A news flash is a brief piece of breaking news that keeps your audience updated on current events. It can be local, national or international and can include a mix of hard and soft news. Newsflashes are usually short and last between one and three minutes. Because they are so brief, you have to skate over some of the details – only major stories belong in this format. It is also not the place to bring your opinion – it’s all about presenting facts.
A good newsflash starts with a scene-setter lead that simultaneously captures your readers’ attention and entices them to learn more about the subject matter. If possible, this is a great time to use a narrative hook or anecdote that encapsulates the topic in a creative and engaging way. You can also cite your sources, which lends credibility to the story. Once you’ve piqued your readers’ interest, you can follow the inverted pyramid style and progressively disclose more details about the story. The final part of the newsflash should include a nut graph that ties all of the main points together to show their significance and direction.
A good newsflash also contains practical information – traffic, the weather, a summary of a decree – and ends with something that will make listeners smile. This could be a humorous anecdote, a picture of the day’s celebrity gossip or even a funny prank played on a high school football team (a so-called kicker). Newsflashes often run into each other and compete with each other, but that is a necessary evil for 24 hour information radio stations, as they have limited financial resources.