Download - Radio Bulletins
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
1/28
RADIO BULLETINS
10 production tips
Image courtesy of opendays.eu via Flickrreleased under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
2/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Putting together a radionews bulletin is like serving
up a satisfying meal thatnourishes and preparesyour audience for the day
Its not about making yousound great. It has to befocused, digestible, easy to
listen to and catch theattention of the audience
What is a radio bulletin? Nourishing the audience
Image courtesy of Beat WitschiImage courtesy of Beat Witschi
Image courtesy of digitizedas via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
3/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Think target audience.You need to know who
is tuning in for theinformation you aredelivering and whatthey need to know
Focus on the news
stories and informationthat is relevant for yourradio stations targetedaudience
1: Serving the audience Understand their needs
Image courtesy of jlukasavige via Flickr released
under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
4/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Your top stories are notnecessarily the biggest
stories, but will bethose that have themost impact on thelives of your targetaudience
These top stories willdefine how close yournews organisation is tothat audience
1: Serving the audience Addressing their concerns
Image courtesy of O'Reilly Conferences via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
5/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
The audience will be
listening forinformation that theycan use
Your top stories
must make up theirstaple diet of mustknow information
1: Serving the audience Informing the public debate
Image courtesy of Tuija via Flickr released under
Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
6/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Offer an informationmix
News tends to bemulti-coloured andmulti-faceted, as isreal life
Your job is to reflectthe realities of theissues that mostaffect your audience
2: Variety The spice of life
Image courtesy of srqpix via Flickr released under
Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
7/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
If you are covering
politics you musthighlight how theissue impacts on thelives of your
audience Dont dwell on the
politics alone
2: Variety Issues not processes
Image courtesy of European Parliament via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
8/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Always try to includethe voice of those
affected by whateverthe story is highlighting
If you are covering acorruption story, itsimportant that you talk
to the victims and theman and woman in thestreet, not just officials
2: Variety Voice to the voiceless
Image courtesy of whologwhy via Flickr released
under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
9/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
A voice that pleasesis important to
ensuring the audiencereturns
Try recording a few ofyour bulletins and
listen back to them Would you like to
wake up every dayand listen to that?
3: Listenable Would you listen?
Image courtesy of hectore via Flickr released under
Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
10/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Audio createsemotions
An attractive voicethat catches theattention of theaudience is important
The last thing youwant is a gratingvoice that makespeople switch off
3: Listenable Do you turn people off?
Image courtesy of Kyle Slattery via Flickr released
under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
11/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Avoid the sing-song voicethat plays the same tune
for every sentence, goingup in tone and down at theend regardless of what isbeing said
And never give theimpression that you think
you know more than theaudience; there will alwaysbe someone listening whoknows far more than you
3: Listenable Sing-song news
Image courtesy of Brandon Giesbrecht via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
12/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Dont rush. Make sureyour audience can
understand what youare saying
Reading too quicklycould result in youraudience not
understanding what youare saying and notbeing able to absorbyour information
4: Slow down Its not a race
Image courtesy of easylocum via Flickr released
under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
13/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
News readers often read fastwhen they are nervous orwhen they know that they areabout to pronounce a nameabout which they areuncertain
If you know there is a foreignname coming up in thebulletin, highlight it and
practice it until you are sure Then approach it slowly,
pause, and pronounce itclearly
4: Slow down Practice difficult words
Image courtesy of Riemer Palstra via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
14/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Is your bulletin fresh,dynamic, and stimulating?
Re-writing is essential Many people will listen to
several bulletins during theday
It's important they are not
served up stale news thathasn't been reworked
5: Deliver fresh material Not stale news
Image courtesy of Brittney Bush via Flickr released
under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
15/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
When you come out ofstudio after reading the
latest bulletin considersitting down and rewritingall the top stories andrefreshing the key points
Dont just put the bulletindown and expect to pick it
up again an hour lateruntouched and unchanged
5: Deliver fresh material Always rewrite
Image courtesy of Ambernectar 13 via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
16/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
If you have a news bulletinat the top of the hour and
headlines on the half hour,the headlines cant just beshorter versions of themain bulletin
You will have to reworkthem and create a stronger
headline that tells more ofthe story in fewer words inone short sentence
5: Deliver fresh material Always update
Image courtesy of kobiz7 via Flickr released under
Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
17/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
You may also want to usethe half hour bulletin to add
stories that you could notor did not want to includein the main bulletin
However, if you choosethat kind of presentationformat, make sure that you
stick to this pattern so thatyour audience knows whatto expect
5: Deliver fresh material Always reorder
Image courtesy of alancleaver_2000 via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
18/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Dont change yourformat randomly asthis will confuse youraudience
A confused audiencemay switch channelsto a place wherethere is lessconfusion
5: Deliver fresh material Editorial justification
Image courtesy of Shovelling Son via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
19/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Sound bites are important
A longer news bulletin
becomes a lot moreattractive for audiences ifyou include short soundbites
This can be a five- or 10-second audio clip from aninterview or sounds fromthe scene of an incident
6: Radio needs sounds Not just your voice
Image courtesy of Iwan Gabovitch via Flickr
released under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
20/28
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
21/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Write news stories as ifyou were telling the story
to a friend This means: short, simple
and straightforwardsentences
The majority will belistening on the move andwon't be able to rewind thebulletin
7: Storytelling Short stories works best
Image courtesy of sierraromeo Flickr released
under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
22/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Crafting complexinformation into a
simple sentence is askill
Dont obscure theessential facts withverbiage
Short, simple andstraightforwardsentences are required
7: Storytelling Avoid verbiage
Image courtesy of loonyhiker Flickr released under
Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
23/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
The bulletin is acompilation of short,
but powerful stories This makes it much
easier for people tograsp the information
Writing for radio isone of the mostchallenging
journalistic disciplines
8: Writing style Avoid verbiage
Image courtesy of ltimo_w2s Flickr released under
Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
24/28
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
25/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
If you are putting togethera longer bulletin (e.g.
seven minutes or more),you may want to end thebulletin with a brief recapof the main stories
This can help audiencesrecall the top stories and/or
other relevant information
9: Concise Summing up the main points
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
26/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
If you dont believe whatyou have written and what
you are saying youraudience wont either
Make sure you are honestin how you describesituations and events
Dont sensationalise; it willdamage your credibilityand integrity
10: Be honest Only broadcast facts
Image courtesy of curtis kennington Flickr released
under Creative Commons
-
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
27/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips
Using material from
a training module byBeat Witschi Media
Helping Media
Acknowledgement Beat Witschi
Image courtesy of Beat Witschihttp://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/ Image courtesy of Beat Witschi
http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/ -
8/13/2019 Radio Bulletins
28/28
@helpingmedia
Radio bulletins10 tips