It describes the type of
journalism.
In broadcast journalism, journalists deliver the news using videos that are shown on TV or on the internet.
Broadcast journalism also includes the radio. In this case, there are not images, just voices of journalists and their
radio guests.

Creating news for television, internet, or radio is similar to print media, but in many ways it's also quite different.
For example, television, radio and internet shows are generally called news programs. A program is a regularly

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scheduled broadcast news show. Generally, these programs have names like "News at 10", which tells you what
time you can watch it every day. Another example is "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt". The name of this
program reminds the viewer what channel they’re watching and also gives the name of the lead journalist.

Many times, news programs are live, which means we are seeing and hearing what broadcast journalists are
saying, at the time that they are saying it. There is a lot of pressure to do everything right, since everyone's
watching.

News stories for television, internet and radio have a different structure from news articles. A news program is a
collection of segments. A segment is a news story that is broadcast rather than printed.

As we discussed in Module 2, printed news stories are articles. When we talked about print media, we talked
about the process of outlining, drafting, and editing with a copy editor before an article goes to print. In broadcast
news, the draft is called a copy. A copy is a script, or a written text, of what the journalist is going to say.

The copy must be approved before it is broadcast live. It is important that broadcast journalists do not broadcast
segments that have mistakes because, similar to print journalism, making mistakes with the news can cause people
to stop watching. People may have trouble trusting the accuracy of the news programs. Just like print media,
sources and information must be verified.

Once the copy for a segment is approved, it is sent to a teleprompter. A teleprompter is a machine that shows
electronic text so that journalists can read it. When we see journalists speaking on a news program, they are
actually reading from a teleprompter.

Next, we will talk about the people that work in broadcast journalism.

4
THE PEOPLE OF BROADCAST JOURNALISM

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Hello. Welcome to this lesson on the people of broadcast journalism. In the previous video, we talked about new
vocabulary we use when talking about the news for television, internet, and radio. In this lesson, we are going to
take a deeper look into the people that deliver the news in video or audio form. We will talk about news anchors,
correspondents, producers, and control room operators.

News anchors

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Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

Let's start with the anchor. The journalist who reads the news on camera is called the news anchor. This is the lead
journalist, or journalists, of a news program. An anchor is the host of all of that news program's shows.
Sometimes, the name of this anchor is part of the name of the show. For example, “NBC Nightly News with Lester
Holt.” Lester Holt hosts this news program most nights of the week. He is the anchor of the program. The anchor is
the journalist who reads copy from the teleprompter.

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Correspondents

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360 for the Online Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

While the anchor is the lead journalist, there are other journalists who work on the news and appear on the
program. These journalists are called correspondents. These correspondents can be general journalists, or they
can have specialties like they may have special knowledge about one topic.

For example, there are many business correspondents and medical correspondents. They may have extra training
in business or medicine and therefore, can better investigate and research those types of news stories.

Other specialties include correspondents who know a certain area of the world really well. Maybe they are from
there or maybe they just studied that area for many years. For example, a Middle East correspondent is someone
who reports from the Middle East or who covers news having to do with the Middle East. They may speak a local
language, or they may know a lot about local culture or history, and therefore they can better investigate and
research those types of stories. It's common for a correspondent to travel to where the news is happening and
report from there. That is called being on location. Correspondents report from locations all across the world. For
example, if there is a fire, football match, or election, a correspondent will go on location to get the story.

Producers
Another person who is very important in broadcast journalism is the producer.
A producer chooses the segments for the program, decides how long each segment will be and in what order the
segments will be presented. A producer also directs the show as it is being broadcast. They decide in the moment
if breaking news should interrupt a segment. They decide when to take commercial breaks, and the producer is
also the person with the final approval for copy before a story is added to a particular program.

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Control Room Operators

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4.0 by FHI 360 for the Online Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

The producer is not in the studio with the anchor at the time of the broadcast. Instead, they work alongside
control room operators who prepare video clips, edit sound, and control the teleprompter. Control room
operators have technical skills rather than journalism degrees. They know how to control the machines that help
broadcast the news but not necessarily what is important to include in the story.

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QUIZ 16: BROADCAST JOURNALISM VOCABULARY

Instructions: Choose the correct term that matches the definition

This quiz is worth 10 points. You must get seven out of ten questions correct to pass the quiz.
You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.

>>>> Please note that this quiz can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

8
TYPES OF STORIES FOR BROADCAST JOURNALISM

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[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Hello! Previously, we talked about the most common types of stories including news stories, investigative
journalism, and human-interest stories. In this lesson, were going to introduce more types of stories
including commentary, consumer reports and feel-good stories. These types are common in broadcast journalism,
but they can be also be found in print media.

Commentary
Let's talk about commentary first. Commentary news is most often found on 24-hour news stations.
Commentary news is a type of news program where the anchor offers their opinion and their analysis of a current
event. You may see the word “comment” in the word “commentary”.

To comment on something is to give your opinion. That is why it is the name of this type of story. The analysis
oftentimes focuses on the why or the what next parts of the story. Many times, the anchor is a famous journalist.
Often, they invite correspondents on to provide perspective for the analysis. Generally, commentary shows are
quite popular right before an election. Commentary shows provide detailed news about the politicians who are
running for office. Oftentimes, the program or the anchor is transparent or clear with their political views.

Consumer reports

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Another type of news story that viewers see more often on television news, is a consumer report. A consumer
report reviews or compares the things we buy. A consumer report takes a critical look at a product or service.

For example, Uber, an app that connects passengers who need a ride with people who offer rides, is a very popular
service here in the United States and in many other parts of the world. Many journalists have filmed segments for
TV news telling the public about this new service.

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These segments may include video of the journalist using the service. They may also include interviews with road
safety experts. They might compare Uber with traditional taxis. Ultimately, the journalist will present the
advantages and disadvantages of this service and help the shopper make informed decisions.
Feel-good stories

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Lastly, the third type of news story found most commonly in broadcast journalism is what is called the feel-good
story.

Often, the news may seem too negative, reporting on events that make people feel sad or nervous. Therefore,
some news programs try to feature stories that leave the audience feeling good about the world. These are called
feel-good stories. Feel-good stories generally focus on a person or people similar to a human-interest story. A
human-interest story doesn't always have a positive feeling, though. A feel-good story always has a positive
feeling.

For example, a group of window washers at a large local children's hospital wear superhero costumes while they
clean the windows from the outside. These window washers are hanging from ropes to clean the outside of the
window. So, to the children, they look like Superman or Spiderman. The window washers are bringing happiness to
children who are obviously in the hospital for some very serious reasons.

A news program will generally show this type of story at the end of the broadcast to help people feel better after
several segments of serious and often depressing news.

10
USING CONVERSATIONAL STYLE

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[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

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Commons under CC BY SA. This derivative is licensed CC BY SA by FHI 360 for the Online Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of
State.

In the previous lesson you looked at different types of news segments. In this lesson we are going to look at the
conversational style that broadcasters use to connect with the audience. They do this by doing three things: using
short and simple sentences, using a lead-in sentence, and using contractions.

People who broadcast the news have to do something that is quite difficult. They have to read a script but not
actually sound like they are reading a script. They need to sound like they are having a personal conversation with
the person who is watching the TV. To do this, the script is written in a much more conversational style than in
print media.

Conversation Style Tip 1: Use short and simple sentences

The first example of a conversational style is using short and simple sentences. Sentences need to be short and
simple because the viewers only get one chance to hear what is being reported. They do not have the opportunity
to go back and read the sentence again like they do in print media. So, they have to understand it the first time. An
example of the difference is in print you might read this sentence.

The police have been conducting a house-to-house search in a continued effort to apprehend the suspects.

While in broadcasting it is changed to: The police are still looking for the suspects.

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Conversational Style 2: Use a lead-in sentence

The second way that broadcasters try to create a conversational style is by using a lead-in sentence. This is the first
sentence of the segment and acts as a summary to let the viewer know the subject and the feeling of the report.

For example, if a broadcaster begins by saying, “more bad news from the stock market,”, the viewer knows that the
subject is “financial, stock market”. And the feeling is “negative, bad news”.

On the other hand, if the broadcaster begins by saying, “a dog-owner is very thankful tonight”, the viewer knows
that the subject is something that happened to a dog, and the feeling is positive. Because people are thankful
when something good happens.

Conversational Style Tip 3: Use contractions

A third way that broadcasters create a conversational style is by using contractions. When we have a conversation,
we often use contractions, or shortened versions of words in our speech.

For example, instead of saying, “will not”, we say, “won't”. Or, we say, “I'm” instead of “I am”. We normally use
contractions instead of the word “not” or when we are using the verb “to be". So, as we can see, “will not”
becomes “won't”. “Have not” and “has not” become “haven’t” and “hasn't”. “Do not” is “don’t” and “is not” and
“are not” become “isn't” and “aren't”.

For the verb “to be”, “I am” becomes “I'm”. “He is”, “she is”, and “it is”, become “he's”, “she's” and “it's”. And
finally, “we are”, “you are”, and “they are” are spoken, “we're”, “you're”, and “they're”.

So instead of saying: “A store owner says he is leaving, and he will not be coming back”, a broadcaster, who is
trying to create a conversational style, will say, “a store owner says he's leaving, and he won't be coming back.”

In this lesson, we looked at the ways that broadcasters use conversational style to connect with the audience.
Using short simple sentences, using a lead-in sentence to let the audience know what to expect, and using
contractions.

Next, you're going to look at how broadcasters use present tense and active voice.

12
LANGUAGE FOCUS: PRESENT TENSE AND ACTIVE VOICE

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Hello, in the previous lesson, you looked at the different ways that people broadcasting the news can use
conversational style to connect with the audience. In this lesson, we will look at the way that broadcasters use
present tense and active voice to connect with the audience, the viewers of the news.

When a broadcaster presents the news, they want to communicate immediacy to the audience. Immediacy means
you feel like something is happening now. For example, a broadcaster wants the viewers to feel like they are
experiencing a major sports event as it happens. The broadcaster wants the person watching the news to feel part
of the story. The main ways to do this are to use present progressive and active voice.

Strategy 1: Use present progressive

We mostly use the present progressive to describe actions that are happening now. In journalism, using the
present progressive can help the audience feel like they are part of the story.

We make the present progressive by using a form of the verb “to be” and adding -ing on to the main verb.

Example 1: “Snow is causing problems in New York.”

We have the subject, “snow” followed by the verb “to be”, “is”, and then the main verb “cause” with “-ing”. The
broadcaster is showing that the action is happening now.

Example 2: “Crowds are gathering outside the Vatican.”

We have the subject, “crowds”, the verb “to be”, “are”, and the main verb, “gather” with -ing.

By using present progressive, the broadcaster shows that the event is happening now, and the viewer feels like
they are part of the story.

Strategy 2: Active Voice

The second way that broadcasters connect to the audience is by using active voice. Active voice is livelier and helps
the broadcast create a conversation with the audience.

In previous videos, you looked at when journalists need to use passive voice in print media. This is also true in
broadcast journalism but, whenever they can, broadcast journalists try to use active voice.

Let's look at an example. Remember, we want to use present tense and active voice.

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“Workers are being hurt by new laws.”

This sentence is already in present tense but is in passive voice. The subject, “workers” are not the doer of the
verb. It is clear that the new laws are doing the hurting. So, we need to change the voice from passive to active by
making “new laws” the subject.

How would you write this sentence in the active voice?

(New laws are hurting workers)

We now have a sentence that is in the present tense and the active voice. That communicates to the audience that
the action is happening now and that they are involved in the story.

So, in this video, we looked at how broadcasters use present tense and active voice to create a sense of immediacy
for the audience. The present tense could be present progressive to show something is happening now.

Next, you're going to look at how a journalist creates a broadcast script.

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QUIZ 18: PRINT VS. BROADCAST JOURNALISM

Instructions: Instructions: Read the sentences and decide whether they are more appropriate for print or
broadcast journalism.

This quiz is worth 10 points. You must get seven points or more to pass the quiz.

You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.

>>>> Please note that this quiz can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

15
 PRIVATE JOURNAL 13: TRANSFORM YOUR ARTICLE FOR A
TV NEWS SEGMENT
Important: This is a private journal. It will not be graded or seen by your peers.

Instructions: In Module Three, you wrote an article for a newspaper. Now it is time to transform your article as a
copy for a broadcast OR write a copy for a news segment on a new topic. Remember to use: a lead-in sentence,
short and simple sentences, present tense and contractions, active voice.

Model Print Article Model Broadcast Copy

City Announces New Internship Program City Announces New Internship Program
by Eve Nora Litt, Contributor by Eve Nora Litt, Education Correspondent
Bill Wallace of the City Department of Education announced
Philadelphia will host a new internship
Thursday afternoon that the city will host a new internship
program. That’s what Bill Wallace of the City Department
program. In this program, high school students can earn high
of Education said on Thursday. High school students can
school credit while interning at City Hall. Interns will work with a
earn high school credit at City Hall. They’ll work with a
city council member and will get to see our government at work.
city council member. Participants will go through a two-
Participants will go through a two-step application process for this
step application process. The program won’t begin until
special opportunity. The program is scheduled to begin next fall.
next fall.
“High school students are always looking for opportunities like this,
real world experience, to help them stand out on their college Bill Wallace explained that high school students need real
applications. I’m just proud that our city government can provide world experience and something to put on their college
this experience for them,” stated Bill Wallace on Thursday. In application. This program hopes to increase the rate of
recent years, city high schools have reported low rates of college- college-bound high school graduates and decrease drop-
bound graduates. With drop-out rates increasing, the city decided out rates.
to do its part to help turn the school district around.
The two-step application begins in April. First applicants
The two-step application begins in April. First, they must write an will write an essay about a local issue
essay about a local issue that they are passionate about. “Drinking that they’re passionate about. Drinking water, bullying,
water is a huge issue in my neighborhood. We haven’t been able to crime, public transportation, and school lunches are other
use the fountains at school in three years. The water that comes hot topics for student essays. After reviewing the essays,
out is brown and tastes like rust,” said Daryl Dixon of West Locust only 100 students will be brought in for interviews for
Lane. Bullying, crime, public transportation, and school lunches are only 20 spots.
other hot topics for student essays.
The internship will start at 2 PM and end at 5 PM on
From the pool of essays, 100 will come in for interviews. Bill Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from September
Wallace from the City Department of Education explains, “We are to December. Buses will pick students up from all over
trusting our interns with important documents, with greeting the city. Interns should wear business casual
visiting members of government, and with giving their opinions clothing. Many city council members are looking forward
about issues that are important for students. It’s not just getting to working with interns.
coffee and making copies.” From those 100, 20 will get the
internship.

The internship will start at 2 PM and end at 5 PM on Tuesdays,

Wednesdays, and Thursdays from September to December. Buses
will pick students up from all over the city. Interns should wear
business casual clothing. For Councilwoman Rogers, she cannot
wait to get started. “We need to give our youth opportunities for
growth! These students are our future!”

16
DISCUSSION: TRANSFORM YOUR ARTICLE FOR A TV NEWS
SEGMENT
Important: This activity is optional. It will not be graded. This is a public post. Your classmates will see your post.

This course has thousands of participants and the facilitator is not able to review all responses. You can help by
reading your classmates' work and offering suggestions!

Step 1. Share your questions with your classmates.

Copy your TV news copy and paste it in the discussion board below. Please keep your post to a maximum of 250
words.

Step 2: Read other posts and reply.

Read your classmates' copy and post a reply.

17
RATINGS IN TV NEWS: HOW JOURNALISTS COMPETE

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Hello, welcome to this lesson on ratings and competition in television news. In this lesson, we are going to talk
about the challenges that broadcast journalists face when trying to deliver the news on television. Specifically, we
will look at how the competition between news programs is measured. And then we will look at two ways
television journalist try to compete or try to get the most viewers.

Nowadays, viewers have a lot of channels to choose from when sitting down to watch the news on television.
There are even entire news channels dedicated 24 hours a day to covering current events. Each program of course
really wants to have the most viewers. This creates a lot of competition or channels trying to get the most
viewers. How do channels measure, or determine how many people are watching their news program? How do we
know which news program has the most viewers?

The answer is ratings. Ratings are reports that show the number of viewers each news program has. Ratings are
very important to producers, anchors and correspondents because they want to know that they have the highest
number of viewers.
How does competition for ratings affect the news?
If news programs compete with one another then they are trying to have the most viewers. But they are all
reporting on the news, right? Aren't their broadcast very similar? Don't news programs generally cover the same
events? How different could they be? Well there are a couple of things that news programs can do to stand out, to
offer their viewers something different and get more viewers.

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BY SA 2.0 This derivative is licensed CC BY SA by FHI 360 for the Online Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department
of State

18
Let's look at an example: In 2019, the United States won the Women's World Cup. News programs around the
world reported on the Women's World Cup. How can a news program cover this story in a way that gets them the
most viewers?

One way is by getting exclusive interviews with players or coaches. Exclusive means not shared with others.
So, if News Hour at Ten has an exclusive interview with the team’s coach. That means the coach will only talk with
the journalist at News Hour at Ten and not with any other journalist. This exclusive interview will help News Hour
at Ten get more viewers, because their viewers will learn information that they cannot find on any other news
programs.

What are other things journalists can do to get high ratings for their news
programs?

Being first to report a story is also very important. For example:

"Royal Baby 031" by Christopher Neve was found on Flickr and is licensed under CC BY-SA 2. 0

In 2015, Prince William and Princess Kate of Great Britain welcomed their second baby, Charlotte, to the world.
Journalist camped outside St Mary's in London weeks ahead of time so they could hear the announcement
first. That way their news program could break the story or be the first to report the story. If viewers think that a
news program breaks the story before other news programs, it is likely to have high ratings.

Summary

• Television journalists have to find ways to have high ratings while delivering the news.
• High ratings are important because news programs want to have the most viewers.
• One way that journalists try to increase their ratings is interviewing people exclusively.
• Another way that journalists try to beat the competition is by being first to break a story.

In the next lesson, we will talk about other ways television journalists try to get high ratings.

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20
SENSATIONALISM IN TV NEWS

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Hello, welcome to this lesson on sensationalism in TV news. In a previous video, we talked about how television
news is affected by ratings. In this video, we are going to talk about what sensationalism is and then we'll explore
two types of sensationalism, celebrity culture and over reporting disasters.

In the previous video, we talked about how journalist try to get sources to talk exclusively with them, and how TV
journalists try to be the first to break a story. Another way that news programs try to attract more viewers is by
focusing too much on the most shocking, frightening, or exciting stories. This is called sensationalism. Not all
stories are like a movie, but the stories that do seem like a movie generally get more viewers.
Sensationalism Type 1: Celebrity Culture

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Let's take a look at the first type of sensationalism: celebrity culture. Often times, events that happen to regular
people like weddings, divorces, or health problems can be big news when they happen to celebrities. A celebrity is
a famous person. A celebrity could be a politician like President Obama or a well-known sports player like David
Beckham or a musician or actor like Madonna.

In fact, there is even a type of journalist called “paparazzi”, that focuses on celebrity culture. The paparazzi's job is
to follow celebrities around, and report on their every move.

21
When a journalist invades the privacy of a source like a celebrity, they are not using the principle of humanity in
their reporting. Remember, humanity means being kind to other people. Paparazzi can make a lot of money selling
those pictures and stories to news programs, but it is not always the best kind of reporting.

When the news focuses on the lives of celebrities and not the events that affect everyday people, this is a form of
sensationalism. Sensationalism places a greater importance on ratings than good journalism.
Sensationalism Type 2: Over-reporting on Disasters

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The second type of sensationalism is over-reporting on disasters. A disaster is an extreme event that involves
weather (like tornadoes, tsunamis, or earthquakes) or transportation (like a missing plane, or train accident) or
unexpected violence, like a terrorist attack. These are very serious and important events.

Sometimes journalists can over-report or report too much on a disaster. Meaning they ignore all other news for
weeks or even months, reporting exclusively or only, on a disaster because of its shock value.

A news story with shock value usually makes viewers feel strong negative emotions like fear or anger. People are
more likely to watch the news when they have a strong negative emotion. So, this type of sensationalism takes
advantage of a natural human reaction. Journalists should show restraint when they report on stories with shock
value.

For example, in the wintertime many people watch the news for reports on possible snowstorms. Obviously, a
snowstorm can affect thousands, even millions, of people. So, news programs may over-report or report too much
on a future storm. This makes people afraid as they plan further weeks. They go to grocery stores and buy food or
expensive equipment for getting rid of snow. The snowstorm is an event that people need to know about but a
sensational over-reporting means that people are not hearing about other important events.

Humanity and restraint, these principles of journalism are important, and good journalists take them into
consideration with every story they broadcast. The struggle between good journalism and ratings is a real

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challenge that journalists face every day. Programs that rely too much on sensationalized stories could eventually
lose the trust of their audience.

Summary
• News programs try to attract more viewers by focusing too much on the most shocking, frightening, or
exciting stories. This is called sensationalism.
• Two types of sensationalism are celebrity culture and over-reporting on disasters.
• Sensationalism can work against journalistic principles of humanity and restraint.

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THE 24-HOUR NEWS CYCLE

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Hello. In the previous lesson, you looked at sensationalism. In this lesson, we are going to look at the 24-hour news
cycle. We will look at how it began and at two ways that it has changed the ways news is reported: giving opinions
and manipulating the audience or trying to shape the way they think about something.

What does the 24-hour news cycle mean?

Well, it means the cable TV news channels, that broadcast 24 hours a day. They never stop or take a break.
Examples are CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, or Al Jazeera. We did not always have the 24-hour news cycle. When TV
news began back in the 1950s there was just one 30-minute news program on in the evening. The evening news
only had time to talk about the most important news and it concentrated on facts rather than opinions. Then in
the 1980s CNN began broadcasting 24 hours every day. The journalists needed to fill up 24 hours of airtime, so
they also reported on trivial, or less important, news items. In the 1990s, more 24-hour news channels began
broadcasting. This created competition for ratings, because the success of a channel is based on the number of
viewers.

How does this change the way that news is reported?

As we saw in the last lesson, increased competition among news programs can result in less truth and accuracy.
There are two main ways that the 24-hour news cycle has changed the way news is reported: an increase in giving
opinions and in manipulating the audience or trying to shape the way they think about something.

An increase in giving opinions

As we mentioned earlier, the change to 24-hour news resulted in a lot more time to fill. Because there are not
enough facts to fill this time, 24-hour news channels often ask experts to give their opinions. The opinions of these
experts are usually the same as those of the audience. The opinions are often biased because this is what the
audience wants to hear. Compare this to the principle of objectivity that we looked at in Module 1. This says that a
journalist must report the facts without favoring one side or another.

Manipulating the audience

Now, let's look at the way the 24-hour news channels try to manipulate the audience. In journalism,
manipulating means focusing on certain types of stories in order to make people believe something that may not
be true. For example, you saw earlier that sensational news gets higher ratings. News involving violent crime is
often sensational. And so, 24-hour news channels spend a lot of time reporting on these types of stories. A viewer
might see many of these stories and think that violent crime is increasing. In reality, there is much less violent
crime today in the US than there was 20 years ago. But there is much more news about it because of the 24-hour
news cycle. Compare this type of manipulation to the principle of fairness, which says that the job of a journalist is
to tell the facts, to inform the public, not to manipulate them.

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LANGUAGE FOCUS: STRESS AND PAUSING

Untitled Image by 200 degrees via Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license

[Video available online for viewing. Script below.]

Hello! in previous lessons you looked at the conversational style used in broadcast media. In this lesson, you’ll
learn how to use stress and pausing to help you read out your story. Stress and pausing are important for
broadcasters because they can help to communicate the important information in a sentence and can also give the
audience time to understand the meaning of the story.
Stress

This work is derivative of "Bernhoft" by Vidar Nordli-Matheson and "Secret" by Kristina Flour via Unsplash under Unsplash license. This
derivative is licensed CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for the Online Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department

Let's talk about stress first. In a sentence, some words are more important than others. These are usually the
content words or keywords, the words that give you the facts of the sentence, if you did not have these words, the
sentence would not make sense.

The keywords are usually the ones that a broadcaster stresses to let the audience know the important facts of a
story. When you are speaking, you stress a word by saying it a little bit louder and a little bit slower.

Let's look at some examples and see if we can find which words need to be stressed.

Example 1: “A huge fire swept through a factory in downtown Baltimore last night.”

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Of course, you need to say all the words in the sentence, but some are key, very important, to understanding the
sentence.

Do you remember those WH questions you looked at earlier? You could ask those same questions now to find out
the keywords.

What happened? A fire.

Where? In a factory in Baltimore
When? Last night.

So, the key information in this sentence is fire, factory, Baltimore, and night. And these are the words we
will stress, saying them a little bit louder and a little bit slower.

“A huge fire swept through a factory in downtown Baltimore last night.”

Example 2: “The government announced plans to close three hospitals at the start of next year.”

Let's ask our WH questions again.

Who? The government.

What? Closing three hospitals.
When? Next year.

These are the words we will stress.

“The government has announced plans to close three hospitals at the start of next year.”
Pausing
A second way to help you read out your script is pausing. Pausing means stopping for a short time before you read
the next word. There are several good reasons for doing this. First, it gives your listeners time to understand what
you just said. Second, it makes your overall speed slower. And so makes your speech easier to understand. Third it
lets you break your sentence in to groups of words, each containing at least one key word or phrase.

Let's look again at the examples we used earlier and think about pausing.

“A huge fire... swept through a factory... in downtown Baltimore... last night.”

Here, we have three different parts to the sentence each containing at least one key word. By pausing, we can give
our listeners time to understand the information we are saying.

Let's look at the second example:

“The government… has announced plans to close three hospitals… at the start of next year.”

Again, we have three different parts to the sentence each containing at least one keyword.

Summary
• Stressing the key words in a sentence can help the listener understand the meaning.
• Pausing can give the listener time to think about the information which also helps them to understand.

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QUIZ 19: STRESS AND PAUSING

Instructions: Read the following sentences and choose the words that should be stressed.

You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.

>>>> Please note that this quiz can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

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OPTIONAL: ORALLY PRESENT YOUR STORY

Important: This activity is optional. It will not be graded. This is a public post. Your classmates will see your
post.

Would you like to share a voice or video recording of TV News copy (script)?

You can upload your recording here and it will be shared with another participant for review.

Please note that this is a large course with thousands of participants around the world. Not all participants have
access to audio and video software. It is possible that you will not receive a response to your post.

>>>> Please note that this activity can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

OPTIONAL SELF-EVALUATION: ORALLY PRESENT YOUR

STORY AND EVALUATE YOURSELF
Instructions
Take the copy (the script) that you wrote in Assignment 1 and deliver it orally (speak). If you have a voice recorder,
you can record yourself and play it back.

Remember to consider stress and intonation while you present your copy. It may help to identify the content
words in each sentence.

Complete a self-assessment following your presentation.

Model Response - Copy Only

City Announces New Internship Program
by Eve Nora Litt, Education Correspondent

underlined = stressed
/ = pause

Philadelphia / will host a new internship program. That’s what Bill Wallace / of the City Department
of Education said on Thursday. High school students / can earn high school credit at City Hall. They’ll work with a
city council member. Participants will go through a two-step application process. The program won’t begin /
until next fall.

Bill Wallace explained that / high school students need real world experience / and something to put on their
college application. This program hopes to increase the rate of college-bound high school graduates /
and decrease drop-out rates.

>>>> Please note that this activity can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

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MODULE FOUR CHECK
Please answer one question to verify that you have completed all activities in Module Four
You must choose "Yes" in order to move on in the course.
This quiz will count as 1 point toward your grade.

>>>> Please note that this activity can only be completed in Canvas. <<<<

>>>> This is the end of Module 4 <<<<

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