We produce the weekly news tape in our own studio at Craven House, Victoria Road, Swindon. Recording and distributing each weekly edition is essentially a team effort. All the volunteers work on a rota basis which ensures a variety of voices and content are heard each week. The people heard on the cassette are supported by an equal number of backroom volunteers, without whom the organisation could not exist.

The producer is responsible for the content of each edition as well as its recording quality. The producer may be assisted by an editor and engineer, or may choose to do his own editing and engineering. At present there are 3 producers working on a rota.

The Swindon Evening Advertiser delivers a complimentary copy of the newspaper to the studio each evening. The producer or editor selects reports, aiming to record approximately forty-five news items in the forty-five minutes of side 1 of the tape. The news selected reflects the balance of local news reported during the week. Side 1 is recorded on Wednesday evenings, using a team of 4 newsreaders drawn from the rota.

This side of the tape is rather like the magazine selection of a newspaper. It contains individual features, often of particular local interest plus regular features. The features are presented by volunteer contributors who prepare their own material. Regular features include, What’s On, Sport, Thought for the week, music, and listener’s letters, which we sometimes receive recorded onto tapes. Other features have included recordings made on holidays in far-flung destinations, a visit to the new railway museum in Swindon, Steam in the company of the curator, and many more. Some features are recorded and edited in advance, and then compiled onto the master with the regular items that are recorded on Wednesday evenings.