When preparing a news bulletin, it is important to remember that the audience will want to see a mix of heavy and light stories, some about their own country or town and others with opinions on major events. They will also want to hear some amusing ephemera. The way in which the bulletin is built up will depend to some extent on the style and format of your station – for example, a serious national radio broadcaster will need to use more serious stories delivered in a slow, deliberate manner than a youth oriented music station would.
When you have a list of stories, the first thing to do is calculate how long each one will take to read out on air. This will help you to decide how much time you have for the rest of the bulletin. For this you will need to know how fast the newsreader reads (this is known as their reading rate) and some modern computer systems can calculate this for you.
It is usually important to include a grab of actuality (recorded sound, usually taken from an interview or speech) in the bulletin. This will give the listener a feel for the story, although it is very important not to overdo this. Using too many grabs can make the bulletin seem artificial and listeners will lose confidence in your reporting if they feel you are sensationalising the news. Often it is necessary to end the bulletin with a summary of the main stories or other relevant information.