Writing News Stories around Video

Businesses and organizations often rely on video segments to inform their public in the form of infomercials that may appear on local broadcast stations. It is the responsibility of the communications experts on staff or those of a hired agency to create an effective script for this message. This week, you will write a broadcast script for a business or organization that is created around original video footage that you shoot from your local areas that supports the mission of the entity. This entity must be different from the one that you created in the previous week.

JRN Students:

Broadcast imagery can be the most compelling type of visual journalism there is if we follow the conventions of effectively writing the news around it. This week, you will write a broadcast script for a television news story that is created around original video footage that you shoot from your local community. This story must be different from the one that you created in the previous week.

Important: Please read the instructions below carefully, and follow them according to your area of study. If you are a COM student, your instructions fall at the front of the “or,” and if you are a JRN student, you should follow the instructions after the “or” in each criteria. If there is no “or” included in a criteria, it applies to all students regardless of area of study.

For information on writing for broadcast, you may find the following resources helpful:

JRN 201 Textbook: Writing for the Mass Media—Chapter 8: “Writing for Broadcast Journalism”
How to Write Broadcast News Stories (Links to an external site.)
Print vs Broadcast Journalism: Understanding the Differences (Links to an external site.)

For this assignment, you

Must compile a series of original videos (two to three separate frames) from which you can create a broadcast script for a local business or organization or compile a series of original videos (two to three separate frames) around an event or issue from which you can create a script for a broadcast news story.
Must write a broadcast script (two minutes, which is approximately 350 words) about the news event or issue around one of the videos in the series.
Must summarize facts and/or statistics that are relevant to the story or publication.
Must provide proper attribution for all sources of information included in the story or publication.
Must explain why you chose the image out of the series of videos that you took, using the principles and concepts learned this week.

For the story, you

Must adhere to the Broadcast Script template
(available in the online course).
Must complete the Visual Image Compilations template
.
Must create a script that is at least two minutes in length, approximately 350 words.
Must incorporate at least two of the following types of information:
The opinion of an expert related to the publication or an original interview (in person, email, by phone, or by video conference) with a specific, expert opinion on the topic . (Note: The interview will not be on camera.)
An additional opinion from an expert related to the publication or a varying opinion on the topic in the form of an additional interview conducted by the student or from a credible source where another person was interviewed with an opposing opinion or incorporate.
A statistical and/or factual piece of information about the topic from a credible source.