What’s The Story?

There's a belief among old-school hacks that there's such a thing as a 'nose' for news. They know what a story is and they don't need somebody from outside, particularly somebody who's 'not a proper journalist' coming along and telling them the stories they should be covering. Most independent local radio (ILR) stations have a younger audience profile more under-30s and more women than their rivals. In local radio, one of the biggest factors in deciding the importance of a story and its place in the running order is localness. Audience focus is at the core of all successful broadcasting, and sometimes leads to uniquely local programming. Many UK broadcasters have statutory commitments to public service broadcasting (PSB) programmes that are for the public benefit rather than commercial gain. In 2006, a survey for the BBC and Reuters found national television in the UK was trusted by 86 per cent of people compared with who trusted national newspapers.