Introduction to the News Report

An Introduction to The News

Part 1 (using the news broadcast you have watched)

Watch a news broadcast and state which one you watched, e.g., Look East Monday 18th March 6pm.

The news broadcast I decided to watch was BBC Newsroom Live on Tuesday the 25^th of June 2019 at 11:00am.

What stories were covered and in what order were they shown?

The stories that were covered (in order) were;

1. The Hillsborough Retrial

2. Borris Johnson’s EU Campaign

3. The ‘Conservative Leadership Race’

4. Prince Harry and Meghan Markles Refurbished Home Costing £2.4 mill in taxpayers money, Plus a Royal Spending Review

5. Southern Waters Spilling Sewerage Into the Local Environment

6. Iranian Presidents Conflict With US President

7. ‘Natasha’s Law’ – New Legislation for Food Businesses After Pret Et Manger Food Labelling Crisis.

8. British F35 Stealth Fighter Jets Take Part in First Mission to Find ISS.

9. Naomi Campbell’s Statement That; Although Diversity in Fashion Industry Has Improved, There’s a Way to Go.

10/11. MET Office Give a Yellow Weather Warning Following Flash Floods in Scotland and East England/Whereas There’s a Heatwave in Europe.

12. Rescue Dog in America Retires

13. Weather

As shown; the news is often presented in order of relevance to the people that are watching. Within the first three news stories, two of them are about who is going to lead the conservative party. This is something that is going to effect the whole country so is something that is of higher value to the public, as well as the news room.

The first story shown is about a retrial of the Hillsborough disaster. I believe this was first because, under Galtung and Ruge’s ‘News Values’, this story reaches both negativity, meaningfulness, size and unexpectedness.

The news is then followed by ‘smaller’ news stories (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Southern Waters, British Fighter Jets and Naomi Campbell) which are seen as less important because, under Galtung and Ruge’s ‘News Values’, they lack; Frequency, meaningfulness, size, continuity or simplicity.

What happens in the starting sequence and why do you think the visuals and audio have been used?

The start of the broadcast had the main news reporter, Joanna Gosling, reading out the main news topics of the day, roughly in the order in which they are being presented. At the start of each short description of the news event was a drum sequence. This gives a sense of urgency within the opening sequence and almost wakes you up and says “You need to pay attention to what is being said”. The opening sequence uses quick cuts to, again, give a sense of urgency and immediacy which represents the broadcaster as a source which gives you news that you will hear first, before any other broadcaster. This is accompanied by a strip of main titles at the bottom accompanied with the title of the news story being talked about. The headlines are all in bold, capatalised font which signifies that it is important. There is always footage of the people, place or correspondant involved in the story, with, sometimes, a clip of them speaking on the subject (for example, when Gosling describes Borris Johnson’s EU Campaign there was a short clip of him talking about it). This is all followed by the familiar footage of the BBC opening sequence, which is a depiction of the world, but in strips of red. This is meant to represent the fact that they are showing news coming from all around the world and the visual effect, of the world being in strips, could symbolise; a reel of footage, showing that this is a TV broadcast that you watch, whilst the red shows emergency. The sound that accompanies this is similar to a countdown which, not only forces you to quickly get ready to sit down and watch the news, but is also very energetic and, again, gives a sense of emergency.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxYXyIjpQcQ)

Part 2 (using a story from the broadcast you have found)

What was this story about and what was the structure of the report (lead in, main content, final comments)?

The story I have focused on involves Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spending £2.4mill, of taxpayer’s money, to renovate their house.

Lead in: The story started with the news reporter, Joanna Gosling, giving a short description of the event by using hard facts. Gosling then invites the royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell, to report on the matter.

Main content: Witchell then narrates over a series of images of Harry and Meghan starting by talking about how they decided they wanted to live in Windsor. Witchell gives more of a storyline as he starts by mentioning the royal wedding and how they decided straight after their wedding to move to Windsor. He then goes over some of the facts whilst standing in front of Buckingham Palace. He details how; they decided to take 5 cottages and strip them out to become 1. Then; there’s a small graphic in which he explains how the overall cost of the Sovereign Grant this year was £82.2 mill.

Final comments: Gosling is then accompanies by Witchell in the newsroom to discuss the story in more detail. They give extra information about the house itself (stating that it’s a Grade II listed building). They also go over some misconceptions that have been made by the renovations, such as the rumour that there was a yoga studio installed, as well as some truths; that there was a floating floor installed, as they couldn’t rip up the original flooring, as it was a listed building. Then they speak about the Sovereign Grant as a whole and it’s controversies; the amount of CO2 emissions they generate with their travel etc.

How are the people in the story represented?

The Royal Family, within this story, was represented quite neutrally, given the controversial nature of this topic. The report focused mainly on the facts of the house and money, however in the final section when they do a short summing up of the story they try to make sure they represent both sides. On one hand, you have Gosling representing the publics thoughts, asking (in regard to the CO2 emissions) “They could do more scheduled flights” in which the royal correspondent, Witchell, replies saying the older members of the royal family are less likely to want to take scheduled flights and that “they can’t always control how much travel they do”. Although Gosling is representing the public thoughts, she is also the main reporter so it’s her job to keep things neutral and not make things too controversial. This means there was only one side to the argument; they royal correspondents side who may not be completely ruthless with the facts.

How did you feel about the people in the news story? Why? Use the following terms where relevant: accuracy; balance; impartiality; objectivity; subjectivity; opinion; bias; access & privacy

I felt angry when I first saw the news report because, in my opinion, £2.4 mill is a lot for the taxpayer to be paying for a house renovation. Although the report was looking at it objectively, by only representing the facts, I still felt angry at the facts and my judgement on the royal family was imbalanced. However, I did my own research, after the news report was put out, because I was interested in how much the royal family makes over a year, compared to how much they spend, and I was really surprised. Going off the news report alone, I’d still be pretty angry, but because of my own research I feel more neutral about the situation (even though I still find it to be a lot of money).

Was the news story narrativised? i.e., was there a construction of a narrative to help the audience follow the news event.

When it was in the main content of the news report, there was somewhat a narrative as Witchell mentions the royal wedding and sets a scene that Harry and Meghan were at their wedding and, as newlyweds, decided they want to move to Windsor, making the story more romantic. However, the end comments and the facts of the story make the whole story more neutral.

Part 3 (referring back to the Anglia News documentary)

Who are the newsreaders / presenters in the broadcast you watched? (Name, age, gender, etc.)

Joanna Gosling, 48 years old, female

Nicholas Witchell, 65 years old, male

How do newsreaders address the audience? Why?

Newsreaders usually address their audience in third person with direct address to the audience using second person pronoun “you” (especially when asking rhetorical devices as a persuasive technique).

What is the role of the newsreader / presenter in a news broadcast?

The role of a newsreader is to report on the news to a wide audience. Sometimes the broadcasts will be live so the newsreader will have to be able to speak in a way that everyone can relate to.

What skills are necessary for newsreaders / presenters?

Newsreaders must be clear and concise with their punctuation (so that everyone can understand what they’re saying) and be able to speak in a way that everyone can understand. Additionally, they need good communication skills as they’re speaking to guests and interviewees and the best way to get good information out of someone is to be very personable.

what is a field reporter and what do they do?

A field reporter is a newsreader who is on the scene. You usually see field reporters in the live broadcasts where they’re interviewing real people or reporting what they’re witnessing. They’re the news reporters who go out there and get the news story.

Who else is involved in a broadcast and what do their roles entail (3 more with 3 bullet points each).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/16584065

Directors

-Make sure the broadcast goes smoothly by doing all the editorial business and preparing the technical side of the broadcast.

-Make decisions about lighting, camera angles and shots, the graphics and mise-en-scene.

-Tell the staff what they should be doing.

Editors

-Choose what stories are going to be aired and in what order.

-Oversee the direction of the broadcast.

Camera Operatives

-Take all the footage that will be put in the broadcast (can involve going out with field reporters to film).

-Take footage of the broadcast.

Part 4 News Ordering - 'What Makes the News'? (research)

What is meant by the term news ordering?

News ordering is a term given, simply, to the order in which the news is presented.

What is the term given to the list of stories that will likely appear on the broadcast?

Special reports/bulletins/top stories.

Which story is likely to be shown first and how / why is it selected?

The story with the largest impact; whether that be on how many people are affected, where

Why is the ability to think and act quickly important in news?

Because the news always changes and there may be additions added, last minute, which may mean you have to change the whole broadcast. Additionally, if something significant were to happen in the world at that instant then the people involved in the broadcast would have to change the entire tone of the broadcast.

What is meant by the term 'slow news day'?

A ‘slow news day’ is when there aren’t any significant features to report on in the world, apart from what Galtung and Ruge would describe as news with ‘continuity’ (a news item that is of a continuous event and is seen every day, such as; Brexit).

What is meant by the term 'news values' and which G & R wrote about them?

‘News values’ is a term coined by Galtung and Ruge which states that there are 10 main functions of a news story (the news story doesn’t have to follow every one);

- Frequency is when important news is reported on immediately as ‘breaking news’.

- Size is when the news story is bigger. For example, it may have affected a large number of people or a large area. The bigger the news story; the better.

- Continuity, as mentioned before, continuity is when there’s an ongoing news story (like Brexit) that appears in the news every day.

- Simplicity is the fact that stories that are simpler are easier to understand than more complex ones, making it more watchable.

- Elite nations or people may make the news before less influential countries or people (possibly because it would have more of an impact on us as a nation).

- Predictability. A journalist will choose to cover an event that they can predict will be a big news story. This means that; sometimes, when a journalist is reporting on something that doesn’t seem like a big story, they’ll be reporting on it because there is a potential for it to become a big story.

- Unexpectedness. On the other hand, something that is nexpected will make the news more than something that occurs every day.

- Negativity is more likely to make headlines.

- Personality. The public will prefer a story over a celebrity or public figure as it makes the news more personal.

- Meaningfulness. If the story is close to home, then the audience will relate to it more.