Basics

Sometimes crime reporting reflects important issues in society: corruption, drugs, homelessness, hunger, lack of education, or whatever. And sometimes it is just a good story, with no wider implications.

The following are the main areas of life in which we expect to find news stories. For each category below, think of at least one event or situation which could make a news story in your own society.

Putting together a radio news bulletin is like preparing a satisfying meal that leaves your audience nourished and prepared for the day; what you produce has to be balanced and digestible.

Here we consider what makes one thing worth reporting, while another thing is not. We offer a test for news which can work in all societies. We consider what makes some news stories stronger than others.

Make your news writing more interesting by using the “active voice”. Bob Eggington explains this simple and effective technique.

Good stories about any topic generally have some things in common. Here are 12 points to keep in mind when you are planning, researching and producing a news story.

A journalist needs to have a broad interested in the world around them and want to find things out and share their discoveries with their readers or listeners. They must have a love of language, written or spoken, understand the meaning and flow of words and take delight in using them. 

Structure, timing, and letting the interview breathe are all essential elements for ensuring a TV or radio news package explores multiple elements of the story through interviewing different people.