Introduction to News

BBC News Channel: 09/03/2015, 8.30-9.00

The Starting Sequence

The starting sequence of the programme covers the main headlines that they intend

to cover within the next 20-30 minutes. It begins with a countdown linking between a

previous programme and the next, consisting of various shots of the UK, mainly London,

with animated lines flying around and into the BBCs New Broadcasting House. When the

countdown finishes, the presenter or presenters appear briefly and then commence to

talking over a series of clips relating to the main headlines, giving a rough outline of what they

are showing. The clips representing each story change using a swipe transition, and a

dramatic sound effect to indicate to the audience that they have moved on to something else.

The sequence concludes with a title sequence (an animated spinning red globe) accompanied

by the BBC News recognisable theme music, followed by a shot of the BBC Newsroom within

New Broadcasting House, before returning to the presenter.

The purpose of the starting sequence is to engage and interest people in the upcoming

programme, using simple catchy headlines which intrigues people to find out more and so

keep watching. The actual title sequence has the purpose of reminding the viewer which

channel they are watching, the repetition of such helps to create a channel identity which

viewers quickly become familiar with.

From top left to bottom right: the countdown, a presenter, a headline, a transition, the title sequence, and the BBC Newsroom. These screenshots are not from the same programme as dated above.

The Stories

Conservative plans for 500 new free schools

Breaking: James Molyneaux dying

The Anti-Terror Strategy not working

Dog poisoning at Crufts

Business News RE. HSBC Swiss accounts

The Weather

The Presenters

There are two presenters in the studio, who alternate between each other for each

new story. In this half an hour section on the BBC News Channel, there was one male

presenter, Simon McCoy, and one female presenter, Carole Walker, both aged 53 at time of

writing. Their role is to engage the viewer in the news events of the day, introduce pre-

recorded reports from reporters on stories, and then interview people relevant to the story

such as politicians or bankers (and sometimes the reporters themselves).

Their aim is to connect all of the stories that they need to tell together, to make

them feel relevant to the viewer, and keep them engaged in the programme. Without them,

the programme is just a series of un-connected events which makes no sense. To be a

successful newsreader, it has been said the biggest required quality is to stay calm and

focused. There is often up to 5 people talking in the gallery which can be heard in the

presenters earpiece, whilst they are trying to read the autocue to camera. In order to

appear calm and collected on television for the viewers they must remain completely focused

on reading, within their allotted time precisely.

News Ordering

The term news ordering involves deciding on an order of

the news stories to be presented throughout the programme.

This is particularly important for the 30 minute broadcasts at

6pm and 10pm (for the BBC) which are watch by millions on BBC

1. Story Editors in newsrooms have to decide on this order,

ensuring it can be covered within the allotted time slot.

The first item on the news is called the lead story, which is selected based on the

relevance it will have will the ideal audience of the news programme. This will most likely be

the longest story to be shown on the news, followed by shorter segments dedicated to

other important stories. Sometimes it is necessary to just do a round-up of other stories,

giving a quick summary of the events happening. This is often used for sport news, giving an

overview of the final scores of games over a highlights reel. The final story on the news is

sometimes known as the And Finally. Usually this story is something more light hearted

and entertaining to contrast with the typically sad, boring and depressing big news stories.

The ability to think and act quickly is important for ordering the news, because

sometimes things which are supposed to happen that day in the morning do not happen, or

a more important event occurs replacing or pushing down the schedule other stories. The

Story Editor needs to stay ahead of the news, taking into account the relevance of stories to

the viewer at the time of broadcast and ordering appropriately. Some changes occur at the

very last moment before broadcast or sometimes during as well if breaking news is found

out.

The term slow news day is given to certain days where very few relevant events

have happened. For example, a debate in the house of commons over runs meaning it

comes to no decisive conclusion on the day it was supposed to suddenly that is not a

reportable story any more. The Story Editors job becomes very difficult under these

circumstances, trying to find enough stories to feature in the programme. The term news

values assesses how likely an event is to be shown on a news programme. In the 1960s

Galtung and Ruge wrote about the main factors that made an event relevant for worldwide

news broadcasts. The following table outlines Galtung and Ruges 12 identified values with

examples.

News Value Example

Negativity Terry Pratchetts death aged 66. (www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31855710) Expectedness

Currency The trapped Chilean miners in 2010. (www.bbc.co.uk/news/world- us-canada-11535245)

Continuity

Size

Simplicity Jeremy Clarkson suspended by the BBC for hitting a producer. (http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31824040)

Recency

Personality

Proximity Great Yarmouth house fire deaths Inquest. (http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-31853334)

Elite Nations/People Barack Obama condemning Ferguson police shootings (http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-31864839)

Exclusivity Exclusive look at Mahatma Ghandi statue before unveiling. (http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31862446) Uniqueness

Analysing a News Report This news report from the 1990s was about a young couple who had bought a house in

order to start a family but were shortly going to lose it after struggling to keep up

repayments. The people involved are members of the Chowles family, the mother, father and

their young baby. The report also follows the father to the local council in the hope of them

finding council accommodation. The report did have a narrative which helped viewers to follow

the story. It began by describing their situation, leading on to the father trying to find a

solution, and ending with a resolution summed up by the couple themselves which linked

back into the point of the governments statement from the day. The purpose of the narrative

is to make the real point, regarding the governments plans, more relatable and understandable

to the audience by introducing the characters of the Chowles. They are able to put the plans

into perspective, by concluding near the end of the report that the plans have come too late to

help them, thus demonstrating the current problem and what the plans are being put into place

to prevent.

The family is represented as being poor, near the bottom of the social ladder. The news

report clearly wants you to sympathise with the family who are struggling, and risk losing

their home when they have another baby on the way already. The report showed them

to be doing happy family tasks such as playing games with the baby which are relatable to

the viewers. However, I found it difficult to sympathise with them instead I felt a divide

between myself and them (mainly because the report itself was quite dated),

questioning how they had managed to get into such a difficult situation and why they

were about to make it worse by having another child.

Bias in the News

News reports can be influenced by the person or organisation that is reporting

it, which can be bias in the news. One way an editor can express bias is through selection

and omission, meaning to choose whether to even report on the story or aspects of it -

or not. This can occur if the editor wants their audience to think of something in a certain

way, for example choosing not to report on the horrifying things happening during a war

because they support the government and want their audience to support the government

too.

Similarly, bias can be expressed through placement/order. Ultimately, the first

headline on the evening news is what the news broadcaster thinks is the most important,

compared to the last item which is obviously not as important. Whilst it can be argued that

broadcasters choose what they think is most relevant to their audience, if they dont want

to go into too much detail about an event it can be moved down the agenda which

expresses bias as they will be able to leave out details.

Bias can additionally be expressed by the headline used, the editor can choose

to put a positive or negative headline on the story to catch the attention of the

audience before giving them the details which may be completely different to what

the headline suggests. Likewise with names and captions; these are used to describe

the role people have, usually written below their name, but it can also be positive or

negative depending on the editors viewpoint. Use of language can also show bias, through

the wording of certain details in a report or the tone a newsreader uses when saying certain

words.

Shot selection can also be used to show bias on television news. If the news

is talking about somebody they do not want their audience to like for instance they may

use a particularly bad picture of Jimmy Saville alongside a report on his child abuse. In

contrast, they may use really good looking images of a celebrity they are in favour of, such

as Emma Watson when reporting on her work on the HeForShe campaign.

Picture Sources https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn4ntG1OXK

https://twitter.com/chrisckmedia/status/595296227828326400