A news bulletin is a brief radio news broadcast, giving the bare facts of stories before they are explored in depth in a full programme. Journalistic skills are essential for writing a bulletin, but composing one also involves editing skills – selecting, checking and prioritising stories. It is important that the content relates to your audience, as they are unlikely to stay tuned to something they don’t care about. A good way to judge this is to record some bulletins and listen to them. Do you find yourself switching off after a few minutes? If so, you should try to address the issues that are most relevant to your listeners.
The most important stories should be headlined at the start of the bulletin, as this will attract listeners and give them an idea of what to expect from the rest of the bulletin. If the story is particularly dramatic it may be helpful to also use a voiceover, to add extra impact and create suspense.
It is not a good idea to play a grab before the opening theme, as this confuses the audience. However, short grabs in simple language may be used without overdubbing if it is obvious that the listeners will understand them.
A news reader must be clear and accurate, avoiding the temptation to rush or pronounce words which they are not sure about. It is a good idea to count how long it takes them to read a line of text, as this helps them to time the bulletin correctly. This is especially useful when reading a long list of stories where the newsreader may be required to pause between lines.
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