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"Articles" for script

This week you are going to go through the same process that a person working in broadcast news goes through everyday. You will be broken into broadcasts teams of two people. You will walk into class and be given one section from the textbook to do your news report on. Each "Heading" in your text book should become one news story. You will have one block to research and write. Then you will have 20 minutes to rehearse, 10 minutes to work on last minute timing, and 5 minutes to record. You only get one shot at doing this. There are no re-dos, do overs, or opps I made a mistake edit it out. This idea is based on the information presented in the following post:

http: beyond-school. org/2008/12/07/broadcasting-to-learn/ (note the spaces!)

//That teaching unit I mentioned? I think about it most days as I drive home from work. In a nutshell, it’s this: invite your students to turn your content, whatever your subject matter, into five-minute “top of the hour” newscasts, applying the craft of writing for radio ([|great resource here]), and then// //speaking// for radio. Then have them follow up, at certain points, with “talk radio” in which they discuss and debate their “content news.” In addition to that work-flow’s simple progression from fact-mastery (identify the main ideas of each section of a chapter and distill them into a short, well-crafted //précis) to higher-order thinking (analyze, synthesize, evaluate those main ideas in a natural discussion), there are two more bonuses: first, the technology slice is so simple it’s invisible (in live studio news broadcasts, you only get one chance to announce the news, so for students that means// //hit record, read for five minutes, then wrap by hitting “stop” and call it a day), and technology// //should ideally be as invisible as pen and paper; and second, the activity develops all the real-world skills that come with real journalism and broadcasting (or, as [|Wes Fryer] puts it in regards to podcasting, “narrowcasting”).//

The following is summarized from the above website: Here’s the process we follow at my station. I really think it could be duplicated in an 80-minute block. At work, I do it as part of a team of two. Here it is: 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.: Read newswires (in class, this could be, say, a chapter from a history textbook), select ten articles (sections from the textbook) for the 5-minute 9:00am hourly, divide the labor, then condense those news articles - which read aloud would take two or three minutes each - into crisp little 20-to-30 second summaries of main ideas. That means cutting about 90% of the length, without cutting the important ideas. (In other words, that means: //critical reading// for main ideas.) 8:30 to 8:50 a.m.: Practice reading the scripts, making last-minute adjustments where necessary. Focus on the oral skills here: breath control, pace and pause, acceleration and deceleration, words and phrases to emphasize (just consciously watch or listen to any TV or radio newscaster, and notice how different their speaking is from normal off-air speech). 8:50 to 9:00: Go upstairs to the studio, make sure your pages are in order. 9 to 9:05: Announce the news. No second chances.

Again, the reading, writing, and practicing take 80 minutes - a standard block period. The actual recording would have to be done outside of class (Skype, anyone?).

60 minutes to prepare 20 minutes to practice 5 minutes to announce

For tips check out: http://newscript.com/ The following are some tips from the above website;

Don't "do the police in different voices"
Police officers are taught to describe their investigations in a way that provides specific details of events with the vaguest possible discussions about those whom police believe responsible. This "cop talk" developed from the legal requirements that enforcement officials need to meet in order to make arrests and gain convictions. But "cop talk" is inadequate for reporting on radio.  Here's an example of "cop talk," a story only slightly modified from what was broadcast on a small-market station:   
 * TWO MEN ARE UNDER ARREST FOR ROBBING A JEWELRY STORE. POLICE SAY THE MEN ENTERED THE VILLAGE PAWN SHOP AT 1407 MAIN STREET AT APPROXIMATELY 10:15 YESTERDAY MORNING. AFTER WAITING INSIDE THE STORE FOR A FEW MINUTES, ONE OF THE MEN DISPLAYED A GUN AND ORDERED TWO EMPLOYEES TO PLACE INTO A DUFFEL BAG ALL THE CASH FROM THE REGISTER AS WELL AS SEVERAL ITEMS OF JEWELRY. THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE IN THE STORE AT THE TIME. THE MEN LEFT THE STORE, AND ONE EMPLOYEE WAS ABLE TO SEE THE MEN DRIVE OFF IN A BLUE DODGE ARIES. THE EMPLOYEES NOTIFIED POLICE, AND AT APPROXIMATELY 11 O'CLOCK A VEHICLE MATCHING THE DESCRIPTION OF THE GETAWAY CAR WAS SPOTTED PARKED IN AN ALLEY IN BACK OF A HOUSE AT 684 WILLOW STREET. POLICE ENTERED THE HOUSE WHERE THEY FOUND TWO MEN, AN AMOUNT OF MONEY, AND ITEMS OF JEWELRY LATER IDENTIFIED AS HAVING BEEN TAKEN FROM THE STORE. A COMPUTER CHECK OF THE VEHICLE DETERMINED THAT IT WAS STOLEN. THE MEN WERE IDENTIFIED AS 34-YEAR-OLD MILES STANDISH OF MIDDLEVILLE AND 28-YEAR-OLD JOHN ALDEN OF SMALLTOWN. THE MEN WILL FACE A VARIETY OF CHARGES.

Cut irrelevant details
This script (which runs about 54 seconds) is far too long, with irrelevant details such as the make and model of the getaway car, while the identification of the suspects isn't revealed until the very end. It is obvious that the reporter merely repeated the words of a police officer or of a police press release. Here's a brief rewrite of the script (which now runs 31 seconds):  
 * TWO MEN ARE BEHIND BARS THIS MORNING AFTER AN ARMED ROBBERY OF A MIDDLEVILLE PAWN SHOP. POLICE SAY 34-YEAR-OLD MILES STANDISH OF MIDDLEVILLE AND 28-YEAR-OLD JOHN ALDEN OF SMALLTOWN ROBBED THE VILLAGE PAWN SHOP ON MAIN STREET YESTERDAY, FORCING TWO WORKERS AT GUNPOINT TO STUFF A DUFFEL BAG WITH MONEY AND JEWELRY. THE SUSPECTS WERE LATER ARRESTED IN A HOUSE ON WILLOW STREET AFTER POLICE SAY THEY SPOTTED THE GETAWAY CAR BEHIND THE HOME AND ITEMS TAKEN IN THE HEIST WERE FOUND INSIDE THE HOUSE. STANDISH AND ALDEN ARE EXPECTED TO FACE A VARIETY OF CHARGES.

But don't make the opposite mistake of being too informal
"Cop talk" is predominantly a problem in small-market stations in stories by inexperienced reporters, but the opposite extreme seems to be taking hold in larger markets. Big-city reporters are becoming exceedingly colloquial in their language when covering police stories. Here's an example that aired on a major-market station in New England. The story concerned a stolen minivan in which a mother had left two babies inside. In telling the story the reporter said: 
 * ...A WOMAN LEFT TWO INFANTS IN THE VAN WHILE SHE DROPPED OFF AN OLDER CHILD AT DAYCARE. THE VAN WAS STILL RUNNING, AND MEANWHILE SOME GUY MUST HAVE JUMPED IN AND DROVE OFF. WHEN HE REALIZED THERE WERE TWO INFANTS IN BACK, HE DITCHED THE VAN, AND POLICE ARE NOW SEARCHING FOR THE GUY IN SOME NEARBY WOODS.... BUT THANKFULLY THE KIDS ARE OKAY.

Keep it simple
In your scripts, simple sentences are best. You will, of course, regularly use compound and complex sentences, but the clarity achieved through the use of simple sentences can rarely be surpassed. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;"> Listeners are themselves capable of connecting the elements of a story if the story is presented clearly and concisely, and these listeners expect important news to be reported in simple sentences. This expectation is especially true of leads, which generally should be written as simple sentences.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Avoid your relatives
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Relative clauses, which begin with a relative pronoun or adverb such as "who," "which" or "where," provide additional information about a noun in a sentence. Those relative clauses which interrupt the flow of the sentence should not be used in broadcast newswriting. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">A sentence with an interrupting relative clause should be rewritten into two simple sentences. Take the following example: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">A clearer means of expressing the same information is through two simple sentences: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">
 * FRED GRANDY...WHO PLAYED "GOPHER" ON THE ORIGINAL "LOVEBOAT" T-V SERIES...LATER SPENT 8 YEARS AS A CONGRESSMAN FROM IOWA.
 * FRED GRANDY PLAYED "GOPHER" ON THE ORIGINAL "LOVE BOAT" T-V SERIES. HE LATER SPENT 8 YEARS AS A CONGRESSMAN FROM IOWA.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Keep it fresh
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Tenses of the past should be avoided in leads and teases. Any past action should be described in the perfect tense -- "have/has" + past participle, which often ends in "-ed." <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Better still is the use of the present progressive tense -- "am/are/is" + present participle ending in "-ing" -- to describe an event that has just taken place. Present tenses give immediacy and energy to news writing, allowing listeners to feel that they are hearing about the news as it is taking place.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Differences in style
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">One obvious difference involves numbers. In print style, numbers can be written out to exactitude, while on the radio numbers are reduced to two significant digits. Ages in the newspaper are written between commas after an individual's name; in broadcast style, ages are given as adjectival phrases preceding the name. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Newspaper stories also display a greater use of the past tense. Radio, on the other hand, has an intimate, "you-are-there" quality that is enhanced by the use of the present tense. Newsmakers spoke to newspaper reporters ("Bush said...."); they //speak// to a radio audience ("BUSH SAYS....").

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">The art of condensing
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">The greatest difference involves story length and detail. Print reporters write hundreds, even thousands of words for a particular story. Few, if any, of your stories as a radio reporter should have even a hundred words. Rewriting newspaper stories becomes an art of condensing. Take the following example of a newspaper story from the imaginary //Middleville Times//: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;"> The funding comes from the state's Transportation Enhancement Fund, Whipple said. Built of sandstone in 1834, the bridge is a 285-foot span made up of three arches over Salt Creek on the old route from Middleville to Greenfield. Deterioration of the bridge in recent years has been a worry to local preservationists. The bridge was closed to traffic in 2005. The $200,000 infusion will cover the estimated cost to stabilize the bridge until money can be found to restore it. Permanent repairs could cost as much as $1,750,000, Whipple said. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">The example above is quite short by print standards, but it's far too long for radio. Remember, a radio story without an actuality (a "reader") should generally run about 20 seconds. Get to the heart of your story and leave the additional details out, as in the following 21-second rewrite: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">
 * The crumbling Salt Creek bridge on Old Route 9, considered one of Middle County's most historically significant bridges, will receive a $200,000 grant for repairs from the state Department of Transportation, according to county engineer Squire Whipple.
 * A CRUMBLING HISTORIC BRIDGE IS GETTING SOME LONG-NEEDED REPAIRS TO KEEP IT FROM COLLAPSING INTO SALT CREEK. THE MIDDLEVILLE TIMES REPORTS THE STATE WILL PROVIDE TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO PRESERVE THE OLD-ROUTE 9 BRIDGE BETWEEN MIDDLEVILLE AND GREENFIELD UNTIL MORE MONEY CAN BE FOUND FOR PERMANENT REPAIRS. THE 170-YEAR-OLD STONE BRIDGE HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR THREE YEARS.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Two digits only
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Follow the "two digits only" rule of newswriting: every number must be reduced to two significant digits.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Change pitches
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">Stories begin on a "high" pitch and end on a "low" pitch. In between the pitch modulates from one clause or sentence to the next. Within a clause or sentence, the pitch falls slightly from beginning to end, except in questions, where the pitch rises at the end. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">For example, in a standard, four-sentence script, the pitch begins "high," falling slightly at the end of the first sentence. The second sentence begins at a lower pitch than the end of the first sentence. The third sentence begins at a higher pitch than the //beginning// of the second sentence. The final sentence, like the second sentence, begins at a "low" pitch and gently falls towards the end of the script. Short Version <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva;">