Product Description

Al Tompkins is Broadcast and Online Group Leader for the prestigious Poynter Institute for Media Studies. In Aim for the Heart, he shares the secrets of great storytellers and writers, and helps professional broadcast journalists write clearer, stronger stories.

Aim for the Heart offers practical, specific advice on how to:
• Find a laser-beam story focus
• Decide whom to interview
• Select the most memorable soundbites
• Write tighter copy
• Find the story lead and open
• Create memorable characters

Aim for the Heart gives reporters, producers and writers page after page of practical advice on how to avoid clichés, passive verbs and "news jargon" that viewers hate.

This book goes beyond the story to help reporters and producers find their leadership voices. Tompkins shows journalists how to deal with difficult people in the newsroom, and how to coach others to higher performance, rather than fixing the same frustrating mistakes over and over.

Tompkins is the co-author of the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation ethics workbook. In Aim for the Heart, he includes advice for how to make tough ethics calls on deadline. He helps journalists:
• Think through when it is appropriate to "go live" with a story
• Draft guidelines on when and how to identify juveniles
• Decide when and how to use confidential sources
• Cover difficult stories thoughtfully and aggressively

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #601344 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 250 pages

About the Author
Al Tompkins is one of America's most honored local broadcast journalists. He is the recipient of the National Emmy, five National Headliner Awards, the Japan Prize, two Iris Awards, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, the National Bar Association Silver Gavel and The Clarion Award. The National Press Photographers Association awarded him the Jack Lemon award in 2001 for outstanding service to photojournalism. In his 25 years of working in local broadcast news he has been a photojournalist, reporter, producer, investigative reporter, director of special projects and investigations, assistant news director and news director.

Customer Reviews

Probably THE book to read for any up-and-coming reporter...
Mr. Tompkins' book was the reason I got my first job coming out of college. The first two stories I put on my resume tape were heavily influenced by the things I read in 'Write for the ear, shoot for the eye, aim for the heart.'

Al explains things so that you not only understand how to do the things we do, but also why we do the things we do. I still keep the book on my desk, and whenever my reporting gets into a rut, I haul out Al's book and re-read it. My next few stories are always better than my last few stories.

Loved this book
I've worked as a tv reporter for nearly 21 years...16 years in Portland, Oregon. This is by far one of the very best books I've read on the art of writing for tv news. I found it useful after reading the very first page. Tompkins uses clear, concrete examples to illustrate his points which instantly made me a better writer. Its refreshing to think about our craft with new insight on the purpose and focus of each story. I've urged all the producers and reporters in our newsroom to get and read this!

Great teaching tool
I purchased this book to help teach high school students how to write for broadcast, and the lessons Tompkins gives are valuable for students and professionals. Tompkins shows the process behind the writing and the factors a reporter should consider, such as when less writing is more. The book is funny, entertaining, and touching at the same time. He gives many specific examples, including exerpts from scripts, that show the detail and the planning behind the writing. It changes the viewer's perspective on the television news, and it certainly could help professionals refine their writing for broadcast.