How to Cite a Newscast

Citations are important in academic and scientific writing for giving readers and potential future researchers a guide to following your own research and information sources. The United States has three primary guides for citing sources: the American Psychological Association (APA), the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the Chicago Manual of Style. Though none specifically addresses citing television or radio newscasts, they do give guidelines for similar material.

Things You'll Need

• Source of newscast

Instructions

APA Style

1. Find the source of the newscast you are citing.

2. Find the name of the writer, reporter or anchor, the date and time of broadcast, the title of the program on which it was broadcast, the city of origin of the newscast and the station of the broadcast.

3. Input the publication data into your essay or other composition requiring citation in this format:

   Last name, first and middle initials (job title). (year, month date: time of broadcast). Title of program (type of broadcast). City of origin: station.

   For example:
   Doe, J. Q. (reporter). (2010, August 27: 22:15 EST). 11:00 News (television newscast). Westchester, PA: WOIR-Channel 7.

MLA Style

1. Find the source of the newscast you are citing.

2. Find the name of the writer, reporter or anchor, the title of the newscast or program on which it was broadcast, the year of broadcast, and the format of the broadcast.

3. Input the publication data into your essay or other composition requiring citation in this format:

   Last name, first name. Newscast. Newscast or program name. Year of broadcast. Format.

   For example:
   Doe, John. Newscast. WPCT News. 2010. Radio broadcast.

Chicago Manual of Style

1. Find the source of the newscast you are citing.

2. Find the name of the writer, reporter or anchor, the date of broadcast, the title of the program on which it was broadcast, and the station of the broadcast.

3. Input the publication data into your essay or other composition requiring citation in this format:

   Name of newscast or program, format, first and last name, broadcast station, date of broadcast.

   For example:
   Evening News, Television newscast, John Doe, KMLZ - Channel 41, August 27, 2010.

References

• Purdue Online Writing Lab: APA Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources
• Purdue Online Writing Lab: MLA Works Cited: Other Common Sources
• Purdue Online Writing Lab: Chicago Manual of Style: Interviews and Personal Communication