Course Description: Broadcast journalism is an introductory course designed to acquaint students with basic broadcast writing style and develop on-camera techniques. In addition, students will explore the history of radio and television and examine the responsibilities and ethics of broadcast journalists.

Students will learn the basics of television production. The class begins with the history of broadcast journalism and moves to the exploration of story types. Students will be trained in digital video camera techniques, including the basics of shooting and electronically editing video stories. This class collaborates with the print journalism (newspaper & yearbook) classes to combine /converge print media with broadcast media, for publication on the Internet.

Students will learn to write in broadcast style and will produce video announcements which will be broadcast (via the student-operated online newspaper) to the student body on a consistent basis. The prospective student acknowledges and agrees to the necessity for occasional after-hours (early mornings, evenings, weekends, etc.) work to cover stories and meet deadlines. The commitment to meeting deadlines means the student must be able to exercise good time-management, and from time-to-time give priority to their broadcast responsibilities over other non-essential outside activities.

Methods of Instruction

• Lecture/discussion • Group/individual activities • Writing assignments • Current Events (The information can also be found watching local TV news. We will discuss the news daily, but you should become accustomed to the media and what is happening in the world around you.)

Course Goals

• Develop skills necessary to create a good video story. • Provide students with a working knowledge of publication workflow. • Provide an overview of content and an introduction to basic broadcast concepts. • Students improve photography, filming and writing skills.

We will produce a 4-5 minute newscast (PirateTV) segment once a week. This is done with the understanding that we will follow professional broadcast rules, dress, and professionalism. This newscast will be viewed by students, faculty and the community at least once a week.

Countdown Assignment

How to write a broadcast news package

PLAY-BY-PLAY Practice

SEMESTER FINAL 2021

CREATE A NEWS PACKAGE

Script overview

http://guidetopublicwriting.weebly.com/news-package-scripts.html

How To Write A News Package

By: Jonathan Cooper

The Unseen Entity of Television News

A news package is an innovative way to convey news to a broad audience. It is a visual form of news that has a story, characters, entertainment value, and facts. Reporters spend copious amounts of their time researching stories, interviewing characters, and eventually writing the scripts for these packages. The general population rarely sees news package scripts because the aspect you see on the evening news are video forms. This guide is intended to teach you how to write a news package script. Whether you are an inexperienced reporter or somebody interested in public genres, understanding news packages can give us a more informed perspective of the news we watch daily.

The Script

Writing a script should be the final step in creating an entire news package. Long before you sit down to write out the script, you should be thinking of sound bytes and ways to structure your story. News packages need to have a beginning, middle, and an end, as well as characters. Be thinking of the direction you want it go as you shoot video and conduct interviews. Once you have enough audio and video for your story, you are ready to begin:

1. Separate the script into two columns. On the left side, write video. On the right side, audio. Because you are writing for a visual medium, it is vital to separate out what the audience will see and what they will hear.

2. Choose sound bytes that are emotional, provide an interesting opinion, or help your story along. As you choose these sound bytes, mark the time on the tape next to the sound byte you write out so the editor can find it easily.

3. Write voice-overs that you, the reporter, will say to push the story along. The voice-overs should not stick out, but rather sound natural with the story.

4. Weave sound bytes and voice-overs together to create a cohesive audio section to your story.

5. Find places to put natural sound, which is strongly connected with video.

6. Write down video you have that complement the audio. You will have a large selection from shooting B-Roll in the field. Mark times next to the video so the editor can find it easily.

7. Read over your script and make sure it sounds natural, follows the guidelines of a story, and is easy to read so the editor will have an easier time editing it later.

8. Once the script is completed you are ready to go into the sound booth and record your voice-overs.

Some Tips and Warnings

• Be creative in the story you tell. You want to entertain as well as inform.

• Be sensitive in how you convey your story in sad subject matters.

• Don’t log every sound byte if you know you are not going to use it. Only take sounds bytes that are relevant to the direction of your story.

• Feel free to modify the format of your script if you feel it makes it easier to understand.

• If you work for a news station, you will be working on a strict deadline so you must be able to write scripts quickly and efficiently.

• Think of a title that is unique and best expresses your story.

• Ask for assistance from your photographer for good ideas for video.

SOME COOL VIDEO EFFECTS

Controversial Content