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
  • Workshops
    • Why a Workshop?
  • Books
  • Tips
  • Resources
    • A Broadcaster’s Book List
  • Quotable Block
  • Contact
    • Meet Merv Block
    • Block’s Extra Ears and Eyes—His Readers—Sound Off

Contact

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Mervin Block

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