How to Write for Broadcast
Writing news in broadcast style—for the ear—differs from writing news in print
style—for the eye—in that broadcast style news writing is conversation on paper.
Broadcast newswriting, unlike print newswriting, uses redundancies and repetition, and
sentence construction barred from print newswriting, because the newscaster is talking to
the audience.
The goal of broadcast newswriting is understandability at first listening. A print news
story can be read as many times as is necessary for understandability. In broadcast, there
is no second chance at understanding. The news broadcaster does not repeat stories
verbatim, so there is no second listening.
Some rules of writing are the same, though. As in a print news story, a broadcast
news story must be long enough to cover the topic and short enough to be interesting.
Print news stories average 250 words; broadcast news stories average 60 words because
of time constraints. Such conciseness demands that words and details be selected with
extreme care.
Until you become adept at writing in broadcast style, it may be easier for you to write
the essence of your story in one sentence; then use that as a guide for writing the
broadcast version. When you write your story, remember that broadcast writing is talk
writing, conversational writing. Strive for that approach. Imagine that you are talking, not
writing, talking to a friend, telling your friend the news. Talk to the keyboard.
The essence or broadcast writing is that it be clear on first reading because listeners
who do not understand the first sentence of a newscast will try to make sense of it and
will miss the second sentence. The third sentence will be confusing, so listeners will lose
the entire news story.
Here are some suggestions for making broadcast news copy readily understandable.
Most broadcast newscasters prefer copy written in ALL-CAPITALS.
Strive for the present tense, but don't force it. The simple past tense is acceptable,
frequently desirable. Using the present tense for an obvously past action jars listeners.
And the present perfect tense—has … have …— is a copout; you can write better
than that.
Write the broadcast story in 60–65 words, three sentences. To make it easy for the
broadcast newscaster to read from, write one sentence per paragraph.
Indent every paragraph, including the first one, five spaces.
Omit unnecessary words and details.
Use short words and short sentences.
Use sentence fragments for emphasis.
Use slang, if it fits the sentence and the story.
Use concrete words, not abstract or vague words.
Use second person personal pronouns: you, your, yours.
Avoid first person pronouns: I … me … my … mine … myself … we … us …
our … ours … ourselves.
Keep sentences parallel.
In a list, repeat auxiliary verbs: have … had.
In a list, repeat prepositions.
In a list, repeat the to in infinitives.
In a list, use the articles: a … an … the.
Write in the active voice: subject, predicate, object.
Avoid synonyms because repeating key words reinforces comprehension.
Moreover, no two words mean exactly the same thing.
Generalize statistics.
Round off numbers. Listeners cannot assimilate detailed large numbers.
Therefore, adding such qualifiers as approximately … about … some … nearly …
more than. It is unnecessary; it only adds useless words.
After you have written your story, read it aloud and listen to the flow of language.
If you have to read a sentence twice to understand it, your listeners will not be able to
understand it. Recast and simplify.
Broadcast Writing Style
Here are the basic style requirements for broadcast writing to help the newscaster
read the story and the listener understand the story.
Abbreviate only Mr. … Mrs. … Ms. … Dr.
Spell out all other titles.
For ease of understanding, put all titles and appositives (a word or group of words
that identifies another word or group of words) before the names, because it puts the
name immediately before the verb. For accuracy use a … an … the, as appropriate,
before appositives:
AN 18–YEAR–OLD BIOLOGY MAJOR, CAITLIN ALEXANDER, WON
A SENIOR JOURNALISM MAJOR, LIAM JAMES, IS THE NEW. …
THE PRESIDENT OF LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, KEVIN LEE,
DELIVERED. …
THE PROVOST AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS,
DR. PATRICIA COLE, ARGUED IN .…
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH WARNED. …
MAYOR GREGORY SCOTT RESIGNED. …
If letter abbreviations are to be used—and use abbreviations sparingly—handle
abbreviations this way:
For abbreviations that are read as individual letters, separate them with hyphens:
F–B–I … N–A–A–C–P … TEXAS A–&–M … U–N … P–H–D … G–I … A–P …
U–S–D–A … A–T–&–T … U–S … A-M … P-M
For abbreviations that are pronounced as words, place them within quotation
marks: "NASA" … "HUD" … "NASCAR" … "UNICEF" … "NATO" …
“NASDAQ”
If numbers are to be used—and use numbers sparingly—handle numbers this way:
Spell out numbers from one to eleven.
Use figures from 12 to 999.
Use combination of figures and words for one thousand and up, and hyphenate:
FIVE-MILLION … 330–THOUSAND … FOUR–MILLION … 12–HUNDREDDOLLARS
Round off large numbers unless the exact number is significant:
TEXAS A–&–M HAS 45–THOUSAND STUDENTS [not 44,885].
Write numbers the way they are spoken, and round them up or down:
THE BUDGET IS 62–AND–ONE–HALF–MILLION–DOLLARS [not
$62,462,385]. Better: THE BUDGET IS 62–MILLION–DOLLARS.
If you use percentages, do not use the “%” sign; spell out PERCENT. And round off
numbers; instead of 54 PERCENT and 48 PERCENT use HALF.
Spell out first to eleventh—JULY FOURTH … JUNE SECOND—use combination
of figures and letters for 12TH and above—32ND ANNUAL CONVENTION … 23RD
… NOVEMBER 15TH
Hyphenate years: 19–98 … 20–OH–THREE … or TWO-THOUSAND-THREE …
18–90s
For ages, list the age before the name and hyphenate it: A 21–YEAR–OLD
STUDENT … A 46–YEAR–OLD PROFESSOR
Use quotation marks sparingly. Instead, introduce direct quotations with IN THESE
WORDS … SAID IT THIS WAY.
Use some contractions freely: THEY'RE … IT'S … WON'T
Avoid n't contractions because they may be confusing, and the pronunciation
emphasis is not on the n't: Write are not instead of aren't … did not instead of didn't.
Won’t is acceptable because there is no willn’t.
Provide pronouncers for difficult names. Put the pronouncer immediately after the
difficult name, within parentheses, and use an apostrophe to indicate the emphasized
syllable: MOBLEY (MOBE'–LEE) … HAJASH (HASH) [or (RHYMES WITH CASH)]
… KNOBLOCK (NO'–BLOCK)… KNUTE (KUH–NUTE') … VYVLECKA (VIV–
LETCH'–KUH)
Follow traditional punctuation. However, take a close look at semicolons. You
probably will be able to make two simple sentences from a compound sentence with a
semicolon. And shorter sentences are more understandable.
Place all attribution before the statement, never after and never in the middle of the
statement:
SABATINI SAID HE WAS BORN WITH THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER AND A
SENSE THAT THE WORLD WAS MAD.
SABATINI SAID, IN THESE WORDS, I WAS BORN WITH THE GIFT OF
LAUGHTER AND A SENSE THAT THE WORLD IS MAD.
Examples
Notice the necessary repetition of key words throughout the broadcast stories.
Newspaper Lead (33 words)
The Denton City Council hired Hugh Robb, city manager of Tallahassee, Fla., for the
past 10 years, as city manager today, replacing Mary Emory, who resigned last month to
enter private law practice.
Broadcast Story (42 words)
THE CITY OF DENTON HAS A NEW CITY MANAGER.
THE NEW DENTON CITY MANAGER IS HUGH ROBB, WHO SPENT THE
PAST TEN YEARS AS CITY MANAGER OF TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA.
ROBB REPLACES MARY EMORY, WHO RESIGNED LAST MONTH TO
ENTER PRIVATE LAW PRACTICE.
Newspaper Lead (27 words)
The tax attorney firm of Cole and Emory began collecting delinquent property taxes
in the two–county school district today under a contract with the school board.
Broadcast Story (47 words)
IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID YOUR DENTON COUNTY SCHOOL TAXES
RECENTLY, BE WARNED.
THE DENTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT IS AFTER YOU WITH A
PROFESSIONAL TAX COLLECTOR.
LAST MONTH, THE DENTON COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD HIRED THE TAX
ATTORNEY FIRM OF COLE AND EMORY TO COLLECT DELINQUENT SCHOOL
TAXES.
Newspaper Story (102 words)
The best high school students in the United States ranked Texas A&M University
sixth in this year’s list of institutions of higher education they prefer to attend.
The ranking was made by high school students listed in Who’s Who Among High
School Students because of their academic and extracurricular excellence.
The top five universities are Harvard, Duke, Stanford, University of California–Los
Angeles, and University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.
The publisher of Who’s Who Among High School Students asked its 100,000
members to indicate which college or university they planned to attend. Their preferences
were compiled to form the nationwide ranking.
Broadcast Story (69 words)
THE BEST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES CONSIDER
TEXAS A-&-M THE SIXTH BEST UNIVERSITY IN THE COUNTRY.
TEXAS A-&-M UNIVERSITY’S TOP RANKING CAME IN A SURVEY OF 100THOUSAND MEMBERS OF WHO’S WHO AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
WHO WERE ASKED WHAT UNIVERSITIES THEY PLANNED TO ATTEND.
THE TOP FIVE UNIVERSITIES ARE HARVARD, DUKE, STANFORD,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES, AND UNIVERSITY OF
NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL.