ABSTRACT
This is a book about words, words that are usually spoken aloud, and received into the brain via the ear rather than the eye. Specifically, it is about the language and style of broadcast news. It is designed to help journalists working in the broadcast media to write scripts that will be clear, concise, accurate and elegant. It is a practical guide to the process of putting the right words in the right places. There are an estimated 10,000 broadcast journalists working in Britain, with about 30,000 more studying media or journalism at any one time. Overseas, there are countless thousands more writing in the English language. I have still to meet one who confesses to being a poor writer. Yet inaccuracies, confusing usage and newspaper-style journalese can be heard on the airwaves every day.
