The Reporter as Commentator

With the right voice, a gift for economy and carefully chosen words, and the charming turn of phrase which makes journalism a delight, you will be selected one day to be the eyes and ears of the public at a special event. Commentating, a first cousin to reporting, is live, or is recorded as if it is live. With many more 24-hour news channels available there are more live events for the reporter to deal with. It does not always mean sensational, fast-moving events which give the journalists little time to think. Many of the events live news channels are going to cover are calm, perhaps even tranquil occasions, and some of them are downright boring, such as waiting for an announcement at a news conference! Dull pictures which will lead to a climax present the reporter/commentator with the biggest challenge–to try to make the event appear worth staying tuned to. Preparation is all. Know your subject, the people involved, the interesting details, and have some choice phrases ready to drop in when appropriate.

First principles

Apart from your preparation and some notes about the event, the essence of a good performance is the conjunction of words and pictures. As with reporting, you are there to complement what the viewer sees, but the difficulty lies with steering a path between useful information and irritating irrelevance. You may well have heard the presenter say: ‘And now over to our correspondent, Jenny Jones, who is at the Conference Centre where the signing of the peace accord is due to take place in about ten minutes’ time …’And suddenly–it’s all up to you! The viewer has nothing more than a shot of a long table, some officials standing around waiting, and camera crews and reporters testing their equipment. You will have to start talking immediately–but do not feel you have to talk endlessly. Pause sometimes. Let the viewer relax with you. In ‘filling’ this waiting period, feel free to reflect and look back in detail about how this event came to happen, and what it means for the future, the personalities involved and their backgrounds, and if you get really desperate, even a few details about the Conference Centre itself.

Sport

Practically every sports fan reckons on being able to be as good if not a better commentator than those doing the job for a living. It is far more difficult than it seems. The more knowledgeable you are, the better: the less likely you will be to make the kind of mistakes which will have the aficionados calling for blood.

The secret is to know when to shut up, and let the action speak for itself. Some sports are obsessed with statistics, but opinion has it that the best commentary is one which confines itself to identification and interpretation, underpins the picture and avoids a stream of facts which get between the viewer and the game.

Guard against any tendency to treat sport less seriously than other subjects. In particular, don’t patronise sportspeople by referring to them by their first names.

Commentating

It’s important not to be overawed by the occasion. Keep the language simple and avoid pomposities. The bigger the event the more likely you are to be positioned in a booth some distance from the action. (courtesy BBC Central Stills)