A news flash is a short piece of breaking news that updates listeners on topics that affect them. It may be local, national or international and can include a mix of hard and soft news. Unlike a bulletin, which has a headline and develops stories, a newsflash does not have a headline and only consists of copy. It is a mini bulletin that can be broadcast once or twice an hour, and can include a news crawler (also known as a ticker) or a voicer to accompany the news item.
A good newsflash starts with a compelling headline that accurately and enticingly conveys what the story is about. It then follows the inverted pyramid style, introducing the most important details at the beginning and following with more information. It also includes a nut graph, which ties the main points together into a larger picture to show their significance and the direction that the story is heading in.
Because a newsflash is so brief, it is sometimes necessary to skate over some of the details. However, the story must still be presented with a straight approach if the subject is hard news, or a narrative style if the news is human interest.
A newsflash can also be an opportunity to announce a story that will be developed at great length during the midday or evening newscast (promotion of the newsroom’s work). Finally, a newsflash can also contain a story about traffic, the weather, a summary of a decree or even something humorous.
