The Style

Guide

By Kelera

Contents:
Forms

Bulletin
Headline
News
Programme

Copy only
story

Story with
audio clips

Voicers
Wraps
Live Cross
Two Way (live
and as live)

Styles

Related to
audience
Public
Service
Commerci
al
Communit
y
Smallscale
Local
Regional
National
Internet
Satellite
and Cable

Bulletin http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/trainingresources/journalism-basics/589-10-tips-for-producingradio-bulletins
A news bulletin is a short and mildly informative section that airs only the
newest and most important news. Its mostly used to give a brief
explanation of current happenings in a limited amount of time, this is to
give the viewer the main events of the day. Although, bulletins arent
extremely detailed, they cover the main things to know about the
current/recent events.
Heres an example taken from Radio 5:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05q5wfn#auto
The radio news anchor talks for a bit about the key bits of the story and
then provides a section of conversation or interview to provide more detail
and also to back-up what theyre reporting. They also dont spend too long
on each subject as the audience would probably want to get straight to
the point, this is what makes it a bulletin rather than a full-on discussion
about the matters occurring around the world or nationally.

Headlines http://www.thefreedictionary.com/headline
This is quite similar to news headlines on TV. This is when the title or the
main points of the topic theyre about to talk about is said at the very
beginning (This gives the audience the knowledge of what theyre about
to talk about). They then show/air a live or pre-recorded clip that supplies
more information and details about the topic.
Heres an example taken from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10318236

the

BBC

Radio

Newsroom:

Right at the beginning they news anchor says the title, which includes the
main details of the story including: The name of the victim, her age,
location and what the police are up to. Afterwards a clip is aired which
explains things in further detail.

News Programme
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/News+programme

These are broadcasted radio shows that are dedicated to a certain topic or
event (This may be more than one topic or event). Interviews and debates
can be featured but will be always link to the main topic of discussion.
Interviews can show other peoples point of view on specific areas of the
topic, or even provide more information. Theres also commentary from
the hosts.
Heres
an
example
taken
from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05qdx7s#auto

Radio

Live:

The main topic of this news programme is the Business World, this
includes consumer stories and the financial market. After updating the
mornings news, they start discussing about the economy and reading out
tweets from listeners. They also include their own opinions about the topic
too. Clips are aired to add more detail as well as political stuff.

Copy Only Story

A copy only news story is when the news reporter has just been given
information on a very recent story. On TV you would be able to see the
news anchor looking down constantly at her notes, since its just been
given to them. Those who are just given information, have to elaborate
slightly on the notes in order to sound more informative. If possible, they
may be able to research more into the event.
Heres an example: http://www.slideshare.net/ReeceEcR/copy-only-newsstory
Theres research thats probably been provided, as shown in the
document, the research isnt detailed and is in the form of notes. The
script below the research, provides extra information as well as the key
details.

Story with Audio Clips

These are stories that could include images or footage of what the audio is
about. Audio may include interviews with someone whos live at the
location or pre-recorded.
Stories with audio clips can help provide more information on the story,
such as; the location, what the location may look like and so on.
An
example
of
a
story
with
audio
this:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32461019

clips

is

You can see that there are clips from the location being shown alongside
the news anchors voice explaining the recent events. There are also prerecorded clips.

Voicers http://www.24hdansuneredaction.com/en/radio/23-the-voicer/
Voicers or The Voicer is a script that is normally 25 lines maximum. These
are shorter than regular radio scripts, since it has to be a minute long. The
journalist writes and reads the script themselves and it has a certain
structure, it has: a beginning, a middle and an end (theres also a lead
sentence to start it off and a punchy line to finish it off). The whole script
is aimed to answer two main questions, which are; Why? And How?
There are two main types of Voicers, The desk voicer and The report
voicer. The desk voicer is when the reporter goes and researches on the
subject, they rely on other sources for information. This is because they
havent been there.
The report voicer is when the reporter actually goes out to the field and
collects information themselves. They observe and take notes, making
sure to ask questions relevant to what hes doing.

Wraps
Wraps are when the news anchor, passes the attention onto whoevers
next. This can be quick and simple or they could drag it out so it takes up
extra time.
An example of a wrap is: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xzrf9f_joebattaglia-wraps-up-this-week-s-gold-and-silver-news-precious-metalsweek-in-review-05-10-13_news (@ 29:20) Here he wraps up their
discussion.

Live Cross
A live cross is when they switch to someone who is live at the scene, this
may be pre-recorded footage or theyre recording live. These can be
interviews with whoevers on the other side or an explanation of whats
currently happening.
Heres an example from BBC News at 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=N21x93KRFZ8 (@ 1:30)

Here you can see that the news anchor hands it over to the reporter who
is live in Egypt and he goes on to explain what has happened and the
situations being faced.

Two Way (Live and as live)

https://service.real.com/help/library/guides/presenterg2/htmfiles/live.htm
A live broadcast is when the footage/audio being aired is being recorded
at the same time as the broadcasting. As live broadcasting is when
theyve taken pre-recorded footage from the location of the story and they
broadcast it in a way that makes it seem like theyre filming it live.

Related to audience
Different radio stations address their listeners in different ways, they also
pick out the right news for their intended audience. They still include the
important news but what their audience is more interested comes first.
For example BBC radio one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=pTIzttFP_d4
You can hear the reporter sounds very jolly and she talks to the listeners
by asking a rhetorical question. This draws their listeners in and prepares
them for what theyre about to discuss. This is far more casual compared
to a news report from a radio station like BBC radio 5 live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnbjQzILorY
Here they sound a bit more serious and not as jolly as the news reporters
from BBC radio one. They dont address the listeners and get straight to
the point. You can also hear that the news that they report is more
serious, while the first story that BBC radio one talked about was
something that a younger audience would care about.

Public Service
Public service radio stations are publicly funded through license fees
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/corporate2/insidethebbc/whoweare/licencefee
heading-radio) and they are purely for the benefit of the public rather than
for commercial purposes. Broadcasts included are local news coverage
and so on.
According to Ofcoms regulations mean that certain radio broadcasters
(and TV) have to include a certain amount of public service broadcasts as
part of their license to broadcast. An Example of public service radio is the
BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1

The BBCs (or in this case BBC radio one) sole purpose is to provide to the
public with what they need/want to know via broadcast. Here are the six
public purposes that they want delivered:

Sustaining citizenship and civil society.

Promoting education and learning.
Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence.
Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities.
Bringing the UK, to the world and the world to the UK.
Delivering to the public the benefit of emerging communications
technologies and services.

Commercial
The income of commercial radio stations are generated through
advertisements and sponsorships shown throughout broadcasts. The news
that is broadcast is sometimes targeted towards a certain region, culture
or even gender.
Commercial radio stations are owned by one of three groups Global,
Bauer or UTV, there are over 300 in the UK, but these three dominate a
sector. An example of a commercial radio station: http://www.heart.co.uk/

Community
These types of radio stations are targeted towards the surrounding
communities within the surrounding areas. Some may be targeted towards
a
certain
community
just
like
this
radio
station:
http://www.desiradio.org.uk/
Desi radio is a registered charity radio station that promotes the Punjabi
language, culture and helps out the local Punjabi community within the
area. Most of the news reported here are only understood by or will affect
the Punjabi Community.
Another example is Gaydio: http://uk.gaydio.co.uk/
This is a radio station dedicated to gay communities around the United
Kingdom, they share stories and updates for their targeted group and
those that support them. Most of the news reported will only
interest/affect the LGBT community.

Small-scale
Small-scale radio stations operate similarly to community radio stations,
theyre smaller than larger scale stations like the BBC. Since theyre
similar to community stations, they focus more on news for those living in
the surrounding area.
An example of this is Brick FM: http://www.brickfm.co.uk/
This radio station is a small-scale community radio station directed at St
Boswells, Newton and the surrounding areas. Compared to larger-scale
radio stations like BBC Radio 5 live, Brick FM only broadcasts news and
updates for the areas around St Boswells. This means National and
International news isnt that important to their listeners.

Local
Local radio stations report news that only people around the same area
will care about, this is a slightly larger targeted audience compared to
Community radio stations. Community radio stations are dedicated to a
certain community, while a local radio station is dedicated to ALL the
communities within the area.
An example is The Breeze: http://www.thebreeze.com/northhants/
The Breeze reports news that would affect only the people living in
Basingstoke and the surrounding areas (North Hampshire). Local news will
come first, such as, weather and traffic.

Regional
Regional radio stations report news that people all over that region need
to know or will be affected by. This type of radio station covers a larger
area and target audience than local radio stations. Local radio stations
supply news for towns/villages theyre located in, while Regional radio
stations cover the whole region, including those towns/villages.
An example of a regional radio station is BBC Radio Cambridgeshire:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radiocambridgeshire
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire reports news for the whole of Cambridgeshire,
all the news they report are mainly for those who live in towns/villages in
Cambridgeshire.

National
National radio stations covers news for the whole of the UK, the news they
report is mostly broken down for each region of the country. They also
report news from other countries as well as interviews and important news
from all over the country.
An
example
of
a
National
http://www.capitalfm.com/on-air/

radio

station

is

Capital

FM:

Capital FM covers news from all over the UK as well as whats happening
around the world. They feature interviews from the most important
people, to local heroes. Radio stations like Capital have to provide a wide
range of news in order to keep the whole of the UK up to date.

Internet http://radio.about.com/library/bldef-145.htm
Also known as Internet Radio, this is when audio is streamed online from
another server in another location. http://www.internetradiouk.com/ - bbcradio-1
This is good for those who dont listen to the radio that much, its also
useful for listeners who want to access the news and updates for the
areas they live in if they arent currently there (or on holiday). Compared
to radio stations that dont stream online, they can gain more listeners
because of the different devices they can broadcast on.

Satellite and cable

I think satellite and cable radio is linked to digital radio, stations like this
can be listened to on the internet, in the car or in a portable radio.
Stations
like
this
are
http://www.capitalxtra.com/
and
http://www.magic.co.uk/.