TY - BOOK AU - White,Ted TI - Broadcast news: writing, reporting, and producing SN - 9780240806594 (pb) U1 - 070.1 PY - 2010/// CY - Amsterdam, Boston PB - Focal Press/Elsevier KW - Broadcast journalism KW - Reporters and reporting KW - Report writing N1 - Includes index; Introduction A Changing Industry Is Journalism for You? What Role to Play? Your College Education Internships . . Your First Job Responsibility and Accuracy 1 Broadcast News Writing Mechanics Some Basics .. Correcting Copy Slugs The Split Page . Avoid Abbreviations Avoiding Split Words and Sentences .. Punctuation Names and Titles Middle Names and Initials Foreign Names Ages .... Marital Status Race Numbers Timing Stories Review Questions Exercises 2 Broadcast News Writing Style Rewriting VWre Copy Conversational Style Contractions Reading Your Copy Aloud Avoiding Information Overload Avoiding Relative Clauses VI Contents Elirninating Long Words 16 Conjunctions 17 Prepositions 17 Pronouns 17 Modifying Phrases 18 Avoiding Cliches 18 Writing What You Mean 20 Good Grammar and Some Exceptions 20 Summary 21 Review Questions 21 Exercises 22 3 More Style Rules 23 Verbs 23 Present Tense 23 Present Perfect Tense 24 Mixing Tenses 24 Active-Verbs 24 Says Is a Good Verb 25 Strong Verbs 25 Limiting Use of Adverbs and Adjectives 25 Attribution 26 Using Quotes 26 Expressing Time 27 Looking Ahead 28 Transitions 29 People, Not Persons 30 Summaiy 30 Review Questions 30 Exercises 31 4 Writing Broadcast Copy 32 Leads 32 The "Five W's and H Rule" 32 Hard and Soft Leads 33 The "Ri^t" Emotion 34 The Quote Lead 35 The Shotgun Lead 36 The Suspense Lead 36 The Delayed Lead 38 Negative Leads 39 Updating and Reworking the Lead 39 Constructing the Rest of the Story 40 Summary 41 Review Questions 41 Exercises 41 5 Color: The Key to Good Writing 43 Color Should Be Natural 43 Emulate the Best 45 Kuralt on the Road ... 46 Contents vii "A Postcard from Nebraska" 49 Crisp and Clear 52 Use Your Senses 53 Color Comes in Many Shades 60 Colorful Obituaries 61 Frederick, EUerbee, and Aaron 64 Murrow and His "Boys" 70 "This Is London" 71 "Permit Me to Tell You" 74 "The Fault, Dear Brutus" 76 Eric Sevareid: Writing with Class 77 Ck)od Things from Local Stations 78 Summary 86 Review Questions 87 Exercises 87 6 Radio News 88 You Need A Scorecard 89 AU News Radio Stations 93 Good News Teams Are Also Found in Small Places 94 Your Audience 96 Organizing Material 96 Writing from the Back 97 The Lead Story 98 The Rest of the Newscast 99 Localizing the News 99 Story Length 100 Actualities 100 Wraparounds 100 Lead-Ins 101 Teases 102 Headlines 102 Pad Copy 103 Back Timing 103 Summary 103 Review Questions 104 Exercises 104 7 Writing for the Television Newscast 106 Combining Words and Pictures 106 Sound Bites 106 The Television News writer 107 Read Stories 107 Voice-overs 107 The Split Page . 109 Video Instructions . io9 Sound on Tape Ill Lead-ins 112 Headlines and Teases 113 A Team Effort 114 Summary 115 VIII Contents Review Questions 115 Exercises 115 8 Delivering the News 117 Credibility 117 One-Way Communication 118 Getting Help with Your Delivery 119 Dialects 119 Listening to Yourself 120 Getting Pronunciation Help 121 Pacing 124 Marking Copy 126 Characteristics of Successful Anchors 128 Ratings Wars 128 Cosmetics 129 Summary 132 Review Questions 132 Exercises 133 9 Finding the News 134 The Wires 134 Television Satellite Feeds 135 The Internet 136 Newspapers 136 Monitoring Radios 137 Making Phone Calls 138 Stringers 138 Tipsters 138 Employee Input 139 Sounding the Alarm 140 Developing Story Ideas 142 Interaction 142 Insights 143 Assignment Boards 144 Summary 144 Review Questions 145 Exercises 145 10 Broadcast News Reporting 146 Basic Skills 146 Accuracy 147 Election 2000: It's Better to Be Right than First 147 New Problems in 2004 149 The O. J. Simpson Trial 150 News Judgment 152 Curiosity 154 Concern and Caring 154 Persistence 155 Aggressiveness 155 Fairness 155 Diversity ,50 Contents ir Covering Stories about Gays and Lesbians 158 Sta3ang Well Informed 161 Research 161 Manners and Sensitivity 162 Working wdth CoUeagues 164 Summary 164 Review Questions 164 Exercises 165 11 Reporting Assignments 166 Fires 166 Accidents 169 Crime 170 Rape 171 Be a Watchdog 172 The Courts 173 Crirninal Courts 173 Reporter Access 174 Ci^^ Courts 174 Demonstrations 175 Riots 175 Disasters 176 The Terrorist Attacks of 9-11 177 Trying to Find a CBS Crew 182 Women Journalists at Ground Zero 183 How Not to Spend the Last Day of a Vacation 186 Just Go ... Go . .. Go! 187 Oklahoma City Bombing 188 The 2004 Tsunami 190 Tragedies 192 Violence 192 Schoolyard Shootings 193 Media Invade Small Community 194 Criticism of Media 195 Why Such Killings? 198 Don't Forget the Victims 199 Was the Reporting Excessive? 199 Violent Stories Also Cause Stress for Journalists 200 The Waco, Texas, Conflict 201 Was News Coverage Fair? 202 Government Control of Media 203 Could Media Involvement Have Changed the Outcome? .... 204 War Reporting: The Rules Have Changed 204 Embedded Journalists 205 The Private Lynch Fiasco 207 Are Reporters Acting too Much Like Soldiers? 209 Cheerleaders for the Military? 209 Journalist Deaths in Iraq . 210 The Tip of the Spear 213 Beats 220 Advancing the Story 222 Contents Avoiding the Pack 222 Keeping in Touch 223 Establishing Rapport with the Camera person 223 One-Person Band 224 Convergence 225 Quality Suffers 227 Summary 228 Review Questions 228 Exercises 228 12 Covering Planned Events 229 News Conferences 229 Hard Questions 232 Local Government 233 Political Campaigns 236 Putting Comments into Perspective 239 Feature Stories 240 Summary 244 Review Questions 245 Exercises 245 13 Reporting Live 246 Organizing Thou^ts 246 Ad-Libbing 250 The Challenges of Electronic News Gathering 251 Keeping Cool 254 Memorizing and Delivering Live Reports 254 Changing Lens Shots 255 Summary 255 Review Questions 256 Exercises 256 14 Putting the Television Story Together 257 The Package 257 At the Scene 257 Taking Notes 258 Opening the Story 258 Good Pictures 258 Good Writing 259 Organizing the Story 264 Selecting Sound 265 Working with the Video Editor 266 The Voiceover 266 The Voiceover-Sound on Tape 267 Reporler Involvement 268 Summary 269 Review Questions 2(^9 Exercises 2 15 The Interview 2 1 Preparing for the Interview 271 Phrasing Questions Carefully 273 Contents ^ Avoiding Leading Questions 273 Listening Carefully 273 Warming Up the Head 274 The Tough Questions 274 The Surprise Questions 275 Questions to Ask Before the Interview 276 Keeping Control of the Interview 276 Asking Enough Questions 277 "Did I Forget Something?" 278 Off the Record 278 Curbing Nods and Smiles 279 The Phone Interview 279 Checking Facts 280 Some Other Tips 280 Check out Charlie 280 Summary 282 Review Questions 282 Exercises 283 16 Collecting Information from Documents 284 Public Records and the "Sunshine Laws" 284 Filing an FOIA Request 285 Supporting Wdeo 302 A Ne^ected Tool 304 The Privacy Act 305 Government Reports 305 Business Publications and Indexes 306 Trade Publications 306 Database Services 306 Great for Running Stories 307 Other Public Files 307 Police Records 308 Court Records 308 Birth and Death Records 308 Licenses 309 Land Records 309 Financial Records 309 Tax Records 310 City Directories 310 Summary 310 Review Questions 311 Exercises 311 17 Computer-Assisted Reporting for Broadcast 312 by Brant Houston The Three Basic Tools 312 Online Resources 313 Search Engines and Guides 313 Finding People 314 Back grounding Businesses 315 on Disasters 316 Covering Beats 317 Downloading Databases 318 Spreadsheets 319 Using Downloaded Data 320 Database Managers 321 Searching 321 Summarizing 322 Comparing and Matching 324 Building Your Own Database 324 Acquiring Data 325 CAR Stories 325 Resources Needed 326 Summary 327 Review Questions 327 Exercises 327 18 Developing Sources 328 Tips 328 Confidentiality 328 Accuracy of Sources 329 Gaining Confidence 330 Making Friends 330 Leaks 331 The Clarence Thomas Case 332 Trial Balloons 334 Authoritative or Informed Sources 334 Background Briefings 334 Summary 335 Review Questions 335 Exercises 335 19 Specialty Reporting 336 Investigative Reporting 336 The Salt Lake City Scandal 337 Environmental Reporting 341 Business Reporting 350 Health and Medical Reporting 352 Consumer Reporting 355 Sports Reporting 357 Weather Reporting 361 Summary 366 Review Questions 366 Exercises 367 20 Ethics 368 Objectivity: Does the Media Have a Bias? 368 Is the Bias to the Left or the Right? 370 Gratuities 371 Conflict of Interest 372 Accuracy and Responsibility 372 Contents jciii The Jason Blair Scandal 373 USA Today Also Has a Major Scandal 375 Libel 376 Defenses 377 False Li^t 377 Boundaries 378 Controversial Techniques 378 Hidden Cameras and Microphones 380 Case Studies Involving Ethical Issues 381 Case Study 1: A Mercy Killing on TV 381 Case Study 2: Food Lion Sues ABC 382 Case Study 3: ABC Stings the Cops 384 Case Study 4: CNN Retracts Its Stoiy 386 Case Study 5: CBS Nevus Also Retracts a Stoiy 387 Other Stories That Backfired 389 Ambush Interviews 390 Reenactments 391 Crime-Stoppers 392 Staging 392 Dateline Rigs a Truck 393 CBS Also Blows Up a Truck 393 "Unnatural" Soimd 394 Video Deception 394 Improper Editing 395 Avoiding Jump Cuts 395 Inflating the News 397 Will the Real Reporter Please Stand Up? 397 Summary 398 Review Questions 399 Exercises 399 21 More Ethical Issues 400 Cameras in the Courtroom 400 Pros and Cons 401 Do Cameras Influence Witnesses? 402 The Fourth Amendment 403 Don Hewitt Has Second Thoughts 405 Supreme Court Eases Rules—^A Bit 406 Checkbook Journalism 406 The Fairness Doctrine 407 Invasion of Privacy 408 Civic Journalism 409 Summary 413 Review Questions , . 413 Exercises 414 22 Tabloid Journalism 415 The Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal 415 Unconfirmed Reports Aboimd 417 Many Ways of Saying the Source Is Unreliable 418 JJV Contents White House Scolds The Wall Street Jownal 418 Media Gripped by Sniper Obsession 419 The JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case 422 A Young Congressional Intern Dies and a Congressman Loses His Job 426 A Star Pro Basketball Player Is Accused of Sexual Assault 430 Are News Standards Dwindling? 431 33 Producing 433 The Producers 433 The Executive Producer 433 The Line Producer (Show Producer) 434 Associate Producers 434 Field Producers 435 The Staff Meetings 435 A Busy News City 435 Who's the Real Boss? 436 The Golden People 437 Philosophy 437 Ethics 437 The Rundown (Lineup) 438 Peaks and Valleys 439 Rhjdhm and Flow 440 A Difference of Opinion 441 More Producing Tips 442 Producers Need Good Writing Skills 442 Enthusiasm 444 Energy^ 445 Still Pictures 445 Live Shots 445 Back Timing 446 Bright Future 447 Summary 448 Review Questions 448 Exercises 448 24 Using the Hardware 449 Checking the Equipment 449 Batteries and AC Power 449 Tripods 450 Earphones 451 Filters 451 White Balancing 451 Mixed Light 452 Focusing 453 Time Coding 454 Shooting Techniques 454 Cover Footage 456 Establishing Shots 456 Contents ^ Sequential Shooting 457 Shooting Enough Footage 457 Recording Natural Sound 457 "Vddeophone Technologj^ 458 25 The Job Search in a Changing Industry 467 The Future of Broadcast News 468 The New Players 471 Demise of Radio News 471 Getting Started 472 "The Com Fields" 478 Education Is Essential 479 The Job Search 479 The Resume 481 References 481 Cover Letters 483 Writing Tests 483 The Job Interview 483 Minority Opportunities 485 Some Final Words 487 Glossary 488 Index 493 ER -