Who Says “Transported To A Local Hospital”? (You don’t, do you?)

Skilled news writers avoid cop-talk and other jargon, know that police incident reports must be re-written because they are laden with language no one but cops and lawyers use, and strive to write in short, clear, declarative sentences. (Unlike this long, run-on sentence!)

Here’s a nice, short column from a professional broadcast news writer that talks about a few of the horrid clichés that often find their way into broadcast news writing.

And, there are special sections of the WBA Newsroom site devoted to helping you avoid using jargon in your writing. Radio is here and TV is here.

As always, you comments and favorite news writing clichés are welcome. Tweet us @WBANewsroom!

Posted by Tim Morrissey