Our News team is led by a fully qualified journalist, who reviews all content whether verbal (sound) or blogs (written) that go out on our website or social media.
Anyone can call themselves a journalist or produce news stories, and until just 5 years ago, we produced our news stories without this official guidance. This is what is known as "citizen journalists", people who write news stories without any training or taking any exams to prove that they understand the right and wrong ways to write stories for the public. There are many guidelines that should be followed in news production and avoid issues with news gathering and presenting, that you would expect from a responsible media outlet.
As part of our team, the fully qualified journalist can guide and edit stories as appropriate, but most importantly turn down stories that are offered to us that they feel a fair and balanced story cannot be written about. Here at Chesil Radio, we are sent 100s of emails a day, these include the police updates for many of our counties, local council updates and stories from the public. As a small team, we often share links of the stories already published and concentrate on the smaller more localised stories to bring to you, but these come with responsibility of making sure that both sides get a chance to express their views.
For example, if someone has a complaint about something the local council is doing or a decision that they have made, someone may contact us with their opinion and/or views but we cannot just print that. However, we believe in fair reporting, which means we must give the council or councillor in question the opportunity to respond. It's important to hear from all sides before publishing any information. Many times, our efforts to investigate a story end up being resolved behind the scenes, as both parties come to a resolution. In these cases, we consider it a private matter and not newsworthy. We strive to maintain a balanced and responsible approach to reporting, ensuring that all perspectives are taken into account.
Filming live events comes with great responsibility. It's crucial to review the footage later with context and allow all parties involved a chance to respond. For instance, capturing a fight may not be suitable for social media but rather a criminal matter. Prioritising public safety over sharing sensational content online. If you witness a potential crime, it's essential to hand over the footage to authorities instead of spreading it on social media. This can prevent further conflicts and retaliation. We consider the consequences of sharing live events before hitting that post button. It could have a significant impact on the safety and well-being of those involved too.
Our Dedicated Team Ensures Accuracy in Every Story! We take pride in our meticulous approach to verifying information before publishing. While we may be volunteers, we prioritise accuracy over sensationalism. Trust us to deliver reliable news you can count on!
Click-bait is something we particularly detest here at Chesil Radio, we may share links of important information locally, but never with titles that means that you can be misled by what we want to share with you. Just one definition says: "Clickbait typically refers to the practice of writing sensationalised or misleading headlines in order to attract clicks on a piece of content. It often relies on exaggerating claims or leaving out key information in order to encourage traffic. The term is generally used in a dismissive sense." As you will have already read, we do not want to exaggerate the stories we produce or give misleading information.
Our content is carefully curated for your enjoyment. While we do sprinkle in some fun survey results, we always provide personal insights and the survey sources that may influence outcomes. And in case you're curious, we're not part of the NUJ (National Union of Journalists) because we don't receive payment for our news stories or pay for content. The NUJ doesn't recognize journalists who volunteer their time. Stay informed and entertained with our top-notch content!
This news story has been produced by Chesil Radio's News Team, for more information please visit: https://www.chesilradio.com
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