2 CBBJ3203 Topic - 8 Presentation of Broadcast News
INTRODUCTION
No matter how long a news programme is
broadcast to the viewers, TV stations
have to ensure that the presentation is
able to sustain the viewers besides giving
them information that they want.
This topic will discuss several techniques
of presentation that need to be looked
into to provide broadcast news programmes
to the viewers.
TECHNIQUES OF READING AND
PRESENTING BROADCAST NEWS
The last time you watched or listened to a
news programme on the television or
radio? How did the news broadcast end? Do
you think the protocol of news
presentation is similar to other
television or radio programmes?
8.1 LEARNING
OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be
able to:
1. Identify the seven important criteria
in conveying and presenting
broadcast news;
2. Know six correct and effective
presentation techniques;
3. Identify the function of management and
the production team that
produces a broadcast news programme; and
4. Identify the important mechanism in
presenting an effective news
programme.
Before we discuss this aspect in depth, it
should be stressed here that each
journalist and newscaster must have
credibility and authority in broadcast
journalism. They also must be responsible
in presenting information to millions
of viewers from all over the world.
Unlike news in the print media, broadcast
news coverage requires a good
presentation technique to produce
effective news. Not only does it need the
effectiveness of a journalist's
presentation, but also a stable presentation from a
newsreader in the studio.
Thus, journalists and newsreaders must
understand and practise some important
criteria in presenting broadcast news
report.
8.1.1
Guidelines to Present Broadcast News Report
In presenting broadcast news, journalists
and anchor/newsreaders have to be
well versed in the techniques of
presenting and reading news scripts. Although it
is not in the official guidelines used by
TV stations to co-ordinate the
presentation of their journalists and
newsreaders, yet each must have their own
tips and techniques obtained through their
working experience.
The following are several guidelines of
news presentation for journalists and
newsreaders (Boyd, 1997; Cohler, 1994).
Figure 8.1: Guidelines of news
presentation
(a) Speed of Reading
The speed of reading must be constant,
that is neither too fast nor too slow.
Give some space for viewers to understand
the facts before further facts are
reported. This is one way to ensure you
will be comfortable doing your
coverage. Make phasing or signposts to
your presentation can be smooth.
This method is usually used in news
presentation when the newsreader
gets the script before going on air.
(b) Voice
In order to command respect and
credibility for their presentation,
broadcast journalists have to appear
confident and remain calm during
their presentation. A spontaneous and
friendly style will show the sincerity
in reporting the news. Read with a loud
and clear voice but do not
"scream". Broadcast journalists and
newsreaders are forbidden to clear
their throat harshly that it can be heard
during the news presentation.
(c) Breathing
Newsreaders or broadcast journalists must
master the skill of breathing
control like swimmers. Proper breathing
helps in the smoothness of reading.
It also helps a lot in projecting a good
and energetic voice. Thus, newsreaders
and broadcast journalists must undergo
breathing exercises, besides trying to
clear their mind and determine a suitable
and comfortable posture.
(d) Emphasis
To produce an effective news presentation,
read the news script with correct
emphasis on where appropriate. This is
closely related to the tone of voice.
(e) Tone
Standardise the presentation with a good and
suitable reading tone, and not
merely "reading" the script. Tone of voice
must be loud and clear. At the
same time not "screaming" or "whispering".
(f) Pronunciation
Avoid pronouncing words using known local
dialects. Avoid swallowing
words or syllables because it can be
difficult for viewers to understand the
news reported and presented.
(g) Style
Newsreaders and broadcast news journalists
should project a positive
personality. Try not to imitate other
people's style. Create you own style
and be yourself.
SELF-CHECK 8.1
Record your voice with your style and tone
as though you are a
newsreader or broadcast journalist. Then,
compare the outcome of
your reading and presentation with a
professional newsreader or
broadcast journalist. You can compare your
style with any TV or
local radio newsreader.
Identify the differences between both
presentations?
How would you improve your presentation?
8.2
STAND-UPPER
Sometimes, as a journalist, you are asked
or expected to appear on TV. This
presence or appearance is known as
stand-up. Stand-up is the most suitable style
to be used when doing live reporting.
Similar to the technique of reporting
mentioned earlier, stand-up should also be
broadcasted using simple language.
Nonetheless, stand-up presentation without
script (ad-libbed) is not encouraged,
especially if you are a new journalist and
new in this field. If you are placed in
such a situation, you would risk
stuttering. This will make you lose your
confidence and later lose your credibility
as an intelligent journalist.
A good stand-up is done in an organised
manner and with a script. It is not
wrong to refer to a hand-held script, but
avoid from reading it continuously
without having eye-contact with the
audience. Read using the teleprompting
technique, or with the aid of
teleprompter. Through this technique journalists
look fluent in presenting the news
although they are actually reading a text
showed on the screen of a teleprompter.
The average time of stand-up is less than
one minute, which is approximately 150
words. Due to time constraint, stand-up is
hardly done because it is feared that it
might go beyond the time limit.
8.2.1
Types of Stand-up
The following are types of stand-up
commonly used in presenting broadcast news.
Figure 8.2: Types of stand-up
(a) Stand-up Opens
Stand-up Opens is done at the beginning of
a news report before Voice
Over-VO. The journalist come into view at
the beginning of the report. It is
an effective technique to prove the
presence of journalists at the scene. In
fact, it is a way commonly used in
live-breaking news.
(b) Stand-up Closing
Stand-up Closing is a stand-up done at the
end of news. This type of standup
summarises the important information. It
is used more in television
reporting. Besides summarising news,
stand-up closing is also used to
prove the presence of journalists at the
scene.
(c) Stand-up Bridges
Stand-up Bridges is a stand-up done in the
middle of a report. It is used by
journalists to help the audience
understand clearly what is happening. Besides,
it is aimed to connect the story and
sometimes used when there are insufficient
visuals. Stand-up is done to show the
presence of journalists at the news
location. Usually, stand-up bridges are
used in reporting crime news.
ACTIVITY 8.1
Since you have understood the types of
stand-up, can you identify
the types of stand-up normally used by
broadcast journalists in
Malaysia?
8.2.2
Guides on Doing Stand-Up
Although stand-up is an important
technique in news presentation, yet not all
broadcast news needs to use the stand-up
technique in news presentation because
of time constraint. Stand-up depends on
the suitability of the news package.
If a journalist often does stand-up, he
has to make sure that the stand-up done
has quality, is suitable and able to make
his presentation of the news package
more interesting.
The following are some guides on how to
make an effective stand-up:
Figure 8.3: Guides on making stand-up
(a) Short
Do a short stand-up when possible. Do not
use the stand-up technique to
report your whole story. Stand-up only
functions as strengthening the
presence of journalists at the location
that so it is felt by the viewers, and at
the same time functions to help make the
presentation of broadcast news
more interesting.
(b) Report Oriented
Do not prepare a dragging stand-up script
because every report is bound
by time. Use short sentences. Journalists
can use metaphors as long as they
are not a wasteful use of language and run
away from the actual aim of the
report.
(c) As a Plot
Stand-up can also be used as one of the
methods to present facts and a short
explanation in a more interesting and
realistic form.
(d) Physically and Mentally Ready
The journalist must be ready physically
and mentally to performan as a
stand-up.
(e) Interactions with Surroundings
Sometimes, journalists have to be smart in
shifting his view from the
camera to show the event happening. This
method is more suitable for
magazine and feature-story reports. It
does not make the report
melodramatic, but communicates the meaning
more effectively.
(f) Do it Calmly and Spontaneously
Journalists can show appropriate actions
to illustrate the news or report but
they must not be too emotional or use too much
body gestures. Instead,
they must do it calmly and spontaneously.
Other than that, journalists must ensure
the posture and body gestures are
suitable when presenting news. The
following are guidelines when doing
stand-up for news report:
(i) Use Effective Body Language
In doing a stand-up, journalists have to
be smart in using body language
like hand gestures, facial expressions,
sitting position and so on.
(ii) Be Confident and Understand the Story
It has been stressed in the earlier
discussion of this module, journalists
must have the skills and creativity to
catch the viewers' attention.
Thus, when doing stand-up, journalists
have to understand the story
reported. This does not only influence the
level of understanding of
the viewers to continue listening to the
news, but it can make the
arrangement of the report more stable and
effective.
(iii) Perception towards Journalists
In this case, the perception meant is in
terms of competence,
knowledge or behaviour towards work and
the task assigned. It can
be manifested through presentation and how
the journalists interact.
Therefore, journalists have to be prepared
and make an effort to show
a positive work culture and positive
spirit to the task assigned.
To understand this topic further, please
refer to Topic 12 of the book by
Shook, F. (1989) titled Television Field Production and Reporting.
REFERENCES
8.2.3
Stand-upper’s Interaction with Newsreaders in
Live Reporting
We always see broadcast journalists
present news at the location while covering a
live event. If correct techniques are not
applied, live reporting would cripple the
broadcast news. It would cause journalists
and the newsreader at the studio to
feel uncomfortable. In fact, viewers would
question the ability of the journalist
and the newsreader.
The following are some matters that need
to be looked into if journalists want to
report news live with a newsreader:
(a) Observe Effectively
This method requires the journalists to be
skilful in communication and
smart at catching the details posed by the
newsreader to them.
(b) Make Sure the Body Language is
Suitable with Condition, Situation and
Time
Body language can help strengthen
interaction. However, you are advised
not to show excessive action in your style
and movement.
(c) Do it Calmly and Spontaneously but
Energetically
Actions must be calm and spontaneous but
show that you are interested to
report and execute your task.
(d) Do Split-focus Presentation
It is done to interact with the audience
and newsreader. The journalist must
observe the camera lens, so that he does
not look like he is talking to himself.
(e) Anchor Debrief
This method enables the newsreader who is
at the studio to take over the
presentation of the next news package. It
requires you, a journalist at the
location, to be smart in giving time to
the newsreader to re-observe what
you have covered from the location. By
doing so, the news package
broadcast will not look stiff and jumpy
from one story to another.
ACTIVITY
8.2
You have been assigned to do coverage on
an election in Sarawak
and you need to communicate live with the
newsreader in the
studio. What would you do to make your
report interesting and
effective?
8.2.4
Stand-up Demonstration Technique
Imagine yourself as a broadcast journalist
who has just started working in a TV
station. An editor has assigned you to do
a follow-up coverage regarding an
issue on pirated DVDs, which is becoming
widespread in the country. You
intend to do a stand-up to strengthen your
report presentation, but you are afraid
to do that because you are still new in
the field. So, what would you do?
Stand-up is a way to present news at the
location and it requires the presence of
journalists during live reporting. If you
look at stand-up presented by journalists
on TV, you will notice that their
presentations are very convincing and are not
chaotic. How do they do it?
Broadcast journalists also need practice
so that the stand-up becomes successful.
There are six guidelines to do a good
stand-up:
Figure 8.4: Stand-up demonstration
technique
(a) Do the Stand-up in Comfortable and
Easy Situation
You have to be at the location and
practise doing the real stand-up.
(b) Practise
Practise doing stand-up before the actual
reporting.
(c) Be Prepared Mentally and Physically
Every type of news reported by journalists
doing stand-up requires the
journalists to do it in different
situations. Therefore, journalists have to be
ready physically and mentally to face the
situation.
(d) Do Not Be Stiff
You have to make suitable movements so
that your stand-up does not look
awkward and stiff. Body language is
important to help you feel comfortable
and confident.
(e) Interact with the Surroundings
While doing this demonstration, look at
the surroundings and try to
interact with it. Use the surroundings to
help you get the mood of the news
so your news report will be more
effective.
(f) Interact with the Camera
Journalists who interact with the camera
while doing stand-up will look as
though he is interacting with the viewers
who are watching them on TV.
8.3
HOW TO PRESENT NEWS
News programmes today have become one of
the viewers' favourite
programmes. Most TV and radio stations put
news broadcast as one of their
main programmes. As mentioned by Boyd
(1997:138), every TV and radio station
will ensure that the news programme
broadcast is able to develop the society and
the country. At the same time, the news
contains all aspects and formats of news
reporting in terms of time of broadcast,
form of script, as well as the arrangement
of audio and visual.
We will discuss the aspects that need to
be looked at in presenting news during
broadcasting.
Figure 8.5: Important aspects in
presenting news
8.3.1
Opening
There are two ways to do opening of
broadcast news, they are:
(a) Cold Open
(b) Warm Open
(a) Cold Open
Have you ever watched a news programme
that broadcasts the newsreader
reading the headlines first before
greeting?
This style of presentation is one of the
news programme's openings. This
opening is termed as Cold Open. It starts
with the newsreader reading the
headlines while the visual is showing news
cuttings. Several news titles (4 -
5 news titles) are read by the newsreader.
This functions as the news teaser
to attract the audience.
(b) Warm Open
This type of opening functions as
identifying news broadcast shown to the
audience. It covers the whole set, music
theme/introduction music,
montage and many others. Usually,
background voice is heard before the
news is broadcast. The background voice
announces the broadcast
programme as well as, gives the opening
lines to the audience.
Normally, TV stations are prone to combine
both ways in broadcast news
presentation. Look at an example below for
clearer understanding.
8.3.2
Line Up
Line up or running order is an action plan
that assists the production crew
involved in news line-up broadcast to
choose the news based on the TV stationÊs
policy. There are three ways, they are:
(a) Peak and Valley
(b) Pacing
(c) Blocks/Segments
(a) Peak and Valley
Latest news or the most important news is
broadcasted first, followed by
less important news alternately. Then,
important news is inserted followed
by less important news until the end of
the news programme.
(b) Pacing
Arranging news based on mixed format. For
instance, arranging news that is
read by a newsreader only, followed by the
background voice and the next
news package. It should not move slowly or
viewers will feel bored. Neither
should changes be done too fast for it can
confuse the viewers/audience.
(c) Blocks/Segments
News that is arranged and separated by
commercials. Every news is
arranged with commercial infixes as
segments or blocks.
ACTIVITY 8.3
Can you identify which opening is commonly
used in news
programmes in TV stations on Malaysia?
8.3.3
Selection of News in Line Up
In arranging news before it is
broadcasted, there are several strategies and
techniques that need to be followed by a
TV station. Usually, the News Producer
will choose important news first. In many
situations, this main news is news that
is spoken widely and greatly influences
the news slot for the day. This will leave
an effect on the audience.
Strategies and techniques that can be used
by news department in a TV station are:
(a) TV stationÊs concept
(b) News theme
(c) Location (Local or overseas)
(d) Technical aspect
(a) TV Station Concept
Every TV station has its own concept. The
types of news arranged are based
on the category of news: local/overseas;
catastrophe/accidents; technology;
economy/trade/share market; entertainment;
sports and interests as well
as special reports.
Sometimes, news from other categories can
be the headline on certain days
depending on the importance, whether it is
current, speed or priority.
(b) Theme
The news line up based on a theme shows a
transition from gradual to
logical between one news to another.
(c) Location
News line up based on location refers to
news arranged in geographical
priority.
(d) Technical Aspects
This aspect emphasises on the smoothness
of news arrangement. When
arranging news, make sure that news is
arranged according to suitability of
the newsreader and producer. For news that
uses tapes (package and news
that needs visual) make sure that it is
not arranged back-to-back. It will
avoid technical errors from occurring. For
example, main news can be
inserted with short news, which is
commonly read by the newsreader
without a stand-upper.
8.3.4
Time Factor
The process of arranging is not complex,
but the main problem is time
arrangement.
News line up is important in producing
groups of news that follow second-bysecond
breakdown. It also guides the producer to
determine the length of time
taken for one news segment. This is an important
task for a producer.
Sometimes, reshuffling has to be done
until it causes news to be rewritten. So, line
up needs careful attention as well as a
systematic schedule because the producer
needs to know when to stop to give way to
commercials and other infixes.
News line up usually contains:
(a) Package
In a news programme, package report is
usually inserted in several slots
according to respective segment, not back
to back.
(b) Voice Over or VO
News is also presented by journalists in
the form of VO by the newsreader,
accompanied by visuals to tell what is
read.
(c) Newsreaders Script
News can also be read by a newsreaderÊs
script without using VO or
package from journalists.
(d) Sound On Tape (SOT)
A newsreader at the studio will first read
the leads, followed by recording
of the interview (SOT).
The following is an example of line-up
commonly used by TV stations.
A news broadcast is produced by a team
following rules of presentation to be
understood by all the production crew
involved.
8.4 PRODUCTION CREW AND MANAGEMENT OF
NEWSROOM.
Production crew and management of a news
department in a TV or radio station
requires basic manpower who are equally
competent. However, not all stations
have equally competent manpower. It all
depends on the size of the station.
Sometimes, a position may not be available
in a station, but it is available in other
TV or radio stations.
Look at Figure 8.6 to understand the
structure of a news department.
Figure 8.6: Structure of news department
(a) Director
A News Director is fully responsible for
news production and, including
hiring and firing of staff. At the upper
level, a News Director helps the
newsroom management in news scheduling and
policies regarding budget.
Besides, he also manages and controls the
newsroom.
Below the news director, there are other
executives who ensure the
smoothness of tasks in the news unit. The
producer of a news programme
and the Assignment Editor delegate tasks
to journalists as well as the news
production crews.
(b) Producer
Producer is responsible for managing news
that is going to be broadcast.
The task of a producer encompasses:
(i) Determining the news that should be
taken out and inserted in the
segment
(ii) Arranging news based on the criteria
of the station
(iii) Being responsible for the whole
concept and the contents of broadcast
news.
(c) Assignment/News Editor
The main task of an Assignment Editor is
to determine the work schedule
for journalists as well as cameramen.
(d) Executive Director
The task is similar to that of the News
Director in determining the daily
news coverages, special coverages,
important current news, news that
involve interviews with VIPs and others.
(e) Deputy News Director
Sometimes, this position does not exist in
small TV stations. The job scope
of a Deputy News Director is to determine
the working schedule, choice of
work, tools inventory and assist the News
Director.
(f) Talent
There are three categories of talent; they
are:
(i) Field Reporter
(ii) Specialist
(iii) Anchor/Newsreader
(i) Field Reporter
Reporters go to the location to report
news. They are known as
correspondents.
An example is a journalist with a
cameraman looking for news at the
location.
For display purpose
(ii) Specialist Reporter
The task of a Specialist is to report on issues
related to politics,
economy, medicine, and others that require
respective expertise in the
topics covered.
(iii) Anchor/Newsreader
A newsreader is a news presenter that
functions as a main figure in the
studio. Their task is to read the script
prepared. A newsreader functions
as a „host‰ of the news broadcast.
Sometimes, field reporter and
specialist reporter both appear on TV, but
only for a short time compared
to the newsreader who will be on air until
the end of the show.
In an electronic media organisation, a
newsreader is an important talent that
functions as an anchor.
For display purpose
The way and style of TV news presentation
influences the audience to choose
their favourite TV channel. A newsreader
is one of the talents that plays an
important role in attracting the
audiencesÊ attention. A good newsreader is able
to make the news programme receive a high
rating.
(g) Writer
A writer is responsible for writing
scripts or at least part of the news script.
This includes words in the news that
include, the use of graphics,
videotapes and many more.
TV stations, have two writers; they are:
(i) Documentary writer who is assigned to
write extended news, special
commentaries.
(ii) An editorial writers are involved in
giving their views in broadcast
news.
(h) News Writer
News writer is responsible for gathering
information from news agencies
and from his own research and preparing
the news script. He also acts in
determining the graphics to strengthen the
news. They are regarded as the
backbone of newsroom.
(i) Cameraman
In broadcast news, the cameraman is also
known as the videographer.
Other than work in the broadcast news
studio, the cameraman also has an
important role in recording visuals. In
the field, journalists will direct the
cameraman to take the desired shots.
A journalist has to establish a good
relationship with the cameraman so the
both of them can work together without any
conflict. The cameraman is
also encouraged to understand the
journalist so they both can get good and
suitable visuals for the report.
To test your understanding, answer the
following questions.
EXERCISE 8.1
1. State the guidelines in presenting
broadcast news.
2. What are the main characteristics of a
newsreader?
As an amateur, you definitely need a lot of practice so that you can be
a stable
broadcast news journalist with
credibility.
Thus, the discussion in this topic will be useful to you to understand
the basic
concepts, the criteria as well as the
techniques needed to enhance your
capability in production and broadcast news presentation. 
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