Broadcast Journalism, 5th Edition

Broadcast Journalism, 5th Edition

by
Released October 2000
Publisher(s): Focal Press
ISBN: 9781136025778

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Book description

This new edition of Broadcast Journalism is a major revision to the premier textbook in its field and a standard primer for broadcasting courses. It is an up-to-date practical manual for would-be reporters eager to enter the hectic arenas of radio and TV news.


Broadcast Journalism offers a vivid insight into the world of electronic reporting, taking you behind the scenes at ITN and the BBC World Service. Join camera crews on a stakeout at the High Court, and capture the atmosphere in the studios of the world's largest news organisation.

All the essential skills are covered, with step-by-step instruction in reporting, recording and editing using the latest equipment.

Coverage for radio and TV includes:
- Newswriting
- Newsgathering
- Newsreading
- Interviewing
- Programme-making

The digital revolution is transforming the news, and this fifth edition explores the new opportunities emerging for journalists and online reporters using the Internet. Essential guidance is also given on how you can break into a career in journalism.

Table of contents

  1. Front Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Titles in the series
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Contents
  8. Foreword
  9. How to use this book
  10. List of illustrations
  11. Acknowledgements
  12. Part One Broadcast Journalism
    1. NEWS GATHERING
      1. 1 The best job in town
        1. Personal qualities
        2. Jobs in broadcasting
        3. Radio
        4. Television
        5. The multi-skilled broadcast journalist
        6. Freelancing
        7. Industry training
        8. Training courses
        9. Degree, or not degree …?
        10. Getting a foot in the door
        11. A level playing field?
      2. 2 What is news?
        1. Proximity
        2. Relevance
        3. Immediacy
        4. Interest
        5. Drama
        6. Entertainment
        7. Different types of news
        8. Checklist
        9. Fieldwork
      3. 3 News sources
        1. Reporters
        2. Contacts
        3. Newsroom diary
        4. Files
        5. Check calls
        6. Emergency services radio
        7. Politicians
        8. Pressure groups
        9. Staged events
        10. News releases
        11. Syndicated recordings
        12. Freelances
        13. Tip-offs
        14. Hoaxes
        15. Wire services and news agencies
        16. The network
        17. Other news media
        18. Shared material
        19. Fieldwork
      4. 4 Getting the story
        1. Newsroom conference
        2. Copytasting
        3. Balance of news
        4. Visuals and actuality
        5. The brief
        6. The angle
        7. Chasing the contact
        8. Staged news conferences
        9. Beating the clock
        10. Work to sequence
        11. Don't panic
        12. Fieldwork
    2. WRITING FOR BROADCAST
      1. 5 Conversational writing
        1. Telling the story
        2. Writing for a mass audience
        3. No second chance
        4. Confusing clauses
        5. Inverted sentences
        6. Plain English
        7. Familiar words
        8. Easy listening
        9. Accurate English
        10. Keep it concrete
        11. Make it interesting
        12. Contractions
        13. Rhythm
        14. Fieldwork
      2. 6 Newswriting
        1. The news angle
        2. Multi-angled stories
        3. Hard news formula
        4. The intro
        5. Placing key words
        6. Feature openers
        7. Developing the story
        8. Signposting
        9. Last line
        10. Last words
        11. Accuracy
        12. Fieldwork
      3. 7 Broadcast style book
        1. Clichés
        2. Journalese
        3. Hyperbole
        4. Adjectives
        5. Quotations
        6. Attribution
        7. Contentious statements
        8. Immediacy
        9. Active
        10. Positive
        11. Redundancies
        12. Repetition
        13. Homonyms
        14. Singular or plural?
        15. Pronouns
        16. Punctuation
        17. Spelling
        18. Abbreviations
        19. Figures
        20. Proof reading
        21. Ambiguity
        22. Fieldwork
    3. INTERVIEWING
      1. 8 The interview
        1. The interviewer's skill
        2. Different types of interview
        3. A disaster story?
        4. The disaster story continues …
        5. Fieldwork
      2. 9 Setting up the interview
        1. Background
        2. A plan of campaign – the questions
        3. Get your facts right
        4. Fit the brief
        5. Check arrangements
        6. Approach
        7. The questions
        8. Winding up the interview
        9. Being interviewed yourself: the Q & A
        10. Fieldwork
    4. THE NEWS PROGRAMME
      1. 10 From 2-minute headlines to 24-hour news
        1. The bulletin
        2. News programmes
        3. Documentary
        4. Vérité
        5. 24-hour news
        6. Who does what?
        7. Fieldwork
      2. 11 Item selection and order
        1. ‘A fair picture …’
        2. Second thoughts
        3. Item order
        4. Local considerations
        5. Foreign coverage
        6. Producing a running order
        7. Fieldwork
      3. 12 Putting the show together
        1. Winning an audience – the openers
        2. Keeping an audience – headlines and promotions
        3. Actuality
        4. Pictures
        5. Graphics
        6. Programme balance – being all things to all people
        7. Nightly News
        8. And now the good news?
        9. Fieldwork
      4. 13 Making the programme fit
        1. Cutting
        2. Filling
        3. Backtiming
        4. Fieldwork
    5. PRESENTING THE NEWS
      1. 14 News anchors and presenters
        1. The talent
        2. Qualities of a newscaster
        3. Women newscasters
        4. More than just a newsreader …
        5. Professionalism
        6. Voice
        7. Fieldwork
      2. 15 ÔOn-air!Õ
        1. Performance
        2. Presence
        3. Getting through to the audience – rapport
        4. Know your material
        5. Ad-libs
        6. The gate
        7. Making a swift recovery
        8. Corpsing
        9. Relaxation
        10. Fieldwork
      3. 16 Newsreading mechanics
        1. Speed
        2. Breathing
        3. Projection
        4. Emphasis
        5. Pitch
        6. Microphone technique
        7. Using the prompter
        8. Noise, noise, noise
        9. Bringing the story to life
        10. Fieldwork
    6. DUTIES AND DILEMMAS
      1. 17 Power, freedom and responsibility
        1. Power
        2. The law
        3. The regulators
        4. ‘Independence’
        5. Censorship in developing nations
        6. The myth of objectivity
        7. Impartiality under fire
        8. Responsible reporting
        9. Internal pressures on reporting
        10. National Union of Journalists’ Code of Professional Conduct
        11. Fieldwork
  13. Part Two Radio
    1. INSIDE THE BBC WORLD SERVICE
      1. 18 The best of British
        1. The newsroom
        2. Foreign correspondents
        3. Bi-media reporting
        4. The news conference
        5. The stories
        6. Accuracy
        7. The service
        8. Newsdesk
        9. Newsreaders
        10. Independence
        11. The way ahead?
        12. Fieldwork
    2. RADIO NEWS COVERAGE
      1. 19 Story treatment
        1. Newsflash (bulletin, US)
        2. Headline
        3. Copy story
        4. Voicer or voice report
        5. Teaser or taster
        6. Voice report from the scene
        7. Interview
        8. Newsclip
        9. Package
        10. Mini-wrap
        11. Fieldwork
    3. THE EQUIPMENT
      1. 20 Recording
        1. Principles of recording
        2. Using portable sound recorders
        3. Before the interview
        4. Fieldwork
      2. 21 Editing
        1. ‘You can't see the join’
        2. Unethical editing
        3. Digital audio editing
        4. Multi-tracking
        5. Analogue editing
        6. Mixing
        7. Types of fade
        8. Fieldwork
      3. 22 The studio today and radio tomorrow
        1. On-air studio
        2. Talks studio
        3. The contributions studio
        4. Remote studios
        5. Radio car
        6. Outside broadcast vehicle
        7. Portable telephones
        8. Telephone reports
        9. Obscenity button
        10. Tomorrow today
        11. Fieldwork
  14. Part Three Television
    1. INSIDE ITN
      1. 23 Independent Television News
        1. Getting the news
        2. The editors
        3. The producers
        4. Getting the programme on air
        5. Fieldwork
      2. 24 A story is born
        1. Fieldwork
    2. TV NEWS COVERAGE
      1. 25 Gathering the news
        1. ENG (electronic newsgathering)
        2. The outside broadcast
        3. Getting the story back
        4. Master control room
        5. Fieldwork
      2. 26 Camera shots
        1. The shots
        2. Camera positions
        3. Grab action shots first
        4. Shoot for impact
        5. Shoot in sequences
        6. Context
        7. Sound
        8. Cutaways
        9. The line
        10. Continuity
        11. Pieces to camera
        12. Planning – the full treatment
        13. Fieldwork
    3. TV SCRIPTWRITING
      1. 27 Writing the script
        1. The cue (lead, or link)
        2. Complement the pictures with the narrative
        3. Writing to sound
        4. Keep detail to a minimum
        5. Script layout
        6. Balancing words with pictures
        7. Using the library
        8. Fieldwork
    4. COMPILING THE REPORT
      1. 28 Editing the image
        1. Sequence of shots
        2. Shot length
        3. Digital editing
        4. Editing videotape
        5. Playing the tape on air
        6. Fieldwork
      2. 29 Visuals
        1. Stills
        2. Film library
        3. Electronic graphics
        4. Titles and captions
        5. Overlays
        6. Fieldwork
    5. THE NEWS STUDIO
      1. 30 ‘Standby for transmission …’
        1. The set
        2. Control room
        3. Fieldwork
    6. ONLINE JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA
      1. 31 Videojournalism
        1. The VJ at work
        2. Editing?
        3. Fieldwork
      2. 32 Pushing back the frontiers
        1. News online
        2. Research
        3. Qualities of an online journalist
        4. Satellite and cable TV
        5. Teletext
        6. The computerized newsroom
        7. And next?
        8. Fieldwork
  15. Appendix: Courses in journalism
  16. Glossary
  17. Further reading
  18. Index

Product information

  • Title: Broadcast Journalism, 5th Edition
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: October 2000
  • Publisher(s): Focal Press
  • ISBN: 9781136025778