Broadcast Journalism

A Study Guide

Three types of leads are commonly used in broadcasting.

The single-feature lead The umbrella or blanket lead The blanket lead

The single feature lead

The most important part of the story is featured at the beginning.

An example might be:Today a cyclist was killed on Congress Avenue.

The umbrella or blanket lead

Features two or more important elements

An example might be:Four individuals have lost their lives in cycling accidents this year. A hit and run has left a man dead today.

The chronological lead Tells the story in the order it happened.An example might be:

A witness reported that a cyclist was injured by a hit and run driver today at 4:12 p.m. along the Congress Avenue bridge. After the 911 call was received, EMS arrived at 512 Congress Avenue. Witnesses reported that a red truck was scene speeding from the accident. The man was pronounced dead at 4:18 pm. His name is being withheld pending notification of relatives. This is the third reported cycling accident resulting in death this year in Austin.

The lead in broadcasting is like the headline in newspapers.

The WHAT is usually the most important detail.

The Who and When follow The Where should be included if not

obvious The How and Why should come last

since they take longer to explain.

The lead should not begin with a name.

Save the name for the second sentence.

Begin with the person’s title such as Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Quotes

All quotes should be attributed. The attribution word in broadcasting

is “said.” Say, “those were his exact words,” or

“That’s the way he said it,” or “Quoting him exactly.”

Do not use the quote, unquote method.

Writing style

Use short sentences Be brief and concise Avoid adjectives and adverbs The story should have a

conversational feel Repeat words and significant details

in case the viewer did not hear the beginning of the story.

Difference in our and us

When reporting for a newspaper you avoid “our” and “us.”

When reporting live you USE “our” and “us.”

Use active voice

ACTIVE VOICEA lady in a red truck hit a cyclist today.

Do not use PASSIVE VOICEA cyclist was hit by a lady driving a red truck.

Tense

Use present tense It is okay to say “just moments ago.”

Abbreviations Avoid using abbreviations except for Mr.,

Mrs. or Dr. which the announcer would read as entire words

Place hyphens between letters and number that should be pronounce separately – such as U-S-A.

The announcer may be reading a cold copy and may not realize what the writer intended.

Do use 2006 without hyphens. Example on the screen should be 2-0-0-6.

Numbers

Write out numbers for the announcer so that they can be read easily. Write out numbers one through nine. For 10 and 12 through 999, use Arabic numerals.

For other numbers, use word-numeral combinations such as 123-thousand-552.

Symbols

Spell out symbols such as dollars versus $s.

Ordinal numbers

It’s okay to use st, nd, rd, and th after numbers used in addresses and anywhere else ordinal numbers might be used.

Example – 17th Congressional District, 4210 43rd Street

Time

Avoid a.m. and p.m. and say “this morning” or this afternoon”, etc.

Punctuation

Use only the period, dash, question mark, and comma. Three periods indicates a pause.

Corrections

Do not use copyediting symbols to correct mistakes. This will confuse the announcer. Instead, strike out a word completely, or retype the sentence.

Transitions

Help the story flow smoothly, by using “for example”, “for instance”, “in addition”, etc.

Avoid hissing sounds

In other words, avoid a series of words that begin with or contain the letter S.

Read aloud

Before giving your copy to the announcer, read it aloud yourself to catch problems.

Activity

Jennifer Stayton, the morning anchor for KUT, will be speaking to all classes this Thursday.

What is an anchor-it’s not on a boat!

Things you should know before Jennifer Stayton’s visit Jennifer Stayton is the morning ANCHOR for

KUT – Morning Edition with Jennifer Stayton KUT 90.5 is located in Austin and was housed

on the UT Communications complex. Established in 1958, KUT is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to The University of Texas at Austin and operates as a service of the College of Communication.

National Public Radio (NPR) is a popular radio broadcast out of Boston and Washington DC.

Things you should know before Jennifer Stayton’s visit What does non-profit mean?

The radio station receives donations through a once fundraiser where people call in to pledge money.

What is a Public Service Announcement (PSA).It’s like a commercial - A typical PSA is part of a public awareness campaign to inform or educate the public about an issue such as obesity or diabetes.

Things you should know before Jennifer Stayton’s visit

The popular prerecorded stories included on KUT/NPR are: Car Talk, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, All Things Considered, Fresh Air and For This I Believe.

Things you should know before Jennifer Stayton’s visit

What does affiliate mean? KUT subscribes to NPR so that the broadcasts can be heard on local stations across the US.

KUT 90.5 is located in Austin and is housed on the UT Communications Building.

If you haven’t listed to Car Talk, it’s on 90.5 on Saturday mornings.

Click here to read more about KUT.