How to Master Broadcast Media

Reporting the news is ingrained into the fabric of America. It seems as the post-9/11 world has brought a blitz of broadcast media outlets. 

This article will discuss how core fundamental platforms of broadcast media—TV news and radio news—will likely stay around forever and how you can learn to master them.

There are countless students enrolled in journalism or mass media classes in college throughout the world. They all have dreams of winning awards, promotions, money, and recognition from their peers. I genuinely hope they achieve it all. Lots of work must be done first, however. A great broadcast journalist doesn’t just spontaneously appear. They have practice. Usually years of practice. I hope my article will help you.

If you are looking to work in broadcast media, you will need to know how radio and TV reporters operate. And each medium needs good writers. If you don’t have someone (that you trust) writing your scripts or providing detailed outlines for you, then you will be forced to write the content yourself. That should be number one on your list before you dive into broadcast media—or any platform of journalism. Good writing is mandatory.  

What is Broadcast Reporting?

To put it simply, broadcast media is news transmitted by video and audio.

The video and audio are just the physical ways how it gets from newsrooms to viewers or listeners. There is more, far more that goes into broadcast media for it to have been successful. 

• Urgency 

  • As with printed journalism, of course, there is always a requirement for the news reported to have an immediate impact on its audience. However, video and audio do it to a far better extreme than just printed, obviously.
  • With 21st-century technology, audience members have the ability to experience breaking news as it happens. They can see it unfold from smartphones or news camera crews. They can hear it from live streaming podcasts. 
  • In that regard, printed media is dead. Printed media just doesn’t have the capability to grab the news that quick and have it relayed to the audience. It may come out the next day, but it will be too late. The story would have already broke and its audience would already have known about it.

• Authenticity is Key

  • This is purely related to broadcast media’s ability to visualize the news.
  • Technology has made it so viewers can watch and hear the news as it happens.
    • For example, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Millions of viewers watched that tragedy. Even though they were not there, they experienced it as if they were. They could see the horrible visuals of the burning buildings and they could hear the crumble of the towers as they fell. Only in broadcast media can such a vivid experience transpire to its audience. 

• Heartfelt Messages

  • The actual journalist or news anchor plays a significant part in realism, as well. Whereas printed media is just you reading what someone else has written, news broadcasted live by a person makes the audience pay more attention. It is more relatable because a person is narrating the news.
  • You can see and hear them. It is more personal, more emotional to you. And therefore, you are more likely to stay and watch more news because you have become invested in the story. 

• Broadcast as a Negative

  • I didn’t want to write this, but it deserves to be here. Sometimes (certain people would argue most times) broadcast media amps up the reported news.
  • They do this for ratings, obviously. Media outlets may have a bias to them, only reporting on a subjective element of which they have decided, rather than staying objective. They play to their target audience.
  • However, this “sensationalism” may only go so far once their own audience realizes the news they have been reporting hasn’t been factual or true. As a result, they risk losing their target audience. 
  • This feeling of deception is amplified because of broadcast media’s emphasis on video and audio. The consequences of dishonesty through video and audio are taken more personal than any betrayal performed by print journalism

How to Master Television Broadcasting 

TV broadcasting is a different animal when it comes to reporting news. Whereas radio is simply the voice of a reporter or a conversation with numerous people, you never actually see the reporters. Radio is only an audible effect.

Television, however, is both visual and audio. Therefore, it has the ability to combine both mediums at the same time, which makes it a more powerful influence of news-gathering.

TV broadcasting relies on an actual live camera feeds and the images provided from that camera. It may seem easy enough since, as viewers, we have watched countless reporters on TV do their jobs. However, when you are on the other side and must report the news via live camera, it is difficult as all Hell. If you have tried to make a YouTube video, then you know the awkwardness of speaking to a camera. The anxiety of knowing that others are watching you (and judging you) floods through your mind as you speak. It is tough.

Field journalists have been trained meticulously throughout their careers, so they don’t have the same jitters as a novice, like you. But, they were once beginners, as well. Everyone has to start somewhere. But the good reporters know how to switch on the mechanism that prompts them to morph into professional TV reporters when the moment calls. In other words, they are able to improvise when needed and they can handle pressures, such as rowdy interviewees and even rowdier elements of nature (tornados and tropical storms).

The video images the TV reporter is using is another critical part. I never have witnessed a TV reporter providing the news standing in from of a sold brick wall or one-color pallet background. Boring!

Well, they know that, too. And if they want to keep a great reputation as a serious journalist and if the TV channel does too, then they need to make damn sure the images around them are of the highest quality visually and are of the most importance.  

Solid Suggestions

• Choose your Cameraman Wisely

  • In some instances, the reporter is able to choose who he or she gets to film them while on assignment. Other times, the powers that be choose for you. Either way, you need to make sure you and the cameraman have a great rapport and that the cameraman has experience.
  • They need to improvise just as much as the reporter does. A good cameraman offers suggestions and knows what will work best for the TV reporter. It is a mutual camaraderie that should make for top-notch reporting. 

• Stay Classy

  • When you are out there on assignment, nobody is there to help you dress for the occasion. You are to do that yourself. You should know what type of assignment you are covering and dress accordingly. 
  • If you are covering a basketball game, perhaps a casual attire is allowed. If you are covering politics, you should dress more conservative. 
  • You don’t want to overdress because you may sabotage your assignment. Did your wardrobe overshadow the basketball players? Did you dress too casual for the Republican convention? 
  • Use your common sense. Don’t wear goofy clothes or loud colors. You wouldn’t dress up like a pirate for a job interview, right? 
  • When in doubt, it is always better to overdress than underdress for a field assignment—if you find yourself in that situation. 

• Shape Feelings

  • As a reporter on assignment, you will have the power of words and visuals at your disposal —use them to their fullest. All the time. 
  • If you are lucky enough to cover a factory explosion or crime scene, you have a prime moment to give your viewers a show. 
  • Let the camera pan over the flames of the factory. You can mention if there were any survivors from the blaze. 
  • If there are witnesses to the crime scene, you can follow them as they shout or grab a live interview with them!  

• The Live Interview

  So, let’s say you were able to grab a witness to a crime scene. He agrees to talk to you. Are you prepared? You better be because you are LIVE ON THE AIR!

  • Take the witness away from the commotion. The last thing you want is distractions. 
  • Don’t beat around the bush. Ask the witness flat out what they saw, what they heard. Ask them to reenact it. 
  • If the witness has a difficult time answering a question, you must be able to reword the question so he understands it better. Read up on your synonyms.
  • Keep quiet and don’t interrupt him. There is nothing worse than a reporter who doesn’t let the witness speak. 

How to Master Radio Broadcasting

In the 21st century of social media and video technology, radio broadcasts still play an important part in the news. 

However, attention spans these days tend to drift away very quickly than ever before. Myself, I am not an audio learner, meaning when someone tells me the information I have a more difficult time retaining that info than if I had watched it. Most people are the same. Therefore, radio news reporters must not screw around. The news they provide must pack a punch with every sentence to keep the attention of the listener. 

How to Maintain their Attention

• Practice your Voice

  • Have you ever heard your voice on a voicemail and wonder who that was because it sure as Hell wasn’t you? That is due to you not knowing how you sound outside of your own head. It is natural. Usually, we think our voices have more bass to them when they don’t. That is because our voices resonate through our heads and eardrums as we speak. 
  • Record yourself on video and audio. Over and over again. With a script and without a script. Get used to seeing yourself and hearing yourself. The more you do it, the better you will be at it. You have a voice, use it. If you are shy, people will treat you as shy. And maybe not give you the respect and credibility you know you deserve. 
  • I have a small, cheap wired lapel microphone I use. I bought it from Amazon. It works wonders. And it plugs into any tech. The sound is fine and does the job. Buy one and practice. Don’t pay any more than $20.

• Play with Tone

  • Nobody wants a monotone robot reporting their news. However, most time, newbies read the news very formulaic and without zest. This is natural. You might be scared to voice yourself or to put personality in the speech. 
  • Try it differently. If you have a script, stress certain words. This will give your script a totally different vibe. It may even alter the vision of the story. 
  • When reading the climax of a story, be sure to speed up. If will force the listener to engage more at those parts. But do not read quickly all the time.  

• Use Background Sounds

  • This is so critical to the authenticity of your radio broadcast. You don’t want to hear just your voice. You want your listeners to experience the world around them. Hear the chirping of the birds, the traffic zooming by, the wind of the blizzard. 

• Stress Words

  • As a radio broadcaster, the words you choose are vital. While you shouldn’t litter your story with them, properly stressed words give your story a vivid refinement. 
  • Instead of saying, “The driver lost control and caused an accident on the highway,” you could add some pizzaz to it by stressing certain keywords, “A massive and deadly accident formed late last night along interstate 95 in Miami caused by a reckless driver who fell asleep at the wheel from an overdose of cherry-flavored cough syrup.”

How to Master Writing for Audio/Video Media

You may think that once you have the audio and video parts completed, you are finished. 

Wrong!

What about the writing element? Reporters and news anchors don’t simply sputter random words. They have a script (or maybe a very detailed outline) that sets forth the information they will deliver. Sometimes they write the script themselves and sometimes they don’t. Many times newsrooms hire individuals with writing experience to produce scripts for these reporters and anchors.

So, what are some easy tricks you can use to write interesting scripts for broadcast media?

• Don’t use the Past Tense

  • Keep everything that is said FRESH. Try to maintain the present tense as frequently as possible. Broadcast media is made and performed with the perspective of “right now”—that means the writing must reflect the immediacy of the reporting. 

• Keep it Conversational

  • Conversing too formal is never a good thing, in my opinion. We don’t want to have conversations with robots. Such professional formalities in conversation should merge with friendly tones to make an equal combination for good news reporting.
  • Keep it professional, obviously, but include tones and keywords that allow the viewer or listener to know you are just a regular person. Think of it as holding a conversation with your elderly neighbor. There is a level of respect you maintain with the neighbor, but you can engage with him or her on an easier level because the restrictions of professionalism are not warranted as much. 
  • The same goes for scriptwriting in broadcast media. Know your audience. If your audience if of a certain generation, then utilize tones (and jargon sometimes) that would help them relate to your reporting. 

• Get to the Point

  • A writer might feel he or she should begin a script with witty humor or a catchphrase. Don’t.
  • The script should have a conversational tone throughout, but that doesn’t give it the freedom to linger on irrelevant nonsense. (You see that nonsense in many online reporting videos.)
  • Remember: it is not you, the writer, who is reading the script to the millions of people watching. You must take into consideration the situation of the news and the audience watching.

If you are looking for more info on news reporting, you can check out my links on phone interviews, online defamation, and proofreading copy. 

*If you need assistance with your novel-writing, please see my SERVICES page and leave me a message to discuss how we can improve your manuscript. 

If you haven’t yet purchased my eBook about writing suspense in your fiction, you can buy it here.

~M