Learning how to write a news story for broadcast

Broadcast News Writing

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National News Stations

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News is the reporter's view of reality gathered quickly under difficult circumstances.

Writing news stories for radio or television is very different from writing an essay for class or writing for newspapers.

Only one person reads your class essay and people read the newspaper by themselves.

In radio and television, people cannot go back and re-read what you just said, so you need to be clear, concise, and descriptive.

You are writing for the ear - not the eye - so make it simple for people to hear and understand.

This Web site will hopefully give you more information about what you need to know to write a news story for radio. Although many of the same ideas also apply to television, this site concentrates on radio news writing. Once you learn how to write for radio you can learn how to write for television. But baby steps right now.

Contact me by Email at: aselepak@ufl.edu