NewsFlash was founded in 1995 specifically to provide news to radio stations, including commercial and community stations that were going on the air for the first time countrywide.
Owner and editor Henning Coetzee says NewsFlash supplies news to radio stations in 6 of South Africa's 9 provinces, with most clients in Gauteng and the Western Cape. Two of NewsFlash's clients are outside South Africa - a commercial station in Namibia and a station in Dubai that caters for the large number of South African and British expats working and living in Dubai. Many stations have been clients for more than 10 years.
Coetzee says in the United States and Europe most radio stations use a combination of their own news staff and an independent news agency that specialises in radio news. It is the most cost-effective formula. In addition, it frees a station's own news staff up concentrate on news in the station's own reception area, and news of particular interest to the station's audience profile.
News gathering, training
Coetzee says NewsFlash has fulltime journalists gathering news in Gauteng and the Western Cape. It also sends journalists to gather news in other provinces, a journalist is currently in the Eastern Cape. In addition, NewsFlash gathers news by phone. It occasionally interviews newsmakers outside South Africa, recently for instance in Libya, and New Zealand.
NewsFlash offers news gathering and news reading training at radio stations. The agency is also looking into producing background news and environmental programming, as well as weather and traffic reports. Coetzee says NewsFlash is aiming for BEE partnering by the end of 2012.
For more information on NewsFlash News Agency see www.newsflash.co.za or contact az.oc.hsalfswen@rotide. Send all news releases and news tip-offs to az.oc.hsalfswen@swen.
