How to Shorten a TV News Story for Time

TV news stories are short by nature. They are nearly always less than two minutes long. Most are a minute and a half or less. It is a constant challenge for reporters to shorted their scripts to meet the strict time constraints placed on them. The key is to say a lot with a little. This is the challenge of writing TV news.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Take a look at the big picture. A reporter's story is not limited to the content of their package. The live shot, anchor lead, and tag are also part of the story. It is bad form, and completely unnecessary, to repeat information just because a different person is conveying it. If a fact is given in the anchor lead, you should cut it out of your package script.

2. Collapse your sound bites. Most are too long. If a sound bite is longer than 10 seconds, it had better be amazing. Go back and slice out unnecessary fragments. You can usually save a few seconds as an interview is hemming and hawing. Don't be afraid to cut out a portion from the middle of a sound bite if your interview is stumbling. You can piece it together with a cut away or white flash. Setting up a sound bite with more descriptive language can also help shorten the length of a sound bite. If you can say what they are trying to say with more efficient language, do it.

3. Use active verbs. Reporters should be doing this anyway. Too often, scripts are written with too many passive verbs that take up time. For example, "she had driven the getaway car." Instead write "she drove the getaway car." An examination of reporter scripts often reveal a surprising number of passive verbs.

4. Start taking out words. Most writers slip in extra adjectives and colorful language without realizing it. In TV news, you often don't have time for this. Read through your script and cross out what you don't need. All those articles, prepositions, and proper nouns add up. Use abbreviations and pronouns whenever possible.

5. Ax elaborate set-ups. Reporters hate doing this because they spend lots of time coming up with a creative ideas. Sometimes these ideas just don't work or take way too long to get to the point. If you have done everything else to cut down your script and it is still too long, then scrap your elaborate idea. In a TV news story, you must always give preference to saying it simply and directly.

6. Beg for more time. If your story is still too long, you can appeal your case to the producer. If you can justify the added time they will sometimes give it to you. Just don't get into the habit of asking for more time. Cry wolf too often and your appeals could fall on deaf ears when you really need it.