Introduction to Media Writing. This course is about writing -- first and foremost, how to write well in a professional environment.

Secondly, its about how learning how to write in the major forms of writing for various mass media. This course is important -- possibly one of the most important that you will take. Why?

Writing is central to all media industries. Writing is the mark of a well educated person. Writing is a powerful activity. The ability to control and articulate ideas and information gives you power over what other people know and think about.

Whats different? "But Ive had English 101 and 102. Why do I need this course?" This course is different from all other writing course that you have had in two important ways:

First, we emphasize information. The major purpose of writing for the mass media is to present information.

Second, one of the purposes of this course is to teach you how to write in a professional environment. That is, we want you to understand what the demands of professionalism are and what you will need to meet those demands. Third, writing in a media environment usually means writing for a mass audience. Chances are, a lot of people are going to read or hear or see what you write (not just your English professor). Understanding that audience is a

big

part

of

learning

to

write

for

the

mass

media.

Finally, there is the concept of modesty. By that we mean that good writing for the mass media puts the writer in the background and emphasizes instead the content of the writing. An audience doesnt care what you think or how you feel about what you are writing. The audience wants information, and it wants that information presented accurately, completely, efficiently and precisely. Four characterictics of media writing And those are the four characteristics of media writing

accuracy completeness efficiency precision

Accuracy is the chief requirment of a writer for the mass media. This is not just a journalists requirement. All writers are expected to present informaiton accurately and to take some pains in doing so. Many of the procedures for writing for the mass media are set up to ensure accuracy.

Completeness means that you should present your information in a context so that it can be easily understood by a mass audience. It should be clear and coherent. Your writing should answer all of the questions that could be expected by the audience. (Not all of the questions that could be asked, but all those that it takes to understand the information.)

Efficiency is one of the most prized writing characteristics. Efficiency means

using the fewest words to present you information accurately and clearly. Efficiency is difficult to achieve because

most of us write inefficiently, especially on first draft most of use do not do a good job in editing our writing the world is filled with inefficient writing, and we often fall victim to it.

Precision means that as a writer, you take special care with the language. You know good grammar and practice it. You use words for precisely what they mean. You develop a love for the language. As a developing professional, you should strive to make your writing

satisfactory, to your audience and to you as a writer engaging, so that the audience will stop, attend powerful, so you can make a difference in the lives of your readers and listeners

The defining moment in the history of radio was at 12.30pm on 12 December 1901 when the three dots of the Morse letter "S", transmitted from Poldhu in Cornwall, were received in St John's Newfoundland. The technology involved was evolutionary - similar to that beginning to be used over modest distances already, albeit much more powerful. What was revolutionary, however, was the belief that radio would follow the curve of the earth over such great distances, and that it was worth spending considerable time, effort and money to demonstrate it. Guglielmo Marconi proved the doubters wrong. Born and educated in Italy, Guglielmo Marconi spent most of his working life in Britain. He was attracted here because he found the British open to new ideas and able to provide the high quality of scientific and engineering support he

needed. In that respect he was a social pioneer too - an early inward investor to the UK and an early international, as opposed to colonial, businessman. 100 years later, the growth of radio has been dramatic - almost unimaginable amounts of traffic flow through every part of the radio spectrum, from satellite communications to very short range devices. The regulation in the UK of Guglielmo Marconi's legacy rests with the Radiocommunications Agency; we are proud to be its custodians. Our job is to ensure that the potential of the spectrum is fully realised and that all the different radio services can co-exist in an orderly way, both in the UK and overseas. It was Guglielmo Marconi who proved that radio was the international communications medium; the Agency and similar bodies around the world have taken up his challenge to make international communications work. Radio is a fascinating medium. The amateur community keeps alive Guglielmo Marconi's experimental tradition and business sees radio as the life blood of enterprise and economic development. Whatever the use of radio, the Radiocommunications Agency is working to ensure that Guglielmo Marconi's legacy is exploited for the benefit of all. History RADIO - THE MILESTONES 1873 James Clerk Maxwell identifies electromagnetic waves with light as

their visible manifestation 1887 Heinrich Hertz demonstrates the existence of radio waves, predicted by Maxwell 1894 Sir Oliver Lodge unveils a "coherer" to detect radio waves, and demonstrates that radio could be used for signalling

1895

GUGLIELMO

MARCONI

DEVELOPS

MORE

PRACTICAL

MEANS OF SENDING AND RECEIVING RADIO SIGNALS, BUT THE ITALIAN AUTHORITIES ARE UNIMPRESSED 1896 patent 1898 First use of radio in naval manoeuvres 1899 First international radio communication, between England and France 1899 First distress call, from the East Goodwin lightship 1901 FIRST TRANSATLANTIC COMMUNICATION, BETWEEN CORNWALL AND NEWFOUNDLAND 1904 Ambrose Fleming invents the thermionic valve, improving the performance of radio receivers 1904 1906 Government introduces radio licence fees on the basis of Lee de Forest adds an extra element to Fleming's diodes, his recovering administrative costs triodes improve reception and allow amplification 1906 Crystals identified as a good detector of radio signals. In the early 1920s the crystal set, adjusted by the "cat's whisker" (fine wire) became a low-cost way of receiving early broadcasts 1909 1910 CANADA 1912 700 RESCUED FROM THE TITANIC - "THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SAVED HAVE BEEN SAVED THROUGH ONE MAN, MR MARCONI" SAID LORD SAMUEL, POSTMASTER GENERAL 1918 Wireless Telegraphy Board created to co-ordinate moves to avoid radio interference 1920 First advertised broadcasts in Britain, including a June recital by Dame Nellie Melba 1,700 people rescued from the SS Republic: the Marconi radio WIFE-KILLER DR CRIPPEN ARRESTED WHILE FLEEING TO operator sent 200 signals to guide rescuers Marconi demonstrates his system in Britain, and files his first

1922 Marconi Company sets up London broadcasting station - 2LO - that was subsequently taken over by the British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) 1925 Westinghouse Company in Pittsburgh starts international broadcasting 1925 John Logie Baird demonstrates television at Selfridges 1929 Marconi's network linking Britain with Argentina, Brazil, the USA and Canada becomes Cable and Wireless Ltd 1932 BRITISH EMPIRE SERVICE - FORERUNNER OF THE BBC WORLD SERVICE - BROADCASTS FROM DAVENTRY 1932 Marconi installs first microwave telephone link between the Vatican and the Pope's official residence 1932 International 1936 1937 Telegraph Union (ITU) becomes International

Telecommunication Union reflecting its role in radio communications BBC Television Service begins (but is suspended during the war) Guglielmo Marconi dies in Italy: wireless stations observe twoC Clarke proposes geostationery satellites for global

minutes radio silence 1945 Arthur communications 1947 ITU becomes a specialised agency of the United Nations, creates the International Frequency Registration Board 1949 Wireless Telegraphy Act gives management of the radio spectrum to the General Post Office 1952 Start of ITU technical co-operation activities 1952 Single television standard of 625 lines at 50 frames/second proposed for Europe 1953 Radio Amateurs Emergency Network (RAYNET) formed by the Radio Society of Great Britain following extensive flooding 1955 ITV begins broadcasting

1957 1964

FIRST SATELLITE - SPUTNIK 1 - GOES INTO ORBIT BBC2 BEGINS BROADCASTING

1962 Telstar satellite allows live transatlantic television transmissions 1966 Live pictures broadcast from the moon 1967 Marine Broadcasting Offences Act makes it illegal to advertise on pirate stations like Radio London and Radio Caroline 1967 Radio 1 begins broadcasting 1967 BBC2 introduces colour 1969 BBC1 and ITV introduce colour 1969 Post Office Act moves radio spectrum management to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications 1971 First World Telecommunication Exhibition and Forum in Geneva 1973 Independent radio begins in the UK 1974 Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications dissolved - radio spectrum management moves to the Radio Regulatory Division of the Home Office 1982 CHANNEL 4 BEGINS BROADCASTING 1983 World Communications Year 1983 Radio Regulatory Division moves from Home Office to Department of Trade and Industry 1984 Telecommunications Bill splits GPO and creates British Telecom and Oftel 1985 Cellnet and Vodafone offer cellular phones 1986 DTI's Radio Regulatory Division becomes Division 1989 Sky satellite television begins 1990 RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS AGENCY FORMED UNDER THE GOVERNMENT'S NEXT STEPS PROGRAMME 1992 Independent national radio begins with Classic FM 1992 Rabbit telepoint service begins in May 1993 First World Radiocommunication Conference and Assembly in Geneva 1993 Rabbit telepoint service ends in December Radiocommunications

1993 Private Business Radio licensing moves from London to the regions the start of devolved licensing 1994 Orange launches PCN services 1994 CELLNET LAUNCHES DIGITAL (GSM) SERVICE 1996 White Paper on Spectrum Management into the 21st Century proposes that licences should reflect the economic value of the spectrum (see 1904) 1997 Channel 5 begins broadcasting 1997 Digital standards agreed 1998 Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998 introduces spectrum pricing based on economic value not administrative cost 1998 Digital broadcasting begins 2000 UK Third generation mobile phone auction 2000 - OFCOM 2001 THE MARCONI CENTRE OPENS AT POLDHU ON 12 DECEMBER. SPONSORS ARE THE NATIONAL TRUST, MARCONI PLC AND POLDHU AMATEUR RADIO CLUB. THE CENTRE IS PART CLUBHOUSE, PART VISITOR CENTRE. RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS AGENCY DONATES EQUIPMENT PLANS ANNOUNCED FOR AN OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

ROLE AND REACH The recent ILT survey has proved that radio listenership is growing exponentially and its reach is awesome. I have said it earlier too, and I will repeat while there is a lot of excitement about the fact that radio delivers a greater reach than English dailies which incidentally garner the largest portion of ad spends it only spells and corroborates the obvious there are more radio listeners because one doesnt have to be educated to listen to the radio.

Corroboration of that fact by the ILT research study is a wake up call for advertisers and media planners/buyers. These entities ought to tune in to the new trends and take advantage of it. This, in itself, is enough to vindicate radios position with regard to its 'reach' in the media. At present, all FM operators need to focus on growing the market and that is enough to keep all the radio broadcasters busy focussing on growing their respective businesses. The recent ILT survey has declared Radio City as the number one channel in Mumbai and number two in Delhi. What made you a leader in Mumbai and how come that strategy hasn't paid off in Delhi? FM radio in Mumbai has been around for more than two years now, while Delhi has seen private FM radio channels only for a year. The ILT survey is based on recall methodology.

Over the top advertising and biased articles in home publications have helped competition stay ahead of the awareness game in the early days in Delhi. In this process, brands that are more visible from an 'opportunity to be seen' parameter are the ones that get picked up and normally get quoted. However, the 'opportunity to be seen' should not be mistaken with the 'opportunity of being heard', as they are two different things entirely.

However, this is a short-lived phenomenon, as seen and experienced in Mumbai where competition, in spite of having a vice-like grip from a home publication point of view, and in spite of over the top usage of its home publication is unable to mould public opinion and force listeners to choose their brand as the automatic choice. Listeners of FM radio in Mumbai have spent considerable time listening to a plethora of radio stations and have formed their choices over a longer period of time.

Relationships formed over a longer period of time with higher usage of the product leads to an enduring relationship that Radio City has been able to form with Mumbaikars. That is the strength on which Radio City bases its belief. We also know that listening to Radio is a habit and as with any habit its got to be formed over a period of time. In fact, since there are still so few radio stations and so many other publications and television channels to consider, the advertiser is far more certain of reaching his target consumer with radio as compared to advertising on most of the niche publications and television channels.

Its the 'early bird catches the worm' syndrome, where advertisers who join the bandwagon early are likely to gain much more than those who come on post research, as airtime post research will be more expensive. Today, the focus for all stations is on creating the market, as theres hardly one around. Getting excited about monthly tracks doesnt really concern us since radio is a highly dynamic landscape and what holds good for this month, could very well change by the next month.

It is a fact that the lions share of the radio universe is serviced by Radio City and Radio Mirchi in Mumbai and Delhi. Also, in light of the fact that the reach of radio has grown by more than four times in Mumbai and has doubled in Delhi, the share of advertising revenue should automatically grow for FM radio. "Relationships formed over a longer period of time with higher usage of the product leads to an enduring relationship that Radio City has been able to form with Mumbaikars." Worldwide, FM radio is the ideal vehicle for localised advertising. And by sheer dint of delivering local audiences, the biggest competitor to radio is print media, and not television. As the recent research study indicates, radio in

India delivers a greater reach than the English dailies, which garner among the largest portion of ad spends. Since its inception, radio as a medium has been pronounced dead many times. The talking motion picture was expected to make radio irrelevant, television was going to kill it off and Internet is also the most recent new "threat" to radio. In spite of all these threats, radio has not only revived itself, it has also continued growing. The basic strength of radio is that it provides an effective service to the listener, who can continue with his work while tuned in to radio. For instance, across the day, people can listen to radio while they're driving and also while reading newspapers and magazines or surfing the Internet. It is radios unique ability to be in the background and yet draw your attention, which makes it a perfect companion. Similarly, it is an advertisers' creative ability to use this phenomenon to his advantage that can help him reap benefits of the most cost effective and personal medium like radio. Good, unique and distinctive programming is another prerequisite to grow the advertising pie. This would however need advertisers to wake up to the listenership trends on FM radio and start sampling the medium on a large scale. As FM radio and its listenership evolves in India, you may well find some special-interest appealing programming nestled within a station's more broadly format. overall

In most places in the world, time spent listening to the radio far exceeds any other media. This is primarily due to the fact that radio listening isn't a time consuming activity. It's a companion activity as I have just explained - so people can continue to do their work and also hear the advertisers' commercials between the programming. All of this works wonderfully well for

the advertiser, as radio listeners are also not prone to surfing. That's radio's greatest strength! The FM radio group has recently met with the I&B minister in order to share the excruciating financial burden that is being faced by the private FM radio broadcasters for the last three years. The minister has assured the private FM radio group that the matter will be looked into on a top priority basis. The solution has already been provided in the form of the Amit Mitra Task force committee report, which has further been broadly corroborated by TRAI and now awaits a ministerial clearance. It would be fair to state that like stations that have been forced to shut down ( WIN 94.6 in Mumbai) due to the burden of high licence fees, all other stations would be forced to follow the same path, if we do not have a solution soon. "Advertisers who join the bandwagon early are likely to gain much more than those who come on post research, as airtime post research will be more expensive." The loss has been colossal in real finance terms, in manpower deployment and mostly affected the spirit with which all the broadcasters entered the FM radio business. The sector was expected to be a high energy and high growth environment in the initial years. However, the financial loss alone is around Rs 330 crore and the figure is still growing.

Radio City being one of the two big broadcasters, obviously, shares a major part of this burden along with Radio Mirchi. We also have a situation where a station has already shut down in Mumbai, and another one is expected to down its shutters after two years of operations solely due to the unbearable licence fees. These stations would not have built their businesses for a two-year stint only to shut down. This has

happened solely due to the high licence fee scenario and inaction from the government, despite repeated requests made by the FM radio industry. We provide YouTube analytic and also in the Adwords for Videos interface and through other reservation booking systems we are able to provide many of the same metrics that people get in the television industry. So on a reservation basis, we can understand the demographics of the people, which advertisers want to reach and then we can translate the numbers into GRPs - the common language of television. We can also provide estimated time spent calculated through total number of impressions. Soon, we will be able to provide delivery on paid impression, owned and earned impressions. We will be able to show when a consumer watches your advertisement, do they also watch any other video of your brand or share the video with a friend or want to watch it again. Radio being a free-to-access medium makes it an automatic choice of the masses. The masses have a right to access information and news. It is imperative to be able to provide the masses with news and not keep them away from it. Besides, no other single media product is geared towards providing absolutely local information. It is radios ability to address the local environment, which makes it the ideal local medium. Local news is one of the USPs of a radio station. Without it, a station is denied its true role as an active community participant. The government should enable the private radio operators with the same freedom to operate news and current affairs as freely and independently, as is given to All India Radio and television channels. "Since there are still so few radio stations and so many other publications and television channels to consider, the advertiser is far more certain of reaching his target consumer with radio."

Ive been asked this question many times before, and my response has always been 'One man's meat is another man's poison'. Programming that one person thinks is not good enough may be just what another person seeks and prefers. With today's modern techniques of audience research, radio stations know more about the wants of their target listeners than ever before, and they can deliver just that. We have used this insight to launch various kinds of programmes apart from our bread and butter offering of Hit Hindi music. In fact, it is one of the key reasons as to why Radio City is the peoples No.1 choice. Going forward, we will constantly seek to introduce new programming formats in the music and non-music space. The main categories of advertisers that we see on Radio City are from FMCG, financial services, auto lubricants and media. While Radio City enjoys the patronage of these advertisers, there are a large number of companies that are still not using radio as an advertising medium. We would definitely like this to change. Similarly, a retail advertiser would earlier make its decisions based on gut feel. Now, that is slowly being replaced by the more accurate measure of cash register ring. "Since its inception, radio as a medium has been pronounced dead many times. The talking motion picture was expected to make radio irrelevant, television was going to kill it off and Internet is also the most recent new "threat" to radio." Foreign investment in the electronic media has led to improvement of standards, in both programming content and technology. International linkages generally bring positive influences. This has been more than demonstrated by television over the last ten years.

The guidelines for foreign direct investment in private FM radio should be consistent with other media like print and TV. However, as stated in the governments up-linking policy, norms for FDI investment could be similar to those that provide news content (FDI portion capped at 26 per cent) & those that dont (FDI can touch 100 per cent). The numbers currently are too small. There aren't too many mobile phones around which play FM radio. But its a point to be noted that the telecom equipment manufactures have spotted the trend of radio being an integral medium and therefore, integrated the FM radio service availability into their handsets. Radio on the web is still not available for Indian stations as there is a cost implication with regards to music royalties and no broadcaster is willing to add on to their costs and bear that cost as yet. RADIO STYLE Radio Style The radio newscast must be consumed sequentially; that is, the listener does not hear the second story in the newscast without hearing the first story. The eighth story waits on the first seven, which means in practice that all seven are chosen to be interesting to a significant number of listeners and are presented at a length, which maintains that interest. In addition to the inevitable centrality of thinking which affects story choice and story length, a pressing concern exists for clarity in both sentence length and word choice Writing Style Differences in Newspaper, Radio, and Television News6/23/2003 because the radio listener, unlike the newspaper reader, is unable to stop to review and reconsider the meaning of a sentence. The eye can go back; the ear can go only forward with the voice of the newscaster.

During the golden age of radio, 1930-1950, before television sets appeared in every home, the family gathering around the parlor radio console in the evening sat facing it, a natural thing to do because the radio talked to them. Today, it seems, no one looks at radios. They speak to us from under the steering wheel or over our shoulder. Unlike the attentive newspaper reader, the radio listener is often driving, working, or engaged in some task other than absorbing the latest news, and consequently is paying less than full attention. As a result radio news stories are written to be told in familiar words combined into sentences, which run at comfortable lengths in a style known as conversational. One textbook guideline suggests writing as if telling a story to a friend who is trying to catch a bus that is ready to pull away. (1) Because listeners lack opportunity to go back to reconsider a bit of information, there should be no need to do so. This limitation affects the structure of phrases of attribution and the use of pronouns, because pronouns have antecedents. The radio broadcast news writer learns to beware of innocent little words like it. These conditions influence television news as well, but perhaps they apply with a little more force to the writing of radio news summaries, where news items average two or three sentences and then the topic shifts. Particularly important is the care needed in the presentation of the numbers sprinkled throughout economic news. Writing news of the economy requires a balance between precision and understanding. An additional difficulty in absorbing the information in a summary newscast is its demand on the listeners ability to keep up not only with a rapid delivery but also with the variety of news. The newscaster jumps from topic to topic, geographic location to location, as if the listener would have no difficulty in going from a flood in Bangladesh to a political crisis in Romania to a train accident north of town. Radio news is hard enough for anyone to follow but the confusion is greater for people who are not on top of events. 5 Irving Fang

The thoughtful newscaster takes these topical twists and turns into consideration in both writing and delivery; the newspaper editor need not give the matter a moments thought. The radio news writing style that has developed includes the choice of simple words and short, declarative sentences. Attribution precedes statements as it does in normal conversation. Sentence structure is incomplete at times, such as verbless sentences. Purists may howl, but the reality is that understanding is more important than grammar to a radio news writer. UNIT II The first thing to get used to in writing effective radio, is that there are no rules, and no restrictions on the places the listener can be transported to, and nowhere that is out of bounds. The only barriers are the restrictions in the writers imagination. Radio has always been able to create the fantastic worlds, unbelievable situations, and outlandish characters, the visual medium with newly developing computer graphics, has only recently been able to achieve. The Theatre of the Mind. A well used and often overused phrase within the radio industry is that Radio is the Theatre of the Mind. This phrase is an attempt to demonstrate the power of the medium in that radio uses chiefly the listeners imagination to create the pictures, characters and backdrop for the all the writers intent. There are those who insist therefore that the pictures on radio are better and more effective because they are individual and unique to that listener.

The Spoken Word. Radio is an out loud medium, and any writer who wants to make the most of the mediums potential and use it effectively has to become familiar with

writing for the spoken word as opposed to the written word. The two are completely different skills, and the best way to learn to write for the spoken word, is not surprisingly, to read any writing out loud. This applies to any radio writing from radio drama, to commercials, news broadcasts to simple stories. Radio, some suggest has more in common with the ancient art of oral storytelling, than any modern medium. Voices, Sound Effects, Music and Silence. Radio uses a few essential tools, and all can be found, usually without leaving the radio studio, to create any situation the writer imagines. The type of voices used and the experience and talent of any voice-overs, or voice talent, can dramatically alter the finished production. Finding and mixing together the right sound effects to create the intended situation are again a learned and practised skill. The script together with the right sound effects can provide all the listener needs to be transported to another world. Music is also a powerful scene setter, and finally every good radio writer, understands and utilises the significant effect of silence, and the dramatic and useful pause. Working in the Studio. A good script should however be judged finally in the recording process and the help of a good sound engineer and acting talent can make a good radio script a great piece of radio. The wise scriptwriter will listen to any advice and input from both, try different suggestions to improve the written word as it becomes the spoken word and eventually the final piece of audio. A well written script bearing all this in mind, together with a skilled final production, can produce a powerful piece of radio.

Its a good starting point for any investigation into the creative possibilities of an audio only method of communication. The Radio Advertising Bureau in the

UK, have also coined the phrase, you can close your eyes, but you cant close your ears. Listening is a difficult experience not to do. In this theatre there are only a few props available:

voice sound effects music background atmospheres silence

Silence is often overlooked by many producers and proponents of radio but yet it is one of the most powerful weapons available to the radio writer and producer. Writing a Creatively Powerful Radio Script Starting the process of making good audio starts with writing a good script. Orson Welles 1938 production of "War of the Worlds" by the Mercury Theatre Company is often quoted as an example of the power of the media. Reports from the time suggest it caused panic in at least some of the population in the United States at the time. So why was it so powerful? It started with a good script and the following elements:

an original and inventive story by HG Wells a thoughtful and considered adaptation by a skilled writer a simple format of using radio reporting "actualite" to progress the story good voice acting expert and skilled production using radios strengths to create strong emotions in the listeners mind a broadcast at the right time (just as hostilities seemed imminent) to create maximum impact

the presence of one of radios best known and most talented stars, Orson Wells

Its also worth remembering that at the time of broadcast, radio was the mass medium most accessible by the general population and television had yet to achieve the impact in households in the US it enjoys today. Some suggest its unlikely because of these circumstances that any such radio broadcast will ever achieve the creative impact that "War of the Worlds" had in the late 1930s. Creative Strengths of Radio Great radio programmes like "War of the Worlds" and many others in the catalogue of good radio over the years, on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond can still offer todays writers and producers pointers to the creative possibilities of their medium. A good radio program needs the following:

a good script imaginative and well written a script written as audio a cast with the right voices a sympathetic sound engineer with good ears sound effects that build the story a production that uses the power and emotion of music the use of silence

The story of radio historically is relatively short. The audio scholar starting any exploration of how to use the medium to its full potential, creatively, could do a lot worse than spending some time in the radio vaults listening to radio dramas from years gone by, when radio theatres like Orson Welles Mercury Theatre, were not just in the listeners mind, but were actual living breathing and often real live events.

Much has been written through the various radio industry bodies, like the UKs and the USAs Radio Advertising Bureau(s) and Canadas Radio Marketing Bureau, examining the best ways to make radio a more effective advertising medium. Creatively this often takes the form of discussions on:

How to take a workable creative brief from a client, How to deliver that brief back to the client for agreement and approval, How best to write and record effective radio commercials from that brief, And how to achieve the clients advertising aims and objectives.

This for most practitioners in the creative part of industry is the Who, What, Why, template. Any creative work can be developed from this and put simply, most in the industry will recognise The Creative Brief Template as:

Who is the audience being addressed or talked to (age, sex, demographic profile, interest) What is this audience being asked to do (advertiser contact: call, store or web visit, or increased brand awareness.) Why should this audience do it. (the audience reward.)

Once the creative brief is agreed the process of writing radio scripts can begin. As well as providing an agreed focus for the campaign, the brief is also the starting point for the creative use of radio, an area also much in on-going discussion and debate within the industry. Setting down audio creative ideas on paper is not as difficult as it first might appear. An industry- wide recognised template helps not only the writer but also in the presentation of those ideas both to the industry and to the client. Unlike the written word which convention dictates should fall normally into sentences and headings, or paragraphs and chapters across the page and

remains the written word, the spoken word and indeed the spoken and visual medium works on a split page. Split the page 25% / 75%. The left hand 25% of the page will be mostly short cues, descriptions, directions, and instructions to anyone reading the page, and the right hand 75% the script itself with script wording and more details of the various audio inserts. So in theory most radio scripts contain the following:

Centred Title header: with presentation logo; company contact and references; client name; writer; script title and duration. Left Hand 25%: Cues for voice talent; music; sound effects; directions and brief placing instructions for in-cues and out-cues of audio inserts. Right Hand 75%: contains the body of the script, with lines for each voice following the direction on the left side, as well as more detailed description of the various other non-speech audio inserts. Details of music, sound effects, and audio inserts.

The script layout will also contain some common abbreviations, such as :

Vo - Voice Over or Talent (including description/style where appropriate), Mvo - Male voice over Fvo - Female voice over Cvo - Child voice over) Sfx - Sound effect description Inserts - I/c (In-cue first audio in) & O/c (Out-cue or last audio out.) Mix or Music - Details of music including style, composer, performer or label ref.

Any copyright information, approval signature(s) and the date is normally included at the bottom of the page. A template such as this can oviously be

altered to suit the production, but a radio script presented as above will be well understood within the industry. Commercial Radio Script Components The Header The Header, of the radio commercial script should give the reader all the necessary admin information and outline whats contained in the script. It should give the following information:

The clients name; The product being advertised; The agency name (if appropriate) and contact name; The title of the script; The duration intended of the finished commercial, normally 10, 20,30,40,50 or 60 seconds; The name of the writer(s); Any reference details and (often) the intended radio stations; and A logo, if appropriate.

This information is contained in the heading of the script page and usually only on the first page. It is generally laid out as a list, left justified or centred, and even sometimes split left and right into two columns. The duration may change in the recording process, as may any planned activity on radio stations. How to Write a Commercial Script for Radio The Footer Its also wise, but perhaps not so common, to add a footer to the script template to cover copyright and contact details. This can be: More on this topic

How Long is a Radio Ad

Inspiration for Writing a Radio Ad How to Write a Radio Advertising Campaign A simple statement to outline who owns the copyright and any conditions of the written work; Brief contact details, either an email address or a telephone number; or Space for a signature of approval for recording and the date of that approval.

This footer gives the writer and the production house or the agency, not only demonstrable control of the copyright of the work, but signed approval of agreement from the client. The Commercial Script Format for Radio Between the header and the footer, the script itself normally has instructions, casting and inserts on one-third of the page on the left-hand side of the page and the script wording on the remaining two-thirds on the right hand side. The instructions will include some common abbreviations:

Mvo male voice over; Fvo female voice over; Cvo childrens voices; Sfx sound effects; Atmos/Nats atmosphere or natural sound Mx mix with details of mixing music tracks, and/or sound effects.

Other instructions can be given on the script itself, or in the left hand margin. Usually, directions to the voice overs and both the types of voices and the style of delivery.

Layout of the Commercial Radio Script As everyone has their own preferred type-face so different writers, production companies, broadcast and media organisations prefer to standardise their company's output, and as well as generally using the more standard type faces, radio scripts will often be double spaced to make it easier for actors / voices to read out loud, and sometimes also in capitals. Sound effects, music and other inserts will also be instructed by the following:

Fade In; Fade Out; Continue Under; Mix Up; In / Start - where the insert has definite start; Out / End - where the insert has a definite end.

The script with all the relevant instructions and inserts should enable the piece, written and imagined by the writer or writers, to be translated by the sound engineer, together with a producer and all the voice actors and any other participants, into audio as the creator intended even without the writer being present.

ART OF WRITING DIFFERENT RADIO FORMATS FORMATS OF RADIO PROGRAMMES You are by now familiar with a radio station. The previous lesson helped you to understand how a radio station works. When you read a popular magazine, you will come across various things. There will be an attractive cover, advertisements of different products, stories or articles on issues ranging from politics to sports and cinema, interviews and other features. Similarly, a radio station also broadcasts programmes of different

types. Think of the different types of programmes you have heard on radio. You would probably remember film songs, phone in programmes, talks, discussions, news, cricket commentaries etc. These different types of programmes are called formats. OBJECTIVES After studying this lesson, you will be able to do the following: list the factors to be taken into account for making a radio programme; describe the different formats of radio programmes; explain the ingredients of a radio programme; identify the technology based formats. 11.1 FACTORS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT FOR MAKING A RADIO PROGRAMME Think of the village or town in which you live. You find people belonging to all communities men and women, rich and poor. Radio plays a very important role in the lives of the people of India. Though there are plenty of rich people and highly developed cities, a majority of our people are poor and a large number of them cannot read or write. So the only medium that can really reach them to inform, educate and entertain is the radio. Radio stations especially those run by the government perform a public service duty. Formats of Radio Programmes The requirements of listeners of radio stations are not the same. To serve them, we need to know many facts about them. Let us make a list of what we should know about the audience: (a) Number of people i.e. the total population of the area. (b) Number of men and women Sex ratio (c) Literate people/Illiterate people (d) The languages spoken in the area. (e) Schools/Colleges (f) Children going to school (g) Health facilities availability of doctors, primary health centre, clinics, hospitals.

(h) Any major diseases (i) Religions in the area-population wise (j) Power supply (k) Nearest radio stations/Television stations (l) Climate of the place (m) Main occupation of the people (n) Income per head/people below poverty line (o) Roads/transport facilities (p) Irrigation facilities (q) Number of people engaged in agriculture/other occupations. (r) Types of crops. You can add many more issues to this list. We need to know these facts to decide the language, the type of broadcast, timing of programmes etc. Radio formats therefore are decided on the basis of the needs of the audience. TYPES OF RADIO FORMATS Do you remember the programmes you have heard on radio. Try and recall some of them. You may have heard the names of radio stations, from where the programmes are broadcast. Many of you would remember Vividh Bharati, AIR FM Gold or some private commercial station.You may also remember the time being mentioned and what programme you are going to listen to. These are called announcements. Announcements have been traditionally made by people who are known as announcers. The commercial radio channels may call them Radio Jockeys (RJs) or anchor persons. Before you learn about the different radio formats, you must know the ingredients of a radio format. As you know most of what is spoken on radio is written down. As you have already learnt that what is written for radio is heard and is referred to as spoken word as against the written word. But the spoken words on radio is written down or what is generally called scripted. A Radio format can be split into three parts: They are:(a) Spoken Word or Human Voice

(b) Music (c) Sound Effects All radio formats have the above three ingredients. So let us first classify the spoken word format. SPOKEN WORD 1. Announcements : These are specifically written clear messages to inform. They can be of different types. For example station/programme identification. These mention the station you are tuned into, the frequency, the time and the programme/song you are going to listen to. As mentioned already you find in todays commercial radio channels, these announcements have become informal and resemble ordinary conversation. There can be more than one presenter in some programmes like magazines. 2. Radio talk : The radio talk probably is the oldest format on radio. There has been a tradition in India and Britain to invite experts or prominent persons to speak for 10 or 15 minutes on a specific topic. These talks have to go through a process of being changed into radios spoken word style. Over the years, these long radio talks have become unpopular. Instead, today, shorter duration talks are broadcast. Of course, you can listen to these talks only on public service broadcasting stations. 3. Radio interviews: Have you ever interviewed anyone? Probably yes. In the media, be it the newspaper, magazine, radio or television, journalists use this technique of asking questions to get information. There can be different types of interviews in terms of their duration, content and purpose. Firstly, there are full fledged interview programmes. The duration of these may vary from 10 minutes to 30 minutes or even 60 minutes depending up on the topic, and the person being interviewed. Most of such interviews are personality based. You might have heard of long interviews with well known people in the field of public life, literature, science, sports, films etc. Secondly, there are interviews which are used in various radio programmes like documentaries.

Here the interviews are short, questions specific and not many. The purpose is to get a very brief, to the point answer. Thirdly there are a lot of interviews or interview based programmes in news and current affairs programmes. Have you heard such interviews on radio? With phone-in-programmes becoming popular, you might have heard live interviews with listeners. These interviews have been made interactive. There is another type of interview based programme. Here generally just one or two questions are put across to ordinary people or people with knowledge on some current topic to measure public opinion. For example when the general budget or the railway budget is presented in the parliament, people representing radio go out and ask the general public about their opinion. Their names and identity may not be asked. Such programmes are called vox pop which is a Latin phrase meaning voice of people. You have to be very inquisitive and hard working to be a radio interviewer with good general awareness and communication skills. 4. Radio discussions :- When you have a problem in your family or with your friends, dont you say let us discuss? Yes we do. Through a discussion we can find out a solution to problems. In any discussion there are more than 2 or 3 people and then ideas can be pooled to come to some conclusion. In radio, this technique is used to let people have different points of view on matters of public concern. Radio discussions are produced when there are social or economic issues which may be controversial. So when different experts meet and discuss such issues, people understand various points of view. Generally, these discussions on radio are of longer duration-say 15 to 30 minutes. Two or three people who are known for their views and a well informed senior person or journalist who acts as a moderator take part and discuss a particular topic for about 30 minutes. The moderator conducts the discussion, introduces the topic and the participants and ensures that every one gets enough time to speak and all issues are discussed. 5. Radio documentaries/features: If you see a film in a movie hall, it is generally a feature film, which is story based and not real. But there are also

documentary films which are based on real people and issues. A lot of programmes you see on television are educational and public service documentaries. Radio also has this format. Unlike documentary films, radio documentaries have only sound i.e. the human voice, music and sound effects. So a radio documentary is a programmme based on real sounds and real people and their views and experiences. Radio documentaries are based on facts presented are in an attractive own manner or dramatically. The producer Radio of a documentaries radios creative format.

documentary needs to be very creative to use human voice, script, music and sound effects very effectively. Radio documentaries are also called radio features. 6. Radio drama: A Radio drama or a radio play is like any other play staged in a theatre or a hall. The only difference is that while a stage play has actors, stage, sets, curtains, properties movement and live action, a radio play has only 3 components. They are the human voice, music and sound effects. Radio of course uses its greatest strength for producing radio plays and that is the power of imagination and suggestivity. For example, if you want to have a scene in a radio play of a north Indian marriage, you dont have all physical arrangements made. All that you have to do is to use a bright tune on the shehnai and excited voices of people to create in a listeners imagination, a wedding scene. The voice of the actors, music and sound effects can create any situation in a radio play. 7. Running commentaries : If you cant go to see a football or cricket match in a stadium, you may watch it on television. But for that you have to be at home or at some place where there is a television. But if you are travelling or outside, then you may listen to radio for a running commentary of the match. A commentator would give you all the details of the match such as the number of players, the score, position of the players in the field etc. So by listening to the running commentary, you get a feeling of being in the stadium and watching the match. The commentator needs good communication skills, a good voice and knowledge about what is going on. Running commentaries on

radio can be on various sports events or on ceremonial occasions like the Republic Day Parade or events like festivals, melas, rath yatras, swearing in ceremony of ministers, last journey (funeral procession) of national leaders etc. Today radio running commentaries especially of cricket and other sports can be heard on your mobile phones. 8. Magazine programmes : You are familiar with magazines which are a form of print media. They are published weekly, bi-weekly, fortnightly or monthly. There are general magazines and magazines for specific readers. These magazines could be for children, women, youth or on health, sports, science or music. If you open any one of these magazines, you will find articles, reviews, features, photo features etc. Radio also has magazine programmes like those in the print media. A radio magazine is broadcast at a particular time on a particular day of a week or a month. That means it has periodicity. Similarly it has plenty of variety in contents. Some or many formats of radio are included in a radio magazine. These may be talks, discussions, interviews, reviews, music etc. Likewise, the duration of each programme or item in a magazine programme also vary. Another characteristic of a radio magazine is that it has a signature tune. A signature tune is an attractive piece of music which is specific to a programme. It can be like the masthead (title) of a magazine. A magazine programme also has a name and one or two presenters or anchor persons who link the whole programme. In the beginning, the titles of the days programme will be given by the presenters after the signature tune. They also give continuity and link the whole magazine. Magazine programmes are generally broadcast for a special or specific audience. As the name suggests, a specific audience refers to listeners with specific needs as mentioned in the beginning. 9. NEWS: Among all the spoken word formats on radio, news is the most popular. News bulletins and news programmes are broadcast every hour by radio stations. In India, only All India Radio is allowed to broadcast news.

Duration of news bulletins vary from 5 minute to 30 minutes. The longer news bulletins have interviews, features, reviews and comments from experts. MUSIC : When we say radio, the first thing that comes to our mind is music. So music is the main stay in radio. There is no radio without music. Music is used in different ways on radio. There are programmes of music and music is also used in different programmes. These include signature tunes, music used as effects in radio plays and features. India has a great heritage of music and radio in India reflects that. Let us understand the different types of music. Classical Music There are 3 types of classical music in India. They are:Hindustani classical Carnatic classical Western classical There are also vocal and instrumental music forms. There are also light classical music forms like, Thumri and Dadra. Insturmental music forms include string (sitar, sarod etc.) wind (like flutes, shehnai) and percussion (drum) instruments.You might have heard such music on radio. You may know of a large variety of devotional and folk music in your area and across the country. Which are broadcast on radio. But which is the most popular form of music? You would most probably say film music. While there are film songs in different languages, the one with a national appeal and popularity is Hindi film songs. On most radio stations, be it public service or commercial, Hindi films songs are heard every where. Light western and pop music are also popular among some groups of listeners and there is a large section of young people listening to western pop music. SOUND EFFECTS Let us see how sound can be used in radio formats. Sound can play a major role in evoking interest. Sound can be used for comic effects to evoke laughter Sound can be used to create certain moods or enhance them.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 11.2 1. Fill in the blanks with appropriate word/s: i) Announcers are also known as ____, _____. ii) Whatever is written for radio is also known as ____. iii) Announcements mention the ________ you are tuned into, ________ and ________ of broadcast. iv) There can be different types of radio interviews in terms of ________, ________ and purpose. v) A film based on real people and issues is called a ________. 2. List the ingredients of a radio format. 3. Differentiate between a radio discussion and a radio drama. 4. Match the following : i) announcements a) republic day parade ii) commentary b) oldest radio format iii) interviews c) inform listeners iv) discussion d) asking questions v) radio talk e) moderator INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BASED FORMATS India has taken giant leaps in the field of information technology and radio as a medium, has taken a lead in applying information technology in its broadcasts. Let us discuss some of these formats: Phone in programme In this age of technological development, phone-in is the most important format. This is called interactive programming where the listener and the presenter talk to each other. Their talk goes on air instantly. The listener has the satisfaction that his voice is being listened to and replied immediately. Other listeners also listen to him. Such presentations need advance publicity so that the listeners get ready to air their grievances/queries or requests. They dial up the announced telephone number at a stipulated time and get their problems discussed with experts in the studio. Initially this format was introduced for playing the listeners request based film songs. Now

it is being used for health related programmes, rural broadcasts, complaints against the government/ administrative machinery etc. 2. Radio bridge : Radio bridge means connecting different stations throughout the length and breadth of the country. In this technique, for example, an expert sitting at Chennai can interact with the common man in the studio in Delhi. This format was first used by All India Radio during elections. 3. Radio on internet : Radio on internet is a growing phenomenon with thousands of radio stations operating through computer modems. It is altogether a new format that removes the restrictions of frequency or license. It is relatively cheap to set up. It has certain advantages as well as disadvantages. Now all the national and international radio stations like BBC, Voice of America, and All India Radio are available on internet. It is now possible to listen to the programmes from a radio station while working on the computer. All India Radio started its services on internet on 1st May 1998. With this, it was possible to extend the coverage of programmes to all parts of the world including USA and Canada. INTEXT QUESTIONS 11.3 1. Fill in the blanks with appropriate word/s: i) A phone-in programme is also called _________ programming. ii) AIR started its internet services on _________. iii) Phone-in programmes need advance _________. iv) Radio bridge means _________ different radio stations. 2. List any three IT based radio formats. 3. Mention any three areas where phone-in programmes are used. 4. Name the radio format which is available through a computer. 11.6 ANSWERS TO INTEXT QUESTIONS 11.1 1. Pl. refer to Section 11.1 2. examples: news, music programmes 3. i) educate, radio ii) news, commentaries, magazines

iii) communities, rich , poor iv) language, time, type v) needs of the audience 11.2 1. i) Radio jockeys/anchor persons ii) spoken word iii) station, frequency, time iv) duration, content v) documentary 2. spoken word, music, sound effects 3. Pl. refer to Section 11.2 4. i) c) ii) a) iii) d) iv) e) v) b) 11.3 1. i) interactive ii) May 01, 1998 iii) publicity iv) connecting 2. Pl. refer to Section 11.3 3. Pl. refer to Section 11.3 4. Radio on internet This chapter attempts to demystify the subject of writing for the student. Writing is a process that draws on a persons mental, emotional, and physical resources. A person does not have to be greatly talented or inherently gifted to write well. More importantly, a person must have the willingness to try to write. Once this willingness is there, the writer can use a number of techniques to improve the writing. The two keys to good writing are:

Practice Writing is hard work. Its also a lonely business. But the only way that any of us can improve our writing is to do it and do it consistently. A person must be willing to sit down and write (thus, the name of this chapter). This book attempts to give students and instructors many opportunities to practice writing. Editing Writing is a process, and a key part of that process is editing. None of us particularly students who are learning the process should fall in love with what we write. Students should learn that our first drafts are not always

our best attempts, and they should expect to edit and change their work as a part of the writing process. They should always ask questions about what they have written, such as, Does this make sense?, Have I said this the best way I could?, Have I used too many words?, Are my sentences too long?, If I were telling my best friend this information, would this be the way I would say it? The second part of the chapter discusses briefly some of the rules and circumstances that are imposed on a writer when he or she is writing for the mass media. Writers for the mass media must learn the appropriate forms in which their writing must appear, and most of the rest of this book is devoted to examining and teaching the proper forms of writing for the mass media. Students should also understand that writing for the mass media often involves writing under deadline pressure. Many students in writing classes will say, If I just had more time, I could complete this assignment and do a much better job on it. The thing a writer for the mass media often does not have is time, however. Students need to learn that writing under pressure is part of the process of writing for the mass media. Finally, the chapter discusses the emergence of new media, particularly the World Wide Web, and some of the skills necessary in writing for it. Writers must present information efficiently and must organize it in a way that will be suitable for the readers. Writers must also develop a sense of graphics and when they should be used effectively in presenting that information. Students should leave this chapter with an understanding of writing as a process, with a confidence that they can become good writers, and with the knowledge that this book will give them plenty of opportunities to improve their writing. Key terms and concepts

The following are key terms or concepts that the student should understand. Good writing Good writing is defined with a number of descriptions at the beginning of the chapter. Students should be encouraged to add to these descriptions of their own ideas about what good writing is and how it is achieved. The instructor should present a number of examples of his or her favorite writing to demonstrate some of the concepts in this chapter. Rewriting As we have already mentioned, rewriting or editing is one of the key techniques in improving writing. Catching mistakes is not the only purpose of editing; real editing should be a conscious attempt to improve the copy. Simplicity The best technique for clarity in writing is to try to write as simply as possible. This means using simple words and avoiding long complicated sentences. A good first step for the student to try is to limit a sentence to one major idea. Verbs as engines of the language Verbs are the strongest words in the language. They are also the best descriptors in the language. A well-selected verb can do more to enliven and enhance writing than any other part of speech. In editing and rewriting, students should first pay attention to the verbs that they have used. Too many linking verbs, passive verbs, and abstract constructions (there is, it is) will deaden a piece of writing. Unity A piece of writing should hang together. It shouldnt be a series of short bursts of ideas or information aimed at the reader. One of the chief ways of achieving unity is by having a clear idea of what the piece of writing is about and to whom it is directed. Another is through the use of transitions, which will be discussed in later chapters. Hypertext Text designed so that a read may move to different points at his or her own discretion.

Linking Linking is a technical term in which a reader can move to different points on the World Wide Web to obtain information. Suggestions for lecture and discussion I often begin a discussion of good writing with an overhead that has the following quotation: At this point in time, the current levels of societal tension are enough to create a high degree of anxiety among citizens of every persuasion and every economic and cultural class.

I then ask the students to tell me what this says. I give them a hint by saying its a famous quotation one that they have all heard and that its written in modern language. Finally, I cover up the overhead and ask them to repeat it. Then I show them the original quotation. These are the times that try mens souls. Thomas Paine wrote those words in 1776 when he was trying to keep a revolution going. They are the first words of An American Crisis, a pamphlet that so impressed George Washington that he had it read out loud to his discouraged troops at Valley Forge. The power of Paines language comes not only with his ideas but with the simplicity he used to express them expressions so simple that we remember them more than 200 years later. This technique of putting famous quotes into modern-day jargon and bureaucratese can be used with other writing that most of your students will instantly recognize. You may want to try it with your favorite historical quotation.

Examples of student writing for analysis in class or lab The examples below come from assignments that students have written. They can be photocopied or put on transparencies for class discussion.

The wooden boat, propelled by a motor, much larger than was necessary, bounded over wakes, created by passing boats. The two passengers bounced, on the cushion-less seats, toward the swaying wood platform, hundreds of yards, from shore. The gates would all be locked rather tightly. Whenever we finished a beer we had a contest to see who could throw it the farthest over the side of the hill.

There were many days spent sitting on the white sandy beach in which we took toll of our lives. It was par for the course. It really is a small world. There were no fights and only one complaint on the amount of beer, and to be honest, he didnt really need anymore. We decided to buy two kegs for the very simple reason it cost $95.97 with the new federal tax. She rode that Big Wheel down Montgomery Lane as fast as her little legs would carry her. On the scorching, hot June day, she was playing with four two week old, Siamese kittens under a large bush which was next to the dog on a leach.

The choices I have are numerous to an extent. There is no such things as Knights-in-shining-armor, and specialy at our school! I have always considered myself one of risk and I take my risk when it comes to skiing because, It is the excitement and exhileration that pushes me beyond my limits. A mogel is a term used to describe or experience an eight foot boulder that is covered with snow. Upon entering the cathedral ceilinged work of art, her mouth dropped and was filled with the spirit as she charged through the crowds searching for a force that was unmistakably pulling her into the ring of spenders. (Authors note: This student was attempting to describe a trip to a shopping mall.) Pledging allowed her to meet and get to know girls she otherwise never would have even said hello to. This came as shocking news to the family who had led relatively normal lives up until this point. Becoming an active brought some added responsibility to her life, but it was nothing she couldnt handle. For example, there are meetings that she as to attend once a week.

2: Basic tools of writing This chapter attempts to make the point that a good writer knows the tools with which he or she has to work. The basic analogy in the text is with the carpenter, who has a hammer and a saw. The carpenter must know what tasks he or she can accomplish with a hammer and what he or she must use the saw to do. A carpenter may have a great idea for something to build, but unless he or she knows the difference between a hammer and a saw, it is unlikely to get built. The writer is the same way. The writer may have some great ideas, but

those ideas wont come into being unless the writer knows the tools with which he or she has to work.

This chapter is a brief review of some of the basic tools with which a writer must work. You may feel that grammar and punctuation are not subjects on which you wish to spend time in your course. If that is the case, I would strongly recommend that you have your students read those sections and that you spend some time on the word usage section. This is an area in which I have found consistently that students have difficulty. Knowing when to use a word for its precise and generally accepted meaning is particularly important in writing for the mass media.

Key terms and concepts One of the purposes of this chapter is to give students a brief review of types and structures of sentences. Another is to point out some of the most common grammar and punctuation mistakes that students make. Instructors should use this chapter to their best advantage by deciding what emphasis needs to be placed on these subjects. The exercises at the end of the chapter and the grammar exam and diagnostic exam in the appendices of the textbook could help you in making this assessment. Students should leave this chapter with an understanding of the following: Sentence structures Simple, complex, compound, and compoundcomplex. Sentence types Declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory. Parts of speech Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs, verbs,

conjunctions,

prepositions,

interjections.

Use of the comma Overuse and underuse of the comma are both problems that students have. Commas should be used for clarity; that is, to separate items that would be confusing if they were not separated. Agreement Getting verbs and subjects to agree in number, and especially getting pronouns to agree with their antecedents, are among the most common problems that students have with their writing. Apostrophe Proper use of the apostrophe is the mark of an intelligent and well-educated writer. The apostrophe is most often used to indicate possession. It is only rarely used to create a plural. Comma splices and run-on sentences The joining of two independent clauses with only a comma is another common problem among student writers. Students should learn that for two independent clauses to be joined, they require a comma and a coordinating conjunction or simply a semicolon. Spelling The rules of spelling are important to learn, even at this stage of a students development. Grammar terms and rules. Just as any competent artisan knows the tools of his or her trade, the professional writer should know the basics of the English language. That includes knowing the terms of grammar (verbal, antecedent, etc.) as well as the rules. How is the writer to avoid a run-on sentence if he or she doesn't know what it is? To learn these things, students must do the ditch digging of the intellectual process: repeated study and memorization. This site contains a thorough (but not overly long) list of terms and rules for using the language that the professional writer should know. A set of multiple-choice tests based on this glossary is available for the author to teachers. (To obtain that, email Jim Stovall at jstovall at jprof.com .) The site also has an extensive primer on grammar, spelling, punctuation and diction in the editing section. STYLE

Adherence to journalistic style both the rules of writing and usage and the customs of journalism is a mark of a professional writer. This chapter should help students understand that when they enter the world of the mass media, they will have to meet certain expectations about their work. One of the most basic expectations concerns style.

This chapter gives the student an idea about the importance of knowing and using a particular style of writing and of understanding the customs and conventions of journalism. The chief goal of the journalist is accuracy, and many of the styles and conventions of journalism that have been developed over the years have been to promote this goal. The same can be said of these style rules and conventions as they apply to clarity and brevity. Instructors should help the students see the relationship between all of these concepts as they go through this chapter. In discussing them, you might want to use the diagram Key terms and concepts Students should have a good understanding of all of the concepts set forth in the diagram. Especially important among these are: Accuracy The short definition in journalism for accuracy is "getting it right." Discuss with your students what they believe that means. How do you go about "getting it right?" Differing points of view about a situation should be brought into this discussion. What methods does a writer for the mass media use in obtaining and presenting accurate information? below.

Consistency One of the underlying concepts of adherence to style is consistency. Consistency in writing helps the reader in establishing what he or she expects from a writer. It also helps to make a writer more efficient. Knowledge and consistent use of style can boost the confidence of the writer.

Words That Make a Difference. Loving the language is no sin, particularly in these days of language abuse. Those of us who do love the language need to feed our habits occasionally, and Words That Make a Difference will certainly do that. This is a fascinating book about words. Robert Greenman, the author, has collected words that are rich in meaning and passages from the New York Times that demonstrate their use. Every page or so, Greenman chimes in with his own commentary about the origins and usage of a particular word. You will open this book, start flipping through the pages and then find you have spent a hour or so in Greenman's world of words. It's a good journey. Once you get your copy, you'll probably want to buy another for a friend of like mind. The book is only available through Levenger's. (There is, I'm told, a sequel on the way.) More than the rules. Style is more than learning the AP style rules (although that is most important). The concept of style includes the approach the journalist takes toward the job. That is why the chapter includes short discussions of balance and fairness, the inverted pyramid and the impersonality of reporting. A good journalist must take on the mean of the humble servant and must be modest both in writing and in demeanor. Unfortunately, we are living in an immodest age, where people are taught to reveal everything about themselves and to be proud of their deficiencies. Russell Baker, the retired New York Times columnist, articulates this at the beginning of his review of a set of books about the journalist and critic A. J. Liebling: Rereading A.J. Liebling carries me happily back to an age when all good journalists knew they had plenty to be modest about, and were. From the 1920s through the Eisenhower years modesty was a clearly defined style in the American press, but it was already fading when Liebling died in 1963. By

then what had once been "the press" had turned into "the media" and contracted the imperial state of mind, which is never conducive to modesty, whether in tsars of all the Russias or Washington correspondents. Bakers entire review can be found here.

(http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17552) Language sensitivity. Take a look at the section on language sensitivity in this chapter. Are the concerns expressed in this section valid? Are there concerns about this issue that the author does not address? Students should be allowed to have a wide-ranging discussion about this issue. They should try to articulate their feelings about the topic, and they should be able to react civilly, of course to the opinions of others. 4: Writing in the Media Environment The news story is one of the basic forms of writing for the mass media. This chapter introduces the student to the basic content of the news story. The next chapter will introduce the student to the basic form of the news story. Writing for the Mass Media is not meant to be a reporting text. Instead, it seeks to give students information about writing for the mass media and an opportunity to practice writing in the various forms that the mass media require. In doing this, however, students should have some understanding about what kind of information is appropriate for publication in a news story and where that information can be obtained. They should also understand some of the conditions under which media writers work and the demands that are made on them.

Key terms and concepts

The following are some key terms and concepts that the student should understand. News values News values are the concepts used in making judgments about what events are news and what events are not news. The values listed in the chapters are generally accepted by professional journalists and are those that determine what will be included in a newspaper or news broadcast. Timeliness is the most common news value. It is inherent in most news stories. An event simply is not news unless it has occurred fairly recently. News events will probably have the element of timeliness, but they are unlikely to contain all of the news values listed in the chapter. Very few news stories do that. (You might ask your class members to try to think of some events that would contain all of the news values listed in the book.) Consequently, editors and news directors must decide whether or not enough news values are present in an event and if they are present with enough impact to make that event a news event. News sources Information in news stories comes from three sources: personal (people whom a reporter talks with), observational (events that a reporter witnesses), and stored (any documents or records that a reporter can look up). The best news stories are written by reporters who have used all three types of information. Accuracy The importance of presenting accurate information is also discussed in this chapter. You will notice that it isnt the first time that this subject has been introduced. We have discussed accuracy at length in previous chapters and will do so again in the next chapter. This emphasis on accuracy should be pointed out to the students. The need for accuracy is a pervasive one, and thats why the topic reappears so much in this book. Those who would work in the mass media must develop good habits for obtaining

accurate information. They should pay attention to the details of the information they obtain; they must also make sure they understand the significance and meaning of the information they have. Even in the writing assignments that are included in this book, the students must be careful in presenting their information. They must make special efforts to see that the details and the larger ideas are correct.

You might suggest (or require) that your students review the sections of the previous chapters that discuss the importance of accuracy. They might also look at the next chapters discussion of accuracy. A short essay or outline putting all of these ideas about accuracy together might be helpful to them in understanding the importance of accuracy and the methods for achieving it. Deadlines Every person who writes for the mass media writes under deadlines. Often these deadlines are too short for the writer to feel that he or she has done the best job. Still, the writer must learn to adjust to the deadlines of the organization.

The verb "said." In journalistic writing, there is no good substitute for the verb "said." Still, beginning students are sometimes self-conscious about using "said" so much in their writing, and they try to find substitutes. The problem with a substitute is that they are laden with added meanings that the writer may not want to include. For instance, a writer might try to use "claimed" instead of "said." Claimed implies doubt -- as if to say, he "claimed" he did it, but we're not sure. Be care about using verbs of attribution; they may say more than you want to say. Stick with the verb "said." It's simple and straightforward, and you won't have to carry any extra baggage by adding to its meaning. (There's more on JPROF.com about verbs of attribution.)

Writing with verbs. Most good writing teachers stress the power and importance of verbs often to skeptical students. Verbs are the engines of the language and have far more descriptive power than adjectives or adverbs. Thats where the skepticism comes in. Students interested in writing develop a belief that using good adjectives and adverbs will enhance their writing. Verbs are simply aids in the process. JPROF.com has an exercise that you can do with your students that might turn their thinking around. This exercise only a takes a few minutes and can be a lot of fun.

Note: Roy Peter Clark has a good article on the Poynter web site about writing with verbs.

Clichs. One of the most dangerous traps a writer can fall into -- especially a beginning writer -- is the use of clichs. Clichs are overused expressions that have lost their freshness and vitality. Chances are, if you hear a new expression more than once among your friends, it has already reached the status of a clich -- and it should be avoided like the plague (!! CLICHE ALERT!!). JPROF.com a list of clichs that should be avoided, but the list is not complete. You can probably add to it yourself. Interviewing. One of the skills a reporter must develop is the art of interviewing. The text pays a good deal of attention to helping students develop this skill. For more information about interviewing, start with this article, The Art of Asking Questions from the Poynter Institute.

Math. Many journalists say (sometimes jokingly, sometimes not) that they got into the profession because they would not have to deal with a lot of math. For most working

reporters, however, that turns out not to be the case. They have to deal with math every day. A good reporter should know how to figure a ratio, an average, a median and a percentage. Here are some web sites that will help you out: Scoop crazy. Every good journalist wants a scoop. Working in a world with relatively few rewards, the journalist seeks the occasional and often Pyrrhic victory of getting a story before anyone else gets its. Then, if the story is important enough so that other media outlets pick it up, professional practice demands that the other guys attribute the story to you. Its their acknowledgement that, for a brief moment, youre a better journalist than they are. To those outside the culture of journalism, or not sympathetic to it, the desire for a scoop may sound a little crazy. But the desire to be first is a real and effective spur to journalistic practice. Sometimes, however, it can throw other journalistic practices out of kilter. Such an instance occurred when New York Times reporters and editors struck a deal with Columbia University over a report that Columbia produced concerning anti-Semitism among its faculty. The deal was that Columbia would give the Times the report a day early if the Times would agree not to interview any of those who made the complaints about anti-Semitism in its story. Daniel Okrent, former public editor of the Times, outlines what happened in his column. The question of deception. When the Spokane Spokesman-Review recently exposed nefarious behavior on the part of Spokane's mayor, the newspaper used some deception in its reporting. The reaction of many editors would lead you to believe that "Thou shalt never deceive" is one of the most sacred of Journalist Commandments. But it's not. Deception isn't always a good idea, but it has a good history and support from one of the profession's major codes of ethics.

Raising ethical standards. This spring has seen a spate of ethical lapses by journalists, so it might not be evident that our ethical standards have actually gone up during the past 20 years. Yet, this is probably the case. What wasnt covered. An interesting article on the Poynter.org web site gathers opinion from a number of journalism experts about the news medias performance in 2005. One of the fascinating things about such assessments are the stories that these experts feel journalists ignored or provided less than adequate coverage for. Among those mentioned are the Bush administrations defense of torture, the rise in gasoline and energy costs, the declining position of General Motors in the economy, and the cost of housing. Religion columnist Terry Mattingly had two interesting observations. No top journalist or media organization had paid much attention to the Sunni vs. Shiite divide in Iraq, which will have a great effect on efforts to bring democracy to that country. Mattingly said he was also surprised by the overly positive coverage of Pope John Paul II when he died. When the Pope died, there was little coverage of the strong, strong hatred of John Paul II in the U.S. Catholic establishment and, especially, in higher education. All we got was the positive. We needed more balance, to understand the reality facing Catholicism here in the West. Commentators were also asked to express their hopes for journalism in 2006. That brought this response from Jill Geisler, Poynter Leadership & Management Group Leader: Wouldn't it be wonderful if, in 2006, journalism's leaders found the business model or models that underwrite high-quality newsgathering? (Posted Dec. 29, 2005)

The public is paying attention. A new Harris survey, conducted in conjunction with the Public Relations Society of America, shows that the public pays close attention to the news and that many of the traditional news organizations are held in high regard. The study took a sample of three groups: the general public (N=1,015), Fortune 1,000 executives (150), and Congressional staffers (150); it compared the attitudes of the three groups

toward the news and the news media. The study's major findings show that large majorities of each group have a defined set of news organizations they consult on a regular basis; majorities of each group say they like to keep up with the news, and about 15 percent of the general public say they are "news junkies"; majorities of each group look for news that challenges their own political beliefs; and minorities of each group (21 percent of the general public) rely on non-traditional news sources such as web logs and chat room on the Internet. News organizations that score high on the trust scale are public television and National Public Radio, and national newspapers. More results from the survey can be found on the PRNewswire site and a summary of the survey results is at Broadcast and Cable magazine. What everybody talks about. A sidebar in Journalism: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How is titled, "Everybody talks about the weather." In addition to the weather, what are some of the other things everybody talks about? One answer would be sports. If you are located close to a major college or university, you can't help talking about sports -- or hearing a lot about sports. But there are many other subjects that everybody talks about. Take a look at the web site for the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (http://people-press.org/). Pew commissions surveys regularly about what news Americans are paying close attention to. The writer's life, Gay Talese style. For decades now, readers and critics have focused on Gay Talese's writing style. In the 1960s he was a pioneer of the New Journalsim, which used fictional and literary techniques to tell his nonfiction stories. But what readers should have been focusing on was his reporting, which is meticulous, exacting and precise. Talese, according to the New York Times, has written a memoir, A Writer's Life, which should give us some insight into his reporting methods. It is a welcome addition

to

the

literature

of

Talese

and

for

his

legion

of

fans.

More High school journalist, undercover. David McSwane wanted to do "something cool." What he did wound up shutting the entire U.S. Army's recruiting effort down for a day. McSwane is a senior at Arvada West High School in Colorado; he's an honors student there and editor of high school newspaper, The Westwind. When he heard that the Army was failing to meet its recruiting goals because of the unpopularity of the war in Iraq, he decided to find out just how far the service would go to sign someone up. That's when things More Basic News Writing I The news story format is one of the basic forms of writing for the mass media, and students need to have a good grounding in writing the news story before they tackle other forms of writing. Learning to write a basic news story teaches the student the importance of gathering accurate and complete information, making judgments about that information as to what is important and what is not, and writing so that the content and not the writing itself is what makes an impression on the reader. Writing news teaches the student many of the disciplines that he or she will need to be successful in working in the mass media. Students should be reminded that the news story form is one that is used not only in newspapers but in many publications, particularly those produced by public relations departments. The habits that a person gains in writing news will be the habits he or she takes to other forms of writing for the mass media. started to get interesting.

One of the most difficult concepts to learn about news writing is the manner in which a story should be developed. Students should pay particular attention to

the text and examples in this chapter. While many students understand the purpose and technique of the lead paragraph, they do not understand how to build a story in the second, third and subsequent paragraphs. Students will write a good lead but then drop into the narrative form in the second graph. They should read and analyze stories in the book -- and better yet, in a local newspaper -- to gain an understand of how an inverted pyramid story should be Key terms and concepts The following are some of the key terms and concepts that a student should understand and be able to put into practice by the time he or she has finished this chapter. written.

Inverted pyramid This is the most common news story structure. A lead paragraph contains the most important information that the writer has to tell the reader, and most of the story should in some way refer to the lead paragraph. A story written in the inverted pyramid form is rarely narrative; instead, the writer must make decisions about what information is most important and what is of lesser importance.

A news story should have unity that is, it should be about one subject and this unity is gained through a logical and coherent presentation of the information and an effective use of transitions.

Attribution The concept of attribution was introduced in previous chapters, but in this chapter the student will need to understand it well enough to put it into practice. The student should know why attribution is important, when it should be used (and when it is not necessary), and what forms of attribution are acceptable in writing the news story.

Direct and indirect quotations Special attention should be given to making sure that students understand the difference between direct and indirect quotations. If problems develop in this area, one exercise that an instructor might give is to select some direct quotations from the examples in the text or the exercises at the end of the chapter and have students rewrite them as indirect quotations. Accuracy This subject is again dealt with, as it has been in previous chapters. Students should pay close attention to the details of what they write as well as to the major parts of their story. Links and resources How to write a news lead. The first, and often last, opportunity to catch and hold a reader is with the lead. This site provides an overview of the two main types of news leads (direct and delayed) and when journalists should use each. 10 ways to write a great lead for a blog post. The ability to write compelling leads translates to success no matter if you are working for a print, online or broadcast organization. This site takes into consideration the needs and wants of the online community, and offers concise tips for crafting leads that hook readers in cyberspace. Poynter online, writing from the top down. The inverted pyramid, despite its criticism, remains a fixture in the news industry. Chip Scanlan gives a short history on this form of writing and why, especially in the digital age, the inverted pyramid still is being taught and used. SNN newsroom, the inverted pyramid. Another step-by-step guide of writing in an inverted pyramid style. Chapter notes

Plagiarism. Students sometimes get mixed up about what constitutes plagiarism, but journalists should never let that happen. They should understand that plagiarism is one of the worst things they can do, and they should know how to avoid it. Here is what the Detroit Free Press has to say about plagiarism: When material is used in a story from sources other than the writer's own reporting, those sources--other publications, previous Free Press stories, radio or TV newscasts, etc.--should be indicated in the story. That attribution need not be made for simple, verifiable facts like dates, but is essential for information that goes beyond simple fact-quotations or descriptions not heard or seen by the current reporter, characterizations or other generalizations not based on the writer's own reporting, etc... Using someone else's work without attribution -whether deliberately or thoughtlessly--is a serious ethical breach. Staff members should be alert to the potential for even small, unintentional acts of plagiarism, especially in the reporting of complicated stories involving many sources. Borrowing ideas from elsewhere, however, is considered fair journalistic practice. Problems arise in the gray areas between the acceptable borrowing of inspiration and the unacceptable stealing of another's work. Our standards: Words directly quoted from sources other than the writer's own reporting should be attributed. That may mean saying the material came from a previous Free Press story, from a television interview, from a magazine or book or wire service report. When other work is used as the source of ideas or stylistic inspiration, the result must be clearly your own work. That is, what is acceptable to learn from another are the elements of style and approach-tone, rhythm, vocabulary, topic ideas-and not specific words, phrases, images.

You can find what other codes of ethics have to say about plagiarism at Journalism. (http://www.journalism.org/resources/tools/ethics/plagiarism/excerpts.asp) Basic News Writing II JPROF.com - This web site contains a great deal of information for both journalism instructors and students. This chapter attempts to take students beyond the fundamental concepts introduced in Chapter 5. Here the student will find a discussion of other news story structures besides the inverted pyramid. These structures can be used when the news event or the information the reporter has calls for them, but the event or information should not be forced into these structures. The chapter also discusses the different types of stories that a beginning reporter will have to master. These include speechs and meetings, obituaries, weather and crime. org

One of the most important concepts in any writing but particularly in journalistic writing is that of editing. First, students should understand that within news organizations, an editor holds sway. Editing decisions can be made without the consent of the writer, although this does not happen a great deal. The point is that a writer should expect to be edited and should look at that experience and process as a way to improve writing.

Students should also get into the habit of editing themselves effectively. Effective editing is more than just giving copy a once-over to check for grammar, spelling and style mistakes. Editing should be a deliberate and systematic part of the writing process. Developing good editing habits is a vital part of the process of learning to write well.

Many students come to journalism professing more of an interest in featuring writing than in news writing. They believe feature writing to be less pressurized by deadlines and generally more interesting than straight news writing. Those beliefs may be true in some cases, but good feature writing requires the same reporting and writing skills as news writing. Information and ideas must be presented accurately. The words that people say must be quoted correctly and exactly. Feature writing requires understanding a story and the people within the story in a way that straight news writing does not. Most importantly, there is nothing easy about feature writing.

Key terms and concepts The following are key terms or concepts that the student should understand. Feature story The feature story is something that students should be able to distinguish from the news story. Verbs the part of speech that denotes action or state of being. For the writer, verbs are more than just a part of speech. They are the engines of the language, and writers should pay attention to the verbs they use, trying to select the most accurate and descriptive verbs for the information they have. Wordiness Most writers suffer from the disease of using too many words. Students should be taught how to eliminate wordiness from the things they write. Profile a type of feature story that is about an aspect of a person's life. It is not a full biography, although it should contain many biographical details. The writer must select the part of the person's life that he or she finds most interesting to write about.

Links and resources Copy editing corner. This is a public message board to discuss the process of copy editing. Whether you consider yourself a reporter or a copy editor, a visit to this site might help you clear up issues commonly found in reporting copy. Mobile and Internet researcher guide to feature writing. There are various types of reporting required depending on the story that needs to be told. This site provides techniques for improving feature reporting, which will also strengthen media writing in general. Feature writing guide. Feature writing is a skill unto its own. This site addresses 12 parts of successful feature writing from a public relations perspective. Writing a news story. This is a site for students who want a quick overview of news as well as tips for succeeding in the reporting and writing process.

Chapter notes Writing obits. For generations, the journalism culture demanded that young reporters cut their teeth on obituary stories writing obits, we would say. The thinking was that obituaries were easy to write and possibly not very interesting or important. Today, in many newspapers (except for the larger ones), the obit story has been relegated to a classified advertisement. But writing obits is important work. It always has been. Bert Barnes spent 20 years at the Washington Post writing obituaries before retiring in March 2004. He has written an article for the Post about his experiences on the obit desk. In it he says:

I loved that work. It taught me that even in the monotony of the daily grind, life could be funny and beautiful, surprising and strange. Death is no big deal if you don't love life. I only wish I could have met more of the people I wrote about. One of the first exercises I had in a beginning news writing class in college was to write my own obituary. All of us in the class had to do that, and we had a lot of fun with it. I remember trying to figure out who the pallbearers would be. I still think thats a good assignment for a beginning student because they have all the information available without having to interview anyone or look anything up. For an example of an obituary story and its standard parts, a handout is available at JPROF.com as a HTML file or as a PDF file. Either of these can be downloaded and duplicated for classroom use. Responsibilities of the editor. Getting your editing students in the right frame of mind to become editors is a challenge for any editing teacher. JPROF.com has a set of discussion notes that contain many of the points you might want to make with your students at the beginning of an editing class. Above all, students should be taught that editors are the people who make decisions about the entire publication or web site, and they have to take responsibility for what is included in the publication. A reporter's mistake becomes their mistake if they do not take steps to correct it. Expensive misspelling. Tell your students (as you undoubtedly do) that they need to spell correctly and that they should check their spelling. Not doing so can turn out to be an expensive proposition. That's what the folks in Livermore, Calif., found out in 2004 when they spent $40,000 for a mosaic for their new library. The artwork contained 175 words, many of them names of writers, scientists and artists. Some 11 of those words were misspelled. They included Shakespeare (Shakespere), Einstein (Eistein), and Gauguin (Gaugan). The Miami artist who executed the work at first claimed artistic license (maybe some of your students have used the same excuse) but later said she would

fix the problem words. Unfortunately, the city of Livermore is having to pay her $6,000 plus expenses to do that. California law requires that public artwork cannot be changed without the consent of the artist. Some people are blaming city and library officials as well as the artist, saying they should have checked the spelling before approving the artwork. You can read more about this in the news stories of the San Francisco Chronicle and the Contra Costa Times. (Posted Aug. 10, 2005) 9: Writing for broadcast

Writing for broadcast, as outlined in this chapter by Mark Harmon, takes a different level of skills than writing for print. The writer must use all of the techniques that he or she has learned in writing for print and must refine those techniques for broadcast copy. The most important of these techniques is that of condensation. The broadcast writer must learn to select and condense information. The writer must learn that an even higher value is placed on brevity than in writing for print.

By the end of this chapter, the student should understand this demand for condensation and brevity that is made on the broadcast writer. The student should also understand the essential differences and similarities that exist between writing for broadcast and writing for print.

Key terms and concepts Students should understand the following terms and concepts :

Selection of news While many of the basic news values are still at work in the selection of broadcast news, the broadcast journalist works with an additional set of considerations. Timeliness is one of the most important of

those considerations. Broadcast news emphasizes immediacy; the news that is the latest is often the news that is mentioned first. The emphasis on information rather than explanation is another of those considerations. Students should understand that the broadcast medium is generally not one that allows time for a full and complete development of a story. Getting information to listeners and viewers is of primary importance. The audio or visual impact of a story is another important consideration in the selection of news for broadcast. A story that has good pictures or compelling audio is likely to be used over a story that does not. In going over these considerations with your students, you may want to review the news values discussed in Chapter 4 and talk with them about how these values are changed or enhanced by the considerations of a broadcast journalist. Differences in style Throughout this chapter a number of differences in writing style between broadcast writing and writing for print are mentioned. Style rules in broadcast writing are designed primarily to make it easy on a news reader to read out loud. Sentences are short, and punctuation should be kept to a minimum. Writing for the ear, not the eye This is the key difference between writing for broadcast and writing for print. Students need to understand that what they are writing will be read aloud, not read silently. The listener has no opportunity to go back and re-hear a news broadcast to see what he or she has missed. In that regard, clarity in writing becomes one of the chief goals of the writer.

Dramatic unity The most common story structure for the broadcast news story is dramatic unity with its three parts: climax, cause and effect. Students should also understand the importance of an attention-getting lead in making sure that listeners hear and understand their stories. Such leads require a deft

touch on the part of the writer. They may look easy to produce at first glance, but they are more difficult to do well than they appear.

Phonetic spelling Broadcast writers should learn how and when to use phonetic spellings for words or names that will be unfamiliar to the reader. Students should remember that broadcast copy is often written on deadline, and news readers may not have time to practice reading their copy before they go on the air. A good exercise for students is to have them spell their names phonetically. Links and resources Broadcast news writing. Although this site is intended for high school students, it is suitable for any beginning broadcast writer. This link directs visitors to 16 tips for making broadcast writing strong and sound. Also on the site are handouts of the process of broadcasting, from video production to interviewing. Newswriting for the radio. Dont forget about the radio. Broadcast writing is just as important, if not more so, to radio broadcasters. This site offers advice and tips on all types of radio stories including in-depth and vivid styles. Successful television news: jobs and resources. If you want a job in the television industry, this site offers commentary on the current events of TV journalism, links to jobs and other resources for broadcasters. Boom goes the dynamite. This is a must see for aspiring broadcast students. No matter how hard you try, you are bound to make mistakes along the way. Hopefully, you wont ever have a broadcast go as badly as this one did for a college sportscaster. Cybercollege. A good Cybercollege site on production values.

Newslab. This site argues for improved quality in television newscasts.

Chapternotes Breaking in. Want to advise your students as to how they can get into broadcasting? The Poynter Institute (which has a whole section on broadcasting journalism) has a timely article on tips on getting started in broadcast journalism. Here's how it starts: Dig hard, write well, and maybe even sweep a few floors.

Broadcast professionals say that's what young journalists should do if they're serious about pursuing a career in the competitive field of news broadcasting. Television and radio students who want to stand out from the crowd must become enterprising, information-sniffing archaeologists, said Al Tompkins, Poynter's broadcast journalism group leader.

You

can

find

the

entire

article

at

the

Poynter

web

site.

Poynter has a wide variety of articles about all phases of journalism. The people at Poynter also respond daily to the major issues and controversies facing the profession.

Broadcast writing tips. If you learned to write for print first (and most of us did), you may have a bit of trouble switching to writing in broadcast style. Laurie Lattimore has compiled a list of tips for making the switch. That list is on the JPROF.com web site.

Network news sites. Each of the major television news networks maintains

extensive news web sites. That makes it convenient to see how each is covering a news story. Select a major news story of the day and go to each of these sites to see what they have said about it. Does one site have more or different information than another. This is a good project to do when there is a big, FOX News VOA News. One of the best broadcast news sites is that of the Voice of America. VOA is operated by the U.S. government and broadcasts news around the world in more than 50 languages. VOA has a tradition of presenting the news in an unbiased way -- even when the news is not favorable or is embarrassing to the government. An additional benefit of the VOA news web site is that you can hear the broadcasts in various languages as well as read the news in those languages. If you are trying to learn a language, the VOA news site might be of great help to you. CBS ABC breaking news story. CNN News News MSNBC

RTNDA. One of the best ways to keep up with the state of broadcast news is at the Radio and Television News Directors Association web site. The foundation for the organization produces an extensive report each year on broadcast news and the public's reaction to it. Those reports are usually in PDF forms, and they may take a while to download, but they contain some excellent information. War News Radio. Students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania have created an Internet radio station devoted to covering the war in Iraq. But their station, called War News Radio, is different. Instead of gathering Associated Press and other news service reports and repackaging them, they are creating

their own reports using sources that are not often heard from and technology that is not often used by news organizations. The students troll the web for sources of information about Iraq many of them in Iraq itself. Then they use an Internet telephone service called Skype to call these folks up, interview them and put together their stories. The result is something you would not hear on most radio news broadcasts, even National Public Radio, which, by the way, did a story about War News Radio in January and interviewed two of its producers. Another story about War News Radio has just appeared in the Los Angeles Times. War News Radio is the product of some innovative thinking and initiative, and it could happen anywhere. 10: Writing advertising copy Author Contact us

Chapters 1: Sit Down and Write 2: Basic Tools of Writing 3: Style and the Stylebook 4: Writing in the Media Environment 5: Basic News Writing I: Inverted Pyramid, Leads & Writing Conventions 6: Basic News Writing II: Types of Stories, Editing & Feature Writing 7: Writing for the Web I: The Fundamentals

8: Writing for the Web II: The Potential for Journalism 9: Writing for Broadcast 10: Writing Advertising Copy 11: Writing for Public Relations 12: The Writer and the Law

Instructors Students

JPROF.com - This web site contains a great deal of information for both journalism instructors and students.

On this page Key Links and resources Chapter notes

terms

and

concepts

American Advertising Federation

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 Advertising is information mixed with persuasion. The best advertising presents information to the reader or viewer in a form that will persuade them to act, to change their opinions, or to maintain the opinions they already have. The link between advertising and news is information, and students should understand that point as they begin working in this chapter.

People buy a newspaper as much for the advertising as for the news. Consumers want, and need, the information that is presented to them in advertising. The best advertising persuades as well as informs.

Another point that students should understand is that some people (manufacturers, organizations, etc.) will pay other people (advertising copywriters) to write advertising. The first group wants to see a return on its investment. They expect advertising to work to do what they expect it to do, whether thats to sell more of a product, enhance the reputation of a company, increase the name recognition of an organization, etc. If the advertising does not work, the people who pay for it will not continue to do so. Consequently, students should understand that clients do not pay for creativity; they pay for results.

One final point for instructors: Advertising is a tremendously interesting and dynamic field to study. Since students are so widely exposed to advertising (as

opposed to news, in many cases), it is often easy to get them to discuss advertising and articulate their opinions about it. As an instructor, you should encourage such discussion whenever the classroom situation permits, and you should try to introduce the points made in this chapter about advertising during those discussions. For instance, if a student says, I didnt like that ad, try to explore that reaction: why did the ad not appeal to her? to whom did it appeal? what appeals are being made? what benefits are being offered?

Key

terms

and

concepts

The following are some terms and concepts that students should understand as they study and work with the material in this chapter.

Needs People have certain basic needs (food, clothing and shelter); they also have needs that go beyond the basics. Advertising appeals are often based on these needs. The text lists a number of needs, and some useful time might be spent in discussing these needs with your students. You should get them to think beyond their own needs and desires and to try to project their thinking onto other people. What will appeal to them may not appeal to others, and they need to recognize this when formulating their ideas about advertising copy.

Demographics Students should understand that most advertising is not directed at large masses of consumers but is rather targeted toward a group that share similar demographic characteristics. Demographics is the way that we define these groups.

Product characteristics The physical characteristics of a product are part of product characteristics, but this term goes beyond physical appearance. It also includes the history and reputation of the product, the way the product

works,

the

manufacturer,

and

even

the

competition.

The advertising situation Students should understand the logic of identifying the key fact of an advertising situation and from that deducing the advertising problem and then the advertising objective. This linear thinking helps the student focus on what the advertising should do.

Product benefits A benefit is something that will in some way enrich the consumer. Focusing on benefits is a very important part of the formulation of advertising. Links and resources Tips for writing effective copy. A quick read regarding writing effective advertising copy. Links are provided to other sites about marketing and advertising. Advertising writing tell your business story. The site offers seven rules for writing advertising copy. Strong consideration is given to writing that is focused toward technically savvy audiences.

Chapter American Advertising Federation. One of the major

notes professional

organizations for the field of advertising is the American Advertising Federation. Students who are interested in this field should visit this organization's web site. There is information on how to form a campus chapter in case you are interested.

11: Writing for public relations Author Contact us

Chapters 1: Sit Down and Write 2: Basic Tools of Writing 3: Style and the Stylebook 4: Writing in the Media Environment 5: Basic News Writing I: Inverted Pyramid, Leads & Writing Conventions 6: Basic News Writing II: Types of Stories, Editing & Feature Writing 7: Writing for the Web I: The Fundamentals 8: Writing for the Web II: The Potential for Journalism 9: Writing for Broadcast 10: Writing Advertising Copy 11: Writing for Public Relations 12: The Writer and the Law

Instructors Students

JPROF.com - This web site contains a great deal of information for both journalism instructors and students.

On this page Key Links and resources Chapter notes

terms

and

concepts

Public Relations Society of America

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 The field of public relations encompasses all of the forms of writing that we have examined so far in this book and then some. The chief idea of this chapter is to impress upon students the versatility in writing that a public relations practitioner must possess. Most of the work of the public relations practitioner involves writing, and it is rare that only one kind of writing is

required. Two of the newest ways for organizations to communication with their publics is through email and the World Wide Web. Public relations practitioners will have to become adept at composing email messages and at understanding the functions and purposes of a website. They may be required to learn enough Key of the computer terms language to build and or add to a website. concepts

The following are some key terms and concepts about public relations and public relations writing that the student should understand as he or she works through this chapter:

Publics The PR writers must think in terms of publics, the groups to whom he or she may be directing a communication.

Four-step process of public relations These four steps include planning, research, communication, and evaluation. Any public relations campaign, large or small, involves these four steps to some degree. In some organizations, this is an elaborate process, while in others the process is fairly informal, but it occurs no matter where the campaign is taking place. News release The good news release is essentially a good news story in a public relations suit.

Intents and purposes Like the advertising copywriter, the PR writer must have a good idea what the writing he or she produces is supposed to do. The intent of the writing must be firmly in mind as the writer begins the project. Otherwise, the writing will be inefficient and ineffective. Intents and purposes

are discussed in some detail in the Letters section of the chapter, but they apply to other parts of it as well. Links and resources How to write a press release. Discover how to deliver news to the media. The site covers details such as formatting, common errors and guidelines to make news releases worthwhile for the media. Public relations nightmare. A client gets sued, commits a crime or does something else that draws negative attention and plenty of it. This site offers advice for public relations staff in the midst of crisis control. Public relations headlines and PR news. An up-to-date site with commentary and suggestions related to issues ongoing in public relation circles. b2b public relations. This site is a resource for business-to-business public relations primarily, but anyone in the field would likely benefit from the content. Students should note The top 10 tips for improving your public relations skills.