In this hour time frame there were a lot of different stories covered with the lead story being about the government creating more free schools in the country with a live debate and also a news story all about it. There was also a live broadcast covering Ed Balls' talk all about Labour's plans and this was a lengthy section covering about 10 minutes in total. These larger lead stories were connected together by smaller stories which have less information and less significance. These included stories about a new solar panelled plane and a Harry Potter memorabilia museum which has just been opened up. The lead stories are normally the ones which effect the most people and then are filled by smaller stories so people don't switch off and get bored.
At the start of every news story there is a starting sequence which includes visuals accompanied by some audio. These normally last around 10 seconds and will be placed at the start to signify the start of the news. These are used to connect people with what they are about to see and makes people relate with what they are watching. For example the Look East starting sequence uses local landmarks so people can relate with the news. If someone sees something they know about, it makes them want to listen and take note of. Local news is much more personal than national news and this can be seen in the starting sequence. Another thing that is done in the opening credits is the use of dramatic music to make the start of the news seem urgent, when this music comes on people know that the news is on even if they're not looking at the TV and the way the music fades out the end signifies that the news is about to start. Another feature that makes up the starting sequence is the graphics that are used. The circles that move about during the opening sequence all put emphasis on the local attractions and eventually finish with the circles having a similar shape as the east coast solidifying the fact that this is a regional news program focusing on the east of England. The circular shapes also feel like they bring everything together in a way that connects all of the east of England attractions ready for the news to begin. The colour scheme is red and white which is the colours of the BBC meaning you differentiate the BBC news from ITV for example. These small differences in colour schemes can make big differences when it comes to making connections with the news, when you see red and white you will automatically know it is part of the BBC news solely from the colour scheme.
Some information learnt from: EN Media BTEC Blog
Video: YouTube
As you can see above there are local landmarks used to engage the local viewers and make them feel part of the 'community' they are reporting on. This is much different when it comes to the national news which has a much more formal opening sequence and uses London landmarks as this is the business capital of England which makes the whole thing feel a lot more important.
Video: YouTube
As you can see above this opening sequence is a lot more formal and this reflects in the way the news is presented as well. The national news is more about them telling you the news rather than the local news being a community which you can connect with on a more intimate level.
The presenters who were on Sky News while I was watching were Colin Brazier and Jayne Secker. These were middle aged people of the opposing genders. This is a pretty common make-up of a news show and is the consensus across most news programmes. The reason this is done is so both sexes can connect with the stories being broadcast and so there is some mixture.
Presenters are the face of the news and link all of the
stories in to some kind of narrative. Without the presenters it would be hard
for the viewer to watch the news as it would be a dis-connected sequence of
VT's. Presenters link the news together and give a brief outline of the story
before the people on the vision mixers play whatever links to what the
presenters have just spoke about.
There are many skills required for newsreaders but the most important of all if being able to read off the teleprompter which their script will be placed on. This is what their scripts is being placed on and if they lose track then stuttering will look un-professional on the transmission. It is also important that the presenters are able to cope with lots of people talking in their ears through their earpiece. This includes people from the vision mixer, the person controlling the teleprompter and also the news editor, it takes a lot of skill to take all of them conversations on board and stay professional and read the script correctly. All news readers are also dressed smartly as well and this is a key part of their job, dress is important as they are the front line of the news station and need to look the part.
News ordering is the order in which the news is presented on the programme. Normally the news will start with the lead story which is the longest and most relevant piece of news that day. The following bits of news that day will then be ranked in terms of interest to the audience and aired in that order. It will then go onto a roundup of the news which will be smaller segments of news that can be almost combined if they're too short to run individually. The news roundup stories usually have similar significance and are grouped into categories. Examples of these categories may be sport, national news or international news. Usually the news will then end with a "And Finally" piece which is a less significant, normally funny piece of news that will be a light hearted way to end the news.
The list of stories likely to appear on the news is called a running order and this often creates a lot of debate into which pieces of news will feature on them days. The final running order is down to the progamme editor who will finalise it for the broadcast.
The first news headline on the running order is called the 'lead story' and this is the piece of news that will have the most relevance and interest to the audience.
It is very important to be able to act quickly on the news because it's so unpredictable. It is also very important to be flexible as the running order will more than likely change throughout the day due to changes in the news. If you are unable to think quickly then the news will leave you behind.
A slow news day is when there isn't much news to report on. On days like these the news pieces on the running order may be slightly less significant and may be repeated a lot. A fast news day is the opposite when there is a lot of news to report on and running orders may be packed.
Some Information Above Learnt From: Huw Edwards - BBC Presenter
http://mediaknowall.com/gcse/news/news.php?pageID=values
Information sourced from: Media Know All
Information sourced from: Media Know All
Video: YouTube
The news bulletin I will be using to find G&R news value example will be a BBC World News bulletin that can be seen above.
1) Rebels in Mali seize a government held town as France insist military intervention will only last a week. This applies to negativity, recency, continuity, size. This story was the lead story on this bulletin mainly due to it applying to a lot of the factors of G&R's news values.
2) Humanitarian crisis in Syria. This applies to negativity, recency, expectedness, exclusivity.
3) Biggest gathering on earth which takes place in India. This applies to simplicity and uniqueness,
4) Tour of new BBC broadcasting house.This applies to exclusivity, simplicity, currency.
5) Golden Globe winners. This applies to closeness to home, recency, simplicity, elite people, personality, size
6) Duke and duchess having a baby. This applies to size, elite people + nation, personality, uniqueness, continuity.
Information sourced from BBC World News
All of the above stories have most of the factors from the G&R news values which put them high up the news ordering. All of them have differentiating factors as well as a mixture is incredibly important to keep the audience engaged.
The story involves Mr & Mrs Chowles, their child, a council worker and also the narrator. These are the main subject of the story and the story surrounds them. The council worker is a minor person in the story and is only seen interviewing Mr Chowles to show action is being taken to find them new accommodation. The narrator in the news report is there to give information on the Chowles' situation and creates a narrative of the story, he basically links the whole thing together to create a well rounded story. Finally the young child is there to create a different angle to the story, there to create a sympathetic feeling for the family and show that the situation they are in is not ideal for the young child.
The people in the story are represented as a family who are struggling with settling on the house market, the news story wants the viewers to feel sympathetic for them. They are portrayed in a way where they have been unfortunate with certain events and they can't help with the situation they are in. The opening shot is of Mr Chowles slipping on the ice walking towards his house, this first shot shows that he is not having the best of luck and connotes that he is on a slippery slope. The news story is actually about the government releasing a statement saying that they will decrease interest rates which will help with mortgage repayments, the Chowles are a case study of this recent news. The Chowles missed out on this government initiative and now find themselves in £6000 worth of debt with the bailiffs moving in soon, it was very unlucky that the Chowles didn't wait for this initiative as things would have then been much different. Thew news story concentrates heavily on what has gone wrong for Mr & Mrs Chowles rather than what has gone well for them, Mr Chowles also states how through 'ill health' he can no longer work which proves that he is not working for a reason and adds to the sympathetic element. Mrs Chowles is also captured in a very emotional state and her voice trembles on a few occasions, her dialect centers around 'never doing it again' and it shows that the decision she made was a bad one. They are represented as a family who have been caught up in a capitalist system where the working class find it tough to live interdependently.
Image: Google Images
I didn't feel much sympathy for Mr & Mrs Chowles mainly due to some of the factors that made up their story. The fact that the Chowles' are having another baby despite being in all kinds of financial trouble does not make sense to me. There may be a very valid reason that we are not aware of, but the fact that the news story included this information about another baby on the way does not help with me feeling sympathetic for them. Despite this the fact that they were actively trying to make their lives better and not resting on their laurels did help me connect with their story on an emotional level. It's never nice seeing a young child in a struggling family but Mr & Mrs Chowles seemed genuinely moved by what they were going through and they were seeking help and working hard to change their situation. The way the news story captured their active work ethic and included some background information certainly helped with me feeling sorry for them. It's also very unfortunate for the Chowles' that the timing of the government initiative came at the time it did which really didn't help. Overall I had mixed feelings about the Chowles' case.
The story was narrativised to help the audience follow the news story. The news story was made into a narrative with the use of chronological ordering. The first shot of Mr Chowles is him walking up to his house over a snowy setting to help the audience realise where the story is set. This shot also gives the narrator time to give some information on the Chowles family and also the government initiative which this news story is reporting on. The next shot is of the Chowles's playing with their young child, not only does this help add the new person into the frame but also gives the audience watching an idea of the situation. This shot also includes some background information about how they got into the mess they currently find themselves in which helps to educate the audience. The rest of the news story is then adding information to the mix and the journey they are taking to try and get back into a decent financial situation. By making the narrative based around the chronological order of their journey it helps the audience follow the news event.
Information sourced from: ITV news archive
Mr & Mrs Chowles Video From: ITV news video archive
The broadcast I found was Malala's story that the BCC created.
Video: YouTube
This is a story about a 16 year old girl who has had to move to Birmingham with her family because of Taliban attacks. Malala spoke out about girls having the right to go into education when she was 11 and then the Taliban attacked. Malala is one of the most influential 16 year old on this planet thanks to her willingness to try and get girls into education in her home country of Pakistan.
The main subject of this news story is of course Malala but there are also other people in this story. Her family is included and so is some footage of the Taliban who caused Malala such pain. Malala's family is also included in this news story as they had to flee the country for their own safety alongside Malala. Their is also a news reporter who narrates and also interviews Malala and her family.
In this story Malala and her family are represented as good people who are trying to create change in a country that desperately needs it. The news story only gets one side of the story- that being the side of Malala and her family so of course they will be portrayed as good people. The news reporter also uses words like 'influential' to describe Malala but still thinks she is a 'normal teenager'. On the other hand the Taliban are made out to be ruthless extremist killers which is a common theme throughout mainstream media. Although this is probably true, the BBC do not allow the Taliban to give their thoughts on this incident so they can manipulate how people see the Taliban on their own accord.
I did feel sorry for Malala and her family and also an element of pride. The fact that there are 16 year olds out there trying to create positive change is pleasing to see as the youth of today are usually portrayed in a very negative light. It's also great to see that people are looking up to Malala and respecting her work as what she is trying to do is an incredibly important cause- in this day and age everyone should expect to be given education, no matter where you live. I also felt very sorry for Malala's family who have had to go through this whole aw-deal with Malala and move half way across the world due to the danger they were facing. The Taliban on the other hand recieve a feeling of pure hatred from me. The extremist group make me feel sick about the actions they carry out and to me none of their work seems logical in any way to me. The fact that they shot a 16 year old in the head for campaigning about education sums them up- sickening. Of course these feelings are enhanced by the way the BBC create the story but in general I would have thought that most people have a similar feeling to me.
There was a narrative in this story that was created by the BBC. The story starts with Malala and her family sitting in a park talking about their experiences and on a fairly light hearted topic talking about the weather England has to offer. As the story progresses so does the seriousness of the talking points as it ends on what she thinks of the Taliban and she sends a message to them, a big move from her weather talk at the start. To help the audience follow the story there were also voice-overs accompanied with shots of her in her home country of Pakistan to move the story along in a chronological manner.
Image: BBC News
Information sourced from: EN BTEC Media
Bias through selection and omission.
An editor can express bias by choosing or leaving out a certain news items. For example if a news company want younger people to be but into a bad light then they could leave out positive stories about the youth of today and put in a negative story about them.
Within a given story details can be ignored or included which means the audience can look at the story in the way the producer wants them to. News producers can edit the story as much as they want to make the audience see the story in a different way to what they would if the full story had been included.
A good example of omission is the way pitch invasions have been looked at in the FA Cup. When non-league team Warrington pitch invaded it was described as 'this is the reason why we love this beautiful cup competition' but when Premier League side Aston Villa did the same it was described as 'a return to the dark age of football hooliganism' it was exactly the same act but different parts were included in the story to change the viewers opinions.
Warrington's pitch invasion was a joyous and exciting occasion.
Aston Villa's was a return to football hooliganism.
Images: Google Images
Information sourced from: EN BTEC Media Blog
Proof that there is bias through selection and omission.
Bias through placement
Television and radio newscasts judge the first stories to be aired as more significant than the ones that come later on. For example if there is a local murder this would probably be placed further forward than if the murder was half way across the world, despite it being the same crime the fact it's brought further forward in the programme makes it seem more important and is bias.
The above news bulletin is a good example of bias through placement as the first story is about a 2 year old dying while the last is about trainspotting. This proves that people think the first stories are the most important.
Video: YouTube
Bias through headlines
The headline is often the only thing that the audience read or listen to so it's often the most important part of a news story. Headlines are often used to create excitement when it's lacking in the piece to create excitement around the story. Headlines can also create emotions around the story and can influence for example a hospital headline could be portrayed in two different ways, to make the patient seem like the victim or the hospital itself. For example 'patient dies in pain as hospital staff don't attend when in need' or 'hospital staff overworked as NHS wage drops'. The way a headline is created can create bias about the story itself.
Picture: Natural News
Information sourced from: Media Know It AllBias through shot selection and camera angles
Camera angles is another way in which news companies can present bias through. One good example is some visuals can flatter someone or instead make them look unpleasant. This can be used if you want to portray someone in a certain way. Camera angles can also be used to give people power or not, a low angle looking up to someone will give them power while on the other hand a high camera angle looking down will make them look weak. A long shot with a lot of background could make the subject looked engulfed and lost in a busy world while a close up could make them seem happy and focused or have the opposite effect to show raw emotion up close. Another way is what visual sources you include in the VT, you can include some parts and leave out other to create a manipulated narrative. A news company may decide to include condemning footage and choose to leave out footage that may praise the subject in order to put the subject in a bad light, this can of course be done the other way around as well. To conclude the inclusion or exclusion of shots is hugely important and can decide whether a subject is made out to look good or bad. Camera angles are also hugely important as well as they decide how things are framed.
Pictures: Google Images
Bias through names and captions
Names and captions can be used to create bias. For example the job title someone is given can make them look powerful. An ICT assistant could be given the name title 'Lead manager in computer technology at University Arizona' by making someones job title sound a lot more fancy it makes them look powerful and more important. If this was was a debate for example the other person may be given the name 'ICT technician in local school' despite having pretty much the same job. Another good example is if the news company want to portray someone they could use the term "ex-con" even if they served a minor offence 20 years ago, or describe someone as a terroist rather than a freedom fighter.
A good example of this in real life is if a news company wanted to put Bill Gates in a bad light they could describe him as an "ex-con and accompany it with his mug shot. Or if they wanted to put him in a good light they could describe him as the 'worlds richest man' with his company in the background.
Pictures: Google Images
Information sourced from: Wikipedia
Bias through use of language
This is closely linked to the bias through headline section. This is about whether positive or negative tone is used and when words with a particular connotation can strongly influence the viewer. A voice over may use negative language to create a negative connotation or they may use positive and uplifting language to produce a positive connotation. This is also true with headlines that may be affected with the language that is used. For example the language below connotes a feeling of pain and sadness onto the first two stories, death and injury are repeated 3 times in the first 2 stories to connote negativity rather than hope which could be connoted if 'hope' and 'recovering' for example.
Video: YouTube
Jack,
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent piece of work; you have covered everything needed to pass and you have done so in a clear and concise way. You bring in a variety of relevant examples and explain key terminology in a very decent amount of detail.
Two small things to amend/add;
1. add footnotes / sources throughout at any point where you have references other people's information
2. elaborate further on the starting sequence; think sound, graphics, colour schemes etc.
Fabulous work, again.
Ellie
All changes made - 21/04/15
ReplyDelete