Forms and Styles of News Reporting
There are many features involved when
creating a radio news bulletin:
· Bulletin- this can last between 90 seconds and 15 minutes. They include
a multiple number of stories that are either, local, national or international
depending on the station.
· Headline- this would be the main story of the day, which is usually
mentioned first in a bulletin as it is seen as the most important. Headlines
are short, snappy and not in depth. They are often played on the half hour. It
gets the main story across without audio clips so it teases the audience for
the main bulletin.
· Copy Only- when the newsreader is reading a
news story with no audio attached so it will be just them speaking throughout
that story. It may be a story that is not very important so that there has not
been any need for interviews
· Copy with Audio- where the news reader reads the story with
the facts and with the audio that links in with the story, the audio could be
an interview or a sound-bite. By adding the audio more information can get
across and give more depth to the story and creates an atmosphere. The clips
normally last between 8-20 seconds.
· Wrap- the main newsreader gives the main facts from the news
story and then it cuts to an audio clip of either a vox-pop or interview and
after the newsreader continues to speak about the topic.
· Vox-Pop- this is where a story could use the public’s
opinion about a story so they answer simple questions. The journalist
approaches people in the street. Normally about 3-5 different people are in a
vox-pop to get a range of opinions.
· Two Way- is the reporter having a conversation with the correspondent,
so the reporter can then ask questions and the correspondent can then give more
vital information. The correspondent can be on the scene or in the studio and a
mix up of voices keeps the audience listening because it is not just one voice
· Live Cross- this is when the main news reporter on the show
is introducing a reporter who is live where the action is happening. They give
information about what is happening so the listeners can understand more about
what is going on.
· Ident- radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air,
typically by means of a call sign or brand name.
· Voicers- when
the main reporter is giving the information and facts from the news story, then
it cuts from the reporter to a different reporter giving more facts. By using
two different voices it keeps the listeners interested and adds a break up from
just the one voice, it also allows more facts to be included.
The two news broadcasts that I have decided
to listen too is Metro Radio and Radio 1 Newsbeat. Metro Radio broadcasts
normally last for 90 seconds on the hour, whereas Radio 1 lasts for 15 minutes
from quarter too- to the hour.
Metro Radio News
Introduction of reporter by presenter (the majority of stories are local)
Story 1- Labour budget day (national- copy+audio)
Story 2- Unemployment fallen in region (copy only)
Story 3- Shotgun in Ashington (copy only)
Story 4- Stretch of coastline in Seaham
closed (copy only)
Story 5- New £1 coin (national-copy and audio)
Weather.
BBC Newcastle
Introduction of reporter by presenter
Story 1- Malaysian Airline flight MH370 (international story- copy+audio)
Story 2- 23 year-old soldier charged with
murder of 32 year-old soldier in Shrewsbury (national- voicer)
Story 3- Michael Schumacher improvements (sport/national- copy only)
Story 4- Football influential on younger
generation (sport- copy+audio)
Story 5- EU Referendum (national- copy only)
Story 6- 30 years since North East miner’s
year, long strike (local- copy+audio)
Story 7- National no smoking day (national and local- copy only/slightly two
way)
Story 8- Sports relief backside challenge (national/sports/local- copy+audio)
Evaluation
The one thing that I noticed with the stations
is that BBC Newcastle has eight stories whereas Metro Radio only has five. This
is because Metro has 90 seconds to do their bulletin compared to BBC Newcastle
who have five minutes.
On both stations, the category for the first
story is national, but both are different stories. The reason why BBC Newcastle
has the missing Malaysian plane is because it is a major story and continuing
story that everyone is talking about. Since BBC has a short piece of audio with
the Vietnam Transport Minister it makes the situation more serious and
therefore creates an audio impact. The BBC let the audio tell the story to
create an atmosphere. Metro Radio mainly stick to local stories with the odd
national story, if it is interesting and they can relate it to their target
audience. The reason why Metro have put the story about the budget is because
it because it effects everyone and is current news. In the script they have
only included the information that effects the North East because the audience
do not care about the rest of the country so the news value become proximity
and recency.
Metro’s second story focuses upon the recent
statistics of unemployment falling in the North East. This is local news and
the target audience will be interested plus it is current news which metro
radio tends to focus upon. Compared to Metro, BBC Newcastle’s focuses on the
negative second story about a soldier being charged of murdering another
soldier in Shrewsbury. I can see why they included the story because it is
quite unexpected but it does not relate to the North East however because the
style is a copy only and voicer it makes more of an impact on the audience and
allows more detail in the story.
The third story for BBC Newcastle is about
Michael Schumacher current condition, which is a continuity and personality
story since Schumacher is a global icon so people especially in the sporting
world would like to know what his current condition is. Metro’s third story I
thought should have been above the second story because it more unexpected
since it is not an everyday event to just find a gun in bushes of a populated
area. But I agree that it was a copy only story because not many details would
have been released about it so it would be pointless to drag the story on even
more.
BBC’s fourth story still carries on with the
sports category but is about how football is influential on the younger
generation. It follows the recent event of Newcastle United boss, Alan Pardew
having been given a seven-match ban following a disagreement which resulted in
a violent action by Pardew when he head-butted a Hull player. I think that by
having an audio clip of a psychotherapist it makes the story more serious and
again creates an atmosphere which gets the audience to feel as if football is
having an effect on their child because of how competitive the sport can be.
Metro does not have a story about sport at all, but instead the fourth story I
think should have been broadcasted on TFM, since it is about part of Seaham
beach closing. The reason I think this is because it is not relevant to the geographical
area where Metro is broadcasted. Also the story structure is a bit all over the
place because it contradicts itself. One minute the beach is closing and the
next the reporter says it “maybe” closing. I think the reporter put that story
in the bulletin because it could not find another story about Metro’s local
area.
The fifth story on BBC is about the EU
Referendum and how UK citizens will get to vote on if they want to leave the EU
or not. Since this is a big story I would have thought it would include an
audio clip but because the decision will be made in a few year time, it would
be pointless and the audience would get bored. Metro’s fifth and final story
again effects everyone in the UK but, again that is not happening until 2017.
Unlike BBC Newcastle, this story included audio in the form of a vox-pop.
Collecting people’s short snippets of opinions about the new £1 coin especially
if the vox-pops are from the local area because it gives those people a voice
and brings the story closer to home.
In Metro Radios bulletin there is five
stories and the news, whereas in BBC Newcastle have 8.
BBC Newcastle sixth story is more local since
it has been 30 years since the North East year-long miner’s strike. I thought
that because of Metro Radio’s target audience this would have been a better
story, as it could possibly replace the story about Seaham beach. This story
includes an audio clip of a former miner who went on strike and he gives a
little anecdote of what life was like during the time of the strike. I thought
this was good because for the people who lived during the strike it would bring
back memories and again create an atmosphere for the audience.
Another story from BBC Newcastle’s bulletin
which I thought would be good on Metro, is their seventh story on National No
Smoking Day. This was a copy only with a slight two way because the presenter
interrupts the reporter by saying that he “didn’t know that”. I thought that
this was good because, although their overall style is formal, by interrupting
it makes it slightly less formal and something the audience can relate too.
their last story was about sports
relief and local hero Alan Shearer and Robbie Savage doing the “Backside
Challenge” to raise money for the charity by sitting on all 90,000 seats in the
Wembley stadium, so that is half each in five days. I thought that this was a
nice heart-warming story to end the bulletin with and the audio clip makes an
impact on the audience to make them feel as if they have to do something for
Sports Relief.
Overall I thought that Metro’s news bulletin
was weak and could have had better stories in and that BBC Newcastle’s order of
stories could have been better with, stories relating to sports all together
and the story about the EU referendum should have been the third story.
