News bulletin is the name given to a brief radio news broadcast which gives bare facts of stories, whereas more depth and detail are covered in a full programme. Ideally the bulletin will contain a mix of stories, some heavy and some light and a good mix of local and national. The tone of a bulletin will be influenced by the type of station it is on: serious national broadcasters may tend to use heavier stories, delivered in a more deliberate style whereas youth-oriented music stations might focus on popular culture.
The order in which stories are placed within a bulletin is important. Often the most important stories should be headlined. These will act as an incentive for listeners to keep tuned in to the bulletin. The tempo of the bulletin will also be influenced by its ranking and the order in which stories are told. A story about a serious road accident, for example, will have a slower pace than a story about a street fight.
Actuality grabs (short audio clips of people describing incidents) should be used sparingly in news bulletins as they can make the bulletin seem slow and ponderous. Similarly, short news items called briefs can help to increase the tempo of a bulletin by adding variety.
The number of times a story is repeated in the bulletin will depend on its importance and whether or not it can be given in more than one way. For example, a story about a fire could be accompanied by a picture and a written report as well as an audio clip of the fire being extinguished. It is vital to be clear and concise in the presentation of a bulletin as listeners cannot rewind. This can be achieved by not rushing the reading of scripts, practising difficult pronunciations and marking pauses clearly in a bulletin script.