People who watch the news are unforgiving. And the people who are the focus of a news story can be litigious. You can get in trouble incorrectly attributing statements, facts, quotes, and images.
If you’re writing about science, economics, social justice, or crime, you want to correctly attribute the information you receive. People who are directly impacted by your story are watching your show—the researcher, the investor, the activist, and the mother of a 17-year-old who was shot by police. Trust me when I tell you that you do not want that last one calling you to question why you reported information from the police as fact. It’s not. It’s part of a developing investigation. You want to clearly state who is behind the statement because it’s not you.
You also must be conscious about how you attribute. News writing guru Mervin Block says you must attribute first in television news. Otherwise, it sounds like your anchor is the one making the statement. And he believes there’s no turning back from implanting that false attribution to your anchor, even if you attribute a statement afterward, because, in television news, you cannot reread a sentence.
It can be tempting to use powerful statements to grab viewers’ attention. It can also undermine the anchor’s credibility. Let’s look at this hypothetical first line:
“Donald Trump should be locked up!”
The viewer at home looks up from their tablet to see the anchor staring straight out of their television screen. There’s a question of integrity and bias tickling the viewer’s brain. Then, the anchor continues.
“That’s what Attorney General Merrick Garland said during testimony today.”
Guess what? The damage is done despite the attribution. Hard-earned rapport, which takes months and sometimes years to build, is now degraded because the anchor has the feeling of being opinionated. Even viewers who agree with the hypothetical statement from Garland may now feel the anchor supports their political views. You don’t want that. Journalists need to be wholly impartial. Be like The Watcher from the Marvel Comics Universe. He observes but never interferes.
Your job is to report facts and give context about those facts. Showmanship is important to winning ratings, but you’re a journalist first and must consider the impact of those statements first. There are ways to create that same impact that grabs your viewers’ attention and properly attributes your statement. Such as:
“The nation’s top cop is calling for the arrest of the former president. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says Donald Trump should be locked up.”
Here we come, guns blazing, while we retain credibility. Remaining unbiased is easy to do. You need proper attribution and balanced representation.
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