CHAPTER 3
	Readability

Broadcast news writing involves not only the basic elements of all good writing but also a number of conventions and peculiarities of its own.

“Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice,” wrote British writer Cyril Connolly; “journalism what will be grasped at once.” And in broadcast, it must be grasped via the ear.

Broadcast copy must be easily readable. Because breaking news and the nature of the business frequently result in last-minute changes in reading assignments, there are basic rules to give any announcer a fighting chance to convert words into meaningful and readable copy.

BROADCAST NEWS WRITING

Broadcast writing is special—not better or worse than its print or web counterparts—but different. First, broadcast copy must be written for the ear. Think of how many times you’ve found yourself rereading material only moments after your first journey through it. Perhaps your mind wandered. More likely, the material simply wasn’t well-written, well-organized or logically presented. The written word can perhaps tolerate those lapses; the spoken word cannot. The broadcast audience gets one chance and one chance only to understand what’s being said. The wrong word, the right word in the wrong place, too much information too quickly, words mismatched with pictures—and the audience is lost. In broadcast, you cannot afford even a momentary loss because the newscast continues, and the words and stories keep coming. Every time the audience must stop to sort things out, they miss even more.

Beyond writing for the ear, the broadcast writer must think about how words sound together. Are they easily readable? Can the announcer read the words with proper emphasis without gasping for breath? How much meaning can be inserted with inflection rather than text? Does the sound of the words match the story those words tell? HOW do the words blend with accompanying video?

WRITING FOR THE EAR V. WRITING FOR THE EYE

Broadcast copy differs from print and web in two critical conceptual points. First, it’s designed to be read aloud; second, it’s written to be understood by people who only get to hear it. Those two points, flip sides of the same coin, lead to virtually all of the rules about writing broadcast copy. Broadcast writing isn’t different from print or web for its own sake, it’s different because it’s produced and consumed differently. This chapter focuses on the first of those differences: reading out loud.

Today, essentially all newsrooms use some sort of computer system, and that system dictates some of the stylistic rules. Every system is just a little bit different, and the first challenge on the job is to learn how to use it. It’s basically just a word processor and archive library within a newscast environment. More and more stations are integrating that newsroom writing and producing system with character generators for automatic supers and desktop audio and video editing.

RULES OF READABILITY

Although every station does things a little differently, and newsroom computer systems tend to dictate technical form, these are the general guidelines accepted in the industry. The whole point of these rules is that anyone should be able to pick up any piece of copy and read it well.

Newsroom computer system

The computer ensures that everything is typed. Most stations double-space, although many computer systems display single-spacing on the terminal but double-space printed scripts and prompter copy.

The slug

Each story must have a slug—a heading that separates that story from all others that day. Usually written in either the upper left or across the top of a page, it includes a one- or two-word name for the story, the writer’s last name or initials, the date and the time of the newscast the story is being written for. In most TV newsrooms (and large radio operations), newscast producers or assignment editors determine the slug for each story.

 

The Printed Word

Use paragraphs, indenting the first word of each. Radio copy normally goes across a full page and runs three and a half to four seconds a line, depending on type style and margins. TV copy goes on the right side of a split page and runs one to two seconds a line, depending on type size.

 

RADIO

The F-B-I today arrested one of its 10 most-wanted criminals.

 

TV
VIDEO	AUDIO
	The F-B-I today arrested one of its 10 most-wanted criminals.

 

Most newsroom computer systems time copy automatically, adjusting the projected time for different readers based on reading speeds entered into the system. Even so, view that time as approximate; there’s no substitute for having the person who’s going to read the copy on the air time it exactly.

Hyphenation

Don’t hyphenate or split words from one line to the next. Doing so increases the chances for unnatural hesitation or mispronunciation.

 

INCORRECT:	He went in search of the corporate headquarters.
CORRECT:	He went in search of the corporate headquarters.

 

Do hyphenate some words within a line for the sake of readability. Words like pre-disposition and anti-missile, although not grammatically correct, are much easier to read correctly with hyphens. Be especially careful with prefixes that create double vowels, such as pre-eminent. But don’t overdo it. Words like cooperate and coordinate we recognize easily and don’t need to hyphenate.

Abbreviation

Don’t abbreviate. Not everyone understands what a given abbreviation stands for, and some, such as St., can stand for different things (Street and Saint). Exceptions are Mr., Mrs., Ms. (pronounced “miz”) and Dr. We see them so often, day in, day out, that we have no trouble reading them. Incidentally, Dr. in broadcast usually refers to medical doctors, including physicians, dentists and chiropractors. Ph.D.s should not be called doctor without making clear their area of expertise.

Symbols

Don’t use symbols. Symbols such as %, & and $ are too easily missed, require translation and, in the case of $ come out of reading sequence.

 

INCORRECT:	… 40% …
CORRECT:	… 40 percent …

 

Some experienced anchors will use the dollar sign in copy ($4-thousand). That’s what they’re used to, and it works for them. But it’s safer to use the word instead (4-thousand-dollars).

Initials and Acronyms

Almost everything uses initials or an acronym these days, but don’t presume that the audience will remember and understand them without some help. In almost all cases, use the full, formal name in the first reference with initials or acronym thereafter. A few will work for first reference, like FBI and CIA. Don’t make up your own initials or acronyms for a group in an effort to shorten the name. For many organizations there are no shortcuts.

When initials are to be used, place dashes between the letters:

 

N-C-A-A

I-R-S

 

When the letters are to be read as an acronym, use all caps without dashes:

 

OPEC

MADD

 

OPEC is unusual because it’s one of the few acronyms that’s preferable to the full name. More people are familiar with OPEC than with its full, formal name (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).

Names

Generally, write names the way people are known. If the governor is known as Joe Smith rather than Joseph, use Joe. But don’t use names that only family and close friends use; if you’re unsure, stick with the formal name. Nicknames present more of a problem. Ultimately, the issue is less one of right and wrong than of consistency. Stations should establish a set form—and make sure everyone knows what it is—for any problem name.

Generally, don’t use middle initials or names. That’s because few people are popularly called by their middle name or initial. Two exceptions: when someone is popularly known by his or her middle initial or name:

Michael J. Fox

Mary J. Blige

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

and when someone with a fairly common name has been charged with a crime or is involved in something controversial. In that case the middle initial or name (and perhaps even an address) helps to isolate the individual from others with similar names:

Numbers

Minimize the use of numbers in broadcast copy. Numbers are hard to take in and understand when we only get to hear them, so always try to use a word description (e.g., almost all) instead of the number. When you must use them:

 

    • Write out all numbers one through nine. A single digit is too easily lost on a page, and 1, 2 and 5 can look a lot like I, Z and S.

    • Use numerals for numbers 10 through 999.

    • Use names for thousand, million and so on. You can’t expect an announcer to count the digits of a number to figure out what to say.

    • Newsrooms are split on numeral and word combinations. Some stay with the same form listed above—mixing numerals and words as appropriate (e.g., one-thousand, 22-thousand). Others use only numerals when they’re connected to a word by a hyphen (e.g., 5-thousand).

    • Write out a hundred or one hundred to prevent an announcer pausing or stumbling over the decision of which way to pronounce it.

    • Ordinals may be written as numerals or words (2nd or second).

    • Write out fractions in words (one-half, two-thirds).

    • Numbers below 1.0 such as .4 (in economic reports, for instance) should be written as four-tenths of a [or one] percent. Above 1.0, the use of point is fine (e.g., one-point-two percent), but round off when possible.

    • Write numbers coming next to each other in contrasting style (e.g., the score was 162 to 140, fourteen points shy of the record).

    • Write years as numerals (e.g., 1999 or 19–99, 2012 or 20–12).

 

For TV, always think about ways to visualize numbers through graphics, but don’t use TV graphics as a crutch for countless and usually meaningless numbers. The audience is not interested in wading through a sea of charts and graphs. Graphics involve a better way of demonstrating numbers that are still best rounded off and held to a minimum.

Look at all the numbers in this copy—which went on the air on a large market TV station:

 

PROBLEM:

So far this year, calls to the I-R-S telephone assistors are producing wrong answers 30-point-8 percent of the time. That’s worse than last year, when the error rate was 28 percent. The I-R-S says it’s trying, but of its five-thousand assistors, 15-hundred are new to the job, and tax questions can be tough to answer.

 

And broadcast copy can be tough to follow, especially a short story with four complex numbers, most of them not essential to the story.

 

BETTER:

So far this year, calls to the I-R-S are producing wrong answers more than 30-percent of the time. That’s slightly worse than last year. The I-R-S says it’s trying, but that nearly a third of its telephone assistors are new this year.

 

Note that part of the solution above involves the substitution of words that express relationships (a third) instead of actual numbers.

Ages

Generally, we report ages only when they’re an important or interesting part of the story. Newspapers and the web can give ages quickly and easily (e.g., Mary Smith, 41, was injured …). In broadcast, we have to tell the audience that Mary Smith is 41 years old. Since it’s so much more cumbersome in broadcast, think about whether the age really adds something to the story.

 

UNNECESSARY:	The accident injured 41-year-old Mary Smith.
NECESSARY AND
INTERESTING:	The driver of the car was nine years old.

 

An exception: If the story includes information about someone’s death (e.g., in a traffic accident), then we usually do include the age. That’s because the story serves as something of an obituary, and we always give the age in an obituary.

Emphasis

Broadcast copy is to be read aloud with meaning transmitted through both words and inflection. Indicate emphasis through underlining or capitalization or whatever a given newsroom computer system provides:

The mayor says he will not run for re-election.

The mayor says he will NOT run for re-election.

Indicate pauses with dashes (- -) and ellipses (…), with spaces before and after the dashes or ellipses. But don’t use either where a period should go. And double-spacing after all periods makes for cleaner-looking and easier-to-read copy.

 

CORRECT:	The mayor shouted - - then grabbed his chest.
CORRECT:	The mayor shouted … then grabbed his chest.

Pronouncers

Every word, especially a name, that might be mispronounced, should have a pronunciation guide immediately after it in parentheses.

Watch out for easily mispronounced names such as Lima (LEE ma), Peru and Lima (LI ma), Ohio. Indicate emphasis by capitalizing the emphasized syllable (as above) or, if you’re writing in all caps, by putting an apostrophe after the emphasized syllable:

Note: A pronouncer is not a substitute for the correct spelling. Names and places on scripts frequently wind up being supered (the words superimposed on the lower third of the TV screen) and used as keywords for computer searches somewhere down the line. All too often, phonetic spellings have been supered on the air because the writer never used the correct spelling or didn’t make clear which spelling was correct and which was phonetic. Be careful.

Wherever possible, avoid words with the same spelling but different pronunciations and meanings. Suspect, read, wind and the like can all be dangerous to an announcer who hasn’t been able to pre-read copy.

Spelling

Spell correctly. Any word that’s misspelled is likely to be mispronounced on the air. And remember that between computers and closed captioning (for the hearing impaired), some of the audience gets to see all of our spelling.

SUMMARY

Broadcast writing is different than traditional print or web because there’s an announcer reading it out loud, and the audience only gets one chance to hear the material. Although newsroom computer systems frequently determine style, there are generally accepted universals in writing broadcast copy. Use paragraphs, be careful with hyphenation, generally don’t use abbreviations, symbols, middle initials or ages. Use numbers sparingly and learn how to write them properly. Indicate emphasis to determine how copy is read and use pronouncers for unfamiliar names. Spelling counts.

KEY WORDS & PHRASES

 

newsroom computer systems

slug

paragraphs

hyphenation

abbreviation

symbols

initials and acronyms names

middle initials

numbers

ages

emphasis

pronouncers

spelling

 

EXERCISES

 

A. Write each of the following words or phrases correctly based on standard broadcast writing:

NCAA	2-thousand	422	Dr. Jones
17th	10,000	alot	point-7
8-percent	persons	says	fortitude
male	will not	deceased	tuna
2	one hundred	34	19–95
one-half	point-five	$55	FCC
Houston St.	Mrs. Smith	ACLU	998
halibut	John A. Church	1600	3RD
can’t	seperate	female	goldfish
sattelite	2-hundred	english	1/3
IU	N-C-double-A	kids	U.S.

 

B. The following sentences have errors and/or words, phrases or means of expression not acceptable for broadcast writing. Make them acceptable.

 

  1. Their are alot of rules for writing broadcast copy that you must understand.

  2. Fore instance they’re about 8 rules for writing numbers including things like how to deal with numbers and phrases like 6.4% and 3/4 and 200,000.

  3. Many of these rules are about readibility—so that the announcer won’t have to struggle thru your copy in order to figure out what you meant when you talk about a $2.46 pay rise per hour for workers in Nassau Co., NY or a new record low temperature of -27 in Albany.

  4. Goverments, goverment agencies, and political organisations like O-P-E-C and the IRS may work to muddy our language and the meaning of words, but your job is to simplify and clarify with in the rules of writing for broadcast writing.

  5. It really doesn’t matter whether your reporting the news from Lima, Peru or Lima, OH—you’ve got to seperate the facts and make things clear.

 

C. Rewrite the following story using a proper slug and correct any errors you find: