Broadcast writing means writing for the radio and television. In style and tone, writing for the both the media are similar to great extent. The major different is that television news story must complement with visuals attached.
According to communication scholar Laurie Lattimore, broadcast copy is written to be read out loud by a news reader rather than to be read silently by a newspaper reader. So it demands a special set of skills and knowledge from the writer. The words and sentences must be accurate and clear and must complement the pictures, video and audio that accompany a story. Television and radio news stories are generally shorter than news stories for the print. Reading a story out loud is the best way of telling whether or not the story is good enough for broadcasting. The story should be easy to read, conversational and understandable. It should also meet the basic journalistic requirement of accuracy of fact and context.
Broadcast writing is more conversational than print because it is written to be heard rather than read, but the writing has to be just as disciplined and precise. Broadcast news stories emphasize the immediate and the most up-to-date information. Broadcast news stories have to fit into a certain time period and cannot vary more than a few seconds. The story structure used by most broadcast news writers consists of three parts: climax, cause and effect. Broadcast writers attempt to simplify whenever possible, but simplification should not produce inaccuracy.
Electronic News Gathering (ENG): It is the use of portable video cameras, lighting and sound equipment to record news events in the field quickly, conveniently and efficiently. As Leonard Shyles says since news events happen in different locations without prior warning, ENG production is often marked by rapid response to fluid situation and by tight deadlines. In the news business, it essential to be poised for mobility, to get the scoop and to the first with breaking story. As a result of severe time constraints, ENG production often has relatively rough production values, including handheld camera shots, imperfect lighting, simple, often unplanned blocking and less than optimal audio. These imperfections are overlooked when the story is dramatic enough. For instance, a war reporter describes bombs exploding outside his or her window, no one expects the audio to be flawless. On the other hand, difficult conditions are no excuse for sloppy work, and the quality expected in today’s news operations is generally very high.
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