An Introduction to the News

An Introduction to the News 

In the broadcast I watched from the 11th of July 2018, the stories were covered in this order: Families fight for a new life saving drug to be made available, virtual reality is bringing orchestral music to a younger audience, and the weather was shown as the next story. 

The broadcast begins with the iconic red and white of the BBC's Look East programme along with the music that is associated with the news in East Anglia. They use the bright colours to almost intrigue the audience, while not using too many vibrant colours such as blue or green along with the primary and secondary red and white in order to keep it sophisticated - just as a news programme should be. The audio is used due to it's loud, distinct sound which people who may have been in another room could hear in order to alert them that the news is starting, as well as people in the room also beginning to pay attention due to the alerting sound of the intro. 

The male presenter in my news broadcast was Stewart White, a 71 year old who's job as a presenter is to deliver the news to the general public as clearly and concisely as possible; using their public speaking skills as well as accuracy when presenting to such a large audience. They should also be enthusiastic when presenting the news, as well as having the ability to follow the events currently occurring around the world and being able to presents them without bias, while making the presentation interesting and informative for the viewer. 

News ordering is compiling a running order of the programme using the length, topic, order and number of news stories for the audience. For example, a story which is more serious and topical such as the NHS and the ongoing fight to release the life saving drug is more important than the virtual reality story, as it is a longer story, which is topical, hence it is ordered at the top also due to the number of people it effects, with the 'and finally' story being the least important. 

As a news presenter, the ability to think and act quickly during a live report is crucial due to the fact that a story could spiral out of control, in which case the reporter must remain calm and try their best to keep the audience calm, as the situation could be extremely dangerous or shocking. The shock factor could come into play on a slow news day, in which the reporter, seemingly relaxed, could be hit with news that they have to tell the nation which could be extremely shocking or saddening. A 'slow news day' refers to a day in which reports are not as 'interesting' stories, or their aren't as many as the company would like, resulting in a lower viewer count. 

Galtung and Runge wrote about news values which show the importance and exposure the media gives to a certain story. Some of their news values include: 

Frequency - Events which don't happen often. Royal weddings are an example. 

Familiarity - To do with people or places close to home. An example is Danny Boyle visiting Gorleston. 

Negativity - Bad news is more 'newsworthy' than good. An example, although horrible, is terrorism. 

Unexpectedness - An out of the ordinary event, such as an animal escaping a zoo, has a greater effect than an animal entering it. 

Unambiguity - Events which have a clear implication, unlike Brexit, are easier for the general public to comprehend. 

Personalisation - Events put on a human, such as an accident which turned out to be a murder, becomes more newsworthy due to the 'human interest'. 

Meaningfulness - Events which include people of the same culture, such as the news making the Malaysia airline disaster more newsworthy due to British citizens being on board. 

Reference to elite nations - Powerful nations are included. The Russian poisoning scandal is an example. 

Reference to elite persons - Rich, powerful people are involved. An example is Princess Diana's death. 

Conflict - A dramatic effect caused by opposing ideas. An example would be the Falklands War. 

The main story in the news report I used was about a new drug to help treat cystic fibrosis no longer being made. The drug costs £100,000 per patient every year, and people effected by the genetic disorder are devastated; recently planning a march to get the drug back on shelves. A family with a 1 year old son who has cystic fibrosis are the main focus of the story. I am made to feel sorry for the people involved, as their is not much they can do when the NHS are keeping the drug away due to it's heft prices even though it could vastly improve the lifestyle of sufferers. 

Bias through selection and omission is a way for government parties to shift the views of the public away from the negativity in the world in order to keep their votes. An example would be the Libya attacks, which Fox news did not cover in order for the votes to not shift in favour of another American party. This is due to the fact that the terrorists who planned the attack were those who did 9/11, creating fear in the public and perhaps making them want to vote for a party who would want to do something about the situation at hand. 

Bias through placement is used to make the general public feel like the story at the front is the most important, with the ones buried at the back to be the less important stories. This is most common in print news. The most important facts in a story are placed high in a report and the less important would be in small print due to some readers not reading all of the story. 

Bias through headlines are one of the most powerful due to the text being the largest on the page, meaning that it will be the most seen by everyone, including children, who may have their views distorted because of the headline. An example of this would be some of, if not all of the Sun's headlines, this is because they tend to use 'gossipy' titles that usually put someone in the wrong. 

Bias through shot selection and camera angles can be used to show what the reader should be feeling whilst reading the story. It will show someone in a low angle shot, expressing power and dominate, or in a high angle shot, showing fear and weakness. It could also show a spectators expression and focus on that, usually used in 'gossipy' magazines to show disgust towards an act the victim has supposedly done. 

Bias through names and titles can put someone in a bad light by giving them a label - including the Sun telling the public to not end up in the 'Cor-Bin', pushing them toward voting Tory while putting the Labour party in a bad light. 

Bias through use of language is a way for news reporters to once again put a certain target in a bad light. This also appears in the Sun's title, asking people to not fall for Cobin's 'rubbish', making the audience question their views and wonder if the Sun has a point - meaning Corbin would have to regain their trust before they vote for another party.