10 Steps to Writing a Story – Broadcast Journalism

1. Find a topic.
-Consider the audience

2. Find an angle.
-Do something that no one else has 
-Be creative and clever

3. Collect information.
-Know about the topic 
-Study the information that is unknown 

4. Conduct the interviewees.
-Interview three people for most stories 
-Minimum of three questions 
-Have open ended questions


5. Shoot your reporter stand up.
-Only show reporter once
-Should show up in the middle of the story 

6. Organize your sound bites.
-Sound Bites; A piece of audio that can stand on its own. 
-Write a transition of the story 
-Stand up should be a transition

7. Write transitions in your story.
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8. Write the middle first and the conclusion last in your story.
- Very good at the beginning and end of the story
-Attention getter is needed

9. Write the anchor in's and out's (if necessary).
-Anchor will introduce you, not story. 
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10. Collect B-roll to add to your story (throughout steps 4-9)
-Footage 
-A-roll comes before the B-roll
-Ten times amount of footage and have many different shots
-Have A-roll match the B-roll

*Steps 4-8 in your story are called the 

Notetaking on Camera Techniques

INTERVIEWING:
• What seven items should you bring with you when you are shooting an interview? 
(Clocks Tick Tock Making Heads Pound Loudly)
Camera; VHS, Mini DV 
Tripod; Helps to keep camera steady
Tape; VHS tape, Mini DV tape, film, hard drive/ DVD
Microphone; In order to get the verbal discussion recorded
Headphones; Make sure the audio is heard
Power source; To charge the equipment 
Light source; To make sure there is light

• Shooting into a light source = causes silhouette 

Button to adjust = Back light button


• Where do you want your light source? 
Behind the camera 


• On what object should you focus the camera? 
The nose


• No tripod=


• Date and Time= Never have it permanent on video


• SP/EP- Standard play on tape. Electric play on tape

• Camera shoots in SP or highest quality possible.

• Pre-Roll-2-3 seconds before you start your interview


• Post-Roll-2-3 seconds after shooting


CAMERA SHOTS:

***BACKGROUND: Dynamic- has some depth, not plain. Interviewee is at least 6-8 feet from wall. Interviewee is the shot, not a poster.

• 1 Shot= Middle chest to top of the head

• 1 Shot with graphic= Move subject with graphic on the side. 

• 2 Shot= Have at least two people talking. 

• CU- Close up

• MS- Medium Shot 

• LS- Long Shot

• ECU- Extreme close up 

• Rule of thirds- Have the frame divide up into three sections and have eyes focus as one line of the thirds.


CAMERA MOVEMENTS:
• Tilt- Moving the camera up and down.


• Pan- Left and right


• Zoom- Moving in and out 


• Dolly- Wheels that camera moves on. 

LIGHTS
• Key- Most important, splashes light on object, on the side, comes straight on to the object


• Fill- Fills in shadows that are coming off from the key light


• Back- Creates depth for people that are being interviewed.


MICROPHONES:
• Unidirectional- Focuses on sound coming from one location.

• Omnidirectional- Focuses on different sound that is around the interviewee 

• Cardiod- Makes a heart recording sound around the interviewee 

• Lav/Lapel Microphone- Attaches to a shirt to pick up unidirectional or cardiod sound.

• Boom Microphone- Sound focused on an area of noise.

Define “Broadcast Journalism” in 1-3 sentences. 
What is Broadcast Journalism? Journalism is the covering and retelling of events that are factual that need to be presented to the public audience. Broadcasting is finding the way for these facts to be presented to the public audience through the radio, t.v., and internet. 



List and describe the six criteria of newsworthiness. 

TITLE DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
1. The unusual stories, those that do not occur everyday. 

2. Prominence of the celebrities. 

3. The current timing of news stories. 

4. Significance of a story.

5. Proximity of the story. 

6. Human interest stories. 




What are the differences between print journalism and broadcast journalism?
1. Print has deadlines while broadcast can be on the dot.

2. Print has the choice of what you read, while broadcast forces the stories on you. 

3. Print journalism has the advantage of unlimited detail on the stories. 


How is the Internet impacting broadcast journalism?
Consumerism. It attracts the younger crowd and earns what it gets.