A Guide to the Different Styles and Presentations of News Bulletins
There is an ever expanding number of different recognised radio station formats and variations in operation, and each station’s news output needs to fit the format.
The news output of any radio station doesn’t exist in isolation. It has to fit in with the overall programming. News is constantly changing and the news output for each radio station and each format will tend to reflect the way the listeners to that station, prefer to have their news delivered. This can vary from in-depth analysis of news, to short ‘bite size chunks’ of the main headlines.
Sources and Types of News
Consider first the various places news can emanate from before it is reported to the station’s listeners and in what format. Possible sources and types of news are:
- News Agencies and News Conferences
- Reporters and News Contacts
- Press Releases and Politicians
- Freelancer Contributors
- Pressure Groups and Letters to the Editor
- Tip Offs including hoaxes.
- Events and the Emergency Services
- Local, National and International News
- Anniversaries and Follow-ups of existing and previous news stories
The smaller the transmission area of the station, the more likely it is that more localised stories will feature. This may be largely because the advantage a local station has over its bigger rivals is that it is able to report news, of particular interest to that community, as well as noting the larger stories covered by the networks. The larger networks will focus on news that affects a larger area and the style of each delivery for both type of station will also vary.
Broadcasting the news in a short “One Minute News,” feature demands a totally different style of news broadcasting to the more rounded rolling news or in-depth news format say of a Talk Station. The kind of station and the format it is following, will dictate varying styles for each, and how it is broadcast.
The style of a news bulletin is often arrived at by focus groups or other forms of research to determine what’s important in news output to the listeners and delivering it. Radio News may be delivered in a number of ways, and is dependent on the type of radio station, the style of the news reporting in the overall context of the station’s programming and the intended audience.