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 Writing for Radio Written by the News Department, CJAM Radio, University of Windsor, 1981. Reprinted with permission. Radio journalism is similar to storytelling. It is conversational in style. The choice of words must be similar to the listening audience's vocabulary. The sentences should be short and uncomplicated. Use very few adjectives and stay away from quotes (people can't hear quotation marks). Avoid the negative. For example, instead of "There will be no mail", use instead "You may be waiting for your mail for a while". Each sentence should flow into the next so the listener is not lost. Subtle repetition is just as necessary to keep the listener following the story. For example, if you use Prime Minister Trudeau in the first sentence, say "the prime minister" in the next instead of "he". Story Length This is a big difference between radio news copy and news written for other media. Since we can't go back to read it over like newspaper, and we don't have the visual images of TV, the radio journalist has to write so that listeners can understand the story the first time it is read. The longest story in the entire newscast will be only 45 seconds long. Therefore, most stories are very brief and condensed. The ability to do this, with a great amount of information, is a challenge. Rules for Writing Copy Marking Copy Marking copy is important to ensure easy reading. If you want a word emphasized, underline it. This signals the announcer to pronounce these words with greater emphasis. Also, put slash marks after the sentences where pauses are required. Positioning of the Stories Where a news story is placed in the newscast is an important decision the journalist has to make. The first story is called the "lead", and is the most important news item. The lead story signals listeners to pay attention, so it has to be a read ear-opener. The audience will listen to the rest of the broadcast if the first story is important and interesting. The radio journalist must also decide which stories will be used and which will be thrown in the garbage. This is called "gatekeeping", and it simply means certain things are allowed to pass through a gate by you, and others are not. Newsworthiness should be considered in this decision. Repetition of Stories Stories can be read up to 24 hours after they are first released. People who are regular listeners will tune you out if your stories are exactly the same every hour. Try to change the wording a bit so the story still sounds fresh. This is called rewriting. The number of times a story is read on air is based on news value. Not all stories have the same news value, for example, the story of an attempted assassination of the Pope will carry a lot more newsworthiness and be aired more often than a story of a murder in Detroit. Headlines Headlines are used in most radio stations. They are only a few seconds long, and are placed at the top of a newscast. A good headline will grab the listener's attention and hold it. A "teaser" is one or two sentences that grab the audience, but it differs from a headline in that it can be read at any time of the day, telling the listener that the story of the Pope will be read at such and such a time. Actualities Radio news needs some support, which will offer proof of the stories. These are known as actualities and are given a high emphasis in radio. Actualities are usually given from the scene of an event by a reporter with an interview of someone there. Actualities vary in length, but are not usually longer than 30 seconds. The number of actualities used in a newscast varies as well, from one to four per newscast. The Newscast Final For a typical newscast, this would be a typical schedule on a typical day: Copyright CSIRP 2001 Copyright for materials on this website is the property of the content creators and the Canadian Society for Independent Radio Production, unless otherwise noted. Materials may be freely used by non-profit organizations and educational institutions for non-commercial purposes only. For evaluation purposes, CSIRP would appreciate it if you would let us know how you have used these materials, and in what context. Material reproduced from this website must include the CSIRP logo, website address and this message. |
