There are scores of books about the English language, writing and journalism, though surprisingly not all that many about writing for broadcast news and current affairs. Here is a selection of books and websites you might find most useful.
Block, Mervin, Writing Broadcast News, Bonus Books Chicago, 1997 (American usage)
Boyd, Andrew, Broadcast Journalism – Techniques of Radio and TV News, Focal Press, 5th edition, 2000
Chantler, Paul and Harris, Sim, Local Radio Journalism, Focal Press, 1997
Chantler, Paul and Stewart, Peter, Essential Radio Journalism, Methuen Drama, 2009
Fleming, Carole, The Radio Handbook, Routledge, 3rd edition, 2009
Griffiths, Richard, Videojournalism, Focal Press, 1998
Holland, Patricia, The Television Handbook, Routledge, 2002
Hudson, Gary and Rowlands, Sarah, The Broadcast Journalism Handbook, Longman, 2nd edition, 2007
Marr, Andrew, My Trade – A Short History of British Journalism, Pan Books, 2005
Ray, Vin and Simpson, John, The Television News Handbook, Macmillan, 2003
Wilson, John, Understanding Journalism, Routledge, 1996
Yorke, Ivor, Basic TV Reporting, Focal Press, 2nd edition, 1997
Amis, Kingsley, The King’s English, HarperCollins, 1998
Bragg, Melvyn, The Routes of English, BBC Publications, 1999
Bryson, Bill, Mother Tongue, Penguin, 2009
Burchfield, R.W., Fowler’s Modern English Usage, Oxford University Press, 2004
Burchfield, R.W., The English Language, Oxford University Press, revised 2006
Cochrane, James,Between You and I: A Little Book of Bad English, Icon Books, 2003 (revised edn 2005)
Crystal, David, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2003
Fowler, H.W. and Fowler, F.G., The King’s English, Oxford Language Classics, Oxford University Press, 2003
Gowers, Ernest, The Complete Plain Words, Penguin, 3rd edition, 2004
McCrum, Robert,MacNeil, Robert and Cran, William, The Story of English, Faber, 2002
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (American usage), Merriam Webster Publishing, Springfield, USA, 2004. www.m-w.com
Orwell, George, Politics and the English Language (in Collected Essays), Penguin, 2000
Oxford English Dictionary (2005) and Concise Oxford Dictionary Revised (2009), Oxford University Press. www.oed.com
Partridge, Eric, Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English, Penguin, 3rd edition, 2005
Wells, J.C., Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, Longman, 2008
Allen, John, The BBC News Styleguide, BBC Training and Development, 2003. www.bbctraining.com/pdfs/newsstyleguide.pdf
Banks, David and Hanna, Mark, McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists, Oxford University Press, 2009
BBC College of Journalism. www.bbc.co.uk/journalism/skills
BBC Editorial Guidelines. www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines
Bryson, Bill, Troublesome Words, Penguin, 2009
Centre for Policy Studies, Lexicon of Contemporary Newspeak, CPS, 2008 (The 2009 Lexicon: A Guide to Contemporary Newspeak can be downloaded from www.cps.org.uk)
Crockford’s Clerical Dictionary, Church House Publishing, 2010
The Economist Style Guide, Profile Books, 9th edn, 2009. www.economist.com/research/StyleGuide
Evans, Harold, Essential English, Pimlico, 2000
Fort, Tom, A Pocket Guide to Radio Newswriting, BBC Radio News, 1999
Granada plc, ITV Cultural Diversity Guide, 2003. email to request a copy: cultural-diversity@granadamedia.com
Hicks, Wynford, English for Journalists, Routledge, 3rd edition, 2006
Hicks, Wynford with Adams, Sally, Gilbert, Harriett and Holmes, Tim, Writing for Journalists, Routledge, 2nd edition, 2008
Keeble, Richard, Ethics for Journalists, Routledge, 2nd edition, 2008
Marsh, David and Hodsdon, Amelia, The Guardian, Observer and guardian.co.uk style guide, Guardian Books, 2010. www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide
Ministry of Justice (terminology for the judiciary). www.judiciary.gov.uk/about_judiciary/forms_of_address/index.htm
The New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, Oxford University Press, 2005
The Times Concise Atlas of the World, eleventh edition, Times Books, 2009
The Times Guide to English Style and Usage, Times Books, 1999
Waterhouse, Keith, Waterhouse on Newspaper Style, Penguin, 1993
Weber Shandwick Adamson, Interactive Guide to the European Union. www.webershandwick-eu.com/reports-and-guides/interactive-guides