A news bulletin is a short radio or television news broadcast, giving the bare facts of stories before they are given more depth in a full programme. Writing a bulletin requires journalistic skills – being clear and concise and factual – but also editing, selecting, checking and ranking stories. Ideally, a bulletin will be fresh and dynamic; it must appeal to the audience to keep them listening.
The bulletin is a great showcase for the radio journalist and should be well presented, with a clear voice that can attract and hold an audience’s attention. The key to success is relevance to the audience – the top stories should be those that affect most people, not the biggest international ones (although they may also feature).
It’s important to have a good mix of stories and to add pictures where possible, which will increase the appeal and enhance credibility. The length of each story should be limited – it’s helpful to know the newsreader’s reading rate so that you can estimate how long it will take for them to read out your item. A sound bite helps to make your story interesting and adds credibilty if the subject is well-known.
It’s also vital to have a variety of different types of photos, including action shots. Try to avoid “grip and grin” photos and instead get some with different perspectives, for example from the front of the truck, behind the wheel or in the skyline.
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