The news bulletin is a vital part of radio and broadcasting. It is a key element of your listeners’ daily lives and it needs to be interesting and engaging, but also accurate and well-researched. Listeners expect a balance of stories, some heavy and some light, some about major political events and others about ordinary people. They also expect a pace of delivery that will keep them listening.
Examining the news in terms of these criteria will lead you to choose the main story for your bulletin – this is called the “lead”. You should then consider how the rest of the bulletin should be structured around that story. This will depend to some extent on your station format; serious national stations may use more serious stories delivered in a slower more deliberate style, whereas youth-oriented music station bulletins might be lighter and brighter with more stories about popular culture.
You should always look to include a mix of different formats for your bulletin, including voice reports and audio clips and pictures. This will add interest to your bulletin and allow you to tell more news in the time available.
Generally, you should aim to spend at least two minutes on your lead story and build the rest of your bulletin around it. If you have any other news which you think is worth including in your bulletin, run them as briefs (briefs are short stories – usually just one or two sentences – and they can be used to increase the pace of your bulletin). You should also always carry extra copy into the studio in case you have misjudged your timing. By watching your studio clock and timing each item as you read it, you will eventually develop the skill to be able to look at any piece of news and estimate within a second how long it will take to read out.