The Radio Reporter

The job of the reporter is to "get the information, get the audio, get it right, and get it on the radio - and fast." Radio reporters know where to go to get information and the best people to talk to. They have an instinctive "nose for news". Hard work, enthusiasm, determination and attention to detail lie behind every well-reported story.

As broadcast journalists, Paul Chantler and Peter Stewart proclaim: "Reporting is probably the most exciting part of radio journalism. By doing what radio does best - going on air from a scene quickly and describing a dramatic event so listeners can visualise what is happening - we are using the most powerful tools we possess: immediacy and imagery."

A good reporter needs a touch of scepticism or suspicion. They tend to accept little at face value and often realise that lurking behind a chance remark, a single fact, a few obscure sentences or an official silence, there may be more to be revealed. The ability to create 'word pictures' which so vividly recreate an event, a mood or an emotion is one of the most powerful and compelling tools available to journalists in every field.