ABSTRACT
According to many practical guides to news writing, one of the most important considerations of broadcast news style is clarity (Fang, 1968; Green, 1969). The reason for this is quite simple. Unlike the newspaper reader, the radio listener or television viewer cannot go back over a story again at his or her own pace to get the story clear in his or her own mind. Either an item is understood when it is presented or it is lost for good, or at least until the next bulletin comes around, when it may or may not be repeated. Any listener or viewer who pauses to think about what the newsreader has just said may lose not only that bit of news but also news that is being given subsequently.
