writing for a visual media lecture 2

Writing for Visual Media“Good writing is the foundation

of all successful journalism.”

News Writing• If you want to be a successful journalist, you have

to write well.

• Good broadcast writers must engage the attention of a half-interested person and motivate them to become vitally interested in the news.

Print v.s. Broadcast Writing

• Print writes for the eye

• Broadcast writes for the ear

• Newspaper writing still evolving after 250 years

• Broadcast writers have to hit a moving target

Merry Christmas Fatso

VS

Novelist Anchor Woman

The Way We Write

Merry Christmas Fatso

Broadcast Writing Tips• Treating Numbers

• Spell out numbers one to eleven

• Use numerals for numbers 12-999

• Use words for thousands, millions, billions and trillions.

• Round off numbers without distorting the meaning

• Spell out things like “dollars,” “cents,” and “percent.”

Accuracy• Missed facts, mispronunciations, distortions of

emphasis - all damage your credibility.

• Accurate reporting demands that you show people as they are, whether good or bad, and “let the chips fall where they may.”

• Your role as journalist is not to tell people what they would like to hear. Your job is to tell the story as accurately as you can, even when the facts are unpleasant.

Attribution

• Attribution in broadcast precedes insertion in broadcast writing.

• We need to know who they are before we care what they say.

• You only have one chance for the viewer to get it.

• Confusion means you lost your audience.

Attribution

• Newspaper style attribution: The Fort Worth area can expect an unusually chilly month, according to the National Weather Service.

Attribution

• Newspaper style attribution: The Fort Worth area can expect an unusually chilly month, according to the National Weather Service.

• Radio or television attribution: The National Weather Service predicts an unusually chilly month in the Forth Worth area.

Writing in the Active Voice• Making it easier for the listener to understand

Why Active Voice

• A passive sentence presents the receiver of the action before presenting the action itself,out of chronological order, in violation of the principles of narrative storytelling.

Why Active Voice

• One or two passive sentences can make a story sound dull. A lot of passive writing will suffocate the story by making the action difficult or impossible to follow.

Why Active Voice

• Strong-flavored, action verbs give writing bounce and holds the listener’s attention.

• Passive voice writing often fails to give the important attribution necessary for the listener to understand the meaning of the story.

Why Active Voice

• “Never use the passive when you can use the active.” - George Orwell -

How to Identify Passive Voice

• When the subject of a sentence acts upon an object.

• Use of any form of the “to be” verb. (is,am,are,was,were,be,being,been)

How to Convert Passive Voice into Active Voice

• Relocate the actor

– The avalanche was caused by an explosion.– An explosion triggered an avalanche.

• Insert the missing actor

– The suspect was booked into the jail.– Police booked the suspect into the jail.

How to Convert Passive Voice into Active Voice

• Eliminate the passive voice verb– The car was filled with water– The car filled with water

• Substitute the offensive verb for a better active voice verb– The future of the Daily Universe is a matter of

concern today.– The future of the Daily Universe became a matter of

concern today.

Verb Tense

• Newspaper: (Past Tense) Said, reported, occurred, burned, announced.

• Broadcast: (Present Tense) Say, report, occur, burns. (What is happening right now.)

• False Present Tense: “A fire burns seven people at a Provo gas station.” “Police raid a Salt Lake grocery store.” (Not conversational)

Time References• Good

• “The day after tomorrow.”

• “One week from today.”

• Bad

• Last night

• Yesterday

Broadcast Writing Terms• VO - Voice over video

• SOT - Sound on tape (Interview-sound bite)

• Package - News report with reporters voice

• Live Remote - Reporter live from some location

• On-Set - Reporter live on the set

• Tease - Attempt to keep viewer during the commercials

Script Formats

Teleprompter

((ANCHOR)) TOO MANY CARS AND

NOT ENOUGH SPACES ON CAMPUS TO PARK THEM. THE CAMPUS PARKING PATROL CHECKS THE LOTS EVERY FEW MINUTES LOOKING FOR CARS WITHOUT THE PROPER PARKING PERMITS. STUDENTS CAN’T BUY A STICKER IN THE “A”LOT, CLOSEST TO CAMPUS... AND DON’T WANT TO SHELL OUT 60-BUCKS FOR A “Y” STICKER. BUT THEY SAY THEY STILL WANT TO DRIVE TO SCHOOL.

(Reader)

Script Format(((ANCHOR))) A UTAH BOY SCOUT STARTED COLLECTING USED BASEBALL GEAR FOR LITTLE LEGUE KIDS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC…WHERE THEY OFTEN PLAY WITH CARD BOARD MITS …ORANGES AND STICKS INSTEAD OF BATS. ((VO))) IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD KIDS CANT AFFORD A BASEBALL GLOVE OR A PAIR OF CLETES. BUT CHARLIE ROBINSON LOVES BASEBALL…HE STARTED PLAYING WHEN HE WAS JUST FIVE YEARS OLD.

ONE DAY CHARLIE SAW A TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY ABOUT BASEBALL PLAYERS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC…WHO ALSO LOVE BASEBALL…BUT DON’T ENJOY THE EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES CHARLIE HAS.(((SOT)))4:24 “A lot of kids don’t have money to buy new gloves for kids. When I started playing I used my friends glove. They need equipment over there.”(((VO))) WITH THE HELP OF HIS FRIENDS...CHARLIE AND HIS FATHER CAMPED OUT AT LITTLE LEAGUE...HIGH SCHOOL...COLLEGE AND SIMI PRO GAMES FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON…ASKING FANS TO DROP OFF THEIR OLD STUFF.(((ANCHOR)))

CHARLIE HOPES TO COLLECT MORE GEAR…BUT MOST OF ALL HE NEEDS A WAY TO SHIP THE EQUIPMENT TO THE KIDS WHO WANT IT …KIDS WHO LOVE BASEBALL AS MUCH AS HE DOES.

(VO/SOT/VO)

Broadcast Writing Terms • Reader : Just the anchor’s face and an over the

shoulder slide. (OTS)

:15 to :30

No Video

Reader

VO - (Voice over Video)

VO/SOT/VO

News Open & Tease

BLOOPERS!

Wow Me! Lab Assignment (Extra Credit)

• Interview 3 people you don’t know between now and 10 p.m. tonight

• Must be on BYU campus

• Email names and contact to lab instructor before 10 p.m. tonight

Wow Me!

• Write 3 anchor leads using the information

• Print them out and bring them to your lab this week.

• Participate in the Wow Me Contest

Wow Me Contest Winners• Lab members will vote on

top 10, then top 3 and then the winner.

• First place - 20 points of extra credit

• Second place - 15 points

• Third place - 10 points

• Everyone who participates 5 points

Writing the Anchor Lead

You can not get them back if you don’t capture their attention in the first twenty seconds


• Two sentences

• 1 - Summarize the story in a way that will draw interest

• 2 - Introduce the reporter and promise the viewer something new.

Types of Anchor Leads

• Hard News Lead (Summary Lead)

– Breaking News– Updates on major new– Hits at the heart of the

story

–


• Soft News Lead

– Feature stories


• Suspended Lead - Delays the climax until the end.– Folks in Wisconsin say Perky is a luck duck for a lot or reasons. –


• Question Lead - (Use it sparingly - Journalists answer questions.)– Do you know how many young girls suffer from anorexia?

Types of Anchor Leads• The well-known expression lead– A grandmother in West Valley City proves that

“you can’t take it with you,” today when 30-thousand dollars in gold coins spilled out of her coffin.

Types of Anchor Leads• The metaphor lead

– Despite the cold Provo Mayor Lewis Billings said his city is full of hot air…with more than 300 politicians gathered here for the national mayor’s conference.


• The freak event lead - Emphasize the unusual nature of the story– Springville water officials are

sorry, but thousands of fish are dead


• The staccato lead - One-two-three punch– Cold...fog...and bad air...that’s how the day

began in Provo.

–


• Two sentences

• 1 - Summarize the story in a way that will draw interest

• 2 - Introduce the reporter and promise the viewer something new.

writing for a visual media lecture 2

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