News

The news is something that helps to inform the general public on important updates or information about the world around them. This news can range from news on a local level (IE a village newspaper) to news on an international level (IE BBC News). Newspaper, new channels, the radio and news websites are all ways for people to keep up to date with current affairs.

Studio news readers - A studio news reader is someone who will be featured on the news channel, they introduce the programme and introduce the headline of the story. They are always based in the studio, where a script will be rolling behind camera for them to read, unless they are conducting an interview with a guest on the show.

Field reporters – A field reporter is someone who instead of being in the studio reporting the news, they are out on location reporting with a camera crew. The locations they report from may simply just be in front of landmarks or they might be reporting from beside the crime scene, giving a live update to the news crew in the studio. Their job is usually used to help reinforce a point or story being told by the studio news readers. Sometimes the field reporter might have an eye witness of a crime with them, whilst interviewing them on camera, or they might be interviewing a professional or expert in the subject of that specific news story.

Links to Studio – The links to studio are usually the way that the field reporter indicates that they have finished their report, so that they know to cut back to the studio. This indication is usually something along the lines of the reporter saying their name, then the name of the channel they report for. Once that has been said, the studio know they can thank the reporter, then continue on telling the rest of the news.

Mode of address to viewer – The mode of address is the way that the news reporters introduce and display themselves in terms of their body language, clothing, speech and general presentation. The mode of address will always be suited towards the audience that the show is aimed at, and it determines the format and feeling of the programme. For example, you would expect a very professional and formal approach to reporting the news  where everyone is neatly dressed from a company such as the BBC as it is aimed at every member of the public, whereas you might see a more laid back and informal presentation on a show like Mock the Week, where despite technically covering modern and current affairs, they’re still criticising or joking about the news.

Interviewing – An interview is a conversation between two or more people, where questions are asked with the intention of receiving answers to help back up a point, or to gather a deeper understanding about a particular subject, topic or person. Interviews on the news usually only occur if the person or persons being interviewed are relevant to the subject of the news story. For example, if the BBC were reporting about a crime that had recently occurred, they might interview the highest ranking police officer involved in the case to help convey the news to the public.

Experts and witnesses – Linking into the previous point about interviewing, experts and witnesses are usually used as part of reporting the news due to their deeper insight into the news story or the topic of discussion. Some might consider the use of witnesses to be biased, as they are only sharing their side of the story, whereas an expert will have the backed-up information and facts to support their argument. The news usually used either one of these to help support the news story that is currently being reported on.

Report structure – The report structure determines what stories are told in what order based on their importance or whether it concerns the most number of people. This means that all of the important news story are told first, and that the major headlines are covered earlier on in the programme, and the less important or less interesting stories are told much later on, which means that people can tune out of the programme once they’ve heard the most important stories. Sometimes a news story will appear whilst they’re on air, and if it ends up being more important than the current story being told (for example, an earthquake starting in another country), then this story would be considered “Breaking News” which can push back the predetermined report structure.

Actuality footage – Actuality footage is the filming of events as they take place. There is no definitive structure that holds this footage together. This footage is usually the live filming of major events, for example when the London Riots were occurring, they were filming live at the scenes of the riots and broadcasting them from their news channel for the public to witness, though it can sometimes be used in the future as archive footage to report on a future news story (such as the year anniversary of the royal wedding).

Documentary - Types

Realism – Realism in a documentary is when the action that takes place is completely natural, and nothing is staged or scripted for the purpose of the film. Realism is often used simply just because helps keep a natural fluidity to the documentary. Actuality footage is used rather than staged footage. Handheld cameras are often attributed to this type of documentary as well as planned interviews with people or professionals relating to the subject or topic of the film, supported with facts and statistics to help boost the argument. Realism footage may also include footage of the making of the programme, to further prove that it is in fact natural action taking place.

Dramatisation/Docudrama – A dramatisation is when a real story or event is re-enacted for the purpose of engaging the audience whilst also informing them on the subject matter in a much more stylistic and cinematic approach. The story would be scripted, choreographed and edited purposefully to present the story to the audience, and allow them to draw their own conclusion on the events that took place. Dramatisations help the audience to envision what might’ve happened and get an idea in their heads of how the events described went down. Often this form of documentary comes under scrutiny due to there being a lot of room for speculation and the filmmaker’s ability to alter the story to fit their opinion on the matter and it could therefore then be considered subjective or bias towards the filmmaker and there are often concerns over whether or not the story depicted is the reality of what occurred. 
A great example of a dramatization in recent TV history would be the 2016 show “American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson” which was a biopic about the events that occurred in 1994 when OJ Simpson’s ex-wife and friend were found murdered at her house, and the trial against OJ that followed that in 1995. Whilst this show is based on a book by the name “The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson” (1997), it was designed to explore the entire span of the murder case and shine some light on a historical event that not many would necessarily know about in extensive detail. Some of the real people featured in the show praised the actors’ portrayal of them as characters in a story such as Marcia Clark, who’s character was played by actress Sarah Paulson, whereas Fred Goldman (the father of the second victim, Ron) expressed his disappointment with the lack of coverage of Ron’s death in the show.

American Crime Story – The People Vs OJ Simpson Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAyn1gDBc7s

Narrativisation – Narrativisation in a documentary is a way to help tell the story to the audience and help make sense of the events being portrayed in the documentary. The filmmaker will take something that is unstructured and convoluted and structure it into a narrative. You will usually find that there is a single-stranded linear narrative to help keep the story less complicated. Often there is a narration to help carry the story, and explain what is occurring on screen, giving background or more in-depth detail to the narrative or subject being discussed whilst leading the audience towards the filmmaker’s preferred interpretation or reading of the subject. The facts are taken and made into a format that is more accessible and easier for an audience to follow, hence why it works well in documentaries. Sometimes you will find that the characters in the narrative are often over-the-top or exaggerated for the purpose of increasing the dramatic impact of the film.