News Writing: When to throw out the Rule book
BiB Contributor | Haley Cihock
I don’t like rules.
(Since I can hear my husband laughing from miles away… Let me clarify:)
Seriously. I’m borderline obsessive/compulsive, but I don’t like rules. I don’t like rules about speeding in my car. I don’t like rules about what I’m supposed to eat. I don’t like rules about who I can speak to when I call a customer service line.
And I don’t like rules about news writing.
Oh, sure, I understand rules have their purpose. It’s helpful for teachers to give students a starting place, a set of parameters within which to craft a story. Like children who need behavior boundaries, it makes them feel secure, gives them self-confidence they need to be assertive and effective. But once those fundamentals are in place, I think rules can hinder creativity.
I never really understood those news directors who demand a stand-up in every package. Stand-ups should be a useful tool for telling the story, not a prerequisite that becomes an afterthought.
I feel the same way about live shots. Requiring a live shot for every package starts to feel repetitive for the viewer, patterned – especially when the reporter is just standing in front of a building, for the sake of being live somewhere.
I try not to enforce too many rules about story time limits, either. As a producer, I know time constraints are a necessary evil, but if a reporter comes to me with some knock-your-socks off sound that just demands to be heard, I’ll let it breathe. And something else will die.
The more conversations we can have about what’s important in the story and what’s irrelevant, the more our stories will resonate with the viewer. Having a hard and fast 1:15 package time limit stifles those conversations.
So… now that I’ve knocked the rules, I’m going to give you a few:
- Fight for what’s important in your story, even it goes against the grain.
- Have a conversation in your newsroom about how your story can surprise the viewer.
- When you don’t have the winner story of the day, be generous and give up your time and resources to those who do.
- Be conversational. That means lose the news cliches.
- Listen to your boss. He or she will make rules that you really shouldn’t break, unless you’re ready to walk out the door.
