If you are a listener to community radio, it’s a sure bet that you would have heard the friendly voices of our newsreaders telling you the happenings of the day and overnight, from right across the world – and it all happens here in Bathurst.

NRN offers a service as good as what commercial radio does and in some cases, better.

In short, National Radio News – NRN for short, is the news arm of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia – CBAA and presents the bulletins on the hour from 6am-7pm, Monday-Friday.

Its aim is to deliver an authoritative news service. NRN’s editorial judgment is genuinely independent, impartial, and not geographically centric. NRN broadcast for the benefit of its listeners and to provide the best possible training for journalists.

Its home is on the campus of Charles Sturt University and it is a very, very busy newsroom; phones ringing, radio and TV monitors giving out with potential news items and of course, the tippetty tap of keyboards writing up the news.

As far as news services go, NRN is just a mere infant, beginning life on March 31, 1997 and in almost twelve years, services some 90 regional and community stations across Australia.

Brevity is the keynote in their bulletins and each bulletin is just over three minutes long, compact yet giving out the necessary information. Just the plain what, why, when, where who and how – no embellishments.

NRN is close to but not part of the CSU School of Communications and is under the watchful eye of Peter Hetherington. Blue pencilling is done by Rochelle Nolan, from Newcastle, who has taken over the role of News Editor, whilst incumbent, Shannon Kirkwood is on maternity leave.  

Along with Shannon and Rochelle are three journalists backed up by six cadets and freelancers. Newest member of the team is journalist, Eleni Psaltis, a recent graduate from CSU. Eleni is one of many journalists whose name goes on the long list of media personalities who began their profession as students of the former Mitchell College and CSU.  

The names are legion and include personalities such as Andrew Denton, Tara Brown, Chris Bath, Anna Coren; radio’s Latika Bourke and the list goes on. 

NRN cadets serve a period of about fourteen months and are then given an opportunity to undertake an internship, normally unpaid but credited as time served in their cadetship. These internships are no less than four weeks and can last up to a year. Then, it’s time for applications and audios to go to the respective news services or radio and television stations.

NRN’s motto: World-wide news for community radio; its unofficial slogan: “No news is bad news.”