Critical Analysis Essay

Intro:

News is the most relevant source of global media out there as unlike television shows or other media driven entertainment, news gives out stories that impact audiences and keeps them up to date on our world today.

The digital news production ‘Filmhouse News’ was created in response to the brief and will be used as a case study during this critical analysis of new production in general, and it's evolution. An analysis will also take place regarding how news teams find and develop impacting stories and the importance of the news agenda. The critical analysis will also explore the different examples of professional news broadcasts and compare the issues these companies have to tackle in contrast to the way in which Filmhouse News dealt with the same problems.

How has the News evolved?

News broadcasts today are accessible from many different types of multi media platforms such as newspapers, television and now the Internet. With all sorts of blogs and company websites dedicated to keeping the general public up to date on both local and global issues. As our technology has become stronger and faster as well as information becoming more easily accessible, we are living in the age of evolution when it comes to ITC and all aspects of media.

As Terry Flew wrote:

“At their simplest, theories of new media propose that the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution that has gained momentum from the 1980s onward has so transformed the global media environment that we are witnessing the twilight of the old media associated with digital technologies, convergence and networking” (Flew, 2007: 21).

With our up to date electronic devises, the news seems to be more part of our daily lives wherever we go. It’s everywhere, weather you are sitting at home watching television, surfing the web, in 2013 studies show in the Digital News report that 76% in the UK alone use their computers and combined, 79% use both tablets and smart phones (e.g. IPhones, IPads) to access the news.


This graph shows - Changing in audience's behaviour when accessing the news

Figure 1. Accessing new per device by household income – UK. (2013)

Here is short video on how people access the news on different multi media platforms:

The video is a vox pop that shows people explaining why they prefer to use smart phones and tablets to access the news. Some say that it is easier and cheaper to access the news through the Internet rather than purchasing a newspaper. Others express that it’s more frequent and superficial, meaning that they find the news on a tablet or smart phone to be more truthful than newspapers.

Case Study

- The Presenter/ Reporter 

 

The reporter or presenters play an important role when it comes to the news. It's up to these men and women to tell the general public the stories they need to hear such as.

• Weather
• Sport
• Current Affairs
• Politics
• Local News
• Global News

These types of news categories are necessary to keep the general public up date and aware of what’s going on in their area around the globe hence the term global news.

When it comes to presenting in news there are certain qualities that a presenter needs to have. According to The National Careers Service the requirement to be a presenter is that:

You would need to have excellent personal presentation and a clear voice. You’ll also need to have a good memory to recall facts and be able to improvise if something unplanned happens. There are no set entry qualifications for becoming a TV presenter, although many new presenters have a degree. (National Carriers Service 2015).

Analyzing the presenter/ reporter, what truly makes them what they are? Firstly by this picture of ITV News Presenter, Alastair Stewart:

Fig.2. Alastair Stewart - Biography and Images.

Firstly by the way he is dressed, most professional television news presenters and reporters all wear smartly dress cloths, looking as sophisticated as possible. It shows that these presenters and reporters keep a smart and classy status and shows they take pride as well as their jobs very seriously. So in return the general public can respect them and take the time to listen to them.

Now listening to them is very important as well, because presenters have to keep a cool attitude and maintain a serious tone when telling the news from this video example:

The presenter remains calm and serious thought the programme to deliver the news, as most stories are usually bad news. For example, if the presenter were being happy and laughing during a story about a boy having a life threatening illness people would take it the wrong way. So if remained professional, the public can not only listen but also respect what he is saying with no offence.

- Scripting

Scripting for news has a high importance as with any aspects of television, scripting helps organize the shots and sound for a production especially for a director.

From the book, studio television and directing it stated that:

Scripting is a production function - writing - that has a good deal of impact on how a Director actually cues a program' (Utterback, 2007 :136).

Unlike film scripts, documentary and news scripts are almost similar as they put what sounds and what actions are going to be presented on different sides of the paper. As Andrew Utterback's book further explains:

The first column indicates production information. The right-hand column is where the actual script will follow the protocol of the rundown' (Utterback, 2007 :136).

This script shows -

· On the left the timing of which an action will take place.

· In the middle, the video/ action showing what will happen on screen.

· Lastly on the right, The audio/ words that people will say during the production.

When it came to writing Filmhouse News's script, the same layout was used making sure to have the video/ actions at the left, and the words I was going to say on the right.

Figure 3. Scripting For News. (2015)

- Video Packaging

A video package is a short pre recorded piece of video that is inserted into the news to introduce the next story or headline. Packages usually involve a big story and various amounts of interviews. According to media.about.com:

News packages usually run for 1:15 to 2:00 in length. In the case of magazine-style news programming, packages can be 20 minutes or longer. This type of news presentation is best for complicated stories or ones that have multiple interviews. (Halbrooks: 2015)

How does a news package work?

With a news package it's about the story that it's tackling. Setting up the place where the story happens is usually a good place to start. Filmhouse news started a package with an establishing shot of the location of the story and the presenter's voice over telling the beginning of the story before coming into shot.

Charlie Brooker on the BBC in this example shows how to report the news, and at the same time, in a comedic fashion, what goes into a news package.

From this video, this is the type of structure that a news package is likely to have when edited together:

• First establishing the location
• Next the presenter to the camera
• Depending how long your story is, show other shots of the location as the presenter (using a voice over) keeps talking and giving the story more development.
• Showing graphs and facts to back up an argument set by the story. This is often used in finance or politics.
• Voxpops showing the people and giving their opinions of the story.
• Interviews with witnesses of the story. Some interviewees are experts of the subject of the story.
• The presenter ends the story.

- Live Report

Unlike a package report which has already been recorded and edited together, a live report is news that is happening and being reported at that very moment. This why it is called ‘Breaking News’ as it break the schedule of the current news programme and cuts to an even bigger story happening at that present moment. Thanks to the advancement of technology, cutting from one place to another is made easier than before. To clarify this, Jane Chapman has written in Broadcast Journalism A critical introduction;

‘Technology has made it easier then ever to report live form the scene of events, whether from a remote Welsh hillside, a war zone or the magistrate's court... Communication with a location reporter is via an earpiece, in which the reporter can hear the instructions of the studio director, usually saying when they are on and how long they have got their piece’ (Chapman, J. 2009: 145).

For ‘Filmhouse News’, the live report was done by pre recoding it and editing it together like a package. This was then put into the show to give the impression that it cut to a place where their reporter waited to do their piece with an interviewee in a different location entirely. From this experience the news team leaned that reporters had to deal with the unexpected. The Filmhouse news’s reporter had to interview someone with a specific time slot and had make sure that the reporter could get her questions through to her interviewee. One of these difficulties was when the reporter was walking with her interviewee and the floor began to creek resulting in the sound being less professional. Even though what we encountered was problematic with a minor issue, with professional live broadcasts with professional live reporters their problems can be more major.

An example of a professional live report with almost a major issue can be seen from reporter Matt Frei working on Channel 4 news on November 15^th 2015. Here we see the reporter remaining calm after what was lead to believe a gunshot being fired in Paris France 24 hours after the major terrorist attack.

From this footage we can see that the reporter remains calm and tries to give out as much information as possible as to what is occurring.

- Agenda

A news agenda is an action plan to choose what items and stories to use in upcoming news programs it is also know as the agenda-setting. From the University of Twente website the Agenda Setting Theory, it states that:

Agenda-setting is the creation of public awareness and concern of salient issues by the news media. Two basis assumptions underlie most research on agenda-setting: (1) the press and the media do not reflect reality; they filter and shape it; (2) media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues (University Of Twente, 2015).

Using as well as applying this theory of agenda, news companies then have to decide what makes a story news worthy.

The story needs to have an impact on public. The story’s issue has to make them think that it is the most dominant, current up to date info on what most important. Filmhouse News had different stories to tackle and some didn't make it to the news agenda.

An example would be a story that Filmhouse News recorded regarding the BFI London Film Festival and what was going to be shown in the festival. The Filmhouse News's story on the festival had low development and was only informative. The story left not much of an impact and therefore was deemed under developed.

A story like a murder and an unidentified killer on the loose can have quite a development and a high impact as it has the components of what makes a news story worthy such as.

Timing:

When and where it happened so like a package it establishes the location and setting of how the story began.

Significance:

A victim, and the family or friends can bring interviews or a voxpop and highlights of what might have happened and their feeling towards the whole thing. Interviews with the police can give details and thoughts onto how the murder might have happened.

Human Interest:

The escaped murderer in question, where is he or she? Which can lead into more development until there are more clues or until he or she is caught. It these questions that make a story news worthy as it grips and intrigues the audience and holds them till the end of that story. For this particular story there is no ending, which makes the public aware and alert especially if that murder happened in their area.

These are just some of the key headings into what makes a story news worthy and most likely to be put onto the news agenda.

Conclusion:

From this critical analysis I have learnt how professional news companies choose their stories and how important the news agenda is. News is the most relevant form of media today, it’s something we tune into and look at everyday weather it is on our television screens or the Internet. Presenters and reporters do their jobs when facing the unexpected when issues occur. In the studio or out in the street, presenters and reporters are highly professional, and when they are on screen, they try and keep a sophisticated look and voice when presenting, keeping the audience’s respect and attention. Scripting is done in a certain way and is different to film, as it is done in a table setting showing the left side with actions and the right side with audio. Packages help to nail each story thrown in a certain amount of time. I agree with Charlie Brooker’s video example from the BBC that shows how news packages are done in that particular sequence. News stories have not only a relevance but have also a lot of research and development attached to it. The news agenda ensures that each story fits those requirements so the news has the most current stories and issues to bring to the audience at home. The most important aspect of developing a story is research, as every story requires it in order to bring the right facts so as not to misguide the public. In conclusion the news is as strong as ever and has become more global by using the power of the Internet. Wherever you go there will always be a story and people who want and need to know about it.

Illustration list:

Figure 1. Accessing new per device by household income – UK. (2013) [screenshot] At: http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2013/the-growth-of-multi-platform-news-2013/ (Accessed on 16/11/2015)

Figure 2. Alastair Stewart - Biography and Images. (2015) [Image] At: http://tvnewsroom.org/biography-images/alastair-stewart-3586/ (Accessed on 06/12/2015)

Figure 3. Scripting For News. (2015) [online] At: http://lawrencematthewsedgwick.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/research-and-development-28102015-news.html (Accessed on 16/11/2015)

Bibliography:

BBC. 2010, Charlie Brooker's How to Report the News - Newswipe - BBC Four. [Online] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHun58mz3vI (Accessed on 06/12/2015)

Channel 4 News. 2015, Matt Frei's live report as crowds run in panic. [Online] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq9vpgaBgzY (Accessed on 06/12/2015)

Chapman, J & Kinsey, M (2009) Broadcast Journalism A critical introduction. New York: Routledge.

Digital News Report (2015) The Growth of Multi-Platform News. At: http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2013/the-growth-of-multi-platform-news-2013/ (Accessed on 16/11/2015)

Flew, T (2007) Understanding Global Media. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.0

Halbooks, G. (2015) News Package. At: http://media.about.com/od/mediatermsandglossary/g/News-Package.htm (Accessed on 16/11/2015)

National Careers Service. (2015) TV Presenter Job Information – UK – 2015. [Online] At: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/tvpresenter.aspx (Accessed on 16/11/2015)

TV Archive. 2015, [HD] ITV News at Ten: Alastair Stewart's final NAT - Friday 9 October 2015. [Online] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjicTHuuaBA (Accessed on 06/12/2015)

Utterback, Andrew (2007) studio television and directing. Abingdon: Focal Press

University Of Twente (2015) AGENDA SETTING THEORY. At: 

https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20Clusters/Mass%20Media/Agenda-Setting_Theory/ (Accessed on 06/12/2015)

Media College (2015) What Makes a Story News Worthy? At: http://www.mediacollege.com/journalism/news/newsworthy.html (Accessed on 06/12/2015)