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 very best in TV news writing
Category: 06. Writing the Story: Broadcast
Tips for multimedia journalists on writing fast
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…
Top journalism skills in 2012
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…
Improve your writing by editing backward
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…
What’s a VO/SB and how do you write one?
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…
How to make a TV story memorable
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…
Parallel parking for writers
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…
From Classroom to Newsroom: Managing your news day
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…
Bob Dotson’s elements of great TV news stories
NBC’s Bob Dotson says he sent out 525 resumes when he was first looking for a job. “I got three responses and two of them were no,” says Dotson. In the decades that followed, Dotson has produced thousands of stories…
Writing advice from a legend
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,…