Photos - Jamaican broadcasters ABOVE (l-r) Moya Thomas, Danae Ramgolam, Simone Clarke-Cooper & Hume Johnson; BELOW Australian news presenter Sharyn (middle) is all smiles with Gunn Bratland (r) trainee newscaster for 7 News, Townsville.
The following musings are excerpts from a book I am working on based on my experience as a broadcast journalist and as a Journalism lecturer and professional trainer of wanna-be radio and Tv presenters in Australia and Jamaica. Feel feel to share your comments and views.
One of the most profound remarks that I learned as a student of Broadcast Journalism and which really opened by eyes to the learned craft of on-air presenting and what makes one broadcast/broadcaster superior in impact than another was that broadcasting was a misnomer - an incorrect or inappropriate name/expression. This gem of wisdom came from Jamaican broadcast trainer, Dwight Whylie. He was taking a journalism class in which I was a participant. He remarked that the term 'broadcasting' is actually misleading and a "more accurate term would be 'narrow-casting;, he said. I have seen that in many broadcasting texts since then, but I was 21 years old and that was the first time I had heard this expression, and it was like a lightbulb had been turned on it my head. It occurred to me then that I did not even get what “broadcasting” actually meant!
It took me a while to wrap my head around this too. I thought - what the heck is he talking about, does it matter? Oh Yes, it does. What Whylie meant was that the broadcaster’s audience is never as “broad” as the term ‘broad-casting’ suggests. In fact, it is a very “narrow” audience of one. This is because people listen to radio and watch TV individually. Even in a group setting, each person is interacting with the medium, and processing the information individually. The broadcaster is this encouraged to speak as though he or she is speaking to only one person (through the microphone and/or television camera), not to a wide audience. If done well, the presenter sounds more credible, sincere and the audience will be more given to receiving the information.
Besides this, it is important for broadcasters to realise that they have access to people’s lives since they appears on the radio or on a television set in people’s homes – in their bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, dens, dining rooms. In short, aside from the broadcaster’s own family, his /her audience is a total and absolute stranger. The broadcaster is therefore obliged to treat this (invisible) audience with respect. You are a guest in your audience’s life so do not become over familiar. Display courtesy of language and proper decorum.
Here are twelve essentials that will help you to become a better broadcaster, but will set you apart from your peers:
1. Never Patronise, Neither Suck Up to Your Audience
I do not believe any purpose is served by ‘suffering fools gladly’ but too many of today’s broadcasters assume a superior attitude and talk down to people. Speak at one level, that is, never patronise nor act sycophantic (suck up to). Whylie’s advice was to picture a respected friend and speak to/ with that one person. I, however, prefer the term “communicate” instead of “speak”. This is because communication is more suggestive of a conversation between intelligences whereas to speak maybe (or can be) limited to simply verbalizing (without necessarily giving effect to making sense).
2. Your Audience is not Deaf!
There is a tendency by some broadcasters to speak as though their audience is hearing-impaired. There is no need to stay in Kingston and holler to the people in Berlin. They will still hear you even if you speak at normal decibels. Indeed, they will adjust the volume on their TV or radio sets if they wish to hear you at higher volumes. If the broadcaster is using the correct broadcasting technique of speaking to one person (a respected friend), then he/she will see no need to shout or raise his/her voice above normal. It is in this sense that the real difference between “narrow-casting” and “broadcasting” becomes obvious.
3.Develop Personal Credibility
Successful broadcasting hinges on the broadcaster having credibility. This means that when you speak, it is important that people believe what you are telling them. An event has occurred, and it is the broadcaster’s job to tell people what happened, and to do so intelligently, and with due respect given to the parties involved.
A broadcaster’s effectiveness is undermined if he/she cannot speak with authority. Don’t assume and artificial personality or accent. Credibility comes from within. Being true to yourself (and to the story) is therefore the quickest and most sure way of building and sustaining credibility. Otherwise, you may find yourself stuck with a manufactured personality, and working doubly hard to try to maintain a performance.
4.Don’t Fall in Love with your own voice
It is wonderful to hear a great voice, or see a beautiful face on the media. If you possess one, use it, it is an asset, but it is not as relevant as speaking well, articulately and intelligibly. In other words, do not fall in love with your own voice at the expense of communicating effectively. If you have a speech impediment, work at correcting or controlling it. It is important that your speech comes across to the listener clearly, pleasantly and conversationally. It is also important that your mode of dress does not distract the viewer from what you are saying. This is not effective communication. Attire neatly and elegantly as this communicates respect.
5. Speak Clearly and Deliberately
This rule is tied to the one above. One of the first things I was taught during voice training was this phrase -- ‘to speak well is to speak in an intelligible, clear manner”. In order to facilitate clearer understanding, it is essential that the broadcaster speak in logical sequence using simple declarative sentences. Do not confuse the listener with a rush of information at once. This may be confusing and may cause the listener to tune out or worse, switch channels! Instead, allow people to digest one capsule of information before you disseminate the next. Unlike reading the newspapers, the electronic broadcast audience gets one opportunity to hear or see the information. They are unable to rewind for clearer understanding. It is therefore your job to render your narrative coherent and comprehensible.
6.Get to the Point, Don’t be a Bore!
With the increasing mediatisation of societies, information/images are coming at us at a very fast pace, and it is very difficult to keep up. And with the rapidity of globalization, people are also living even busier lives and time is like precious gems. The result is that the listener and viewers’ attention span is becoming even more limited. Just as 2 minutes to heat a meat pie in the microwave is now ‘too long’, the media audience often wants the essence of the story not only clearly, but they want it now! They have no time to listen to a bore who is taking forever to tell a story. Get to the point! Be economical in getting your ideas (or images for TV) across, and please, make what you are saying interesting. They shouldn’t have to wait so long for a dull and mind-numbing tale.
7. Think before you talk
Some people think that good broadcasting is simply the ability to ramble confusedly on and on about a range of topics. Recall the previous tips – speak coherently and intelligibly. This means thinking about what you are going to say before you say it. It means thinking about what questions you want to ask before you ask it. Don’t be caught thinking as you talk, as some interviewers do. This will only result in confusion. Of course, there will be times such as live commentary, on the spot interviews or ad lib moments when you are forced to think and act on your feet (without the benefit of prior preparation). Even in these instances, it may be better to pause and collect your thoughts than run the risk of babbling on confusedly and sounding stupid.
8. Always Read Over your script
Some of the best broadcasters are those who are well-prepared, who take pains to become familiar with their scripts, and to understand the material before attempting to deliver it. If there is a script, ensure that you read it over at least once (ideally several times). In other words, IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW YOUR MATERIAL, AND UNDERSTAND IT. If you don’t, it is guaranteed that your listener and/or viewer WON’T either. Reading over your script also ensures that you pick up errors, gives you the opportunity to change awkward phrases, check pronunciations, rectify omissions and clarify confusing information.
There are times when you will get what is called a “hot” script, and you are forced to do what is known as “sight reading”. This means you have never seen the contents of the script prior to that moment, and you have to read from “sight” (read what you see just as it is). The trick here is while you read, to also become aware of the other words in the sentence by unconsciously looking ahead. This means that by the time you get to those words, you would have already rehearsed them unconsciously. This kind of skill requires focused concentration on the task at hand, and lots of practice.
9. Be the Eyes and Ears of your Audience
Have you ever seen people at a cricket match or a football game with portable radios or earphones? They are listening to the media commentary while they watch the action on the playing field. In these scenarios, the audience is heavily reliant on the broadcaster to paint an accurate picture of the event, noting significant and perhaps not-so-significant information. The audience depends on full disclosure. You must therefore act as their eyes and ears. Many a broadcast trainer will suggest being honest with your listeners and viewers. This means not embellishing the truth, hinting or implying things that one cannot substantiate. I have seen newscasts on CNN for example, where the broadcaster puts a piece of information that he/she deems important out there, but with the disclaimer that the information is unconfirmed. In television in particular, people are often seeing what you are reporting on, so if your commentary is inaccurate or distorted, then they will not only know but your credibility will be undermined.
10. Use pictures and sounds as PROPS
I am sure you have heard the expression ‘pictures tell a thousand words’. I don’t know what ‘sounds’ do, but there is a huge effect on believability if one hears airplanes landing or taking off rather than being told by the reporter of the airport scene. In the same way that it is more credible to hear the shouts of “goal” at a football stadium than to have a sports reporter in the stadium telling us that a goal has been scored. In other words, it is important to allow pictures and sounds to speak for themselves.
11.Keep your Biases to yourself
Because the broadcaster is received by a diverse audience, it is ESSENTIAL that he or she strives to be objective. This often means passing on information as accurately and completely as possible, or asking questions in as balanced and fair a manner as possible - taking into account the multiple perspectives which may come to bear on the issue. In other words, don’t colour it with your opinions and biases. Instead, present all sides of the issue and let the listeners’ judge for themselves. Jamaican broadcast trainer, Dwight Whylie, suggests that if you have publicly declared views on a subject, remind your audience of your position, then report fairly and accurately leaving your views out of it. In some cases, it may be better to allow someone else to cover the story or event.
12. Unless the story is about you, DO NOT become the story
In much contemporary news media, there is a peculiar celebrification of the journalist. This has resulted, in part, from the increased use of ‘stand–ups’ where the reporter comes on camera during or at the end of a story to “act” out a part of the narrative. The development of the “celebrity journalist” has, in my view, the unfortunate consequence of journalists-on-location attracting so much personal attention that, at times, they seemingly become a part of the story being told.
I use as an illustration the case in Jamaica in November 2007 of CVM TV news reporter Michael Price. Price was on location in Spanish Town, St. Catherine to cover a story, but his celebrity was foregrounded when he was accused of political bias, and became embroiled in a physical fracas with a citizen. Price ultimately became the story. No offence to Mr. Price who I believe is a solid news Journalist. However, a good broadcaster must endeavour to AVOID becoming the story.
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Dr. Hume Johnson is a Journalism and Communications Lecturer at James Cook University, QLD, Australia. She was a specialist news reader on Radio Jamaica and FAME FM. She was also host of the Jamaica Information Service (JISTV) flagship programme, Jamaica Magazine. Hume continues to freelance as a writer and lends her voice to radio promos and commercials
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