10 Steps to Writing a Story – Broadcast Journalism

1. Find a topic.
-What's your story about?
-Who is your audience?
-Why is this story important to your audience?
Eastview Sports
2. Find an angle
-What about your topic?
-More specifically, what is important about your topic?
-What should the reader learn?
-Summarize in 3 words: Subject, Verb, Object
-Wife awaits soldier
-Class misses students
3. Collect information
-Who are the experts for this story?
-Do you need opposing points of view?
-What interview questions should I ask?
-What other research must be dont to complete this story?
4. Conduct the interview.
-Ask open ended questions
-Rule of Threes
-Filling the silence
-The Non-Questions question
-Get good sound bytes. A PIECE OF AUDIO THAT CAN STAND ALONE.
5. Shoot your reporter Stand-UP
-Should have a good idea what the story is about
-Stand-Up should provide information the audience doesn't know
-Use Stand-Up for transition from one location to the next
-No first person: I went
-In MIDDLE of story!
6. Organize your sound bytes
-What quotes should I use?
-How can I organize the quotes to tell a story?
-What are my gold nuggets?
7. Write segues in your story
-Use words that tie the interviews together
-What other information can I add to the story?
-Can the story stand on its own?
8. Write the beginning and end of your story.
-Write body first
-Best sound bytes for beginning and end
-Paraphrase a sound byte at the beginning
-Leave them with the strongest sound byte at end
-Leave them with hope
9. Write the anchor ______________ and ________________ (if necessary).
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10. Collect ___________ to add to your story (throughout steps 4-9)
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*Steps 4-8 in your story are called the ____________________.