How
to create a great radio bulletin
Putting together a radio news bulletin is like preparing a
satisfying meal that leaves your audience nourished and prepared for the day;
what you produce has to be balanced and digestible.
1: Remember who is
listening and broadcast for them
You need to know who is tuning in for the information you are
delivering and what they need to know. A local, region or national audience is
not the same as an international audience. Each will have different needs,
although all will require a mix of information. Your job is to focus on the
news that is relevant to your regular listeners.
Your top stories are not necessarily the biggest international
stories of the day, although they could be. Your job, and the task of the news
team you work with, is to focus on covering the issues that have the most
impact on the lives of your target audience. These top stories will define how
close your news organization is to that audience.
The audience will be listening for information that they can
use. The stories you include in your bulletin must make up their staple diet of
"must know" information. This story choice will reinforce your
credibility as a relevant information provider in the minds of your audience.
Ideally you should be stimulating a daily conversation about the issues that
matter to your listeners.
Putting the most important stories first guarantees that
listeners who tune in for the start of your bulletin catch the most relevant
news, even if they cannot listen to your entire bulletin.
You need to know who your listeners are and
cover the issues that concern them
2: Variety is the
spice of life
Offer an information mix. Life is multi-coloured and
multi-faceted, and so is news.
If you are covering politics you must highlight how the issue
affect the lives of your audience and not dwell on the politics alone. Always
find someone affected by the issue and don't just feature those in positions of
power who are talking about the issue.
If you are covering a corruption story it's important that you
talk to either the victims or carry out a vox pop in the street to try to find
out what the general feeling is about the issue. Ideally, you should always try
to include the voice of those affected by whatever the story is highlighting.
Your audience will have a wide range of interests and concerns
including health, education, jobs, homes, science and technology, culture,
social developments, sports etc. Most of the time this means that you have to
provide a mix of news, current affairs and other information items.
Your bulletin should be wide-ranging in its
subject matter
Presentation
and format
3: Would you want to
listen to yourself?
A voice that pleases is important for ensuring that the audience
returns. Record a few of your bulletins and listen to them. Would you like to
listen to that voice every day? If not, do something about it.
Audio creates emotions. An attractive voice that catches the
attention of the audience is important. The last thing you want is a grating
voice that makes people switch off.
Avoid the sing-song voice that plays the same tune for every
sentence, going up in tone at the beginning of the sentence and then dropping
down at the end regardless of what is being said.
And never give the impression that you think you know more than
the audience. There will be someone listening who knows far more than you.
Never patronise.
The last thing you want is a grating voice
that makes people switch off
4: Small may be
beautiful
Longer is not necessarily better. A seven-minute news bulletin
is not going to be an improvement on five minutes if the extra two minutes are
merely filler material.
Try to imagine yourself in the place of the audience and think
through what pressures they may be under. They will probably be doing other
things as they listen. You are asking for their time and attention.
It's better to have a short bulletin that
people can remember than a long bulletin that leaves the audience confused
5: Slow down, it's not
a race
Don't rush. Make sure that your audience can understand what you
are saying. Reading too quickly could result in your audience not being able to
absorb the information you are sharing. You could end up becoming background
noise.
News readers often read fast when they are nervous or when they
know that they are about to pronounce a name about which they are uncertain. If
you know there is a foreign name coming up in the bulletin, highlight it and
practice it until you are sure. Then approach it slowly, pause, and pronounce
it clearly.
A handy tip is to make a mark in your script where you need to
take a breath and pause. These can help you when you come to reading the
information.
Don't rush. Make sure your audience can
understand what you are saying
6: Don't serve up
stale news
Is your bulletin fresh, dynamic, and stimulating? Rewriting is
essential. Many people will listen to several bulletins during the day.
It's important they are not served stale news that hasn't been
reworked. If you don't refresh, your audience might think you are either not
doing your journalistic job properly or you are being lazy.
When you come out of the studio after reading the latest
bulletin, rewrite all the top stories. Don't just put the bulletin down and
expect to pick it up again an hour later untouched and unchanged.
If you have a news bulletin at the top of the hour and headlines
on the half-hour, the headlines can't just be shorter versions of the main
bulletin. You will have to rework them and create a new headline that conveys
the main point of the story and encourages people to stay tuned for the next
bulletin.
You can also use the half-hour bulletin to add stories that you
could not include in the main bulletin. However, if you choose that kind of
presentation format, make sure that you stick to this pattern so that your
audience knows what to expect.
Some stories could run in different formats in different
bulletins. For example you could do a straight read of the information in one
bulletin followed by a voice report and or an audio clip in another.
Having several ways of telling the same story adds variety to your bulletin and
gives you options and flexibility when constructing it.
Refresh, rewrite and update your bulletin
throughout the date.
7: Radio is about
sounds, not just your voice
Sound bites are important. A longer news bulletin becomes a lot
more attractive for the audience if you include short sound bites. This can be
a five- or 10-second audio clip inserted in a voice report or a stand-alone 20-
or 25-second clip.
Such sound bites can make your bulletin easier to listen to,
more authoritative (because you are including first-hand evidence) and,
therefore, more credible. It's also more interesting for the listener.
However, all sounds have to have an editorial reason for being
there. You should not fill with sound clips that distract because they don't
relate to the thrust of the information you are delivering.
Every element of your bulletin has to have an
editorial justification
Writing
style
8: Tell a short story
Write news stories as if you were telling the story to a friend.
This means: short, simple and straightforward sentences.
The audience cannot go back and check what you said 10 seconds
ago. (Well, they can if they record it or are listening online, but the
majority will be listening on the move and won't be able to rewind the
bulletin.)
You need to be clear, focused and memorable. Crafting complex
information into simple sentences is a skill. Don't obscure the essential facts
with verbiage.
Write news stories as if you were telling the
story to a friend
9: Small and effective
packaging
The bulletin should be a compilation of short but powerful
stories. This format makes it easy for people to grasp the information.
Writing for radio is one of the most challenging journalistic
disciplines. The simple editorial rule about creating short, clear sentences
with a subject, verb, and an object is essential.
Don't try to be clever with words. Use words that make the most
sense and can be understood by all.
Read through your bulletin several times. Shorten the sentences
and replace complex concepts with simple terms that avoid any ambiguity or any
possible misunderstanding.
Keep it simple, clear and easy to follow
10: Some final points
If you are putting together a longer bulletin (e.g. seven
minutes or more), you may want to end the bulletin with a brief recap of the
main stories. This can help audiences recall the top stories and/or other
relevant information.
If you don't believe what you have written and what you are
saying your audience won't either; and what is more, they will not respect you
for broadcasting information that anyone with average intelligence would not
swallow.
Make sure you are honest in how you describe situations and
events, don't over sensationalize. Your audience will know when you are going
over the top and your credibility and integrity will be damaged if you do.
If you don't believe what you have written
your audience won't either
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