Editorial Policy

Independent:

Our editorial policy is not dictated to us by government, civil society, or business. We choose the stories we cover and, while remaining impartial in our reporting, always strive to report from ‘the right side of history’.

Accurate:

We may not always be the first with a story but when we cover a story you can be assured that it is has been verified and is accurate.

But…

On-Time:

Our stories will still be timeous and relevant to the current news cycle, not days old and no longer of any interest to our listener.

Bringing it Home:

The Future Media News team aims to “bring home” the news to the radio stations’ listeners by giving them all the news they need, with a special focus on Namibian and, where possible, local content. Our aim is to make even the most global or national news story specifically relevant to our listeners.

We tailor our bulletins to be useful to our audience. We also aim to create “me too” moments with our listeners by understanding who they are and what they need.

We MAKE our listeners care about the news by presenting them with information that helps them better navigate their lives.

Our news is always credible and factual, and so are our anchors and reporters. We are ethical and principled, but we’re also relatable and approachable.

To achieve this balance, news anchors and reporters need to be mindful of the fact that their personal brand operates within the Future Media umbrella brand and the two should never be in conflict.

Future Media News is short, sharp, and punchy. We recognise that our listeners are after short bursts of news that matters to them, in between listening to their favourite music or programming. Our bulletins are conversational and slick, and our anchors are energetic and animated. We never bore our listeners with stiff language, complicated terms, or overly wordy sentences.

We always talk to one person when we present the news. This helps us connect with our listeners and leverage audio’s superpowers; we must always remember that radio is intimate, enveloping and provokes the imagination.

The Future Media News voice combines warmth and humanity with real interest in the subject. The reading style to aim for is one that seems natural, but isn’t too fast, too slow, too nuanced, too accented, too high-pitched, too quiet, or any other extreme.

Reporters and anchors are challenged to bring every story as close to home as they can. Our first prize is always news of PERSONAL relevance to the listeners.

The Future Media News “bullseye” consists of seven concentric rings:

• Personal – of personal relevance to the listener
• Community – of relevance to one or several communities in the radio station’s catchment area
• Metro – of relevance to residents in bigger towns and cities
• Regional – of relevance to residents of a region as a whole
• National – of relevance to a citizen of Namibia / Namibia as a nation
• African – of relevance to the continent as a whole
• Global – of relevance to humanity / Namibia as a nation of the world

We always want to strike as close to the centre of the bullseye as possible, with each and every one of our stories.