Tag: Writing

Watch your words

Accuracy and clarity are two of the most important principles of journalism, but at times the effort to achieve one of these goals can get in the way of the other. What does it take to accomplish both? Critical thinking…

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How to turn an assignment into a story

There’s a lot more to reporting than going out on assignment and asking questions. To tell really good stories, you need an inquisitive mind and a willingness to take risks–two characteristics Boyd Huppert of KARE-TV in Minneapolis has in abundance.…

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Storytelling tips from Steve Hartman

Steve Hartman has what looks like a dream job. He travels the country, telling uplifting stories that run once a week on the CBS Evening News. “On the Road” is a legendary franchise once the province of the great Charles…

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Strong writing essential for all storytelling

While she hates to hear someone utter the phrase ‘print is dead,’ Lacey Russell, a CNN video production assistant, knows it’s a digital world. “I don’t like when people say ‘print is dead,’ because good writing will never die,” she…

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How Twitter feeds the web in local TV

Facebook may be the big dog when it comes to driving traffic to local TV news sites, but Twitter is an essential tool now for creating online content.  Mark Becker has been a part of the reporting team at WSOC-TV…

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Books for writers

Writers read. Good writers read voraciously. That’s because the best way to improve your craft is to study it, learning from great practitioners. I’ve had a list of favorite books about writing on the NewsLab site for years now and I…

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A mantra for shooting better video

“Wide, medium, tight, reverse, reaction.” That phrase has been running through video journalist John Bullard’s head for nearly 40 years.  Bullard has shot video stories at the local level and for networks like CNN and ABC.  He owns his own…

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More tips for writing TV news

The single most popular post here at Advancing the Story offers tips on writing TV news. They’re just as useful now as they were when we first shared them in 2008, but the Canadian journalism site where we found them has just…

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How to write a mobile news story

According to research from the Nielsen Norman Group, it may be nearly twice as hard to comprehend information you consume on a smartphone-sized mobile device. The limited amount of information displayed on the screen requires users to remember more as…

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