Newscast Comparison

“After 40 years, what I came to care about most was not style, but the breath of life.” – William Maxwell
Reporting the news in the form of a televised live broadcast requires a more complex structure than that of a viewer’s naked eye. Coinciding, the reporter presenting the news stories takes the material they are exposing and puts the information in a form beyond context that entices the audience to be attentive while viewing the news. The characteristics of the reported information can be compared to those of a lead before an article. To show an example of this contrast the following is a dissection from Bangor’s WABI TV 5 “One Minute News.”
“Thanks for logging on to WABI.TV, I’m Meghan Hayward. Police have identified the vehicle involved in the hit and run accident in Orono that killed a twenty year old woman. They are now asking for the public’s help in finding that vehicle and the driver. Jordan Bakley was found dead on Middle Street in Orono, early Saturday morning. Bakley was from Camden and was a student at the University of Maine at Orono. Police say she was likely struck by a full-size pickup or SUV. They believe it was either a Chevrolet Silverado or an Avalanche, model years 2003 to 2007. It would have front-end damage, and anyone with information is asked to call Orono police at 866-4451….”
This excerpt shows a difference between written news and spoken news. If this dialogue was an article in a newspaper, readers might scream “SLOW DOWN,” or “WHAT? IS THIS A BLOG?” News anchors have a time limit in for each segment and it can be concluded that the choice of wording is different because of this limitation. However, these 119 words can be condensed as follows:
“Thanks for logging on to WABI.TV, I’m Meghan Hayward. The vehicle that was involved in the hit and run accident on Middle Street in Orono, which killed twenty year old, University of Maine student Jordan Bakley of Camden has been identified. Police would like the public’s help in finding the full-size pickup or SUV. They claim it would either be a Chevrolet Silverado or Avalanche, model years 2003-2007 with front-end damage. People containing information of this fatality are urged to call Orono police at 866-4451.”
This newly renovated form of the material is only eighty-five words and covers the exact same points. It appears similarly to a lead by producing the components, who, what, where, why, and how. The element of time also known as “when” was left out from the original broadcast. The use of language is very different from written journalism but is similar in how there isn’t an overly described scene of imagery with the excessive use of action verbs.
REFERENCES
Hayward, M. (2010, February 5). One Minute News.
Retrieved February 5, 2010, from WABI TV5 website:
http://www.wabi.tv/
Mencher, M. (2008). Writing the Story. News Reporting and Writing. 11. 149.