A news bulletin must be well structured to ensure that listeners who tune in for it can absorb the information presented.

Getting the right mix of stories in a bulletin is essential to keep your audience interested and to reinforce your credibility as an authoritative source of information. The actual mix of stories will depend to some degree on the format of your station – serious national broadcasters, for example, may prefer to use more serious news items delivered in a slow deliberate way whereas a youth-oriented music station might opt for a lighter brighter bulletin with more stories about popular culture.

The order of the stories in a bulletin is also important. It is good to start the bulletin with some headlines which summarise major stories; it allows your listeners to judge whether the bulletin is worth listening to, especially if they are not already aware of the key issues. Putting the key stories first also ensures that listeners who tune in just for the bulletin catch the most important information.

You can add variety to a bulletin by running sound bites. These can be as short as a five or 10-second audio clip inserted into a voice report, or as stand-alone 20- or 25-second clips. They can be a valuable opportunity for local people to speak on air and help the bulletin to feel more authentic. However, you should only include sound bites where they are appropriate and relevant to the story.