One of the most important functions of a radio station is to inform the audience. This includes the time, the weather, who you are, what the call letters and frequency of the station are; all of which should happen on a regular basis.

            But there’s much more information out there. Your challenge will be to sort through all the material available and make decisions about what should go on the air. School events, sporting contests, local/state/national/world news, background on the music/artists you play, and interesting personalities are just some of the things you will be able to select for informational purposes. This will require you to do a couple of things:

            First, you’ll need to educate yourself about the various sources of information out there. Who would you talk to to find out about whether tonight’s soccer match is significant or not? How can you know if the lyrics to "Louie, Louie" really should have been banned as obscene? Did Clinton confess? Can you find out the background on the dean that everybody hates? In short, you need to become more aware of the world around you with an ear towards providing your listeners with interesting, concise information on the things you think they should know.

This leads to the second aspect of informing your audience—selecting the informational items to share. Since there is so much to select from, you will show your personality in the things you pick. Outside of the essentials mentioned in the first paragraph of this section, there won’t be many requirements on what you choose for your audience, as long as you have a variety of items included in each show you do.

Which brings us to the final issue: How many tidbits of information should you share with your audience? Again, your personality will dictate some of this, but to start, you should plan on at least four or five informational items each half hour, a couple after each set of songs. Obviously you can repeat items more than once during the course of your show, but you should prepare at least six different news items for each broadcast.

Informing your audience is a crucial part of your role as DJ, so make sure you seek out worthwhile, interesting items that you have cultivated from a variety of sources.