TELEVISION NEWSIntroduction to institutions – lesson one

Aims:

To know some television institutions To understand Public service

broadcasting To be able to compare and contrast

the news styles of the BBC and Fox News

Whatever is shown on the news is always the most important things that have happened today.Ways to disagree:

“I’m not sure I can agree with that. I…”

“I accept your point but….”“I understand your reason,

but…”“Yes but how would you

answer this….?”Asking a question: “yes, but

why/ how/what…..?”“I disagree because”

Ways to agree:• “Good point. I also

think that…”• “Yes, would you

agree that….?”• “That’s what I think

too. I…”• “I agree because”• “Definitely because”

Next:

On your tables, please write down as many types of TV news programme as you can. This can be as simple as BBC1 News or even go to other shows like ‘Newsnight’

2 mins

Feedback – how many did you get?

Key questions:

How much do you know about these channels/institutions?

Did you write down any foreign news channels?

Do you know the differences between reporting the news in the UK to other countries?

Next:

TV news is in constant competition for audience share – much like any other TV programme.

Providers are under the ‘Public Service Remit’ – which means they have to adhere to certain guidelines when it comes to broadcasting. Certain channels are obliged to carry a news programme, but there are rules and regulations with what can and cannot be broadcast.

Public service broadcasting – what is it?

Public service broadcasting refers to TV programmes that are broadcast for the public benefit rather than for purely commercial purposes

Public service broadcasting. On your tables – you will have some

information about PSB in the UK. Your job as a group is to summarise the information into the form of a poster with only the KEY FACTS explained. Gladly use pictures, diagrams, symbols to showcase when PSB is in the UK.

Use the a3 sheet and colours provided.

You have 15 mins.

Pick a spokesperson per group. Each group will get the chance to

reveal one fact that they have found out, which the rest of you will write down in your own personal notes.

Starter: What do we know about TV news so far?

You can talk about:

PSB Media language used in news Any news programme/clip we have

watched.

Let’s link PSB into BBC1s coverage of the news. Watch this clip: https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Io77c04bMw (first 2-3 mins)

Compare that coverage to a clip from FOX news - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVFHOusYp0A (Just first section before the edit)

BBC Coverage Fox News

What do they discuss?

Did you detect any of the presenters being biased/prejudiced in any way/discussing their own POV? What did they say?

What is the difference in the style of discussion/presenting?

How can we take that into forming an argument about institutional bias?

Answer:

Bill O Reilly’s clear bias is reflected when he stated, ’the white establishment is new the minority’. His tone and repeated discussion suggests that he feels that the white population should have control and his bias shows disdain for three groups in particular when he mentions the hispanic, the black population and women and ‘people feel like they are entitled to things’. This suggests that he believed these sections in society are materialistic, want more than they have and will only vote for Obama because they want to gain something for themselves. This clearly shows a Right winged bias in the institutions output – Fox news is known for the heavy Republican news agenda. This is not seen in the BBCs broadcast as due to the nature of PSB, the broadcaster is not allowed to show any political bias and cannot favour one side or the other. If they want to speak to a Labour candidate for some reason, they are by law obliged to ask all other candidates from major parties to attend also.

On the next slide you will be given some facts and be asked to summarise.Please make notes accordingly.

Critics of television news argue that despite the plethora of television news programmes available, audiences are still not provided with alternative perspectives on the types of news stories that should be covered and how. What does this mean?

Who makes the choice as to what goes on the news? Who decides on the top story and running order? Who decides what is omitted from the broadcast?

All of the above questions are something that you need to be thinking about over the next few case study lessons. We will come back to them at the end.

There will always be a degree of bias as it is impossible to include everything in a short news bulletin – choices are made dependant on news value and the ideology of the institution. Think about it in terms of The Sun v The Guardian – you would more likely see celebrity gossip in the sun rather than a broadsheet because of the type of brand/target audience/ideology they have.

The BBC claims they are known around the world for ‘“…accuracy, impartiality and independence…audiences should value BBC news and current affairs for providing reliable and unbiased information of relevance, range and depth.“ (BBCs Corporate message) What are the BBC suggesting?

US news, however, is allowed to show political bias and this is often at the cost of the target audience – certain viewers may get a distorted representation of what is going on in the world if news anchors consistently display their own political agenda.

Watch these clips: Clip – fox news - outfoxed

What do you think about the way Fox News report their news?

Is this part of the documentary biased?

Go back to that starter statement.

Whatever is shown on the news is always the most important things that have happened today.

Have you changed your mind about what is said on the news/certain news channels?

Write a paragraph using PEE (with an example from today’s lesson) explaining your point of view.

TELEVISION NEWSBBC NEWS - institutions – lesson two

Aims

To know some facts about BBC news To understand some of the BBCs core

news values To be able to answer a 15 test

showcasing what you know about BBC news.

Starter:

What do you know about BBC new already?

Think, pair, share.

At the end of the lesson, you are going to answer a 15 question test on the BBC News. But you are going to get to see the

test questions to this test in a couple of minutes.

Task - Marketplace activity You will be working in your 5 groups.

Each group will have some information about BBC News. 1-2 pages max.

You will need to collate that information into an A3 poster for the group.

But there’s a catch…

Your poster can only have 15 words on it… It can have as many symbols, pictures

and numbers as you want it to. I’m going to be checking that you don’t exceed the 15 word limit!

Once you have completed you poster – you will be looking at others’ work to gain more information about BBC News and help you answer the test questions.

Here is your 30 second glance at the test! Gladly organise which questions you will be looking at within your group.

Test:1. Name at least two things from the mise-en-scene of BBC News.

2. How many hours does BBC News broadcast?

3. What does breaking news mean?

4. What is the BBCs most watched news programme and who is presented by ?

5. What is the programme that the BBC have launched for 11-16 year olds?

6. What year was BBC News 24 launched?

7. What is the biggest criticism of the BBC news?

8. How much money does the BBC get from license fee payers each year?

9. Name one BBC News Magazine show that is broadcast.

10. What type of shot is used to frame the presenters?

11. Who is the target audience for BBC news?

12. What colour/s are used in the BBC ident?

13. What continually runs at the bottom of the screen during the BBc news?

14. What is synergy and how is it used on the website?

15. What shot does the news begin with ?

Ok…over to you

You have 10 mins.

Get a much information on the poster as possible

STOP!

Do you need 5 more mins?

Now… Choose a spokesperson for your group. They are

the ‘marketplace holder’. They will be asked questions about what things mean on their poster. They are not allowed to offer information – the others have to ask based on what they see on their poster.

The rest of the group will go around the class (to the various different groups) and gather information from their poster to feedback. They should make as many notes as possible. If you are one of these people, you should aim to ask lots of questions as the market place holder will not offer any questions

They will then feedback to the marketplace holder and prepare for the test.

Test:1. Name at least two things from the mise-en-scene of BBC News.

2. How many hours does BBC News broadcast?

3. What does breaking news mean?

4. What is the BBCs most watched news programme and who is presented by ?

5. What is the programme that the BBC have launched for 11-16 year olds?

6. What year was BBC News 24 launched?

7. What is the biggest criticism of the BBC news?

8. How much money does the BBC get from license fee payers each year?

9. Name one BBC News Magazine show that is broadcast.

10. What type of shot is used to frame the presenters?

11. Who is the target audience for BBC news?

12. What colour/s are used in the BBC ident?

13. What continually runs at the bottom of the screen during the BBc news?

14. What is synergy and how is it used on the website?

15. What shot does the news begin with ?

Answers 1. News desk, papers, glass of water,

2. 24 hours a day

3. Not just news that has just happened, but new information or change to a developing story.

4. BBC news at Ten and Huw Edwards

5. BBC School Report

6. 1997

7. Too much focus on domestic affairs /British news

8. Over 2 billion

9. BBC Click, Hardtalk, Your Money

10.Two shot.

11.ABC1, 35-55, educated, professional middle class demographic

12.Red and white

13.Scrolling news highlights

14.Cross promotion of other BBC created media – link to iplayer on the website

15.high angle, wide shot 

TELEVISION NEWSNEWSROUND - institutions – lesson three

Aims:

To know the Newsround case study To understand its institutional style To be able to answer a Question 1

style exam question

The BBC produces lots of different news shows… How many can you remember from

last lesson/your own knowledge?

Newsround - history The first episode was broadcast in 1972. It was presented by the iconic John Craven, who

presented up until 1989. During this era, the BBC had a monopoly on producing

high quality children’s programming that stood the test of time and remain benchmarks of educational public service television (BBC was the main provider of PSB).

It was one of the world’s first TV news programmes aimed at 6-12 year olds, a difficult audience to engage.

The mode of address of John Craven’s Newsround was informal, but friendly and welcoming with a news agenda that would interest young people. Interestingly at the time this didn’t always mean not reporting on war and conflict – in true BBC fashion, the programme sometimes clumsily soft sold hard news by using words like “bad people” and “not very nice” to avoid any essence of fear or confrontation with what was, and is, a very vulnerable target audience.

Facts: Newsroud was the first news programme in the

UK to hire a British Asian anchor in 1976. Newsround was broadcast in 10 minute slots on

weeknights on BBC1, at the end of their CBBC remit.

In 2002, the brand went under a complete overhaul to accommodate the changing technologies

Now, Newsround broadcasts five minute bulletins on the CBBC Channel at 7.40am, 8.15am, 4.20pm and 5pm and has offered a number of ‘specials’ including ‘Growing up in a War Zone’, ‘My Dyslexic Mind’, Newsround Showbiz and Sportsround.

Watch and analyse the style of newsround

News round

Set design/colour/mise-en-scene

Style of language used?

Choice of stories reported on?

Host – costume? Gestures? Facial expression?

Colour scheme – why? Gesture , facial expression and costume? Why?

Props?Age?

How is the top story covered?

What conventions of news does this package show?

What sort of story is this?

Who would it appeal to?

Question 1- Research has shown that many teenagers do not watch television news because: They dislike the formal style of TV

news They prefer to access online news There are no news programmes

available to target their age group

How far do you agree with these views on TV news? Give examples to support your views.

9-10

Excellent knowledge of videogames, referring to all three bullet points Responses are supported by a minimum of three well chosen examples Excellent understanding shown

5 marks Response is well organised and skilfully shaped to meet the needs of the audience

Written expression is accurate and clear with a varied and appropriate use of specialist vocabulary

Question 1 is marked out of 15 – This is the Level 6 criteria (top level)

You need to show your knowledge and research and write a paragraph on each bullet point

5 marks are available for writing accurately in clear paragraphs and using terminology

 Success Criteria Achieved

Target

Topic sentence links directly to the bullet point    

Responses are supported by a well-chosen examples from TV news – you use specific features from these examples – language / mise-en-scene / camera shots / conventions / lighting etc… 

   

Written expression is clear and accurate

 

   

Media terminology is used throughout appropriately.    

Final sentence links back to the topic sentence 

   

Extra contextual information to reinforce point (perhaps with another example) for A and A*

Firstly, many would argue that teens may not engage well with the formal nature of news. However, Newsround (CBBC) holds a much more informal approach and does target a younger demographic.

For example, Newsround’s branding and house style revolves around bright vibrant purple, blue and green colours, high key lighting and a smiling news presenter – all of which are not conventions of the BBCs flagship news programme. One such unconventional piece of branding is the news jingle. Electronic drum beats along with the faced paced colourful graphics indicate this is a news programme, but a different sort; the feel is much more contemporary and aesthetically pleasing. This is further shown by in the use of language of the presenters, which is less formal and the use of jargon or complex language is less frequent. All of these codes are used to make the programme target it’s audience 6-12 year olds. Teenagers may also be interested in aspects of Newround, although they may be considered a secondary audience.

Although Newround is less formal and rigid than it adult counterpart, it still may not attract a large teenage audience due to the nature of the stories covered. Furthermore, teenagers are increasingly using the internet if they want to find out breaking news – and Newsround may not cater for their interests in this respect as gaining information almost immediately is an aspect that teenagers are used to in the 21st century digitalised world. Teenagers may be interested in news, but they may just choose to access it in a different way to the previous generation.

What is Newsround’s institutional style? Using your notes, explain why you think

teenagers might not have any news programmes aimed at them through the following question. Use Newsround as an example of why that may alienate a slightly older target audience and why the BBCs output would still not target them either.

Why do you think BBC news programmes may not appeal to teens/young adults?

Use success criteria

www ebi

 Success Criteria Achieved

Target

Topic sentence links directly to the bullet point

   

Responses are supported by a well-chosen examples from TV news – you use specific features from these examples – language / mise-en-scene / camera shots / conventions / lighting etc…

   

Written expression is clear and accurate    

Media terminology is used throughout appropriately.

   

Final sentence links back to the topic sentence

   

Extra contextual information to reinforce point (perhaps with another example) for A and A*

 Success Criteria Achieved

Target

Topic sentence links directly to the bullet point

   

Responses are supported by a well-chosen examples from TV news – you use specific features from these examples – language / mise-en-scene / camera shots / conventions / lighting etc…

   

Written expression is clear and accurate    

Media terminology is used throughout appropriately.

   

Final sentence links back to the topic sentence

   

Extra contextual information to reinforce point (perhaps with another example) for A and A*

 Success Criteria Achieved

Target

Topic sentence links directly to the bullet point

   

Responses are supported by a well-chosen examples from TV news – you use specific features from these examples – language / mise-en-scene / camera shots / conventions / lighting etc…

   

Written expression is clear and accurate    

Media terminology is used throughout appropriately.

   

Final sentence links back to the topic sentence

   

Extra contextual information to reinforce point (perhaps with another example) for A and A*

 Success Criteria Achieved

Target

Topic sentence links directly to the bullet point

   

Responses are supported by a well-chosen examples from TV news – you use specific features from these examples – language / mise-en-scene / camera shots / conventions / lighting etc…

   

Written expression is clear and accurate    

Media terminology is used throughout appropriately.

   

Final sentence links back to the topic sentence

   

Extra contextual information to reinforce point (perhaps with another example) for A and A*

TELEVISION NEWSAl Jazeera - Institutions

Aims

To know about how Al Jazeera operates

To understand what news values are and why they are important.

To be able to analyse a news package from al Jazeera and comment on news values.

What do you know about Al Jazeera news?

Compare the two webpages

These were screenshotted on 30th Jan 2015 at 13.57.

Examine the similarities and differences JUST in the stories that you see appearing.

Print x2 per table.

What have you found out? Al Jazeera focus more on

_______________ news, whereas the BBC focus much more on _________________.

What would you fill the blanks in with?

Then - find examples to prove the above statement.

History: “Al Jazeera” in Arabic means “The Island”,

taken to mean the Arabian Peninsula which is an important part of the Middle East and Arab world, not least for its huge reserves of oil and natural gas – it is home to 80 million citizens. Al Jazeera English is a 24-hour English language television news channel owned and funded by the House of Thani’s Al Jazeera Media Network based in Doha, Qatar (the House of Thani is, and has been the ruling family in Qatar since the 19th century, currently presided over by Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani).

Al Jazeera’s news values are very different to the BBCs What are news values??

Galtung and Ruge (1973) came up with a list of reasons why items make the news.

They include (but there are more) :

NegativityCloseness to home

(Proximity)

Recency

Currency

Continuity

Uniqueness

Simplicity

Personality

Elite Nations Or People

Size

Fill in.

Match the definition to the news value.

Print next slide.

Bad news - involving death, tragedy, bankruptcy, violence, damage, natural disasters, political upheaval or simply extreme weather conditions - is always rated above 'positive'

stories (royal weddings, celebrations)Audiences supposedly relate more to stories that are close to them geographically, or

involve people from their country, or those that are reported that way(eg '12 Hong Kongers aboard Australia Crash Plane'). News gatekeepers must consider carefully

how meaningful a story will be to their particular audience24 hour news channels such as CNN and BBC World also rate this value very highly as breaking news is important to them. However, stories may take a while to develop and

become coherent so reporting on them straight away is not always in the best interest of the public. E.g. Royal Baby in 2013.

This is almost opposite to recency, in that stories that have been in the public eye for some time already are deemed valuable. Therefore a story - for instance about the

abduction and murder of a child - may run for weeks and weeks, even if nothing new really happens.

Events that are likely to have a continuing impact (a war, a sports tournament) have a high value when the story breaks, as they will develop into an ongoing narrative which

will get audiences to 'tune in tomorrow'.

'Dog Bites Man' is not a story. 'Man Bites Dog' is. Any story which covers a unique or unusual event (two-headed elephant born to Birmingham woman) has value.

Obvious, but true. Stories which are easy to explain ('Cat stuck up tree') are preferred over stories which are not (e.g. Palestinian conflicts)

Stories that centre around a particular person, because they can be presented from a 'human interest' angle, are beloved of newspapers, particularly if they involve a well-

known person. Some say this news value has become distorted, and that news organisations over-rate personality stories, particularly those involving celebrities ('Kate

Middleton Goes Shopping'). What do you think?

Any story which covers an important, powerful nation (or organisation) has greater news values than a story which covers a less important nation. The same goes for people.

Barack and Michelle Obama are newsworthy whatever they do.

does matter when it comes to news stories. The bigger impact a story has, the more people it affects, the more money/resources it involves, the higher its value. This is also

known as threshold

NegativityBad news - involving death, tragedy, bankruptcy, violence, damage, natural disasters,

political upheaval or simply extreme weather conditions - is always rated above 'positive' stories (royal weddings, celebrations)

Closeness to home

(Proximity)

Audiences supposedly relate more to stories that are close to them geographically, or involve people from their country, or those that are reported that way(eg '12 Hong Kongers aboard Australia Crash Plane'). News gatekeepers must consider carefully

how meaningful a story will be to their particular audience

Recency

24 hour news channels such as CNN and BBC World also rate this value very highly as breaking news is important to them. However, stories may take a while to develop and become coherent so reporting on them straight away is not always in the best interest

of the public. E.g. Royal Baby in 2013.

Currency

This is almost opposite to recency, in that stories that have been in the public eye for some time already are deemed valuable. Therefore a story - for instance about the

abduction and murder of a child - may run for weeks and weeks, even if nothing new really happens.

ContinuityEvents that are likely to have a continuing impact (a war, a sports tournament) have a high value when the story breaks, as they will develop into an ongoing narrative which

will get audiences to 'tune in tomorrow'.

Uniqueness

'Dog Bites Man' is not a story. 'Man Bites Dog' is. Any story which covers a unique or unusual event (two-headed elephant born to Birmingham woman) has value.

SimplicityObvious, but true. Stories which are easy to explain ('Cat stuck up tree') are preferred

over stories which are not (e.g. Palestinian conflicts)

Personality

Stories that centre around a particular person, because they can be presented from a 'human interest' angle, are beloved of newspapers, particularly if they involve a well-

known person. Some say this news value has become distorted, and that news organisations over-rate personality stories, particularly those involving celebrities

('Kate Middleton Goes Shopping'). What do you think?

Elite Nations

Or People

Any story which covers an important, powerful nation (or organisation) has greater news values than a story which covers a less important nation. The same goes for

people. Barack and Michelle Obama are newsworthy whatever they do.

Sizedoes matter when it comes to news stories. The bigger impact a story has, the more people it affects, the more money/resources it involves, the higher its value. This is

also known as threshold

Answe

rs

What news value does Al Jazeera clearly NOT subscribe to? The channel devotes a significant proportion of its time to covering global news that

you would not find other news networks covering in as much depth. It aims to provide a “regional voice and a global perspective” for an estimated one billion English speakers who do not share the ‘Anglo-American’ worldview. In reality, Al Jazeera English is arguably less opinionated than channels such as Fox News, BBC News 24 and Sky News, particularly Fox who have a pro American, Republican Party agenda evident in their news values.

The priority for Al Jazeera English is to report news from the developing world, which according to media theorist Adel Iskandar places the news channel as an ‘alternative’ global news network. Catchphrases and slogans used in their advertising have included “Setting the news agenda”, “All the news, all the time” and “Fearless journalism” which links with their reputation as being at the cutting edge of war reporting as during the Israel 2008-09 Gaza conflict, in the same way that CNN’s (Cable News Network) coverage of the first 1991 Gulf War was seen as unprecedented – the American President in 1991, George H.W. Bush (senior) admits to watching CNN to see what was going on in the conflict his government and armed forces were heavily involved in.

Being at the ‘cutting edge’ has often seen Al Jazeera personnel involved in controversy e.g. in Egypt, October 2013 their journalists were arrested and accused of delivering ‘false news’. In recent and shocking developments in June 2014 they were found guilty and imprisoned despite outrage from other news networks, and world leaders that is was politically motivated including BBC, CNN and ABC Australia. Now in Feb 2015, one reporter has been freed, but two others are still in custody.

Main task:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w63inCOnMkk

Watch this report.

Has anyone here heard of this scandal before today?

Why do you think that is?

This story was reported on by the BBC once in November – and then not touched since. The Guardian however (broadsheet newspaper) last spoke about it at the end of Feb. What does this suggest about Al Jazeera?

Watch the report again and analyse the style.

Cashgate scandal

Al Jazeera news – 2nd Feb 2015

What sort of pictures do they show?

What sort of things does the voice over of the news reporter say?

What news values can you attach to this story?

Why do you think they have reported on this story?

‘There are roughly 6,700 students’ – v/o suggests…

Headline and subheading suggests….

Picture depicting a classroom outside with around 100 children suggests…

Plenary Do you think that Al Jazeera offers a

good alternative voice when it comes to news?

Ways to disagree:“I’m not sure I can agree with

that. I…”“I accept your point but….”“I understand your reason,

but…”“Yes but how would you

answer this….?”Asking a question: “yes, but

why/ how/what…..?”“I disagree because”

Ways to agree:• “Good point. I also

think that…”• “Yes, would you

agree that….?”• “That’s what I think

too. I…”• “I agree because”• “Definitely because”