Mervin Block
Television Newswriting Workshop
About
Articles
2017
Reasonable Reaction to Broadcast Thank-yous: No Thanks
‘Bermuda Triangle’ Kept Alive by Broadcasters
Network Anchors Entangled in ‘Bermuda Triangle’
When ‘Breaking News’ Is Neither Breaking Nor News
2016
ABC’s David Muir Not Intimidated by Facts
ABC Anchor David Muir Caught in Two Tall Tales
ABC’s David Muir Likes to Ing, but Ing Lacks Zing
How WNBC Anchor Covered Crime Spree
CNN Broadcast: Worse Than Wrong
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: Broken News
Lester Holt’s Scripts: True and False
2015
When Stars Lester Holt and David Muir Don’t Shine
NBC’s Lester Holt: His Write Stuff Is Often Wrong
When ‘Breaking Overnight’ Was Broken
How Lester Holt Gives News a Jolt
Holt, Williams Tamper with Clock, Time After Time
2013
How NBC Newscasters Turn Day into Night
Scott Pelley’s ‘Breaking Story’ Breaks Up
TV Consultant Tells Clients to Make News Sound Urgent
2012
Diane Sawyer and Her Word Games
Anchors’, Reporters’ Use of ‘Confirmed’ Questionable
2011
CBS’s Scott Pelley: Wearing Two Hats Can Cause Headaches
When a Hit Is Amiss
CNN: When Bad Things Happen to a Sad Story
Brian Williams Outruns the Learning Curve
Anchors, Reporters Plagued by Learning Problems
CNN Anchor Likes Astrologer, Astrology and Astrologizing
ABC’s David Muir: A Man of Learning
2010
Diane Sawyer: When Words Fail Her
When Hype Is Tripe
ABC’s Muir Seems to Think Using ‘Tonight’ Works Muiracles
2009
ABC News Anchor Tampers with Clock and Calendar
When ‘Now’ is Not Now on ABC’s ‘World News’
Brian Williams: Lack of Copy Editor Causes Problems
For Want of a Nail—And an Editor
CNN: Blitzer Cries Wolf
2008
Are You Ready for the Big Time, Say, ’60 Minutes’?
Test Your Newswriting I.Q. Against Networkers’ I.Q.
CNN: ‘Keeping Them Honest’
CNN Fobbing Off Old News As New
When A Network Script Should Be Scrapped
Former NBC News Writer Slams Brian Williams’s Scripts
Brian Williams: History-Maker
When ‘Breaking News’ Needs a Brake
How Brian Williams Beats The Clock
Archive of 2007 and prior columns
CBS Producer Says My Article About Evening News Had Errors
Couric: When ‘Exclusive’ News is Not Exclusive–And Not Even News
CNN’s Paula Zahn: Perky, But…
Anderson Cooper’s ‘Keeping Them Honest’ Raises Questions
Chicago News Producer Hunts Down Clichés
Brian Williams: “Nightly” Problems
Autopsy of an Anderson Cooper Script
“All Eyes Are On…”: Broadcast Writing Clichés
’60 Minutes’ Story About Singer Hits False Note
’60 Minutes’ Keeps on Ticking, But Its Writing Takes a Licking
‘More Violence to Report’ — and More Weak Ways Not to Report
A Look at BBC’s New Stylebook
A Hard Look Finds a Weak Network Script Fading to Blah
Breakfast with Andy Rooney
Better Than a Post-Mortem: A Thorough Pre-Mortem
Newswriting Columns
Mistakes Are Bad News
Error Alert: Wrong Words Slip Into Network Newscasts
‘More Violence to Report’ — and More Weak Ways Not to Report
When Bad Scripts Happen to Good Newscasts
Résumés That Can’t Get to First Base: They Strike Out Even Before Getting to Bat
Networks’ Mistakes May Make You a Better Writer
Who Was Taking a Snooze on the Evening News?
Newscasters Caught in a Blunder-Storm
Better Than a Post-Mortem: A Thorough Pre-Mortem
Half-true is False
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Block’s Extra Ears and Eyes—His Readers—Sound Off
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