Setting the scene

The "scene" in a broadcast report is an elusive thing, I've found. No matter how I try to describe it, it seems to be misunderstood. Perhaps what we can do is look at a scene for what it's NOT...

1. Random sound: A scene isn't the disconnected sound of the ocean, birds, a screaming car or an angry mob, just for the sake of hearing something. It's got to be described...to matter.

2. Anything outside an interview setting: While walking and talking in the great outdoors can actually be a scene, it's got to have purpose...why are we talking to this person there? What are they describing? If we take someone out of a studio and office and have them walk down the sidewalk for no reason, it will sound chaotic, disjointed...

Instead, here's what a scene IS...

1. A chance to hear something about a story that words alone can't convey. The sound of a bulldozer knocking down a building takes you there, in the way someone telling you a story about a bulldozer knocking down a building never could.

2. A chance to break up the narrative flow. If all we ever heard was: Reporter talks/Soundbite/Reporter/Soundbite/etc....it would get pretty boring. A scene lets you go elsewhere in the story...and really separates what we do from print reporting.

3. A chance to SHOW and not TELL. A scene should be constructed to create a visual image that shows you something about a person's life or character...about a situation or controversy.

Here are a few examples of scenes in radio stories. The first one's light...a story I did for NPR about a new rule in Connecticut high school football. This next story has at least one disturbing scene...Nancy Cohen reports on a broken sewage system.

Public Radio News Directors Statement of Ethics

It's always good to have a philosophical, or ethical underpinning for the work you do. It helps to keep you grounded, and asking the right questions. That's why I share with you the "Statement of Ethics" from Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the news organization I'm most closely aligned with. Everything here applies not just to this class...or to radio reporting specifically...but to journalism in general. You can find our more about PRNDI by clicking here.

STATEMENT OF ETHICS
Public Radio News Directors Inc. is committed to the highest standards of journalistic ethics and excellence. We must stand apart from pressures of politics and commerce as we inform and engage our listeners. We seek truth, and report with fairness and integrity.
Independence and integrity are the foundations of our service, which we maintain through these principles:
TRUTH
Journalism is the rigorous pursuit of truth. Its practice requires fairness, accuracy, and balance
We strive to be comprehensive. We seek diverse points of view and voices to tell the stories of our communities.
FAIRNESS
Fairness is at the core of all good journalism.
We gather and report the news in context, with clarity and compassion.
We treat our sources and the public with decency and respect.
Our reporting is thorough, timely and avoids speculation.
INTEGRITY
The public's faith in our service rests on our integrity as journalists.
Editorial independence is required to ensure the integrity of our work.
We identify the differences between reporting and opinion.
We guard against conflicts of interest - real and perceived - that could compromise the credibility and independence of our reporting.
We are accountable when conflicts occur. We disclose any unavoidable conflicts of interest.