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| Kelly Ogbemudia Udebhulu |
By Kelly Ogbemudia Udebhulu
INTRODUCTION:
Osemudiamen and
Ehinomen hauled the remote control of the television to have a view of the
popular radio and television program series because they have their respective
favorite on the news caster. I do ask to know the reasons for their hurry
spirits to arrive home from school and take the remote control. Only to
discover that the chronological and fluent presentation of the program by the
presenter arrested the favorite spirits of my children and mimic the intonation
of the presenter at times during their leisure time. To achieve this required skillful writing and
presentation which will be discussed below?
Broadcasting is one
form of journalism that delivered news to the public in a variety of ways,
including radio, television and internet. Broadcast journalists are our source
of information concerning events, crimes, wars, social unrest and day to day
government policies in our world. Through the radio or television, you can be
placed in a thick of changing world events including politics, finance and
entertainment.
This is an interesting
part of journalism if the products and services associated with mass
communication skills and techniques. It is focused at those people who wished
to specialize on radio and television writing skills to professional
standards. It is geared to develop once
knowledge of storytelling, the demands of media of broadcasting and radio and
to elevate once creative potentials for the 21st century
script-writing market especially to meet the fast growing world of digital
technology.
Radio and television script
writing means writing for” ears and
eyes”. It is different from writing for newspapers or print media. In print media, one can explain by writing a
long essay but not so in broadcast script writing, sentences are short and
straight to the point.
Noble newscast
writers use words that sound nice. They also use words that evoke images, even when they know that visual rudiments will govern their story. There are numerous useful tip-offs for
broadcast script-writing:
i) It is vocalized:
One major principle is to write simple words
that are popularly familiar with because it is not writing a piece for written literature. Chosen words
WE should remember that
we are not writing a piece of written literature. So we should use spoken words
of everyday language. It must be natural.
EXAMPLE: Do not write:
The road is not motorable OTHERWISE WRITE
LIKE the road is blocked or closed.
Any writing to broadcast must be freed of abbreviations, words like: isn`t, won`t, `ll and
so on should be replaced as: is not, would not shall or will, et cetera.
ii) It is instant:
Radio and TV scripts
are written in immediate format. Radio and television information are
considered immediate news. Broadcast is a “now” medium whereas in print media,
stories and events of the past can be published.
Example: Do not write:
The Minister of Finance said today the Nation’s economy was flourishing.
INSTEAD WRITE LIKE:
The Minister of Finance
says the Nation’s economy is flourishing.
iii) It is Person to Person:
Writing for radio and
television must casual. It is thing of YOU AND ME medium. This implies that
when a script is written for radio and television to be transmitted, one
supposed to deliver the writing in person to person format. Though, within a limited
time, thousands of listeners and viewers would be listening and viewing but
they should feel that they are carried along in the news simultaneously. There
must be friendly tone and writing must contain words that their meanings are
familiar and understand by the audience.
iv) It is Perceived Once:
When we write for radio
and television, we should keep in mind that the words are heard and understood
once because it cannot be reversed back to be cleared or re-read unlike in
print media. In newspaper, one can go back a page to grasp the content unlike
broadcast media. Clarity must be adhered to strictly. Avoid superfluous
information and go direct to information free of confusion but with facts and
ideas.
v) It is sound/picture:
Do bear in mind that it
is broadcast through the sound & audio system as well to be delivered
through pictures in case of television. Note that your chosen words are your
bridge between you and the audience, therefore, always use soft words and
polite language.
vi) Use a Lead-in Sentence:
The use of lead-in sentence alerts viewers and listeners
about a new story or new. It is mainly
used broadcasting journalism than in print media.
For Example: There are more dead people in Syria today.
Note that this sentence does not say very much but it lets
the listener or viewer to be suspended on the next news that follows about
Syria. It stands as headline for the story.
Broadcast news: Twenty rebels including Eight Syrian army
died after a serious gun battle in Damascus today.
vii) Put Designation at the Beginning
of the Sentence:
Print media usually put designation at the end of the
sentence while in broadcast script writing, it comes first.
Example:
Print media: Two kidnappers were arrested, said the police.
Broadcast: The police say two kidnappers were arrested.
Ethics:
Our main effort should go for the ethics in broadcasting
journalism which is effective gathering of information for the electronic
media. Though we have modern cameras and
shooting mechanisms for video coverage, ethics must be strictly adhered to if
effective and qualitative radio and television writing will be attained. Even
if one is writing RDRs, without visual images to worry about, there are some
rules to keep in mind.
First, the format itself must be attended to carefully. IS
30 OR 40 SECONDS ENOUGH TO GIVE THE AUDIENCE EFFECTIVE AND CONVINCING
NEWS? For some news, 30 or 40 seconds is
not enough but where event or issue is more difficult, contemplate a longer
package that includes images and audio bites.
Furthermore, in struggling for a casual tone, are we belittling a story or teasing
the people in it? There is
a difference between a casual tone and unsuitable buoyancy, teasing or irony.
As I mentioned earlier, do the features of radio and
television writing in a way to give viewers or listeners a false impression of
information or the timing of action? The most visible instance is the use of
present tense in writing for radio and television broadcast. As in print media, are we careful to make the
words serve the facts? In making
our writing as compelling as possible, there is a constant temptation to outrun
what we know already.
Strategies:
Every aspects of reporting and dissemination of information,
story and facts to the public that will entertain, educate and inform audience
has strategies that is dynamic and tested. Among such tips:
i) Is that as a writer for print does in finding the impact
and elements, wrestling with words that will show so it is in writing for radio
and television broadcast.
ii) Another strategy is that the audience must be given
seconds to pay attention. Remember that audience cannot reverse a broadcast news or story.
iii) Subsequently, in writing for broadcasting, story personal
story for your audience that will please them and write as you speak, with
this, a better and efficient broadcast script will be actualized.
iv) Again, limitation oneself to one thought per sentence
will govern a writer to strive for an average sentence length of about 16 words
which will make the writing precise and simple to understand.
v) For radio broadcast, person must know that he or she is
writing for an “ear “while that of the television must realize that he or she
is writing for an “eye”.
vi) Present tense words must be put in story but reflecting
on what is happening now. Importantly, people should not be quoted
indiscriminately in RDRs.
vii) Reading it loud is important because an anchor will
read the written story aloud, and an audience has to understand it in the first
time. The audience can`t reverse and read it again.
viii) 30 seconds must not be exceeded in RDRs.
References:
1) A Complete Guide
to Writing, Formatting and Selling Your Script. By David Trottier. ( 5th Ed,
2010).
2 ) Syd Field A Step By Step Guide From Concepts To Finished Script (Nov. 29,
2005)
3) Wutzel, A. and Acker, SR. (1989) Television
Production, New York, McGraw Hill Book Company.p494-497
4) Adedire,
kayode, (2000), Inside Broadcast
Journalism, Osogbo, Sumob
Publishers.p.1-5
5) Head, S and Sterling, C. (1982), Broadcasting
in America; A Survey of Television, Radio, and New Technologies (4th Edition), Boston
Houghton Mifflin Company.
6) Uche, L. U. (1989), Mass Media, People and Politics. New
Delhi; Concept Publishing Co.61—74
7) Uyo, Adidi (1987),
Mass Communication Media Classification and Characteristics; New York, Civiletis
International.p1-3.and 24-25
8) The Birth of Broadcast Journalism: Turning Points in History By Edward
R. Mucrow and Bob Edwards. (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. USA, 2004)
9) Introduction
to Journalism: Essential techniques and background knowledge. By Richard
Rudin, Trevor Ibbotson (CRC Press, 2013)
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