TV NEWS H'OUTS -UNIT 34

8/2/2019 TV NEWS H'OUTS -UNIT 34

1/49

TeachingTV News

S E R I E S T E A C H I N G F I L M A N D M E D I A S T U D I E S

Eileen Lewis

Education

Series Editor: Vivienne Clark


2/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 1 of 5 TV News

A brief history ofPublic ServiceBroadcasting

1904 Commercial radio launched in America. Complications arise from lack

of regulation of the frequencies.

In Britain the Postmaster General takes responsibility for the

allocation of broadcasting frequencies.

191419 Radio transmissions other than those used by the military are banned

during World War I.

November 1922 The British Broadcasting Company is formed from a group of radio

equipment manufacturers under General Manager John Reith and

given a licence to run a monopoly broadcasting service in London,

Manchester and Birmingham. The company begins a daily radiobroadcast, consisting of news, politics and music.

1923 John Reith launches The Radio Times to avoid paying newspapers to

publish programme listings.

The Sykes Committee states that broadcasting is to be a public

utility and the wavebands considered a valuable form of public

property. Broadcasting is not to be an unrestricted commercial

monopoly, nor is it to be directly controlled by the state.

1924 King George Vs opening of Wembley Exhibition is broadcast live to

10 million people.

John Logie Bairds patent for 30-line television transmission isaccepted in Britain.

1925 Similar experiments conducted in USA, Japan, Russia and Hungary.

The British Broadcasting Corporation is formed from the British

Broadcasting Company by Royal Charter and given financial

independence through the licence fee.

The Crawford Committee is set up to establish guidelines for the future

of broadcasting on a long-term basis. Reith is invited to present a

statement of his views on broadcasting to the Committee. His memo

forms the basis of Public Service Broadcasting for thirty years and many

of his guidelines still influence the regulation of terrestrial broadcasting

today.Key points from Reiths memo are that broadcasting should:

Educate, inform and entertain;

Lead public taste, not pander to it;

Act as a cultural, moral and educative force;

Present the best of human knowledge, endeavour and achievement;

Preserve a high moral tone, avoiding the vulgar and the hurtful;

Bring the nation together as one man, by ensuring universal access;

Act as a social cement to create a national identity and an

enlightened democracy;

Remain free from commercial and government pressures.


3/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 2 of 5 TV News

A brief history of Public Service Broadcasting

1927 John Reith becomes the first Director General of the BBC and retains

the post until 1938.

Two million licences (ten shillings payable to the Post Office) have

been issued. Newspaper owners are concerned that their profits will

suffer, as radio is much faster at newsgathering than newspapers.

They fear that people will no longer buy morning newspapers if they

can hear radio news bulletins the previous evening.

1928 BBC granted its Royal Charter.

193639 BBC television begins broadcasting, although radio is still the

dominant medium.

1939 The BBC stops all TV transmission for the duration of the war, due to

concern that the lights from the BBC at Alexandra Palace would

attract enemy planes on bombing raids of London.

1940 Reiths paternalistic approach is replaced by a greater effort to give the

audience what they want: the Home Service follows the approach of the

old National Service, while the Forces Programme (later renamed the

Light Programme) is set up, mainly aimed at a working-class audience.

The Third Programme, offering high culture, is set up in 1946.

194656 BBC television begins transmitting again after the break during the

war years and holds a monopoly until 1956. The BBC argues that the

introduction of commercial television would lead to a lowering of

programme standards. However, the monopoly is under increasingpressure.

1953 An estimated 20 million people watch the coronation of Queen

Elizabeth II.

1954 The Conservative government institutes the Independent Television

Authority (whose members are appointed by the government) to

oversee the setting up of commercial television. The subsequent

Television Act makes it clear that commercial television is also

expected to keep to some of the principles of Public Service

Broadcasting: it must offer a public service and inform, educate and

entertain. Television companies are independent but have to pay the

ITA rental for the transmitters and a levy to the government based on

their advertising revenue.

Somebody introduced smallpox, bubonic plague and the Black

Death [into England}. Somebody is minded now to introduce

sponsored broadcasting. (Lord Reith shows his disapproval of

the introduction of independent television in a speech to the

House of Lords in 1954).

Soundbite


4/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 3 of 5 TV News


1955 ITV begins with the live transmission of the inaugural banquet from

the Guildhall.

The first television advert is broadcast: tingling fresh Gibbs SR

toothpaste.

Regional networks provide a mixture of national and regional programmes.

ITN is established to provide current affairs and news broadcasts;

these differ from the BBCs approach, offering more challenging

interviews and on-the-spot reports.

1962 Full ITV coverage. BBCs audience share falls to 27%.

Television overtakes radio as the dominant medium.

Pilkington Report is published and criticises the ITV companies whohave been granted a licence to print money. ITV is seen as

appealing to the lowest level of public taste and is criticised for its

inability to understand the nature of quality or of triviality, nor the

need to maintain one and counter the other. The BBC is praised.

First communications satellite, Telstar, goes into orbit.

1963 The Second Television Act sets up the third television channel, BBC2.

1964 BBC2 launched.

Pirate radio stations begin broadcasting from ships outside territorial

waters.

1967 Colour transmissions introduced on BBC2 and 13 countries are linked

by satellite in the first global TV programme Our World.

The BBC creates new pop music radio service Radio 1; Light Programme

becomes Radio 2; Third Programme becomes Radio 3; Home Service

becomes Radio 4. The BBC also begins to develop local radio.

1969 Huge audiences watch live pictures of the first moon landing sent by

satellite.

First colour transmissions on BBC1.

1972 Act to permit setting up of commercial radio stations.

The ITA changes to the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to

cover radio as well as television.

1977 Annan Report is published and criticises both BBC and ITV. It states

that broadcasting is to be preserved as a public service free from

political pressure or control. The committee sees neither BBC nor ITV

as representative of the diverse tastes and interests of an increasingly

diverse society. It demands a wider range of programmes and

provision for minority groups, commissioned from a wide range of

sources. This results in the setting up of the publisher-broadcaster,

Channel 4.


5/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 4 of 5 TV News


1982 Channel 4 and SC4 (Wales) are launched, with a particular remit for

addressing the needs and interests of minority groups. They areinitially funded by a levy on ITV companies, which sell Channel 4s

advertising space. (Since the 1990 Broadcasting Act Channel 4 has

been responsible for its own funding.)

1984 Sky satellite channel set up by Rupert Murdoch. Launched on

satellite and cable.

1986 Peacock Report marks a change in the notion of Public Service

Broadcasting, applying an economic approach, and viewing

broadcasting primarily as a commodity. It aims to establish

consumer sovereignty: the greatest freedom of choice from the

widest provision of broadcast goods. It looks at the changes neededin broadcasting due to new technology and considers alternatives to

the licence fee for funding of the BBC, rejecting the idea of

advertising on BBC but suggesting subscription and the tender of ITV

franchises. In spite of these changes, the Committee still aims to

retain elements of Public Service Broadcasting, which it defines as

the production of a wide range of quality programmes.

British satellite franchise awarded to British Satellite Broadcasting.

1990 The Broadcasting Act establishes the ITC, the Radio Authority, Wales

Channel 4, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission and the

Broadcasting Standards Council. The Act encapsulates a free market

philosophy and is intended to enable broadcasters to take fulladvantage of the opportunities presented by technical advances and to

broaden the choice of viewing and listening. The Act sets up a proposal

for competitive tender from ITV companies and also stipulates quality

threshold for bids and obligation to provide certain programming strands.

1991 Franchises awarded to 16 independent television companies out of

40 bids. Incumbents Thames, TVS, TSW and TV-AM lose to Carlton,

Meridian, Westcountry and Sunrise.

Classic FM and Virgin 1215 are set up.

British Satellite Broadcasting merges with Sky to become BSkyB.

It does aggressive marketing to obtain exclusive rights to sportingevents in order to win subscribers. Sky agrees to pay 670 million

over four years for exclusive rights to Premier League Football.

1992 John Birt outlines plans for the BBC, which retain the principles to

help to educate and inform and to provide a showcase for traditional

and contemporary British culture while at the same time providing

more choice. Birt encourages competition within the BBC and drastic

pruning of staff. Producers have to bid to make programmes, using

the cheapest studios and crews, not necessarily BBC ones.

1993 New independent TV companies begin 10-year licences on 1 January.


6/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 5 of 5 TV News


1994 White Paper renews BBC licence fee until 2001. Reinforces BBCs

role as Public Service Broadcaster.

1996 Greg Dykes Channel 5 wins franchise for fifth television channel and

starts broadcasting. It reaches only 70% of homes.

BBC Royal Charter renewed.

1998 Launch of digital broadcasting with Sky Digital and ONDigital.

2000 Greg Dyke is appointed Director General of the BBC. His vision for

the BBC includes the setting up of five TV channels and five new

radio channels.

2001 ONDigital rebranded as ITV Digital.

2002 Collapse of ITV Digital.

BBC Freeview (owned by a BBC/BSkyB consortium) launched.

New regulator, Ofcom, is set up under Lord Currie.

Communications Bill published. Proposes more of the media are

deregulated and mergers permitted.

2006 The BBCs Royal Charter is due for renewal.


7/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 1 of 3 TV News

November 1922 The British Broadcasting Company is formed. It begins a daily radio

broadcast, consisting of news, politics and music. Announcers aremainly upper class, speak with received pronunciation (RP) and wear

full evening dress. They read the news bulletins twice, once at normal

speed, then more slowly, so that listeners can write them down if they

wish. There was some news but in the early days only after 7pm to

avoid upsetting the sales of newspapers.

1924 King George Vs opening of Wembley Exhibition is broadcast live to

10 million people.

1925 The British Broadcasting Corporation is formed.

1926 The principle of neutrality is established during the General Strike:

Churchill wants the government to take over the BBC. Reith arguessuccessfully against this, although the BBC follows the government

line and denies access to the strikers.

1936 The BBC begins the first regular news service, broadcasting from

Alexandra Palace.

1937 The coronation procession of King George VI is broadcast to 2000 TV

sets in Britain one of the first examples of a shared national

experience.

1939 Radio news reports are heavily censored but attract huge audiences

of 1015 million, when portable recording equipment allows reporters

to make vivid reports of battle scenes with diegetic sounds of thefighting.

1952 Six newsreel transmissions a week by the BBC, mostly made up of

feature stories and shot without sound; commentaries were added

later in post-production.

1953 The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is broadcast to 2.5 million TV

sets. More than 20 million people (56% of the population of Britain)

watch this as a shared experience. Richard Dimbleby provides the

commentary.

First Panorama programme broadcast in November.

1954 The Independent Television Authority is established to oversee the

setting-up of commercial television.

1955 ITV begins with the live transmission of the inaugural banquet from

the Guildhall. Regional networks provide a mixture of national and

regional programmes.

Independent Television News (ITN) is established to provide current

affairs and news broadcasts in London and the South East; these

differ from the BBCs approach, offering more challenging interviews

and on-the-spot reports. Athlete Christopher Chataway and Robin

Day are the first ITN newscasters.

A brief history ofTV news


8/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 2 of 3 TV News

July 1955 The BBC sets up its own television news department, in response to

the setting up of ITN.

Richard Dimbleby becomes presenter of Panorama after the success

of the first general election results programme.

1956 ITV begins broadcasting in the Midlands and the North. Ludovic

Kennedy presents current affairs programme This Weekfor ITN

(termed by some the poor mans Panorama).

1957 Tonight, a 40-minute topical magazine programme, is launched on

BBC.

1959 Robin Day and Ludovic Kennedy join the Panorama team.

1962 Full ITV coverage. BBCs audience share falls to 27%.First communications satellite, Telstar, goes into orbit.

1963 World in Action, a single issue 30-minute current affairs programme

begins on ITV.

Associated Rediffusions 30-minute weekly current affairs programme,

This Weekis launched on ITV. Jeremy Isaacs is the editor.

1965 Late-night daily current affairs programme24 Hours begins.

1966 First worldwide broadcast is a joint venture by BBC and ITV of the

World Cup final from Wembley. Estimated international audience of

400 million.

1967 ITN launch News at Ten, the first half hour developed news programme.

The first colour TV transmissions introduced on BBC2.

1969 News magazine programme Nationwide presented by Michael Barratt.

The moon landing watched live by huge international audience.

1975 Weekend World begins on ITV on Sundays.

1980 BBC2 launches Newsnight, an in-depth exploration of political issues

and events.

1982 Launch of Channel 4 News a 50-minute in-depth exploration of two

or three current issues together with news bulletins.

1983 BBC1 and ITV begin breakfast TV.

1984 Sky set up by Rupert Murdoch. Launched on satellite and cable.

1985 Michael Buerks report on the Ethiopian famine leads to Bob Geldofs

Live Aid which raises more than 60 million.

1986 First daytime TV service from BBC.

1987 First daytime TV service from ITV.

A brief history of TV news


9/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 3 of 3 TV News

A brief history of TV news

1991 Cable News Network (CNN) becomes leading international news

source due to its coverage of the Gulf War. Influences presentation ofnews in Britain.

1995 Martin Bashirs interview with Princess Diana gains Panorama its

biggest ever audience 22.8 million.

1996 The lively, informal presentation of Channel 5 news makes a huge

impact, affecting the way other channels present TV news.

1997 BBC News 24 is launched.

1998 ITV reschedules News at Ten.

Launch of digital broadcasting Sky Digital and ONDigital.

1999 Martin Bashir joins McDonald on the first Tonight with Trevor

MacDonald. Interviews the Stephen Lawrence murder suspects.

2000 ITV reinstates News at Ten, but it is scheduled at any time between

10 and 11pm. The BBC reschedule the Nine OClock News to 10pm,

on a consistent basis. This helps the BBC to draw viewers from ITV

and improve ratings.

11 September 2001 Collapse of World Trade Center witnessed live on TV around the

world by millions.

March 2003 War on Iraq gets 24-hour news coverage.


10/49

Identifying PublicService Broadcastingin todays TV news

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 1

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Working in pairs, remind yourselves of

some of the basic principles of Reiths

view of Public Service Broadcasting, and

Greg Dykes redefined version of Public

Service Broadcasting outlined below.

Reith and Public ServiceBroadcasting

In 1925 John Reith, General Manager of the

BBC, presented a statement of his views on

broadcasting to the Crawford Committee,which had been set up to establish

guidelines for the long-term future of

broadcasting. His memo formed the basis

of Public Service Broadcasting for 30 years

and still influences the regulation of

terrestrial broadcasting today.

Key points from Reiths memo are that

broadcasting should:

Educate, inform and entertain;

Lead public taste, not pander to it;

Act as a cultural, moral and educative

force;

Present the best of human knowledge,

endeavour and achievement;

Preserve a high moral tone, avoiding the

vulgar and the hurtful;

Bring the nation together as one man, by

ensuring universal access;

Act as a social cement to create a

national identity and an enlightened

democracy;

Remain free from commercial andgovernment pressures.

Changing definitions of PSB

In early 2003 Greg Dyke and other senior

BBC executives started the process of

updating the BBCs remit, with a shift of

emphasis to the following values of Public

Service Broadcasting:

Quality

Diversity

Innovation

Distinctiveness Connectivity connecting with different

audiences.

Now watch the first five minutes of each

TV news programme which your teacher

will screen for you.

Look at these questions and make notes

of your answers.

1 Focus on Reiths definition of Public

Service Broadcasting and consider

whether he would have approved of each

news programme and why.2 How far do you think each news

programme fits in with the redefined

version of Public Service Broadcasting?

3 How would you define the quality of the

text? Is the notion of quality linked to

certain sub-genres of news?

4 Which of Reiths principles do you think

are still important for TV news

programmes in our multi-channel world?

In pairs, discuss your answers.


11/49

Role-play cards

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 2

Page 1 of 4 TV News

Role-play televised discussion: dead or alive?

Rupert MurdochOwner of News International

You are very critical of the BBC licence fee

and the recent launching of BBC digital

channels BBC3, BBC4 and two childrens

channels.

The BBC gets anything it wants and

has done from any government.

Their 24-hour news was unnecessary

but they wanted to do it. We have spent

hundreds of millions of poundsestablishing Sky News and then they

come along.

You believe the governors of the BBC are an

anachronism and that Ofcom which you

welcome should control the BBC directly.

You are 71 years old.

Lord Reith (revived)First Director General of

the BBC 192738

You believe that generic channels are

destroying the unity and democracy of the

country.

You are unhappy about much of todays

broadcasting output, especially with regard to

the tabloidisation of the news. Tonight with

Trevor McDonald will come under special

attack for pandering to public opinion, ratherthan leading it.

You are very anxious about the licence fee for

the BBC and want to retain regulation by the

12 BBC governors who will do their best to

continue the tradition of Public Service

Broadcasting.

John BeyerDirector of Mediawatch

Mediawatch is the morality watchdog pressure

group, formerly the National Viewers and

Listeners Association, founded by Mary

Whitehouse in 1963.

You are a great supporter of Reithian

principles. You believe that todays television

concentrates far too much on the

entertainment part of Lord Reiths original

memo and not enough on informing and

educating.

You argue that there are far too many violent

sequences broadcast on TV news this

desensitises us all and contributes to a more

violent society. You would like to see Ofcom

control TV news more rigorously and force

broadcasters to return to Public Service

Broadcasting principles.

Greg DykeDirector General of the BBC

You are very proud of the way you have

increased ratings for the BBC to beat ITV for

the first time. You are disappointed that Lord

Reith does not congratulate you on making

the BBC so successful.

You believe that it is possible to make TV

news both informative and entertaining just

look at Newsround!

You try to persuade Lord Reith that you have

kept the best of his principles of Public Service

Broadcasting, but that times have changed and

your new definition of Public Service

Broadcasting is more appropriate to the 21st

century.


12/49

Role-play cards

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 2

Page 2 of 4 TV News

Jonathan MillerThe Sunday Times journalist

You are leading a campaign against paying

the licence fee.

You worked as a spokesman for Sky in the

early years of Sky television, so you know

Murdoch very well. In late 2002 you

challenged the BBC to sue you for licence

evasion.

You argue that the licence fee is like a tax and

that being forced to pay 112 for channelsthat you do not watch breaches European

human rights laws.

Peter SissonsTV news presenter

You were the main presenter of BBCs Ten

OClock News until January 2003, when you

were replaced by younger presenters Huw

Wheldon and Fiona Bruce and moved to BBC

News 24. You are not happy to be in a part of

the BBC that has come under heavy criticism

you take a pride in your job and think that

Greg Dyke is ageist and too obsessed with

ratings. But you have to be careful what you

say as you are still working under him.

You need to be prepared to answer attacks on

the way you raise your eyebrows to comment

on a news story rather than remaining

impartial and unbiased, as written into the

Royal Charter.

Trevor McDonaldPresenter ofNews at Ten and

Tonight with Trevor McDonald

You are hurt by Lord Reiths accusations that

your programme does little to inform or

educate. You use examples such as The

Prime Suspects on the murder of Stephen

Lawrence; the interview with the parents of

murdered Sarah Payne and the investigation

into the possibility of a law under which a

register of known paedophiles is made

available to the public. This gained 6.6 millionviewers. You also carried the first in-depth

interview with George Bush after 11

September 2001.

You believe in Public Service Broadcasting,

but think that it is necessary to adapt to a

changing world with new technologies.

Jana BennettBBC Director of Television

You are American by birth, but educated in

Britain. You have worked for the BBC since

1979, with a three-year gap when you went to

the United States and successfully ran the

Learning Channel for Discovery

Communications, increasing their ratings.

You are very against the idea of pay television

and want to get back to those first principles,

to demonstrate what the licence fee does for

Britain in maintaining Public ServiceBroadcasting. A piece of the BBC should be

owned by everybody, in their hearts and their

minds.

You also think that mass audiences are an

important way of measuring the success of

Public Service Broadcasting Serving a big

audience is serving the public well. You are

good friends with Lorraine Heggessey,

Controller of BBC1.


13/49

Role-play cards

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 2

Page 4 of 4 TV News


14/49

Role-play cards

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 2

Page 3 of 4 TV News

Tessa JowellMinister for Sport, Culture

and the Media

You are a visiting fellow at Nuffield College,

Oxford. Before entering Parliament your job

was in psychiatric social work.

You have the difficult job of overseeing the

setting up of Ofcom and dealing with the

complex details of the Communications Bill.

You have been attacked for being too

protective of the BBC and are now arguing

that Ofcom will undertake a very thorough

review of every aspect of the BBC. The

members of Ofcom will be required to enforce

content regulation very firmly where

necessary.

Public Service Broadcasting will be an

important part of Ofcoms remit. Ofcom will

have to be prepared to use their powers to

investigate impartiality and maintain standards

of taste and decency.

Phil RedmondBrookside creator and

Chairman of Mersey TV

You are angry at the way the BBC, under

Director General Greg Dyke, has muscled in

on what you consider to be the territory of

commercial TV. You want to use the

opportunity of the Ofcom review and the

charter renewal process to put forward

alternatives to the licence fee. You want the

focus to be firmly on the way the BBC is

funded. The licence fee is a cultural poll tax.

Personally, Id just scrap the whole idea

of Public Service Broadcasting. What

we should have instead is a public

service provider, across media including

the internet. The government should

review whether the BBC is still the best

way to deliver Public Service

Broadcasting in the digital age.

David LiddimentEx-Director of Programming at ITV

You are very critical of the BBC governors,

arguing that they do not do a good job of

regulating the BBC. You are also critical of

Greg Dyke for popularising the BBC. You are

upset that BBC1 beat ITV for ratings at prime

time for the first time in 2002.

You were responsible for rescheduling News

at Ten and now admit that it was a mistake.

This is one of the reasons why you left your

job in August 2002. You believe that thecelebrity interview, such as Living with Michael

Jackson, has a legitimate place in current

affairs.

You are critical of snobbish public service

values that dictate that real current affairs

can only be politics, international stories and

big, long-term investigations.

Kim HowellMinister for Tourism, Film

and Broadcasting

You are well known for your outspoken

comments. You denounced the 2002 Turner

Prize as cold, mechanical, conceptual

bullshit. You upset many young people with

your controversial statements after the fatal

shooting of two teenage girls in Birmingham,

when you said that boasting macho idiot

rappers had created a culture in which killing

is almost a fashion accessory.You attacked violent computer games, films

and TV: a constant diet of death and

destruction in modern film and television has

created a pornography of violence,

appealing to viewers lowest urges.

Your job is to assist Tessa Jowell in overseeing

the Communications Bill. Almost 100 MPs

have criticised you for allowing Murdoch an

easy ride, if he wanted to buy Channel 5,

despite your adding an amendment to the Bill.


15/49

Identifying newsvalues

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 3

Page 1 of 2 TV News

Read the notes below.

In pairs, identify the top three stories in two comparable TV news programmes. Using the

sheets provided, note title of each programme, and the topic of each story.

Identify the news values for each programme using Galtung and Ruges list. Again, use the

sheets provided.

How different are the news values for each programme?

News values

News values are the criteria which help to explain why photographs and events are selected

as newsworthy. Galtung and Ruge were among the first media theorists to define news values.

The list of news values below is adapted from their work. Use this list whenever you are

analysing news stories.

Immediacy: Has it happened recently?

Familiarity: Is it culturally close to us in Britain?

Amplitude: Is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people?

Frequency: Does the event happen often?

Unambiguity: Is it clear and definite?

Predictability: Did we expect it to happen?

Surprise: Is it a rare or unexpected event?

Continuity: Has this story already been defined as news?

Elite nations and people: Which country has the event happened in? Does the story

concern well-known people, such as celebrities?

Personalisation: Is it a human-interest story?

Negativity: Is it bad news?

Balance: The story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story

to balance a number of stories concerning death.

* J Galtung and M Ruge, 1973, Structuring and selecting news in S Cohen and J Young (eds)

The Manufacture of News, Constable


16/49

Identifyingnewsvalues

bfi Education 2003

worksheet

3

Page2of2

TVNews

Story1

Programme1:

Programme2

:

Story2

Story3

Story1

Story2

Story3

Newsvalues

Newsvalues

Newsvalues

Newsvalues

Newsvalues

Newsvalues


17/49

Opening sequences:identifying newsvalues

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 4

Page 1 of 2 TV News

In pairs, compare the opening sequences of GMTVand BBC

Breakfast news.

Using the table provided, identify the news values for each

programme, using Galtung and Ruges list and what you have

been taught about news values.

Number the news values in order of priority for each programme,

looking at the order of the news agenda, the time devoted to the

stories and the images used.

How different are the news values for each programme?


18/49

Openingsequences:ide

ntifyingnewsvalues

bfi Education 2003

worksheet

4

Page2of2

TVNews

Story1

Programme1:

Programme2:

Story2

Story3

Story1

Story2

Story3

Newsvalues

Newsvalues

Newsvalues

Newsvalues

Newsvalues

Newsvalues


19/49

Setting the agenda

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 5

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Working in groups, choose to be journalists for either GMTVor BBC

Breakfast news.

Look at the following 12 news stories. Choose eight of the stories

for the news agenda for your morning programme.

Decide on the running order, according to the news values of your

programme.

Identify your top three stories.

Write the headlines for these.

Choose a spokesperson to explain your choices to the rest of the

class.

News stories

1 Tourists report sighting of Loch Ness monster;

2 Scientific report states that genetically modified food is

dangerous;

3 Young Palestinian woman sets off suicide bomb in busy street

in Israel;

4 Search continues for kidnapped toddler;

5 Talk of another strike by firefighters;

6 Famous TV news presenter arrested for downloading child

pornography;

7 Queen has minor operation on her knee;

8 Famine in Ethiopia worsens;

9 Air rage drunken airline passenger jailed for three years;

10 Sudden death of famous rock star from the 1970s and 1980s;

11 Fighting continues between India and Pakistan on Kashmir

frontier;

12 Eminem starts world tour.


20/49

Catching up with therunning order

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 6

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Watch the first ten minutes of three different news programmes

broadcast by the same channel on the same day.

In groups, note any changes in the running order of the stories.

Using your notes on news values, try to explain why you think the

news producers changed the running order.

In your group, decide on the running order you prefer and explain

why, on the basis of news values.


21/49

Producing the news scriptwriting

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 7

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Imagine that you are journalists in the news production team for the

ITV evening news (scheduled at 6.30pm).

OR

Imagine that you are journalists in the news production team for your

regional ITV news programme (scheduled at 6.00pm).

Write the script for the following news story.

You might include some interviews, some footage of the area

where the incident happened, and a report by our own

correspondent. You have 30 minutes.

News story

A suspected terrorist attack caused police to cordon off a huge area

around a small local airport.

A young man, aged 18, was arrested close to the airfield. He was

suspiciously dressed.

The rush hour traffic couldnt cope and there was soon chaos. Huge

traffic jams delayed some motorists for over four hours.

The young man was later released after explaining that he was on his

way to a fancy dress party.


22/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Genre in TV newsand current affairsprogrammes

(Worksheet 8)

Notes on genre style and form

A genre text, such as a television soap opera, can be easily

understood by audiences, as it contains a repertoire of familiar

elements. In a similar way, TV news programmes have sets of codes

and conventions. They use:

Live in-studio presenter/s;

A desk/table with chairs or sofa in the set;

Direct address to camera;

Outside broadcasts;

Interviews;

Still images on a backdrop behind the presenter;

Captions;

Graphics;

Formal codes of dress.

TV news can therefore be analysed as a genre, as the elements

above form a pattern which helps us to identify the programme as TV

news. This recognisable pattern creates audience pleasure: the

recognition of familiar conventions together with the addition of a

number of changes or differences. This aspect of genre is known as

repetition and difference and helps to account for the changes made

in news presentation on a fairly regular basis, showing that the styleof even the most conservative of programmes is not fixed and is part

of a continuous process of redefinition.

Early news was constructed in the form of news bulletins. More

developed programmes like Panorama, which was first launched in

November 1955, and looked at the background to news stories, were

current affairs. More in-depth news programmes which mixed news

bulletins with detailed reports began in July 1967 with the launch of

the half hour News at Ten. These differing types of news programmes

can be identified as sub genres.


23/49

Genre in TV newsand current affairsprogrammes

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 8

Page 1 of 2 TV News

In pairs, look through the pages of a television listings magazine.

Identify as many current affairs and news programmes as you can,

making notes on their key generic features.

How easily do the programmes fit into one genre?

Identify and discuss hybrid or sub-genres with your partner.

Use the following examples as a starting point.

Programme and

scheduling time

Genre Themes/content Conventions

Newsround

BBC1, 5.25pm

Monday Friday

Tonight with

Trevor McDonald

ITV, 8.00pm,

Mondays and

Fridays

Current affairs

programme.

Infotainment?

One or two issues,

often including

human interest

stories, covered in

one half hour

programme.

McDonald stands in

the centre of an

arena-like set

a ringmaster

introducing his acts.

News programme

for children

Four top news

stories, generally

entertainment based:

Harry Potter

Football

Presenters perch or

stand in front of

desks in brightly-

coloured studio set.

Mise en scne

includes comfortable

settees and rugs.

Press pack involves

viewers.


24/49

Genre in TV news and current affairs programmes

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 8

Page 2 of 2 TV News

Programme and

scheduling time

Genre Themes/content Conventions


25/49

Can you spot brandidentity?

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 9

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Compare the title sequences of two or three TV news programmes.

1 How do the different channels seek to establish their brand

identity? Identify the following key stylistic elements to help your

analysis:

Music

Graphics

Camerawork

Editing

Mise en scne

Mode of address

News values.

2 What kinds of audience do you think these programmes are

aimed at?

3 How effective do you think the title sequences are at attracting

their target audiences?


26/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 1 of 1 TV News

(Worksheet 10)

Modes of address

The mode of address refers to the style of delivery used by

presenters and interviewers. This is a key factor in establishing themood and tone of the TV news programme; usually an authoritative

one, but sometimes more light-hearted as in Newsround or RI:SE.

TV news presenters are given a highly privileged status through the

following well-established conventions of their mode of address:

Direct address they look directly at the camera;

The use of personal pronouns: Thank you for watching. Well see

you tomorrow at the same time. The use of the inclusive we

helps to encourage the identification of the audience with the

presenter and, by extension, the Reithian principle of one nation;

Smooth, fluent and articulate diction;

Accents on national news programmes tend to be limited to BBC

English, Scottish or Welsh. It would be unusual to find a presenter

with a Geordie accent on one of the national TV news

programmes; they tend to be used more for documentaries;

The straight angle, medium close-up shot that is consistently used

throughout the programme;

The soundtrack of the title sequence usually important, serious

sounding introductory music to catch the attention of the potential

viewer and to symbolise the importance of the announcementsthat are to follow, like a fanfare to announce an arrival in a

Shakespeare play. The music is often mixed together with the

voice-over of the news presenter, announcing the top news

stories, as the title sequence segues into an establishing shot of

the set with the news presenter framed centrally;

The high angle establishing long shot of what often appears to be

a huge studio, with the presenter framed centrally, emphasising

her/his importance;

In TV news programmes, other journalists and interviewees are

expected to look at the interviewer, not at the camera directly. This

places them at a disadvantage in comparison to the direct address

used by the apparently omniscient presenter. Weather presenters

are also permitted to employ direct address, but their mode of

address, the brevity of their screen time and the camerawork help

to construct a less privileged status.


27/49

Mode of address:how do TV newspresenters address

their audiences?

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 10

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Audience research tells us that people do like to have the news

presented by people whom they trust and are familiar with.

(Roger Mosey, BBC head of TV News, quoted in The Radio Times

1824/1/03)

Examine a five-minute closing sequence from any TV news

programme.

Note how often the presenter looks directly at the camera.

Do the interviewees look directly at the camera? If not, how does

this affect their status?

What do you think is the effect of reading the autocue?

Do the presenters have a regional accent?

How often does the presenter use personal pronouns such as

you and we? What effect does this have?

Note any examples of vocabulary which encourage familiarity or

formality.

How does the presenter sign off?

Soundbite


28/49

TV news presenters stars or servants?

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 11

Page 1 of 2 TV News

The star of the news is the news.

(David Nicholas, ex-Head of News, ITN, quoted in The Radio Times

1824/1/03)

Your teacher will screen a clip from a BBC news programme from

the past. Focus on the presenter/s.

Using the table provided, make notes on vocabulary, accent,

camerawork, lighting, codes of dress andmise en scne.

Watch a clip from a contemporary TV news programme. Focus on

the presenter/s.

Make notes on accent, vocabulary, camerawork, lighting, codes of

dress,mise en scne.

Make a note of the differences between the two. How far do you

think these differences reflect changing ideological values?

Are the news presenters today more or less dominant than the

news presenters of the past?

Soundbite


29/49

TVnewspresentersst

arsorservants?

bfi Education 2003

worksheet

11

Page2of2

TVNews

Vocabulary

Progra

mme1

Programme2

Keydifferences

Accent

Camera-

work

Lighting

Codesof

dress

Miseen

scne


30/49

A Proppian analysisof a TV news story

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 12

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Read the notes below.

Select a news story from any TV news programme.

Identify the roles or spheres of action for each person or

organisation in the story.

Do the roles change?

What does this exercise tell you about the ways in which the key

people and organisations are represented?

Narrative theory Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp* identified a number of common narrative structures

through his classification of 100 Russian folktales. His work has been

adapted by media theorists to apply to other media texts. Propp

found that there were seven basic character roles or spheres of

action:

The hero

The princess

The false hero

The villain

The helper

The dispatcher

The donor

One character may take on different spheres of action in the same

text. Propps theory is useful for analysing a news text as character

roles can alter depending on the institution and the context. For

example, David Beckham was assigned the role of the villain in the

1998 World Cup when he received a red card in the match against

Argentina but in 2001 he was represented as the hero as he led his

team to victory against Germany in the World Cup qualifying match at

Munich in 2001. Final confirmation of his role as hero came with his

decisive goal in the match against Argentina in the 2002 World Cup.

Propps theory can also be used to analyse the demonisation of

characters such as Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

*V Propp, 1968, Morphology of the Folktale, University of Texas


31/49

A comparative textualanalysis of two TVnews programmes

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 13

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Media theorist, Stuart Hall, argues that television communicates

values and beliefs, not just matters of opinion or individual points of

view. He sees these communications as messages, which are socially

produced and made culturally available as shared explanations of

how the world works. In other words, they are ideologies, or

explanatory systems of belief.

Compare two news programmes in detail, by discussing the following:

1 How often and when is the programme broadcast?

While each programme in a group or series is unique, it can also

have a significance as a typical representation of that group.

2 Who makes the programme? Who owns the channel on which it is

shown?

Programmes can be seen as commodities, or products which are

exchanged. While ITV companies are obviously commercial, Greg

Dyke, Director General of the BBC, believes that the BBC has to

compete in the ratings battle in order for it to retain the licence fee.

3 Produce a content analysis.

List the content and the order of the items.

4 Analyse the mode of address.

How is the audience positioned? How does the programme speak

to its viewers? Can you identify the programmes target

audience/s?

5 Identify the forms of presentation.

Note the format of the programme, the camera conventions, and

themise en scne, including the studio setting, the lighting, and

the placing of the presenters.

6 Note the points of identification.

These can be established by direct address to camera, use of the

personal pronoun, and other strategies, which invite or engage the

viewer to go along with the values of the programme.

7 What are the preferred readings?

Can you identify preferred readings which are offered to the

audience as commonly shared ideas and opinions? Stuart Hall

argues that these views of the world tend towards the reproduction

of the status quo. Does your analysis support this view?


32/49

Closetextualanalys

isoftwo

TVnewsprogrammes

bfi Education 2003

worksheet

14

Page1of2

TVNews

Watchthetwoprogrammesscreenedbyyourteacher,andmakenotesinthetablebelow:

Programme1

Programme2

Elements

Presenter/s

Codesof

dress

hairstyle

make-up

Modeofaddress

Music

Miseenscne:

colour

setdesign

furniture

props

placingofpresenter/s


33/49

Closetextualanalysisof

twoTVnewsprogrammes

bfi Education 2003

worksheet

14

Page2of2

TVNews

Programme1

Programme2

Elements

Lighting

Camerawork

Openingandclosing

sequencegraphics

Listthetopthreestories


34/49

The licence fee foul or fair?

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 15

Page 1 of 2 TV News

Read the information below and then rank the statements in your

envelope in the order with which you agree with them.

Critics of the licence fee

Rupert Murdoch is constantly attacking the BBC for what he sees as

its privileged position. One of his journalists, The Sunday Times

writer Jonathan Miller, argued that the licence fee is a violation of his

human rights because it interferes with his right to receive or impart

information. He therefore refused to pay it and encouraged others to

do the same.

The Daily Telegraph is also questioning the licence fee as part of its

Free Country campaign. The newspaper perceives the BBC as

pushing a Blairite view of the world. It conducted a poll (reported in

The Observer, 17/11/02), which demonstrated the strength of the

opposition: 58% of those who took part said the licence fee was no

longer justifiable in an era when as many as 300 television channels

were available. However, writing in The Observer, Steven Barnett

argued that, two national TV stations, five national radio stations and

a comprehensive on-line service are well worth the price of a pint of

beer a week.


35/49

The licence fee foul or fair?

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 15

Page 2 of 2 TV News

Channel 4 should receive a proportion of the licence fee, as it provides Public Service

Broadcasting and its advertising revenue is falling.

Now there are over 300 channels available, the licence fee can no longer be justified.

The requirement that I pay the licence fee of 112 is a violation of my right to receive

information (as protected by the European Human Rights Act).

Two national TV stations, five national radio stations and a comprehensive on-line

service are well worth the price of a pint of beer a week.

(Lecturer Steven Barnett)

The History Channel and the Discovery Channel have more public service value than

Channel 5. It isnt fair that they derive none of the benefits awarded to public servicechannels.

The BBC is given too many privileges over its commercial rivals.

The licence fee is an enormous privilege and an enormous responsibility. It is right andproper that we should have to justify our continued access to it, and that access should

only come if we are seen to be living up to the obligations it brings.

(Caroline Thomson, BBCs Controller of Public Policy)

The BBC is no longer distinctive enough to justify the licence fee.

The BBC must be able to justify to its audience that it uses their money, and earns their

support, by offering services that extend the range and enhance the standards of what is

available to them.

(Tessa Jowell, Culture Secretary)

The cosy model of commercial revenue on the one hand and licence fee on the other will

not be able to continue.

(Peter Bazalgette, Endemol UK)


36/49

How useful is BARB?

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 16

Page 1 of 1 TV News

You will need to use a TV listings magazine for this exercise.

Read the information below on how BARB conducts its research.

Write down what you think the top ten programmes were in the

last month.

Research the top ten programmes in the last month by going to

the website www.barb.co.uk.

Do the results confirm your views on the popularity of certain

programmes?

Do the ratings demonstrate the inheritance factor or any of the

other scheduling points?

BARB

Since 1980 audience ratings have been measured by the

Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARB). As even the

smallest drop in ratings can cause anxieties among advertisers and

cause a drop in advertising revenue, BARB is extremely important for

both TV companies and advertisers.

The organisation issues meters to a representative sample of viewers,

reflecting the age, gender, race and earning power of the British

audience as a whole. These meters record when the television is on,

which programme or channel is being screened, video recording and

playing and whether anyone is in the room. BARB performed an

overhaul of its methods in early 2002, in order to cope with the

changes caused by digital television. It had been criticised for using

too small a sample 4,485 households. New results suggested that

previous figures had been too high, implying that advertising rates

were also too high. These findings caused some controversy with the

television companies. Since then, BARB has argued that it has

refined its new measuring techniques: 5,100 households are used

and over 10,000 people are now involved.


37/49

How do audiencesuse the news?

Applying the uses and gratifications theory

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 17

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Read the following notes. Then interview ten people of different ages,

genders and income about their motivation for watching TV news.

The uses and gratifications theory

The uses and gratifications theory suggests that audiences have

needs which they seek to gratify through their consumption of the

media. A number of theorists have tackled this theory, which is based

originally on Maslows hierarchy of needs*.

A particularly helpful approach comes from the research of McQuail,

Blumler and Brown** into audience needs. The researchers definedfour major areas of need which the media seek to gratify:

Diversion (escape from our routine and problems);

Personal relationships (the need for companionship and feeling

part of a social group);

Personal identity (exploring or reinforcing our own values, through

comparison with others values);

Surveillance (the need for a constant supply of information about

what is happening in the world).

Suggested questions for your survey

Which TV news programmes do you watch regularly?

Which is your favourite TV news programme?

Give three reasons for choosing that programme over others.

*A Maslow, 1970, Motivation and Personality, Harper & Row

** D McQuail (ed), 1972, Sociology of the Mass Media, Penguin


38/49

Scheduling

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 18

Page 1 of 3 TV News

You will need to use a TV listings magazine for this exercise.

In pairs, using the schedule sheet provided, note the scheduling of

breakfast news, lunchtime news, early evening news and the

evening news. Also note the presenters, the content (where it is

listed) and the programmes immediately preceding and following it.

Now research the audience figures for each of these programmes.

Use www.barb.co.uk and/or www.mediaguardian.co.uk and

listings magazines.

Have they risen or fallen in the last year?

Discuss whether your findings in the table above help to explain

the audience ratings.

Scheduling terms

The following definitions of scheduling terms may be useful in

discussing scheduling issues.

Hammocking: a less popular programme can be placed or

hammocked between two popular programmes. This used to be

a successful technique, but channel loyalty is less reliable in our

multi-channel world. In September 2002, the ITC hoped that

Melvyn Braggs new series on the history of the English language

would inherit the audience from Dr Zhivago. They applied to

temporarily scrap News at Ten as they feared a news bulletin in the

middle of the two programmes would encourage audiences to

switch channels.

Inheritance factor: placing a new programme after an established

one so that it will inherit its audience.

Junction management: schedulers omit commercial breaks and

allow programmes to overrun in order to improve audience ratings.

Pre-echo: placing a new programme before an established one

the hope is that audiences will tune in early to watch a favourite

programme and decide to watch the new programme the following

week.

Stripping: showing the same type of programme regularly at the

same time every day news, soap, sport, chat shows.

Time shifting: recording a programme to watch later.

Trailing and cross-trailing: common junction points where two

programmes start at the same time on BBC, ITV or Channel 4,

enabling schedulers to advertise a programme on the other

channel.


39/49

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 18

Page 2 of 3 TV News

Scheduling

Watershed: 9pm is the watershed. Programmes which contain

sex, violence and strong language may only be shown after thistime, assuming that children will be in bed.

Zones: The Comedy Zone on Channel 4 on a Friday night is an

example of scheduling a series of programmes in a similar genre

or with a particular theme one after the other.


40/49

bfiEducation2003

Page 3 of 3 TV News

Schedulingworksheet 18

BBC1 BBC2 ITV1 Channel 4 Channel 5

BREAKFASTScheduling

Presenter/s

Content

Previousprogramme

Followingprogramme

LUNCHScheduling

Presenter/s

Content

Previousprogramme

Followingprogramme

EARLY EVENING

Scheduling

Presenter/s

Content

Previousprogramme

Followingprogramme

EVENINGScheduling

Presenter/s

Content

Previousprogramme

Followingprogramme


41/49

You are theschedulers

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 19

Page 1 of 1 TV News

One of you is the controller for either BBC or ITV; the other is the

scheduler.

Your evening news programmes have been losing audiences for three

months and you are concerned.

Construct a strong evening schedule for one weekday tea-time

and evening between 5pm and 11pm which can accommodate the

early evening news, regional news and evening news. Use the

advantages of hammocking, pre-echo and the inheritance factor in

order to increase your audience ratings. Remember the need to

include advertising slots if you are working for ITV.

Report back and justify your decisions to the whole group.


42/49

Sick of celebrities?

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 20

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Watch Newsround and the ITV News. Identify all the celebrities

who appear in each programme.

What defines them as celebrities for example, actor, singer,

boyfriend of actor, etc?

How far do the celebrities increase the entertainment value of

these news programmes?

Does their appearance in the programme increase your interest in

the programme as a whole?

How positively are they represented by each programme?

Compare your answers with those of other students.


43/49

How to makeTV news a turn-onrather than a turn-off

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 21

Page 1 of 1 TV News

You are highly paid members of a think tank. Your job is to make BBC

news and current affairs more appealing to a younger audience.

The future of the licence fee partly depends on you!

Watch the five-minute clip carefully.

Identify the key elements that make this example of TV news

unappealing to younger audiences. In your groups, consider the

presenters, their mode of address, the content, themise en scne,

the camerawork, the lighting and the music. (You have 10 minutes

to do this.)

You now have to decide which BBC news or current affairs

programme you are going to either drop from the schedule or

replace with your own programme. (Again, you have 10 minutes to

do this.)

You must now come up with a detailed proposal for a new BBC

news or current affairs programme that will attract younger

audiences of 1734-year-olds of both genders, without alienating

your regular audience. You will need to include details on

presenter/s, codes of dress, mode of address, mise en scne,

camerawork, news agenda, news values, lighting, music,

scheduling, title and title graphics. (You have 3040 minutes to

do this.)

Elect one spokesperson from your group (or perform this as a

team exercise) to pitch your proposals to the rest of the class in a

presentation that must last no longer than one minute.

In groups, present your proposals in writing to BBC Director

General Greg Dyke.

If required, storyboard the title sequence of your TV news

programme.


44/49

Representation andideology: Whosestory do we trust?

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 22

Page 1 of 1 TV News

In this activity you will analyse three differing representations of a

news event, such as the London May Day riots, 2 May 2000, the

bombing of Baghdad in March 2003, or the Sars virus April 2003.

In pairs, watch the news footage of the event from ITV News.

Watch the investigation into the event on Tonight with Trevor

McDonald.

Look at the report on the event from The Times or another

newspaper.

Note any differences in the order that the events are presented.

Note any differences in statistics.

Note any bias in vocabulary.

Who is interviewed in each report?

Whose views are ignored?

Summarise your findings. How are the different groups

represented in each news report?

How balanced or biased is each news report?


45/49

Balance or bias?

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 23

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Student brief 3

You will be shown a two or three minute clip of a controversial

event without the sound.

Watch the clip carefully and construct a voice-over that is

hostile to the demonstrators or activists and supports the

establishment.

Be prepared to read or record your script as a voice-over

when your teacher plays the news footage again.

Student brief 2

You will be shown a two or three minute clip of a controversial

event without the sound.

Watch the clip carefully and construct a voice-over that is as

balanced and impartial as you can make it to everyone

involved in the event.



Student brief 1

You will be shown a two- or three-minute clip of a

controversial event without the sound.

Watch the clip carefully and construct a voice-over that is

sympathetic to the demonstrators or activists.




46/49

Spin: a necessaryevil?

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 24

Page 1 of 1 TV News

Cut up the following ten statements.

Decide how much you agree or disagree with each statement and rank them in order of

agreement.

Discuss your result with two or three other students. See if you can reach a consensus of

opinion in your group. Note the statements that cause the most debate.

I think Tony Blair has increased

our trust in politicians by the way

he has opened up the lobby system

and ended secrecy.

We have developed a postmodern

spin-culture in which taking a position

on an issue is more attractive than

doing anything about it.

Spin doctor Jo Moore was only doing

her job when she sent an e-mail to the

press office of her boss Stephen Byers

on 11 September 2001, with the advice

that this was a good day on which to

bury bad news.

In the late nineties spin degenerated from

being a fashionable career

option to a euphemism for deceit

and manipulation.

(George Pitcher, The Observer)

Politicians also have their responsibilities

to be less obsessed with the minutiae of thepolitical process, less worried about spin

and sometimes prepared to take action

where they cannot see an immediate short-

term advantage.

(Richard Tait, former editor of ITN)

Everybody knows its a symbioticrelationship we need them and

they need us. Its a bit childish

to claim thats not the case.

(Nick Robinson, journalist)

Alastair Campbell has a difficult job.

I respect him for the way he tries

to limit the damage on the Labour Party

of stories like Cheriegate or the

BBC drama The Project.

I trust Trevor McDonald more than

I trust the politicians.

Politicians play to the camera as much

as they are roughed up by interviewers.

In this way, broadcasters are co-opted

by the spin culture.

(George Pitcher, The Death of Spin, 2002)

One of the reasons that so many people

disagreed with the war against Iraq in

2003 was because spin-doctors have

made us more suspicious of politicians

and their motives.


47/49

The sultans of spin

bfiEducation2003

worksheet 25

Page 1 of 1 TV News

You areAlastair Campbell,

Communications Director to thePrime Minister

The Prime Minister phones you to let you

know that a scandalous news story

concerning his eldest son is likely to be

published in The Sun on Friday. Today is

Thursday and there is also a chance that

the story will be reported on the BBC and

ITV news. The PM wants you to deal with

it quickly.

The lobby journalists are bound to askyou about this story and you have to

decide what to do quickly. You could:

Draft a press release;

Deny everything.

The briefing with the lobby journalists is in

ten minutes.

You are James Hardy,

chair of the lobby journalists

You have been openly critical of Alastair

Campbell in the past, but believe that he

has been trying very hard to improve his

relationship with the lobby journalists

since Cheriegate.

You know nothing of the rumours until

your friend, lobby journalist Peter Oborne,

tells you today. You trust him.

This time you are determined to get the

truth out of Campbell.

You have ten minutes to prepare.

You are Fiona Millar,Alastair Campbells partner,and adviser to Cherie Blair

You have extra details on the story from

Mrs Blair, but have been asked not to

reveal them to Campbell. You know that

the Prime Minister wants the story

squashed before it does any harm. You

suggest:

Sending memos to individual contacts

in the BBC news department and atITN;

Telephoning Rebekah Wade, editor of

The Sun.

The meeting is in ten minutes.

You are Peter Oborneof The Spectator,

the right-wing weekly magazine.You are on record as saying thatthe Downing Street machine is

institutionally deceitful.

A source that you trust has inside

information and has told you that the

rumours are fact rather than fiction.

You have clashed with the Blairs and with

Campbell before, particularly over therudeness of Downing Street to the royal

family. You are looking forward to

challenging Campbell at the briefing.

You have ten minutes to prepare your

questions.


48/49

bfiEducation2003

student notes

Page 1 of 2 TV News

Anchor

The process through which one element of atext supports the preferred reading of

another element, such as the caption for a

still photograph. Also used in the United

States as a term for news presenter.

Bias

A particular slant or angle on a story which is

favourable or unfavourable to certain people,

places, events or issues.

Captions

Super-imposed written text that anchors a

photograph or image.

Chromakey

An effect which allows the superimposing of

a secondary video image over the original

camera shot when the main subject of the

original shot is in front of a blue background.

Used for weathercasters in television news.

Cinma-vrit

Often used in documentaries which claim toget as close to the subject as possible; often

uses hand-held cameras, and has a low

budget look.

Computer-generated images (CGI)

Graphics and effects created with special

software.

Connotation

Interpreting images to discover additional

and/or associative meanings and values.

(See denotation.)

Context

The opening and closing sequences, the

advertisements, the other news stories which

surround the photograph or news story.

Cropping

Cutting off part of a photograph to focus on

a particular aspect, create a particular

meaning or fit a given space.

Cutaway

Shots which conceal breaks in continuity orhelp to liven up reports, often shots of the

interviewer nodding (noddies).

Denotation

Describing what is actually seen.

(See connotation)

Direct address

Part of the mode of address, this is a

convention used by all TV news presenters.

It helps to place them in a privileged

position, reinforcing their authority.

Dominant groups

Social groups which have power or status in

society. Media theorists believe that

dominant groups make their own viewpoints

and values seem normal, while the values

of others are made to seem abnormal,

unimportant or disruptive.

Framing

How the subject matter of the image isplaced within the frame.

Gatekeeping

Process of selecting some news stories and

rejecting others.

Graphics

Design of text (typography), symbols or

images in, for example, a title sequence.

Ident

A short sequence with music which identifies

a channel.

Ideology

A shared system of ideas, values or beliefs.

Intertextuality

The conscious reference to other media

texts, which has the effect of creating

another layer of meaning.

Glossary


49/49

b

student notes

Media imperialism

The dominance of a particular set ofideological values through control of media

institutions.

Mode of address

The style of delivery used by presenters and

interviewers a key factor in establishing the

mood and tone of a news programme.

News agenda

The ways in which each set of news

producers constructs their selection and

prioritisation of news stories.

Newsgathering

The processes and resources which are used

in constructing news, including press

releases, news agencies, etc.

News values

The factors which influence journalists and

editors in their selection of news stories.

PolysemicAn image or news story which carries several

possible meanings.

Positioning

The placing of the audience in a position

where they are likely to accept a preferred

reading.

Preferred reading

The interpretation that the producers of the

text would prefer audiences to accept.

Propaganda

The careful construction of a news story tosupport or attack a person, group or cause.

Soundbite

A short, relevant statement that is easily

edited and therefore much valued by

broadcasters.

Spin doctors

Public relations experts whose job is to put

the best interpretation on a news story, for

the person, party or institution they

represent.

Sub-genres

Subdivisions within a genre that become

established through repetition

Tabloidisation

Increase in tabloid news values (human

interest stories, soft news as opposed to

hard news)

Visual imperativeWhere the visual is given pre-eminence and

dictates the news agenda.

Vox pop

Voice of the people members of the

public are asked to voice their opinion on an

issue. The answers are then edited together

into a sequence.

Glossary

TV NEWS H'OUTS -UNIT 34

Documents

Transcript of TV NEWS H'OUTS -UNIT 34