The best broadcast journalists are always looking for ways to get even better at that their craft, and a great place to start is by watching KARE-TV’s Boyd Huppert. But don’t take our word for it — Huppert is also the 2013 winner of the large market Edward R. Murrow Award for writing. Over the …
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Video journalist Anne Herbst firmly believes in preparation. She does research on stories before leaving the newsroom. She shows up to assignments early so she can meet people and figure out in advance who might be a strong character. And she writes fast–an essential skill when you’re working by yourself and you have to do …
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So, it may seen a little arrogant to assume that our blog can act as a barometer of the journalism industry, but what the heck. If you look at the five most viewed posts of 2012, it seems reasonable to me to make the following assumptions: The fundamentals still matter. The No. 1 post on …
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Words have power and the most powerful word in a sentence should come last. I could have written: Words have power and the last word should be the most powerful one in a sentence. But that would have put the emphasis on “sentence” when I wanted to stress “last.” See the difference? Sometimes, this kind …
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For some reason, the voice over/sound bite (VO/SB) or voice over/sound on tape (VO/SOT) seems to be one of the most challenging TV story forms to do well. It also seems to be one of the toughest story forms for which to explain the writing process to beginning journalists. At it’s most basic, a VO/SB …
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How would you define a memorable TV news story? For reporter Boyd Huppert, it’s a story that connects with viewers, that goes beyond the facts to touch people in some way. To achieve that goal, Huppert looks for a character and a concept that will tie his story together. And when he writes the script, …
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One way to keep viewers engaged in a story from beginning to end is to write it as seamlessly as possible. What that means, in my mind, is making sure that every line connects to the next, whether it’s all narration or a mix of narration, sound bites and nat sound pops. And one technique …
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If you’ve ever wondered if you have what it takes to succeed in a local news environment, you’re about to read some useful advice. Lillian Askins is a reporter for WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Ala. Here she shares a great step-by-step guide to help student journalists test out their real-time skills. Askins says these are tips …
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Imagine sending a letter to a writer you admire and getting a personal reply packed with advice. Joan Lancaster didn’t have to imagine. In 1956, she became one of thousands of children who sent fan mail to C. S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, and actually heard back. Lewis’s charming letter encourages …
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Some things rarely change. TV news writing is one of them, unfortunately. More than a decade ago, I noticed something about both network and local newscasts that drove me nuts and wrote a column about it. This morning, I got a message from Rick Tillery, an anchor in Medford, Oregon. “It appears this needs to …
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