Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook

Bob Papper is Research Professor at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. A graduate of Columbia College and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, he has worked as a producer, writer and manager at TV stations in Minneapolis, San Francisco, Washington, DC and Columbus, OH and radio stations in New York, Maine and Indiana. He has won more than a hundred awards including the top honors in broadcast journalism (duPont-Columbia) and in broadcast journalism education (Ed Bliss Award).Prof. Janet Kolodzy teaches multimedia and broadcast journalism at Emerson College in Boston. A Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism graduate, she has worked as a writer, copyeditor and producer at CNN and CNN International. She was the education reporter and an editor at the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Arkansas Democrat. She is the author of Practicing Convergence Journalism.

• Acknowledgments1 News Now, News Next What Is News?Types of StoriesFinding StoriesSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises2 Challenges in News TodayFinancial ChallengesRatingsMisinformation, Disinformation and Fake NewsArtificial IntelligenceJournalists, Trust in the Media Under AttackSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises3 Challenges Bring Opportunities Why Social Media?Why Mobile?Measuring Engagement and Driving TrafficStreaming/OTT (Over the Top)Artificial Intelligence … AIOther OpportunitiesSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises4 Research, Collecting Information and Bites The Assignment DeskOnlineOn Social MediaMorning and Afternoon MeetingsArtificial IntelligenceWhat Makes a Good BiteConducting Successful InterviewsBeyond the InterviewSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises5 Readability Broadcast News WritingWriting for the Ear vs. Writing for the EyeRules of ReadabilitySummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises6 Words Keep It SimpleKeep It ConversationalKeep It ClearKeep It TightMake It PowerfulGet It RightCommon ProblemsSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises7 Phrases and Phrasing How to Say ItWhat to SayWhat You Didn’t Mean to SayLast NoteSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises8 Sentences Keep It ShortMake It Clean, Clear and ConciseLast NoteSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises9 Leads and Endings Types of LeadsFiguring Out the LeadTypes of EndingsSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises10 Stories Plan and FocusStory LogicStory StructureTransitionsBefore You’re DoneSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises11 Working with Bites, Actualities and Natural Sound The Feel of Natural SoundWorking with Bites, Actualities and Natural SoundPackagesSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises12 TV: Story Forms Story FormsPutting Packages TogetherMMJ … VJ … One-Man BandLive ReportingGolden RulesSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises13 TV: Working with Pictures The Power of the Visual ImageThe TV Balancing ActPicture CautionsDronesStrong Stories Have Central Characters and a PlotProve Your StoryThe Element of SurpriseConnecting with TruthsCare About the StorySummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises14 Producing News on TV OverviewAudienceNewscast StructureBuilding a Local NewscastTeases and PromosPromotionTease … Don’t TellMake Them CareDon’t Ever Do ThisSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises15 Producing News on Social MediaBrandingDo Everything, Distribute the Most EngagingBe EverywhereTaking Better Pictures20 Survival and Growth TipsSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises16 Producing News on Websites and Mobile Streaming VideoConstructing Web NewsBeyond Text, Pictures and VideoMultimediaConstructing Mobile NewsSEO, SMO and KeywordsSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises17 Radio, Audio, Podcasts: Story Forms and Working with Sound Radio Story FormsDrawing Radio PicturesPodcastsAudio and Social MediaThe Business of RadioSummaryEthicsKey Words and PhrasesExercises18 News, Weather and Sports Why News, Weather and Sports?Reporting WeatherDefining Weather TermsReporting SportsSports and Teams19 Reporting: Seasonal Coverage and the CalendarSeasonal ReportingSolar and Lunar and the World’s Major ReligionsCalendar HolidaysState Holidays20 Reporting: The GA and Specialized Coverage The General Assignment ReporterBusiness, Economy and TaxesCrime and LegalEducationThe EnvironmentGeographyGovernmentHeath and Medicine21 Ethics, Legality and the RTDNA and SPJ Codes of EthicsEthicsEthical Decision-Making Starts at the TopIssues in Media LawThe Radio-Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Code of Ethics and Professional ConductThe Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of EthicsSummaryExercises22 TV Script Form, Supers and GlossaryAbbreviationsScript FormGlossary of Broadcast and Online TermsIndex