Tips for Writing Broadcast News

I should probably find the rest of this book:

Broadcast News Handbook: Writing, Reporting and Producing
CHAPTER   ONE Characteristics of Broadcast News Writing

C. A. Tuggle 

At the end of this chapter is a kernel that makes everything else easy to understand:

Remember, the key in broadcast writing is don’t make viewers or listeners work to get their information. As a writer, you should do all the work so the audience members don’t have to do any. Otherwise, they’ll turn to a newscast (or other programming) that requires less effort.

Here are some of things said in the chapter:

We Get Only One Opportunity to Make Ourselves Understood"we have to make every sentence we write very clear so audience members understand what we’re talking about after having heard it only once" 

Story Structure Is DifferentIn broadcast writing, we don’t use the inverted pyramid style.

Broadcast Writers Use Conversational Tone 

Writing for Broadcast Includes Using Contraction(Contractions are it'll, should've, etcetera.  The idea is to use these to give the effect of conversation.) 

In Broadcast Writing, We Use Short, Declarative Sentence 

Active Voice Is the Choice of Broadcaster 

Broadcast Writers Use Present or Future Tense When Appropriate 

We Write Broadcast Stories in Today Language 

Broadcast Writers Use Last Names and Put Titles First 

In Broadcast Writing We Use Phonetic Spelling and Avoid Foreign Names When Possible 

Broadcast Writers Avoid Most Abbreviations and Are Careful with Acronym 

In Broadcast Writing, Keep Hyphenated Words on the Same Line 

Broadcast Writers Don’t Use Symbols 

In Broadcast Writing, There Are Different Guidelines for Dealing with Numbers
"Certainly, if 163 people die in an airplane crash, the number is important. But it’s better to say a budget of nearly two million dollars than to say a budget of one million—865 thousand dollars."
When you write numbers in broadcast, it’s important to make them easy to read. Here are some simple guidelines.
Numbers 1 through 9—write out the word (some news operations prefer that you write out the words through eleven)
Numbers 10 through 999—use numerals
Numbers higher than 999—use a combination of words and numerals. For example: 37,915,776 should be written 37 million—915 thousand—776.
Write phone numbers and years using all numbers because that’s
how we’re accustomed to seeing them. For example: 610-555-0201, 1776, 1492. 

Often, Addresses and Ages Aren’t Important in Broadcast WritingChances are most of the viewers in a given market wouldn’t know where 1600 Eagle Street is, but they might be familiar with a certain  section of town. Hence, it’s better to refer to an area or point out landmarks close to the place where an event occurred instead of giving a street address. Likewise, a person’s age usually isn’t important unless we’re talking about a 10-year-old college graduate or a 73-year-old  snow-skiing champion. However, there are exceptions. 

We Handle Quotations Differently in BroadcastIn broadcast writing, we rarely use direct quotations in the script, but normally paraphrase instead. Most people don’t speak as succinctly as we’re supposed to write, so we paraphrase what they’ve said in as few words as possible, being careful, of course, not to change the meaning. In those few instances when a writer feels compelled to use a direct quotation, it’s important to make the sentence flow as smoothly as possible, as is always the case in broadcast writing. For example: 

THE PRESIDENT SAID . . . I WON’T SIGN THE BILL UNLESS IT’S AMENDED TO INCLUDE PROVISIONS FOR LOWERING THE DEFICIT . . . MISTER CLINTON ADDED THAT HE DOESN’T EXPECT THE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY IN THE HOUSE TO ADD THOSE PROVISIONS. 

Broadcast Writers Are Careful with Pronouns 

Broadcast Writers Use Attribution Before Statements