The Scripted Podcast: Content Writing in Broadcast Journalism with Alexandra Carter

Welcome to The Scripted Podcast! In this episode, we sit down with broadcast journalist and Scripted freelance writer Alexandra Carter (https://muckrack.com/alexandra-carter). Alexandra takes us through the break-neck process that a local broadcast news story takes from ideation to your TV every night. We also discuss her transition from on-camera talent to freelance writer and how she was able to quickly build a new career here at Scripted.

Give it a listen on the platform of your choice and then promptly subscribe, give us a nice review, and be forever in our hearts.


Podcast Video Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:59 Today we are talking about content writing in broadcast journalism.
01:09 What goes on behind the scenes to get that show up? And what kind of content writing needs to be done to do so?
02:05 Today we have Alexandra Carter. You may have seen her or seen some of her work at NBC News, New York Daily News, Adweek, the Center for American Progress, and countless other news organizations. She worked as a broadcaster and now is a freelance writer and Scripted writer.
04:11 Where did you come from originally?
04:35 Did you have to learn how to do the whole broadcast voice and everything?
05:20 What kind of stories have you covered in the course of your career?
06:11 Can you take us through the process of a new story, of a given news story, how you start with a pitch and then end up with a broadcast?
08:06 So when does the pitch happen? At what time of the day?
08:42 Do they even provide a van anymore?
09:10 What kind of camera are you working with?
10:24 How often does a morning show segment maybe not get done in time and end up on the night?
11:03 And is there a huge failure to success rate? Do you guys send out a ton of stories on a
11:57 So how important was writing in this entire process? Were you putting everything together and scripting it before you go live? Tell us a bit about that process.
12:52 From start to finish from a pitch to a news story or a pitch to a written story, how similar are those skill sets?
13:59 What made you go into the transition of freelance writing? What made you make that choice personally?
16:25 Can you tell us a little bit about the work you've done on Scripted? What kind of writing have you been able to do? And how was that transfer from news to brand writing?
17:58 What kind of advice would you give to writers who are out there who are kind of looking to duplicate that success and trying to diversify the type of topics they write about or keep the well of ideas that they have filled?
20:01 Can you tell us about your work with Adweek through Scripted?
21:43 Do you think you'll ever make a return to broadcast journalism or traditional journalism?
22:59 The hard pressure of working on TV
23:26 What your thoughts were on the Andrew Cuomo and Chris Cuomo situation. What did you think about the handling of that through CNN? And do you think he should still be on the air? Do you think he made a giant mistake? What's your take?
24:53 Did you find yourself on the receiving end of the anti-journalism mindset that's starting to kind of take hold?
26:00 Has anything ever happened to you while you were live that didn't end up making the cut?
22:56 Final Podcast Thoughts
33:53 We'll see you next time.


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