ABSTRACT
Newsreading is the point where the business of information and the game of show-business meet. Successful communication is largely a matter of presentation, and that depends on the way the copy is written, and the way it is read. Good newsreaders are ones who establish rapport with their audience. Confidence comes from experience, from being in command of the bulletin and thoroughly familiar with the material. An inexperienced newsreader should spend as much time as possible reading and re-reading the stories aloud so when they go on air they are on familiar ground. Some newsrooms operate a ‘gate’ to give readers a chance to compose themselves. This is a bar on new copy being handed to the newsreader later than five or ten minutes before a bulletin. Tiredness can also ruin otherwise good newsreading. Broadcasters often work shifts and have to cope with irregular sleep patterns and, for early birds, semi-permanent fatigue.
