A bulletin is a brief news report read on air and published in print. It is the most important part of any radio or TV news programme, forming the mainstay of the audience’s diet of essential information.
It’s vital to offer a mix of stories and topics. Your audience will want to hear about what is happening in the world around them, but they may also be interested in a range of other things including culture, science and technology, social developments, sports and other events.
You must get the balance right between stories and pace. Too many long complicated stories can slow the flow of the bulletin and cause listeners to switch off. It’s a good idea to look at the order of your stories afresh and re-rank them so that you have a balanced, interesting bulletin.
There is never enough time in a bulletin to include all the stories you would like to, but careful planning will help ensure that your most important stories appear first. Then you can fill the remaining time with a variety of other items, including actuality.
Try to keep your actuality grabs short and clear, using simple words that convey the basic ideas. Adding interest can be done by using different voices or sound effects such as the use of music or a rising or falling tone in the voice. If a grab is being read in a language other than your own, it should be overdubbed, with the original voice faded down to a level at which it can only just be heard and the dubbed voice played over it.
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