Radio News Understanding a radio News Bulletin News Story: hard and soft Reporter’s Packages Headlines, teases, promo Writing Radio News Scripts Interviewing for Radio News

Radio News bulletin A short news program, periodical, which runs in between other programs in Radio. News bulletin contains the recent news stories, reporters packages and/or live reporting from the field. Length of bulletins ranges from minutes in general.

Radio News bulletin Radio News bulletins are generally made up of three types of materials: written stories in the form of a script; voice reports from journalists also called PKG Recorded sound called actualities, short segment of actuality is called grab or cut or inserts Short interviews (live or recorded)

Preparing a news bulletin How do you decide which news to include? How do you decide the order of the news? How do you decide the length of each news?

Preparing a news bulletin Three main factors to consider: Significance: how important is the news for the hour? Balance: Hard news & soft news, Political, economic, sports, etc Voiceovers & reports Pace Accident news are simple and shorter – fast pace Political and ideas based stories are complex – slow pace

Preparing a news bulletin Once you have decided the order of the stories; Then write headlines for some of the stories If the bulletin is too short, headlines aren’t necessary Headlines will help promote your stories It is better to headline first 2-3 most important stories, few dramatic stories, and the last story to keep the listeners.

Preparing a news bulletin In English, headlines aren’t always grammatically complete “ Why Putin is angry with Turkey” “PM Oli concerned over protest in Terai” “Two died in a clash in Bara” Write teasers for dramatic, humorous stories Teasers are headlines that provoke listeners interest but do not reveal the main secret, information. For example: if you have a story about rising petrol prices, you might write the headline "Motorists face another shock at the petrol pumps". Never write the headline "Petrol is to rise by 10 rupees a liter"

Preparing a news bulletin In English, headlines aren’t always grammatically complete “ Why Putin is angry with Turkey” “PM Oli concerned over protest in Terai” “Two died in a clash in Bara” Write teasers for dramatic, humorous stories Teasers are headlines that provoke listeners interest but do not reveal the main secret, information. For example: if you have a story about rising petrol prices, you might write the headline "Motorists face another shock at the petrol pumps". Never write the headline "Petrol is to rise by 10 rupees a liter"

Preparing a news bulletin Closing stories also called tail-enders Do not keep the most important stories for the end but keep some interesting stories. Audience will remember the bulletin by the last story. Light or funny stories make the best tail-enders. And finally, police in Thamel are looking for a thief who broke into a house and … left his trousers behind. Be careful, though. Humorous stories may not be appropriate if the rest of the bulletin is dominated by a major tragedy.

Preparing a news bulletin Closing headlines Unlike the opening headlines, closing headlines are simply the summary of the main points of the story as a service to those who tuned in late. Select major stories and some more from the front part, exclude the tail-enders.

Preparing a news bulletin Actuality Short grabs of actuality are important in bulletins because: They can often tell the story more effectively than a script They can add variety to the pace of the bulletin, they allow the newsreader to take a 30 or 40 second rest. People like to hear their own voice on radio occasionally, or the voices of people they know. Add credibility to your stories. Actuality grabs should be kept short (between 20 and 40 seconds), clear and well-edited

Preparing a news bulletin Actuality Grabs must be introduced, stating clearly who will be speaking. You only need to identify a person after playing the actuality (called back-announcing) if the grab is long and the voice is not familiar. Actuality grabs should be kept short (between 20 and 40 seconds), clear and well-edited Grabs in languages other than your own should be overdubbed with a translation.

Preparing a news bulletin Music Never use music as background to a news bulletin. It is distracting and ruins any variations in pace within the bulletin. A special theme should be used to announce the bulletin and may occasionally be used within the bulletin, perhaps to separate different segments. We call such short music inserts stabs or stings.

Preparing a news bulletin Timing The exact time of each item depends upon: How long the whole bulletin is; How many items you need to include; How many grabs of actuality you want to use. If your bulletin is 15 minutes long you can use up to 20 stories, several of them with grabs.

Preparing a news bulletin Timing If you have a number of less important stories which you want to mention, run them as briefs at the end of the bulletin. Briefs are short stories, no longer than one or two sentences each. They are not designed to tell the whole news, simply to let people know that something has happened. The inclusion of briefs also helps to increase the pace of the bulletin if the rest of the stories are long and heavy.

Special Bulletins Flashes A news flash is when the newsreader breaks into a program on-air to read an important, urgent news story, such as a major disaster or the death of a national leader. The news flash should only be used on extremely important stories. Flashes can replace some light stories if it comes in during the regular bulletin.