Other Conventions of Radio News Bulletins

In this post I am going to be looking at what else is brought to a news bulletin apart from the news presenter reading the story.

I will be looking at the following:

1. News correspondents - someone being live at the scene of the story who works for the radio station

2. Vox pops - members of the public commenting on the story. It could be 2 or 3 people after one after the other or in a group e.g. if they are friends all expressing different opinions

3. Sound bites - a piece of dialogue about a story from either an elite person or somebody prominently involved in the story - usually from a press conference or an interview that has been given, not just a passer-by

4. Outside broadcasts - usually used for a sports event whereby the location of the 'studio' is close to the scene of the event

5. Expert guests - one type of sound bite which will give credence to the story e.g. if the story is about a new treatment for cancer then a scienist or doctor would be a suitable guest

6.  Archive clip - something pre-recorded from the past. Could be from somebody who has died or from previous interviews

I listened to 3 different national radio news bulletins and found that:

• Magic included a correspondent who was at the scene of one of the where the incident had taken place
• BBC Radio 2 included an archive clip from expert, they also included correspondents for many of their stories 
• talkSport didn't use any of the above conventions

As demonstrated by talkSPORT some radio stations don't always use these conventions, however when they are used it allows listeners to hear different opinions regarding the news stories which makes the news stories more interesting to listen to, rather than just hearing stories being red by a presenter. This task has made me see the importance of using such conventions and I will try to incorporate various different ones in my own stories where appropriate.

Comparing Local Radio Station News Bulletins

From the local radio stations which I randomly selected there was only one news story which was the same and the others were all different, this was what i expected to find because I assumed that local stations would choose stories that audiences in that area would want to listen to, this is because of the news value familiarity.

Some of the stories, especially in the BBC Leicester radio station however, were not geographically loacl to the area as there were stories based in South Korea/North Korea, America and Ireland, this therefore suggests that not all local stations focus solely on news that is relevant to that area.

I will consider having stories that are local to the area of my radio station but also incorporate important news that may be in national stations as well.

Analysing Local Radio Station News Bulletin - BBC Radio Leicester at 6am

Running order:

1. The government has announced its reviewing its relationship with Oxfam after the charity was accused of covering up the use of prostitutes by its aid workers in Haiti

Facts in the story:

• Inappropriate behaviour by its aid workers in Haiti in 2011 following earthquake
• 4 Oxfam staff members dismissed following an investigation
• Oxfam failed to warn other aid agencies about the staff allowing them to take other jobs in the sector

News values:

• Surprise - shocking for audiences as they wouldn't think of charity workers to participate in such acts
• Elite people - Oxfam is a well known charity
• Negativity - the charity tried to cover up its staffs behaviour and so may face consequences by the government 
• Scandal - likely to affect the charities reputation

2. A second white house member has resigned over allegations of domestic abuse

Facts in the story:

• David Sorington stepped down after former wife claimed he was violent and abusive
• he denies these allegations

News Values:

• Scandal - being accused of violence and abuse is likely to affect his reputation
• Elite people - White House member
• Continuity - already established as news and now he has resigned
• Immediacy - recent news

3. Detectives re continuing to question a 51 year old man in connection with the murder 11 year old girl in west midlands

Facts in the story:

• Jasmine Forester was found with multiple injuries at the property in Wolverhampton yesterday morning
• Man is related to her
• Another relative of jasmines was hurt in the attack

News Values:

• Continuity - part of ongoing story
• Negativity - young girl was killed
• Balance - man who committed murder was arrested
• Surprise - he was related to the victim likely to shock audience

4. South Koreas president has held historic meeting with the sister of North Korea leader

Facts in the story:

• The encounter is being viewed as a direct challenge to president Trumps' administration which is urged against engagement with the north

News Values:

• Elite people - Presidents of North and South Korea

5. for the first time a female referee has taken charge of a top level mens rugby union match in the uk

Facts in the story:

• Joy Neville officiated at last nights pro fourteen game between ulster and southern kings in Belfast
• She was extremely excited about the opportunity

News Values:

• Personalisation - audience will be happy about this news especially females as it shows that men and women are slowly becoming equal in sports
• Elite people - Joy Neville
• Surprise - rare for a female to officiate a mens rugby game
• Immediacy - recent event

Analysing Local Radio Station News Bulletin - BBC Radio Bristol at 6am

Running order:

1. The number of people sleeping rough in the BBC Bristol area has reached a new high

Facts in the story:

• council staff have counted homeless every year seeing number grown and grow
• pressures on government to do more

News Values:

• Amplitude - homeless people affected by this
• Frequency - it is not rare for us to hear about the number of homeless people being a problem
• Negativity -  more and more people are becoming homeless
• Scandal - government is not doing enough so likely to be moral outrgae especially by the Bristol population

2. A four year old boy from west is on the road to recover after undergoing pioneering surgery at a hospital in the US

Facts in the story:

• Flown to boston with a surgeon from Bristol children hospital as an observer
• To remove tumour from his heart 
• Thousands of pounds was fundraised because surgery couldn't be performed in the UK

News Values:

• Continuity - part of on going story of 4 year old boy who needed surgery and now he had it 
• Personalisation - likely to result in positive emotional response by audience

3. The government is reviewing the work it does with Oxfam following claims that the use of prostitutes by some of the charities staff was covered up

Facts in the story:

• Inappropriate behaviour by its aid workers in Haiti in 2011 following earthquake
• 4 oxfam staff memebers dismmised following an investigation
• Oxfam failed to warn other aid agencies about the staff allowing them to take other jobs in the sector

News values:

• Surprise - shocking for audiences as they wouldn't think of charity workers to participate in such acts
• Elite people - Oxfam is a well known charity
• Negativity - the charity tried to cover up its staffs behaviour and so may face consequences by the government 
• Scandal - likely to affect the charities reputation

4. A Hollywood film documenting the life of west countryman Donald Crowhurst is in cimas this weekend

Facts in the story:

• Tells story of how Crowhurst attempted to sale across the world

News Values:

• Elite people - David Crowhurst
• Surprise - unexpected of a countryman to have a Hollywood film about him 

Comparing News Bulletins on Local Radio

I am going to to compare 2 local radio news bulletins, aired at the same time, to see if the stations present similar news stories. However, I strongly think that the stories will be completely different, relatable only to listeners in the respective local areas.

Analysing News Bulletins on Existing Radio II

Heat Radio news bulletin at 12:30pm

Running order:

1. one person has died and four have been injured in a crash on the M5

News Values:
Immediacy, negativity, familiarity


2. The foreign office isn't commenting on US claims that the last 2 members of a british islamic state jihadi group have been captured in Syria

News Values:
Familiarity, balance, elite people, surprise


3. IVF experts say more research is needed as scientists are hopeful of a brrakthrough in fertility treatments

News Values:
impact, predictability 


4. the first superhero movie with mostly black cast had its European premiere in the uk last night 

News Values:
Elite people, familiarity


5. Fans have gone into over drive as they reckon Cheryl and Liam Payne are engaged

News Values:
Elite people, predictability, continuity

TalkSPORT Radio news bulletin at 12:30pm


Running order:

1. EU's chief negotiator says there will have to be checks with the Irish border after Brexit thats if the UK leaves the EU single market and customs union

News Values:
Familiarity, predictability, amplitude


2. South and North Korea have been putting aside months of military tension athletes from both countries are marching together at the winter olympics opening ceremony

News Values:
Conflict, elite people, balance


3. Facebook is testing a 'down vote' button with a small group of people in the US

News Values:
Elite people, familiaritty


4. Riyad Mahrez has ended his self imposed exile having arrived at Leicester training ground this morning

News Values:
Elite people, predictability


5. Northern Ireland manager Micheal O'Niell has signed a 4 year contract extension

News Values:
Elite people, predictability


Conclusion
Listening to more radio's made me realise that different radio stations don't always air the same stories on their news bulletin. For example most of talkSPORT's stories were sport related whereas those on Heat Radio were more celeb based.

I proven wrong as I initially believed that all radio stations have some of the same headlines however clearly this wasn't the case.
I will therefore ensure that when I create my own news bulletin I will ensure that most of the news stories are relevant to my station genre e.g. sports/politics and my target audience however also include news stories that are of high importance and are likely to be on many other news bulletins aswell.