The task we were assigned was to create a detailed and illustrated report on the differences and comparisons of a variety of news bulletins. We have to look closely at the differences in the ‘form’ or ‘treatment’ of news stories and the ‘styles’ in which they are presented. Finally the report should seek to critically compare these bulletins in terms of news values with reference to audience and station’s agenda. The three news bulletins I decided to evaluate were Radio 2, Wave 105 and Capital South Coast. All of them are unique to themselves and each have different elements which are similar as well as different. I choose these three news bulletins as I felt they weren't completely identical; the stories they report vary from local and worldwide, the style of reporting differs from slow paced, more understandable to rapid and prompt. Also the layout of stories told all differ (some radio stations start with sport stories whereas others begin with shocking worldwide stories) and finally the type of readers alter from older more professional people to young, chatty laid-back readers.
may may a difference, or not.
The third news bulletin I evaluated was Capital South Coast which is a commercial station. This is a regional radio station owned by Global Radio as apart of the Capital Radio Network. The location it broadcasts is around South Hampshire from the studios in Segensworth Fareham. Captial and Wave are both broadcasted from the same location. Capital South Coast is a station apart of eleven other independent contemporary hit radio stations under the ownership of Global Radio. All of the capital stations combined serve an audience of 7.1 million listeners, making Capital one of the most successful and popular station brands in United Kingdom. Capital was the UK's first national, commercial, hit music radio station. The station was first launched in the South of England in 1975, but under the name of Radio Victory. It only first only transmitted to a small area around Portsmouth before getting an extended license which included Southampton and Winchester. The station went under multiple revamps and getting taken over by a variety of different companies before it was rebranded on the 3rd of January 2011 as part of a merger of Global Radio's Galaxy and Hit Music networks to form the nine-station Capital radio network. The rebranded station kept their popular breakfast presenters Zoe Hanson and Paul Gillies who have know become in a way a household brand as every listeners recognises and relates to the presenters. Capital South Coast has a Contemporary Hit Radio format as the most popular music genre played is current hits, chart music, mostly pop songs or songs from genres like indie or dance but are currently popular in the charts. The target audience for Capital South Coast is the 14-34 year old age group as the presenters mirror this age, the stories told in the news bulletins are ones which would interest this age group and the music they play are aimed at more younger people. The sister stations (radio and/or television stations operated by the same company) of Capital South Coast are Classic FM and Heart Solent. Radio industry statistic measuring website RAJAR says that Capital South Coast has an audience share of 6.4% from June 2013.The Radio 2 news bulletin was around 5 minutes long, it was aired on the 2nd of September 2013 and the airtime was 8pm. The bulletin began with upbeat, catchy soundbite which immediately catches your attention and in a way uplifts your mood because its so positive and uplifting. This is the only type of music played throughout the bulletin which shows that this radio stations main focus is to purely address news to the audience as clear and understandable as possible. This relates to the target audience of Radio 2 being older people as stereotypically they are more interested in news and need to hear it as clearly as possible. The presenter introduces the news bulletin by saying the radios stations name, the time and the day which is just a good way to start a bulletin rather than straightaway start discussing multiple stories. He also says 'good morning' which is formal but chatty way to directly inform the listeners and make them feel welcomed and actually important; it makes you feel as if the station want you to hear these stories as its more addressing then just someone speaking about loads of stories for 5 minutes. One thing which the presenter didn't do was actually introduce themselves, by doing this it would make it seem more personal and the listeners would tend to find further reliable. The first story was about US President Barack Obama which although has a lot of public interest as Obama is a very important public figure isn't local or national news but rather world. The story was about Barack Obama launching an intense lobbying effort to win congressional support for US military intervention in Syria. It's the main story and later discussed further in the news bulletin. The second story was a mixture between local and national as it refers to GCSE exams and the fact student would be faced with retaking papers if they don't achieve a minimum standard. This story would interest the listeners as the average audience is 35 year olds and over who a lot of them would have children so a story about schools and GCSE's is attention-grabbing. The third story is about scientists believing European men have grown four inches taller in a century, this story isn't breaking news and if somebody didn't hear about it then it wouldn't particularly matter but on the other hand is interesting and adds a lighthearted element to the news bulletin. Stories like this are usually used as a break between hard hitting stories; if a news bulletin was filled with really upsetting and distressing stories it could be slightly overwhelming so the use of laid-back stories makes it more relaxed. However this particular story would interest the average audience, one it being over 35 year olds but also the fact Radio 2 is aimed at males which the story is about; it doesn't refer to females height increasing purely just males so would engage the audience. The presenter then refers back to the first story which suggest the first three stories told were the main stories. It goes into more depth and detail not just referring to what Obama said but also other people, its a lot more informative and caters for people wanting to hear more knowledge about the story. Statistics and facts were also used which makes it seem more intelligent. During the bulletin a lead-in is used where the presenter switches over to Mark Mardell from Washington who is a presenter for The World This Weekend and correspondent, using someone like this makes the story seem more trustworthy and believable as the listeners are hearing first hand knowledge from somebody who has expert understanding. The presenter then refers back to the second story and again in more detail, the presenter refers to quotes from important people like ministers which adds more depth to the stories. Then uses a lead-in to an educational correspondent where they share more information and gives their personal view on the story. An educational correspondent is seen as expert on the topic which is better than just using the presenter as they know more about the area; more information means more believable. The presenter then starts discussing new stories which the listeners hadn't already heard. The first new story was about an arrest of five teenage boys after an arson attack which destroyed Lancashire College on the eve of the first day back of term. This stories wasn't discussed in great detail which suggests it's a recent story with a lack of information, it also doesn't use any lead-ins, experts or soundbites. The second new story was about TUC lodges complaints against the government for failing to give equal pay to agency workers. This story would engage the average audience as the age of agency workers are similar to the age of radio 2 listeners. Also any news which refers to the government usually would be public interest for middle aged people. The presenter leads on to a business correspondent who has expert knowledge on the topic which makes the story more interesting as it doesn't just have the presenter discussing it. The business correspondent also refers to the publics opinion which allows the listeners to relate. The next story is about Vodafone selling 45% interest in the company for $130 billion to Verizon, this story would aim at the more younger audience as they stereotypically have more of an interest in technology. The news bulletin then refers back to the story about European men growing 4 inches taller in 100 years. Two lead-in's are used as expert Timothy Hatton, Professor of Economics at the University of Essex discusses the story in more detail, then switches to Sue Gardner who adds a personal element by referring to an actual person who proves the scientific theory. By using these experts it makes the story more engaging and allows the listeners to understand more information. The final story which is in the Radio 2 news bulletin is about global warming and how crop pests and diseases are moving towards the poles due to the warmer temperatures. The story purely has the presenter talking about as it not specifically public interest but purely used to nicely end the news bulletin on a topic which is serious but not harrowing. The final part of the bulletin uses a lead-in to a weather broadcaster where they discuss the weather forecast, nearly all news bulletins will discuss weather at some point as its something which the listeners usually want to be aware of. The news presenter ends the bulletin by saying 'and thats the bbc news, its 5 past 8', this is a good way of ending the news as its personal but still formal (like the style of Radio 2) and allows the audience to feel like they've been directly addressed. Through my primary research I emailed Bob Shennan who is a British radio executive and Controller of BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6 Music. I got a response back from James Hermon who is an assistant editor in the Radio Newsroom at the BBC. James Hermon told me the following information; the Radio Newsroom provides the news on the hour for Radio 2, Radio 4, 6 Music and more than 40 local radio stations. They also write morning, lunchtime and evening summaries for Radio 3. Every hour of every day, one of our journalists is producing news for at least one of those networks. The biggest audiences are on Radio 2 and the biggest single piece of journalism is the Six O’Clock News on Radio 4 every evening. He also told me the news output on Radio Two is as follows: three minute summaries on the hour, with three pieces of audio, and, ideally seven stories. The bulletins at 8am, 9am, 1pm and 5pm are five minutes long. The summary forms what is known as "the rip and read" - the news sent out, at twenty to the hour, to every BBC local station. More than 12 million listeners. That's roughly one-in-five of the population. And that's in a media world that is fragmented and becoming increasingly customised as a result of the internet. A sizeable chunk of the population is choosing to listen in to Radio Two. It would suggest, from a news perspective, one reason is because it is familiar and trusted.
The Wave 105 news bulletin was around 3 minutes long, it was aired on the 2nd of September and the airtime 8pm. The bulletin began in a similar way to Radio 2 with a lively and energetic soundbite, through the soundbite a voice-over says the radio stations slogan 'on fm, on digital and online, the south coasts biggest radio station... Wave 105' which straight away addresses the listeners and tell them what station it is but also gives them confidence that they have chosen a good and successful radio station to be informed by. The radio presenter then makes her introduction with 'It's 8 o clock, I'm Liz Allaway', this is something Radio 2 didn't. Although in the first news bulletin the presenter did inform the listeners with the time of day but not the presenters name. By Wave 105 having the presenter introduce themselves it makes it more personal and trustworthy as your more likely to believe what people say if you have some personal information about them. The first news story which is discussed is national and about the death of Sir David Frost. This story would have a lot of public interest as Sir David Frost was a very well known public figure. The presenter discusses it in great detail by informing the listeners how he died 'Veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost has died from a heart attack while on a luxury liner from Southampton to Lisbon – far from specialised medical assistance.' The presenter uses a lead-in to friend of Sir David Frost, British journalist and television presenter Esther Rantzen who further discusses the sad death by talking about personal moments 'he was an extraordinary man, he loved communicating and never had take skin or a mask off he was who he was'. This could be seen as a Vox Pop. Or though the listeners wouldn't need to know this information it adds a more respective touch and allows the audience to relate to this saddening death. The second story is about the Prime Minister David Cameron's pressure mounting to call a second vote military action against Syria, this story goes into great detail as its a story which has a lot of public interest. In the Radio 2 news bulletin the presenter only spoke about US President Barack Obama's recent updates regarding Syria and not anything about David Camerons. Whereas Wave 105 discussed both, using national and world news. The presenter uses a lead-in to Boris Johnson (Mayor of London) where he further discusses the story, due to it being such public interest as it affects pretty much everyone in the country it would be the main story which goes into such depth. The next story is lead up from the one previous as it was about Barack Obama launching an intense lobbying effort to win congressional support for US military intervention in Syria, which is the same story as Radio 2 so shows that although both stations may have different target audiences a story which involves the government has public interest to everyone. The presenter uses a lead-in to Republican center Michael Burgess who allows the audience to have there own opinion on the topic as it gives a flip side to the story by not completely agreeing with Obama. This makes the article less bias as it adds a different element to the story. The next story is local, which is the first local story discussed in the news bulletin. Its about a 53 year motor cyclist dying on the A350, which is an A3 in the area in which Wave 105 is broadcasted so would be a big interest to the listeners. It goes into great detail by describing the incident, the people involved and sadly confirming the death. Although this story is extremely upsetting it wouldn't be in news bulletin which doesn't specifically cover that local area as hundreds of people die everyday in car accidents which is why they can't be spoken about in every news bulletin. This is probably reason it wasn't discussed in Radio 2. The next story is also local and is about a protester dressed as Spiderman causes Wessex Way to close on the last day of Air Festival. The presenter said that the A338 was closed in both directions by police after responding to reports of a man dressed as Spiderman hanging from the flyover. Both these stories are local which would have a lot of interest with the listeners as people like to be aware of world, national but also local news. The next story is about free childcare for families earning less than £16,190 a year, its only discussed by the presenter but uses quotes from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg which adds believability as it uses an important source. The next story is about thousands of registers being sold to pizza delivery shops, estate agents and marketing firms over the past five years. The presenter refers to privacy campaigner Nick Pickles who gives his expert knowledge and opinion on the topic; this adds depth to the story and makes it more interesting. The last story is about the Bournemouth Air Festival, the presenter goes into great detail, discussing the event and some of the highs and lows throughout. By ending the news bulletin with this story makes it seem positive and optimistic, also using a local story finishes the bulletin in a personal way; its about something which is closer to home and the listeners can relate. The bulletin ends with the presenter saying 'for the latest updates follow our twitter @wave105' by the presenter saying this it aims it more at a younger audience as younger people use social media a lot, and in this day and age the majority of media platforms like television and radio will use some form of social media to connect with the youth. The only soundbites used were at the beginning and at the end which were both energetic guitar sounds that make the news bulletin more lively and upbeat. The Wave 105 news bulletin was a lot of different to Radio 2 as it was more fast paced and quick. The presenter told the stories in a faster way and in slightly less detail which suggest that the audience for Wave 105 aren't as interested as hearing every single piece of information like Radio 2. The first news bulletin was a lot more slower and the presenter spoke in more understable voice which could be due to the audience of Radio 2 being older and needing to understand the presenter more. The type of stories in Radio 2 weren't so local as the majority of them were national or world, this is because Radio 2 doesn't broadcast to just a certain area as it broadcasts the whole of United Kingdom. Whereas Wave 105 discuss more local stories as it only broadcasts around the South Hampshire area.
The final bulletin I looked at was Capital South Coast which was around 2 minutes long. The bulletin started in a similar way to Radio 2 and Wave 105 with upbeat, happy music and then introducing the radio station. A voiceover was used to introduce the radio station by saying 'Capital Breakfast', the presenter doesn't introduce themselves or say the actual name of the radio station like Wave 105 but rather goes straight into informing the listeners with news. This was done because this bulletin is only 2 minutes long so needs the all the time needs to be used on the different stories, this is also why they wouldn't be as many stories or said in great detail. The first story is about sport and Gareth Bale becoming the most expensive football player in the world after moving from Tottenham to Real Madrid for £85.3 million. News bulletins don't usually tend to start with sport stories as only a certain part of the audience would be interested in it. Also the first stories of news bulletin usually are headline hitting or of immense public interest. Capital South Coast is the only news bulletin which discusses a sports story which could suggest as the audience age group is 14-34 year olds they'd be mostly likely interested in a hearing a story of this style rather than a murder investigation. The second story which was also used in Wave 105 was national and about pressure mounting David Cameron to call second vote on military action against Syria. It's an important story and something which has interest to all ages as it has an effect on everyone which is why it was featured on all three of the news bulletins. The presenter uses a lead-in to British politician Michael Thomas Hancock who adds relevancy to the story and make it more understandable as its not just being told by the presenter. The next story is another political story and is world news. The story is about US President Barack Obama launching an intense lobbying effort to win congressional support for US military intervention in Syria. This story is a lead up from the one before that which makes people understand the situation with the government and Syria. This is another story which was in the Radio 2 and Wave 105 news bulletin, its a public interest story which is why its widely discussed. The next story is national and about Two Coronation Street actors in court accused of separate sexual offence chargers against children. One being Michael Le Vell going to trial and Bill Roache due before magistrate. The story would interest the listeners as people between the age of 14-34 tend to watch Coronation Street so a shocking story like this would engage them. This story wasn't spoken about in any other news bulletin even though its a national scandalous story but most likely because its not aimed at Radio 2 or Wave 105's audience. The next story refers to politicians and celebrities playing tributes to Sir David Frost, Capital South Coast doesn't go into as much detail as Wave 105 or uses any lead-ins. This was because Capital South Coast only had a 2 minute bulletin which is why it couldn't go into as much depth. The last article was about the musical Wicked coming to Southampton in Mayflower Theatre between October and November 2014. This story is the only one which is local and would interest the audience as its the type of musical more younger people would want to see. The news bulletin ends with a cheery and youthful soundbite before a weather reporter starts addressing the weather which is sponsored by Kleenex Balsam tissues. Capital South Coast's news bulletin is the most different out of the three as one its a lot shorter; Radio 2's news bulletin was double the length of Capital. The last news bulletin also didn't go into as much detail with their stories and most of them were discussed in overview style by just reporting the main parts. Capital also only reported on one local story whereas Wave 105 reported on near 5 or 6. Radio 2 and Wave 105 had the most similar type of stories as they reported on a mixture of world, local and national. Wave 105 and Capital South Coast had a very similar style of reporting; both of the presenters reported in a more chatty and informal way unlike Radio 2. Capital South Coast's new bulletin was very fast and the presenter didn't speak as fluently as Radio 2's presenter because in Capitals bulletin the presenter had two minutes to inform the audience on as many stories as Radio 2 had in five minutes.
Radio 2, Wave 105 and Capital South Coast all connect with their audiences in different ways. As Radio 2 is a BBC station its apart of the BBC Trust, which is created for BBC viewers, listeners and user to rely on to reflect the many communities that exist in the UK. These communities may be based on geography, on faith, on language, or on a shared interest such as sport. The BBC will stimulate debate within and between the communities of the UK, and encourage people to get involved with their local communities. The BBC Trust's priorities is split into six specific areas which is to represent the different nations, regions and communities to the rest of the UK, cater for the different nations, regions and communities of the UK, bring people together for shared experiences, encourage interest in and conversation about local communities, reflect the different religious and other beliefs in the UK and provide output in minority languages. Radio 2 connects with the audience by following the rules of the BBC Trust and ensuring a rounded representation of the nations on regions on the news is done. On the BBC's official website under the section of 'Inside the BBC' I found out the BBC's network news output will effectively report the changing face of the UK and the realities of devolution. It also will reflect perspectives from across the nations and regions and explain policy differences. The BBC has worked harder in the recent years to improve the accuracy, balance and relevance of its UK-wide news coverage. From my primary found from James Hermon he told me that the average listener is 51. Almost a half of Jeremy Vine's audience, for example, is over 55. Roughly 41 per cent of the audience is aged between 35 and 54. Most listeners live in the south of England. They are likely to read newspapers such as the Daily Mail and the Sun. I researched Radio 2's audience and found statistics published by RAHAR. In a year the station weekly audience grew to 14.94 million, from 13.90m and a record 15.44m last quarter. The station also had a share of 16.9% from 15.6 last year and 17.2% last quarter. Further more The Chris Evans Breakfast Show drew an audience of 9.35 million listeners every week – compared to 8.55m last year and 9.75m last quarter. Wave 105 connects with their audiences through competitions and presenter led shows which involve the listeners. Radio 2 which rather focuses more on music then competitions and presenter shows (which they still do just not as much as Wave 105) is different to Wave 105 as the majority of the radio air time embrace multiple different competitions and presenter led shows. By using these techniques it creates money for the station as the more people who enter the competition the more money is being made, but it also gets the audience involved and creates greater popularity for Wave 105. I researched Wave 105's audience by using media statistic website 'Media.Info' which showed me 50.3% of the stations listeners are females and 49.7% are males. The most popular age range for listeners is 25 to 55 year olds which is aimed at more older people than Capital South Coast. I also discovered the total listeners per week is 360,000, per listeners listens to 12 hours per week, total hours listened per week is 4,325,00, the market share is 11.8% and the total population covered is 1,811,000. Capital South Coast connects with their audiences through a similar way to Wave 105; competitions and presenter led shows which involve the listeners. Capital South Coast's audience tune into the radio station for the music and the brands lifestyle. They are a mainstream early majority audience which will always be among the first to know about new hit music which is why Capital South Coast uses this to their advantage by connecting with them through playing the latest and current hits. I researched Capital South Coast's audiences and found the company which owns the radio stations website (http://www.thisisglobal.com) which informed me with information regarding Capital South Coast. The radio station is owned by Global, which also owns Heart, Classic FM and Gold. I found out the majority of the audience is female with 58% over 42% males and 59% of the listeners are between the age of 14-34 year olds. Capital listeners would be huge fans of popular music entertainment, very media savvy/ and on trend with celebrities which is why Capital South Coast would connect with the audience by keeping the updated with the latest glamour, glitz and gossip. Through research from RAJAR I also discovered Capital South Coast has increased its market share from 4.9% to 5.5%. and Gillies and Emily at breakfast have increased their reach quarter on quarter to 113,000.
Bibliography
Website
Breaking news
WIKIPEDIA
Breaking news
In-text: (Wikipedia)
Bibliography: Wikipedia,. 'Breaking News'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
Website
BBC - Radio 2 - Home
BBC.CO.UK
BBC - Radio 2 - Home
In-text: (Bbc.co.uk)
Bibliography: Bbc.co.uk,. 'BBC - Radio 2 - Home'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
BBC Radio 2
WIKIPEDIA
BBC Radio 2
In-text: (Wikipedia)
Bibliography: Wikipedia,. 'BBC Radio 2'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
Adult Contemporary Music Chart | Billboard
BILLBOARD
Adult Contemporary Music Chart | Billboard
In-text: (Billboard)
Bibliography: Billboard,. 'Adult Contemporary Music Chart | Billboard'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
CAPITAL
Capitalfm.com
In-text: (Capital)
Bibliography: Capital,. 'Capitalfm.Com'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
Capital FM
WIKIPEDIA
Capital FM
In-text: (Wikipedia)
Bibliography: Wikipedia,. 'Capital FM'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
Wave 105
WIKIPEDIA
Wave 105
In-text: (Wikipedia)
Bibliography: Wikipedia,. 'Wave 105'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
WAVE 105
In-text: (Wave 105)
Bibliography: Wave 105,. 'Wave 105'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
RAJAR.CO.UK
RAJAR
In-text: (Rajar.co.uk)
Bibliography: Rajar.co.uk,. 'RAJAR'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment