Introduction to the News

Look East 14/06/20 (Late): BBC Look east 14th June Late

Overview of the News Clip
The news clip I watched was the late broadcast of BBC Look East on Sunday 14^th June 2020.

Although the sequence was only five minutes long a variety of stories were covered. Firstly, the headlining story was about a man dying in hospital after being shot at a party in Harlow. This shocking story was then followed by an announcement that there had only been five Covid deaths that day in the Anglian region which is the lowest to date. This was followed by a segment of how the Norfolk Broads had been impacted by Corona virus (which was the longest story covered). After, there was a story about how non-essential shops were opening as of tomorrow (15/06/20) and related concerns to this. The next story was about how a Norwich City Football player had tested positive for Covid-19. This was followed up with a weather report which was the final segment on the show. The starting sequence features a series of video footage being played alongside the BBC News theme tune. The theme tune is serious and lacks any real mood and is easily recognisable as ‘news music’ so the audience as aware that the news is about to be shown just by the audio. Some of the footage shown in the opening sequence includes clips and local land marks such as Norwich market and also clips of an airport and train station. This shows the audience that it’s the local news due to the use of easily recognisable local places and suggests some of the topics that might be covered such as travel.

The effect of Covid-19 on the Broads Story
The story is about the impacts the corona virus pandemic has had on the Norfolk Broads and the tourism industry there. The story talks about how the broads have been affected so far by the pandemic, what the recent changes to the lockdown have allowed and the potential long term impacts the pandemic would cause to the tourism industry there. The story is first introduced by the news reporter when he states there is a concern about how the virus will impact “Norfolk and Suffolk’s biggest tourist attraction” and he goes on the mention the recent easing of the lockdown. A sequence of interviews and clips of the broads are then shown with a different reporter (Jenny Kirk)

interviewing  various different people including staff of Norfolk Broads Direct and the chief executive of Broads Authority. The main people interviewed are related to the tourist industry at the broads (James Knight and John Packman) are represented to the audience as fearful of the future and also very knowledgably about the industry. This therefore makes their opinions easier for the audience to trust and also makes the audience feel sorry for them to a certain extent ad their jobs could be at risk. Their opinion though is not entirely accurate as it is still unsure on how the pandemic will impact industries like tourism in the future but due to their experience and knowledge of their field their opinion is more valid than someone of no inside knowledge or experience of broad tourism. The interview did not ask the opinion of anyone else related to the industry such as tourists therefore the news report isn’t showing a balance of perspectives which would make the report less bias. The report didn’t follow too much of a narrative. There was a voiceover of the reporter explaining what has happened so far with interviews intertwined in this offering an industry perspective juxtaposed with the reporter only stating facts.

Newsreaders
Alex Dunlop Profile
The main news reporter in this broadcast was Alex Dunlop. Alex is a white Male born in Zimbabwe in 1963 (making him 56). He spent most of his childhood living in Africa and moved to West Sussex as a teenager. He has spent most of his career reporting and was even present for the falling of the Berlin Wall. He moved to Norfolk in 1995 and is now a regular reporter for BBC Look East for the Lunchtime and Evening News. News readers address the audience in a very general way such as using terms ‘good evening’ as this doesn’t specify a specific audience and therefore doesn’t discriminate who is able to watch the news. They also address the audience in a non-personal w

ay again to not discriminate and to also focus on the content rather than the relationship between the news reader and the audience in order to avoid being bias in any way. This is because the role of a newsreader is to just report on events and state facts without being bias and offering any sort of opinion. This is to allow the audience to make their own judgements on stories and events rather than being swayed by the opinions of the presenters. They have a duty to inform the public and should remain neutral. Because of this news readers should be serious and lack facial expression and body language when presenting in order to portray as non-bias and allow all focus to be upon the content covered.
A field reporter is a type of news report. They may specialise in a certain field such as travel or foreign affairs or they could be based at a specific location such as London or Washington. Often the news reader may cut over to the field reporter who will cover a specific story. For example, in the Look East broadcast, Jenny Kirk who covered the Norfolk Broad story is an example of a field reporter.
Another person involved in a news broadcast is a technical director. They are responsible for:
- Operating the specialist equipment required to broadcast

·       -works in a production control room of a television studio and operates the video switcher and associated devices

·        -serves as the chief of the television crew so is essentially in charge of the broadcast

Another person involved in a news broadcast is a floor manager. They are responsible for:

·       -Attending planning meetings to get an understanding of the program and content

·      - Read through the script in advance to gain an understanding of the details of the broadcast

·      - Check equipment, lighting and props (if used)

Another person involved in a news broadcast is a camera crew. They are responsible for:

·       -Being in the correct position ready for filming

·       -Operating the cameras

·       -Setting up the correct shots

News Ordering
News ordering is the way in which the broadcast is sequenced, for example, starting with the headlines and then getting into the ‘less important’ stories and having sections of the broadcast often at the end such as sports and weather. The name of the stories most likely to appear on the broadcast are known as the ‘headlines.’ These tend to be the most important and most shocking stories that require exposure. The most shocking story or the story that needs to most exposure is often played first in order to reach the largest amount of people. Sometimes things in the broadcast may go wrong or things may not work out technically meaning its really important to have the ability to think and act quickly in the news, especially from the news reader. Breaking stories may also happen during the broadcast which is another reason why quick reaction is important to remain current and be the first to report something as it happens. The term ‘slow news day’ refers to a day when there aren’t many unexpected or shocking news stories that would capture the audience’s attention. Although there is always something going on I the world, some days the affairs aren’t considered as news worthy as other events on another day. The last story on a news broadcast is often known as a ‘kicker’ and is often a light-hearted or funny story. Most of the content covered in the news is often shocking and upsetting so the function of a ‘kicker’ is to try and make sure the audience isn’t left feeling too shocked so a ‘kicker’ is commonly used as a ‘softener’ at the end of the broadcast.
News values are a way of categorising news stories and events and based on the category they fall into often determines where and when they are broadcasted. G and R came up with these categories and these include regency, size, continuity, unexpectedness, negativity and meaningfulness. Regency relates to the area in which a story effects for example Look East solely focuses on news stories effecting the Anglia region. These stories would not serve any relevance in any other part of the country and only appeal to the people from the area. An example of a continuity story is covid-19. The corona virus is an ongoing even that is affecting everyone is often always makes it as a headline story. These categories are good for determining who and how a story is received.
In a news broadcast the footage is split between actuality footage and stock footage. Actuality footage is the live footage of the news reader directly addressing the audience live whereas the stock footage is pre recorded interviews and segments that are slotted in the broadcast.