How to Time a Story as a TV News Reporter

Timing is of utmost importance when writing a news story. It may seem as if 10 or 20 seconds doesn't make a difference, but in TV news, every second counts. Producers time out their shows perfectly. They give everything a certain amount of time, and if the reporter exceeds that time, it can cause a hassle as the producers tries to condense and drop other news items.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Know that most stations have preset times for various sorts of stories. Reporter packages are usually 1 minute 20 seconds or 1:20, VOs (voice-overs) are :30 and VO/SOTS (sound bites) are :40.

2. Use a news computer to write your stories as much as possible. Programs in newsrooms, such as iNews or AP NewsCenter, automatically time out every word written in.

3. Pay attention to your time when writing your script. You know you have to cut some content when it times out to be 2:00 and you're only allotted 1:20.

4. Choose SOTs from your interview subjects that are condensed yet emotional. If it takes them 20 seconds to say something that you can say in 5 seconds, you should say it instead of them. Be conscious of how long the sound bites are when going through them.

5. Take into account other items that will add time to your story. This includes natural sound pops. Allow a few seconds for that sound.

6. Get a feel for the length of news stories. There are many times when you'll have to hand-write your story in the news vehicle. You won't have a computer system timing out your story for you.

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