NEWSCAST ANALYSIS 2: Radio Lingua

  The news cast that i have been analysing starts with the presenter stating to the audience the date and what they are listening to "radio lingua news". There are many codes and conventions included in this newscast. One is that the voice used by the presenter is steady and clear which makes it easier for the audience to undestand what they are listening to.  The presenter spoke in a formal language, this indicates that the newscast is directed and aimed towards older adults and so that the target audience can relate with the presenter.  We can identify from the accent of the presenter, that he is Scottish/Irish which means that the news cast is national.

  Another code and convention was identifies as they had played music for about a couple of seconds this prepares the audience for them to take in the news presesnted by the newscast and helps to alert the audience for upcoming news. The music then stops while the presenter is speaking which follows the conventions of a typical newscast. The presenter then talks on about their updates about what they have achieved. Again music follows but this time, it is much shorter, which is again very typical of a newscast. The use of music helps to set the mood and atmosphere as well as allowing the audience to take in the information and to look forward to new incoming information. So we can say that the music therefore works as punctuation.

We learn that the news cast is for those who learn languages and that is the main focus of the newscast, which is quite atypical. It was interesting that the newscast does not deliver news other than updating about their products. The news cast contains information about Lingua news products. The presenters tell the audience about the prices of their products that they have available. The newscast is therefore is used as a promotional tool.

R18 - Research on Knife crime statitics

 http://www.citizensreportuk.org/news/2013/06/25/london-knife-crime-offences-by-borough-2007-to-2013/

There has been a significant reduction (-19.7%) in reported knife crime offences from the financial year 2011-12 to 2012-13. With some boroughs notably: Lambeth, Westminster, Brent, Camden, Greenwich, Islington and Merton seeing reductions of over a third. Three London boroughs saw small knife crime offence increases, Croydon, Southwark and Barnet, with Southwark having the highest volume of knife crimes in a London Borough and Croydon the second highest volume.

Interestingly those boroughs that saw some of the greatest reductions in knife crime did not see any real improvement in Sanction Detections rates (police identifying or charging offenders) with only small increases in some cases and indeed a few decreases in sanction detection rates. Given the reduced number of police officers in London boroughs and the minimal year on years change in sanction detection rates; it does suggest that policing and crime detection activity has not really led to the significant drop in knife crime offences over the last year and other factors are probably in play.

Table of London Knife Crime Offences by Borough 2007 – 2013

BOROUGH	Knife Crime 2007-08	Knife Crime 2008-09	Knife Crime 2009-10	Knife Crime 2010-11	Knife Crime 2011-12	Knife Crime 2012-13
Barking and Dagenham	384	354	397	391	460	320
Barnet	364	340	404	357	393	404
Bexley	170	193	136	154	161	132
Brent	623	504	547	512	575	353 (-38.6%)
Bromley	265	323	286	282	276	232
Camden	474	318	349	426	440	275 (-37.5%)
Croydon	595	491	542	508	566	606 (+7.4%)
Ealing	585	489	567	528	503	487
Enfield	554	446	533	577	514	430
Greenwich	509	414	373	435	399	271 (-32.1%)
Hackney	660	548	509	539	507	387
Hammersmith and Fulham	372	277	304	307	286	209
Haringey	633	505	495	490	554	449
Harrow	215	216	181	190	221	195
Havering	187	203	205	222	231	176
Heathrow Airport	1	0	0	0
Hillingdon	367	342	266	262	336	289
Hounslow	345	25	262	335	341	298
Islington	445	464	409	443	544	338
Kensington and Chelsea	194	185	150	159	166	159
Kingston upon Thames	133	137	116	101	106	96
Lambeth	719	662	692	819	1010	661 (-34.6%)
Lewisham	580	498	498	650	674	486
Merton	218	177	239	223	299	198
Newham	980	597	788	774	762	680
Redbridge	396	407	316	307	432	341
Richmond upon Thames	109	75	97	80	100	100
Southwark	827	725	880	961	917	953 (+4%)
Sutton	182	182	163	150	130	120
Tower Hamlets	556	481	433	496	630	576
Waltham Forest	631	545	618	625	602	456
Wandsworth	383	365	404	448	396	353
Westminster	536	529	458	575	637	342 (-46.3%)
TOTAL per financial year	14192	12347	12617	13326	14169	11376 (-19.7%)

R17- Codes and conventions of Radio news

R16- News values

R15- Questionnaire Analysis

 

R14- Audience survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PMY62MR

Our group came up with a range of questions to ask young people which will help us to make our radio broadcast better. These questions will give us an idea about the type of audience we have and how we can appeal to their likes and interests. As our target audience are teenagers - young adults, it is important for us to convey the ideas that they like or otherwise our radio cast will not be as effective as we intend it to be.

R13- Radio News Cast Analysis example

The radio that I had listened was introduced as the ‘sky news centre’ which was national news cast and the time it was broadcasted was at 10am. The target audience for this news broadcast may be aimed for over 21 year olds as the news stories and issues discussed seemed to appropriate for over 21 year olds.

The conventions that I had recognised from that radio news cast are factors such as headlines, voice inserts, mainly hard news, range of genres and the weather. There was not anything in this news cast which I would think to be unconventional.

I think the lead story in this radio cast was the story about the prime minister saying that you’ll be able to see your family doctor 7 days a week and that they will reduce waiting time for the patients and that they will ‘ease pressure’ on the NHS if the conservatives win the general election next year. I think this is the most important story because it will have an impact on everyone as everyone would like to improve the health situations and it will affect the target audience as they are more able to relate with this story which makes it more popular and interesting.

Moreover I thought this story was discussed more into detail than the other stories so this also emphasises its importance. Also the use of voice insert in this story also tells us that it is a matter widely discussed and that it affects everyone and also that it has many disagreements with.

R12- Our Audience for Tweenz FM

ABOUT OUR AUDIENCE:



·         14-21 year olds

·         Male/female

·         London area

        - Bengali/Somalian/White/Asian/African/Caribbean

        - Muslims/Christians/Atheist – all religious and non-religious

        - Sexual orientation – les/bi/gay

        - Disabled/abled

HOW THEY CAN ACCESS TWEENZ FM:

·         Mobile phones/laptops/computers/tablets/iPads

APPEARENCE & JOB STATUS:

·         Standard clothing for an average person; high street shops e.g. new look,               Topshop/top man/JD/Sports Direct

·         In education/uni, work/part time jobs

·         Family people

·         Students - working class

WHO OUR STORY WILL APPEAL TO:

·         Boys into sports/girls into fashion/crime

·         Disabled people

·         People interested in gym facilities

·         People with access to the internet

·         Crime news

·         People with student finance

·         Teenagers that have nothing to do at home

DEMOGRAPHICS & PSYCHOGRAPHICS:

·         They fall into demographic E as they are mainly students in education or people with jobs and could perhaps earn a minimum wage as it may be their first job

·         The psychographic groups our target audience would fall under are:

- Mainstreamers; because they follow the conventional forms of society

- Aspirers; because they have higher goals and as they’re young, they may just be starting out in this world on their own two feet

- Succeeders; some people may already know what they want in life and are in the process of becoming that

- Explorers; people that want to be independent and want an adventure like students

- Reformers; free from restrictions and is aware of personal taste/judgement, they select things for the quality and not because it is mainstream

R11- Finding News

This is a video that i have watched on the BBC website on finding news. In this video Huw Edwards gives tips on how to find news:

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/7496032.stm

From this video i have found that there are 6 steps to making news and they are:

1. Find
2. Gather
3. Write
4. Assemble
5. Broadcast

I have also found out more on what news is:

News is what informs people about what is happening in the world. It can be news that people might want to hear about or need to know about. It also needs to be of interest to your audience and it needs to have a good combination of stories such as local, national and international news.

The problem with news is not what you need to put in but what you have to leave out. Sources are where the news come from and its usually a journalist's job to find them. An important factor about finding news is that it must be truthful and accurate. So you should be truthful so then the audience will trust your news and will then believe it. If you are not truthful then you will not gain an audience as they will not believe your news and they will not trust your sources. So you should always find and compare sources and if they are similar then they are most likely to be true.

Truth and accuracy are important news values of BBC so they must be followed and these two values will lead you to become a good reporter that people will trust.

There are many sources where you can find news from:
- Other Journalists: To find out more interesting news
- Press Releasers: They are organisations that send information about events coming up and previous events, you can also find information from their websites.
- Experts: By talking to people who know a lot about a particular subject.
- Witnesses: Someone who has seen or heard an event, could be friends and neighbours.

I have also learnt a few useful tips from Huw Edwards to finding news which were:
- To think about your audience
- Choose stories that they need to know about
- Give a variety of news (local, national, international)
- Stay alert for news
- Check sources to ensure it is truthful and accurate

R10- Radio- outside broadcasting

Inside a radio outside broadcast van there's a lot of equipment, they also have a large mast on the roof of the van. the vehicle is used for outside broadcasting. It's very important that the local radio station keeps in contact with the outside community, and outside broadcasts are one way of doing this.

There are lots of people involved. There is the presenter of the programme, an engineer, and a person who is in charge of public relations, as well as the desk operator and a station engineer in the studio.
The presenter's job is to be ready with a microphone in their hand and the engineer is in the radio van operating the equipment. The person in charge of the public relation organises people to be interviewed by the presenter. It's the presenter's job to link the programme together with interviews and some chat.

The radio car travels all over the community and broadcasts from various places. For example: football grounds, schools, hospitals, etc. It is usually present where some big local event is taking place.

Source: 'Introducing Media Studies On your radio' By John Wood

R9- RAJAR Research

Structure

RAJAR Ltd (Radio Joint Audience Research) was established in 1992, to bring into line, design and run a single audience measurement system for the UK radio industry. They help both, the BBC and licensed commercial stations.

The company is owned by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and by the Radio Centre. This group is made up of representatives of the BBC, commercial radio and the advertising community.

RAJAR’s Mission
RAJAR is in charge for the setting research requirements, the presentation of the research contracts to third party suppliers and the overall quality control. They also are in authority of management and delivery of the service.

Decision Making
The chief Executive and the Research Director manage the day to day tasks. RAJAR is set up as a JIC (Joint Industry Committee) that represents in addition to the BBC and the commercial sector, the interests of the wider advertising community.

http://www.rajar.co.uk/content.php?page=about_organisation

R8- A journalist's ethical guidelines

A journalist:

1. At all times upholds and defends the principle of media freedom, the right of freedom of expression and the right of the public to be informed.

 - I think this is important because as a journalist you should support the right to express your opinion in the media and be honest to the public as they should have the right to know about an issue or problem.

2. Strives to ensure that information disseminated is honestly conveyed, accurate and fair.

 - This is an important factor as journalists should be always be truthful so the audience can rely on your news and so they don’t lose trust in your work.

 3. Does her/his utmost to correct harmful inaccuracies.

- This is important as a journalist should be truthful and should correct any misleading information about an issue as it will then gain trust from the audience and they will believe that you have not made the mistake on purpose.

4. Differentiates between fact and opinion.

 - A Journalist should be clear on what a fact is and what an opinion is. This is so that the audience can identify the difference and are clear on what they need to know and so they do not get any information that can be considered as misleading.

5. Obtains material by honest, straightforward and open means, with the exception of investigations that are both overwhelmingly in the public interest and which involve evidence that cannot be obtained by straightforward means.

- This tells us that the evidence and sources used by the journalist should be honest and reliable. Which is important so then the audience can rely on the sources and they can trust your work.

6. Does nothing to intrude into anybody’s private life, grief or distress unless justified by overriding consideration of the public interest.

 - A journalist should need to follow this as everyone has the right to a private life which should not be disrupted and they should respect that.

7. Protects the identity of sources who supply information in confidence and material gathered in the course of her/his work.

 - A journalist should follow this principle as this will not give away anybody’s identity whilst extracting information from them and the rights of the person will be protected as the person may not want their identity to be publicised, so journalists should respect that. Also so the person does not get criticised or taunted about the information they share as the public may not all agree with the information.

8. Resists threats or any other inducements to influence, distort or suppress information and takes no unfair personal advantage of information gained in the course of her/his duties before the information is public knowledge.

 - This is an important factor that journalists must follow as it ensures that the information they share is accurate, truthful and unbiased. This will also gain the audiences trust as they will be clear on the truthful information.

9. Produces no material likely to lead to hatred or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s age, gender, race, colour, creed, legal status, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.

 - A journalist should never contain any information that is discriminating as this will cause hatred towards the journalist and their sources and may also lead to extreme actions taking place. This will also lead to the journalist’s choice of information being heavily criticised.

10. Does not by way of statement, voice or appearance endorse by advertisement any commercial product or service save for the promotion of her/his own work or of the medium by which she/he is employed.

11. A journalist shall normally seek the consent of an appropriate adult when interviewing or photographing a child for a story about her/his welfare.

12. Avoids plagiarism.

  - This ensures that other people’s works are protected.

http://www.nuj.org.uk/about/nuj-code/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHRN65DYdXY

R7- Our Interview with a BBC Journalist

Our Tweenz interview with BBC Journalist, Josie Verghese (Email)

1.       How do you know what stories to choose for a bulletin?

For most programmes deciding the stories to feature and the order they should run is a collaborative decision made by the team involved in producing that bulletin/programme on the day. Programmes tend to have editorial meetings and this is a discussion about the potential stories and angles they might want to pursue.

Ultimately the decision will be down to the programme editor and don’t forget that when there is breaking news things can change and quite often the plan that was agreed at the beginning of the day will have completely changed by the time things go on-air!

In terms of making decisions on what stories we pursue and support schools with for BBC News School Report we always try and look for original and unique ideas and which specifically relate to young people.

2.       How do you protect your sources?

Sources and contacts are really important to any journalist and so building relationships with them is really important. For sources to feel comfortable and willing to share their stories they need to feel like they can trust you and you will treat them appropriately so being honest and letting them know your plans is important so they understand how their story is being reported and featured.

Sometimes if stories are sensitive then interviewees and sources will remain anonymous.

3.       Where do you go to find new stories?

People – they are the best sources for stories, talking to people is key! Also using social media.

Charities, research bodies, government departments and politicians, universities – build contacts with these.

And follow the news and think about different angles and ideas on how this story might be developed further.

4.       What top tips would you give someone who is aspiring to be a Journalist?

Follow the news – read newspapers and websites, watch and listen to different news programmes.

Find out more about the different sorts of journalism and news production (look at websites like BBC Academy) and try and get some hands on experience – if your school has a newsletter or journalism club then get involved. Maybe write your own blog or record your own video and/or audio reports. Get involved in hospital radio.

Apply for work experience with news organisations like the BBC to see if you can have a taster.

5.       How do you protect yourself out in the field?

Before reporting in the field all BBC journalists have to complete a risk assessment which means we have thought about potential problems or risks in advance, for example if you are filming near water or by a busy road. There are always practical things to think about like the weather being unpredictable or if you’re working with children and young people making sure you have their parental permission to be involved.

One of the most important things about being a journalist and working ‘in the field’ is being prepared – or at least as much as you can be. When possible and time allows it is always good to recce a location so you know more about it before you start working – this happens for most TV productions but is often hard for news programmes as you often can’t plan ahead or predict the location so having a checklist of things to consider for any location is something we do. Being able to adapt to different and changing circumstances is often necessary – best laid plans don’t always work out!

In some circumstances, like when reporting from a conflict or war zone, only journalists and crew who have had specific additional training can work there.

What I have learnt from this interview

From this interview I have learnt that deciding on which story to choose is not only decided by one person but as a group. This taught me that team work plays a big role in journalism and not up to only one person to make decision.i also learned thjat things don't always go according to plan and when that happens, it is better if you have a team that is there to back you up.

R6- How to conduct a vox pop

A questionnaire is like a script – you can make a bad film out of a good one but you certainly can’t make a good film out of a bad one.

• Make sure you stick to up to 5 questions, no one wants to miss too much fun so you must be brief.
• The questions must be open-ended – that is to say – no yes-or-no answers. It’ll get you far better sound bites.
• It’s important to know what the objective of the video is, are you encouraging people to come next time? Then ask them about the value of the event to them. If it’s just a reference video, ask them to describe their experience so far etc.
• Ensure that the client knows what you’re asking. It’s important that your client has input in this process but don’t let them add too many questions

Next is Recruitment:

• Choose your targets. People who are on their own are easier to recruit so single out friendly looking loners – sounds like an unlikely combo but you’ll be surprised.
• Make sure you’ve had a good chat with your client to find out who they want to interview – they may not have a wish list but when you ask the question you’ll find that they can usually point out some people – it helps to narrow down the throng for you.
• Approach with confidence. Inevitably you’ll need to interrupt some people but just be polite and open with a line like ‘excuse me, sorry to interrupt, can I ask you to give us a short interview for the event video?’ don’t over talk – if they don’t want to do it, don’t insist or get whiny.
• What is critical is your tone, you must remain friendly and non-confrontational but assertive and confident. A perfect mixture of those qualities will recruit most people.


Finally is Interview Technique

If your respondent knows what to expect, they won’t be surprised when it happens, so tell them what you’re after and if they agree to take part, no one has any nasty surprises or any reason to get narky.

• Tell them that you may want to repeat sections and may ask for shorter and longer responses
• Tell them that you’re after full-sentence answers for fuller sound bites.
• Once you get rolling, don’t talk! If you feel you haven’t got much from an answer say: ‘tell me more about that,’ it puts people at ease and gets you much meatier content.
• Don’t over speak or murmur your agreement; you’ll ruin perfectly good quotes.


http://www.deadready.co.uk/blog/how-to-conduct-vox-pop-interviews-at-events/

R5- Defamation

Defamation is basically causing injury to the reputation of a person or a company using false statements or actions. It can be also described as an attack on the reputation of a person or company by someone who is not in favour that person or company and so wanted to float some negative message in the society or market. When any sort of defamation is done using internet then it is called Cyber Defamation.

The defamation law allows individuals, groups of individuals, companies or firms to sue if there is damage to their reputation. You can defame someone by publishing material in various forms and people can sue if the material can be reasonably recognised to be referring to them. A few changes have been made by the Defamation Act 2013 which came into force in England and Wales on 1 January 2014.

The law of defamation allows individuals, companies or firms (‘claimants’) to sue for damage to their reputation caused by material that is published and which makes defamatory comments about them. Something is defamatory if it:

• Lowers them in the estimation of right-thinking members of the public; and/or
• Causes them to be shunned or avoided; and/or
• Disparages them in their office, trade or profession; and/or
• Exposes them to hatred ridicule or contempt.

Some changes have been made by the Defamation Act 2013 which came into effect in England and Wales on 1 January 2014. Under the new law claimants have to show that the publication has caused, or is likely to cause, ‘serious harm’ to their reputation.
If the claimant is a body that trades for profit, such as a company, serious harm is defined as ‘serious financial loss’.
It is up to the courts to decide how they interpret “serious harm” in individual cases.

Publication
You can defame someone by publishing material in various forms. These include:

• Via newspapers or other printed media
• Broadcasting on radio and TV
• On the web - including online forums, social media and micro-blogging sites
• By email.

You also risk defaming someone if you repeat defamatory comments previously made or published by others - for example, quoting a defamatory newspaper story about them in an interview or blog.
A claimant would need to show that the defamatory material can be reasonably understood to refer to them - even if they are not named specifically.
Defences 
Some of the defences have been amended by the latest legislation. The main ones are:

• Truth - the publisher must  prove the comments are true
• Honest opinion - the opinion must be genuinely held and based on fact
• Privilege - the scope of this defence has been extended
• Publication in the public interest - a new defence. 

To find out more visit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/article/art20130702112133651

R4- OFCOM

WHAT IS OFCOM?
Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK. They regulate the TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.
They make sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that competition can succeed.
Ofcom operates under a number of Acts of Parliament, including in particular the Communications Act 2003.
Accountable to Parliament, they set and enforce regulatory rules for the sectors for which they have responsibility.
Ofcom is funded by fees from industry for regulating broadcasting and communications networks, and grant-in-aid from the Government.

What they do
Their main legal duties are to ensure:

• the UK has a wide range of electronic communications services, including high-speed services such as broadband;
• a wide range of high-quality television and radio programmes are provided, appealing to a range of tastes and interests;
• television and radio services are provided by a range of different organisations;
• people who watch television and listen to the radio are protected from harmful or offensive material;
• people are protected from being treated unfairly in television and radio programmes, and from having their privacy invaded;
• a universal postal service is provided in the UK - this means a six days a week, universally priced delivery and collection service across the country; and
• the radio spectrum (the airwaves used by everyone from taxi firms and boat owners, to mobile-phone companies and broadcasters) is used in the most effective way.

To find out more visit:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/what-is-ofcom/

R3- What is news? Local news?

R2- Research Planning

Saleha	Kawsar	Simi
-          Codes and Conventions of Radio news : S	-          A case study of a radio station that produces only London news : P & S	-          Questionnaire : P
-          Defamation : S	-          What are news values? : S	-          Regulation – OFCOM : S
-                Review of 3 radio newscasts from different London radio stations : P & S	-          Review of 3 radio newscasts from different London radio stations : P & S	-          Review of 3 radio newscasts from different London radio stations : P & S
-          Information from a radio practitioner or journalist : P	-          Audience survey and analysis : P	-          Focus group : P
Research into how to: -          Do a vox pop : P & S	Research into how to: -          How to conduct a good news interview : P & S -          Write news : S	Research into how to: -          Present news : S -          Do an outside broadcast : S
-          News Ethics : P	- Deformation : S	- Deformation : S
-          Conversations with your sample audience : P