[Imc-newsroom] Writing radio news

[Peter Miller]

For a guide to writing stories for the WEFT-IMC news program, I'm attaching an
example of a news report for the labor hour.  Note in particular the length of
the pieces (try reading them and timing them for perspective) and the length of
the sentences.

I also recall seeing a short "how to write for radio" piece on the web
somewhere, but I don't have time to look for it, now.

Good luck!
-Peter

Stock Markets Tumble

Major stock exchanges closed the week with dramatic losses, with the Dow Jones
index losing nearly four percent of its value in a single week, and the
technology-heavy NASDAQ hitting its low-point for the year.  Many analysts are
saying that this is the end of the ten-year rise in the stock market, where
investors could expect their holdings to increase in value by 30 percent each
year.  Most companies have cited higher oil prices, Europe's weak single
currency, and a slowing U.S. economy for their poor showings.

Second Tentative Agreement Reached at Bath Iron Works

Negotiators for nearly 4,800 striking workers on Friday reached a second
tentative agreement on a contract with Bath Iron Works, the Maine shipyard that
makes the U.S. Navy's most advanced destroyers. The union is in the seventh
week of work stoppage at Bath Iron Works, a unit of General Dynamics Corp. 
Managers are attempting to re-structure work at the shipyard, requiring workers
to cross-train for a variety of different jobs at the factory.  Management
reportedly backed off of some of its demands for changes in working conditions,
but workers rejected the last contract presented to them.  It's unknown whether
the rank-and-file will accept the current offer.

Non-Union Newspaper Workers Win Strike in Silicon Valley

Non-union workers successfully struck a newspaper in the heart of Silicon
Valley last week.  As many as 600 of 1000 newspaper delivery people for the San
Jose Mercury News walked off the job on Sunday.  Carriers were demanding a 20
percent pay increase to compensate for rising gas prices. They also cited
several problems with working conditions, including production delays that made
their deliveries late, and issues of bill collection, branch operations, and
unresolved grievances against managers.  The newspaper eventually agreed to a
twelve percent pay increase, but the workers did not return to the job until
the Mercury News agreed to rehire four carriers who were fired when the paper
found replacements to deliver their routes.  Eighty percent of the carriers for
the Mercury News are Vietnamese.

Companies Fined for Safety Violations

A fatal accident during construction on a Peoria bridge has brought fines to
the contractors overseeing the project.  The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration has fined Midwest Foundation Corporation and Halverson
Construction Company $230,000 for using unsafe scaffolds during renovation work
on the McClugage Bridge in Peoria.  Three ironworkers died on April 24 when
scaffolding collapsed, plunging them into the Illinois River. OSHA inspectors
found that the scaffold was not adequately designed and there was no supervisor
on hand who knew the right method for employees to move the scaffold, nor were
workers trained on how to move the scaffold. Workers were not wearing life
jackets, and the horizontal lifeline system being used was not designed to hold
up if all the employees attached to it fell. Even before the accident, OSHA had
investigated the bridge project in response to a complaint and found that
workers were being exposed to lead at about 53 times the limit without being
provided with respirators or means to wash properly. Altogether, the two
companies were cited for 14 serious violations.

Illinois Professors See Difficult Negotiations

Union professors at both Eastern Illinois University and at Southern Illinois
University at Carbondale were in the news this week.  At Eastern, contract
negotiations between the professors and the university broke off on October 10
after a session with a federal mediator.  Professors at Eastern are the
lowest-paid in Illinois and they're seeking equity raises.  At Southern, about
250 people, including professors, clerical support staff, and graduate
assistants, held an informational picket, also on October 10.  Faculty at
Southern are seeking pay increases and an increase in the number of full-time
tenured faculty positions.  Professors are concerned about the rapidly
increasing numbers of temporary, or non-tenure-line, faculty members who lack
job security and protection for academic freedom, and are paid considerably
less than their full-time counterparts.  No further contract talks are
scheduled either at Eastern or at Southern.

Labor's Big Payday

Crain's Business News reports that the tight labor market is paying off for
union construction workers in Chicago.  In three meetings, Tile Layers Local 67
reached an agreement with contractors 3 months in advance of the old contract's
expiration.  The new agreement provides for a $6.25 per hour increase over 4
years plus a $12 per day downtown parking reimbursement. The trend is expected
to continue next year when negotiations for the Laborers, Carpenters, and
Operating Engineers are scheduled. 

State to Conduct Hearings on Makeup of GEO Union

Now that four years of court proceedings have concluded, the state needs to
figure out how many of the University of Illinois' 5300 graduate assistants may
vote in a union election.  An administrative law judge will meet with the
University of Illinois at Urbana and representatives of the Graduate Employee
Organization to set up hearings on the matter. No date has been set for the
hearings. 

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