Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
BASIC BROADCAST STYLE CHECKER
REF: Canadian Broadcast News p. 41
ASS: 4.1, 4.3, 4.4, 4.6

NUMBERS

  • Write out one to eleven.
  • Use numerals for 12 to 999.
  • Write out thousand, million, and billion but seldom hundred.
  • Round off numbers where possible.
    • ABBREVIATIONS
  • Avoid all abbreviations, including a.m. and p.m.
    • INITIALS AND ACRONYMS
  • Use initials of commonly known organizations (U-N, U-S-A, N-A-T-O, N-D-P).
  • Spell out others.
    • NAMES AND TITLES
  • Use first and last name on the first mention.
  • Use last name only on all subsequent mentions (except for children)
  • Mr., Mrs., and Ms. are used rarely and only to show respect.
    • RACE AND AGE
  • Avoid any mention of either unless it is necessary to the story.
    • ATTRIBUTION AND QUOTATION
  • Avoid direct quotation; paraphrase what was said.
  • Give the attribution before the information.
  • Attribute when information is controversial or opinion, facts are doubtful, or source is necessary.
    • PUNCTUATION
  • Use. . . (ellipses) to indicate a major pause necessary for listeners to understand.
  • Use , (comma) for items in a list and for minor and optional pauses.
    • PRONOUNCER
  • Use [] (square brackets) for phonetic spelling, with the word broken into syllables and capital letters to indicate emphasis.