Written by 6News News Director Lindsey Slater for KU Journalism students. These common mistakes are totally avoidable but can easily happen in the day-to-day life of a broadcast journalist.

1. Lindsey Slater, News Director
6News Lawrence
“And I believe that good journalism, good television, can make
our world a better place.”
-Christiane Amanpour

3. 
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This happens a LOT.
In print, people get a chance to re-read what
has been written. In broadcast, you get ONE
CHANCE to get your information across.
Most commonly, this includes:
 Run on sentences
 Using passive voice and past tense
 Including too much detail
 Not spelling things out for anchor scripts

4. Print Story from the Associated Press:
Lede:
About $10 billion in projected pension debts
will be moving from the state of Kansas to the
balance sheets of local governments thanks to
a change in national accounting standards.

5. Lede for Broadcast:
Projected pension debts in the state's
retirement system will be heading to local
government balance sheets.

6. 
Tips to Avoid This Trap:
 Write for the ear! Read it out loud!
 Use common words, but use them well.
 Present a few well-developed facts instead of lots
of little bits of information.
 For anchor scripts , spell out numbers.
▪ Print: $9 billion
▪ Broadcast: nine billion dollars

7. 
Use active voice!
 Bad: A speech was given by the governor today.
 Good: The governor gives a speech today.

Use present tense as often as possible.
 Bad: Police arrested a Lawrence man and charged
him with arson.
 Good: A Lawrence man is in jail tonight. He’s
charged with arson.

8. 
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All information you get as a reporter should
be attributed to a source in some way.
Otherwise, it may appear to viewers that the
information is coming from you instead of
the people you interviewed.
Sourcing information can also help you avoid
factual errors, which is obviously the biggest
no-no in journalism.

9. 
Sourcing information will also help you avoid
inserting what could appear to be your own
personal opinion. You never want the
audience to think the information you’re
relaying to them is from you.

10. Example: An online petition on change dot org
was started yesterday. Now there are more
than 100 supporters seeking justice for Marcia
Epstein.
- This sounds like the reporter is saying it’s
justice that’s being sought for Marcia. It makes
her appear to have that opinion and the
reporter could be labeled as being biased.

11. Fixed: An online petition on change dot org
was started yesterday. Now there are more
than 100 supporters seeking what they call
justice for Marcia Epstein.
- The reporter makes it clear now that the
supporters are the ones that believe justice is
needed in the situation.

12. 
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DON’T DO IT!
Double check your work.
Double check that quote.
Double check the names of the people you
interviewed.
IF YOUR MOTHER SAYS SHE LOVES YOU,
CHECK IT OUT.

13. 
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Watch out for shaky video. This usually
happens at the start and end of clips. It
happens – just don’t use it.
Avoid using really long and static shots,
either of b-roll or of an interview. Keep your
viewer engaged. Keep your story visually
interesting.
Avoid jump cuts!

14. 
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Don’t be afraid to use nat pops to add to your
stories.
Make sure audio levels are consistent. Your
voice track, interviews and nat pops should all
hit at the same level.
Except for nat pops, all nats should be
consistently lower than your main audio
track.

15. 
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You’re not expected to know everything
about a story you’re reporting on. The people
you’re talking to are (usually) experts. Make
sure you ask questions and get answers that
you understand.
If you don’t understand the content, how will
you convey the information to viewers in a
way that they can understand?