Some basic tips on how to produce radio news bulletins. Written for journalism students preparing for a career in broadcasting.

1. Image courtesy of opendays.eu via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
RADIO BULLETINS
10 production tips

2. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
What is a radio bulletin? Nourishing the audience
 Putting together a radio
news bulletin is like serving
up a satisfying meal that
nourishes and prepares
your audience for the day
 It’s not about making you
sound great. It has to be
focused, digestible, easy to
listen to and catch the
attention of the audience
Image courtesy of digitizedas via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
Image courtesy of Beat Witschi
Image courtesy of Beat Witschi
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3. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
1: Serving the audience Understand their needs
 Think target audience.
You need to know who
is tuning in for the
information you are
delivering and what
they need to know
 Focus on the news
stories and information
that is relevant for your
radio station’s targeted Image courtesy of jlukasavige via Flickr released
audience under Creative Commons
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4. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
1: Serving the audience Addressing their concerns
 Your top stories are not
necessarily the biggest
stories, but will be
those that have the
most impact on the
lives of your target
audience
 These top stories will
define how close your Image courtesy of O'Reilly Conferences via Flickr
news organisation is to released under Creative Commons
that audience
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5. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
1: Serving the audience Informing the public debate
 The audience will be
listening for
information that they
can use
 Your top stories
must make up their
staple diet of ‘must
know’ information Image courtesy of Tuija via Flickr released under
Creative Commons
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6. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
2: Variety The spice of life
 Offer an information
mix
 News tends to be
multi-coloured and
multi-faceted, as is
real life
 Your job is to reflect
the realities of the
issues that most Image courtesy of srqpix via Flickr released under
affect your audience Creative Commons
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7. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
2: Variety Issues not processes
 If you are covering
politics you must
highlight how the
issue impacts on the
lives of your
audience
 Don’t dwell on the
Image courtesy of European Parliament via Flickr
politics alone released under Creative Commons
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8. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
2: Variety Voice to the voiceless
 Always try to include
the voice of those
affected by whatever
the story is highlighting
 If you are covering a
corruption story, it’s
important that you talk
to the victims and the
man and woman in the
street, not just officials
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under Creative Commons
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9. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
3: Listenable Would you listen?
 A voice that pleases
is important to
ensuring the audience
returns
 Try recording a few of
your bulletins and
listen back to them
 Would you like to
wake up every day
and listen to that?
Image courtesy of hectore via Flickr released under
Creative Commons
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10. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
3: Listenable Do you turn people off?
 Audio creates
emotions
 An attractive voice
that catches the
attention of the
audience is important
 The last thing you
want is a grating
voice that makes
people switch off
Image courtesy of Kyle Slattery via Flickr released
under Creative Commons
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11. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
3: Listenable Sing-song news
 Avoid the sing-song voice
that plays the same tune
for every sentence, going
up in tone and down at the
end regardless of what is
being said
 And never give the
impression that you think
you know more than the
audience; there will always
be someone listening who Image courtesy of Brandon Giesbrecht via Flickr
knows far more than you released under Creative Commons
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12. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
4: Slow down It’s not a race
 Don’t rush. Make sure
your audience can
understand what you
are saying
 Reading too quickly
could result in your
audience not
understanding what you
are saying and not Image courtesy of easylocum via Flickr released
being able to absorb under Creative Commons
your information
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13. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
4: Slow down Practice difficult words
 News readers often read fast
when they are nervous or
when they know that they are
about to pronounce a name
about which they are
uncertain
 If you know there is a foreign
name coming up in the
bulletin, highlight it and
practice it until you are sure
 Then approach it slowly, Image courtesy of Riemer Palstra via Flickr
pause, and pronounce it released under Creative Commons
clearly
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14. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
5: Deliver fresh material Not stale news
 Is your bulletin fresh,
dynamic, and stimulating?
 Re-writing is essential
 Many people will listen to
several bulletins during the
day
 It's important they are not
served up stale news that
hasn't been reworked
Image courtesy of Brittney Bush via Flickr released
under Creative Commons
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15. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
5: Deliver fresh material Always rewrite
 When you come out of
studio after reading the
latest bulletin consider
sitting down and rewriting
all the top stories and
refreshing the key points
 Don’t just put the bulletin
down and expect to pick it
up again an hour later
untouched and unchanged
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released under Creative Commons
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16. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
5: Deliver fresh material Always update
 If you have a news bulletin
at the top of the hour and
headlines on the half hour,
the headlines can’t just be
shorter versions of the
main bulletin
 You will have to rework
them and create a stronger
headline that tells more of
the story in fewer words in
one short sentence Image courtesy of kobiz7 via Flickr released under
Creative Commons
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17. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
5: Deliver fresh material Always reorder
 You may also want to use
the half hour bulletin to add
stories that you could not
or did not want to include
in the main bulletin
 However, if you choose
that kind of presentation
format, make sure that you
stick to this pattern so that
your audience knows what
to expect
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released under Creative Commons
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18. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
5: Deliver fresh material Editorial justification
 Don’t change your
format randomly as
this will confuse your
audience
 A confused audience
may switch channels
to a place where
there is less Image courtesy of Shovelling Son via Flickr
confusion released under Creative Commons
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19. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
6: Radio needs sounds Not just your voice
 Sound bites are important
 A longer news bulletin
becomes a lot more
attractive for audiences if
you include short sound
bites
 This can be a five- or 10-
second audio clip from an
interview or sounds from
the scene of an incident Image courtesy of Iwan Gabovitch via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
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20. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
6: Radio needs sounds But only the right sound
 Such sound bites can
make your bulletin easier
to listen to, more
authoritative, more credible
– and more interesting for
the listener
 However, all sounds have
to have an editorial reason
for being there
 You should not fill with
sound clips that distracts
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under Creative Commons
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21. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
7: Storytelling Short stories works best
 Write news stories as if
you were telling the story
to a friend
 This means: short, simple
and straightforward
sentences
 The majority will be
listening on the move and
won't be able to rewind the
bulletin Image courtesy of sierraromeo Flickr released
under Creative Commons
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22. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
7: Storytelling Avoid verbiage
 Crafting complex
information into a
simple sentence is a
skill
 Don’t obscure the
essential facts with
verbiage
 Short, simple and
straightforward
sentences are required Image courtesy of loonyhiker Flickr released under
Creative Commons
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23. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
8: Writing style Avoid verbiage
 The bulletin is a
compilation of short,
but powerful stories
 This makes it much
easier for people to
grasp the information
 Writing for radio is
one of the most
challenging Image courtesy of ltimo_w2s Flickr released under
journalistic disciplines Creative Commons
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24. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
8: Writing style Small and effective packaging
 Long, heavy sentences
may work for print but they
don’t work for radio
audiences
 Remember subject, verb,
object
 Fact, fact, fact
 Don't try to be clever. Use
words that make most
sense and can be
understood by all
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25. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
9: Concise Summing up the main points
 If you are putting together
a longer bulletin (e.g.
seven minutes or more),
you may want to end the
bulletin with a brief recap
of the main stories
 This can help audiences
recall the top stories and/or
other relevant information
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26. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
10: Be honest Only broadcast facts
 If you don’t believe what
you have written and what
you are saying your
audience won’t either
 Make sure you are honest
in how you describe
situations and events
 Don’t sensationalise; it will
damage your credibility
and integrity Image courtesy of curtis kennington Flickr released
under Creative Commons
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27. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
Acknowledgement Beat Witschi
 Using material from
a training module by
Beat Witschi Media
Helping Media
http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/ Image courtesy of Beat Witschi
Image courtesy of Beat Witschi
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28. Radio bulletins – 10 tips
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