ABSTRACT
This chapter explores students repertoire for earned media by introducing them to actualities, audio news releases, video news releases and B-rolls. Broadcast news media are interested in the same thing as their print counterparts—news. News writing shares the basics, whether the writer is preparing information for print or broadcast media. However, broadcast releases present a few special considerations for writers, and some of the usual stylebook guidelines for print media do not apply to writing releases for broadcast media. Instead of providing even generalized news, some broadcast leads try to set the stage for the upcoming news. When a story is a complicated one with several twists and turns, an umbrella lead can prepare the listener. As technology offers increasing prospects for packaging and transmitting messages, public relations practitioners have been quick to take advantage of the new opportunities in writing a broadcast news release, which is the radio/television/digital equivalent to the print news release.
