Research & Planning

23rd September 2015

To begin my research and planning, I started from a general look at TV News programmes and how different types and themes of news programmes differ from one institution to another. Although my main focus is going to be centred around local news programmes, I looked into the codes and conventions of a range of news programmes - including national as well as local - as well as a range of target audiences including the general regional public, young children, a comedic audience and young adults as well as older adults. The different techniques used by different institutions to present the news vary from one another and are all useful and interesting in the ways which they attract the attention of their desired target audience and, in turn, will help me to recognise the conventions used and integrate them into my own work later on. By exploring a range of themes, audiences and ideas, I will learn a range of codes and conventions which I can later use in my own local news extract/task, as well as making it original and creative by perhaps combining different techniques from each type of news programme.

The first news report I looked at was ITV News Central, aired at 6PM across the midlands region of the UK. The subject of the news report was the new studio design, which was extremely helpful for me to learn about the mise en scene and layout of a studio as well as typical report codes and conventions. The setting of a news studio is thus extremely important in delivering the news effectively to the target audience:

 

25th September 2015

The next news report I looked at was another local news programme, but this time the institution was the BBC. It was helpful to explore both the BBC as well as ITV's local news programme's as they had a lot in common with how they presented the news to the target audience (as they share the same target audience: general public within the Midlands region aged roughly between 18-55). However they also have a lot of notable differences in how they produce their news broadcasts which is interesting to explore; for example, ITV positioned their news desk in front of a window displaying an iconic view of Birmingham library in the city centre through a mid-shot; which is immediately identifiable to the target audience and a constant reminder throughout the news programme as we watch, as we are constantly viewing the iconic scenery along with the presenters. However, although different, BBC have included iconic landmark imagery in their title sequence with a long-shot/establishing shot of the library within the title sequence including general, local people walking around, thus connecting with the target audience in a different way; but nevertheless is just as effective as ITV.





27th September 2015

After exploring and comparing conventions of local news reports, I wanted to expand my knowledge on the conventions of news programmes in general and to begin looking at different age ranges concerning target audience. To do this, I looked at a clip of a newsround story to discover how the BBC would adapt the news stories happening day to day to be suitable and understandable to a younger target audience (in this case, generally primary school children, which is the target audience of CBBC). The set out of the news programme was completely different and made much simpler in comparison to the BBC and ITV news broadcasts; which were much more complex, detailed and suited to their target audience. For instance, the question which the interviewee's are answering are all the same, simple question used at the beginning of the news story, and we see the younger target audience significantly more than we see the older news presenters. The news presenters are only present at the end to round up the news story which has been mainly dominated by the younger demographic; hence, the target audience will enjoy watching the news as it is presented in a way which they will all understand and perhaps enjoy.



30th September 2015

 The next news programme I wanted to analyse was Sky News. As a nationally aired news programme, I thought it would be interesting to explore as it is a highly successful and popular news channel;notably with a vast amount of modern technology which helps improve the quality of the production as well as providing informative updates on the news both in the UK and worldwide. This particular news story was interesting as it was an interview/discussion in the studio regarding a worldwide news topic - the refugee crisis. Sky News is clever in how it carries its brand identity and continues to inform viewers constantly throughout one news broadcast on other stories through their techniques used on screen. Below, I annotated 2 still images of the interview which helped me to identify how Sky News effectively delivers the news to their target audience.

1st October

To my interest, I discovered that Sky News has a mobile app which sends alerts regarding the breaking news which is shown on TV. This technological convergence is effective as, on the app, it allows the target audience to watch the interviews throughout the day which are shown live on the Sky News channel on TV on their mobile or tablet, too; any time of the day (live or playback). This is effective as it helps to widen the target audience, as people who are interested in the news but may be busy at the time that it breaks can still view and take interest in the news at their own leisure. 

Here, we can see that the mobile/tablet app is still advertising the TV channel for Sky News by displaying a range of channel numbers for the target audience to watch live. Again, by making the news easily available it helps to deliver to all consumers of the target audience.

In the main menu on the app, the news is filtered into 'Top Stories', 'UK News' and 'Worldwide News'. This gives the target audience the opportunity to control what they watch and listen to, which in some ways is better than the TV channel as it gives the audience more choice. At the bottom tabs, there is a chance for the audience to get involved by clicking 'Your Report'; giving the audience the chance to get involved as an example of 'WE Media', where the general public are getting involved in reporting and commenting on the news which is happening around them, thus feeling a sense of belongingness by participating and inputting news which we all see. 

The target audience also gets the option to watch a news report from earlier on the day on their mobile or tablet. Here, we can see clear codes and conventions of a news report, even on devices such as mobiles and tablets.

Here, we see an example of on-screen data, presented in a diagram with a voiceover of the presenter explaining what is going on (through sound on tape). This is an effective way of delivering the news as the viewers can understand the news story visually as well as through the sound and the voice of the presenter. 

5th October 2015

The next news programme I looked at was BBC Three's 60 second news bulletin. I wanted to look at this type of news programme as it differs quite a lot in comparison to the previous news programmes I've explored. The fast-paced reporting means that the news being reported is filtered out in order to give us the best quality news stories in the shortest amount of time which affects the running order of the news belt. The presenter in the 60 second news also speaks in a voice over in an out of vision shot throughout the bulletin (with his voice being sound on tape) as he is conscious of what he is saying and whether or not he is running to time. Here is my analysis of the BBC Three 60 second news bulletin:

NARRATIVE THEORY

10th October 2015

After exploring a range of news programmes through textual analysis, I then began to look at multiple theories regarding the news; both on TV and in print/newspapers. The first theory which I looked at was Galtung and Ruge's News Values. The idea behind this was that the news story which scores high on most of the values in Galtung and Ruge's list are most likely to become breaking news or make the front page or headline on a newspaper. Here is my research on Galtung and Ruge's theory:

12th October

After exploring Galtung and Ruge's theory, I decided to then go on and research a second narrative theory:

Tordov's theory of equilibrium:

Tordov had the idea that all stories begin with an equilibrium. Hence, a news story (or certainly a breaking news story) will emerge when a story has a disturbed equilibrium. It is then this disturbed equilibrium which will become the subject of the news story in the build up to an eventual restoration of this normality, or another resolution different to how the story was at the beginning, but still acts as a new, reformed equilibrium. The news story will then gradually decrease in terms of the ranking order of significance (the running order of the news stories) once the equilibrium has been resolved. Thus:

The news story will always start with an equilibrium and end with an equilibrium.

This is somewhat relatable to stories in the news today; for example, the refugee crisis:

• The story begins with an equilibrium, with refugees being normal, happy citizens living in their own land.
• The equilibrium is disturbed when civil war breaks out in Syria with the on-going threat of ISIS growing, which causes the refugees to attempt escape by any means of travel possible, leading to thousands of deaths and injuries.
• The equilibrium is restored for some when the refugees find a new, safe country in which to inhabit and stay in to live.
• 
  

13th October

A second narrative theory which I researched was Claude Levi-Strauss' theory:

Binary Oppositions

Levi-Strauss took the approach that each news story in the media would follow the rule of oppositions; in this way, a news story will have a 'good' guy, who vastly contrasts to the 'bad' guy. Sometimes, the good and the bad within news stories is only made clear to the audience through a biased reporter or viewpoint from the news channel, who may be in favor of one way of thinking rather than the other. For example, a news channel which is strongly right-wing could display their political viewpoints on stories about politics in an attempt to adopt the viewers to agree to their way of thinking. A lot of the time, though, the 'good' and 'bad' is set out clearly in the stories, such as a murder story, where the 'bad' guy is clearly the murderer, and the 'good' would be the innocent victim. Levi-Strauss would claim that, through the strong contrasts of good and bad, the news story is understandable and easier to be consumed by the target audience. 

15th October

A further narrative theory I went on to explore was Roland Barthes' theory:

Enigma Code Theory

Barthes claimed through his theory that the narrative (in this case, of a news story) is based on creating the questions that the audience want to find the answers to. This - according to Bathes - works in a way by drawing the target audience in to the narrative (or news story) as they are being told what they want to hear. Thus, as a linguist, Barthes described 5 codes that are woven into every narrative - in this case, every news story. These are:

1. The Hermeneutic Code

This code refers to any element of the story which is not thoroughly explained and, hence, remains a mystery to the audience. The purpose of the author (or presenter) in this is to keep the audience guessing and hooked to the story until the information is revealed and closure for the audience is achieved.

2. The Proaretic Code

 This code also builds tension, referring to any other action or event that indicates or hints that something else is going to happen, hence getting the reader guessing as to what is going to happen next. The Hermeneutic and Proairetic Codes work together as a pair to develop the stories' tension and, therefore, keeps the reader interested. Barthes described them as:

"Two sequential codes: the revelation of truth and the coordination of the actions presented: there is the same constraint in the gradual order of melody and in the equally gradual order of the narrative sequence". 

3. The Semantic Code

This code refers to the connotation within the story that gives additional meaning over the basic denotative meaning of the word. It is by the use of extended meaning being applied to words that authors can paint rich, vivid pictures with relatively limited text. Hence, linking to the sophisticated language used by the presenters in how they deliver the news to the audience in a professional and effective way. 

4. The Symbolic Code

This code is very similar to the Semantic Code, but acts at a wider level; organising semantic meanings into broader, deeper sets of meaning. This is typically done through the use of antithesis, here new meanings arise from opposing ideas or conflicts (perhaps linking to Lein-Strauss' theory of Binary Opposites). 

5. The Cultural Code

This code refers to anything within the narrative that is founded on some kind of canonical works which cannot be challenged and is, therefore, assumed to be a foundation for truth. In this sense, when the news announces the death of a well-known figure (an example being perhaps Margaret Thatcher) we would not have doubts whether this was true or not. We do not question this, as according to Barthes, it is seen as a foundation for truth which we as the audience trust. 

17th October

Another narrative theory which I explored was Vladimir Propp's narrative theory and character structure:

Character Types

Propp - a literary critic and a scholar - founded the idea there are certain types of characters used in each narrative structure. Propp suggested that every narrative has eight different character types. These are:

• The villain - this character will threaten or fight the hero in some way.
• The dispatcher -this character will make the villains' evil well known and sends the hero off. 
• The (magical) helper - this character will help the hero in their quest. 
• The princess or prize - Usually, the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil brought upon him; usually because of the villain. The hero's journey often ends when he 'wins' or marries the princess, thereby beating the villain and resulting in a 'happily ever after' ending for the narrative. 
• The princess' father - he will give the task to the hero, with the goal or 'prize' being the princess. This character identifies the false hero. (Propp noted that, functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished).
• The donor - this character prepares the hero for his battle or perhaps gives the hero a magical object or aid. 
• The hero or victim/seeker hero - this character reacts to the donor, wins the fight or conflict of the narrative and eventually 'wins' or marries the princess.
• False hero - this character will take credit for the hero's actions or will try to win or marry the princess before the hero (but never succeeds).

20th October

As part of my ongoing research regarding Local TV News, I decided to ask sixth form students what they thought of news broadcasts regionally. Here, they tell me their preferences on TV News and why they like/dislike it: 

25th October

To connect with my target audience as effectively as possible in my main task of creating a title sequence and news story, I decided to create a questionnaire to hand out in my vertical tutor group to connect with as much of my audience as possible. In this way, a range of age groups gave me feedback on my questions which are pictured below: 

30th October

After giving my questionnaire out to 20 people of different ages in my tutor group, I received varied feedback on each of my questions. Here I have visually presented some of the data collected from my questionnaire: 

As you can see, I hoped to collect data from a wide variety of age ranges, however I was only able to receive data from 7 out of 9 of my age categories. As I handed out my questionnaires in school, I struggled to find people between the ages of 40-49 and 50-64 to feedback to me, as it was easier to ask students which explains that the majority of responses I collected were from of 11-13 years and 17-19 years. As my age groups ascended, the ratio of male to female respondents were more and more uneven, as I was only able to receive data from 1 to 2 older adults. I understand that, because of this, my responses may be one sided or biased about TV news, as the generalised target audiences for Local TV News are predominantly adults. 

Here, we see that my ratio of male to female respondents was uneven overall, with the majority of my feedback coming from males rather than females. This was unintentional, and may not have a massve effect on my feedback, as the male responses were spread out widely across my age ranges (see Q1 above). 

From this, it is evident that the stereotypical assumption of the younger demographic not being interested in TV News is, in fact, likely, as my data shows the largest age range choosing the option 'never' was age 11-13. Similarly, two of the age ranges selecting 'everyday' were adults; between the ages of 36-40 and 65+, implying that adults are much more concerned with the news than children are. Interestingly, my age group on the threshold of childhood and adulthood (17-19) gave completely varied feedback, answering in all of the choices, thus implying that this age range cannot easily be stereotyped on whether they would watch Local TV News or not - it is down to the individual. Despite this, it should be noted that the most poplar choice for the age range of 17-19 year old's was that they 'frequently' watch Local TV News. Although the majority of 11-13 year old's and 14-16 year old's selected the option 'never', there is still a significant minority of 11-13's who selected 'occasionally' and 'frequently'. This is important to know, as I can now understand and be aware that the content of my news stories and the way in which they are delivered should be appropriate for these age ranges to watch, yet the news programme should not be completely modeled around this younger demographic as they are still the minority audience. Overall, this question was interesting as it provided me with stereotypical feedback of adults being the majority audience, yet stereotyped were subverted with the younger demographics. 

After analysing my feedback on my questionnaire, I decided to then create a questionnaire online using survey Monkey. I used similar questions to what I used with my above questionnaire, and similar age ranges. I created this online survey as I hoped that a larger amount of adults (specifically 40-49's and 50-64's) would provide me with feedback so that I can have a more advanced understanding of my target audience; ultimately to help me in delivering the best possible news story and convincing media product.

Create your own user feedback survey

4th November 

To adequately prepare me for my main task of creating a 30 second title sequence for my news story, I decided to create a storyboard to help me with ideas of what kind of shots, transitions and camera angles I should include in my title sequence to make it as effective as possible, and to maximise the impact I will have on my target audience of people living in the Midlands. To do this, I thought it would be logical to include easily recognisable shots - such as the Library of Birmingham, The University of Birmingham and Coventry Tranpsort Museum - which are all iconic landmarks relating to the Midlands; not just Birmingham, but Warwick, Coventry and Wolverhampton, too. By using a range of these images, I should hit as much of my target audience as possible. To further this, the transitions of the shots are varied, from fast, zooms in and out to slow fades into the next frame. This will add pace to my title sequence and thus make it more interesting and enjoyable for my target audience to watch. I've also attempted to hit all 5 of my assessment objectives in my plan, these being: urban rural, financial, ethnicity and youth. An urban shot would be number 5, with the time-lapse of people walking around Birmingham library. Rural shots would be the likes of numbers 3 and 7, where a lot of land and nature is involved as well as an iconic landmark. Financial could possibly include shots 2, 6 and 9, which all picture successful and thriving institutions (or in the case of Spitfire Island, a successful institution is symbolised). Ethnicity is present in shots such as 5 and 9, where we can see a range of ethnic groups within the general public walking around the shots, and youth would also be pictured here, too, along with perhaps the youth of the new buildings and places, such as

the new Grand Central Station.

As a result of this storyboard and drafting my ideas, I now feel better prepared and have a clearer plan in my mind for when I go into Birmingham City Centre, as I now have ideas of what shots to take and how to take them for maximum effectiveness within my title sequence.

30th October 2015

14th November 2015

Creation of my News Story Logo

To begin, I chose the name for my news programme from a range of pre-planned titles. I chose 'The Midlander' because I felt that it had a professional sound, creates a presence as a title and is relatively short, thus memorable and catchy. To keep the emphasis on my programme being centered around Local News, the choice of the word 'Midlands' being rephrased to take majority of the title will work in my favour and will prove effective by immediately informing my target audience of the content of the news channel. 

Once I had decided on my title, I typed it out and chose a font which I thought matched the tone, language and audience of my news programme. I wanted to choose a sophisticated, timeless font to create a classic look, yet still make a statement. I chose the font below as I felt that it made a statement, yet looked respectable, professional and classic. 

22nd November 2015

MAIN NEWS STORY PLANNING

This week, I've started to plan my main news story being based around the Birmingham Christmas Market and the financial and economic effects this brings (or might not bring) to the city. I've decided to plan it a week in advance before December 1st, so that my group have as much time as possible to plan and record our news story before the end of the Christmas season. As well as this, shooting the story in December will be when the market will be most popular, hence capturing a thriving atmosphere on camera featuring ambient sound, capturing stock images and footage of stills as well as timelapses and pans, and maximising our opportunities for interviews and vox-pops with stall holders and the general public. 

Here, I have researched some figures and statistics to make my news story factual and informative for my viewers. These will be featured on screen as a float and a montage in an out of vision shot to make my news story exciting yet understandable. 

2nd December

5th December 2015

Here, I have drafted a speech which the presenter in my group will say to begin the news report on scene/location. Before our filming at the scene, we will practise a speech similar to this so my presenter will feel comfortable in delivering a report on camera. 

10th December

During my research of other news programmes, I've noticed that programmes - such as the BBC - adhere to their own individual news 'style'. To make my news programme as professional as possible, I drafted ideas of my own news story 'style' so myself and my group know how to deliver news broadcasts in the correct way whilst adding individuality to our news channel. 

12th December

To begin the production process of my Title Sequence for my main task, I will first have to understand and become familiar with the software which I will be using in order to create my title sequence. Here are some youtube tutorials I watched to understand the program before I started using it. 

2nd January 2016

Myself and my group partner decided to plan a second trip to Birmingham city centre, as we found that we needed more footage of the city centre for our title sequences, as our previous shots were mainly stills. For our title sequence, 

5th January 2016

My media class, as a group, drafted 6 questions to email to the local news institution for the West Midlands; Big Centre TV. We chose to ask this institution in particular because our research and planning for our main story revolves around local TV news, hence this news channel would provide us with the most relevant information for our particular research.

1) What techniques do you use to gain the audiences attention?
Specifically, he says "its not what you say, but how you say it". We have to sound authoritative. There can be no biased views or slants on the news story - the presenters' job is simply to present the facts to the viewers, who can then form their own personal opinions based on the content delivered. 

2) Is it difficult to keep unbiased about a story if you personally feel strongly about it? 

Some people do, but it strictly cannot show. The presenter has to keep a neutral stance. It is similar to being politically neutral (which can happen often in news as it is a constant topic). The presenter has to play "devils advocate" to get answers from an interviewee sometimes so that a response can be delivered with minimal personal views. For instance, this particular presenter has admitted that some stories are hard to keep calm, and "you can't help but be affected". It isn't being "uncaring or callous", but as a presenter, you can't be emotionally involved - you have to be detached from the news story. 

3) How do you construct your news programme to satisfy your target audience? 

Firstly, the presenter identified his majority target audience: "predominantly it is an older audience who watch news programmes and political programmes." without ignoring his minority audience "the under 10's won't watch a news programme... 11-15 maybe 1 or 2 will be interested" thus, although they are not the majority target audience, the news will be delivered in a way which is suitable for a younger audience to hear (especially because a lot of Big Centre TV's programmes are aired before the watershed apart from their late night show at 10pm). The presenter then goes on to say that "you will always know what the big stories are" hence it should be the most obvious stories -in order of hard news to soft news - which will be aired in order to satisfy the target audience to make them aware of what is going on in the world as well as their local area. This running order of stories will most likely be determined by considering many of Galtung and Ruge's news values in order to determine which news stories are most 'newsworthy'... "The real strong stuff at the beginning, then a good local story, then the squirrel up a tree type of story". 

4) What pre-production values and planning do you have to do to make sure you are hitting the needs of your target audience? 

"People will let you know". Social media dominates a lot of the news stories' content, which really helps ideas get out to the news producers. Taking a bulk of stock footage is good so that the editors have a lot to edit with in the studios. They aim to capture the imagination of the target audience, as many people record the news and watch it for the time that suits them - therefore, they need a news story with an immediacy to it, where people will make sure they watch it. 

5) On the subject of social media, has the increase in using social media made your job easier, or has it led to a bit more sensationalism about stories?

It is somewhat good, as footage and news is out there instantly. However, sometimes it can get ghoulish, as people will use social media to lessen the seriousness of some stories, such as the man who was threatening suicide and there were people "egging him on" to do it. Overall, though, social media does make presenters' lives easier because of its immediate effect, it has been a great movement. 

http://www.bigcentre.tv/