TV News Production - Talk With Will Rayner (12/10/2021)

 Talk with Will Rayner

ITN editor Will Rayner gave a talk over zoom, with regards to TV news and his career. 

When it comes to thinking about how the angle that you're taking is new, Will explained that it is hard to come up with a new angle, but the way in which he often works around it is bringing in new people relevant to the story, rewording the news and using new locations. The content remains similar, but the story has a new take on it. When making our news package and live OB, we will think about how the angle that we take is new and different. With regards to our sustainable fashion news package, we will aim to focus on how sustainable fashion is moving forward. 

Will emphasised the importance of thinking about what the viewer wants to see. Throughout the pre-production, production, and post-production phases, we will we try to keep in mind what the viewer would want to see. Through doing this, it will hopefully help maintain the viewers' attention and allow for them to properly engage with our content and platform. 

Bias was an important topic within the talk. Ensuring that you remain balanced l is of great importance as it helps to avoid legal action and the deliverance of a one-sided narrative. Whilst creating the news packages and news brand, we will aim to follow the news agenda whilst also remaining fair and balanced throughout. In order to help us with this, we will word our script carefully and edit with caution, in a fair manner. 

With technology constantly evolving, there are new ways to acquire and use footage. The use of mobile phone footage within the news is an increasingly common occurrence. Will advised that if you yourself are not able to gain the footage needed, whether that be because it endangers your cast and crew or because you cannot travel, mobile phone footage is a great alternative. When using mobile phone footage, it is important to gain permission from the author and give them credit, by doing this, it avoids any legal action being taken. 

Will Rayner gave us an interesting insight into what it is like working in broadcast journalism, which I will be taking in to the future. With Will's advise, I will continue to challenge myself and think of different, creative ways of doing things. 

Bibliography:

Rayner, W. (2021) Talk with Will Rayner. [Online 12/10/2021]

TV News Production - Analysis of Relevant Live News Item

 Analysis of Relevant Live News Item

BBC News, Sky News, and Channel 4 News have the highest number of viewers within our target age range (16-35), with BBC News having a yearly average of 16% aged 16-44, Sky News 17%, and Channel 4 News 25% (Broadcasters Audience Research Board, 2020). With these statistics in mind, for the live news item analysis, I decided to analyse a live news item produced and broadcast by BBC News. 

At the outset of the BBC News live news item, the news anchor is shown on screen giving a brief summary of the story, with an image relevant to the story (of the sex trafficker and musician, R. Kelly) and graphics in the background. This allows for the audience to gain a visual of who the story is about (Turrell, 2021). When creating the content for our news package and live OB, we will aim to input images relevant to our news story in the background of the camera shots with the anchor on screen and/or as B-roll clips in order for the audience to have a visual understanding of the content the story entails. 

This news story allows for an emotional connection with the audience, serving its function (Turness, 2007:20 cited in Hudson and Rowlands, 2007:20). It causes them to be both shocked by the actions carried out by R. Kelly, whilst also holding onto a sense of hope and justice that he has been sentenced for his actions. 

Including a live outside broadcast (OB) within the news story provides a greater sense of involvement and audience engagement as the reporter is bringing the audience along with them into the action (Thompson, 2007:250), often fixing and maintaining their attention on the story at hand. As a result of this information, we will be including a live broadcast in one of our news packages. With our audience being of a younger generation (16-35-year-olds), they are consuming media at a faster pace, meaning that the media industry is having to work at a faster pace (Mulligan, 2017).

The news story seems to have been put sequentially, documenting the rise and fall of R Kelly. Towards the beginning of the item, the audience is shown archival footage of R Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" music video (Kelly, R. 1995, cited in BBC News 2021). This sequentiality allows for the audience to be taken on a journey, watching his career and life unfold as a result of his actions and the justice the victims managed to achieve. This allows the audience to feel involved and provides them with an insight as to who R Kelly really was and is. 

To help aid the audience into visually imagining the scenes inside the courtroom, cutaways of the courtroom sketches from the trial and conviction were used. Visual aids are incredibly vital when telling a story, as Lankow et al. said, "visualization allows us to immediately comprehend a message" and makes things, like media content, more "memorable". With this in mind, images and visual aids such as B-roll, will be included in both our live OB news item and our news package. 

Figure. 1 Courtroom Sketch of the Courtroom in R Kelly Trial (2021)

Figure. 2 Courtroom Sketch of R Kelly in Court During Trial (2021)

A medium, eye-level shot is the most commonly occurring shot throughout this news item, in both the OBs and in the studio. This allows for a sense of emotional connection and intimacy with the audience, creating a sense of empathy and shock. The audience feel as though they are a part of the story and involved in some way, allowing for audience engagement to be maintained. When shooting our news items, it is important that we try to put into practice the use of medium shots to engage the audience.

Rather than the news story being primarily voiced by the anchor and reporters, the story is guided and directed by the victims, focusing on their voices being heard. The emphasis on the story being voiced by the victims of R Kelly is confirmed at the end of the story, when Nada Tawkif (the reporter) says "for decades, these black women kept asking when they would be heard, when their voices would matter". It produces a sense of gratification and hope for the audience that the victims' voices were finally heard and that some justice was gained from their fight. In addition to this, Through having the story guided by the victims and their voices, it creates a sense of intimacy and allows for an emotional connection to be created with the audience. With the sense of hope created, it also allows for a lighter finish to a challenging news story. The live news item is then concluded with the anchor thanking the reporter and moving on to the next story. The anchor's role is to bring the news programme together, anchoring the programme (Turrell 2021). 

The content of this live news item is incredibly sensitive and looks to give a voice to R Kelly's victims. With our live news item story being about the sensitive topic of drinks spiking, it is important to keep this in mind. The interviews conducted will be led by the interviewee (a victim of spiking) so that they are given a voice and their experience isn't being taken away from. We will also include information about where viewers can go to if they have been affected by any of the issues raised/content covered.

This news item gave voice to the victims or R Kelly. Through the use of visuals, as well as audio, it delivered an important story to the audience, keeping them engaged throughout the news item. 

Bibliography:

Bailey, K. (2017) 'Gen Z Meet the Young Millennials' In: Media Insights and Decisions In Action 06/2017. At:https://www.bpi.co.uk/media/2857/bpi-era-insight-session-gen-z-meet-the-young-millenials-jun-2017.pdf (Accessed 18/10/2021)

BBC News at Ten (2021) [Television Programme] BBC One 27/09/2021. At: https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/188E6503?bcast=135349241 (Accessed 11/10/2021)

BBC News at Ten - R Kelly Coverage (2021) [Television Programme] BBC One 27/09/2021 At:https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/188E6503?bcast=135349241 (Accessed 11/10/2021)

Broadcasters Audience Research Board. (2020) What People Watch: Age Profile of news viewing. At: https://www.barb.co.uk/trendspotting/what-people-watch/what-people-watch-edition-4/ (Accessed 06/10/2021)

Fig. 1 Courtroom Sketch of the Courtroom in R Kelly Trial (2021) [Television Still, Online] In: BBC News at Ten. London: BBC. At: https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/188E6503?bcast=135349241 (Accessed 11/10/2021)

Fig.2 Courtroom Sketch of R Kelly in Court During Trial (2021) [Television Still, Online] In: BBC News at Ten. London: BBC. At: https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/188E6503?bcast=135349241 (Accessed 11/10/2021)

Hudson and Rowlands. (2007) The Broadcast Journalism Handbook. (2nd edition.) London: Routledge. At:https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429021404/broadcast-journalism-handbook-gary-hudson-sarah-rowlands (Accessed 06/10/2021)

Lankow, Ritchie and Crooks (2012) Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling. (1st ed.) New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Incorporated. At:https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/detail.action?docID=882721&pq-origsite=summon (Accessed 18/10/2021)

Thompson, Hudson and Rowlands. (2007) The Broadcast Journalism Handbook. (2nd edition.) London: Routledge. At:https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429021404/broadcast-journalism-handbook-gary-hudson-sarah-rowlands (Accessed 06/10/2021)

Turrell, B. (2021) TV News Production Lecture Series. [Kent: University for the Creative Arts 28/09/2021].

TV News Production - Second Ideas Lab (30th September 2021)

 Second Ideas Lab

Within the second ideas lab, the primary aim was to try and move forwards with our news package. 

Upon reflection, we came to the conclusion that we should change our initial live outside broadcast (OB) from the pressure on emergency services/the NHS to the subject of drink spikings. We decided to move away from our initial idea as we felt that it was less relevant to our target audience (16-35-year-olds). In a survey conducted in England from April 2017- March 2018, it was found that those aged 16-44 were more likely to visit a club, bar, and/or pub (Statista, 2018). In addition to this, between 2015-2019, 2,840 incidents of spiking were recorded by UK police forces, with roughly 2,419 being those aged under 40 (Robinson, 2019). These figures show that this is an issue that primarily affects our target audience, therefore making it relevant. We also consulted our peers, who fit within our target age bracket, with regards to their opinion and it was expressed that they'd be more likely to view and interact with the drinks spiking story. This allowed us to to make our firm decision and move away from our initial story idea. 

When feeding back to Beth with regards to the sustainable fashion story we were made to question what would enable us to present the story with a new angle. In response to this, we came up with the notion of what does sustainable fashion and the rise of it mean for sustainable fashion, in addition to the evolution of sustainable fashion. When thinking about the spiking story, it was decided upon looking at the fact that spiking continues to occur and hasn't changed much within 20 years. In addition to this, the considerable use of social media within todays society means that there are a substantial number of clips circulating and gaining large amounts of attention surrounding the topic of spiking. 

Within this ideas lab, we allocated roles to each individual in our group. As there are four of us within our group, we have had to double up on roles. I have taken on the roles of editor, script writer, graphics designer, and promo. Heather White is taking on the roles of editor and director, Ryan Perry news anchor, script writer, graphics designer, and promo, and Ethan Tombs producer and promo. 

With our stories/components decided upon, potential locations were thought about. The current potential locations are outside Tap n Tin nightclub (Chatham), the student bar at the Universities of Medway, outside a local pub, and UCA. We also considered the various clips/B-Roll that could be included within our packages, for instance, clips of glasses, footage from a primary source etc. 

Keeping in mind that our story about spiking is a sensitive topic, which could potentially effect both the audience/consumers and ourselves, we decided upon including information to direct the audience/consumers towards help and support they could get if effected by the issues raised within the news story. 

When finding contributors, we are going to put a message out on social media to try and get in contact with those who are relevant to our stories. 

Going forward, we need to work on promo and branding for our news package. I will have a go at designing a logo with similar colours to the colour palette that we have decided upon. 

Figure. 1 Cheerful Citrus Colour Palette (2019)

Bibliography:

Fig. 1 Stitch Palettes (2019) Cheerful Citrus Colour Palette. [Photograph] At: https://stitchpalettes.com/palette/cheerful-citrus-spa0155/ (Accessed 04/10/2021)

Robinson, B. (2019) 'I collapsed in the street after drink spiking' In: BBC News 27/11/2019. At: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50508559 (Accessed 01/10/2021)

 Statista. (2018) Share of  adult population going to pubs, bars or clubs as a free time activity in England in 2017/18 by age. At: https://www.statista.com/statistics/557584/going-to-pubs-bars-clubs-by-age-uk-england/ (Accessed 01/10/2021)

TV News Production - Ideas Lab (28th September 2021)

 Ideas Lab

The brief for this unit is 4-5 minute news package, within groups, for our "own branded digital online news channel" (Turrell, 2021:7). 

As a starting point, we looked at the 'age range we wanted to target' (Turrell, 2021) , which was 16-35 year-olds.  Within our group, we thought about 

News broadcasters and brands, such as BBC News, Sky News, ITV News, and Channel 5 News were looked at, particularly the different styles of delivering news each news brand had. For example, ITV news often dives straight into the news story with a collection of cutaways, B-Roll, and interviews (ITV News: Army help and HGV immigration waivers considered over fuel issues, 2021), whereas, the BBC often start the story deliverance with the news anchors and then go between cutaways, interviews, and B-Roll (BBC News: Petrol supply:Army gets ready to assist as Boris reassures drivers, 2021). 

The atmosphere regarding the deliverance of the news is also important, and differs depending on the time of day and/or the brand delivering it. 

The first story that we decided upon was the pressure on the emergency services and the impact that this is having. This idea came about through one of my peers mentioning a recent local news story regarding a man who died as a result of an ambulance being sent to the wrong address (McLennan, 2021). Through discussing this news story, it was discovered that our peer's, Ethan Tombs, father is a logistics manager at a local hospital. So, we had a potential contact who we could gain access to and interview. 

The second story that we decided upon was sustainable fashion and upcycling. This story was chosen as over recent years, sustainable fashion and upcycling have been gaining increasing popularity, particularly amongst the younger generation, with a surge in sales of second hand clothing being driven by younger shoppers (Butler, 2021), which makes it relevant to our target audience of 16-35-year olds. Another point of reasoning behind the sustainable fashion story was that we wanted a more light-hearted piece within our package, not just because a more light-hearted story is often seen to be included in most news programmes and brands, but also because more hard-hitting, negative news stories can often have a negative impact on our mental health. For example, de Hoog and Verboon found that when news is perceived as being more negative, it often tended to have a negative affect on an individuals' emotional well-being (de Hoog and Verboon, 2019). Thus, having a lighter subject would allow for a lighter atmosphere to be created. 

Bibliography:

BBC News: 'BBC Breakfast - Petrol supply: Army gets ready to assist as Boris reassures drivers'  [Television Programme] BBC One 29/09/2021. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm9tIoPMPDQ&t=1s&ab_channel=BBC (Accessed 29/09/2021)

Butler, S. (2021) 'Pre-loved' 'fashion moves from niche to mainstream as retailers join the fray' In: The Guardian 01/05/2021. At: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/may/01/pre-loved-fashion-moves-from-niche-to-mainstream-as-retailers-join-the-fray (Accessed 01/10/2021)

de Hoog and Verboon. (2019) 'Is the news making us unhappy? The influence of daily news exposure on mental states In: British Journal of Psychology 111 (2) pp.157-173. At: https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjop.12389

ITV News: 'ITV News : Army help and HGV immigration waivers considered over fuel issues, 2021) [Television Programme] ITV 24/09/2021. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHQ118-IHpg&ab_channel=ITVNews (Accessed 29/09/2021)

McLennan, WW. (2021) 'Coronavirus: Man died of Covid after ambulance sent to wrong address' In: BBC News 28/09/2021. At: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-58713381 (Accessed 01/10/2021)

Turrell, B. (2021) TV News Intro. [Kent: University for the Creative Arts 28/09/2021]. 

Turrell, B. (2021) TV News Production Handbook. Rochester: UCA Rochester. At: https://learn-eu-central-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/5d11c85256e5e/1465088?X-Blackboard-Expiration=1632927600000&X-Blackboard-Signature=NU3foMUui%2B1N2sMlFUahOs42q1ccy3S8L4RNnFvkqhc%3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=190919&response-cache-control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27NEWS%2520HANDBOOK%25202021-22.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20210929T090000Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PL5M5HI5WH%2F20210929%2Feu-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=fee1ca20af2befd31cd55b56ce37ac19352e0f3cd1020b1c0e0ac3450cc1a391 (Accessed 29/09/2021)