Credit to the Broadcasters!
Broadcasters have a tough job. They work hard to find the information, conduct videos, and report those videos and interviews back to their viewers. What broadcasters do not get enough of is credit from the viewers. If people just stopped and thought about how much work it is to edit a video, write a story, and talk in front of a ton of people then broadcasters would be much more appreciated.
My awesome journalism teacher on the right, Jill Falk.
Broadcast news writers write for the ear. This mean that they give out information, but it is cut into smaller segments so that their audience can understand and comprehend what they are saying. When you read a newspaper or magazine the stories are really long, but if a broadcaster said that much at one time the viewers would be lost and bored because it is just too much to listen to.
The most important thing a broadcaster has to worry about is time. The length of their story does not depend on the word count. It is measured in seconds and minutes. The stories last about 30 seconds. Stories are measured in seconds and minutes. The length of the story is so important to a broadcaster because they also have to show weather, news, sports, and commercials on the news cast. Newscasts usually last either 30 minutes to one hour, and that is such a short amount of time report all of those topics.
Broadcast is a different type of journalism. They have different rules than the rules for print and online journalism. The rules are as followed:
- Write conversationally
- Use short, declarative sentences
- Use present tense
- Avoid abbreviations and symbols
- Spell out numbers
- Add phonetic spelling when possible (Maranda=MAH-ran-DUH)
- Attribution goes at the beginning: “Andre says…”
These rules are necessary to survive in the world of broadcast, and they will also help you to be the best broadcast journalist you could possibly be.
Have you ever wondered how the radio broadcasters know how many people watch a TV show? For example they will say “The World Series game six had 1,000,515 viewers. The first thought that comes to my mind is how the heck do they know this information and find out how many people are watching? Well ladies and gentlemen I have the answer to that question. The answers are sampling, portable people meters, and diaries. Sampling is surveying a handful of watchers and listeners to gauge the habits of a large group. Portable people meters, also known as PPMs, are electronic devices that people wear which detect broadcast digital signals. Diaries are booklets that people fill out, detailing what they are watching or listening to. Another question you might be wondering is why does this matter? The amount of viewers that watch or listen to a show matters because it sets rates for advertisers. If a lot of people watch a TV show or listen to a radio talk show then advertisers are most likely to buy time to put there commercial because they know people will be watching or listening. Two show that have good TV ratings are the Superbowl and the World Series.
Portable People Meter
As you all know we live in a very tough economy where jobs are hard to come by. But do not fear because broadcast journalism jobs are here! Some of the jobs that are offered in the broadcast journalism field are as follows:
- Producer
- Assistant Producer
- Writer
- Editor
- Videographer
- Reporter/Anchor
- Backpack Journalist
- Web Producer
Now you do not have to fret because you now know that somewhere in the world there WILL be a job for YOU.
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