Introduction:
You have learned how to write for print and now you will learn to transform your work for radio and television. Each style of journalism is very different, and each has unique challenges.
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Radio is written as a conversation, and writing for television is driven by the images and video. |
Activities:
Task One - Electronic Style
Writing for different sources of news requires different styles. You will be selecting just one issue and seeing how writing for either the radio or television changes the way you write. Start by selecting one of the topics listed below. |
- Format (including spacing, columns and type)
- Writing numbers and time references
- Quotations
- Names and Titles
- Abbreviations
- Punctuation
- Sentence Structure
- Using a wire service (like the Associated Press or Canadian Press)
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Now that you have chosen a topic, you are ready to research it using a style guide.
- Select either radio or television as your type of media.
- Read the style guide on your specific subject with your media in mind.
- Create a list of basic rules for your subject and use examples to illustrate your rules.
- Keep your list of rules under one page.
- Edit your list for clarity and content, then proof your list for errors like spelling, punctuation and usage (grammar, sentence structure).
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Objectives:
You will be able to
- use a journalism style guide
- recognize the difference between writing for electronic media and writing for print media
- understand and demonstrate copy editing for the electronic media
- identify the conventions of the electronic media |
Resources:
- a print journalism story
- large sheet of paper and marker
- a style guide
Task Two - Conventional Change
Now that you have some basics of structure, join the class in reworking a print journalism story. The class will be divided into 2 groups, the radio journalists and the television journalists. Join the group that you now have expertise in, thanks to your work in Task One.
- Select a group leader, who reads the story aloud and a recorder, who will re-write the new version of the story.
- Agree on what the main points (5ws) of the story are and select a recorder to write down the main points.
- Each member of the group states the rules that he or she found in Task One on the specific subject of study.
- The group starts to re-write the story using the rules (called conventions) the members explained. The leader controls the discussion and the recorder writes down the new version.
- Write this version on a large sheet of paper so that it is visible from a distance.
- The group members re-read their work and check for errors, specifically mistakes in the conventions.
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