A news bulletin is a sequence of stories which tells today’s news, in order of importance. The structure of the bulletin is usually linear – that is, each story has to be read in a certain way to fit into the available three minutes or so of air time.
It is usual to start a news bulletin with headlines of the major stories. This gives listeners an idea of what kind of stories to expect and also helps to promote the stories. A good headline should be short and snappy, using words which convey simple ideas in a quick way.
On radio there is rarely enough time to include every important story, and you have to make difficult choices about which to run. Usually only about six stories can be included, so each one has to be as good as possible. It’s a good idea to include a few grabs of actuality (recorded sound from interviews or speeches) to add interest and authority to the bulletin. However, they must be used sparingly and have a strong editorial reason for being included.
It is often a good idea to use light or funny stories as ‘tail-enders’ – that is, the final two or three stories. This gives the audience a break from a diet of disaster, death and politics and adds variety to the bulletin. It is very important to be able to judge how long each story will take to read – this skill can be developed by timing each item before it goes on the air.