Basic Radio Journalism

13 Small newsrooms

Many smaller local radio stations are coming on the air. Although these stations have small budgets, it is still possible to set up an effective newsroom with just one or two journalists. However, the skills and organization needed are different from the way in which larger newsrooms operate. The key thing to remember is that you cannot do everything, certainly not at once. Do not try. Learn to create priorities and deal with them in order.

SETTING UP

First tasks

When you are given the job of setting up a small newsroom for a new local station, you will usually find that the radio station itself is far from ready. Building work will be going on all around you and you will be lucky if you even have access to a phone.

You first ...