The news bulletin is the main service for telling listeners about the most important stories of the day. It must be quick, accurate and interesting. There is never enough time for all the stories a journalist would like to include in it, so the organisation of its content is a difficult task.
The most important consideration is to make the bulletin as short as possible without omitting anything vital. If a bulletin is too long, listeners will quickly turn it off.
Another important consideration is to ensure that the right balance is struck between the different types of story. Some stories will have a very fast pace and use short snappy words to convey simple ideas. Others will have a slower pace and require longer sentences to express more complex ideas.
Generally, the more serious and important a story is, the earlier it should go in the bulletin. This is because people are interested in the things that have happened or will happen that very same day. The older a story is, the less it will be of interest to listeners.
It is usual to give the most important story at the top of the bulletin and to finish with the least important story. This gives the bulletin structure. It is also good to run briefs at the end of the bulletin, short stories which increase the pace if the other stories in the bulletin are long and slow. These can be accompanied by music, called a theme or stab. Some record companies produce selections of electronic or instrumental themes for this purpose.