There are two very different sides to the news industry: print news and broadcast news. While we’re all journalists, we deal with different standards of tone, writing style, format, timeliness and many more factors.

I’m a broadcast news person through and through. While my last post was about how much I love grammar, the truth is, I hate being confined to AP Style. I like writing in a conversational tone, which benefits my broadcast writing abilities.

For the record, when I say print news, I’m referring to anything that’s read, not heard, be it on a newspaper, website or some other medium.

Here’s some notable differences between print and broadcast news:

Lede Sentences

Print News: Your lede sentence needs to hit at least the who, what, where and when. Why is usually saved for the nut graph.

Broadcast News: It’s encouraged to be a little cheekier. For example, when writing VO’s, I like to use my first sentence to tell the audience why the story matters to them. My second sentence, usually after the video starts, gets into the nitty-gritty. Something like this:

*On Cam*
Residents of New Haven will soon be seeing higher property taxes.
*Take VO*
The city council approved a 3-point-7-percent increase for 2026.

For harder news this isn’t always applicable, sometimes the summary lede is the best route.

Point of View

Print News: The author or outlet are almost never mentioned in the story. No “I” or “We.” On occasion, for articles like a feature, the reporter may inject themselves: “Chris and I met at a small coffee shop.” But for the most part, they stick to second or third person.

Broadcast News: First person is much more accepted. It would sound way too clinical and unfriendly if an anchor only used third person. You’ll often hear something like “We here at *insert station name*.” Additionally when ad-libbing, anchors will speak of themselves, and use “I” as a pronoun.

Sentence Structure

Print News: Sentences should remain short. But, the medium does allow the audience to read a sentence over again if they aren’t getting it, so there’s a little more room for error. Still, a sentence should always be subject-verb-object, and strive to stay under 25 words.

Broadcast News: You’re writing scripts. You need to write how someone speaks. That means super short sentences. And sometimes even starting a sentence in the middle of a dependent clause. Using contractions… and ellipses to indicate pauses. The audience can’t always rewind. Your words need to be easily understood the first time.

Both formats have their nuances. Both are difficult and respectable in their own ways. Oftentimes, journalists may have to jump between the two styles. A broadcast reporter does a website writeup. A print journalist makes a short form video. So it’s important every journalist be well versed in both.