Writing for Television
What is TV news?
TV News
Writing for TV (TV NEWS)
generally means writing scripts
for visual news bulletins, features
and documentaries
more
•TV news programmes generally include
news bulletins, news features,
documentaries based on news,
interviews, panel discussions and so on.
Chronology of TV News Content Creation
1. Search of the subject
2. Shooting and taking interviews or
bytes
3. Selection of appropriate visuals
(shots) and bytes
Cont
4. Collecting background and other
related information if needed
5. Script writing for the content
6. Editing it with visuals, bytes &
graphics.
Chronology-End
• However the order ,may change in some
cases;
• E.g in hardcore news segments, you get the
raw information and may be asked to
telecast the news as early as possible and
therefore, you cannot plan your story
according to the standard chronology.
Stages of Television News
• There are various stages of a TV news.
[Link] News or Flash,
[Link] Anchor Read,
[Link]-Live,
[Link]-Visuals,
[Link]-Byte,
[Link]- Package.
Breaking News or Flash
This is when you decide to present a news value
information as soon as possible.
At this stage, the news will be of one or two lines.
The purpose of the breaking news is to make your
viewers aware of the latest happenings immediately.
It will also scoop other reporters.
More information of the happening, can come later
when you get it.
Dry Anchor Read
Dry anchor read means that the anchor or
news presenter reads the news only
without any visuals. This normally happens
in the case of breaking news situation. It
can also be presented with graphics plates
where the information is written on the
screen.
Anchor-Live
This occurs when the news is developing.
The news bulletin producer may decide to
take a live or telephonic interview of the
reporter after anchor read.
If visuals are available, they can be used
along with ‘live’ or ‘phone link’ of the
reporter.
Anchor-Visuals
Anchor-Visuals comes after Anchor Live.
When the news related visuals come into the
newsroom, the anchor reads the news and
the appropriate visuals are played over that.
Here the purpose is to present the news in a
concise manner.
Anchor-Byte
Anchor-Byte involves some bytes relevant
to the news item. It is often attached with
the anchor read. The bytes may be of the
persons involved in the event or reaction
of prominent personalities on that event.
Eg. See fire story
Anchor Package
• Anchor-Package is the culmination of all the
above stages. Here, there are voice overs,
appropriate visuals and relevant bytes. The
package is supposed to present a full picture of
the event. The basic underlying principles
remain the same. All news stories should have
answers of the 5Ws & H, and if possible written
in inverted pyramid style.
End
Next;
Basic Principles of Writing for TV
Basic Principles of Writing for
TV
Writing depends on two major things:
First, type of medium (television)
Second, nature of the content. (news)
Television is an audio-visual medium which
requires a certain type of writing suitable
to the nature of this medium.
Basic Principles of Writing for TV
TV news is different from literary writing.
In the case of literature, the writer has the liberty to
use words to beautify the subject and concept, but in
writing for Television news you should make your
selection of words as simple as possible.
Since the target audience of TV news is the general
people so a news writer, especially TV news writer,
must not use the complex and difficult words.
cont
The process of understanding should match the
speed of content flow, so simple language is a must.
A simple principle is that no one should be in the
need of a dictionary while consuming the TV news
because the primary objective of news writing is to
communicate the desired information in simple
words so that it can be understood easily
Basic principles, end
Always remember the golden rule of news writing i.e.
K.I.S.S. -Keep It Short and Simple.
TV news piece should answer the 5W & 1H (Who?
What? When? Where? Why? and How?) in order of
importance.
News Feature
Writing for tv news feature is different from
hard news scripts.
The feature writer has the liberty to show
his/her writing skills and creativity.
BUT tv news feature is also built around a
news point and it contains those elements
which can attract the viewers. (See news
values or elements)
Feature
Features do not follow any set pattern.
Each feature writer can develop his/her own
style.
Style may differ from subject to subject and
person to person
Features
Factors to consider in writing features
A. Proper research about the story
[Link] to people with expertise on the subject,
[Link] out if previous features on the subject exist
B. Explore story angle
.1. Write according to story mood by sticking to the
theme
2. You can add colour, drama and punch in the story but
these should fit in your theme.
Documentary
A documentary is a result of very hard work
and it demands a lot of time, energy and
resource to mobilise.
A good documentary is written skillfully,
catches people’s attention and touches their
feelings and communicates efficiently.
Documentary
-Documentaries are real, with real people and
dealing with real issues that are powerful.
-Writing reflect deep, moving messages and
capture audience emotionally.
-A documentary is different from a news report
but just like the news, documentary should be
able to connect with the viewers.
Steps in writing documentary
1. Have a clear and precise idea of your
subject. You must have the
understanding of how the story will be
delivered.
2. Complete your research
3. Collect the required data
Steps in writing documentary-end
4. Shoot the interviews
5. Edit the content to suit your
theme(take out unwanted material)
6. Broadcast
End