A news bulletin is a key part of your programme and it’s important to get it right. Listeners expect a balanced mix of stories, some serious and some light-hearted. They also expect a good balance between stories about major political events and those which affect ordinary people.
Your lead story is important because it will set the tone for the whole bulletin. You need to give it special attention, ensuring that it is well written with vivid language and a strong narrative flow. It’s often worth having a second version of the same story to run in different formats. For example you might have a straight read of the information in one bulletin and a voice report with a short audio clip (or even a stand-alone soundbite) in another. This adds variety to the bulletin and helps listeners retain the information.
When deciding what to include in your bulletin, remember the basic criteria of what makes something news: is it new, unusual, interesting, significant or about people? Keeping this in mind will help you to decide what to put first and last and how long to spend on each story.
Always remember that a news bulletin is a service to your listeners; they are tuning in to get up-to-date, relevant and useful information. If you don’t give them that then you’re not doing your job properly.
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