[stylist] Info on writing for radio and TV

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
WRITING FOR RADIO AND TV: NEWS, FEATURES AND PSAs
Consumers in developed countries live in an electronic community. So it
comes as no surprise that most people report the y get the bulk of their
news and information from the electronic media. Radio and television,
and to a lesser degree, but increasingly, the Internet, are said to be
the principal sources of news and information. In conjunction with mo
vies, these forces are considered to be arbiters of what is acceptable
and desirable and hence shape perceptions about everything from products
to presidential candidates.
Since the influence of the electronic media, particularly radio and
television, is mighty, it is important to explore how writing for radio
and television is different from writing for print. These are the key
differences:
. When writing for print, your target is the reader
. When writing for radio, your target is the listener
. When writing for television, you are targeting both the listener and
the viewer. For both radio and television, the mission is: keep it short
and keep it simple.
THE BASICS STAY THE SAME
The same principles that apply to writing for print apply to writing for
the electronic media:
. a lead that grabs attention,
. the Five Ws formula for determining content, and
. the inverted pyramid construction.
The major difference between print and broadcast media is that the
latter will likely reduce your story to nothing more than the lead.
Print media deal in column inches, while broadcast media deal in time.
A minute in broadcast, for both radio and television, is an eternity.
Try it. Look at your watch, locate the second-hand, and then close your
e yes for what you think is one minute. Don't cheat by counting
"one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two" under your breath. Just sit there
and imagine a minute. Then open your eyes and check the second-hand
again. Odds are, unless you are very unusual, you will have lasted about
25 to 40 seconds.
A one-minute story in broadcast is epic. More typical are 10- to
30-second stories. Thus, you ha/e to be able to get the important parts
of your story across in that time frame. T en seconds is equivalent to
about 30 words of copy.
This constrained content framework underscores the absolute importance
of the writing. Unless you grab and hold your listener right away, the
chances are fairly slim that you will get him or her at all.
A PREMIUM ON HOOKS
But, don't put the cart in front of the horse. Unless you successfully
grab and hold the interest of the news director, the gatekeeper for what
gets aired and what does not, your story won't make it on the air.
As a result, there is a real premium on "hooks" in writing for
broadcast. "Hooks" are the elements of the story that grab attention and
hold interest, that which engages the listener and/or viewer.
It is also worth noting that writing for broadcast involves a particular
challenge not common to print: attention. When reading, an individual's
full attention is usually concentrated on what is before him or her In
the case of broadcast, the receiver's attention may be anything but
focused. The radio story may be competing with outside noises,
background conversations, or wandering minds flitting from work issues
to the idiot driver in the next lane. With television, competing for the
viewer's attention are the unfinished magazines, trips to the
refrigerator, children, channel surfing, etc. Not only do these f actors
make the task of getting and holding attention difficult, the why
complicate the process of conveying information. Too frequently what is
broadcast is misheard, only slightly heard, misunderstood, or simply
missed.
This fact argues further for simplicity and brevity.
Remember that unlike the reader of a print story, the receiver of the
broadcast story can't go back to review the details. If he or she does
not get it the first time, the story is gone. We've lost one opportunity
to share our message. Special care is needed in writing for radio and
television-a fact that has given rise to the KISS rule, a cardinal rule
of writing for broadcast.
GENERAL RULES OF WRITING FOR BROADCAST
The other cardinal rules of writing for broadcast are:
. Concentrate on finding a "hook" that will grab and hold attention.
. Shift your writing focus from phrasing that is meant to be read to
phrasing that is meant to be heard.
. Make it conversational.
. Use the present tense.
^ Avoid technical words and jargon.
^ Use personal pronouns sparingly (he, she, they) to avoid confusion.
The same goes for words like latter and former, etc. Remember, the
listener can't go back to check.
. Use verbs as often as possible, adjectives as little as possible.
THE RADIO RELEASE
For radio, write the lead as a teaser. In other words, make the first
line pro vocative and interesting enough, so the receiver wants to know
more. Test it by reading it aloud, a strategy fondly known as the old
"details at eleven" test (e.g., "Sky Falls! Details at Eleven!").
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The next four lines should tell the story, but keep the total length
inside 30 seconds. Make it easy for the newscaster to read by
phonetically spelling difficult to pronounce names and spelling out
numbers (i.e., "QUE-sick" in place of "Cusick" and "one billion" rather
than "1,000,000,000").
To give the news director flexibility to make the story larger, or to
expand or highlight a particular feature of the story, list on a
separate sheet the names and brief credentials of experts or
personalities available for on-air comment or interview.
Here is an example of a radio news release taken from a newspaper
release which you have seen previously. Take particular note of the
information at the end of the release on an expert who will be available
for a live interview.
Special To:
San Francisco Bay Area Radio News Directors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2005
New Program Will Ease Critical Shortage of Nurses in Bay Area
San Francisco-By this time next year there may be almost enough nurses
to go around.
The Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation announced today it will put $110
million into a special program designed to train and qualify nurses to
help meet the critical shortage of nurses in San Francisco Bay Area
Hospitals, a shortage growing worse year by year as training programs
shrink and expenses increase. "This effort won't correct the shortage
overnight, but it will make a difference right away, and within several
years, we may find no one is being shorted on nursing care," said E. L.
Donavan, chief administrator of Mercy Hospital.
The Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation was founded and funded by Gordon
Moore, the retired co-founder of Intel. A special part of its
approximately $5 billion asset portfolio is focused exclusively on Bay
Area needs.
Attention News Directors:
Jean Delray, administrator of the nursing program grant, is available
for interview on short notice this afternoon (12:30 through 6:00 p.m.)
and tomorrow morning (8:00 a.m. though 12:00 p.m.)
For additional details, follow-up information, and arrangements for
interview time with Ms. Delray, please call or email Mary Aimes, The
Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, cell phone 415765-8396,
maryaimes at moore.org.
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THE TELEVISION RELEASE
What appeals to the eye makes all the difference here, so cast your
story visually.
Again, write your lead as a teaser. Try to keep it to one or two short
sentences deliverable in five to seven seconds.
Unfold the rest of the story in descending order of importance. This the
same format as for radio, except you will add a special sheet
highlighting the visuals. That sheet will describe the video
possibilities that can draw the viewer to the story and keep his
attention. The story line and visuals must be compelling enough to
convince the news director that airing the story will be worth the
station's time and resources.
No matter how good your idea and visuals, you still need to tell the
story in no more than 30 seconds. Just as in radio copy, spell out the
hard to pronounce words and the difficult to grasp large numbers. The
television news release on the nursing program story doesn't vary
materially from the radio release, except for information on visual
possibilities that make the story more appealing.
Special To:
San Francisco Bay Area TV Assignment Editors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2005
Help is on the Way: New Program Will Ease Critical Shortage of Nurses in
Bay Area
San Francisco, CA-By this time next year there may be almost enough
nurses to go around.
The Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation announced today it will put $110
million into a special program designed to train and qualify nurses to
help meet the critical shortage of nurses in San Francisco Bay Area
Hospitals, a shortage growing worse year by year as training programs
shrink and expenses increase. "This effort won't correct the shortage
overnight, but it will make a difference right away, and within several
years, we may find no one is being shorted on nursing care," said E. L.
Donavan, chief administrator of Mercy Hospital.
The Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation was founded and funded by Gordon
Moore, the retired co-founder of Intel. A special part of its
approximately $5 billion asset portfolio is focused exclusively on Bay
Area needs.
Attention Assignment Editors:
Jean Diaz, administrator of the nursing program grant will be available
for interviews at our Presidio Headquarters this afternoon (12:30 to
6:00 p.m.) and tomorrow (8:00 a.m. to 2 p.m.) She is fully informed on
the details of the program, can speak to the nursing crisis locally and
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nationally, and is an articulate interview subject who makes difficult
information easily understandable.
Visual possibilities are strong, from the high tech accoutrements of the
Foundation Offices to its setting in the Presidio in Golden Gate Park.
Additionally, Children's Hospital in Oakland and Mercy Hospital in San
Francisco and their head nurses have agreed to make themselves available
for location shots and/or interviews.
For arrangements, please contact: Mary Aimes, The Gordon & Betty Moore
Foundation, cell phone 415-765-8396; email maryaimes at moore.org.
VNRs AND OTHER PACKAGES
The process discussed above applies to stories that f all in the general
category defined earlier as news. The stories are timely, because an
announcement is being made, an action of some sort is being taken, or
one will be taken soon. You expect the station to staff these sorts of
stories-to take your release, rework it, supplement it with interview
sound-bites, insert the appropriate video footage to illustrate the
story , and have it read on-air by an on-staff newscaster.
There are occasions when immediacy is not a consideration, when you seek
a special effect, or when you hope to have total control of what is seen
and said. In those instances, a full package is provided to both radio
and television in the form of a pre-produced segment. For television,
these segments are called Video News Releases (VNRs). A VNR is packaged
one of two ways: as a complete story in words and pictures on videotape,
to include narration, or with the visual story on tape sans narration.
In this case, a print version of the narration copy is provided for the
station personality to read on air. VNRs, though effective tools, are
not inexpensive and are usually put together by commercial services.
These service agencies handle all aspects of VNR production, to include
distribution. Similarly, audio releases are sometimes produced and
provided to radio stations.
TALK SHOWS AND MAGAZINE FORMATS
Outside the news arena, there is another universe made up of talk show
and magazine format programs. These programs have a voracious appetite
and are fertile ground for features of a particular type. Producers are
almost always looking for provocative and/or offbeat subjects, or at the
very least, subjects of high current interest or significance. While
there are opportunities on shows of this type, there are also hazards.
The positive and negative benefits should be weighed very carefully,
prior to committing to such a show.
Winning a placement requires a considerably more aggressive approach
than sending out a release. Typically, a "pitch" is needed to sell the
idea. This is much like a "pitch" constructed for a print editor to sell
a story idea for an article (refer to the chapter on selling story
ideas). The pitch goes directly to the producer, by name, of the show
you are targeting and can be made through a proposal delivered by phone,
FAX, e-mail or messenger. Don't waste your time, or hers, unless: (1)
you have a compelling idea
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which fits the show's style and audience, (2) you can present it
convincingly, and (3) its use will materially advance your objectives.
THE 10-SECOND SOUND-BITE
A very important aspect of writing for broadcast is the 10-second
sound-bite. These are talking points that are intended to be presented
verbally by a spokesman in a live or taped interview. They make your key
points succinctly and convincingly. These are carefully written phrases
that compress the essence of your message into a concise and memorable
line. They are almost like slogans, in that they're short, arresting,
and easily understandable. This is very demanding writing. Writing
tight, or concisely, is always more difficult than writing loose. The
outcome warrants the effort, however. These short messages give your
client the focus, and often the eloquence, to make sure your important
points are registered with impact and clarity. How do you write them?
1. List what you think to be the five or six most important points to be
made. What are the absolute, bottom-line points your constituents need
to know?
2. Ask one or two colleagues or subject matter experts whose opinions
you value if they agree on the most important points.
3. Discuss how they would phrase the same points.
4. Synthesize and cull what you think are the best ideas, and phrase the
points in straight declarative sentences.
5. Walk around the block, visit someone else's office, get a cup of
coffee, or find another way to get away from the process briefly.
6. Then return, pick up what you have written, and re work your draft
into the strongest, clearest, most memorable single-sentence,
slogan-like phrases you can fashion. These will be your key messages.
The classic example of a memorable sound bite is President John F
Kennedy's description of the goal of the United States space program,
which was ". . . to put a man on the moon in this decade." Perfect.
The sound-bite technique also works well in almost any circumstance-with
employees, customers, shareholders, etc. Being able to get across
important messages in 10 seconds or so is an invaluable asset in a
fast-moving and message-cluttered world.
PSAs
Commercial broadcasters, local radio and television stations, and
traditional broadcast networks and cable networks, are required to
devote a certain portion of their broadcast time each day to air
messages deemed to be in the public interest. This is in exchange for
the broadcasters' free use of "the public airways" to make a profit.
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This public service time is made available to various not-for-profit
organizations and causes without charge.
For the most part, the time made available consists of 30-second to
one-minute messages called "Public Service Announcements," which
generally air at odd hours of the day, night or early morning. Audiences
at these times are likely to be small. Even so, PSAs provide an exposure
and reach quite valuable to not-for-profits.
Radio PSAs are put together no differently than a good 30-second
commercial spot. They start with an arresting hook to attract the
listener, followed by a concise voicing of the selling message (e.g.,
"Give your junker car to the Society for the Something Or Other," or,
"Smart kids don't do drugs.").
Radio PSAs are usually provided as self-contained audio-tape or CD-R OM
packages that can be shoved into a player and run when scheduled.
Sometimes just a script is forwarded to be read and produced by station
staff.
Television PSAs normally take the form of a fully-produced 30-second
taped announcement, with strong visuals and professional production
values, to include sound, lighting, pacing, content and voice. They need
to be every bit as good as the run of spots produced by professionals
for the station's advertisers. The epitome of television PSAs is the
series produced by the Ad Council for the various causes it supports.
These are superb. Few, if any, not-for-profits can afford to match these
efforts.
Organizations that use television PSAs usually hire a professional
production company to write, produce, and place them. Amateurs don't
fare well at this game. The same thought applies to radio PSAs. If you
feel compelled to try to produce either, concentrate on how broadcast
commercials are written. The formula is generally:
. A very strong hook,
. A statement of the benefits,
. Then ask for the order. "Asking for the order" requires that you
always present an action step you want audience members to take. It can
be as simple as understanding the information you've given, or being
sympathetic to your point-of-vie w on the issue you've discussed, or
taking action and doing a specific thing.
The following is an example of how one organization went about
structuring a 30-second PSA with a scripted commercial meant to be read
by a station announcer. Note the format and that the PSA is pitched to a
specific time period and event.
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This sort of writing isn't like news writing, or even feature writing.
This is cop y writing for a PSA, similar to a commercial writing, and
the skills don't necessarily transfer. If in a do-it-yourself mode,
check with your target radio and television stations and ask for their
preferences in formatting and running time.
In all these instances remember: keep it short, keep it simple, and
always find a hook.
Writing for Radio and TV
Exercise One
Using these notes, create a news release for radio:
The Safe Home Project is a non-sectarian home for battered women and
children located in San Antonio. It can care for as many as 30 "guests"
weekly, with stays usually averaging eight weeks. It is currently
turning away approximately ten applicants a week for lack of space. A
fund-raising benefit banquet is planned. The proceeds from the dinner
will be used to add a four-room addition to the 16-room, three-story
1920s Safe Home house, and to repair a leaking roof, failing plumbing,
and a blown-out furnace. Safe Home receives some funding from United Way
and has several corporate and individual donors, but its budget is
always strained. It cannot possibly fund the badly needed repairs and
expansion without major additional new funding, which the staff hopes to
raise through the dinner. Elizabeth Dole, former head of the American
Red Cross, will be the featured speaker. The San Antonio Wind Symphony
Orchestra will perform a short program. The dinner will be held (you
pick the date) at (you pick the spot) in San Antonio.
Exercise Two
>From the same information, list three suggestions you would submit to
television news directors as possible visuals for the story.
Use the CD-ROM to check your responses.
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