The factual
programme that I’m analysing is ‘Stacey on the Frontline: Girls, Guns and
Isis’, which is about the Kurdish fighters struggles with Isis and the news
broadcast is about secondary schools and their involved in religion on ‘BBC
News at Ten’. I will be explaining the journalism elements such as ethical and
legal issues for the documentary and broadcast.
Ethical
Issues
Accuracy – The meaning of accuracy in Journalism is recording and
reporting the right information to the audience. It has been and always will be
the journalism values and priorities in Journalism, however you cannot always
guarantee the ‘truth’, but it’s about collecting the facts right. For an
example, when writing an article or creating a documentary the journalist such
as Stacey Dooley in ‘Stacey on the Frontline: Girls, Guns and Isis’, she must
had got the correct names, places, date of birth and quotes of
the people who were filmed in the documentary. This allows
to represents inaccuracies as they informing the audience
with most important information. For an example, if they didn’t
give these simple information the audience would more likely not trust the
source of journalism. In the documentary the presenter, which is also the
journalist discovered the impact of Isis on Kurdish fighters. This included the
victims who was kidnapped by Isis,
and showed one to one interviews with some of the girls that was involved, which it was mostly based on experience so the information
that is given to the audience cannot be proven to be correct.
However, the news broadcast about the schools has been through court
cases, which in other words means the evidence is proven to be correct.
Accuracy allows the audience to have trust in your story.
Balance – Balance and fairness is properly the
most used keyword in journalism. In any kind of journalism, stories and events must be shown in a balanced layout which means
attempting to present all sides of a story since fairness is striving for accuracy and
truth in the process of broadcasting. For an example, as a journalist you
should understand both sides of the story to present a balanced piece of
journalism for the audience. An example, in the News broadcast (3:56) about the
secondary school the journalist takes the opinions from the teachers and the
students, which makes it a balance story as they have both side of the issue. This allows to give a balanced journalism for the audience,
which is important as it will affect the audience opinion towards it. For an
example, if it wasn’t balanced the audience would be influenced by the
presenter’s opinion which isn’t real journalism. For instance, in the factual programming Stacey Dooley only
focuses the attention on the Kurdish female fighter, which makes the programme
unbalance as she didn’t have the other side (Isis) views. However, as it is a
life and death situation so it’s understandable. This also links to the
representation and how different people are portrayed.
Impartiality- Impartiality in news is often about carrying facts that have been sourced and proven,
which makes it essential for bold news coverage and not about being easy and
bland. It is also known to be comparable
to balance and bias. In both case study they are not allowed to support or in
favour with any side, which is basically reporting the news or the events the
way it is. For an example, the Stacey Dooley cannot favour with Isis more than
the Kurdish fighters because it makes the factual programme unfair. However,
she does favour the Kurdish fighters more than Isis as they are an extreme
terrorist group, but this is still wrong as she shouldn’t be favouring one side
more in any kind of circumstances. The aftermath
of this is that the audience isn’t inform in the correct matters. For an
example, if Stacey Dooley explain why ISIS think they are right it will allow the audience
to make their own decide.
Objectivity & Subjectivity – Objectivity is basically judging the
situation based on fact and figures, which means not letting your own emotions
or prejudices affect you. The aftermath of this allows to strip out any personal
content from the journalist and allowing the audience to make their own
conclusion. This includes a wide range of opinions, exploring conflicting
views, avoiding any personal preference over the issues and most importantly
they must make sure that no relevant perspective is
ignored. For an example, in the news broadcast
the presenter simply just report the new without her opinion or views because in the
factual programming Stacey Dooley explains how upset she is by the events so
this allows to the audience to feel sorry for her. However, this represents the
subjectivity side of the documentary which is the opposite of objectivity.
Subjectivity is making a judgement that is
mainly based on your personal emotions and thoughts and you can see in ‘Stacey
on the Frontline: Girls, Guns and Isis’. Dooley often referee's back to her
emotion and how it made her feel, which present her being subjectivity. Often
news broadcast is objectivity and factual programme is subjectivity, and we can
see this as the BBC news just simply reporting the news without any express of
opinion. However, Stacey Dooley openly talks about her opinion and her feeling
about Isis as the events affect her judgement on the organisation, but also one of the ways
this affect her is by one to one interviews that she carries out. By asking
personal questions to the victims the journalist becomes more sad and upset by
the stories that she hears.
Opinion- An opinion
is an ethical and the core feature that is used in
Journalism especially in factual programming. It is based on
suggestions and views as a result it cannot be proven to be correct,
but means its bias. For an example, in the factual programming Stacey quotes “I
think it’s crazy I don’t know how these girls do it”, this represents her
opinion about the issue. I believe this technique is used the most as
it allows the journalists to share their own person opinion as they can see it
in real where the audience can only imagines. It adds an emotional touch to
the documentary, since in the new broadcast it is only reporting the stories so it’s
rare to hear the presenter’s opinion. For an example, the presenter on the BBC
News only shares the events without her judgement, but sometimes depending on
the stories some do such as mass shooting which can affect them.
Contract
with viewer: Contract
with viewer is basically a commitment to the audience to give them what they
have been told. For an example, in Stacey Dooley documentary it is promised to
share the Kurdish victim’s experiences with Isis and this is what the audience
gets. However, if the documentary is simply about Isis the contract is failed
or in others words broken with the audience, which gives the producers and the
presenter a bad reputation. The result of misleading
the audience will have a negative impact on the documentary even if it’s good.
This is, because they haven’t given what they have promise to the audience,
which will have a negative effect on them.
Legal
Issues:
Representation
- I
believe the factual programming represented everyone in a true way, but unfair
way. For an example, Isis was represented as evil (not by word) by
explaining how they beheaded people and etc. even though some might argue with
it. In the other hand, the Kurdish army was represented to
be the heroes and strong people. This allows the audience judgement ready-made for them so the
use of representation isn’t used in an effect way. In my opinion this is correct, but I
believe the producers could have shown both sides fairly and
equally to be more professional. By doing this the
producers would allow the audience to see both sides evenly and to
make their own choices. However, as Isis is an extreme terrorist group it is
understandable why it is unfair.
Access - The meaning of access is simply
having the permission and the right to film or write about the topic. This
often includes signing contracts and release forms of where and who you can
shoot and not shoot, but you will need to do this before gaining access. For an
example, in the news broadcast they must have signed papers and forms as they
were filming at a private school. This allow to save a lot of time if there’s a problem after the
publication. For an example, if one of the interview say I didn’t want my
footage to be use, the release forms and the access will allows to
support it. This
also means that they will need to plan out the questions to the students and
teachers, and check if they can ask them, which will be included in
the contract. As an example one of the question they asked the student were “Do
you feel like it is Muslim school?” which is a closed question and not
conversation. However, in the factual programming the questions were more open
and based on opinions. For an example, she could have asked to one of the
victims “Do you feel sad about the issue?” instead Stacey said “How do you feel
about the issue?” which is more technical and formal.
Privacy –
Privacy is very important in factual programming and often can be a
concern for producers as there is a thin line about what
can be reported. As a fact everyone has a right to their own privacy especially
in TV, which is debated in the media industry that they should
be allowed to report on anything in the public interest. Privacy includes
names, ages, location and many more. As an example if you’re under
the age of 16 you will need a parent or a guardian parental
consent form signed. This will give the journalist the right to
report their information wherever that is needed. So for the news
broadcast they would have a consent form signed to use the
footage of the students as they will under 16 years old. Locations like private
property or even a single picture will need to be signed as the
person might not want it used by anyone. An example of privacy is
used in the factual programming as one of the victim didn’t want her face
to seen show so they censored her out. It hidden her identity. This could
have been for many reasons, but I think in her case it was matter of her
safety.
Bias –
Bias is leaning to be in favour of one side than the other. Often
producers and creators will try to avoid being bias such as BBC News on ten,
but sometimes they can use their bias opinions to influence the audience views
on it, which is not professional. I believe the factual programming was
biased, because they paid more attention on the Kurdish Army than Isis. Even though
Isis is a terrorist organisation, I think the audience would have like to see
their lifestyle to understand the situation and the Kurdish army more. However,
this documentary had gained positive feedback from their audience as they paid
more attention on the Army and not Isis. - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p04f26sh/stacey-on-the-frontline-girls-guns-and-isis?suggid=p04f26sh (Factual Programme)
For this assignment I
will be analysing four different types of factual programming and discussing
the different techniques applied on them, but also clarifying how it targets
their audience. The news broadcast that I’m analysing is an extract from “BBC
News at Ten”, which covers different types of stories. One of the factual
programming that I’ll will be evaluating is “Top Gear”, which was a TV series
about cars and the other factual programming that I will be also looking at is
“Making a murderer” which is a documentary about a man who had served 18 years
in prison for the wrong conviction. Finally, I will be analysing a famous
documentary named “Plant Earth: The Complete Collection”.
Studio News Reader – Firstly, a studio news reader, also known as the
presenter, often has the role of conducting detailed research and emerging news
stories of importance. The key elements of a studio news reader is having great
communication and interpersonal skills as it will allows them to be clear to the
audience. As in the BBC news extract, we can tell that the presenter has a
large understanding of the legal and ethical issues as she presents the stories
in a clear unbiased structure. One way that you can earn trust from the
audience as a studio news reader is by the visual codes, which is the way you
present yourself to the audience. For an example, if the presenter come onto
the news with tracksuits and unprofessional clothing it is more likely that the
audience won’t believe in stories. In the BBC News at Ten the studio news
reader is dressed in a professional matter which allows her audience to have
trust in her and her news. This also allows the
audience to trust their studio news readers and believe in the stories that
they present. For an example, the reader came in tracksuits the audience is
more likely to think that they have false and fake stories.One of the code and conventions in news broadcast is
having the presenter placed in the centre of the frame, which allows the
audience to fully focus their attention on them and not on the background.
Field Reporters & Links to studio – A field reporter is known as a
side-line reporter, which basically someone reporting additional coverage
outside of the studio as an example an interview that is based on the main
stories that is discussed in the studio. This could be collected by expert’s
opinion, witnesses or even member of the public (Vox pops). For an example, in the BBC news the first
story was about religion and how it involved in secondary school student’s life
and the field reporter went on location to recorded teachers and students views
on it. These clips are often pre-recorded, but sometime depending on the events
it could be live stream to the audience.
For an example, in this new broadcast there is a live stream element to
it. Links to studio is where a TV news programme would links with another
studio which is often connection by a live stream to debate or discuss the
events together. For an example, BBC time and again connect with American news
channels discussing worldwide issues. The extract that I’m analysing does link
to studio as they connect to another presenter in Rio de Janeiro. This is an
important code and convention that most news channels use as it addresses
significant issues around the world, which also allows the audience see
different expert opinions. However, the most
allows to add a different elements to the news story and it is one way to keep
the audience in engages whiles receiving different opinions.
Mode of address to viewer- Modes of address to viewer is
properly the most important element to the programme, which is how the news is
delivered to the audience. The body language, facial expression and language of
the presenter played a part in this. For an example, the body language of the
studio news reader on BBC news at Ten is formal and professional which is
expected from BBC where MTV news or even E! News has a more causal and informal
approach. Normally the presenter will introduce themselves, which will allows
to connect directly to the audience that allows to make them feel engaged. The
code and convention of the facial expression will be normal and maintaining eye
contact with the audience, which she does. For
an example, in the BBC News the studio new reader has a formal body language
and actually language, which allows the audience to understand the professional
matter to the news. This allows to invites the audience to a serious environment
and atmosphere.
Interviews, Experts & Witnesses – Interviewing is when someone is
being asked a range of questions that is relevant to a certain topic, which
allows to understand the events more clear or simply seeing a different side to
the story. The questions can be open or closed depending on the issues, as an
example one of the question asked in the extract were “What is your view on the
having a religious school?”. This is an
open question allowing the people to express their opinion without any
influence from the presenter. As far I know anyone can be interviewed as long
as it is something that a lot of people would have interest in it. The reason
why this is done is, because it proposals a more informative, casual approach
to the news and allows it to be more personal to the audience. Witnesses is
important for the news, but can be see bias as they only share their opinion
about the story so an Expert will allows to balance the story so it doesn’t
seen as bias. They are often seen in certain case like murder or abuse has been
taken in place. In the extract that I’m analysing experts and witnesses isn’t
seen, but it is often used.
Report Structure & Actuality Footage – Reporting Structure is a great way
to not waste the audience time especially they are waiting to hear about
certain topic. It is all about the structure of the news and the importance. As
in the extract, BBC news always presents the importance news first and leaving
least popular to the end to be reported. I think is a good way of keeping the
audience engaged as they will see the main intense news at the start, which
will allow them to carry on watching. Actuality footage is the footage that you
will see as an audience on every single news. It is a footage that relates to
the topic that the studio news reader is discussing about. For an example, when
the presenter in BBC news is talking about the rapes in Africa there are clips
of victims. I believe this allows the audience to a vision of the story and to
give them a better understanding of the story and the impact of it. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt_uvf9Xq3M (News boardcast)
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