Skeleton format for the UC-IMC Newshour / “News and Views (you can use)”

By P. Riismandel and the IMC Newsroom – Dec. 2000

 

 

This skeleton format should be taken as a guideline for assembling a program.  These guidelines are intended to give some sense of continuity between UC-IMC Newshour while also making the show easy to listen to for all listeners.

 

Yet, none of these rules are set in stone, and you may find that you will want to do some things differently.  When making changes just be sure to put yourself in the place of the listener, making sure that you’re always letting the listener know what is going on.  Also keep in mind that not all listeners, if not most, do not listen to a program from beginning to end.  At any given moment any number of listeners have just tuned in and may not know what it is they’re listening to.  It’s your job as program host to let them know.

 

Some hints before you start:

• Putting together an hour-long news program is time consuming, but is also fun and rewarding when it all comes together.  Make sure to allot yourself several hours of planning and writing time.
• It can be difficult to ad lib on the air, especially when you’ve got a lot of things going on.  Therefore everything you plan to say on your program should be scripted ahead of time. 
• Read your script over before going on air.  It’s best to read it aloud to make sure you know how to pronounce everything—names can be hard, so don’t be afraid to spell them phonetically.  Nobody’s going to read your script, they’re going to hear it.  Reading aloud will also help you catch awkward phrasing, poor word choices or grammatical errors that might trip you up on-air.
• Get people to help you.  Ask other IMC members for stories and announcements.  Have a couple people help just read headlines and announcements on air to give you a break and break things up.
• Pick out your music themes and bridges ahead of time.  Get them cued up in the CD player when you start.  There should always be a song cued up on one CD play just in case you have technical problems or some other glitch.
• Don’t freak out.  You will trip over your words, mispronounce things and make mistakes – everyone does, especially in live radio.  Just correct yourself and move on.  Don’t apologize, don’t dwell on it—you’re human—get over it and move on.

 

The basic flow of the program is as follows:

 

1. Theme &  Introduction [~1 – 2 min.]
2. Headlines—actual news stories [5-10 min.]
3. Pre-Produced Segments [2-10 min] 
4. Community Announcements / PSAs [2 – 4 min.]
5. Commentary [2-5 min]
6. Main Feature(s)  [rest of program]

 

Omitting Segments:  Depending on the material you have available for your program you may need to omit one or more of these segments.  The segments in italics should be considered most important and effort should be taken to have some material for them and not to have to omit them.

 

Bridging Segments (music bridges): There should be a music bridge between each segment, lasting 10 – 30 seconds.  Choose music that is instrumental and has broad appeal.  World music and jazz can be very good choices. 

It can also be useful to choose music that has a musical or lyrical theme that relates to one of the segments it fits between. When they lyrics are important  you may want to use music with vocals.

Hint: if you need to fill time, instead of just playing bridge music for several minutes try instead to turn an appropriate song into a “must feature.”  That way the song seems like a planned part of the program rather than just a way to fill time.

 

Segment Timing: The first 5 segments of the program should take up the first 15 – 30 minutes of the program.  If you have an extensive main feature, then plan to keep these segments shorter.  If you are less confident in being able to fill more than 30 minutes with your main feature, plan to make segments 1-5 longer.  Keep in mind that if your main feature is a live in-studio interview or discussion it can be difficult to fill more than 30 minutes – it takes an experienced interviewer or moderator  too keep an interview or discussion interesting and flowing for more than half an hour.

 

Guidelines for each Program Segment:

 

Theme and Introduction:

Your program should have some theme music.  This music serves two functions.  First it gives your show an identity, and secondly it gives you some time to get things together when transitioning from the previous program.  The IMC is planning to produce a theme/intro for everyone to use, but until that’s available try picking some upbeat instrumental music.

 

Format:

• Play your theme music for no more than 1 minute, then fade down,  but not all the way down – leave it just audible underneath your voice.
• The host should then introduce the program—here is a good script to use for the introduction:
• “Welcome to the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center’s Newshour.  On today’s program our feature is [fill in today’s main feature topic].  We’ll also be bringing you community announcements and other news [list any other segments you may have]. So please stay tuned.”
• Fade the music up and let play for another 15 seconds or so.
• Fade the music down all the way – begin next segment.

 

News Headlines/Updates

 

What they are:  News headlines are short stories with an average length of around 100 - 250 words.  They should detail local (or state & national) stories you think deserve attention or  that may have been overlooked or buried by the local press.  Headlines should not be announcements for an event unless that even has special significance—for example, an author giving a talk at a bookstore is probably not news, but a big political or labor rally probably is.

 

Where to find them: The best place to get news headlines are from UC-IMC members who have covered stories in the past week or so.  Ask them to give you a 100-250 word story, or you can write a summary from a longer piece.  Other good sources for headlines include the local newspapers and the indymedia websites.  However, be sure to summarize and rewrite stories to fit the headline format—this is especially important for newspaper stories, which should not be read verbatim.

 

How to write them:  The best thing to do is to stick to the facts and be truthful.  If your source is the News-Gazette, that’s OK, just say something like “On Dec. 12 the News Gazzette reported,” or “According to Wednesday’s News-Gazzette.”  If you think the N-G missed something in their story it can be a good idea to try and get a quote from someone who can provide that information.  Avoid using the first person.

 

Things to avoid: Try to avoid injecting your own opinions into the headline and, especially, try to avoid unsubstantiated allegations, rumors or attacks.  Clearly these things cannot be altogether avoided, but there are ways to make them less obvious, and therefore make the program more acceptable (on the surface anyway) to a broader audience. 

If there’s an opinion you want expressed in the headline, make sure you quote someone who says it--“But local environmental group ISEN says there is much that was left out of the N-G article.”.  Similarly, if there are allegations to be made, quote someone who’s making them “the local trade union says Champaign County has been unfair in its hiring practices.”  But rumors and attacks should be just avoided outright, since in broadcast they can get us and WEFT into legal hot water, especially if they’re proven to be untrue.

Although it’s very tempting, it is probably best to avoid trailing comments or other “smart-ass remarks”—like, “of course you can never believe a Republican board member.”  While you might be on the mark in your observation or comment, they may also discredit us in the eyes of some listeners who might otherwise be open to what we’re reporting.  If you have a point to make or an opinion to express you should write a short commentary piece to read on air during a commentary segment.

 

The point behind these guidelines is not to squelch unpopular ideas or censor opinions, but instead present them in a way that open minded people who are accustomed to the mainstream media may nonetheless listen to and seriously consider.  The more it sounds like we’re investigating and researching things, rather than simply making assertions about them, the more people will come to rely on us a trusted source of news.

 

Headline Format:

• Introduce the segment: “First we have these news updates, presented by [names of readers]”   It can be a good idea to have more than one person read headlines, alternating back and forth—it helps mix things up and give each person a chance to catch her breath.

·        Each segment:  although a segment might have  title so that you can tell them apart, do not read the title.  Simply begin reading the story.

• After the last story:
  “And that’s what’s going on.”
  “You’re listening to the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center’s News Hour on Community Radio WEFT.  The Independent Media Center is a grassroots collective that provides a forum for community members to voice issues, ideas and opinions that are often represented in the dominant media. 
  If there are news or stories you think should be covered, post them to our web site at urbana.indymedia.org, once again that’s urbana.indymedia.org.”

• Begin Bridge Music

 

Pre-Produced Segments

 

What they are:  These are short, self-contained reports, put together by UC-IMC members or from other sources, like other IMCs.  Typically they’ll be on minidisk.

 

Introductions: You should ask the segment producer for a short introduction of a couple sentences to read before playing the segment.  If the segment is from outside the UC-IMC, they write one yourself.  The introduction should just give the listener an idea of what you’re about to play—you don’t need to summarize the piece. 

 

Example introduction: “The Urbana City Council met this past week to discuss the issue of downtown redevelopment and planning.  The Independent Media Center’s Jane Doe was there and files this report.”

 

Format:

• Fade bridge music all the way down.
• Read introduction
• Play the pre-produced segment.
• When it’s over start bridge music.

 

Announcements / PSAs

 

What they are: PSA is short for Public Service Announcements.  These are the short announcements about events and issues that you hear read on the radio, especially on WEFT.  WEFT has a filebox in the studio filled with them on a variety of topics. You should also try and find some of your own.

 

PSA Format: Announcements should last between 15 and 60 seconds.  It’s important to make sure that they are not commercials in disguise.  For example, the opening of a new restaurant or store doesn’t qualify as a PSA unless it’s something really unique and consistent with the mission of the IMC—such a cooperative or non-profit venture.  It’s also important that prices, like event admission costs, are not mentioned.  Instead simply say “there is an admission charge,” or “there is a sliding scale suggested donation.”  It’s fine to say “the event is free,” if, in fact, it is. 

 

Format:

• Fade bridge music down completely.
• “Welcome back to the Independent Media Center’s News Hour.  I’m [your name, along with anyone else who’s on with you.] Next up are some community announcements.”
• Read announcements
• Fade in bridge music  a little, ready for voiceover: “You’re listening to the News Hour, a production of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center.  For more information about the center  go to our website at urbana.indymedia.org, or call 384-5346.”
• Fade music up all the way.

 

Feature:

 

What it is: This is the main part of your program where you tackle one or several topics in depth.  Typically a feature is an in-studio interview or panel discussion on a set of topics.

 

How to do it: If it’s an interview or panel, you need to get your guests into the studio and make sure each person has access to a mic.  You may need to double people up two-to-a-mic. Make sure they know to speak directly into the mic.  You may also want to give them headphones so they can hear what’s going out on air, but this isn’t always necessary.

 

Format:

• You probably want to have longer bridge music before the feature so you have time to shift chairs, get people set up, etc.
• Fade bridge music out completely.
• Introduce the program and the feature and go…

 

Show Ending/Outro:

When you finish up you want to do an outro and something like closing credits.  This is where you want to again tell people about the show, who did the show on air, and thank people who contributed to it.

 

Example Outro:”You’ve been  listening to the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center’s News Hour.  This program was produced and presented by [you, and your on-air helpers].  Thanks go to [contributors] for contributing stories and announcemenst.  Thanks also go to our guests [guests names].  You can hear the next News Hour on [date and time] here on WEFT.  The Independent Media Center is a grassroots collective that provides a forum for community members to voice issues, ideas and opinions that are often represented in the dominant media.  For more information about the Independent Media Center or to get involved, go to our website urbana.indymedia.org.  Thanks for listening.”