Teaching Audio, part 9 -- Newscasts and Stacking the News

LEARN BY TRANSCRIBING

The best way to learn some of the fine art of newscasting is by listening to newscasts and transcribing them, and then practicing your own. The writing needs to be short and punchy. Audio which is used needs to be dramatic and newsworthy. Stories have to be well chosen, newsworthy and in logical order for your audience. Here are some audio newscasts from top news organizations .... http://www.cbsnews.com/radio/ (bottom right of webpage), http://abcnewsradioonline.com/ and http://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/ (top NPR hourly news summary). Here's a local newscast station from Reno .... koh … http://www.kkoh.com/ (look for local news).

STACKING THE NEWS

Stacking the news means what order stories will be aired ... Here is a great lesson on "stacking the news" ... http://schoolvideonews.com/Broadcast-Journalism/Stacking-the-News . Here's a book chapter on producing a newscast, from story selection to finish.

DON'T WASTE WORDS AND TIME

Time is important and a finite resource... so use it wisely ....Look at your competitors to see what they are covering, but if you do a similar story, make sure to have an updated version, with your own reporting if possible. Here are main sources in Reno ... ktvn website …http://www.ktvn.com/, krnv …http://www.mynews4.com/default.aspx, kolo …http://www.kolotv.com/, rgj … http://www.rgj.com/, and kunr …http://kunr.org/. Also make sure to use "news google".

BASIC NEWSCAST STRUCTURE

On a normal day, without huge news, it's good to start with a fresh, local story. You want a story which impacts your listeners. Then you can go into state news with local impact or national news with local impact. Then it's good to go for big national / international stories and finishing up with lighter / sports type news. Keep in mind traffic and weather, and often times sports, are usually kept separate from main newscasts. Blending stories is a good idea, whereby if similar themes are involved have the stories go back to back …

If you found this tutorial useful, check out other installments. Here's the full list of chapters from my audio tutorials:

Teaching Audio -- Instilling Passion

Teaching Audio part 1 -- Recording Audio

Teaching Audio part 2 -- Writing for the Ear

Teaching Audio part 3 -- Audio Editing

Teaching Audio part 4 -- Sound Effects, Using Music and Audio Libraries

Teaching Audio part 5 -- Anchor Leads, News Writing, Judgment and Features

Teaching Audio part 6 -- Voicing

Teaching Audio part 7 -- On the Scene Reporting

Teaching Audio part 8 -- Interviews

Teaching Audio part 9 -- Newscasts and Stacking the News

Teaching Audio part 10 -- Commercials

Teaching Audio part 11 -- Raising Your Game

Teaching Audio part 12 -- Podcasting Intro

Teaching Audio part 13 -- Window Dressing

Teaching Audio part 14 -- Podcast Lists

Teaching Audio part 15 -- Big Podcasts, Little City

Teaching Audio part 16 -- Listening to Podcasts and Publishing your Own

Teaching Audio, part 17 -- Joining Podcast Communities

Teaching Audio, part 18 -- Podcasting for PR

Teaching Audio, part 19 -- Promoting Your Podcast

Teaching Audio, part 20 -- Making Money in Podcasting

Teaching Audio, part 21 -- Building a Career in Audio