[cma-l] Local, National News and Traffic Updates Request

[Two Lochs Radio]

Mohammed

For local news I don't think you can really do it well without someone specifically putting a bulletin together, whether someone from your team or from another local organization, and given the regulations surrounding news and listeners expectations of it, it's probably best to avoid a committment to formal regular local news bulletins if you can't find the resources to do them reasonably well. For local news sources you really need a comprehensive set of web links to other local sources (local papers, local BBC, local council etc - they all have news/press release pages) plus establishing a network of links with people/organizations that are likely to hear or generate local news. Nowadays it's also worth regularly trawling the facebook pages of local organizations and groups. It takes a long time to build up the network of course, and the daily trawling of all those sources takes a lot of time. Not a trivial undertaking.

In passing a couple of other things occur to me.

1) routine pre-recording the afternoon/evening news in the morning contravenes Ofcom guidelines, which say:
"The pre-recording of news bulletins should be an exception rather than a rule and peak-time bulletins should always be broadcast live (or pre-recorded only shortly before transmission)." The guidelines are mainly intended for maintaining the localness of local radio, so may not be mandatory for Community Radio, but I should think Ofcom would still feel news bulletins should be live or recorded only a short time before (certainly in the same day-part).

2) Just for interest, BBC Radio Scotland offered free use of its local news buletins to all the non-profit stations in the Highlands and Islands, but Ofcom indicated that it would breach our licences to take the bulletins as they are (we could use the BBC as one of our news sources, but not take their bulletins directly).

Alex

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mohammed Tariq 
  To: cma-l 
  Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2014 1:29 PM
  Subject: [cma-l] Local, National News and Traffic Updates Request


  Hi All, 

   

  Hope you are well.


  Quick question on how (if you do), do you guys get local, national news and traffic updates for your listeners?


  As you can all appreciate news is essential for any broadcast service and hence how do you keep up with the demand of regular up to date news?

   

  Currently we record the news first thing in the morning and then repeat once during the afternoon and then once in the evening. Only problem with this is that the news is not updated and hence sometimes not offering the best service that we could.

   

  We don't have regular volunteers to come in and do the news daily, hence we only are able to the above during the week.

   

  I have tried to contact the local BBC radio station for advice and (basically) their news feed - but I have been told this is something that they want to do but if and when they decide to do this (And god knows when that will be!!), it will be a national incentive and not just a local arrangement.

   

  Is there any advice on where I can get local, national news and traffic, preferably every hour or if not then 3 or 4 updates per day are sufficient.


  Many thanks in advance.


  Sent with  the kindest regards

   

  Mohammed Tariq

  Station Operations Manager

  01582 481810

  07930 286000

  www.inspirefm.org

  m.tariq at inspirefm.org

  Twitter: @inspirefmluton

  www.youtube.com/inspirefmluton

  www.facebook.com/inspirefmluton

   



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