a  radio  news  story  should  be  perfectly  clear  to  avoid misinterpretation Avoid  jamming  too  many  thoughts  or  numbers  into one sentence. Generally, sentences that are more than 25 words  contain  more  than  one  thought  and  should  be rewritten  into  separate  sentences.  The  same  principle applies to dependent and independent clauses. They are often  very  cumbersome,  so  write  them  as  separate sentences. Commonly accepted literary techniques, un- usual words and complex phrases, also tend to obscure sentence meaning and you should avoid the use of such. In  broadcast  writing,  simple  words  say  it  best. Choose  words  that  everyone  will  understand  —  the announcer as well as the listener. Do not ignore colorful or  descriptive  words.  However,  steer  clear  of  flowery phrases and trite expressions that simply take up time and are of no value. Avoid slang and always translate military, technical, legal and foreign terms into simple language. Concise You have concise copy when all unnecessary words have been trimmed away and only those words essential to convey your thoughts remain. It cannot be overemphasized that broadcast writing is  writing  for  the  ear.  Listeners  do  not  have  the opportunity of “rehearing” your copy, so your sentences should be direct and crystal clear. If your copy is long and involved, you put a strain on the listener and hinder comprehension. This does not mean broadcast writing should be kept at a fifth grade level — but given the choice of being complex or simple, you should choose the  latter.  Your  obligation  is  to  put  information  into meaningful   terms   that   the   “average   audience”   will understand, and more important, want to hear. Complete For  the  broadcast  story  to  be  complete,  you  must include in it at least four of print journalism’s five “Ws.” Obviously, you will normally state  what happened  in your  lead  sentence.  Then  you  will  tell  to  whom  it happened,  when it happened and  where  it  happened. Why and how generally are not critical, although to be complete, some stories will require this information. Conversational Like   good   conversation,   broadcast   writing   is informal and free-flowing. Write the way you talk. Let the story tell itself. This may sound easy, but it will take some  effort  in  the  beginning.  A  common  pitfall  is  to write a story as it may have been required for an English composition   or   a   print   journalism   assignment. Broadcast copy is read aloud by the announcer. It is not read by the listener. The twofold objective of the conversational tone is that first, it allows the announcer to pick up the drift of the story and second, it makes the copy sound “right” to the audience. A good broadcast writer “listens” to the story being written. When you have finished writing your copy, take it out of the printer and read it aloud to make sure it sounds  conversational.  Make  sure  there  are  no hard-to-pronounce  words  or  combinations  of  words  that are  awkward  to  the  ear.  Rid  your  copy  of  words  that might be unfamiliar to your listeners. Current If your story is not current, you do not have “hard” news. News of a perishable nature is usually hard news. If you have a story of immediate news value, you should expedite its completion and delivery to the media. By the same token, if there are new facts or circumstances relevant to your initial release, an update of the initial story  should  be  provided  (and  marked  as  an  update). This will help ensure currency. It is also helpful if the new or changed elements of the story are identified to reduce   possible   confusion   with   information   in   the original release. You will feel the pressure of meeting deadlines, but remember your credibility is on the line. Correct The hallmark of journalism as a writing art — either print  or  broadcast  —  is  the  accurate  presentation  of facts.  Your  finished  product  must  correspond  accurately with the facts of the story. In the field you will follow every possible lead to get the facts as well as report them. COPY FORMAT LEARNING   OBJECTIVE:   Recognize   the format used in broadcast copy. Normally, when you write copy for radio, you start with a general “what happened” lead followed by a body of significant facts. This body of information does not have to include all the facts of the story — only the most important   ones.   Radio   writing   is   different   from newspaper   writing,   because   the   most   common newspaper lead is the summary lead (using the five Ws 13-3