Broadcast journalists must provide accurate, complete, and impactful news coverage across radio, television, and print. They are responsible for gathering information from the field and presenting it to listeners and viewers in a believable, energetic, and authoritative manner through well-structured newscasts, voice reports, interviews, and other formats. Effective broadcast announcing requires clear and vivid language use, proper pacing, inflection, pitch, and pronunciation to help audiences visualize stories through radio. Credibility is essential, so errors must be avoided. The goal is to communicate the news, not bring attention to oneself.

1. Broadcast News Announcing

2. A broadcast journalist is under the same obligations and constraints as a print journalist. The responsibility for accuracy and completeness is no less demanding in radio and television than in newspaper.Moreover, the impact of broadcast news is often considered to be greater than that of print. The immediacy of live reports of events that are taking place as we see them, and the ability of video to convey the story, are just two (2) elements of coverage that print could not duplicate. Broadcast, especially radio, is the medium most capable of responding instantly to breaking news. Radio News: Structure and Content

3. NewscastIt involves nothing more than reading aloud a string of news stories.

4. It is a planned and structured assemblage of news, which encompasses some forms like reports, package, interview, hard news, soft news (feature), etc.Voice Report (Voicer)The reporter delivers a minute or so, on a news topic.

5. It is signed off with the reporter’s name and affiliation (“This is Sandra Aguinaldo for News on Q.”)Voice-ActualityIt includes an actuality*, or a snippet of an interview, or other relevant audio from a newsmaker or news event * interview segment recorded on tape

6. Hard NewsGenerally deals with breaking stories and ongoing events that are newsworthy because of their immediate impact on listeners (and viewers for TV) Soft News (feature news)It is not necessarily linked to a time element or to a story of immediate impact. Requirements & Duties of a Broadcast Journalist

7. 1. Broad EducationKnowing something about a wide variety ofsubjects is a great plus.

8. Proper pronunciation of words and names is largely a result of formal and informal education.

9. An awareness of world events is important. After all, you can’t report the news without understanding the context in which events occur.

10. 2. Writing SkillsAlmost all broadcast news on-air people are required to write copy.

11. You must develop the ability to write for the ear in broadcast style. Remember: occupants of “read-only” positions generally got there through previous news positions in which they employed writing skills.

12. 3. Ad-Lib SkillsIt is especially important for the voice report which is frequently delivered live over the air. 4. Interpersonal SkillsNews gathering personnel must sometimes prod, flatter, or browbeat news sources, depending of the situation.

13. The ability to extract news requires finely honed interpersonal skills. Remember: You are likely to encounter difficult situations in dealing with news sources, and often you must be particularly sensitive to the feelings of someone who is emotionally distraught.

14. 5. News SenseIt is determining what is news and what is not and the ability to assess the relative importance of stories.

15. This ability is developed largely through experience and guidance from other professionals. News Style and Impact

16. Style in broadcast news, in a general sense, concerns the way the news is presented.For a performer’s standpoint, the desired result of a particular style is to draw attention to the news,not to the newscaster.Factors that create STYLE & IMPACT1. BELIEVABILITY. ability to communicate without artificiality

17. enhanced by forthright speech devoid of any artificial patterns

18. enhanced by a knowledge of news and current eventsFactors that create STYLE & IMPACT2. ENERGY. keeps the listeners and viewers interested

19. performer must be interested in the copy in the first placeFactors that create STYLE & IMPACT3. AUTHORITY. a variant of believability

20. convinces the audience that the newsperson knows what he or she is talking aboutBroadcasters are required by the very nature of their jobs to have something distinctiveabout their on-air appearance and delivery. An effective communicator of news must develop beyond being a reader of a copy.An important part of broadcast journalism is the interpretive role played by the newscaster, the energy, believability, and authority the newscaster imparts to the copy. One caution: The development of your style must not affect content. Never let style distort facts.

21. Gathering Radio News

22. Newsgathering can be done by:One person working with a telephone or recording deviceA staff of street reporters equipped with portable recording gears, covering special beatsPeople in charge of editing and production

23. News Director: heads the radio news operations

24. executive in charge of staff and budget

25. reports to the station general managerRadio News Anchor on-air performer who delivers the news to the listener

26. oversees and puts together the entire newscast

27. introduces stories produced by field reportersRadio Field Reporters writes and reports stories from the scene of a news event relies heavily on basic audio equipment or recorder to file an audio story (phone lines, mobile phone, two-way radios)

28. Radio News Announcing

29. A radio journalist must make people visualize a story in the theater of the mind. Much of this responsibility is shouldered by the writer.

30. The performer has to read accurately with expression and meaning. Much of this responsibility is shouldered by the writer.

31. Painting Pictures with Words1. Describe events with imagination.Your words are virtually all the listener has to rely on.

32. Your ability to describe can be dramatically improved with practice.Painting Pictures with Words2. Include sound in the story.Don’t be afraid to incorporate acoustics of the environment in your story.

33. Never use sound effects records.Painting Pictures with Words3. Make accurate mood changes. Mood changes (between and among news stories) must be done with precision.

34. Don’t use the same pitch, pace, and rhythm for a report on a murder and for a story about starting a business. Painting Pictures with Words4. Use and stress vivid words. In radio, you have to paint a word picture.

35. Do not touch important words too lightly.Painting Pictures with Words5. Pay attention to clarity in using actualities. If you play an actuality during the delivery of a newscast, indentify the speaker before and if possible, after the actuality was played*. *’That was Dr. Lourdes Montinola, Chair, FEU Board of Trustees.’

36. Painting Pictures with Words6. Develop a system for gauging time. Time yourself reading a copy whenever possible to gauge its length in terms of airtime.

37. Rate is faster in newscast than on a 30-sec. commercial. Radio News AnnouncingOn-air performance requires considerable skill in several areas:

38. a. RATEReader must move along a comfortable pace.

39. Too fast: readers might miss important story elements

40. Too slow: energy is lost; listener’s attention is likely to wander

41. A comfortable conversational rate is the most effective rate. b. INFLECTIONIt is probably the most crucial element of a reader’s delivery

42. A sing-song rate is deadly.

43. Avoid repetitive patterns.

44. Vary inflection enough so that patterns do not repeat, while guarding against inflections that do not fit the style of the copy. c. PITCHAnnouncers who use too low or too high pitch will stand out because of the length of time listeners have to discern the fault.

45. Male announcers hitting an unnaturally low pitch can be deadly as inappropriate pitch stresses the voice.

46. Find the correct pitch for your voice.d. ERROR-FREE READINGThis is reading without stumbling and with accurate pronunciation.

47. Of course, everyone stumbles at some point , in a format that demands continuous reading for several minutes.

48. But remember, there are no second takes in live on-air work. e. PROPER PRONUNCIATIONWords and names must not be mispronounced.

49. Listeners associate the credibility of a station with the news reader on the air.

50. If you mispronounce a name or a place, you bet someone listening knows you did. Remember: Credibility is crucial. Flaws are magnified many times over, while the absence of flaws won’t be noticed much. The most important element is the news. NOT YOU.