An Introduction to the News

Part 1 -

The news broadcast I watched was ITV News and their coverage of the results of the 2017 Prime Minister results.

The stories they were covering were about the results and comparing them and what they think the winner will do and how it will change, the way our country is ran.

What happened at the start of the broadcast was a moving animation with the words "Election 2017" in the middle. I think these visuals and audio was used because it is a way for news to establish what the broadcast is going to be about and its shows the importance of it.

Part 2 -

Who are the newsreaders? In this particular broadcast there tends to be old looking people as they must be extremely smart when it comes to politics and generally being smart enough to have a strong idea on what could happen next.

What does the newsreader or presenter do? They are creating debate and bringing up key information, as there is multiply presenters on this broadcast.

What would the skills you would need to be a newsreader or presenter? Firstly, you would need to be calm and comfortable in front a camera but also in front on hundreds of thousands of live viewers, you would also need to be smart, professional and well informed as people are looking at you in a sense to take the things you say and make conclusions on this information and even more so when it’s on political and social issues.

Part 3 -

What does the term news ordering mean? This means the order that the news stories appear for example a news broadcast may start with a sad story to entice the viewer and keep them watching, then for the last story a broadcast will likely end with a happy or heart-warming story to make the viewer feel safe as most news broadcasts these days involve something terrible happening.

What is the term given to the list of stories that will likely appear on the broadcast? 

Which story is likely the be shown first and how/why is it selected? Usually the first story will be any 'Breaking News' that has happened recently as this is likely to get them a good amount of viewers watching, it is also likely that as the broadcast in going on they will likely loose viewers as would any show so they may make to first story the most important.

How do the other stories appear? Other stories then appear must more relaxed and claim, they will often also tend to have a higher production value and be more entertaining.

Why is the ability to think and act quickly important in news?  This is a very important skill for anyone working on live television to have, firstly because silence is also very awkward even on the news, they must try to keep things moving while also being informative and entertaining.

What is meant by the term 'slow news day?  The term 'Slow News Day' refers to when there is not any 'important' news stories that have recently broke or have not already been reported on. The news show must then basically present a full broadcast without any 'real news' and just fill in time, this usually results in the broadcast being about irreverent things like celebrities, obscure allegations or anything they can come up with to fill the air.

What is the final story often called and what is its function? The last story in a news broadcast is called the 'kicker' which is usually a heart-warming story that puts a happy ending feel to the broadcast which makes the viewer not as impacted by whatever the other stories could have been meaning it the news have shown stories about murder, terrorism or other tragedies they can then make the viewer feel more comfortable about their life.

What is meant by the term 'news values' and which G & R wrote about them? The term 'News Values' are the general guidelines and criteria that most news outlets use. It also comes under the G & R 'Frequency'

Find a topical example for each of G & R's news values. Immediacy - Sometimes news broadcasts will fill in a slot by using an old story but an immediacy story would have happened recently. Familiarity - News broadcasts often cover events from all over the world and some of those stories have not be culturally relevant and this makes sure that the stories that are could are relevant to people in Britain.

Amplitude - News broadcasts also care about views and will often cover large stories that will get large amounts of views. Frequency - If it is an event that often fairly often, for example a premier football team winning a normal league game will not be covered on the news. However, if a Premier league team wins the champions league, which is very rare it will be covered. Unambiguity - People from all over even just Britain speak very differently and this makes sure that everyone will be able to understand and get the facts. Predictability - News broadcasts have to try keeping the shows fresh and interesting and if people know what is going to happen before they even watch the show they will be bored and not enjoy the show. Surprise - Similar to the last, one they must look into if the event is rare or expected to happen and if people will accept it. Continuity - they also must look at other news broadcasts to see what they are posting and looking at it, other companies have published their stories. Elite Nations/People - Celebrities are often on the news and receive many views. Personalisation - The news broadcasts must make sure that the common person that watches the news will find interesting and entertaining. Negativity - News broadcasts do have to present bad news but they must find a healthy balance between 'happy' and 'sad' news, as they are not trying to make people feel bad or scared. Balance - furthermore from the last point the final story the 'kicker' is nearly always used the but a balance of the mood of the broadcasts and put it more as a feel good happy show.

Part 4 -

Discuss bias through selection and omissions - Anyone who works on a news stories can add to it being biased, in this one it would mainly be the editing as they can change words, headlines, remove facts or concept something as meaning one thing but it really means something else. 

Discuss bias through placement - One big thing about placement and bias is the order that the stories are shown for example front page or back page.

Discuss bias through headlines - headlines are likely the most read part of the news article and many people read that could take it at face value. Furthermore, sometimes people will make a headline obscure just to make people read on.   

Discuss bias through shot selection and camera angles - Photos can often speak many words, and make something look completely different to what is really happening just by taking a photo at the right or wrong time. 

Discuss bias through names and captions - People use names and places in their article titles as a way of getting more people to see the post, this will often mislead people and give them a very wrong impression of what is really going on.

Discuss bias through use of language - Everybody writes and reads differently to each over which results in one thing meaning something good to one person and the same thing being bad to another, it’s the writers job the clarify theses language barriers and make the article clear and understandable.