News Writing: Story Lead-ins

BiB Contributor | George Howell

I recently came across this YouTube clip of a lead story I did at WSB-TV in Atlanta, and thought it would be a great example to help illustrate a few basic points I wanted to make this week about crafting story lead-ins.  In the above clip, long-time veteran anchors John Pruitt and Monica Pearson pitch to me live in the field, where I introduce a news report.

WRITING THE INTRO:

The first point I’d like to cover is a question broadcast news interns always seem to ask me, “Who writes the anchor lead?  Is it the producer, or the anchors?  Or, do you write it?”  The answer – it can be all the above!

Sometimes, it’s a collaborative effort, where many hands get involved to build the most effective product.  Your show producer, for instance, may choose to write it if he or she wants to include a specific clip of compelling video in the intro.  The anchors may decide to make a few word changes, to fit his or her particular speaking style.  In most cases, though, I believe the reporter should write the anchor lead-in.

I actually prefer writing anchor intros to the stories I cover.  No one knows the story better than the reporter in the field who experienced it first hand, conducted the interviews, and witnessed events unfold. While the show producer is back at the station managing the big picture of an entire newscast, reporters who craft their own intros are able to give them much more of a personal touch – including the most recent, relevant information. You will find that many producers and anchors prefer it when reporters take the lead in writing the anchor lead-in, but you should always be open to a back and forth between all parties in order to build the best script.

PICKING CONVERSATIONAL WORDS:

Word choice is an important aspect of crafting an efficient, engaging story intro.  The goal is to write script that is conversational. You don’t want to use words that sound overly pedantic, academic, dull, or dumbed-down.  You want to pick words that, when strung together in a sentence, sound like something you would say to a close friend.

Take the word kids, for example.  You’ve got plenty of options with this word: kids, juveniles, children, adolescents, youngsters, teenagers, the list goes on and on.  Clearly, it sounds much more conversational to say “those kids are having fun”, as opposed to saying “those children are having fun.”  To be more age specific, the word teenagers is more conversational than the word adolescents.

The key to becoming a good broadcast writer learning how to become a master wordsmith. Your job is to pick the right words for the right situation. Your writing should be concise, engaging, and conversational.

Just a few basic pointers! For more, check out The Writing Rundown…

Good Luck!

(Embedded YouTube news clip credited to: WSB-TV 2 Atlanta)

Tags: breaking, broadcasting, News Writing, story lead-ins