Broadcast news : writing, reporting, and producing / Ted White, Frank Barnas.

Includes index.

able of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv
INTRODUCTION xvii
Part 1 Acquiring the News
CHAPTER 1 Ethical Considerations 3
Introduction 3
Accuracy 3
Libel 4
Defenses 5
False Light 5
Boundaries 6
Hidden Cameras and Microphones 7
Ambush Interviews 7
Gratuities 8
Conflict of Interest 8
Reenactments and Staging 9
"Unnatural" Sound 10
Video Deception 10
Improper Editing 11
Jump Cuts 11
Inflating the News 13
Will the Real Reporter Please Stand Up? 13
Cameras in the Courtroom 14
The Fairness Doctrine 15
Invasion of Privacy 17
CHAPTER 2 Locating the News 21
Introduction 21
Spontaneous, Planned, and Enterprised 22
Stories
Assignment Desk 23
Follow-Ups on Previous Newscasts 25
The Wires 27
Local Experts 29
Monitoring the Competition 30
Beat Checks, Cop Shops, and Police Scanners 31
News Releases and Futures Files 34
Info Calls 35
The Calendar 35
Internet Bookmarks 36
Production Meetings 37
CHAPTER 3 Developing Stories 41
Introduction 41
Advancing the Story 41
Avoiding the Pack 42
Internet 43
Localization 43
Tips 45
Confidentiality 45
Accuracy of Sources 46
Gaining Confidence 46
Leaks 47
Trial Balloons 48
Authoritative or Informed Sources 48
Background Briefings 48
Keeping in Touch 49
CHAPTER 4 Collecting Information from Real 51
and Virtual Documents
Introduction 51
Open records 52
Public Records and "Sunshine Laws" 52
Filing an FOIA Request 54
The Privacy Act 55
Collecting governmental information 55
Government 55
Businesses and Individuals 56
Business Publications and Indexes 57
Trade Publications 57
Police Records 58
Court Records 58
Law Enforcement Databases 59
Birth and Death Records 60
Licenses 60
Land Records 61
Financial Records 61
Tax Records 62
Public Records 62
Additional real and virtual documents 63
Database Services 63
City Directories 63
Creating Contact Lists 64
CHAPTER 5 Beats, Spot News, and Reporting 69
Assignments
Introduction 69
Beats 70
Business/consumer 72
Crime 74
Education 77
Entertainment/community 77
Environment 78
Health 80
Local government 82
Military 83
Science/technology 84
Sports 84
Weather 86
Spot News 87
Accidents 87
Crime 88
Demonstrations 89
Disasters 90
Fires 91
Rape 92
Riots 92
Tragedies 93
Guidelines for covering violent stories 93
Part 2 Writing the News
CHAPTER 6 Newswriting Mechanics 99
Introduction 99
Slugs 99
The Split Page 100
Avoiding Split Words and Sentences 100
Punctuation 101
Rewriting Wire Copy 101
Conversational Style 102
Reading Your Copy Aloud 102
Avoiding Information Overload 103
Looking Ahead 104
Timing Stories 105
CHAPTER 7 Newswriting Style 107
Introduction 107
Descriptors and Identifiers 108
Names and titles 108
Middle names, initials, and maiden names 110
Foreign names 110
Ages 110
Marital status and children 111
Race 111
Numbers, Capital Numbers, Punctuation 112
Marks, and Web Sites
Numbers 112
Capital numbers 113
Punctuation marks 113
Web sites 113
Language—Using the Best Words 114
Avoiding abbreviations 114
Contractions 114
Eliminating long words 115
Conjunctions 116
Prepositions 116
Pronouns 116
Adjectives and adverbs 117
Avoiding clichés 117
Good grammar and some exceptions 118
Language—Using the Best Phrasing 119
Active and passive voices 119
Modifying phrases 119
Avoiding relative clauses 119
Verbs 121
Be ...ing verbs 121
Present tense 122
Present perfect tense 122
Mixing tenses 122
Says and related verbs 123
Attribution, Quotes, Time, Transitions, and 124
Locations
Attribution 124
Using quotes 124
Expressing time 125
Transitions 126
Locations 127
People, not persons 127
CHAPTER 8 Writing Compelling Leads 131
Introduction 131
The Five Ws and H Rule 131
The "Right" Emotion 133
Types of Leads 133
Hard and soft leads 134
Quote leads 135
Shotgun leads 135
Delayed leads 136
Negative leads 136
Trivia leads 136
Question leads 137
Updating the Lead 137
Updating and reworking the lead 138
Constructing the rest of the story 139
Pat 3 Reporting the News
CHAPTER 9 Fieldwork 145
Introduction 145
Equipment 146
Videotapes 146
Batteries and AC power 147
Tripods 148
Video cameras 148
Video 150
Filters 150
White balancing 150
Mixed light 151
Focusing 152
Shooting techniques 152
Cover footage 153
Establishing shots 153
Sequences 154
Shooting enough footage 155
Time coding 155
Audio 155
Recording primary sound 156
Recording natural sound 156
Earphones 157
Establishing rapport with the videographer 158
One-man band 159
Quality suffers 159
CHAPTER 10 Interviewing 163
Introduction 163
Preparation 163
Warming up 164
Setting the Stage 165
Informational 165
Technical 165
Phrasing Questions Carefully 166
Avoiding Leading Questions 166
Listening Carefully 166
The Tough Questions 167
Keeping Control 169
Curbing Nods and Smiles 169
Identifying Sound Bytes 170
Checking Facts 170
Asking Enough Questions 171
Finishing the Interview 171
Returning to the Station 172
Special Considerations 172
Off the Record 173
Man-on-the-Street Interviews 173
The Phone Interview 174
An Interview Checklist 175
CHAPTER 11 Covering Planned Events 177
Introduction 177
Press Conferences 178
Covering the Press Conference 179
Interviewing Around the Press Conference 180
Finding Workable Video 181
Meetings 181
Political Campaigns 185
Grand Openings 188
Feature events 189
CHAPTER 12 Reporting Live 193
Introduction 193
Organizing Thoughts 194
Ad-Libbing 197
The Challenges of Electronic News Gathering 198
Keeping Cool 200
Memorizing and Delivering Live Reports 201
Voiceovers from the Field 201
Technical Challenges 202
CHAPTER 13 Voiceovers, Packages, and Story 205
Formats
Introduction 205
Readers 206
Combining Words and Pictures 207
Voiceovers 208
Scripting the Voiceover 209
Incorporating Sound Bytes 210
The Split Page 212
Audio 212
Video 213
The Package 215
Stand-ups and Reporter Involvement 218
Posting Stories 220
Part 4 Producing the News
CHAPTER 14 Producing the Television Newscast 225
Introduction 225
Producers—Definitions and Skills 226
Executive producer 227
Line producer (show producer) 227
Associate producer 228
Field producer 228
Producers and writing skills 228
Producers and enthusiasm 229
Producers and energy 231
The Logistics and Strategies of Producing 232
Staff meetings 232
The rundown 233
Leads, clusters, and kickers 233
Peaks and valleys 234
Rhythm and flow 236
Ad-libs, bumps, teases, and tosses 236
Producing tips 238
Technical Aspects of Producing 238
Balancing the anchors 238
Still pictures 239
Live shots 239
Back timing 240
CHAPTER 15 Producing the Radio Newscast 245
Introduction 245
The State of Radio News 245
Your Audience 247
Organizing Material 248
Writing from the Back 249
The Lead Story 250
The Rest of the Newscast 251
Localizing the News 252
Story Length 252
Actualities 253
Studio Technology 254
Wraparounds 254
Lead-Ins 255
Teases 255
Headlines 256
Pad Copy 257
Back Timing 257
Convergence and Radio News 257
CHAPTER 16 Delivering the News 261
Introduction 261
Appearance 262
Credibility 262
One-Way Communication 264
Getting Help with Your Delivery 265
Dialects 266
Listening to Yourself 267
Correct Pronunciation 267
Pacing 270
Marking Copy 271
Characteristics of Successful Anchors 271
Cosmetics 272
CHAPTER 17 Network and Global News 279
Introduction 279
Networks and Affiliates 280
Network News Structure 280
News on Public Television 282
Domestic Networks, Global Reach 283
Online News Portals 283
News Wire Services 284
The Internet's Delivery of Global News 285
Press Freedom 286
CHAPTER 18 Convergence and the Media 289
Introduction 289
Convergence Models 289
Broadcast Journalism and Print Journalism 293
Hyper Text Media Language (HTML), XHTML, 294
and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Digital Video 294
Digital Photography 295
Digital Audio 296
Podcasting 297
Social Network Pages 297
Blogs, E-Mails, and Mobile Devices 297
GLOSSARY 301
INDEX 313