That's the News, the Way We Think People Like It
Good morning. Before I get started I want to give a shoutout to my brother Bryan, who turns 35 today. It's also Michael Jordan's birthday. It's his 42nd, I think.
Regarding the subject line, I'm referring to my school's new radio format for the news. Last semester, we were giving five-minute updates every two hours, starting at 8:55, with the last one at 2:55. We then did a 15-minute extended news broadcast each day, from 4:45 to 5:00 p.m. We shortened our broadcasts to three minutes to tighten it up a bit, and all seemed to work pretty well.
But this semester several of the news authorities at WERS, our station, decided that it was best to only have morning updates--and shorter, more frequent ones at that. So, starting at 6:28, we are doing two-minute newscasts every half hour, with the last one starting at 9:28. We then do an extended newscast at 9:54.
In many ways, this new format has been a positive change. The news anchor, writer and producer get to know each other better. We all feel for each other because we got up at 5:00, 5:30 a.m. in the morning. And we get free coffee, as we are doing the news casts during the show "Coffeehouse." We've added traffic to our broadcasts. The best thing, I think, from an experience perspective, is that we do write some of the same stories but have the chance to fine-tune them. We don't have to leave after one broadcast and say, "Man, I really screwed that piece up." It gives the anchor a lot of practice, for sure.
We also do 10 seconds of traffic--15 on the extended news--for those who are interested.
I'm writing this semester, not anchoring, and it's still been a very positive extracurricular activity for me. Once in a while I'll contribute a voicer, where a tape of me giving a 30-second broadcast comes in to give the anchor a rest during the extended news.
That's my radio entry, and I'm sticking to it. What do you think? What do you look for in your radio broadcasts?
Peace.
Regarding the subject line, I'm referring to my school's new radio format for the news. Last semester, we were giving five-minute updates every two hours, starting at 8:55, with the last one at 2:55. We then did a 15-minute extended news broadcast each day, from 4:45 to 5:00 p.m. We shortened our broadcasts to three minutes to tighten it up a bit, and all seemed to work pretty well.
But this semester several of the news authorities at WERS, our station, decided that it was best to only have morning updates--and shorter, more frequent ones at that. So, starting at 6:28, we are doing two-minute newscasts every half hour, with the last one starting at 9:28. We then do an extended newscast at 9:54.
In many ways, this new format has been a positive change. The news anchor, writer and producer get to know each other better. We all feel for each other because we got up at 5:00, 5:30 a.m. in the morning. And we get free coffee, as we are doing the news casts during the show "Coffeehouse." We've added traffic to our broadcasts. The best thing, I think, from an experience perspective, is that we do write some of the same stories but have the chance to fine-tune them. We don't have to leave after one broadcast and say, "Man, I really screwed that piece up." It gives the anchor a lot of practice, for sure.
We also do 10 seconds of traffic--15 on the extended news--for those who are interested.
I'm writing this semester, not anchoring, and it's still been a very positive extracurricular activity for me. Once in a while I'll contribute a voicer, where a tape of me giving a 30-second broadcast comes in to give the anchor a rest during the extended news.
That's my radio entry, and I'm sticking to it. What do you think? What do you look for in your radio broadcasts?
Peace.
posted by Jonny Schwab at 8:20 AM
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