Understanding codes and conventions of factual programming for television Ethan McLaughlin

News Programming

News Readers As the name implies, these are the men and woman that read the news. They will be in a television studio, sitting at some sort of desk, looking directly at the camera and reading the news of a teleprompter. Example: Clive Myrie (BBC) https://youtu.be/kEH2BaqA0Og?t=85

Field Reporters This refers to a person on the news team doing a report outside and away from the studio This is done to give the viewer a better understanding of where a story is and what is happening A type of story you would see a field reporter would be a natural disaster like and earthquake or tsunami https://youtu.be/Pt_uvf9Xq3M?t=363

Link To Studio This is when a presenter in a studio has a discussion, debate or an interview with another person in another studio or possible in the field. Studio links are useful to news reports because they can allow more debates and interviews with people that would not be possible without the video link.

Interviewing This is when a new reporter discusses or asks questions about a certain topic or story with someone else, this other person typically has some sort of involvement with the story. Interviews are useful because they can give the audience different views and perspectives about a story. https://youtu.be/JNlFps28fqE

Mode of address This is how the news reporter speaks to the viewers; there are several modes of address: Direct- using words like “you”, Indirect- words like “public” and “people”, Formal- this is are more proper way to address the viewer, using facts and having a serious tone, Informal- this is a more relaxed way of addressing, sounds more casual and conversation like

Experts and witness Experts are people who discuss the factual side of a certain topic. Witnesses are people who saw the event that the reporters are discussing and they can give a first-hand report. Both of these are useful because they can help the viewer understand what actually happened. Witness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9v-Gb8rims Expert: https://youtu.be/dOlrsnnTsAU?t=83

Structure This is how a new report plays out and it usually follows this formula: Begin with a headline which catches the audience’s attention, then have the main lead which will have the introduction and the most important information and then other information relevant to the story. The report ends with least important information and most recent updates.

Actuality footage This is real life footage of an event or story could be filmed by the news crew or sometimes they use video filmed by eye witnesses. This type of footage is useful because it gives the viewers a genuine look at what actually is happening. https://youtu.be/cu0SQ4pTZrU?t=873