(a). Broadcast news copy must be clean, readable and typed. Whether you use conventional typewriters or computer systems, you must be able to demonstrate reasonable typing speed and skills.

Typed characters are displayed in three basic sizes for the newscaster to see the words clearly and for copyediting. Single – spacing is too confining, Triple – spacing is unnecessary for most broadcast copy applications. Therefore the copy should be written with the appropriate character and double spacing.

(b). Sample of Radio Copy

West Broadway

12- 30

1 – 11 – 88

Flanagan

Members of Citizens for the Preservation of West Broadway plan to gear up their petition drive again this weekend. The group began circulating petitions last weekend.

The petitions request the city council to repeal all previous ordinances and resolutions on the widening of the west Broadway. Many residents of the West Broadway area complain that the proposed widening project will damage its residential nature.

Petition – drive coordinator Vera Hanson says the group is pleased with the show of support from residents all over Springfield… But it wouldn’t know exactly how many signatures it has until next week.

Key 

“West Broadway” is the slug for the story

“12 – 30” is the time of the newscast

“1 – 11 – 88” is the date of the broadcast

“Flanagan” is the name of the reporter

Names and Titles

In broadcast style, unlike that followed by newspapers, well-known names, even on first reference, are not given in full. You may say

Senator Proxmire of Wisconsin or Governor Galen of New Hampshire.

Middle initials should not be used unless they are a natural part of someone’s name (Joe E. Brown) or unless they are necessary to distinguish two people with the same first and last names.

Title should always precede names so that listeners are better prepared to hear the name. When you use titles, the first name and middle initial may be omitted. For example, broadcasters would say Vice – President Bush and Secretary of State Schultz. Newspapers write out names like Thomas “Trip” O’Neill. In broadcast, use either the first name or thenickname, but not both.

Pronunciation

The writer’s job is to help the person who reads the news pronounce the names of people and places correctly. To do this, you should write out difficult names phonetically in parentheses. For example, many stations have handbooks of their own.

Abbreviations

Generally, you should not use abbreviations in broadcast copy. It is easier to read a word written out than to read its abbreviation. Do not abbreviate the names of states, countries, months, days of the week or military titles. There are exceptions, and when you use them, use hyphens instead of periods because the final period in the abbreviation may be misread as the end of the sentences.

You may abbreviate US when used as an adjective, and the U-S-S-R; Dr., Mr., Mrs. and Ms; a:m and p:m. If initials are well known: UN, FB- I- you may use them. Hyphens are not used for acronyms such as NATO and ECOMOG which are pronounced as one word.

Symbols and Numbers

Dot no use symbols in broadcast copy because a broadcaster can read a word more easily than he or she can remember a symbol. Such symbols as the dollar sign ($) and the percent sign (%) are never used. Don’t even use the abbreviation for number (no).

‘Number can be a problem for both the announcer and the listener. As in newspaper style, write out number one through nine. But write out eleven, too, because 11 might not be easily recognized as a number.

Use figures for 10, and from 12 to 999. The eyes can easily take in a three – digit number, but write out the words thousand, million and billion. Hence, 3,800,000 become three million, 800 thousand. Write out fraction (two – and – a – half million dollars) and decimal points (three – point-two-percent).

Quotation and Attributions

Most broadcast news writers rarely use quotation marks. Because it is different and awkward to indicate to the listeners which words are being quoted, use indirect quotes or a Para-phase instead.

Punctuation

In broadcast copy, less punctuation is good. The one exception is the comma. Commas help the reader pause at appropriate places. Use commas, for example, after introductory phrases referring to time and place, as in the following.

In Paris, three Americans on holiday met their death today when their car overturned and caught fire.

Correcting Copy

Do not use the copy – editing marks you learned for editing newspaper copy. If a word has an error in it, cross out the word and write the corrected word above it.