ESSENTIALS OF A NEWSCASTER:Authority, Credibility, Language, Pronunciation

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Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

LESSON 30

ESSENTIALS OF A NEWSCASTER

Newscaster - The Anchorperson

Newscaster is the person who reads the news to the listeners on radio and conducts interviews if needed.

Essentials of a Newscaster

A good news caster must posses the following essentials:

1. Authority

Authority as defined by David Dunhill, BBC Voice Trainer, Former Newscaster.

"Authority is not a sound. Authority is a state of knowing what you are talking about and being

able to explain it convincingly and readily to somebody else."

2. Credibility

A newscaster must be a good journalist not a good actor. Good journalist means that he has got ample

knowledge of what he is reading out to the listeners. It must appear from his tone whatever he is reading

out, he must know its worth as well otherwise he has ample chances to commit mistake. Sometimes it

happens that the composer of the news script makes some errors in the spellings or in the names of the

proper nouns. In such cases, if the newscaster is ignorant of basic facts and figures, he will not be able to

correct the information and wrong information will go on air. From event to the broadcast, a news story

passes through many hands but the newscaster is the person who enters into the scene at the end and holds

the final presentation. It implies that manifold responsibility lies with him/her. Knowledge is confidence

and knowledge is credibility.

A newscaster must have an insight of national and international issues. He must know the names of

presidents of important countries, prime ministers, capital names, currencies, etc. He must know the names

and respective departments of federal and provincial ministers, secretaries and other important government

officials.

Harry Ratliff Bureau Chief, CBS News

"I am not interested in newsreaders actors reading the news it debases the news. Many of them

don't know what they are reading. When they interview someone they read questions somebody

else has written. That's wrong. The news ought to be told by journalists--they have more

credibility."

Language

We talk about language in terms of grammar, pronunciation and accent. As far as grammar is concerned, a

newscaster must be well versed in the rules and principals of the language he is reading news in. Some

important areas regarding grammar to be concentrated by a newscaster are: Tenses; Nouns; Verbs;

Adjectives; Structures; Use of conditionals; Causatives.

Pronunciation

Whatever the language is if the pronunciation of the speaker is bad it gives bad impression and sometimes it

changes the meaning of the word as well. For instance,

Sentence (noun) means a set of words that carries a subject and a verb; and conveys a message.

Sen`tence (verb) means to announce punishment.

Rebel (noun) the person who fights against the government of his country.

Re`bel (verb) the act of fighting against the government of his country.

Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

A good and professional newscaster is always curious about the pronunciation of any new word that comes

to his knowledge.

To be accurate regarding a professional newscaster knows the art of looking up dictionary for which the

knowledge of Phonetics, Vowel Sounds, Consonant Sounds, Syllables, and Stresses- Primary, Secondary, &

Tertiary stresses, is a must.

Accent

Accent is not necessary to be followed but pronunciation is something that must not be compromised.

Unbiased

A professional newscaster is the one who is unbiased at least when he/she is reading out news bulletin. He

must be able to hide his feelings of hatred or liking for any one whose news he is reading out.

Punctual

Rain or storm, a newscaster is in form. What may come in the way, a newscaster has to reach the studio at

least 30 minutes before the bulletin starts so that he may go through the script well in advance.

Voice

As far as the voice quality of a newscaster is concerned, it must be:

Good but not necessarily exceptionally good.

Comfortable.

Confident.

Clear.

Healthy.

Lively.

Microphone friendly.

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