Why Script Audio
Programming
Writing for radio and television is different from writing for print for several
reasons. First, you have less space and time to present news information.
Therefore, you must prioritize and summarize the information carefully.
Second, your listeners cannot reread sentences they did not understand
the first time; they have to understand the information in a broadcast story
as they hear it or see it. As a result, you have to keep your writing simple
and clear.
And third, you are writing for “the ear.” In print news stories, you are
writing for “the eye”; the story must read well to your eye. The television
or radio news story has the added complexity that it has to sound good;
when a listener hears the story it has to read well to “the ear.”
Also, for a radio news story, listeners cannot see video of what you
are saying, so you must paint word pictures with the words you use
in your radio news story so people can “see” images just through
your verbal descriptions. In today’s media landscape, many stories
are shared in video, audio, and text-based formats. It’s important to
consider the various ways audiences will be taking in the
information you are sharing.
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Writing a script will allow you to control the program content, structure,
and flow – eliminate dead air
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Prepare an outline
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Set the scene – anchor intro
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Make it sound conversational – write the way you speak. Concise and
contain one idea – limit sentences to 20 words. Your script has to sound
natural and relaxed. Read your script aloud or have someone do the
reading.
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try to keep it as simple as possible. A more formal approach and style
can result in an unnatural sounding and boring show.
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Use correct grammar. A broadcast news script with grammatical errors will
embarrass the person reading it aloud if the person stumbles over mistakes.
Put the important information first. Writing a broadcast news story is similar
to writing a news story for print in that you have to include the important
information first.
Write good leads. Begin the story with clear, precise information.
Use contractions. Use don’t instead of do not. But be careful of contractions
ending in -ve (e.g., would’ve, could’ve),
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Use the active voice and active verbs. It is better to say “He hit the ball”
than “The ball was hit by him.”
Use present-tense verbs, except when past-tense verbs are
necessary. Present tense expresses the sense of immediacy. Use past tense
when something happened long ago. For example, do not say, “There
were forty people taken to the hospital following a train derailment that
occurred early this morning.” Instead, say, “Forty people are in the
hospital as a result of an early morning train accident.”
Omit obscure names and places if they are not meaningful to the story.
Titles precede names; Do not write, “Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of Freetown, said
today….” Instead, write, “Freetown mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said today….”
Avoid writing direct quotations into a news script, if at all possible. Instead, let
people say things in their own words during soundbites.
The attribution should come before a quotation, not after it. Example: “Bill Brown
said he would run for re-election.”
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For radio news stories, write with visual imagery. Make your listeners “see”
what you are saying. Help them visualize the situation you are describing.
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Develop your vocabulary
• Read as much as possible
• Always look up a word you are unsure of
• Make a conscious effort to learn a new word every day
• Use a person’s complete name (first and last name) in the first
reference, then the person’s last name thereafter.
• Use phonetic spellings for unfamiliar words and words that are
difficult to pronounce. (E.g. Lord Worcestershire (Wooster-shire)
was admitted at Stuyvesant (Sty-veh-sant) Memorial Center on
the sixth of April. He is said to have taken a draught (draft) of
whiskey while spouting hyperbole (hy-per-bo-lee).)
HEADLINES
Your headline is your seller – it has to be skillfully and painstakingly
constructed to elicit maximum impact
ABCs – Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity
Before creating your headline, read the entire story; give the readers
an idea of:
1. What the story is about
2. What kind of story it is (i.e. breaking/hard news or feature)
e.g Shooting rampage at Mile 91 (hard/breaking story)
Actress keen to star in new movie (feature story)
A HEADLINE MUST:
1. Summarize the story in one line
2. Include a specific subject and an active verb
3. Eliminate unnecessary words (i.e., a, an, the)
4. Omit forms of the verb ‘to be’ (is, are, was, were)
5. Use present tense verbs, aka ‘historical present tense’
6. Use only widely known acronyms and abbreviations
7. Only use names when they're prominent and use only notable
nicknames
To lengthen or shorten a headline, you may need to eliminate or
substitute words, or change its focus entirely; ask these questions:
1. What words could the headline live without and still make sense?
2. What other words might convey the point equally well?
HEADLINE TYPES
1. Direct headline
A direct headline clearly states the purpose of an article. It usually involves facts in the article to summarize
the overall idea. Readers know exactly what they are going to read or see when you use a direct headline.
Example: "15 Astounding Facts about the Planet“
2. Indirect headline
An indirect headline takes a subtle approach by hinting at the main point of an article. Since it doesn't
directly state the key idea, it targets a reader's curiosity to discover what the article is about.
Example: "Shoe company floats on in 2021“
3. News headlines
News headlines make important announcements about a company or its products. Journalists often use
these types of headlines in news articles to efficiently share recent information with the public.
Example: “Opposition Leader Announces New Running Mate“
4. Question headline
A question headline poses a question to readers with the intention of providing the answer within the
article. These tend to be topics consumers may be interested in regarding a company's products or brand.
Example: “What Can We Expect Ahead of the 2023 Elections?“