Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook, 7e Robert Papper
(Instructor's Manual All Chapters, 100% Original Verified, A+
Grade)
7 BNWS Instructors Manual
I have always avoided an instructor’s manual (until now) because I worry about being too
prescriptive. There are lots of correct ways to write a sentence or a lead or a story. There are,
unfortunately, even more wrong ways to do it. So, in the instructor’s manual, I’ll give one or
maybe a couple possible ways to write a sentence or lead or story. But it’s entirely possible that
a student will come up with a better approach … or at least a different one that works just as
well.
Ch. 1 – Ethics, Legality and the RTDNA and SPJ Codes of Ethics
As much as anything, starting with a chapter on ethics makes the implicit statement that ethics
is important. I’ve always told my students that if they wouldn’t tell the audience – or their mother
– how they got the story and how they put it together then they shouldn’t do it.
I’ve added brief discussions on fake news and trust in media because they’ve become such
huge issues today. It’s obviously a critical discussion you’ll need to have with your students. A
lot of schools require a media law course – in which case this legal discussion is either a brief
reminder of what they already learned or a brief introduction. I’ve added the SPJ Code of Ethics
to the RTDNA Code because some reviewers asked for it.
Exercises:
A. The preambles to the two codes both deal with the public, but they approach that point a bit
differently. How are they different, and which do you prefer and why?
A. The RTDNA “preamble” is a bit broader, speaking to the “public’s interests” ahead of
journalistic behavior. It also lays out a quick, broad framework for how journalists should
operate. The SPJ Preamble is more an introduction and set-up of the four principles that
the SPJ Code will enumerate. Personally, I prefer the RTDNA beginning because I
really like the emphasis on putting the public’s interest first, but this really is less an
issue of right and wrong and more a matter of getting students to read and think about
the codes.
B. The RTDNA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct notes three broad principles, but the
SPJ Code of Ethics includes four principles. How do those three and four principles differ? Are
the two codes really saying the same thing in different words, or do they differ in meaningful
ways?
B. Both Codes begin with truth and accuracy. RTDNA’s second point of independence and
transparency are included in SPJ’s third and fourth points of acting independently and
operating transparently. RTDNA’s third point on accountability is incorporated in SPJ’s
second point on minimizing harm and the fourth point on accountability. So, yes, both
Codes are really covering most of the same ground but simply differ in organization and
emphasis.
,Ch. 2 – The Business of News
I have found that a lot of professionals (much less students) really don’t understand the media
business – which leaves them surprised when their employer makes some of the decisions that
are really quite logical if they understood the business side of radio and TV.
Exercises:
A. Make a list of the TV stations, radio stations and newspapers in your market area. Which
stations run news, and how much do they run? Do they produce their own news or get it from
somewhere else? If somewhere else, where? Make a list of all the online media in your market
area that produce local news. Characterize the kind, detail and amount of local news that they
run.
A. Students should see that there are likely a lot more local TV channels than they thought
… although most may not run local news. A number of those channels are likely
broadcast on sub-channels of bigger, more well-known channels. For instance,
depending on market size, the CW “station” may be on the CBS station’s subcarrier. In
really small markets, there are some of the Big 4 channels that are actually broadcast on
other station’s subcarriers. Students should see that most radio stations are likely part of
groups and that many of the stations don’t run local news. There probably aren’t a lot of
newspapers – especially dailies. Students will have to search for digital outlets … and
most communities have no independent ones.
B. How have the news media in your market area changed over the last five or 10 years?
Who's running more, and who's running less? Check on length of newspapers and number
(and size) of pages; TV newscasts added or dropped; TV stations that have started news
departments or terminated them; radio stations that used to run news and now don't, and ones
that now run news but didn't before. Compare broadcast-based and print-based news
websites. Are there new online news and information websites in your area? If so, who's doing
them and how do they compare with websites from traditional media companies? Which local
news websites have paywalls and how do those paywalls work?
B. How local media have changed is a tough project – maybe a small group effort – and will
almost certainly require finding local media people who can help answer the questions.
The bottom line will almost certainly be fewer traditional media outlets (over time) … with,
maybe, an increasing number of digital-only outlets. It’s likely that some of those digital
only outlets have already come and gone as most have not been able to sustain
themselves financially.
C. Make a list of the TV stations in your market area that run news on another medium (list all
the media that each is on).
C. Between 30 and 40% of all TV stations run local news on another channel.
D. Make a list of all the cooperative ventures that the TV, radio stations and newspapers in your
market area are involved with.
D. Cooperative ventures among local media peaked in the early days of the last recession:
2008 – 2010. There have generally been fewer and fewer of them since.
,E. What are the local stations doing on mobile? Are they using apps? How do those work, and
do they charge for them?
E. Pretty much all TV stations now have one or more apps. Commonly, those apps may be
overall station apps or apps specializing in news or weather or sports, etc. Almost no TV
or radio stations charge for those apps.
F. Keep a 48 or 72 hour diary of your own media use. All media. How did that come out? How
does that compare to what you thought it would be?
Ch. 3 – News
This chapter is pretty much self-explanatory. I’ve done research in the past that indicated a
general agreement and understanding across different age groups of what news is. But I’m not
as convinced today that that’s as much of a shared understanding.
Exercises:
A. Watch or listen to a local or network television or radio newscast and evaluate how each
story measures up in terms of accurate, fair, clear and interesting. Check facts to see if the
stories were correct. If the story involved something controversial, how were the different sides
treated? Does treating people fairly mean giving everyone the same amount of time and
space? Did you understand all of the stories? Were the stories interesting to you? Even if they
weren't, do you think others might find the stories interesting? If so, who?
A. Answers obviously depend on the stories. The most important thing to look for in student
work is a basic understanding on what news is.
B. Watch or listen to a local or network television or radio newscast. Do you think all the stories
were really newsworthy? Might others think so? List each value or characteristic of news and
score or explain whether each story scored high or low in that category. Why was each story on
the air?
B. See above.
C. Watch a local or network television newscast and determine what type of story each item
was. Do you notice any organizational plan in the sequence of those stories? How does each
story answer those two fundamental questions that stations ask to determine what to cover?
C. See above.
D. Talk to people (preferably including people who are not just like you) and come up with a
story idea – that’s NOT a profile of someone. Make a couple calls to see if it’s really a story.
Explain why it’s worth covering and what values make it a story.
D. See above.
E. Which news values do the following scenarios exemplify?
1. A local factory that employs 1,500 people will shut down in 90 days.
, 2. Two local teens who were drag racing collided, and one of the cars hit and killed a
pedestrian.
3. A local business announced that it had received an award from the company’s headquarters
(in another state), recognizing the local business for its “service excellence.”
4. The Labor Department reports that the local consumer price index rose 1.5% last month in
the local area.
5. Scientists at a local university say that the community is not prepared for the possibility of an
earthquake that might hit the local area sometime in the future.
6. A local city council member has just announced her resignation in order to spend more time
with her family.
7. The weather service just announced that a major storm with wind gusts as high as 60 miles
per hour may hit the local area tonight.
8. The Food and Drug Administration has just announced a recall for packages of fresh chicken
manufactured by The Very Best Company. One of your local supermarket chains carries the
brand, but other stores do not.
9. The State Environmental Protection Agency released a report that says the local water supply
has 65 ppb of Pb.
10. Local police announce that because of a shortage of manpower, they’re going to stop
responding to non-injury traffic accidents.
11. Charity Navigator notes that a local group that raises money for veterans spends 33% of its
income on administrative and fundraising expenses.
E. 1. Importance primarily … and you can reasonably argue conflict.
2. Human interest primarily … importance may depend on size of community.
3. This isn’t news … it’s a business’s effort at promotion (and free advertising).
4. Importance primarily. A sharp student should look up what the CPI is and how much
it might move in a typical month. 1.5% is extraordinarily high.
5. You can reasonably argue importance (public safety), prominence (the university and
scientists) and human interest.
6. The is primarily prominence.
7. Primarily importance.
8. Primarily importance (safety) and also human interest.
9. Pb is the symbol for lead, and there is really no safe level of lead in drinking water. In
any case, 65 ppb would be more than 4 times the allowable amount of lead in drinking
water. So this is really, really important.
10. Importance, primarily … on a number of levels.
11. It’s highly unlikely that 33% crosses any state law guidelines, but it’s still a pretty high
number. This is primarily a human interest story.
F. If you’re putting together a local newscast, on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest), which
stories in E (above) are the most newsworthy?
F. 1–5
2 - +/-3
3–1
4 – 4 or 5
5 – 2 or 3
6 – 2 or 3
7 – 4 or 5
