1. SENTENCES
From Robert Papper’s Broadcast News and
Writing Stylebook (pg.49- 56)

2. Keep it short
• 2 principles
• There’s only so much information that the
audience can absorb into the brain through
the ear at one time. It shows our ability to
assimilate information orally. Break down
the material into small bits of information.
• An announcer can read only so many
words without gasping for air. No one
reads well, using proper life and emphasis,
with lungs starved for oxygen. Announcers
can read well no more than about two
dozen syllables at a stretch.

3. One important idea
• A sentence should contain one
important thought or idea. It
could contain many bits of
information but it still should
contain no more than one
important thought or idea

4. Sentence: Robbers shot a man
this morning during a hold-up at
the First National Bank.
Important idea: man shot
Smaller ideas: robbers did the
shooting; this morning; during a
holdup; at the First National
Bank

5. Put people first
• Lead with people and/or what
the story means to people.
• People are always more
important than things. Also, the
dead should be mentioned
before the injured.

6. • Sentence: Two people are dead
and three hospitalized after a
house fire on the west side
today.
• Important idea: two dead and
three hospitalized
• Smaller ideas: house fire; on the
west side; today

7. Take note:
• The use of are dead rather than died.
It happened recently, it’s technically
accurate, and it’s more current
sounding. However, some prefer the
present perfect have died, finding
that construction more
conversational.
• It’s not and three other hospitalized.
That would be wordy and
unnecessary.

8. If no one had been killed or
injured in the fire, the sentence
would be:
• Sentence: Firefighters spent
most of the afternoon…
Or
Fire investigators are sifting
through…

9. Keep it simple:
Subject-Verb-Object
• Make your sentences
understandable.
• The most common grammatical
sentence in English goes subject-
verb-object.
• Not ALL your sentences have to be
constructed that way, but if you
deviate too much or too often from
that basic form, your copy will be
harder to follow.
• Keep it simple, short, and straight
forward

10. • Complex: The family of a two-
year-old local girl killed by a pit
bull last year will have to wait
to hear from the State Supreme
Court before the case can be
resolved.

11. • Simpler: Contradictory rulings in
the case of a two-year-old that
was killed by a pit bull. Last
year…
*Information on the case itself
will come in line two. It will
most likely be matched with
available video.

12. Use some variety for
Interest
• Avoid sounding choppy and
tedious by varying sentence
lengths and structure just
enough so it is understandable
and also interesting to hear.

13. About 24-thosand people here will
find themselves homeless– for at least
a while– this year. That’s two
thousand more than last year….which
was two thousand more than the year
before. Next year, it’ll be worse, still.
The wind chill is 15 degrees, but it
feels colder when it comes off the
river. It’s a tough place to call home.
This is not the economic fringe of
society. This is beyond it.

14. The basic form is simple, and
most sentences are short, but
the variety of phrasing and
sentence length helps to keep
the story moving and gives the
audience a feel for the subject.

15. Split up complex
sentences
• Simplify complex sentences by
dividing the material into
shorter sentences.

16. • Complex: Two local men, John
Doe and David Glass, charged in
a series of crimes ranging from
armed robbery and drug dealing
to extortion, today were
sentenced to 20 years to life by
Judge Jane Smith of the City
Municipal Court.

17. • Simpler: Two local men will
spend 20 years to life in the
state prison. John Doe and
David Glass were sentenced
today after their convictions in
a series of crimes including
armed robbery and drug dealing.

18. Make it clean, clear and
concise
Avoid sentences that are weak
and/or wordy. These would take
up available time.

19. • Weak/ Wordy: Adverse weather
conditions have cause quite a
bit of school closings.
• Better: Bad weather has closed
a lot of school areas.

20. • Unclear: People who woke up
this morning saw the ice, hear
all the school closings, and
wished you were back in school
with the day off.

21. That sentence must have left
the audience wondering about
the people who didn’t wake up
this morning and exactly who
wished to be back in school
with the day off.

22. • Better: The crystal landscape
left from last night’s storm
reminded me of carefree days
as a kid when we were lucky
enough to have school
canceled.

23. Make every sentence
count
• A sentence that doesn’t contain
critical information about the
story is a waste of words and
the listener’s or viewer’s time.
Change it or drop it.

24. • Robbers shot a man this
morning during a holdup at the
First National Bank. The First
National Bank is located at the
intersection of Main and Green
streets.

25. • The lead is okay, but the second
sentence has no meat to it.
Even if the location of the bank
is needed, it doesn’t contain
critical information. It also
interrupts the logical flow of the
story

26. • Better: Robbers shot a man this
morning during a holdup at the
First National Bank. It’s the
third robbery this month at First
National’s branch at Main and
Green

27. Avoid repetition
• Construct sentences so you
don’t have to immediately
repeat the same names or
information.

28. • Repetitive: Both Hudson’s and
the United Auto Workers Union
are declaring victory after a
weekend of U-A-W pickets at
Hudson’s Department Stores.

29. • Better: Both sides are declaring
victory after a weekend of
picketing at Hudson’s
Department stores by the
United Auto Workers Union.

30. Stay positive
• The issue isn’t good news
versus bad news. Positive
statements are always simpler,
shorter and easier to
understand.

31. • Negative: The governor today
denied charges that he has no
effective drug program. The
criticism came from a special
legislative panel that released
its findings this morning

32. • In this kind of story, you want to
lead with the newest
information (governor’s denial),
but it won’t work unless the
audience is aware of what he’s
denying.

33. • Better: The governor is
defending his drug program
today…

34. Make sense
• Remember that the audience
can judge only what it hears,
not what you know or meant to
say.

35. • Puzzling: Well, we’ve got a
warning for you that you may
not like. Breathing Ohio air may
be hazardous to your health

36. • Why would the writer suppose
that the audience might not like
that? Who we suppose would
like it? And how many good
news warnings do we give?

37. The next example is a story
about a defendant who pleaded
not guilty by reason of insanity:
• Puzzling: Smith claimed he was
on a mission from God.
Apparently the jury agreed.

38. The jury may well have agreed
that the defendant was insane,
but it’s unlikely they agreed that
the defendant was on a mission
from God.

39. End Strong
• Use the end of a sentence to
bring home an important point
because the audience just gets
a moment to digest what has
just been said.
• Wherever possible, avoid ending
sentences with weak words or
phrases.
• Watch out, especially, for weak
prepositional phrases at the end
of the sentences.

40. • Weak: Several homes and
businesses had to be evacuated
this afternoon when a natural
gas line was ruptured by a
construction worker.

41. • Stronger: Several homes and
businesses had to be evacuated
this afternoon when a
construction worker ruptured a
natural gas line.

42. Note:
Make your point directly in
every sentence. Don’t dance
around the idea, spilling words
around a page. Just as you
should be able to defend every
word you use, you should be
able to defend every sentence
those words form. If you can’t
defend it, rework it or drop it.