Write a News Bulletin

You work for a local DC area (inc. VA and MD) radio station. Your editor asks you to script the stories for the next news bulletin for the on-the-hour news slot.

You may choose to write for a hard-news station, or for a soft-news station (human interest stories, (tugging the heart strings, etc.) amusing ephemera). You should use the traditional radio format we discussed in class for your script.

You should spend c. 2 minutes on your lead story and include at least three other stories, one of which may be a short, light-hearted item.

Remember to choose the lead story depending on the audience for which you are aiming. Remember, you need to grab your audience's attention at the beginning of the broadcast. And look for good quotes to bring 'real' people's voices into your stories. Sometimes, a more 'important' story may lose out as the lead to a story that has dramatic voices.

Use the material on the Metro page of the Washington Post to provide your raw data for the bulletin.