Media UK

How To Read The Travel Without Sounding Like A Muppet

Helen Blaby writes...

Everyone seems to think that reading the travel news is easy. Well, I've been doing it for ten years now and I'm still learning things.

If you're a jock reading this, and you have to read your own travel, I am sorry. It's probably the last thing you want because you're busy concentrating on what gem you're going to come out with in your next link rather than what's happening on the roads in your area.

Now there's a thing. What are the roads in your area? Do you know? Have you thought about where people are likely to be listening to you? Is it better to say that there are no problems on a local A road than there actually being a problem on Arse-end Road around the corner? Ooh and if there's a motorway running past your patch don't forget that, either - you've just set off the RDS, so there may well be a rep shooting past in his Mercedes who's not yet worked out how to turn off the TA on his car radio.

Here are some basics. Firstly, and one that will get me shouting at my radio every time I hear it: you can't "head northbound". You are heading north, or you're northbound. Got that? Good.

Actually, if you're reading the travel on a local station it might be better to say something like "If you're heading for Crankville on Freak Road" as not many punters are going to know whether they're heading north or south, or east or west off the top of their head, but they will know where they're heading towards.

It's not for a traffic reader to say whether an accident is serious or not. All accidents are serious if you're involved: your news team will be covering the story if it really is 'serious'. All you're doing is mentioning the traffic problem.

It's equally important to tell people when an accident has cleared: someone setting off for work might have been planning to go on a long diversion route. Think how thankful they're going to be if they've just got in their car and Mr Friendly on the radio tells them their usual route is now clear of the problem they've been hearing about.

Various PCs have different ways of looking at how they want you to deliver the travel news. One I worked with wanted the jock to stop being a jock, become a traffic reporter, and then go back to being a jock. To my trained ear this sounded weird. Joe Jock was a well known local figure. He didn't change heads mid-programme: so why change the way he did things just for the 30 seconds he was delivering his travel news?

Treat the travel news as part of your show. The radio station doesn't stop for those 30 seconds. If you're lucky enough to have a traffic presenter then incorporate them into the show: they're just as likely to have a personality as you are, and might even have something to add to the mix; but never, NEVER, make them look stupid. It devalues them as a reporter.

Use the traffic to signpost as well: "News of a problem on Crankpot Road after the latest from Cradle Of Filth." You might just keep that RAJAR diary ticker for another few moments!

Finally - for now - never assume that just because you don't know about it that there's not a traffic problem in your area. If you really have nothing to say, try something like: "Not looking too bad out and about this morning, but if you know differently then the traffic hotline is..."

Good luck.