Context

After writing a successful first script and continuing to develop my broadcast writing skills, an interesting opportunity popped up. A story out of Japan about a new way to show affection; it's called "worming" and it is when you let your significant other lick your eyeball. When my supervisor caught wind of the story, she sent me out with a photog to the Baltimore Harbor so we could see what our viewers thought about this new fad. I was able to take the reins on the story by first interviewing people. At first I was nervous because I only had one or two questions to ask anyone that came up. But after the photog showed me how he continues to ask even the most basic questions, I got the hang of it. After gathering about five interviews of people who were both for, against, and appauled by it, we came back to the station so I could start writing. 

Rhetorical Strategies

From the moment I heard about the story, I started generating as many corny puns as I could. I knew it would be alright to use puns since the story was lighthearted and meant to be funny, or punny if you're me. But before I started writing, I took a minute to consider how I wanted to approach the process. I'd heard how other photogs, producers, reporters, and anchors wrote their packages, but wasn't sure which would be the best way for me. 

I decided to go back and listen to all of the interviews and wrote down ones that I thought would be good for a package. After I had about ten sound bites, I went to my computer and laid out the framework. To me, this was the most logical way to approach writing a package as opposed to writing the package and then picking your sound bites. From there it came easy. I had an idea of what I wanted to write and I inserted bites wherever it made the most sense. 

This rhetorical choice allowed me to take time to process the information I had and write a cohesive script that be humorous yet informative. It was important for me to consider ethics when writing this script. Poking fun at someone else's culture can cause backlash. But, by getting various interviews of people who considered doing it and those who were against it, I think it was a balanced script. 

Reflection

I think I was successful in writing a balanced and amusing script. When I sent the script to my supervisor, she laughed out loud then forwarded it to the anchor who was going to read it for the night. She said I could be his personal writer. Over the few weeks I had been there before I had the opportunity to write the package,  I was sure to pay attention to the types of scripts the anchors wrote. By learning their style, I was able to cater the package towards the male anchor who likes to be more expressive rather than get straight to the point like the other anchor. I watched the show live that night and was thrilled when the anchor tossed to weather immediately after the package was finished. Both were puzzled by the fad and it led to a funny end of the show.