Why is writing in short simple sentences so important in TV and radio news?

You know what would be funny?  If you turn on Brian Williams tonight on NBC and his broadcast consisted of him reading straight from the New York Times.  No script, just the newspaper.  How ridiculous would that sound?

This leads me to this week’s question of why is it so important to use short and simple sentences when writing for television and radio news?

The answer is pretty simple if you think about it.  When we write for television and radio, we are writing something that is going to read out loud in front of millions of viewers.  If it is to elaborate and complicated then it becomes very difficult to read out loud.  What you always want to try and avoid is mess ups on a live broadcast.  Not only does it look bad but it makes your story more difficult to follow for the viewer.

We have discussed in the past how it is important for stories to be to the point and not beat around the bush.  The audience doesn’t need to be blown away with your vocabulary.  They just want to know the news and move on with their lives.  The simpler the words and sentences, the better off you’ll be. 

A good way to think about it is to write as f you were having a conversation with the audience.  When you talk to someone you don’t think about being cute with your language you just focus on saying what you want to say to get your point across.  I don’t know about you but it annoys me if someone is trying to tell me that it is sunny outside but instead gets into a whole thing about how the weather patterns have been shifting and high pressure has set in which thus has produced the sunny weather.  I would probably walk away. 

Bottom line is be simple, be to the point and don’t try to be cute.  Most importantly, stay classy.