TV News Index

1) TV News case study 1: Channel 4 News

2) TV News case study 2: BBC News at Six

3) TV News case study 3: coverage of the General Election across different news programmes

4) TV News case study 4: independent case studies (BBC3 60 Second News and Newsround)

5) The 6 News Values

6) TV News audience - creating a running order

7) TV News representation - analysing Sky News coverage of the 2011 riots

Representation and Bias

Representation and gatekeepers

The term ‘gatekeeper’ refers to people in the media who make important decisions about what reaches the audience.

The News Editor is the main gatekeeper in TV news any.d decides what stories will be covered that da

Is news biased?

TV news is supposed to be balanced and fair but has been accused of bias.

A gatekeeper can create certain representations in TV news through the decisions they make. For example, gatekeepers can create bias in TV news: 

• Bias through selection/omission
• Bias through placement
• Bias through images/video
• Bias through names or titles
• Bias by choice of words

News and narrative theory

News gatekeepers also try to create narrative to make TV news more accessible. Remember our narrative theories from Assignment 2:

Todorov: news is largely concerned with disequilibrium.

Propp: news creates heroes and villains to make stories easy to follow.

Barthes: news uses enigma codes to keep people watching until the end.

Citizen journalism and bias

Citizen journalism has been credited with adding balance to coverage as people can film events on their phones to ensure a fair report is shown.

There have been important examples recently in America such as the killing of Walter Scott in South Carolina. This Sky World News report has the story:

 


Citizen journalism removes the power of the gatekeepers in TV news because video can be put on YouTube and audiences can share it using social media.

Other examples include the Chelsea fans in Paris and Eric Garner who died while being arrested in New York (“I can’t breathe”). Once the video is on YouTube and goes viral, it is very difficult for TV news not to cover the story in some way.

Representation and bias blog task

Watch this Sky News report from the London riots in 2011 and answer the questions below:

• Whose perspective have Sky News used to present the story? (Clue: it’s in the opening line)

This story is reported from the Police's point of view and the civilians who lived in he homes that were burned down or near the burned down shops/cars/bus.

• How are the police represented in this coverage?

The police in this coverage are presented as the heroes who want to control the riot and make sure that the rest of the civilians are safe.

• How are young people represented in this coverage?

Young people in this coverage are presented as 'looters' and trouble makers, young people in this coverage are the rioters who are causing all of this damage.

• What images and videos are selected by Sky News to accompany the story?

For this coverage there are videos of the rioters burning buildings and throwing petrol bombs and rocks at the police. There is also footage of the rioters 'looting' from shops and taking clothes, shoes and electrical appliances.

• What choice of words is used to present this news event?

This story the police is given a good representation so all the language which gives this representation to the audience. However at one bit the presenter does make the story balanced by saying that the police 'claimed' the oung male were shooting at them, which is why they shot him. The word claimed means that it might not be particularly true and that the audience should know that it could all be a lie.

• What aspect of the story is chosen as the most important detail and included at the very beginning of the report?

That eight police officers are in hospital and later on in the report it is also mentioned that one police officer is hospitalised and the rest are injured.

• How is narrative used to engage the audience with this news story?

The narrative tells the audience why the is a 'riot' taking place, this helps the audience engage with the audience because they feel like they know why the rioters are protesting and the rights that they have. Some particular people that watch this report will agree with the rioters and will agree with what they are protesting for however others might not and they might think that what rioters are doing is completely uncalled for. This means that the audience is engaging with the story as they start to develop their own opinions towards the story.

• How can we apply Todorov’s equilibrium theory to this coverage?

There are no equilibriums in this story there is only a dis-equilibrium which is all of this rioting and violence.

• What examples of Propp’s character types can we find in this coverage? Are there heroes and villains?

Propp's theory in this coverage can be used as the police being the heroes who are trying to create peace for the people who are not rioting and feel at risk, the 'heroes' in this case the police are fighting against the 'villains' who in this case are the rioters who are causing all of this chaos.

• How might citizen journalism have been used to provide a different angle on this story?

Citizen journalism could of had been used by a rioter showing he public that not all the rioters where causing chaos and that some of them were really calm. This could also help the audience understand why they are protesting/rioting and help them understand why they are predestining/rioting.

Extension task: Find another news story on YouTube that offers a particular representation of young people. You could look for a story such as the three South London schoolgirls who ran away to Syria to join ISIS. Embed the video on your blog and write an analysis of the representation of different people and groups in the clip.

The three girls in this report are represented as three girls agreeing withwhat the ISIS believes in and this gives these three girls a bad representation and this is because that is how ISIS is represented. However there is no other way to report them seeing as putting them on TV would be achieving what they want which is recognition and everyone to know what they stand for, however we cannot understand what they are rioting for what they believe in and until we know people will carry on assuming that they are only causing harm.
Most people also assume that people in the ISIS are Muslim because of how they are dressed or how they look, this gives a negative representation towards the Islamic race which is not fair on the Islamic race because ISIS is made of all different people who have different religions and backgrounds however the only thing that really joins them together is what they believe in.

Creating A Running Order

• Name the TV news programme you created a running order for in this morning's lesson.

The name of my TV NEWS programme is Newsround.

• List the five stories you chose and explain why you chose each one.

The five news stories I chose where:
Prince Harry announcing his engagement,
Cheryl Close is pregnant,
Miley Cyrus telling a fan to 'get a life' starting a Twitter bomb,
David Cameron meeting up with Obama. 
I chose these news story and placed them in this order because Newsround is known for presenting happy news instead of tragic news and this is because they have such a young target audience, so they do not want to upset them. However when they do report tragic stories they present them educationally. For example with the plane disappearing in Australia they could of used maps to educate the children of where Australia is and what cities it is close to.

• Use the Uses and Gratifications theory to explain why ONE of the stories appeals to the target audience for that programme.

• Now choose one of the other TV news programmes we have focused on and choose a five-story running order for that programme. The four TV news progammes are:

The story I have chosen is Channel 4 which I also underlined.

• Channel 4 News
• BBC News at Six
• BBC3 60 Second News
• BBC Newsround

• The available stories are:

• A tweet by Miley Cyrus telling a fan to ‘get a life’ has started a ‘Twitter storm’.
• Israel has shelled a residential area of Gaza killing around 25 civilians.
• Gunfire has been reported on the streets of Moscow although no there are no details as yet regarding who has opened fire or why.
• A well-known politician has been named on Twitter as being investigated by police for fraud.
• Cheryl Cole has announced she is pregnant.
• David Cameron’s office has announced he will be visiting Washington next week to meet President Obama.
• An anti-austerity march against government cuts has been held in London today and was attended by 50,000 people. The protest was calm.
• A new series of BBC drama Sherlock achieved record viewing figures last night.
• Lady Gaga is in London and has been spotted jogging in Hyde Park.
• A woman has been convicted of murdering her husband. He was a wealthy banker and she a stay-at-home mum.
• Two prisoners convicted of armed robbery have escaped from Wormwood Scrubs prison in West London.
• 20 people were killed in 15 different road accidents over the previous weekend.

• Place the top five news in the running order.

The top 5 news stories that I would report for Channel 4 News are:

A passenger plane disappeared at The South Pacific towards Australia.

Israel has shelled a residential area of Gaza killing around 25 civilians.

An anti-austerity march against government cuts has been held in London today and was attended by 50,000 people. The protest was calm.

A well-known politician has been on Twitter as being investigated by police for fraud.

Buckingham Palace has announced Prince Harry's engagement.

I chose these news stories 

• Explain why those stories fit the target audience for the programme you have chosen.

The reason why I chose these stories for Channel 4 News is because Channel 4 always presents International news first as their top stories unlike BBC 6 o'clock News which is all about the UK, Channel 4 is always concentrating on the international breaking news stories. However they do also include National news seeing as their are based in UK. 

The 6 News Values

The reason I chose this story as a negative story is because of what happened at the Colorado Cinema Massacre 'On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside of a Century movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Night rises. A gunman, dressed in tactical clothing, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others.' This is negative news because of how many people were killed/injured.
Negativity
The reason why I chose this story as a Closest to Home  story is because the elections is a big report and story especially in England. 
Closest to home
The reason as to why I chose this story for Immediacy is because it just shows how fast stuff and information can be spread out on social media.
 Immediacy

I chose this story for simplicity because it is a simple story to follow and there is not complex explanation behind it.
Simplicity

I chose this story for uniqueness because you don't see stuff like this happen everyday and also this is a very unusual story.
 Uniqueness

I chose this story for elite nations because America is close to home in this topic seeing as three girls from London left home to join the Al Qaeda.
Elite Nations

BBC Newsround and BBC3 60 Second News

BBC Newsround

• How does Newsround use the key conventions of TV news?

Newsround uses the Key Conventions of news by having an opening sequence of the top stories that will feature later on in the show with TV News music playing at the background. Newsround also has graphics on the screen behind the screen and on screen when presenting stories. Newsround also features video footage and opinions of children when they cover stories that also effect children. They also have voice over when introducing new stories by footage or when showing footage of a story.

• Who are the presenters for BBC Newsround? Why do Newsround have a variety of presenters?

The presenters of BBC News are Jenny Lawrence, Martin Dougan and Hayley  Hassall. BBC Newsround has a different variety of presenters to show that the BBC is balanced not only when presenting news but throughout gender, ethnicity and weather they have a disability or not.

• Are any other presenters or reporters used?

Other presenters are used to report different stories for example when going out to a different city/country they use different reporters and the main ones remain in the studio.

• What does the studio look like? How is technology used in programme?

The studio has very bright colours which vary from white to black, pink blue and many more, especially when they use graphics to explain different stories. They sometimes ask the audience to ask their questions where they them answer them when interviewing someone.

• What is the opening sequence to Newsround? Does it fit the key conventions of TV news?

The opening 3o seconds of Newsround are where some of the stories are introduced and then that is followed by the opening of the TV News programme where they show the globe spinning, they use a globe because thats the BBC News logo however they use different colours to represent the channel that the news is being presented on. The opening sequence does fit the key conventions of TV News because it contains the top stories, the graphics and the music. 

• How does Newsround typically present a news story? (E.g. presenter to camera, reporter on location, interviews, graphics, images, video etc.)

The presenter is usually facing and looking at the camera they then cut off with footage or images relating to the stories they are reporting and then they cut back to the presenter talking to the camera.

• Who is the target audience for Newsround? You may want to research this online.

The target audience for newsround is 6-12 year olds and more females than males that watch it.

• Is there an opportunity for the audience to get involved in the programme? Do young people feature in the news programme at all?

During the programme they usually show the comments of kids and their comments about certain  news topics and what they think about that certain news story.

• What news stories are covered in the broadcasts you have watched? List ALL the stories that are covered AND the order that they appear in. How long does each story appear for?

BBC3 60 Second News

• How does the BBC3 60 Second News use the key conventions of TV news?

BBC 3 60 Second News use the key conventions by introducing their stories and giving of information about them, they use graphics on screen and behind the presenter, they have headlines that introduce other news stories that actually do not relate to the ones being presented.

• Who are the presenters for the BBC3 60 Second News? What do you notice about their age and how they are dressed?

Sam Naz on weekdays and Ben Mundy on Fridays. Both presenters are dressed casually to represent the young target audience of the News programme.

• Are any other presenters or reporters used?

No other presenters are used because the fact that theprogramme is 60 seconds means that they have no time to switch to different presenters during the programme.

• What does the studio look like? How is technology used in programme? How are graphics used in the presentation of the news?

The studio looks very futuristic and there are no desks or chair anywhere the presenter is just standing in front of a moving screen with graphics. The programme uses a lot of technology to make the programme look as futuristic as it does.

• What is the opening shot of the BBC3 60 Second News? Does it fit the key conventions of TV news?

The opening shot of the programme just shows graphics and the logo of the news programme.

• How does the BBC3 60 Second News typically present a news story? (E.g. presenter to camera, reporter on location, interviews, graphics, images, video etc.)

They always present their stories by having the presenter talking to the camera(audience) and this is because the programme is so short that they have n o time to cut away. They usually do however have voice overs when showing video footage or images from a story.

• Who is the target audience for the BBC3 60 Second News? You may want to research this online. Why does the BBC feature news on a predominantly entertainment-based channel?

The target audience for this news show is 16-35 year olds. They present the news on an entertainment channel because it gets them more views on the news seeing as the programme is played between programmes meaning that the public watch it while waiting to view the next programme.

• Is there an opportunity for the audience to get involved in the programme? Do young people feature in the news programme at all?

During the programme a hashtag is shown on the headlines at the end the hashtag is also joined by @BBCNEWS

• What news stories are covered in the broadcasts you have watched? List ALL the stories that are covered AND the order that they appear in. How long does each story appear for?

1. Officials know that the Alps plane crash pilots suffered from depression (6 seconds) 
2. Goodluck Jonathan is no longer president (10 seconds)
3. Iran Nuclear talks extended (10 seconds)
4. Woman is racist towards two black men (9 seconds)
5. Selfie of shoes are shown (9 seconds)

Election Coverage on 4 different TV News Channels.

Questions??

• 1) What is the angle of a news story? Give an example to explain your answer.

An angle of a news story is the perspective of which a story is presented in. Changing the angle can effect the way a news story is reported. For example, when the 2011 Riots were happening the news, the BBC reported this story by only showing the rioters causing damage however what they didn't show was that the police was responsible for the riots because the police used force. However when the story was reported the BBC showed footage of the rioters causing trouble and the police reacting even though it was the other way around.

• 2) What is the difference between tabloid and broadsheet news coverage?

The difference between a tabloid and a broadsheet is the fact that a tabloid is more modern, uses more graphics and reports stories based around crime, celebrities or sport. A broadsheet news coverage however is formal, has less graphics and more depth in the story it covers which are international news stories, politics and economic news.

• 3) What would be an example of a tabloid-style TV news programme?

An example of a tabloid-style TV news programme would be Sky News or BBC3 60  Second News.

• 4) What would be an example of a broadsheet-style TV news programme?

An example of a broadsheet-style TV News programme would be BBC News at 6 or Channel 4 News.

• 5) What is the difference between international, national, regional and local news coverage?

International: World News
National: United Kingdom
Regional: London/ Yorkshire/ Scotland 
Local: West London / Leeds / Edinburgh 


BBC News coverage of the election story.

• 1) Is this international, national, regional or local news? How can you tell?

The news is national and this is because the report was about the views of David Cameron and Ed Miliband who both play a big part in the UK government and the election will affect the whole of the United Kingdom.

• 2) What angle does the report take on the story?

In this report the BBC have a strong angle towards what the MP's plan to do for the UK in the future. They make the report equal by showing both David Cameron and Ed  miliband talking about what they will do to change the UK for the better.

• 3) Is this more tabloid or broadsheet-style coverage?

The report on this news story is a broadsheet-style of news coverage and this is because the BBC reported this story with balanced views.

• 4) What kind of audience would you expect to watch this type of TV news programme? Why?

The type of audience I would expect to watch this report would be a proffesional, of class ABC1, UK citizens who care for their future. Who are also most likely to vote.

Sky News coverage of the election story.

• 1) Is this international, national, regional or local news? How can you tell?

This is national news because the report was about the upcoming elections which is to do with the United Kingdom.

• 2) What angle does the report take on the story?

They give more details about David Cameron and the Conservative party.

• 3) Is this more tabloid or broadsheet-style coverage?

The report on this news is a tabloid-style of news coverage and this is because Sky News after reporting the story they showed footage of Larry the cat, which is the cat of 10 Downing Street.

• 4) What kind of audience would you expect to watch this type of TV news programme? Why?

The type of audience I would expect to watch this report would be a less professional class of ABC1, of 25-45 year olds. Who are also most likely to vote.


STV(Scottish)coverage of the election story.

• 1) Is this international, national, regional or local news? How can you tell?

This is an national story because even though it was reported from Scotland the elections do still effect Scotland because they are in the United Kingdom.

• 2) What angle does the report take on the story?

They give more information about the Scottish party and talk about how the Scottish party will make changes, this is biased considering that their TV news provider is Scottish this means that there is not enough coverage of the other parties however the Conservative party and Labour party are mentioned at the end.

• 3) Is this more tabloid or broadsheet-style coverage?

This is a broadsheet-style coverage because there is a high level of formality when reporting this story. There are also aspects of a tabloid-style coverage as there were selfies taken during the bulletin, and there were also animations of the key dates.

• 4) What kind of audience would you expect to watch this type of TV news programme? Why?

The type of audience I would expect to watch this report would be a Scottish based audience most likely to be watched with the whole family because the use of animations make the broadcast interesting to children/ teenagers. Who are also most likely to vote.

Channel 4 News coverage of the Election Story.

• 1) Is this international, national, regional or local news? How can you tell?

This is a National story because its talking about the United Kingdom and who will be the upcoming Prime Minister.

• 2) What angle does the report take on the story?

The angle which the report has taken on the story is mostly based around UKIP and their plans for the future, Europe is also mentioned in the report and how UKIP want the UK to not be in the EU anymore. However other parties were also discussed so there would of been no accusations of them being biased. There is also footage of both David Cameron and Ed Miliband talking about how they will make a difference in the UK for the next 5 years, there is also a clip of David Cameron contradicting Ed Miliband and what he claims to happen if he is chosen as the next Prime Minister.

• 3) Is this more tabloid or broadsheet-style coverage?

Channel 4 News reported this story in a broadsheet-style coverage of the story because they include long interviews including an interview with an accountant who talks about the economy, even though there are some graphics and animations the coverage is mostly broadsheet-styled.

• 4) What kind of audience would you expect to watch this type of TV news programme? Why?

The kind of audience that I would expect to watch a report like this would be an audience of ABC1 class, who are also interested in the upcoming economy this means that they are also professional and formal. They are most likely to be within the ages of 18-47 year olds who are also most likely to vote.

BBC News @ Six Case Study

Basic details

• What do the letters BBC stand for?

The letters BBC stand for British Broadcasting Corporation.

• How is the BBC funded?

The BBC is funded by TV License of £147.50.

• What is the BBC's famous mission statement? (Clue: it's three words)

The BBC's famour mission statement is 'inform, educate and entertain'.

• What is BBC1's programme remit?

• How does the BBC News at Six fit into BBC1's remit?

Presenters

• Who are the presenters of BBC News at Six?

The presenters vary from George Alagiah, Fiona Bruce, Sophie Raworth, Mishal Husain and Sian Williams.

• What are the presenters wearing? What does this communicate to the audience?

The male presenters wear suits however they do not always wear ties with their suits,  the female presenters also wear suits however they mostly wear skirts instead of trousers. The fact that the presenters wear suites gives the audience a good impression that the presenters are sophisticated. Suits also show that the presenters are ready for business. The fact that the presenters do not always wear ties means that they are also a little relaxed and like to have a laugh when appropriate, it means that they are not always serious.

• Why might a TV News programme use a variety of presenters?

Having a variety of presenters means that the audience who are of different ethnicity's are represented within the presenters and that the audience can interact with the news. 

• How are other reporters or presenters used in the TV news programme?

The other presenters are also presented as neat, smart but casual. This means that they are serious when presenting news stories.

• Is there a balance between male and female presenters? What about race/ethnicity? What effect might these aspects have on an audience?

Opening sequence
Analyse the opening 2 minutes of the programme.

• What is the very first shot?

The first shot if off the BBC News logo which is a globe type of sign which is then followed by a shot of the office where all the people are working.

• How does the opening sequence use graphics or images to grab the attention of the audience?

The opening sequence uses graphics and images to grab the attention as the animated screen is visible to the viewers which they can see the images and animated videos which gives more of an insight and a more entertaining aspect to what the presenter is talking about

• How is music used in the opening sequence?

In the opening sequence the music is very tense, this means that the news they are introducing at the beginning of the show is serious and intense.

• How are news stories introduced in the opening two minutes? Is there just one story or are the audience told what will be coming up later?

News stories are introduced in the opening two minutes to inform the audience of what news stories they will report about later on in the show.


Studio mise-en-scene

• What aspects of the studio can be seen by the audience?

The audience can see the workers at the desk, the presenter sitting down and through the glass wall the workers can still be seen.

• Are the presenters standing or behind desks? Why do you think this is?

During the opening sequence the presenters are sitting behind the desk whereas after the animation and the date appears on the screen the presenters are sitting next to and this is so when the presenters are presenting a news stories animations of what they are talking about (e.g. number) can be displayed on the screen so the audience can see it clearly.

• Are journalists or technology visible? What might these things suggest to the audience?

The journalist are visible during the TV News programme before anything is delivered to the audience there is a crane shot of the studio which shows all the journalists working and this gives off the message that they never stop collecting news for the audience.

• How does the studio use colour?

The studio is made up of the colours red, black and white which are the colours off BBC News.

How news stories are presented

• How does the news programme typically present a story?

The news programme usually presents a story by having the presenter talking to the camera however they do sometimes include interviews(with public as well as other people who may be involved within a story) and live on location footage of someone reporting a certain story. 

• What difference techniques does the programme use to present the news? (E.g. presenter to camera, reporter on location, interviews, graphics, images, video etc.)

• What types of news does the TV News programme typically cover? Give five examples (e.g. politics, international, sport etc.)

The different type of news the TV programme usually covers are, political, international, UK news, sport and weather.

• Give two real examples of how news stories are presented to keep the interest of the audience.

Two real examples are when at the beginning of the show they gave some information about the top story of Tesco losing £6.5 billion loss, this makes the audience watch the rest of the news to find out about that story they also mentioned the drowning of the migrant workers and this also keeps people interested because they want to find out more about that certain story.

Running order

Watch the first 15 minutes of the programme – as recent as you can find.

• What is the top story?

The top story was about Tesco losing £6.5 billion.

• How long does the top story last for?

The top story lasted for about 3 to 4 minutes.

• What are the other stories the programme does or will cover? List them in the order they are presented in (the ‘running order’).

The other news stories that were covered in the programme were(in running order):

The Migrant Workers

On Line Pedophile Report

The Hacker In America and finally 

The UK Elections.

• How long is each story shown for?

Each story was shown for about 2 to 3 minutes.

• Why do you think each story was shown for the time it was?

International stories are shown for less time and this is because the BBC is more interested in UK News for example other News programmes had the top stories about the drowning of the migrant workers however the BBC News at 6 had the top story of Tesco losing money and this is because that was local news.

Audience

• What is the target audience for this BBC News at Six? Research online – you should be able to find plenty of suggestions to the target audience if not the official target audience of the programme.

The target audience is from 16 to 46, Educated class of ABC1 people who are most likely to be living in the UK.

• What are the viewing figures for BBC News at Six?

Their viewing figures are 5.3 million views.

• Why might someone choose to watch this TV news programme over others?

They are more traditional and focus on mainly local(UK) news.

• Is there an opportunity for the audience to get involved in the programme or comment?

There is usually no way to get involved.

• What audience pleasures (Uses and Gratifications theory – Blumler and Katz) does the programme offer?

Institution

• What other news programmes and services does the BBC offer in addition to the BBC News at Six?

The BBC also offers other channels such as: BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC News, BBC Parliament, BBC Alba.

• What role does OFCOM have in making sure TV News is fair and accurate?

OFCOM play a huge role in making sure TV News is fair and accurate. It makes sure that explicit contect is always presented after the watershed. Nearly all programmes run under the regulations of OFCOM. In TV News there are other rules such as not being biased, they have be accurate when they deliver the news and they cannot make up stories, there have to be true facts.

• The BBC has been accused of 'dumbing down' the News at Six. What does this mean? Do you agree with the accusation that the news is 'dumbed down'?

Dumbing down means that they use more modern technology in order to keep the audience entertained for example they use extra animations and effects which are not needed when reporting certain stories. For example when they reported the story about Tesco losing £6.5 billion they had receipts popping out of the self check out machine showing the falling profit numbers and percentages.

TV News and New/Digital Media

• Does the TV News programme have a dedicated website?

No the BBC does not have a dedicated website.

• What does the website offer viewers?

• Does the TV News programme have a Twitter feed?

They do not have a Twitter account, they use the @BBCNews account.

• How does the Twitter feed promote the programme?

• Is there an opportunity for the audience to get involved in the programme or submit news stories?

The programme only has a YouTube channel where you can see clips and a twitter hashtag where people can post about their opinions and tag them.