writing news speech

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How to Write a News Story: Definition, Structure, Types of the News Story

• by Anastasiya Yakubovska
• 21.06.2022 04.05.2024
• How to write ...

The news story refers to the journalistic writing style that is used in the mass media: television, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, and radio.

Table of Contents

• What Is a News Story 

Features of the News Story

Main functions of news.

• The Inverted Pyramid Structure 
• News Story Structure 

According to the method of writing, news stories are:

• According to the scope, there are the following types of news:
• According to the sequence:

According to the source ofinformation news stories are:

• According to the content:
• Minor forms of news stories:

What Is a News Story

News stories are widely used by the media to inform the audience about current, significant, and interesting events.

A news story is a journalistic presentation of a new event or fact.

Most often this is a short message. 

The news function is to answer the questions: what, where, and when happened.

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The features of the news stories are:

• reliability of information;
• minimal details;
• news stories must be clear and easy to read;
• attractive to all classes;
• widely known terms ( exchange, broker, exchange rate, transaction, market );
• the use of words and figures of speech that are typical for business writing style ( have activities, during the reporting period, take into consideration );
• noun predominance;
• sentences are usually complex. 

Example of News Story

News story “March For Our Lives: Tens of thousands rally for stricter US gun laws” (excerpt) :

Thousands of protesters are gathering across the US to call for stricter gun laws in the wake of last month’s mass shooting in Texas . Gun safety group March For Our Lives – founded by survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting – said some 450 rallies were planned for Saturday. It said it would not let politicians “sit back” as people continue to die. US President Joe Biden backed the protests, calling on Congress to “pass common sense gun safety legislation”. Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the 24 May shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. That attack, and another days earlier in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 people were killed, has led to renewed calls for action on gun control in the US. bbc.com

The major function of the news stories , just like other texts related to journalism, is to provide information about some socially significant event. In addition, the news may contain assumptions, hypotheses, forecasts, recommendations, and regulatory and evaluation information.

The purpose of a news story is not only a detailed analysis of an event. The most important thing is to inform the mass addressee about an event that has happened or will only happen in the future. 

If the news needs to be covered in more detail, then the journalist can indicate the sources of information, add quotes and provide statistics.

How to Write A New Story: The Structure and Method of Writing

The inverted pyramid structure.

To write a news story, journalists use the traditional structure that is typical for the journalistic writing style: information is presented in descending order, that is, its value and importance decrease from the beginning of the text to its end. This way of writing news is called the inverted pyramid .

A news story written using the inverted pyramid structure consists of 4 parts:

• Headline . The headlines of new stories in the media are most often quite informative – within 10 words. The heading itself usually illustrates the main idea of the news. 

For example:

“ Global markets fall after rough week on Wall Street; yen hits two-decade-low” 

2. Lead . The lead is the first or leading paragraph of the news story, the chapeau or abstract of the article, which outlines the main idea of the text, only the most valuable information.

“ Hong Kong/London (CNN Business)Global markets and US stock futures fell early Monday, indicating a downbeat start to the trading week after a broad sell-off on Wall Street following surprisingly strong US inflation data.”

3. The body of the text . It is a description of the event, details, evidence, photographs, quotes, etc.:

“ The Dow (INDU) plunged 880 points, or 2.5%, on Friday. The S&P 500 (SPX) shed 2.7% and the Nasdaq (NDX) dropped about 3%. The US consumer price index rose by 8.6% in May, raising fears that the Federal Reserve will have to act even more aggressively to try to tame price rises. The shockwaves were felt most acutely in Asia on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei (N225) closed down 3%, and the yen weakened to the lowest level in more than 20 years. The Japanese currency has declined rapidly in recent months because of a strong greenback and ultra-loose Japanese monetary policy. The Japanese central bank and government warned in a rare joint statement on Friday that they are concerned about the sharp falls, suggesting a potential intervention by Tokyo to stem the decline. The yen wasn’t the only Asian currency seeing a steep fall. The Indian rupee fell to an all-time low of 78.2 against the US dollar in early trade. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HSI) fell 3.4% on Monday. Korea’s Kospi fell 3.5%. China’s Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) was down 0.9%. In Europe, France’s CAC 40 (CAC40) dropped 2.47% in early trade, while Germany’s DAX 30 (DAX) was down 2.3%. The FTSE 100 (UKX) slipped 1.8%, while the pound slipped to $1.22 after new data showed the UK economy contracting for a second consecutive month in April. In the US, Dow futures were down 1.9% at 5.20 am ET. S&P 500 futures were down around 2.3%, while Nasdaq futures were down about 2.9%.

4. Ending . The final part of the news story is additional information, similar, interesting materials, and journalistic assessment. This part is optional. 

“The hangover from Friday’s US CPI data isn’t helped by concern about China walking back some of its economic reopening, or more dire economic data in the UK,” Societe Generale strategist Kit Juckes said in a research note. A number of neighborhoods in Shanghai faced another temporary lockdown at the weekend, as authorities launched mass testing just days after Covid restrictions were eased for most of its 25 million residents. Authorities in Beijing’s largest Chaoyang district announced Thursday the closure of all entertainment venues, just days after allowing their reopening. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/12/investing/global-stocks/index.html

News Story Structure

Usually, the journalist tells the reader:

• About the event – what happened?
• About time – when?
• About the place – where?
• About participants – who?
• About the circumstances – how?
• About the source of information – how is it known?
• About the predicted development of the event – what happens next?

Which of these questions the journalist will answer in the text of the news story and the number of these questions will depend on the amount of information that he has and on the purpose of the news. These questions can be arranged in the most varied order, at the author’s discretion.

Another thing to keep in mind regarding whether the new event needs to be related to others that have already happened before and are widely known to the audience. In this case, the structure of the news story will be more complex, because it is necessary not only to talk about the event but also to connect this fact with the information already available.

How to Write a News Story: Types of News

Before you start writing, you need to decide in which genre you need to write, and what type of news story is suitable specifically for this news event.

So that you can quickly navigate and make the right choice, further in the article we will consider the types of news stories. 

There are two general types of news stories according to structure :

• Informative or straight news. The aim is to give the facts of the news. 
• Feature or human interest news story. The aim is to take material of little or no news value and make it interesting for the audience. 
• Descriptive.
• Expository.
• Combination of these types. 

According to the scope , there are the following types of news:

• Local: news story takes place within the immediate locality. 
• National: news takes place within a country. 
• Foreign: the event takes place out of the country. 
• Dateline: news preceded by date and place of origin or the place when it was written. 

According to the sequence :

• Anticipated news or announcement. An announcement is a message about upcoming events (for example, about the construction of new buildings).

Such news stories attract the public to visit various cultural events.

The main purpose of the announcement is to give brief but objective information about the time and aspects of the planned event, about its most important prerequisites and stages.

• Spot news. News that gathered and reported on the spot. The journalist is the eyewitness to the event. Such type of news is reported immediately. 
• Coverage news. News has been written from the given beat. 
• Follow-up news. A sequel to the previous news story.
• Interview story. 
• Speech story. 
• Quote story. Information is presented primarily through quotes. These news stories are based almost entirely on an interview or a speech. 
• Fact story. 
• Action story. A description of an event that involved a lot of motion. For example, war reports, competitions, and sports games reports. 

According to the content :

• Science news. 
• Police reports. 
• Developmental news. 
• Sports stories. 
• Routine stories: celebrations, graduations, election stories reported year in and year out. 

Minor forms of news stories :

• News brief. It is a short news broadcast. News briefs are a good way to describe events that do not need in-depth treatment. 
• News bulletin. It aims to give the gist of the news. 
• Flash news. Flash news is a bulletin that conveys the first word of the event. 
• News-featurette. It is a short news feature usually used as filler. 

Used sources of information:

• Types of News Writing. Willard Grosvenor Bleyer.
• Campus Journalism and School Paper Advising Fourth Edition 1997. Ceciliano J. Cruz.
• Style Palette. Textbook on Russian language style for foreigners. Authors: Nina Afanasyeva, Tatyana Popova .
• Literary editing strategies. Authors: Zueva T. A., Ivanova E. N.
• Russian language and speech culture. Authors: Tatyana Balykhina, Mikhail Rybakov, Marina Lysyakova.
• Image: freepik.com

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Writing a News Script

Writing a news script is a fundamental skill for journalists, especially those working in radio and television. A well-crafted news script communicates essential information effectively and engages the audience, maintaining their interest throughout the broadcast. Whether you’re a budding journalist or a seasoned professional looking to refine your scriptwriting skills, this article provides detailed guidelines and tips to help you write compelling news scripts.

Table of Contents

Understanding News Scripts

Step-by-step guide to writing a news script, 1. research and gather information.

Before you start writing, you need to gather all necessary information about the news story. This includes:

2. Write a Strong Lead

3. structure your script, 4. use conversational language, 5. incorporate visual and audio elements, 6. include technical directions, 7. edit and refine, 8. practice delivery.

Before going on air, practice reading the script out loud.

Tips for Effective News Script Writing

Common mistakes to avoid, news script exercises, exercise 1: writing a lead, exercise 2: structuring a complete news script, exercise 3: converting print news to broadcast script, final thoughts.

Writing an effective news script is a skill that combines journalistic integrity with creative storytelling. By following these structured steps and incorporating the tips provided, you can create engaging and informative scripts that resonate with your audience. Remember, the key to successful news scriptwriting lies in clarity, accuracy, and relevance, ensuring that the news not only informs but also connects with the viewers or listeners.

About Mr. Greg

Mr. Greg is an English teacher from Edinburgh, Scotland, currently based in Hong Kong. He has over 5 years teaching experience and recently completed his PGCE at the University of Essex Online. In 2013, he graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a BEng(Hons) in Computing, with a focus on social media.

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How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking . 

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

• It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage. 
• A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points. 
• It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message. 
• Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels. 

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

• Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
• Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
• Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
• Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
• Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
• Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
• Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
• Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
• Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it. 

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade. 

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening. 

Here’s what to include for each of these points: 

• Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
• Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech. 
• Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on. 
• Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
• Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout. 

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain. 

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes. 

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic. 

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking : 

• What purpose do I want my speech to achieve? 
• What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
• What audience am I writing for? 
• What do I know about my audience? 
• What values do I want to transmit? 
• If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be? 
• What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking? 
• What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests. 

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

• Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
• Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
• Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
• Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
• Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
• Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
• Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
• Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes. 

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable. 

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

• Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
• Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
• Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
• Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
• Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
• Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
• Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
• Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
• Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
• Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
• Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
• Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
• Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
• Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
• Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

Boost your speech skills

Enhance your public speaking with personalized coaching tailored to your needs

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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Mastering Broadcast News Scriptwriting: Tips and Techniques

• Published: December 9, 2023
• By: Yellowbrick

Understand the Purpose and Format of Broadcast News Scripts

Broadcast news scripts serve as a blueprint for news segments, guiding anchors, reporters, and production teams through the delivery of information. These scripts follow a specific format that includes elements like the headline, lead, body, and tagline. Familiarize yourself with this format and understand the purpose of each section to effectively convey the news to your audience.

Craft a Compelling Headline

The headline is the first thing viewers see or hear, so it needs to grab their attention. A good headline should be concise, engaging, and accurately reflect the main point of the story. Use strong verbs and vivid language to make your headline stand out and entice viewers to continue watching or listening.

Write a Strong Lead

The lead is the opening sentence or paragraph of your script, and it should summarize the most important information of the story. It needs to be concise, clear, and captivating to hook the audience and make them want to know more. Avoid jargon or complex language and focus on delivering the key message effectively.

Provide Relevant and Concise Information in the Body

The body of the script is where you provide the details and context of the story. Keep your sentences short and to the point, using simple and easily understandable language. Include relevant facts, quotes, and statistics to support your story, but avoid overwhelming the audience with unnecessary information.

Use Active Voice and Present Tense

To make your script more engaging and impactful, use active voice and present tense whenever possible. Active voice adds clarity and energy to your writing, while present tense creates a sense of immediacy and relevance. Avoid passive voice and past tense, as they can make your script sound dull and detached.

Incorporate Visual and Audio Cues

Broadcast news is a visual and auditory medium, so it’s important to incorporate visual and audio cues into your script. Describe relevant visuals, such as video footage or images, and include sound cues for audio elements like interviews or natural sounds. These cues help the production team in creating a visually and sonically engaging news segment.

Keep it Conversational

Broadcast news scripts should sound conversational as if the anchor or reporter is speaking directly to the audience. Avoid using overly formal or technical language that might alienate viewers. Instead, write in a friendly and accessible tone, using words and phrases that your target audience can easily understand.

Edit and Revise

Once you’ve finished writing your script, take the time to edit and revise it. Check for grammar and spelling errors, and ensure that the script flows smoothly and logically. Eliminate any unnecessary repetition or wordiness, and make sure that each sentence serves a purpose. Consider reading the script aloud to identify any awkward phrasing or unclear passages.

Practice Delivery and Timing

Even the best-written script can fall flat if it’s not delivered effectively. Practice reading your script aloud, paying attention to your tone, pace, and timing. Time yourself to ensure that your script fits within the allocated time slot, and make adjustments as necessary. Practice will help you become more comfortable and confident in delivering your news script.

Seek Feedback and Learn from Professionals

To further improve your broadcast news scriptwriting skills, seek feedback from professionals in the industry. Consider taking courses or workshops offered by reputable institutions like New York University (NYU) or Parsons School of Design (Parsons). Online courses, such as those offered by Yellowbrick , can also provide valuable insights and guidance from experienced industry professionals.

Mastering the art of broadcast news scriptwriting requires a combination of technical knowledge, storytelling skills, and practice. By understanding the purpose and format of broadcast news scripts, crafting compelling headlines and leads, providing concise and relevant information, using active voice and present tense, incorporating visual and audio cues, maintaining a conversational tone, editing and revising diligently, practicing delivery and timing, and seeking feedback from professionals, you can elevate your scriptwriting skills and excel in the world of broadcast news.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding the purpose and format of broadcast news scripts is crucial for effective communication.
• Craft compelling headlines and leads to grab the audience’s attention and generate interest.
• Provide relevant and concise information in the body of the script, using active voice and present tense for impact.
• Incorporate visual and audio cues to enhance the visual and auditory experience of the news segment.
• Maintain a conversational tone to engage the audience and avoid technical jargon.
• Edit and revise your script diligently to ensure clarity and coherence.
• Practice delivery and timing to deliver your script confidently and effectively.
• Seek feedback from industry professionals to improve your scriptwriting skills.
• Consider taking courses or workshops, such as those offered by Yellowbrick , to further enhance your expertise.
• Continuous learning and dedication will help you excel in the field of broadcast news scriptwriting.

To deepen your knowledge and gain a comprehensive understanding of broadcast news scriptwriting, consider enrolling in the NYU | Modern Journalism online course and certificate program. This program, offered by New York University (NYU), provides valuable insights and guidance from industry professionals, further honing your skills and preparing you for a successful career in modern journalism.

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Expert Commentary

Basic newswriting: Learn how to originate, research and write breaking-news stories

Syllabus for semester-long course on the fundamentals of covering and writing the news, including how identify a story, gather information efficiently and place it in a meaningful context.

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

by The Journalist's Resource, The Journalist's Resource January 22, 2010

This <a target="_blank" href="https://journalistsresource.org/home/syllabus-covering-the-news/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://journalistsresource.org">The Journalist's Resource</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://journalistsresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cropped-jr-favicon-150x150.png" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;">

This course introduces tomorrow’s journalists to the fundamentals of covering and writing news. Mastering these skills is no simple task. In an Internet age of instantaneous access, demand for high-quality accounts of fast-breaking news has never been greater. Nor has the temptation to cut corners and deliver something less.

To resist this temptation, reporters must acquire skills to identify a story and its essential elements, gather information efficiently, place it in a meaningful context, and write concise and compelling accounts, sometimes at breathtaking speed. The readings, discussions, exercises and assignments of this course are designed to help students acquire such skills and understand how to exercise them wisely.

Photo: Memorial to four slain Lakewood, Wash., police officers. The Seattle Times earned the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for their coverage of the crime.

Course objective

To give students the background and skills needed to originate, research, focus and craft clear, compelling and contextual accounts of breaking news in a deadline environment.

Learning objectives

• Build an understanding of the role news plays in American democracy.
• Discuss basic journalistic principles such as accuracy, integrity and fairness.
• Evaluate how practices such as rooting and stereotyping can undermine them.
• Analyze what kinds of information make news and why.
• Evaluate the elements of news by deconstructing award-winning stories.
• Evaluate the sources and resources from which news content is drawn.
• Analyze how information is attributed, quoted and paraphrased in news.
• Gain competence in focusing a story’s dominant theme in a single sentence.
• Introduce the structure, style and language of basic news writing.
• Gain competence in building basic news stories, from lead through their close.
• Gain confidence and competence in writing under deadline pressure.
• Practice how to identify, background and contact appropriate sources.
• Discuss and apply the skills needed to interview effectively.
• Analyze data and how it is used and abused in news coverage.
• Review basic math skills needed to evaluate and use statistics in news.
• Report and write basic stories about news events on deadline.

Suggested reading

• A standard textbook of the instructor’s choosing.
• America ‘s Best Newspaper Writing , Roy Peter Clark and Christopher Scanlan, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006
• The Elements of Journalism , Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, Three Rivers Press, 2001.
• Talk Straight, Listen Carefully: The Art of Interviewing , M.L. Stein and Susan E. Paterno, Iowa State University Press, 2001
• Math Tools for Journalists , Kathleen Woodruff Wickham, Marion Street Press, Inc., 2002
• On Writing Well: 30th Anniversary Edition , William Zinsser, Collins, 2006
• Associated Press Stylebook 2009 , Associated Press, Basic Books, 2009

Weekly schedule and exercises (13-week course)

We encourage faculty to assign students to read on their own Kovach and Rosentiel’s The Elements of Journalism in its entirety during the early phase of the course. Only a few chapters of their book are explicitly assigned for the class sessions listed below.

The assumption for this syllabus is that the class meets twice weekly.

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Weeks 13/14

Week 1: Why journalism matters

Previous week | Next week | Back to top

Class 1: The role of journalism in society

The word journalism elicits considerable confusion in contemporary American society. Citizens often confuse the role of reporting with that of advocacy. They mistake those who promote opinions or push their personal agendas on cable news or in the blogosphere for those who report. But reporters play a different role: that of gatherer of evidence, unbiased and unvarnished, placed in a context of past events that gives current events weight beyond the ways opinion leaders or propagandists might misinterpret or exploit them.

This session’s discussion will focus on the traditional role of journalism eloquently summarized by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel in The Elements of Journalism . The class will then examine whether they believe that the journalist’s role has changed or needs to change in today’s news environment. What is the reporter’s role in contemporary society? Is objectivity, sometimes called fairness, an antiquated concept or an essential one, as the authors argue, for maintaining a democratic society? How has the term been subverted? What are the reporter’s fundamental responsibilities? This discussion will touch on such fundamental issues as journalists’ obligation to the truth, their loyalty to the citizens who are their audience and the demands of their discipline to verify information, act independently, provide a forum for public discourse and seek not only competing viewpoints but carefully vetted facts that help establish which viewpoints are grounded in evidence.

Reading: Kovach and Rosenstiel, Chapter 1, and relevant pages of the course text

Assignments:

• Students should compare the news reporting on a breaking political story in The Wall Street Journal , considered editorially conservative, and The New York Times , considered editorially liberal. They should write a two-page memo that considers the following questions: Do the stories emphasize the same information? Does either story appear to slant the news toward a particular perspective? How? Do the stories support the notion of fact-based journalism and unbiased reporting or do they appear to infuse opinion into news? Students should provide specific examples that support their conclusions.
• Students should look for an example of reporting in any medium in which reporters appear have compromised the notion of fairness to intentionally or inadvertently espouse a point of view. What impact did the incorporation of such material have on the story? Did its inclusion have any effect on the reader’s perception of the story?

Class 2: Objectivity, fairness and contemporary confusion about both

In his book Discovering the News , Michael Schudson traced the roots of objectivity to the era following World War I and a desire by journalists to guard against the rapid growth of public relations practitioners intent on spinning the news. Objectivity was, and remains, an ideal, a method for guarding against spin and personal bias by examining all sides of a story and testing claims through a process of evidentiary verification. Practiced well, it attempts to find where something approaching truth lies in a sea of conflicting views. Today, objectivity often is mistaken for tit-for-tat journalism, in which the reporters only responsibility is to give equal weight to the conflicting views of different parties without regard for which, if any, are saying something approximating truth. This definition cedes the journalist’s responsibility to seek and verify evidence that informs the citizenry.

Focusing on the “Journalism of Verification” chapter in The Elements of Journalism , this class will review the evolution and transformation of concepts of objectivity and fairness and, using the homework assignment, consider how objectivity is being practiced and sometimes skewed in the contemporary new media.

Reading: Kovach and Rosenstiel, Chapter 4, and relevant pages of the course text.

Assignment: Students should evaluate stories on the front page and metro front of their daily newspaper. In a two-page memo, they should describe what elements of news judgment made the stories worthy of significant coverage and play. Finally, they should analyze whether, based on what else is in the paper, they believe the editors reached the right decision.

Week 2: Where news comes from

Class 1: News judgment

When editors sit down together to choose the top stories, they use experience and intuition. The beginner journalist, however, can acquire a sense of news judgment by evaluating news decisions through the filter of a variety of factors that influence news play. These factors range from traditional measures such as when the story took place and how close it was to the local readership area to more contemporary ones, such as the story’s educational value.

Using the assignment and the reading, students should evaluate what kinds of information make for interesting news stories and why.

In this session, instructors might consider discussing the layers of news from the simplest breaking news event to the purely enterprise investigative story.

Assignment: Students should read and deconstruct coverage of a major news event. One excellent source for quality examples is the site of the Pulitzer Prizes , which has a category for breaking news reporting. All students should read the same article (assigned by the instructor), and write a two- or three-page memo that describes how the story is organized, what information it contains and what sources of information it uses, both human and digital. Among the questions they should ask are:

• Does the first (or lead) paragraph summarize the dominant point?
• What specific information does the lead include?
• What does it leave out?
• How do the second and third paragraphs relate to the first paragraph and the information it contains? Do they give unrelated information, information that provides further details about what’s established in the lead paragraph or both?
• Does the story at any time place the news into a broader context of similar events or past events? If so, when and how?
• What information in the story is attributed , specifically tied to an individual or to documentary information from which it was taken? What information is not attributed? Where does the information appear in the sentence? Give examples of some of the ways the sources of information are identified? Give examples of the verbs of attribution that are chosen.
• Where and how often in the story are people quoted, their exact words placed in quotation marks? What kind of information tends to be quoted — basic facts or more colorful commentary? What information that’s attributed is paraphrased , summing up what someone said but not in their exact words.
• How is the story organized — by theme, by geography, by chronology (time) or by some other means?
• What human sources are used in the story? Are some authorities? Are some experts? Are some ordinary people affected by the event? Who are some of the people in each category? What do they contribute to the story? Does the reporter (or reporters) rely on a single source or a wide range? Why do you think that’s the case?
• What specific facts and details make the story more vivid to you? How do you think the reporter was able to gather those details?
• What documents (paper or digital) are detailed in the story? Do they lend authority to the story? Why or why not?
• Is any specific data (numbers, statistics) used in the story? What does it lend to the story? Would you be satisfied substituting words such as “many” or “few” for the specific numbers and statistics used? Why or why not?

Class 2: Deconstructing the story

By carefully deconstructing major news stories, students will begin to internalize some of the major principles of this course, from crafting and supporting the lead of a story to spreading a wide and authoritative net for information. This class will focus on the lessons of a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Reading: Clark/Scanlan, Pages 287-294

Assignment: Writers typically draft a focus statement after conceiving an idea and conducting preliminary research or reporting. This focus statement helps to set the direction of reporting and writing. Sometimes reporting dictates a change of direction. But the statement itself keeps the reporter from getting off course. Focus statements typically are 50 words or less and summarize the story’s central point. They work best when driven by a strong, active verb and written after preliminary reporting.

• Students should write a focus statement that encapsulates the news of the Pulitzer Prize winning reporting the class critiqued.

Week 3: Finding the focus, building the lead

Class 1: News writing as a process

Student reporters often conceive of writing as something that begins only after all their reporting is finished. Such an approach often leaves gaps in information and leads the reporter to search broadly instead of with targeted depth. The best reporters begin thinking about story the minute they get an assignment. The approach they envision for telling the story informs their choice of whom they seek interviews with and what information they gather. This class will introduce students to writing as a process that begins with story concept and continues through initial research, focus, reporting, organizing and outlining, drafting and revising.

During this session, the class will review the focus statements written for homework in small breakout groups and then as a class. Professors are encouraged to draft and hand out a mock or real press release or hold a mock press conference from which students can draft a focus statement.

Reading: Zinsser, pages 1-45, Clark/Scanlan, pages 294-302, and relevant pages of the course text

Class 2: The language of news

Newswriting has its own sentence structure and syntax. Most sentences branch rightward, following a pattern of subject/active verb/object. Reporters choose simple, familiar words. They write spare, concise sentences. They try to make a single point in each. But journalistic writing is specific and concrete. While reporters generally avoid formal or fancy word choices and complex sentence structures, they do not write in generalities. They convey information. Each sentence builds on what came before. This class will center on the language of news, evaluating the language in selections from America’s Best Newspaper Writing , local newspapers or the Pulitzers.

Reading: Relevant pages of the course text

Assignment: Students should choose a traditional news lead they like and one they do not like from a local or national newspaper. In a one- or two-page memo, they should print the leads, summarize the stories and evaluate why they believe the leads were effective or not.

Week 4: Crafting the first sentence

Class 1: The lead

No sentence counts more than a story’s first sentence. In most direct news stories, it stands alone as the story’s lead. It must summarize the news, establish the storyline, convey specific information and do all this simply and succinctly. Readers confused or bored by the lead read no further. It takes practice to craft clear, concise and conversational leads. This week will be devoted to that practice.

Students should discuss the assigned leads in groups of three or four, with each group choosing one lead to read to the entire class. The class should then discuss the elements of effective leads (active voice; active verb; single, dominant theme; simple sentences) and write leads in practice exercises.

Assignment: Have students revise the leads they wrote in class and craft a second lead from fact patterns.

Class 2: The lead continued

Some leads snap or entice instead of summarize. When the news is neither urgent nor earnest, these can work well. Though this class will introduce students to other kinds of leads, instructors should continue to emphasize traditional leads, typically found atop breaking news stories.

Class time should largely be devoted to writing traditional news leads under a 15-minute deadline pressure. Students should then be encouraged to read their own leads aloud and critique classmates’ leads. At least one such exercise might focus on students writing a traditional lead and a less traditional lead from the same information.

Assignment: Students should find a political or international story that includes various types (direct and indirect) and levels (on-the-record, not for attribution and deep background) of attribution. They should write a one- or two-page memo describing and evaluating the attribution. Did the reporter make clear the affiliation of those who expressed opinions? Is information attributed to specific people by name? Are anonymous figures given the opportunity to criticize others by name? Is that fair?

Week 5: Establishing the credibility of news

Class 1: Attribution

All news is based on information, painstakingly gathered, verified and checked again. Even so, “truth” is an elusive concept. What reporters cobble together instead are facts and assertions drawn from interviews and documentary evidence.

To lend authority to this information and tell readers from where it comes, reporters attribute all information that is not established fact. It is neither necessary, for example, to attribute that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was first elected president in 1932 nor that he was elected four times. On the other hand, it would be necessary to attribute, at least indirectly, the claim that he was one of America’s best presidents. Why? Because that assertion is a matter of opinion.

In this session, students should learn about different levels of attribution, where attribution is best placed in a sentence, and why it can be crucial for the protection of the accused, the credibility of reporters and the authoritativeness of the story.

Assignment: Working from a fact pattern, students should write a lead that demands attribution.

Class 2: Quoting and paraphrasing

“Great quote,” ranks closely behind “great lead” in the pecking order of journalistic praise. Reporters listen for great quotes as intensely as piano tuners listen for the perfect pitch of middle C. But what makes a great quote? And when should reporters paraphrase instead?

This class should cover a range of issues surrounding the quoted word from what it is used to convey (color and emotion, not basic information) to how frequently quotes should be used and how long they should run on. Other issues include the use and abuse of partial quotes, when a quote is not a quote, and how to deal with rambling and ungrammatical subjects.

As an exercise, students might either interview the instructor or a classmate about an exciting personal experience. After their interviews, they should review their notes choose what they consider the three best quotes to include a story on the subject. They should then discuss why they chose them.

Assignment: After completing the reading, students should analyze a summary news story no more than 15 paragraphs long. In a two- or three-page memo, they should reprint the story and then evaluate whether the lead summarizes the news, whether the subsequent paragraphs elaborate on or “support” the lead, whether the story has a lead quote, whether it attributes effectively, whether it provides any context for the news and whether and how it incorporates secondary themes.

Week 6: The building blocks of basic stories

Class 1: Supporting the lead

Unlike stories told around a campfire or dinner table, news stories front load information. Such a structure delivers the most important information first and the least important last. If a news lead summarizes, the subsequent few paragraphs support or elaborate by providing details the lead may have merely suggested. So, for example, a story might lead with news that a 27-year-old unemployed chef has been arrested on charges of robbing the desk clerk of an upscale hotel near closing time. The second paragraph would “support” this lead with detail. It would name the arrested chef, identify the hotel and its address, elaborate on the charges and, perhaps, say exactly when the robbery took place and how. (It would not immediately name the desk clerk; too many specifics at once clutter the story.)

Wire service stories use a standard structure in building their stories. First comes the lead sentence. Then comes a sentence or two of lead support. Then comes a lead quote — spoken words that reinforce the story’s direction, emphasize the main theme and add color. During this class students should practice writing the lead through the lead quote on deadline. They should then read assignments aloud for critique by classmates and the professor.

Assignment: Using a fact pattern assigned by the instructor or taken from a text, students should write a story from the lead through the lead quote. They should determine whether the story needs context to support the lead and, if so, include it.

Class 2: When context matters

Sometimes a story’s importance rests on what came before. If one fancy restaurant closes its doors in the face of the faltering economy, it may warrant a few paragraphs mention. If it’s the fourth restaurant to close on the same block in the last two weeks, that’s likely front-page news. If two other restaurants closed last year, that might be worth noting in the story’s last sentence. It is far less important. Patterns provide context and, when significant, generally are mentioned either as part of the lead or in the support paragraph that immediately follows. This class will look at the difference between context — information needed near the top of a story to establish its significance as part of a broader pattern, and background — information that gives historical perspective but doesn’t define the news at hand.

Assignment: The course to this point has focused on writing the news. But reporters, of course, usually can’t write until they’ve reported. This typically starts with background research to establish what has come before, what hasn’t been covered well and who speaks with authority on an issue. Using databases such as Lexis/Nexis, students should background or read specific articles about an issue in science or policy that either is highlighted in the Policy Areas section of Journalist’s Resource website or is currently being researched on your campus. They should engage in this assignment knowing that a new development on the topic will be brought to light when they arrive at the next class.

Week 7: The reporter at work

Class 1: Research

Discuss the homework assignment. Where do reporters look to background an issue? How do they find documents, sources and resources that enable them to gather good information or identify key people who can help provide it? After the discussion, students should be given a study from the Policy Areas section of Journalist’s Resource website related to the subject they’ve been asked to explore.

The instructor should use this study to evaluate the nature structure of government/scientific reports. After giving students 15 minutes to scan the report, ask students to identify its most newsworthy point. Discuss what context might be needed to write a story about the study or report. Discuss what concepts or language students are having difficulty understanding.

Reading: Clark, Scanlan, pages 305-313, and relevant pages of the course text

Assignment: Students should (a) write a lead for a story based exclusively on the report (b) do additional background work related to the study in preparation for writing a full story on deadline. (c) translate at least one term used in the study that is not familiar to a lay audience.

Class 2: Writing the basic story on deadline

This class should begin with a discussion of the challenges of translating jargon and the importance of such translation in news reporting. Reporters translate by substituting a simple definition or, generally with the help of experts, comparing the unfamiliar to the familiar through use of analogy.

The remainder of the class should be devoted to writing a 15- to 20-line news report, based on the study, background research and, if one is available, a press release.

Reading: Pages 1-47 of Stein/Paterno, and relevant pages of the course text

Assignment: Prepare a list of questions that you would ask either the lead author of the study you wrote about on deadline or an expert who might offer an outside perspective.

Week 8: Effective interviewing

Class 1: Preparing and getting the interview

Successful interviews build from strong preparation. Reporters need to identify the right interview subjects, know what they’ve said before, interview them in a setting that makes them comfortable and ask questions that elicit interesting answers. Each step requires thought.

The professor should begin this class by critiquing some of the questions students drew up for homework. Are they open-ended or close-ended? Do they push beyond the obvious? Do they seek specific examples that explain the importance of the research or its applications? Do they probe the study’s potential weaknesses? Do they explore what directions the researcher might take next?

Discuss the readings and what steps reporters can take to background for an interview, track down a subject and prepare and rehearse questions in advance.

Reading: Stein/Paterno, pages 47-146, and relevant pages of the course text

Assignment: Students should prepare to interview their professor about his or her approach to and philosophy of teaching. Before crafting their questions, the students should background the instructor’s syllabi, public course evaluations and any pertinent writings.

Class 2: The interview and its aftermath

The interview, says Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jacqui Banaszynski, is a dance which the reporter leads but does so to music the interview subject chooses. Though reporters prepare and rehearse their interviews, they should never read the questions they’ve considered in advance and always be prepared to change directions. To hear the subject’s music, reporters must be more focused on the answers than their next question. Good listeners make good interviewers — good listeners, that is, who don’t forget that it is also their responsibility to also lead.

Divide the class. As a team, five students should interview the professor about his/her approach to teaching. Each of these five should build on the focus and question of the previous questioner. The rest of the class should critique the questions, their clarity and their focus. Are the questioners listening? Are they maintaining control? Are they following up? The class also should discuss the reading, paying particularly close attention to the dynamics of an interview, the pace of questions, the nature of questions, its close and the reporter’s responsibility once an interview ends.

Assignment: Students should be assigned to small groups and asked to critique the news stories classmates wrote on deadline during the previous class.

Week 9: Building the story

Class 1: Critiquing the story

The instructor should separate students into groups of two or three and tell them to read their news stories to one another aloud. After each reading, the listeners should discuss what they liked and struggled with as the story audience. The reader in each case should reflect on what he or she learned from the process of reading the story aloud.

The instructor then should distribute one or two of the class stories that provide good and bad examples of story structure, information selection, content, organization and writing. These should be critiqued as a class.

Assignment: Students, working in teams, should develop an angle for a news follow to the study or report they covered on deadline. Each team should write a focus statement for the story it is proposing.

Class 2: Following the news

The instructor should lead a discussion about how reporters “enterprise,” or find original angles or approaches, by looking to the corners of news, identifying patterns of news, establishing who is affected by news, investigating the “why” of news, and examining what comes next.

Students should be asked to discuss the ideas they’ve developed to follow the news story. These can be assigned as longer-term team final projects for the semester. As part of this discussion, the instructor can help students map their next steps.

Reading: Wickham, Chapters 1-4 and 7, and relevant pages of the course text

Assignment: Students should find a news report that uses data to support or develop its main point. They should consider what and how much data is used, whether it is clear, whether it’s cluttered and whether it answers their questions. They should bring the article and a brief memo analyzing it to class.

Week 10: Making sense of data and statistics

Class 1: Basic math and the journalist’s job

Many reporters don’t like math. But in their jobs, it is everywhere. Reporters must interpret political polls, calculate percentage change in everything from property taxes to real estate values, make sense of municipal bids and municipal budgets, and divine data in government reports.

First discuss some of the examples of good and bad use of data that students found in their homework. Then, using examples from Journalist’s Resource website, discuss good and poor use of data in news reporting. (Reporters, for example, should not overwhelm readers with paragraphs stuffed with statistics.) Finally lead students through some of the basic skills sets outlined in Wickham’s book, using her exercises to practice everything from calculating percentage change to interpreting polls.

Assignment: Give students a report or study linked to the Journalist’s Resource website that requires some degree of statistical evaluation or interpretation. Have students read the report and compile a list of questions they would ask to help them understand and interpret this data.

Class 2: The use and abuse of statistics

Discuss the students’ questions. Then evaluate one or more articles drawn from the report they’ve analyzed that attempt to make sense of the data in the study. Discuss what these articles do well and what they do poorly.

Reading: Zinsser, Chapter 13, “Macabre Reminder: The Corpse on Union Street,” Dan Barry, The New York Times

Week 11: The reporter as observer

Class 1: Using the senses

Veteran reporters covering an event don’t only return with facts, quotes and documents that support them. They fill their notebooks with details that capture what they’ve witnessed. They use all their senses, listening for telling snippets of conversation and dialogue, watching for images, details and actions that help bring readers to the scene. Details that develop character and place breathe vitality into news. But description for description’s sake merely clutters and obscures the news. Using the senses takes practice.

The class should deconstruct “Macabre Reminder: The Corpse on Union Street,” a remarkable journey around New Orleans a few days after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005. The story starts with one corpse, left to rot on a once-busy street and then pans the city as a camera might. The dead body serves as a metaphor for the rotting city, largely abandoned and without order.

Assignment: This is an exercise in observation. Students may not ask questions. Their task is to observe, listen and describe a short scene, a serendipitous vignette of day-to-day life. They should take up a perch in a lively location of their choosing — a student dining hall or gym, a street corner, a pool hall or bus stop or beauty salon, to name a few — wait and watch. When a small scene unfolds, one with beginning, middle and end, students should record it. They then should write a brief story describing the scene that unfolded, taking care to leave themselves and their opinions out of the story. This is pure observation, designed to build the tools of observation and description. These stories should be no longer than 200 words.

Class 2: Sharpening the story

Students should read their observation pieces aloud to a classmate. Both students should consider these questions: Do the words describe or characterize? Which words show and which words tell? What words are extraneous? Does the piece convey character through action? Does it have a clear beginning, middle and end? Students then should revise, shortening the original scene to no longer than 150 words. After the revision, the instructor should critique some of the students’ efforts.

Assignment: Using campus, governmental or media calendars, students should identify, background and prepare to cover a speech, press conference or other news event, preferably on a topic related to one of the research-based areas covered in the Policy Areas section of Journalist’s Resource website. Students should write a focus statement (50 words or less) for their story and draw up a list of some of the questions they intend to ask.

Week 12: Reporting on deadline

Class 1: Coaching the story

Meetings, press conferences and speeches serve as a staple for much news reporting. Reporters should arrive at such events knowledgeable about the key players, their past positions or research, and the issues these sources are likely discuss. Reporters can discover this information in various ways. They can research topic and speaker online and in journalistic databases, peruse past correspondence sent to public offices, and review the writings and statements of key speakers with the help of their assistants or secretaries.

In this class, the instructor should discuss the nature of event coverage, review students’ focus statements and questions, and offer suggestions about how they cover the events.

Assignment: Cover the event proposed in the class above and draft a 600-word story, double-spaced, based on its news and any context needed to understand it.

Class 2: Critiquing and revising the story

Students should exchange story drafts and suggest changes. After students revise, the instructor should lead a discussion about the challenges of reporting and writing live on deadline. These likely will include issues of access and understanding and challenges of writing around and through gaps of information.

Weeks 13/14: Coaching the final project

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The final week or two of the class is reserved for drill in areas needing further development and for coaching students through the final reporting, drafting and revision of the enterprise stories off the study or report they covered in class.

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from training.npr.org: https://training.npr.org/2020/03/13/the-haiku-of-radio-journalism-how-to-write-a-newscast-spot/

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The haiku of radio journalism: how to write a newscast spot

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(Halisia Hubbard/NPR)

Writing a spot may seem easy, because the script is short. “Just a spot” is how it’s sometimes described, as though it’s a throwaway bit of reporting.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

A spot is the haiku of news reporting. It’s a format that purports to tell a complete story — no matter how complex or involved — in under a minute. In fact, reporters often struggle to write spots.

At NPR Newscasts, good writing in a spot is paramount because upward of 28 million people listen weekly on the radio, with an estimated two million more on smart devices. That’s more than any other NPR show.

Wrap or voicer?

If you pitch a spot to NPR Newscasts, you’ll be asked whether you are offering a wrap or a voicer.

A voicer is a straight reporter spot without any ambi or actualities . Wraps are voiced spots with at least one short bit of tape “wrapped,” or embedded, in the story.

At NPR, spots run about 40 seconds. They have to be short because newscasts are only five minutes at the top of the hour and three minutes at the bottom of the hour. Anchors fill the rest of the newscast with shorter stories they voice themselves. The reporter spots give the newscast texture and create a dynamic listening experience that would be missing if the anchor read all the stories.

Write the intro first, to help you focus your spot. The intro should contain the newest information and tell the listener what the story is going to be about, in one or two sentences. Include only the most essential details required to understand the story.

Here are two examples:

THE U-S IS CALLING ON RUSSIA TO STOP AIRSTRIKES THAT HAVE FORCED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF SYRIANS TO FLEE.

U-N HUMANITARIAN OFFICIALS DESCRIBE THE SITUATION AS INTOLERABLE AS FIGHTING INTENSIFIES IN NORTHWEST SYRIA.

N-P-R’S MICHELE KELEMEN REPORTS.

PRESIDENT HASSAN ROUHANI ADDRESSED A LARGE CROWD IN TEHRAN TODAY ON THE FORTY FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF IRAN’S ISLAMIC REVOLUTION.

N-P-R’S PETER KENYON HAS MORE.

An alternative format is the “informational intro,” which foreshadows what the reporter is going to say.

Here are two examples of this type of intro:

VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE IS PULLING THE STATE DEPARTMENT’S TOP AIDS OFFICIAL ABOARD TO JOIN HIS CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE TEAM.

AS N-P-R’S FRANCO ORDOÑEZ REPORTS, DEBORAH BIRX IS AN AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE WHO WORKS ON GLOBAL HEALTH DIPLOMACY ISSUES.

A BRITISH COURT HAS RULED THAT PLANS TO BUILD A THIRD RUNWAY AT HEATHROW AIRPORT ARE ILLEGAL BECAUSE THEY DON’T ADDRESS THE U-K GOVERNMENT’S CLIMATE CHANGE COMMITMENTS.

N-P-R’S FRANK LANGFITT HAS MORE ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL RULING FROM LONDON.

Your intro should contain any numbers or details that may change as the story develops. This way, your spot will have the longest possible shelf life.

After telling the listener what the news is, you can begin your spot by setting the scene, fleshing out the details or offering context.

In Peter’s spot, he does all three.

IRANIANS TURNED OUT IN CHILLY WINTER CONDITIONS TO HEAR ROUHANI URGE THEM NOT TO BE PASSIVE — BUT TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND THE NATION AT A TIME OF HIGH TENSIONS WITH WASHINGTON.

His voicer continues with background.

ROUHANI’S CALL FOR SUPPORT COMES JUST MONTHS AFTER SECURITY FORCES WERE CALLED OUT — TO VIOLENTLY QUELL PROTESTS OVER DEPRESSED ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND RISING PRICES — AMID ONGOING AMERICAN SANCTIONS AND THE FALTERING 2015 NUCLEAR AGREEMENT.

This is a long sentence, but it efficiently gives the listener information that is crucial to understanding the story. It’s not a history lesson.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SAID SOME 300 PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN THE CRACKDOWN — A FIGURE TEHRAN DISPUTED WITHOUT PROVIDING ITS OWN TOLL.

After a little more background, Peter returns to the present moment and closes by mentioning something else that happened at the rally.

THE ANNIVERSARY ALSO MARKED THE KILLING OF IRAN’S TOP GENERAL QASSEM SOLEIMANI — IN A U-S DRONE STRIKE.

PETER KENYON, NPR NEWS, ISTANBUL

This is just one of many ways of structuring a spot.

Another way is how Ofeibea Quist-Arcton structured this wrap, which she filed in 2019 on the yellow vest protests in Paris:

SIXTY THOUSAND POLICE OFFICERS HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED ACROSS FRANCE — AUTHORITIES GUARDING AGAINST VIOLENCE AMID TODAY’S YELLOW VEST PROTESTS.

N-P-R’S OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON IS IN PARIS.

SHE REPORTS THAT YELLOW VEST PROTESTORS SAY THEY TOO REGRET MONDAY’S FIRE AT NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL — BUT THAT THEY REMAIN ANGRY AT PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON’S GOVERNMENT.

Ofeibea introduces her speaker right out of the gate:

LEADING FRENCH POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, CHRISTOPHE BARBIER, SAYS PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON’S MOMENT OF RESPITE — AFTER THE NOTRE DAME TRAGEDY AND FRANCE BRIEFLY UNITING AND FORGETTING POLITICAL DIVISIONS — IS OVER.

You’ll notice she is building toward the actuality by outlining the stakes:

HE SAYS THE FRENCH ARE DEMANDING SOLUTIONS TO PRESSING SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC WOES.

<<PEOPLE SAY, WHAT ABOUT US? OF COURSE, NOTRE DAME IS VERY IMPORTANT, WE HAVE TO REBUILD. BUT WHAT ABOUT US?  WHAT ABOUT THE END OF THE MONTH? WHAT ABOUT OUR DAILY PROBLEMS, NOT HISTORICAL PROBLEMS?>>

ANSWERS MACRON WILL HAVE TO DELIVER SOON.

That sentence fragment was Ofeibea writing out of the actuality by talking about the next step. She then considers what might come next:

INTERIOR MINISTER, CHRISTOPHE CASTANER, WARNS THAT THE ANARCHIST MOVEMENT BLAMED FOR VIOLENCE IN PAST DEMONSTRATIONS AND ACCUSED OF HIJACKING LEGITIMATE YELLOW VEST PROTESTS — IS AGAIN PLANNING UNREST.

OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON, NPR NEWS, PARIS

Whatever the format, sentences in a spot should almost always be in active voice: subject-verb-object. And while longer sentences help vary the flow, don’t entangle the listener in subordinate clauses and parenthetical observations. Limit the verbiage and cut unnecessary adjectives. And don’t editorialize.

For example, instead of writing what you think people are feeling:

A MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE SHOOK PUERTO RICO TODAY LEAVING RESIDENTS REELING.

Be specific and direct:

AN EARTHQUAKE WITH A MAGNITUDE OF 6-POINT-4 STRUCK PUERTO RICO TODAY. SO FAR AUTHORITIES ARE REPORTING NO DEATHS OR INJURIES.

The listener can draw their own conclusions based on the facts given in the story.

NPR’s newscasts also have a shortened type of spot called a Q. They serve to further vary the texture of the newscast and are generally 20 to 30 seconds long with no out cue. NPR reporters are often asked to do a Q for each spot they write; the reporter can use the same intro from the spot on the same topic.

The best way to do a Q is to focus on the nut of the story or one basic fact.

Here’s an example that runs 21 seconds (not including the intro):

TWENTY PEOPLE ARE DEAD AND ABOUT 200 ARE WOUNDED IN INDIA’S CAPITAL, NEW DELHI, ON THE THIRD DAY OF RIOTS OVER A NEW CITIZENSHIP LAW.

CRITICS SAY THE LAW IS DISCRIMINATORY BECAUSE IT EXCLUDES MUSLIM REFUGEES FROM GETTING FAST-TRACK CITIZENSHIP.

SUSHMITA PATHAK REPORTS FROM MUMBAI.

UNTIL NOW, PROTESTS OVER THE CITIZENSHIP LAW HAD BEEN MOSTLY PEACEFUL.

RIOTS BEGAN OVER THE WEEKEND WHEN HINDU SUPPORTERS OF THE LAW FACED OFF WITH ITS OPPONENTS.

HINDU MOBS TOSSED MOLOTOV COCKTAILS ON MUSLIM HOMES. IN ONE VIDEO, A MAN CLIMBS A MOSQUE’S MINARET AND PUTS A HINDU FLAG ON TOP.

THIS IS THE WORST SECTARIAN VIOLENCE IN THE INDIAN CAPITAL IN DECADES.

Don’t forget the Five Ws!

Whether you’re writing a voicer, a wrap or a Q, make sure you’re thinking about the five Ws of journalism — who, what, where, when and why. And steer clear of absolutes — the biggest, the oldest, the first — because they are easy to get wrong.

And remember, writing a spot is about delivering the basic facts of a story in a clear, concise manner that leaves no doubt or confusion in the listener’s mind.

Kathy Rushlow is a senior producer at NPR Newscasts.

Writing & Voice

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How to write broadcast news stories

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How to write a good speech in 7 steps

By:  Susan Dugdale  

- an easily followed format for writing a great speech

Did you know writing a speech doesn't have be an anxious, nail biting experience?

Unsure? Don't be.

You may have lived with the idea you were never good with words for a long time. Or perhaps giving speeches at school brought you out in cold sweats.

However learning how to write a speech is relatively straight forward when you learn to write out loud.

And that's the journey I am offering to take you on: step by step.

To learn quickly, go slow

Take all the time you need. This speech format has 7 steps, each building on the next.

Walk, rather than run, your way through all of them. Don't be tempted to rush. Familiarize yourself with the ideas. Try them out.

I know there are well-advertised short cuts and promises of 'write a speech in 5 minutes'. However in reality they only truly work for somebody who already has the basic foundations of speech writing in place.

The foundation of good speech writing 

These steps are the backbone of sound speech preparation. Learn and follow them well at the outset and yes, given more experience and practice you could probably flick something together quickly. Like any skill, the more it's used, the easier it gets.

In the meantime...

Step 1: Begin with a speech overview or outline

Are you in a hurry? Without time to read a whole page? Grab ... The Quick How to Write a Speech Checklist And come back to get the details later.

• WHO you are writing your speech for (your target audience)
• WHY you are preparing this speech. What's the main purpose of your speech? Is it to inform or tell your audience about something? To teach them a new skill or demonstrate something? To persuade or to entertain? (See 4 types of speeches: informative, demonstrative, persuasive and special occasion or entertaining for more.) What do you want them to think, feel or do as a result of listening the speech?
• WHAT your speech is going to be about (its topic) - You'll want to have thought through your main points and have ranked them in order of importance. And have sorted the supporting research you need to make those points effectively.
• HOW much time you have for your speech eg. 3 minutes, 5 minutes... The amount of time you've been allocated dictates how much content you need. If you're unsure check this page: how many words per minute in a speech: a quick reference guide . You'll find estimates of the number of words required for 1 - 10 minute speeches by slow, medium and fast talkers.

Use an outline

The best way to make sure you deliver a perfect speech is to start by carefully completing a speech outline covering the essentials: WHO, WHY, WHAT and HOW.

Beginning to write without thinking your speech through is a bit like heading off on a journey not knowing why you're traveling or where you're going to end up. You can find yourself lost in a deep, dark, murky muddle of ideas very quickly!

Pulling together a speech overview or outline is a much safer option. It's the map you'll follow to get where you want to go.

Get a blank speech outline template to complete

Click the link to find out a whole lot more about preparing a speech outline . ☺ You'll also find a free printable blank speech outline template.  I recommend using it!

Understanding speech construction

Before you begin to write, using your completed outline as a guide, let's briefly look at what you're aiming to prepare.

• an opening or introduction
• the body where the bulk of the information is given
• and an ending (or summary).

Imagine your speech as a sandwich

If you think of a speech as a sandwich you'll get the idea.

The opening and ending are the slices of bread holding the filling (the major points or the body of your speech) together.

You can build yourself a simple sandwich with one filling (one big idea) or you could go gourmet and add up to three or, even five. The choice is yours.

But whatever you choose to serve, as a good cook, you need to consider who is going to eat it! And that's your audience.

So let's find out who they are before we do anything else. 

Step 2: Know who you are talking to

Understanding your audience.

Did you know a  good speech is never written from the speaker's point of view?  ( If you need to know more about why check out this page on  building rapport .)

Begin with the most important idea/point on your outline.

Consider HOW you can explain (show, tell) that to your audience in the most effective way for them to easily understand it.   

Writing from the audience's point of view

To help you write from an audience point of view, it's a good idea to identify either a real person or the type of person who is most likely to be listening to you.

Make sure you select someone who represents the "majority" of the people who will be in your audience. That is they are neither struggling to comprehend you at the bottom of your scale or light-years ahead at the top.

Now imagine they are sitting next to you eagerly waiting to hear what you're going to say. Give them a name, for example, Joe, to help make them real.

Ask yourself

• How do I need to tailor my information to meet Joe's needs? For example, do you tell personal stories to illustrate your main points? Absolutely! Yes. This is a very powerful technique. (Click storytelling in speeches to find out more.)
• What type or level of language is right for Joe as well as my topic? For example if I use jargon (activity, industry or profession specific vocabulary) will it be understood?

Step 3: Writing as you speak

Writing oral language.

Write down what you want to say about your first main point as if you were talking directly to Joe.

If it helps, say it all out loud before you write it down and/or record it.

Use the information below as a guide

(Click to download The Characteristics of Spoken Language  as a pdf.) 

You do not have to write absolutely everything you're going to say down * but you do need to write down, or outline, the sequence of ideas to ensure they are logical and easily followed.

Remember too, to explain or illustrate your point with examples from your research. 

( * Tip: If this is your first speech the safety net of having everything written down could be just what you need. It's easier to recover from a patch of jitters when you have a word by word manuscript than if you have either none, or a bare outline. Your call!)

Step 4: Checking tone and language

The focus of this step is re-working what you've done in Step 2 and 3.

You identified who you were talking to (Step 2) and in Step 3, wrote up your first main point.  Is it right? Have you made yourself clear?  Check it.

How well you complete this step depends on how well you understand the needs of the people who are going to listen to your speech.

Please do not assume because you know what you're talking about the person (Joe) you've chosen to represent your audience will too. Joe is not a mind-reader!

How to check what you've prepared

• Check the "tone" of your language . Is it right for the occasion, subject matter and your audience?
• Check the length of your sentences. You need short sentences. If they're too long or complicated you risk losing your listeners.

Check for jargon too. These are industry, activity or group exclusive words.

For instance take the phrase: authentic learning . This comes from teaching and refers to connecting lessons to the daily life of students. Authentic learning is learning that is relevant and meaningful for students. If you're not a teacher you may not understand the phrase.

The use of any vocabulary requiring insider knowledge needs to be thought through from the audience perspective. Jargon can close people out.

• Read what you've written out loud. If it flows naturally, in a logical manner, continue the process with your next main idea. If it doesn't, rework.

We use whole sentences and part ones, and we mix them up with asides or appeals e.g. "Did you get that? Of course you did. Right...Let's move it along. I was saying ..."

Click for more about the differences between spoken and written language .

And now repeat the process

Repeat this process for the remainder of your main ideas.

Because you've done the first one carefully, the rest should follow fairly easily.

Step 5: Use transitions

Providing links or transitions between main ideas.

Between each of your main ideas you need to provide a bridge or pathway for your audience. The clearer the pathway or bridge, the easier it is for them to make the transition from one idea to the next.

If your speech contains more than three main ideas and each is building on the last, then consider using a "catch-up" or summary as part of your transitions.

Is your speech being evaluated? Find out exactly what aspects you're being assessed on using this standard speech evaluation form

Link/transition examples

A link can be as simple as:

"We've explored one scenario for the ending of Block Buster 111, but let's consider another. This time..."

What follows this transition is the introduction of Main Idea Two.

Here's a summarizing link/transition example:

"We've ended Blockbuster 111 four ways so far. In the first, everybody died. In the second, everybody died BUT their ghosts remained to haunt the area. In the third, one villain died. His partner reformed and after a fight-out with the hero, they both strode off into the sunset, friends forever. In the fourth, the hero dies in a major battle but is reborn sometime in the future.

And now what about one more? What if nobody died? The fifth possibility..."

Go back through your main ideas checking the links. Remember Joe as you go. Try each transition or link out loud and really listen to yourself. Is it obvious? Easily followed?

Keep them if they are clear and concise.

For more about transitions (with examples) see Andrew Dlugan's excellent article, Speech Transitions: Magical words and Phrases .

Step 6: The end of your speech

The ideal ending is highly memorable . You want it to live on in the minds of your listeners long after your speech is finished. Often it combines a call to action with a summary of major points.

Example speech endings

Example 1: The desired outcome of a speech persuading people to vote for you in an upcoming election is that they get out there on voting day and do so. You can help that outcome along by calling them to register their support by signing a prepared pledge statement as they leave.

"We're agreed we want change. You can help us give it to you by signing this pledge statement as you leave. Be part of the change you want to see!

Example 2: The desired outcome is increased sales figures. The call to action is made urgent with the introduction of time specific incentives.

"You have three weeks from the time you leave this hall to make that dream family holiday in New Zealand yours. Can you do it? Will you do it? The kids will love it. Your wife will love it. Do it now!"

How to figure out the right call to action

A clue for working out what the most appropriate call to action might be, is to go back to your original purpose for giving the speech.

• Was it to motivate or inspire?
• Was it to persuade to a particular point of view?
• Was it to share specialist information?
• Was it to celebrate a person, a place, time or event?

Ask yourself what you want people to do as a result of having listened to your speech.

For more about ending speeches

Visit this page for more about how to end a speech effectively . You'll find two additional types of speech endings with examples.

Write and test

Write your ending and test it out loud. Try it out on a friend, or two. Is it good? Does it work?

Step 7: The introduction

Once you've got the filling (main ideas) the linking and the ending in place, it's time to focus on the introduction.

The introduction comes last as it's the most important part of your speech. This is the bit that either has people sitting up alert or slumped and waiting for you to end. It's the tone setter!

What makes a great speech opening?

Ideally you want an opening that makes listening to you the only thing the 'Joes' in the audience want to do.

You want them to forget they're hungry or that their chair is hard or that their bills need paying.

The way to do that is to capture their interest straight away. You do this with a "hook".

Hooks to catch your audience's attention

Hooks come in as many forms as there are speeches and audiences. Your task is work out what specific hook is needed to catch your audience.

Go back to the purpose. Why are you giving this speech?

Once you have your answer, consider your call to action. What do you want the audience to do, and, or take away, as a result of listening to you?

Next think about the imaginary or real person you wrote for when you were focusing on your main ideas.

Choosing the best hook

• Is it humor?
• Would shock tactics work?
• Is it a rhetorical question?
• Is it formality or informality?
• Is it an outline or overview of what you're going to cover, including the call to action?
• Or is it a mix of all these elements?

A hook example

Here's an example from a fictional political speech. The speaker is lobbying for votes. His audience are predominately workers whose future's are not secure.

"How's your imagination this morning? Good? (Pause for response from audience) Great, I'm glad. Because we're going to put it to work starting right now.

I want you to see your future. What does it look like? Are you happy? Is everything as you want it to be? No? Let's change that. We could do it. And we could do it today.

At the end of this speech you're going to be given the opportunity to change your world, for a better one ...

No, I'm not a magician. Or a simpleton with big ideas and precious little commonsense. I'm an ordinary man, just like you. And I have a plan to share!"

And then our speaker is off into his main points supported by examples. The end, which he has already foreshadowed in his opening, is the call to vote for him.

Prepare several hooks

Experiment with several openings until you've found the one that serves your audience, your subject matter and your purpose best.

For many more examples of speech openings go to: how to write a speech introduction . You'll find 12 of the very best ways to start a speech.

That completes the initial seven steps towards writing your speech. If you've followed them all the way through, congratulations, you now have the text of your speech!

Although you might have the words, you're still a couple of steps away from being ready to deliver them. Both of them are essential if you want the very best outcome possible. They are below. Please take them.

Step 8: Checking content and timing

This step pulls everything together.

Check once, check twice, check three times & then once more!

Go through your speech really carefully.

On the first read through check you've got your main points in their correct order with supporting material, plus an effective introduction and ending.

On the second read through check the linking passages or transitions making sure they are clear and easily followed.

On the third reading check your sentence structure, language use and tone.

Double, triple check the timing

Now go though once more.

This time read it aloud slowly and time yourself.

If it's too long for the time allowance you've been given make the necessary cuts.

Start by looking at your examples rather than the main ideas themselves. If you've used several examples to illustrate one principal idea, cut the least important out.

Also look to see if you've repeated yourself unnecessarily or, gone off track. If it's not relevant, cut it.

Repeat the process, condensing until your speech fits the required length, preferably coming in just under your time limit.

You can also find out how approximately long it will take you to say the words you have by using this very handy words to minutes converter . It's an excellent tool, one I frequently use. While it can't give you a precise time, it does provide a reasonable estimate.

Step 9: Rehearsing your speech

And NOW you are finished with writing the speech, and are ready for REHEARSAL .

Please don't be tempted to skip this step. It is not an extra thrown in for good measure. It's essential.

The "not-so-secret" secret of successful speeches combines good writing with practice, practice and then, practicing some more.

Go to how to practice public speaking and you'll find rehearsal techniques and suggestions to boost your speech delivery from ordinary to extraordinary.

The Quick How to Write a Speech Checklist

Before you begin writing you need:.

• Your speech OUTLINE with your main ideas ranked in the order you're going to present them. (If you haven't done one complete this 4 step sample speech outline . It will make the writing process much easier.)
• Your RESEARCH
• You also need to know WHO you're speaking to, the PURPOSE of the speech and HOW long you're speaking for

The basic format

• the body where you present your main ideas

Split your time allowance so that you spend approximately 70% on the body and 15% each on the introduction and ending.

How to write the speech

• Write your main ideas out incorporating your examples and research
• Link them together making sure each flows in a smooth, logical progression
• Write your ending, summarizing your main ideas briefly and end with a call for action
• Write your introduction considering the 'hook' you're going to use to get your audience listening
• An often quoted saying to explain the process is: Tell them what you're going to tell them (Introduction) Tell them (Body of your speech - the main ideas plus examples) Tell them what you told them (The ending)

TEST before presenting. Read aloud several times to check the flow of material, the suitability of language and the timing.

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Newscasting Opening and Closing Script Lines – Newspaper Script – Headline Writing

What is news.

According to Oxford, Dictionary news is information about important people or events. Or news is something someone, somewhere wants to suppress, the rest is advertising, said William Randolph Hearst . News must tell the audience something they do not already know, information that is recent or just come to light. Moreover, news must be true, the news is a trigger and news is people. This article discusses some best newscasting opening and closing script lines in English.

For a newscaster one of the significant parts of news is the opening lines. Indeed, everything counts in the first impression. If you have a good first impression it will give you a positive impression and energy for the whole session. Moreover, a good first impression will influence your listener or reader to know more about your session and attract them to be with you.

The following Newscasting opening and closing script lines are written as examples, you can select your preferred ones and edit them according to your news theme.

Also Read: Best News Casting Script for Reporters

Newscasting Opening and Closing Script Lines

Opening lines:.

Opening 01. Good evening, and welcome to the news hour on………………news. I’m [Your Name], bringing you the latest updates from around the world. In a world inundated with information, we strive to sift through the noise to bring you the most relevant and reliable news. Stay tuned for the top stories that matter.

Opening 02 . Hello, and a warm welcome to……………..news. I’m [Your Name], and it’s a pleasure to have you with us. As we embark on this news journey together, we promise to deliver the facts, untangle the complexities, and keep you informed. Let’s dive into today’s headlines.

Opening 03 . Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us on…………..news. I’m [Your Name], and we have an exciting lineup of stories for you today. From local events to global affairs, we’ve got it covered. Stay tuned as we unravel the news that shapes our world.

Opening 04 . Greetings, and a happy [morning/afternoon/evening] to you. You’re watching………………news, and I’m [Your Name]. In a world where information is key, we strive to be your reliable source. Join us as we navigate through the headlines, providing you with the latest updates and insights.

Opening 05. Hello, and good morning. The truth is our priority, we give justice to your curiosity. The latest news spotted only here on…………….news giving you the latest and most credible news for today.

Opening 06. One mission, one community, one assailant. Good afternoon Americans, it’s Thursday, October 22nd you are watching………….news and we hope you are having a great day here in………….. This is the national communication network bringing you the top stories that are sure with no bias. For the details of our news…

Opening 07. Good morning from the studio………… newsroom at…………..News headquarters here in New York, good to be with you. I am…………. “Thousands are expected in Havana’s Revolution Plaza today to pay their respect to Fidel Castro. In Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, the tone following Castro’s death is marked differently …………”

Opening 04. Good morning It’s Thursday, October 22, 2022, and this is the…………. Morning News. Bringing you the latest news around the globe. “Grief and joy following the death of Cuba’s former leader as the communist nation prepare to say goodbye to Fidel Castro…………”

Opening 05. Good morning/afternoon/evening happy Thursday and thanks for joining us today. I am…………….and I am…………. here with………….

Closing Lines:

Closing 01. And with that, we wrap up this edition of………….. News. Your trust in us is the force that drives our commitment to unbiased and accurate reporting. As we bid you farewell, we wish you a wonderful day ahead. Stay informed, stay safe. This is [Your Name], signing off.

Closing 02. Thank you for joining us today on…………..news. Your time is valuable, and we appreciate you choosing us to stay informed. If you have any news tips or feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out. Until next time, take care, stay informed, and have a fantastic day. This is [Your Name], signing out.

Closing 03 . That concludes today’s news session at………….. News. We trust you found the information insightful and valuable. Remember, knowledge empowers. Feel free to connect with us through our social media channels. Until next time, this is [Your Name], wishing you a pleasant day and a well-informed future.

Closing 04. And that brings us to the end of another edition of………….. News. Your support means the world to us. As we part ways, remember that knowledge is the key to understanding the world around us. Thank you for being with us. I’m [Your Name], and this is [Your Channel]. Until next time, take care.

Closing 05. That was the news of truth and accuracy from the news republic team. We are hoping everyone is in good condition and also hoping you have a great day ahead. This is………….. News.

Closing 06. Those were the top stories for this hour. We do not just secure freedom we defend what people deserve. You can contact us through these numbers flashed on your screen. Share your feedback and make us aware of the hot news you have. Good day.

Closing 07. And that’s all for today’s time-sizzling news. Once again I am…………..and I am……….delivering news from worldwide towards one united direction this is the united rear center. Have a great day.

Closing 08. You have just heard the latest news around the globe. Again this is…………….. News. News with no bias, news with no exception delivering nothing but the truth. This has been (Anchor name) and (2nd Anchor name) bringing you the latest news around the globe. Thank you for being with us.

Also Read: Weather Forecast Report Sample Script in English

How to Write a News Headlines

The headline is the structure of the news and this part must be given much time and attention because if the headline is poor you can’t capture the audience’s attention. The headline can go before greetings or after greetings, but most of the anchors prefer it to go for it after the greetings.

The steps below tell you how to write a perfect news headline.

1. Write Short and Sweet Sentences

The sentences you write are more likely to be clear. If they are shorter sentences, communicating one idea, or a connected range of thoughts. Writing a limited number of words in a news headline to convey an important point of news is challenging. Find out the bullet words in the news to create the headline and keep the sentence as short as possible just to convey the main story of the news.

2. Write in a Positive Form

Writing in a positive form is an excellent way to make your sentences short and nappy. Your sentences should assert, as your readers should be told what is, they don’t want to be told what something isn’t. Example:

• Jonas didn’t win the election.
• Instead write: Jonas lost the election.
• John Brown, who escaped last night, has still not been caught.
• John Brown is still free.

Avoid words like: “not, isn’t, didn’t, and any other negative to-be verbs “

3. Be Active in Your Sentences not Passive

Headline news writing requires you to be direct, vigorous, and economical in your writing, which is why the active voice is preferred.

• Police arrested Smith. (Active Voice)
• Smith was arrested by the police. (Passive Voice)
• A hurricane destroyed the whole village. (Active Voice)
• The whole village was destroyed by a hurricane. (Passive Voice)

Writing sentences in passive voice, you unnecessarily extend the sentence words.

4. Do not use Slangs in The Headline

Using slang or jargon in the headline can be confusing for your audience to understand. Moreover, using slang in the headline doesn’t provide the reader with useful information, hence write your headline in simple sentences and words.

5. Use Present Tense and Don’t Use Article a, and the

If the events are happening now or in the process, you should use the present tense . Because your headline should have a time element to be clear to your audience when the event is taking place.

• PDM fighting for the country’s Sovereignty
• New Policy lets private Indian firms launch satel
• 3 Things that increase the risk of Covid reinfection

If possible you should avoid using the articles like “a, an, and the” and transitional words in the headline. Because these can be only padding and are not important to cover the key points.

I hope you have found the script you were looking for for the newscast. If you need any kind of anchoring script in English, please comment on it using the comment section below, then we will try to provide the script as soon as possible.

• News Broadcast Script Sample for Students
• How to Write a Summary of a Newspaper

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News Writing Practice Exercises – Enhance Your Journalism Skills

My name is Debbie, and I am passionate about developing a love for the written word and planting a seed that will grow into a powerful voice that can inspire many.

Introduction:​ The ⁤Importance ‌of ⁤News Writing Practice Exercises

Expand your ‌vocabulary: ⁣strategies to enhance your word choice, mastering the inverted pyramid: structuring your⁣ news ‍articles, the art of crafting⁤ effective ​headlines: captivate your readers, fine-tuning your grammar skills: a beginner’s guide, interviewing techniques: ⁣asking the right questions for ‍compelling⁢ stories, exploring different writing ⁢styles: adapting to various news formats, sharpening your editing ⁣skills: polishing your articles for perfection, practice makes ⁣perfect, frequently⁣ asked questions, to⁣ conclude.

News ‌writing practice ⁤exercises ⁤are crucial for‍ aspiring journalists and writers. These exercises ⁤allow​ individuals to hone their skills and develop a deep understanding of⁣ the art of⁣ news writing. By engaging in regular practice,‍ writers can improve ‍their writing speed,​ efficiency, ⁣and accuracy, ‌ensuring that they produce high-quality news articles.

One ​of the main benefits of news writing ​practice‍ exercises ‍is‍ that ​they enable individuals to ​familiarize‍ themselves with the different types and ‌formats of news‌ articles. Through these exercises, writers can learn ⁤how to write ⁢effective​ headlines, introductions,⁢ and⁣ body paragraphs.‌ They can also practice incorporating quotes, statistics,​ and other relevant information into their​ articles, making their writing‌ more engaging⁣ and informative for readers. Regular ‍practice also ⁣helps ‌writers become more adept at organizing their thoughts⁣ and presenting⁢ information in ⁤a clear and concise ​manner.

Ever find yourself ‍using the same words over and over ‍again? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. However,‍ having a diverse​ vocabulary not only improves⁢ your writing and speaking⁢ skills,⁤ but it also ⁣helps you​ convey your ⁤thoughts more accurately and⁢ creatively. If you’re‍ looking‌ to enhance⁣ your ⁢word choice, ​here are a few​ strategies to ‍expand ​your vocabulary:

1. Read voraciously: ‌ Reading is ⁢one of the best ways to expose yourself to new words. Make it a habit to devour ⁤books, articles, ​and⁤ even blog posts on a wide ⁢range ​of topics. Take note of unfamiliar words and look up ⁣their meanings. Challenge yourself by exploring different​ genres⁣ and styles​ of writing ‌to encounter⁢ a​ variety⁢ of vocabulary.

2. Use a dictionary and thesaurus: These​ two handy ⁢tools should‍ be your best ​friends on‌ your vocabulary-building journey. Whenever ⁤you ⁤encounter an unfamiliar word, don’t⁤ hesitate to consult a dictionary to understand ⁣its ‍meaning and usage. Additionally,⁣ a thesaurus⁤ can help ‍you discover ‍synonym ⁣options,‌ allowing you to choose⁣ words that precisely convey your intended message.

The inverted pyramid⁢ is ⁣a tried-and-true technique for ⁤structuring news articles that quickly grabs ⁤readers’ attention and delivers the most important information up⁤ front. By prioritizing⁣ the ‍key details at the ⁤beginning, you can effectively engage ‌readers who may‌ have limited‌ time or attention​ spans. ⁤This method ensures ⁤that‌ even if ‌readers only read the first⁢ few⁣ sentences, they will still ​get the⁣ main message.

To effectively⁣ use the‍ inverted pyramid⁢ structure, start ⁣with a concise and attention-grabbing headline that summarizes the main point ⁣of⁤ your ​article. Follow it up with a compelling lead‍ paragraph that elaborates ⁢on the headline and ‍answers‌ the⁢ fundamental questions of ⁣who, ⁤what, when, where, ⁢why, and how.‍ Subsequent ‌paragraphs⁣ should‌ contain supporting details, each building on⁣ the previous one and presenting‌ the information in⁤ descending order of ⁣importance. This way, ⁢readers can choose‍ to​ read as much or⁤ as little as they need,⁢ and⁤ if they stop ‌reading after the ⁢first‌ few paragraphs, they will⁣ still⁢ have a good ‌understanding of the story.

Creating effective headlines ‍is an ⁢art⁤ that can ⁤truly captivate your readers and make ⁢your‍ content stand out from ‌the rest. The key ‌is to craft ‍headlines that are concise,‍ attention-grabbing, and ⁤arouse ‍curiosity.

One of the ⁣most important ‌factors to consider ‌when crafting a headline is understanding your target audience. What kind of​ language‌ and tone resonates⁤ with⁢ them? By tailoring your headline to their ⁤preferences,‍ you increase the chances of catching​ their attention. Additionally, incorporating‍ powerful and descriptive words can ⁤have a ​significant impact. Words like “ultimate,” ⁤”amazing,” and “secret” ⁢can instantly grab⁢ attention and spark ‍curiosity.

Good grammar is the backbone of effective⁤ communication. Whether you’re writing an email, crafting a business proposal, or even engaging in casual conversation, mastering grammar rules will ⁣help‌ you express‍ yourself clearly and ⁤confidently. If you are just starting your journey to improve your grammar,⁤ fear not! This beginner’s guide will walk you through essential⁤ tips and tricks to‍ fine-tune your grammar skills.

1. Start with the basics: ⁤Understanding parts of speech is fundamental to​ building a ⁣strong⁢ grammatical ⁤foundation. Familiarize yourself with ⁣nouns, verbs, ​adjectives, adverbs,​ pronouns, prepositions, and conjunctions. Knowing how they function in a sentence will significantly‍ improve your⁢ writing.

2. Learn sentence structure: A well-constructed sentence can convey your thoughts⁣ effectively. Comprehending subject-verb agreement, ⁤proper ‍punctuation, and⁤ sentence types ‍(declarative, interrogative, ‍imperative, ‍and exclamatory) is ⁢crucial.⁤ Practice creating sentences ⁢using ⁢various structures ‌to enhance your written‌ and spoken ​communication skills.

3.‌ Brush up on common errors: Mistakes like subject-verb disagreement , improper​ use ⁢of homonyms ⁤(e.g.,⁣ they’re,⁣ there, and their), and incorrect pronoun usage ​often trip up beginners. Identify⁣ your​ weak areas and focus on them ‌to avoid these⁢ frequent errors. Additionally, consult reliable⁢ grammar ⁤resources to clarify any ‌doubts you may have.

4.‌ Read and listen actively: Immersing yourself⁢ in well-written ⁢books, articles, and podcasts can expose you ‍to ​correct ‍grammar ‌usage. Pay attention to the⁤ sentence ⁢structures, grammar rules, ‍and ⁣idiomatic expressions ⁤used by⁤ professional writers⁣ and speakers. Engaging with⁣ high-quality ‌content will help you absorb ⁢grammatical nuances naturally.

5. Practice makes perfect: ⁢Dedicate⁢ time each day to practice grammar exercises. Use‌ online⁤ quizzes, grammar books, or language-learning ‌apps to ⁣reinforce⁤ your understanding. Repetition and consistency⁢ are key components in developing‌ strong grammar ​skills.

Remember: ‌learning grammar is a gradual⁣ process, so be patient with yourself. Celebrate each milestone along⁢ the way and​ continue ‌expanding your ⁤knowledge. Soon, you’ll ​find yourself expressing ideas with precision and confidence!

When it ⁣comes to conducting interviews ⁤for ⁣compelling stories, ​asking ⁣the right questions is crucial. The right ⁢questions not only elicit valuable information but also help paint ‍a vivid picture that captivates the readers. To ensure​ a⁣ successful‍ interview,‌ consider the following techniques:

• Research your subject: ‌ Before⁣ the interview, take⁢ the time to ‌thoroughly‍ research your‍ subject ⁢to​ gain‍ understanding and familiarity ‍with their background, ⁣experiences, ⁤and ⁤achievements. This⁢ will enable you to ask ​informed questions and show a genuine interest in their story.
• Prepare open-ended questions: Open-ended questions encourage interviewees​ to share ⁤detailed ⁤and insightful responses. Instead of asking yes-or-no ⁢questions, frame your questions to prompt stories, emotions,⁤ and personal experiences. ⁤For instance,‍ ask “Can you describe a time when…”⁤ or “How do​ you ⁤feel about…?” This approach will‍ enable interviewees ​to open up and‌ provide compelling responses.
• Listen actively: During the‌ interview, ‍be ​fully present and actively ⁣listen to your ​interviewee’s responses. ⁢This‌ not only shows⁤ respect but also allows you‌ to pick ⁣up⁢ on interesting points that can be ⁣further explored. Maintain eye contact, nod, and provide affirmations to foster ​a comfortable and trusting atmosphere.

By utilizing ⁢these interviewing techniques,​ you can ensure that your ‌interview uncovers ‍captivating stories. Remember,‍ it is the ​power of these stories that will ⁣keep your‌ readers engaged and enthralled⁢ throughout your writing!

When it comes to ‍writing for⁢ news, a flexible⁢ approach is⁢ key.‍ Adapting to different⁢ news formats‌ allows⁣ writers⁤ to ⁣effectively ⁤communicate⁢ their stories while catering to the specific needs of each platform. Here are a⁤ few writing ‍styles ⁤commonly⁣ used:

• Straight‌ News: ‌ This‌ style focuses on delivering the ⁣facts accurately and objectively. It ‌is commonly ⁢used in ⁤newspaper articles‌ and online news⁢ portals. Straight news writing is concise,‍ uses a direct⁢ tone, and is free from personal ⁢opinions or bias. ⁤ ‌
• Feature Writing: Unlike straight news, ⁢feature‌ writing aims to⁢ engage readers on a‍ more emotional level. ​Reporters often utilize storytelling techniques and descriptive language ⁣to ⁣make their‌ articles captivating​ and entertaining.⁣ Feature pieces​ can be found⁢ in‍ magazines⁤ or⁢ as special ‌sections⁣ within newspapers. ​ ‌

Aside from⁢ these styles, ⁣there are‍ other formats such⁤ as editorials, op-eds, and blog posts that ⁣offer even more flexibility in expressing personal opinions. Whether ⁢you’re ​crafting a hard-hitting news report or a thought-provoking opinion piece , it is crucial to ​understand the ⁤characteristics and expectations of each format.‍ By harnessing⁣ various ⁢writing styles,⁤ writers can effectively adapt their message ⁢to reach a broader audience ‍and⁣ maintain their readers’ interest.

To become a skilled⁢ editor, practice is‌ key. Editing is not just about ⁢ fixing ⁤grammatical errors ; ⁤it ‍involves refining your writing to ⁤make​ it ⁤clear, concise, and ⁢engaging. Start⁣ by ​reviewing⁤ your ‌own work​ – read ​it out‍ loud, listen to⁤ the flow,‌ and identify ⁣areas that need ‌improvement. Ensure that⁣ your articles have⁤ a logical​ structure,⁣ with⁤ each paragraph supporting⁤ the main idea. Use clear and‍ varied sentence structures to maintain‌ the reader’s interest. ⁣

Another valuable exercise is peer editing.⁤ Collaborate with fellow writers or⁢ join an ​online writing community to ⁤get feedback on‍ your drafts. Constructive criticism ‍can help you identify ‍blindspots and enhance ​your ⁢editing skills. Consider joining a writing workshop ⁤or ⁢taking a course to get expert guidance on editing techniques. Remember, ⁣the more you practice,‍ the more proficient you will become in polishing your ⁢articles​ to perfection!

• Read your⁤ articles aloud to check for any awkward ​phrasing or lack of ‌clarity.
• Ensure a clear⁣ and logical structure in ‍your ‍writing, with each paragraph supporting the main‌ idea.
• Experiment ⁢with different ‍sentence ​structures ​to maintain reader interest.
• Solicit​ feedback from peers ⁤or join ‌a writing ‌community for constructive ‌criticism.
• Consider taking a writing ⁢workshop or course to learn ⁤advanced editing techniques.

With dedication ‌and ⁢practice,‍ you’ll‍ be well on your​ way⁤ to becoming a skilled editor who can transform any article into a polished ‌masterpiece.

Q:⁢ What are news writing practice exercises? A: ​News ​writing practice⁢ exercises⁣ are activities designed to enhance your‍ journalism ⁢skills by providing​ practical and ⁤hands-on experience in ​crafting news articles.

Q: Why are ​news⁣ writing‌ practice exercises important for aspiring ⁢journalists? A: ⁣News writing practice exercises are crucial for aspiring journalists because they allow ⁤individuals‍ to⁢ refine their writing style, improve their storytelling‍ abilities, and‌ develop an understanding of the ​essential ⁣elements involved in news reporting.

Q: How ‍can news writing practice ​exercises help improve my journalism skills? A:​ By engaging in news‌ writing ‌practice exercises, ​you can improve your ability ⁣to gather ⁣relevant information, structure your articles effectively, and⁤ communicate news stories ⁣in a clear‍ and engaging⁢ manner,​ all of ​which are essential skills for ​a successful journalist.

Q: What‌ types ‌of exercises‌ can ⁣I do to enhance my news writing skills? A: There are several ⁣exercises you can try. For ⁣instance,⁣ you can practice summarizing complex news stories into ​concise ⁢paragraphs,​ conducting interviews⁢ and writing feature stories, ‌or‍ even simulating ⁣breaking ‌news situations to practice quick ⁣and accurate reporting.

Q: Can these exercises‌ be done‌ individually or in a group? A:‌ News writing practice⁣ exercises can ⁤be‍ done​ both individually and in a group. Some⁢ exercises,⁢ such as summarizing news⁣ stories, can be done independently, while others, like ​conducting interviews,​ can benefit ⁢from ⁤group collaboration and⁣ feedback.

Q: Is it necessary to ‍have a background⁤ in journalism to benefit⁢ from these exercises? A:⁤ No, you‌ don’t need to have a ‍background‍ in journalism ⁣to benefit from ⁢news ‍writing practice exercises.⁤ These‍ exercises are⁣ designed⁤ to help anyone‍ interested⁣ in improving their⁢ news writing skills, regardless of their experience⁤ level.

Q: Are⁤ there any online resources ⁤or courses available for news ⁢writing practice exercises? A: ⁤Yes, there are ⁤numerous online⁤ resources and courses⁢ available that provide⁣ news writing practice exercises. These resources often include step-by-step guides, ⁤interactive⁣ exercises, ‌and feedback opportunities to help you hone your journalism skills.

Q:‍ How often should I practice ‌news⁤ writing exercises? A: The frequency of⁤ news writing practice⁣ exercises ‌largely depends on⁤ your ⁤personal‍ goals and schedule. However, it is recommended to​ set aside regular ‌time for practice, whether it’s daily,‌ weekly, or⁣ bi-weekly, to ensure consistent and gradual improvement.

Q: Can ‌news writing ​practice exercises help‌ me‍ enhance my career prospects in journalism? A:‌ Yes, news writing practice exercises can significantly enhance your career prospects in journalism.⁣ By honing your ⁤news writing skills, ‌you improve your chances of successfully landing internships, freelance assignments, or even full-time ​journalism positions.

Q: Are news‌ writing practice exercises only ⁤beneficial‌ for aspiring journalists or can professionals ​also benefit from them? A: News⁣ writing‍ practice ⁢exercises can‌ be ⁢beneficial for ‍both⁢ aspiring journalists and professionals alike. Even experienced journalists can benefit from refining their ⁢writing style, keeping up​ with⁤ evolving industry⁤ practices, and staying⁢ sharp in their skills.

In conclusion, regular news writing practice ​exercises are essential for journalists​ to ‍enhance their ⁣skills and stay updated in an evolving field.

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How to Write a News Script for TV News

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Be Sure to Write for the Ear

Avoid the passive voice, use present tense wherever possible, write stories for people, befriend action verbs, be careful with numbers, sell the story, move the story forward, different parts of a script.

• Mercer University

Writing a TV news script is a lot harder than you might think. Even those skilled in journalism struggle if they have to turn a story meant to be read into a tight script that needs to be heard. However, you can perfect your TV news writing style if you learn the basics.

Always read your script out loud in a conversational tone so you can judge if an audience will be able to understand it. Unlike a newspaper story, your broadcast audience only gets one chance to understand your story.

Also, beware of words that sound alike but mean different things. For instance, words like cite" might be confused with "site" or "sight" and should be avoided . You may have noticed when listening to a newscast that short sentences are easier to digest than long-winded sentences. Just be sure to make your sentences sound lively and interesting—as opposed to flat and monotone.

Passive voice writing jumbles up the usual sequence of subject, verb, object in active voice writing. This sounds like a lesson from English class, but it really makes a critical difference in broadcast news writing .

An active voice helps distinguish between verbs and subjects. For example, an active sentence would be, "The burglar fired the gun," as opposed to a passive sentence such as, "The gun was fired by the burglar." You can see in the passive sentence that viewers have to wait until the end of the line to know who did what.

TV news is timely as opposed to print news writing that relates a bigger story, putting facts and information into context. In other words, a 6 p.m. newscast must sound fresh and "of the moment." You need to bring the viewer into the news piece as it's unfolding.

For example, let's look at a mayor's news conference that you covered at 2 p.m. that afternoon to appear on the nightly news. You might want to write, "Mayor Johnson held a news conference earlier today."

However, if you shift the focus of the sentence to the subject of the news conference, you end up putting the sentence in the present tense. This gives it more immediacy and makes it sound less stale. For example, "Mayor Johnson says he intends to slash local taxes by 20 percent. Johnson made the announcement at a news conference."

That example above works because it starts out in the present tense and creates the hook, then shifts to past tense.

It's easy to get mired in what your writing and forget who you're writing for—the people watching your newscast. Viewers need to feel your stories are directed at them, or else they'll turn away. When writing, it's a good idea to pretend that someone is sitting across from you. Direct the story to them.

Let's say your local department of transportation announces plans to overhaul several major thoroughfares in need of repair. Don't just present the institutional information the DOT provided you with. Transform the information into something of consequence for the viewers at home.

For example, you can say, "Your drive to work or school will soon be smoother, thanks to a big project by the DOT to fill in potholes and uneven streets suffering from wear and tear." This way you've telling viewers how an upcoming project will change their lives—for the better.

In news writing, verbs are your best friend. Verbs are the part of speech that adds life and verve to your stories.

For instance. Instead of saying, "Residents are requesting information." Say something like, "Residents want to know." That slight change makes the information more compelling.

If you can, always avoid words like "is, are, was, and were." All of these dilute the impact of the action. "

Numbers are hard to absorb, especially if there are a lot of them. Try to make your point with a number or two, then move on.

"The company's profit was $10,470,000, then fell to $5,695,469 a year later," is just too much information. "The company's profit was about 10 and-a-half million dollars, then fell to about half that the following year." The last example gives the viewer the information without having to listen to every last digit.

In most cities, there may be only one or two local newspapers but several TV stations all vying for an audience. That means a news writer has to be a salesperson and sell the product as something superior to the competition.

"When the school board said there wasn't any money for classroom computers, we decided to dig for answers." A line like that demonstrates that the news team is aggressive, and is taking action to get to the truth. The viewer likes this story because he or she feels someone is championing for them. It personalizes it and brings it home—even if a viewer doesn't have children.

If you can combat the perception that all newscasts are the same by leading the segment with, "We have an NBC exclusive of Kim Kardashian with the woman she got pardoned from prison," viewers will flock to your TV station because you've set yourself apart.

A good TV news story ends telling the audience what will happen next.

"The school board will take a vote on whether to cut teachers' pay at its next meeting a week from today" doesn't leave the audience hanging and, it forces viewers to tune in next week.

If you wrap-up the segment with, "We will be at that meeting and tell you the outcome of the vote," your viewers know your news team is on top of the story.

Let's look at five steps you can take to break down a TV News script. A good example is Pope Benedict's retirement announcement because it was a historic event—no matter what religion you practice. If the story looks at footage of people responding to the Pope's retirement in St. Petersburg Square, you could write the script as follows:

• The first line informs the audience about the main point of the story. If you only had one line to tell your story, it would be, "Pilgrims began arriving at St. Peter’s Square on Monday, February 11, following an announcement by Pope Benedict that he's resigning at the end of the month."
• Provide a line or two of background information that adds context to your first line. For example, "The 85-year-old German-born pontiff said he is no longer strong enough to fulfill the duties of his office, becoming the first pope since the Middle Ages to take such a step."
• Next, go back to the pictures being broadcast and what's happening in your story as the news of the Pope's retirement spreads. You could say, "Thousands of people from all over began arriving at St. Peter’s Square."
• Next, expand on the scene by saying, "People of all religions prayed for the pope and wished him well.
• Last, wrap-up the story with concrete information. For example, "The Vatican's spokesman said the pope would step down at 1900 GMT on February 28."

Video may seem like the sexy part of a newscast, but it's the crisp news writing that brings it to life and brings in a bigger audience.

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Before you can be a good journalist, you must first be a good writer. This means you must know how to put words together so that they make sense, flow, and are correctly punctuated. Another important element of news writing is grammar and style. Grammar is the structure of the writing that takes into account the syntax and linguistics, while style is the writing's distinctive appearance and sound . Grammar is decided according to hard and fast rules, but style is more personal and puts your mark on the piece of work. Although very different, they are both essential to quality work and will be discussed together in this section. Please note that this section is meant to refresh your basic grammar skills, and is not comprehensive.

There are few things that will turn a reader away quicker than poor writing. Grammar is the most basic example of this: When words are misspelled, or there is a mismatch between nouns and the proper tense of verbs, or you have used punctuation incorrectly – you are going to lose your audience faster than if you wrote something that offended them on a personal level. Why? Because they'll never get to a point where they will read the content. Poor grammar marks you as an amateur, and you won't be long for the newsroom with that label! So let's conduct a crash course in grammar!

The basic parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

A noun is a person, place or thing.

Examples of a person: doctor, lawyer, man, woman

Examples of a place: hospital, playground, living room, outer space

Examples of a thing: toy, hammer, automobile, microscope

A noun can be singular or "one."

A noun can be plural or "more than one."

Examples of a singular noun: girl, house, pen, motor

Examples of plural nouns: girls, houses, pens, motors

A noun can be proper . That means it names something specific. They begin with capital letters.

Examples of a proper noun: Tom Jones, Mississippi, Washington Monument, Big Mac

Collective nouns are a group.

Examples of a collective noun: government, team.

If the group acts as a single entity you use a single verb. The government is in charge.

If group members act individually you use a plural verb. The team members said they will lose.

Examples of subject pronouns that come before the verb: I, you, he, she, we, they, it

I am going to work. You are going to work. He is going to work. She is going to work. We are going to work. They are going to work. It is going to work.

Examples of object pronouns that come after the verb: me, you, them, us,

Mary followed me to school. Mary followed you to school. Mary followed them to school. Mary followed us to school. Mary followed it to school.

*Know when to use its and it's.

its shows possession.

Example : That is its home.

it's is short for the words it is

Example : It's going to be a great day!

Example of an action verb: ran, jump, think, cry, yell

I ran up the hill. You jump on the chair. They think about their mother.

Example of a state of being verb: is, are, was, were

Examples of an adjective: big, small, fast, slow, yellow,

That is a big balloon. That is a small balloon. That is a fast balloon. That is a slow balloon. That is a yellow balloon.

Examples of an adverb: hardly, barely, sadly, simply

Begin each sentence with a capital letter. T rains are an interesting way to travel.

Use a period at the end of a statement. Trains are an interesting way to travel .

Use a question mark at the end of a question. Are trains an interesting way to travel ?

Use an exclamation mark to indicate excitement. Trains are an interesting way to travel !

A comma ( , ) is used to indicate a pause between parts of a sentence or items in a list.

Joan bought apples , peaches , and bananas at the store.

In the scheme of things , is it more important to reflect , or to forge head on into the future?

Use a colon ( : ) at the beginning of a list or to separate a quote from the speaker.

The losers were: Thomas Paine, Henry James, and Samuel Patterson.

Judge Thompson said: "Don't drink and drive again or you will go to jail."

Use a semi-colon ( ; ) to separate phrases with commas in them.

The DIY instructors are: Micah, knitting; Ralph, decoupage; and Martin, woodworking.

An apostrophe ( ‘) can show possession or indicate missing letters or numbers.

Jim ' s shoe is untied. The ‘49ers are going to go all the way this year!

A hyphen ( - ) ties words together while a dash ( - ) is used for emphasis.

My mother-in-law is always calling – and it drives me crazy.

Quotation marks are used to enclose the actual words of a speaker.

" Let's keep driving till we reach the end of the road, " John said.

Other basic rules of writing include:

Make sure that each sentence has a subject and a verb. That makes it complete. If you are missing either one of these components then you end up with a fragment and not a full sentence. Sometimes writers try to put too many ideas into on sentence making it a run-on. Read through your sentences as you finish them to make sure they make sense.

A paragraph is the basic component of journalistic writing. It is several sentences on the same subject put together. An article is a series of paragraphs on the same subject, but each paragraph offers different specific points. A paragraph begins with an opening sentence, and the following three to five sentences offer supporting details about the opening sentence. These form the body of the paragraph. Finally, there is a concluding sentence.

Here is an example of a paragraph about famous landmarks.

There are several famous landmarks in our area that bring thousands of tourists here every year. Some people come to see the natural, soaring peaks that ring the western border of the state. Others come to enjoy the clear blue waters of Everywhere Lake. They fish, swim, kayak, and boat. Still other visitors bring their camping gear and hiking equipment, so they can enjoy the many parks that are open to the public. Our popular sites are a great source of income for the government and citizens.

Can you pick out the opening statement? Of course, "There are several famous landmarks in our area that bring thousands of tourists here every year."

Do you recognize the body of the paragraph – or the supporting details in the next three sentences? "Some people come to see the natural soaring peaks … Others come to enjoy the blue waters …They fish, swim, and kayak… Still other visitors bring their camping gear…"

The concluding statement is the wrap-up, or indicates that the paragraph is complete. "Our popular sites are a great source of income for the government and citizens."

The journalist should practice writing paragraphs using this structure: opening statement, three to five supporting details, concluding statement.

Paragraphs are the building blocks of articles. When combined with other writing techniques the journalist should become skilled at creating original and informative work.

Writing Style

Writing style is the way writers compose their work. It may be formal or conversational, but over time, as the writer hones his or her craft, it is a reflection of their personality and the way they interact with the audience. A writer's ability and tendency to pen a written piece that sounds uniquely like him or herself is known as voice. Tone is the attitude that shines through the words. For example, the tone of a piece of writing may be funny or serious, emotional or dispassionate. That would depend on the purpose of the writing. Sometimes, tones may be interwoven, such as when giving a speech. The speaker does not want to be too boring, so he or she may break up the oration with bits of humor. At the same time, they may want to be informative, so the writing would be instructive.

Style is one of the most difficult and elusive components of the writing process to understand, yet is the very essence of what makes good – nay, exceptional – writing that touches the reader. Let us consider the elements of style in greater depth in this section.

First, the journalist should write in an active voice, if at all possible. That means there is a subject of the sentence that precipitates action; the action is not done to someone. For example:

The writer won the Pulitzer Prize.

NOT: The Pulitzer Prize was won by the writer.

OR: The doctor operated on the child's liver.

NOT: The child's liver was operated on by the doctor.

Do you see the difference? The sentence jumps into action by saying who did what.

Now, of course, not every sentence can be written this way – and when you are writing in-depth articles or investigative pieces, you will want to pepper the writing with different sentence lengths and structures. But, for the beginning journalist, entering hard hitting news, relying on the active voice in your writing will serve you well.

Next, one of the hardest parts of explaining style is teaching the writer about "voice." Voice is your personal thumb print on the writing. It sounds like you are talking, only the words are not coming from your mouth, they are appearing on the paper. Still, the reader can imagine the person behind the words, The reader feels like you are right there talking to him or her, and that you care very much about the subject on which you are writing.

Teaching a journalist to write with voice – and style - is very challenging. After all, the aim of most articles is to deliver information without bias or opinion; yet when the opportunity presents itself to let the reader see who you are behind the writing – it is a good way to develop an audience and develop the skill. Think about some of your favorite writers. You can probably identify their work, even if you were not told they penned it. That is because their voice shines through. Now, there is no doubt this is easier to do in fiction, but there are also opportunities in journalism. For example, human interest stories, narratives, and investigative work offer the writer opportunity and license to make the work more personal, by letting just a hint of you, the writer, shine through.

It is possible to learn how to become an engaging journalistic writer, whose work is not only functional and effective, but brilliant. There are two things you must do to become masterful in the craft – read. And write. There is no way around it. And we are not talking about reading online news. We are talking about reading lengthy pieces of writing. Books. Textbooks, nonfiction books, fiction books. That is the only way you will develop an ability to string words together – by having those very tracks laid down in your brain, as an example. When you read, you are working the muscles of your mind – and that is essential; it is nothing short of a requirement to becoming a good writer. But, then, so is writing. You are not going to wake up one day and be a good writer, if you have not practiced and practiced. Every professional must practice their craft and the same is true of the journalist. It can be a lonely existence, to be sure. But if you have chosen to write for a living, it is the only way to get there.

The world of writing is filled with average, adequate journalists – brilliant ones are one in a million, and news organizations that are lucky enough to land one will do just about anything to keep them. These are the writers with bylines and popular followings – and that translates into subscription and advertising dollars. It also translates into substantial salaries for exceptional writers, and while we enter the field of journalism with the most altruistic of intentions, everyone has to make a living!

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The Best Way for a Reporter to Cover a Speech

Watch for the Unexpected

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Covering speeches, lectures and forums – any live event that basically involves people talking - might seem easy at first. After all, you just have to stand there and take down what the person says, right?

In fact, covering speeches can be tricky for the beginner. Indeed, there are two big mistakes novice reporters make when covering a speech or lecture for the first time.

• They don't get enough direct quotes (in fact, I've seen speech stories with no direct quotes at all.)
• They cover the speech chronologically , writing it out in the order it occurred like a stenographer would. That's the worst thing you can do when covering a speaking event.

So here are some tips on how to cover a speech the right way, the very first time you do it. Follow these, and you'll avoid a tongue-lashing from an angry editor.

Report Before You Go

Get as much information as you can before the speech. This initial reporting should answer such questions as: What’s the topic of the speech? What’s the background of the speaker? What’s the setting or reason for the speech? Who’s likely to be in the audience?

Write Background Copy Ahead of Time

Having done your pre-speech reporting, you can bang out some background copy for your story even before the speech begins. This is especially helpful if you’ll be writing on a tight deadline . Background material, which typically goes at the bottom of your story, includes the kind of information you gathered in your initial reporting – the background of the speaker, the reason for the speech, etc.

Take Great Notes

This goes without saying. The more thorough your notes , the more confident you’ll be when you write your story.

Get The “Good” Quote

Reporters often talk about getting a “good” quote from a speaker, but what do they mean? Generally, a good quote is when someone says something interesting, and says it in an interesting way. So be sure to take down plenty of direct quotes in your notebook so you'll have plenty to choose from when you write your story .

Forget Chronology

Don’t worry about the chronology of the speech. If the most interesting thing the speaker says comes at the end of his speech, make that your lede. Likewise, if the most boring stuff comes at the start of the speech, put that at the bottom of your story – or leave it out entirely .

Get The Audience Reaction

After the speech ends, always interview a few audience members to get their reaction. This can sometimes be the most interesting part of your story.

Watch For The Unexpected

Speeches are generally planned events, but it’s the unexpected turn of events that can make them really interesting. For instance, does the speaker say something especially surprising or provocative? Does the audience have a strong reaction to something the speaker says? Does an argument ensue between the speaker and an audience member? Watch for such unplanned, unscripted moments – they can make an otherwise routine story interesting.

Get a Crowd Estimate

Every speech story should include a general estimate of how many people are in the audience. You don’t need an exact number, but there’s a big difference between an audience of 50 and one of 500. Also, try to describe the general makeup of the audience. Are they college students? Senior citizens? Business people?

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President Biden holding news conference tonight. Here's how to watch from Florida

President Joe Biden will hold a press conference tonight, his first since his debate with  former President Donald Trump two weeks ago.

Since the June 27 debate, Biden, 81, has faced mounting calls to step down from the Democratic nomination, including from within his own party .

➤ Live updates: Biden at NATO summit. Press conference set for Thursday night

Actor George Clooney, a self-described lifelong Democrat and public supporter of Biden, wrote in an op-ed piece July 10: “We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate.” The piece was published in the New York Times.

The press conference is part of a NATO summit marking the 75th anniversary of the alliance, which Biden is hosting in Washington, D.C.

Here's how to watch the press conference in Florida.

What time is President Biden's live news conference today, July 11?

President Joe Biden will field questions at 6:30 p.m. EST today, Thursday, July 11, 2024.

Where will the Biden press conference be held tonight?

Biden's news conference is scheduled to take place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Allen Y. Lew Place, in Washington, D.C.

How to watch Biden's 1st news conference since debate with Donald Trump

Television networks are expected to interrupt scheduling programming to air Biden's news conference tonight.

USAT Today will livestream the event on YouTube.

It also will be livestreamed from whitehouse.gov/live .

Biden facing mounting pressure to drop out of presidential race

Sen. Michael Bennett , D-Colorado, gave a blistering assessment of Biden's reelection bid in a Tuesday night CNN interview, warning Trump could defeat the incumbent Democrat "by a landslide and take with it the Senate and the House."

Wednesday morning, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California,  seemed to question whether Biden should remain  the Democratic nominee during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run," Pelosi said. "We're all encouraging him to make that decision. Because time is running short.”

Biden firm in saying he will remain in presidential race

President Joe Biden  told congressional Democrats in a letter July 1 he is  not dropping out of the 2024 race.

"I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump," Biden wrote.

In an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos , Biden said it would take the "Lord Almighty" telling him to quit for him to leave the race.

In 2020 race between Biden and Trump, how did Florida vote?

Donald Trump won Florida with 51.2% of the vote. Here's the breakdown:

• Trump: 5,668,731 votes; 51.2%
• Biden: 5,297,045; 47.9%

See the election results by county.

Contributors: Chris Sims, Joey Garrison, Ken Tran, Sudiksha Kochi, Jeremy Yurow, Rachel Berry, Rebecca Morin and Savannah Kuchar, USA TODAY Network

Liberal justices say Trump immunity decision 'will have disastrous consequences' for the U.S.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court's liberal bloc issued blistering dissents Monday in the Trump immunity ruling , arguing that it "reshapes the institution of the presidency" and "makes a mockery" of the constitutional principle that no man is above the law.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, reading her dissent from the bench, said that "relying on little more than its own misguided wisdom ... the Court gives former President Trump all the immunity he asked for and more."

She added that "because our Constitution does not shield a former President from answering for criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent."

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on ideological lines that former President Donald Trump has immunity for some of his conduct as president but not unofficial acts in the federal election interference case. The court did not determine what constitutes an "official" act in this case, leaving that to the lower court.

Follow live updates on the Trump immunity hearing

The decision adds another hurdle and further delay to special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of the former president. Trump was indicted last year on charges he conspired to "overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election."

Sotomayor said that the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, invents "an atextual, ahistorical, and unjustifiable immunity that puts the President above the law."

Their ruling, she went on, makes three moves that she said "completely insulate Presidents from criminal liability." Sotomayor said the court creates absolute immunity for the president's exercise of "core constitutional powers," creates "expansive immunity for all 'official acts,'" and "declares that evidence concerning acts for which the President is immune can play no role in any criminal prosecution against him."

Sotomayor warned that the ruling "will have disastrous consequences for the Presidency and for our democracy" and that it sends the message: “Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends.”

She added, “Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done. The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”

In her own written dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that the majority's ruling "breaks new and dangerous ground."

"Departing from the traditional model of individual accountability, the majority has concocted something entirely different: a Presidential accountability model that creates immunity—an exemption from criminal law — applicable only to the most powerful official in our Government," she wrote.

Jackson warned that under the majority's "new Presidential accountability mode," a hypothetical president "who admits to having ordered the assassinations of his political rivals or critics...or one who indisputably instigates an unsuccessful coup...has a fair shot at getting immunity."

The chief justice dismissed the dissents, suggesting that his three liberal colleagues had misinterpreted the majority's opinion and were engaging in "fear mongering." Roberts argued that they "strike a tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the Court actually does today." He wrote that "like everyone else, the President is subject to prosecution in his unofficial capacity."

He also appeared to scoff at Sotomayor for what she included in her dissent, saying that her "most compelling piece of evidence consists of excerpted statements of Charles Pinckney from an 1800 Senate debate." He continued, "But those statements reflect only the now-discredited argument that any immunity not expressly mentioned in the Constitution must not exist."

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in a concurring opinion that she agreed with some of the majority opinion but not all of it. Notably, she said she agreed with Sotomayor that Trump’s immune conduct should still be allowed to be used as evidence in his trial.

“The Constitution does not require blinding juries to the circumstances surrounding conduct for which Presidents can be held liable,” she said.

Soon after the court issued the ruling, Trump celebrated the decision on his Truth Social account, writing in all caps: "Big win for our Constitution and democracy. Proud to be an American!"

A Biden campaign adviser, on the other hand, said that the ruling doesn't change what happened on Jan. 6, 2021.

"Donald Trump snapped after he lost the 2020 election and encouraged a mob to overthrow the results of a free and fair election," the adviser said. "Trump is already running for president as a convicted felon for the very same reason he sat idly by while the mob violently attacked the Capitol: he thinks he’s above the law and is willing to do anything to gain and hold onto power for himself."

Rebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.

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Writing to the beat of your inner Miles Davis

Jesse McCarthy sees Black authors during Cold War philosophically opting for none of the above, and improvising their own way

Nikki Rojas

Harvard Staff Writer

Legendary jazz musician Miles Davis, who brought introspection to the more frenetic bebop style, was known for turning his back to the audience while playing, as if pulling into his own world to work out his musical ideas.

Jesse McCarthy noted a similar inward turn in Black writing during this same period. It was an observation that gave the associate professor of English and African and African American Studies a “logical touchstone” for his new book, “The Blue Period: Black Writing in the Early Cold War” — its title inspired by Davis, whose records include “Blue Period” (1953), “Blue Moods” (1955), and “Kind of Blue” (1959).

“There is a long tradition of binding Black literary expression to its musical counterpart,” he wrote.

McCarthy saw in the writing from 1945 to 1965 a marked shift as Black authors battled contradicting political ideologies — American liberalism versus Soviet communism — neither of which represented or served their needs.

This is particularly evident in Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks’ 1953 novel “Maud Martha,” according to McCarthy. The tale traces the coming of age of its titular heroine, a Black working-class girl growing up in Depression-era Chicago with its day-to-day racial, class, and gender prejudices and limitations.

“Yet Maud is principally characterized by the qualities of her imagination and the independence of her intellectual life,” McCarthy explained. “That doesn’t mean that Brooks is inattentive to the social realist elements that condition her existence. She is, but Brooks does not allow those aspects to upstage our interest in the avowed autonomy of Maud’s interior life, her imagination, and her intellectual ambition.”

“There is a long tradition of binding Black literary expression to its musical counterpart.” Jesse McCarthy

He said, “The emphasis that novel places on Maud’s subjectivity, the intensity with which it’s committed to it, but also in which it seems to believe in it as a source of resistance, is a characteristic quality of Black writing in this era, which is reimagining a form of political resistance, and trying to capture certain kinds of consciousness, affects, and attitudes, that have emerged precisely from those elements of lived experience that the political ideologies on offer could not account for.”

“The Blue Period” emerged from McCarthy’s dissertation work as a graduate student at Princeton University. While there, he noticed that accounts of African American literary history — including the Harlem Renaissance, Popular Front, and Black Arts Movement — fail to account for what was going on during a crucial period following the end of World War II.

“When we turn to this era and look for representative Black writers, we always turn to the same one or two figures,” McCarthy said, noting that Ralph Ellison’s writing dominates the area of study. “I really wanted the book to allow us to see how rich and varied this period is with your lesser-known writers, who nonetheless produced really interesting and, in many cases, unjustly neglected work.”

The 1930s saw a surge of global interest in communism, including among Black writers. Many of them, such as Édouard Glissant, Vincent O. Carter, and Paule Marshall, were nurtured or at least inspired by the organized left and by the ideals of the Communist Revolution, he noted.

“Many people saw it as the only alternative to fascism, which was on the rise in Europe. That meant that you had an entire generation of Black writers who were cultivated on the left socially,” McCarthy said. “They also were drawn to the ideology of the left because it offered a way to think about racism, primarily through the lens of class.”

The popularity of communism in the United States crumbled following World War II amid the rise of communist states across Eastern Europe, China, and Cuba. During the Cold War, Americans on the left felt obliged to either align themselves with the nation’s brand of liberalism or Soviet communism, a choice many Black writers found impossible.

Writer Richard Wright became deeply disillusioned with the Stalinist drift of the Communist Party. However, the “Native Son” author felt he couldn’t fall back on the American liberal position, “especially as a Black writer with a social and militant consciousness, from his point of view, America doesn’t represent freedom any more than the tyrannical Soviet Union,” according to McCarthy.

Increasingly, Black writers found themselves “interested in trying to think about what it would mean to write from a position that sees both of these alternatives as radically insufficient,” McCarthy noted.

This led them to experimentation with tropes of “retreat, themes of alienation, and an emphasis on the exploration of states of interiority and dissident consciousness” as they sought to reimagine what a relationship to radical politics might look like.

McCarthy concludes “The Blue Period” by asking what it means to write for a future world, a question McCarthy suggested could find echoes in aspects of the current political atmosphere in the U.S.

“One of the structuring principles at play here for these writers is what it means to write in a time that feels like a historical impasse,” he said. “When none of the politics that are available to you match your aspirations and don’t fit into your conceptions of who you are, to live and write from a position without any horizon of hope — something of that is with us again.”

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A viral photo identified as Biden’s speechwriting team explains so much

In November 1863, while traveling on a train from D.C. to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and experiencing the early stages of a mild case of smallpox, Abraham Lincoln handwrote the Gettysburg Address. Joe Biden is no Lincoln, and you can bet your bottom dollar that he’s not writing his own speeches. Instead, he has a staff that puts words into his mouth. That’s why a photo posted by the White House Director of Broadcast Media showing his communications staff goes a long way to defining the Biden White House.

I believe that Revolver News published the original viral tweet:

This is reportedly Biden’s speechwriting team pic.twitter.com/8w7pUbOQVd if(page_width_onload '); googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1609270365559-0'); }); } — Revolver News (@RevolverNewsUSA) July 6, 2024

That is a fascinating photo. Because it’s so crowded, I broke it down by apparent race and gender (although, nowadays, one can never tell how people “identify”):

Of the 15 people crowded into that shot, I see five white women and three white men; three black women and one black man; one possibly Hispanic woman and one possibly Hispanic man; and one woman who might identify as Asian. All look to be near or under 30 years old.

The room looks exactly like a staff meeting at the Harvard Crimson or some other campus newspaper. Or perhaps it’s a staff meeting at SNL. In other words, it is a microcosm of the young left.

We know who these young people are. They’re college graduates with degrees in journalism, political science, communications, or some sort of “studies” (e.g., gender, womyn’s, etc.). They are committed to open borders, DEI, CRT, BLM, LGBTQ+, climate change madness, a government-controlled economy, Ukraine, socialized medicine, unlimited abortion, and “Free Palestine.” And the women are crazy. Yes, maybe that last sounds like a stretch, but we’ve seen what leftism does to women, and it’s not pretty.

The picture is such a painfully obvious stereotype that I assumed it was a fake. However, I’ve traced its origin, and it seems to be real.

The original image comes from the personal account of Muriel Chase :

As you can see, the image is dated March 7. As it happened, March 7 was Joe Biden’s State of the Union address , something that a speechwriting team would celebrate. So, who is Muriel Chase? She’s a “ White House Special Assistant to the President and Director of Broadcast Media ”:

The two people she tags in the tweet are also in the White House communications department. Jennifer Molina is the “Deputy Communications Director” and Erika Trombley is the “Director of Consumer Media.”

I’d say, then, that the image is real. These people are the ones putting words in Biden’s mouth. They are both foot soldiers and, at a guess, policymakers. I say the last because they are the living embodiment of the modern Democrat party: shiny pretty Marxists who are mostly cat ladies.

The image, of course, is going viral because everybody understands what they are seeing. These are the people in charge in America. It’s a terrifying thought:

That feeling when Biden’s speechwriting team looks exactly how you thought it would. pic.twitter.com/JZiAUqM9Z2 — Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) July 6, 2024

🚨🇺🇸BIDEN'S ALLEGED SPEECH WRITING TEAM RAISES EYEBROWS A photo circulating on X purportedly shows Biden's speech writing team. And let's just say, if this is indeed the group responsible for crafting the president's remarks, it certainly provides an, ahem, interesting… pic.twitter.com/fDp6rd0nt4 — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 7, 2024

Biden's speechwriting team. Very soon some of them will start leaking the secrets pic.twitter.com/kZlq6K4Y5r — Russian Market (@runews) July 7, 2024

Biden’s speechwriting team looks like the type of team that would write the final season of Game of Thrones pic.twitter.com/HbkZqtb3pw — Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) July 7, 2024

Remember: In November, a vote for anyone other than Trump is a vote for Biden’s speechwriting team.

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What time is Joe Biden's first post-debate press conference? How to stream NATO remarks

President Joe Biden will host his first post-debate press conference tonight as part of the 2024 NATO summit in D.C., as he seeks to prove to world leaders and voters alike that he is prepared to lead the country for another four years. The press conference, which will air at 6:30 p.m. EDT, is Biden’s first since November 2023 and will serve as a test of how well he can perform in an unscripted environment. 

Live Updates: Joe Biden will speak at a press conference as pressure mounts on 2024 bid

In the wake of Biden’s disastrous debate appearance two weeks ago, several donors and leading Democratic figures have raised questions about whether he should remain on the ballot, with some calling for him to drop out of the race entirely. However, most Democrats in Congress, which reconvened this week, have reiterated their support for Biden − even as many express grave concerns about his chances of beating Trump. 

Biden’s appearance tonight at the Washington summit marking the 75th anniversary of the NATO alliance will mark his 37th press conference and 15th solo press conference since he took office, CNN reported . So far in 2024, he has held three press conferences, but all were in conjunction with other world leaders.  To watch the press conference, you can watch USA TODAY's live stream starting at 6:30 EDT.

Contributing: Gabe Hauari, Anthony Robledo, Joey Garrison, Ken Tran, Riley Beggin and Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY  

Maya Homan is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on Georgia politics. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, as @MayaHoman.