Writing Right for Broadcast and Internet News

From the beginning the authors tell you their style is going to be conversational and it is. They write like broadcasters. Students can gage authenticity for themselves by looking at what a person has done and these two authors have valid credentials. I decided to do a little Internet investigation myself and discovered that Sharyl Attisson has her own consulting firm for would-be journalists. Since my background is TV journalism before entering management and acedeme, I can relate to a lot of the "war stories" they share. Like one of the other reviewers mentioned, the section near the end on advise for people entering the field is solid. I did those things myself when I was getting started. This book covers the news gathering process as well as writing. They add an ethics dimension in every part of the book. Also they make sure students have a clear understanding of the most basic terms used in the industry. Other writers would do well to follow that example alone, if nothing else.

Jam-packed with more clear, practical info than any I've seen. A bit pricey but it's comparable with other required broadcast texts and better editorially. My favorite was the Careers chapter.

I was intrigued by the idea a book written by Ms. Attkisson and other current on-air professionals. I was not disappointed. It teaches writing while providing thought-provoking anecdotes and examples taken from the authors' real experiences. I found "Writing Right for Broadcast and Internet News" very helpful in explaining how TV writing is translated to online writing. I was also impressed by how current it was, including examples from the September 11 attacks. I especially liked the added bonus information on salaries, and career advice from professionals like Kerry Sanders, who's been all over TV reporting from Iraq for NBC. In my TV writing class, we used the AP Broadcast News Handbook, which, as the title implies, is almost entirely a "Style Guide". We also used the Prentice-Hall Handbook for Writers, which is old and had nothing to do with the specifics of TV writing. "Writing Right" has a basic broadcast Style Guide, but the one in the AP Book is much more comprehensive. "Writing Right" is more about the basics of finding and writing great news stories. For that, I heartily recommend it to anyone considering a career that requires writing news copy.