Month: September 2025

A news bulletin is the collection of stories that make up the main part of a radio or television news broadcast. The format of a news bulletin can vary according to the style and tone of the station it is produced for; a serious national broadcaster might favour a more factual approach with serious news, while a youth-oriented music radio station might opt for a light and brighter tone with stories about popular culture. The order in which the news stories are arranged also influences the tone and pace of the bulletin; too many long complicated stories will slow the overall pace down, making listeners lose interest.

Each story in a bulletin is usually given an editorial mark of how important it is. This mark can be useful when deciding where to put a story within the bulletin; the more important an item is, the earlier it should appear. It is also usual to include short stories called briefs at the end of a bulletin. These are short pieces of information which do not tell the whole news, but simply re-state the headlines of major stories. They are often used to increase the pace of a longer bulletin, and can help the audience to remember the headlines of the top stories.

News for radio should be written in clear, simple and straightforward sentences to ensure clarity and memorability, especially as the audience cannot rewind or replay what is being said. It is also important to avoid sensationalising the news; if the audience does not believe what you are saying they will be less likely to respect your professionalism. The same applies to reading at a quick pace; reading too quickly can make it hard for your audience to follow and could result in the information becoming background noise.

In an age of heightened political polarization, it often feels like the entire country is in constant turmoil. Every scroll through social media or news sites seems to reveal a fiery screaming match over off-hand remarks and extreme views. Some Americans have grown frustrated with political debate, claiming that it’s not productive and only serves to exacerbate divisions.

Since its founding, the CPD has focused on developing debate formats that keep the focus on candidates and their positions. For instance, for presidential debates, the moderator (or a team of moderators) is responsible for asking questions and providing guidance to ensure that all participants have the opportunity to make their case. In addition, the CPD has developed a series of nonpartisan criteria that it uses to select participating candidates for debates.

To determine which candidate gets the first question and who will be the last to speak, a coin toss is used. Each candidate will have around two minutes to respond to the question and provide rebuttals. Time may be extended at the moderator’s discretion. Additionally, the debate format includes the use of colored lights resembling traffic signals to help viewers keep track of how much time each participant has left – green indicates 30 seconds remaining, yellow indicates 15 seconds remain, and red indicates that only 5 seconds are left.

Despite the perception that political debates are largely akin to shouting matches, UC Berkeley Haas Assistant Professor Erica Bailey, Columbia Business School’s Michael White, and Sheena Iyengar report in Scientific Reports that American people misperceive both the frequency of debate in their daily lives as well as its nature. This false reality has psychological costs and can contribute to feelings of hopelessness about the future of our nation.