Characteristics of radio news show

Characteristics of radio news show

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  By Pradeep Kumar Gupta Deptof Animation, CCSIT, TMU College of Journalism and Mass Communication Teerthanker Mahaveer Universty, Moradabad
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  Radio News isa new piece of information about a significant and recent event that effects the listeners and is of interest to them".
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   A radionews story is written for the ear, it is not meant for reading. A radio story is also not for any particular segment of the society. lt is neither targeted for any special ethnic group nor is limited to any geographical boundary. Its drafting is therefore more ticklish than the print or visual media.  The most important stylistic principle in radio news writing is simplicity. If the language is too complex, it is possible that the story will not be completely understood by the audience. The radio listener can not retrieve lost information by reading a sentence or story. If the story is not understood the first time around, it would be lost to the listener for ever. Radio news writers generally apply a few rules of their own to help them get information across in the best (simplest form): keep the sentence short, avoid complex sentences or construction and use basic words not colloquialisms.
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   News gatheringis a specialized job which needs lot of skill. It reaches the news room mostly in four ways, through staff reporters, monitoring of foreign broadcasts, through news agencies or press releases, hand outs etc. News falls into the news room from all the sources and at all the time and used then and there because there are plenty of news bulletins as against news papers which are printed once each day.  The staff reporter is not only responsible to collect his own stories but also generally asked to confirm doubtful stories filed by news agencies to elaborate the message contained in press releases or handouts. .
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   The informationwings of the Federal and provincial governments work as pubic relations departments of the government and their ministers. Every day these agencies issue a bunch of hand outs containing official news. This include reports of cabinet meetings, statements of the government functionaries, stories of development work and so on In special cases and unusual situation press notes are issued to explain official position or point of view. The editor uses his own discretion and professional skill in using them on the basis of actual news value. These materials are not office orders but only information messages from official quarters and should be treated as such purely on merit. The press notes are to be taken more seriously and cautiously because they are issued in special cases and generally contain serious information. These too should also be properly edited and summarized according to the available space. In addition to API there are many other news agencies in the private sector.
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   Reporting isthe art of news collection and filing dispatches to the news room for suitable consumption in the bulletins. In radio a reporter has got to be extra quick and accurate. The reporter has to keep his ears to the ground for possible rumblings. There are many areas which sometimes, without much of a warning, may produce headline news. Lot of skill and craftsmanship is needed to cover political events while the economic front is quite less hazardous. In addition to political, economic, sports and development news the door of investigative reporting is also *there which how ever is not very common phenomenon in developing countries. A new spirit of enquiry and criticism has to be developed to break some ground in the field of investigative reporting.
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   The reportingfor radio is somewhat different from that of newspapers and television. In Radio, it is always a race against time and demands, special skill and high sense of responsibility. Normal reporting assignments are easy to handle but specialized one require special knowledge, skill and training. For instance a parliamentary reporter can't justify his job unless he knows the rules of business and procedural matters of the House. Similarly sports coverage is not justified without basic know-how of the game which is to be reported.  Perhaps far less hazardous are stories of economic front. Here too. there are areas of reporting which are far more important in Asia than in industrialized , societies in the West. In many countries shortage of consumer goods and food grains. lead to hoarding, black marketing and other malpractices. As an area of reporting, no less important is smuggling of essential commodities.
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   Even onhis own a young reporter can discover almost any number of areas of reporting. But what is important is to see their relevance to the socio economic conditions-underlying the pattern. The reporter is supposed to know his audience He is also supposed to anticipate and work under pressure and speed.  The art of reporting is the ability to simplify comlex matters and make them meaningful to the listeners. A good reporter is inquisitive, cultivative his own source gets all facts asking a lot of questions and always watches for the angle. Rumours, speculations and opinion are outside the domain of a responsible reporter.
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  Clarity and floware the two main characteristics a radio news script should have. CLARITY: Radio news should be very specific and non confusing since the radio is one of most trusted medium and also serve as news gathering for other media too. Presence of ambiguity make it worthless FLOW: The flow in writing help the anchor in delivery. So it should be kept in mind that conversational flow shall be maintained. To ensure this, after preparation of the script, the writer should read the story loud many times. Since the radio is not a visual medium it is really a hard task to alter the news at the time of presentation.
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  News features typicallycontain the following elements: 1. A well-researched topic. 2. An introduction or a lead. 3. A main body with a clear narrative pattern. 4. Interviews and/or sound bites. 5. A conversational writing style. 6. The topic’s character and personality. 7. A wrap up that completes the story.
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  The Topic Topics forradio news features vary greatly, but the vast majorities are specific topics that are of interest to the intended audience, and that offer themselves to in depth discussion. It’s not necessary to choose a topic of interest to the feature’s writer, but it is important to do in depth research on the topic. Since a feature is not an editorial, the facts must be complete and accurate, since the story’s integrity relies on them. The Introduction The beginning of any radio news feature should contain a brief introduction. This introduction should tell the listener a bit about this story, but without giving too much away yet. This is also called the news feature’s hook. The writer’s main objective here is to hook in the listener and make her want to listen. Keep the introduction short; no more than two sentences.
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  The Body The newsfeature’s body should contain the story’s main details. This is typically referred to as the “5 W’s and 1 H”. The who, what, when, where, why, and how. The who tells the listener who the main characters of this story are. The what tells the listener what this story is about. The when tells the listener when this happened, or if it’s a future event, when it will happen. The where tells the listener where this event or story takes place. The why tells the listener why this is happening. The how tells the listener how this happened, or how they can get involved or attend. These details should be told in the first paragraph, or at most in the first and second paragraph. After the listener understands the main points about this story, the rest of the story (another four to eight paragraphs) should contain further information about the story. The further information should be more in depth details about the “5 W’s and 1 H”. For example, many radio news features tend to go into detail about the who, what, and why.
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  Quotes Just like anynews story published in a newspaper, radio news features should have quotes from related individuals in order to support the story’s premise. These quotes are sometimes in the form of interviews with prominent individuals directly involved in the story. Interviews may be used in at least two different ways within a news feature. The interview can occur directly after the announcer reveals the story’s main points, or it may occur at the very end after the announcer has finished his entire written dialogue. Sound bite Another form of quote used in radio news features is the sound bite. A sound bite is a short audio recording lasting no longer than 10 seconds, and revealing a major point in support of the story’s argument. Sound bites are similar to interviews in that they are quotes taken from people directly involved in the story. Sound bites differ from interviews in that the sound bites are typically taken from secondary sources, such as other interviews or press conferences.
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  Writing Style Newspaper articlesand radio news features are very different in regards to writing style. Where a newspaper article might be written with a formal tone, the radio news feature is often written with an informal tone. This is because newspaper articles are meant to be read, not announced. When writing the radio news feature, the most important style consideration is to be conversational. The use of contractions in a radio news feature is not only allowed, but actually recommended. Writers may also want to avoid long, complicated words, as well as using parenthetical statements and other writing techniques not ease to announce. Radio is a broadcast medium in which the announcer speaks directly to each listener. The announcer must have the ability to relate to the listener directly. This is why conversational writing is so essential. When in doubt, the writer should try reading the words out loud. If the sentences are too long or sound like a book, they should consider rewriting.
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  Tone and Character Radionews feature writers should pay attention to the type of story being reported on, and set the tone appropriately. Different types of stories require different approaches in tone. For example, when writing a story about clowns at the park, the tone may be much happier, and the script may even include clown puns and euphemisms. On the other hand, when writing about a plane crash, anything other than a serious and delicate tone would be inappropriate and perhaps even offensive. The Wrap-up The end of every story should include some sort of wrap up in order to complete the story. Wrap-ups usually include a quick recap of the story, going over the facts one more time in order to summarize the story. Some stories even wrap-up the story by looking to the future, perhaps by including a quote about a future action or event, or with the announcer telling the audience of future plans.
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  Assignment Write and recorda News Feature based on current Crisis of COVID 19.