Unit 41: News Production for Radio

LO2

What is news?

It’s something that is new or current!

It’s the things that people want to know about or need to know about.

News covers many different things – health, conflicts, disasters, education, sports, entertainment etc…

Legal Requirements for Radio Journalists

Handling of stories involving minors

Contempt of court

Libel and defamation

Coverage of elections

Official Secrets Act

OFCOM

BBC Editorial Guidelines

Stories Involving Minors

If you’re reporting proceedings at a youth court, you must not publish: 

Their name

Their address

Their school

A photograph or other pictures

Or any particulars likely to lead to the identification of ANYONE under 18 who is involved in the proceedings. 

In other courts, there is no automatic restriction, but the court can make an order preventing the identification of a child involved in the proceedings. 

Contempt of Court

Contempt of court is when somebody is deemed to have interfered with the ‘administration of justice’.

This may take several forms but each of them will result in justice itself not being properly carried out. It is for this reason that contempt of court is seen as such a serious offence and which results in possible prison sentences.

E.g. in 2011 The Daily Mail were found guilty of contempt, after they published a photograph which showed a man who was on trial for murder posing with an automatic pistol.

Libel and Defamation

Libel and defamation – A law that protects an individual’s reputation - it allows people to sue for damage to their reputation

Something is defamatory if it:   Lowers them in the estimation of right-thinking members of

the public; and/or Causes them to be shunned or avoided; and/or Disparages them in their office, trade or profession; and/or Exposes them to hatred ridicule or contempt.

(bbc.co.uk)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13751454

Coverage of Elections

Impartiality is built into broadcast codes; The Ofcom Broadcast Code has detailed rules on impartiality that broadcasters must follow during election and referendum periods. One of the rules found in Section 6 of the Ofcom code state that:

Equal coverage must be given to all of major parties during the election period, and broadcasters must also consider giving appropriate coverage to other parties and independent candidates.

The BBC do not need to follow these codes, they do however have their own guidelines on impartiality.

In 2008 Ofcom fine Talksport £20,000 for breach of the impartiality requirement after a presenter directly encouraged listeners to vote for Conservative candidate Boris Johnson in the London mayoral elections, whilst criticising Labour candidate Ken Livingstone

Official Secrets Act

This is a law that protects Government secrets that would damage national security if they were made public.

e.g. during conflict – if any strategies were leaked it could put the entire country at risk

This has long been seen as a controversial Act, due to the fact it allows the Government to keep things from the public. No journalists have been successfully prosecuted under this legislation for many years, however some of their sources have been. In 2007, David Keogh and Leo O’Connor were jailed for six months for leaking a memo between the Prime Minister and President.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6639947.stm

BBC Editorial Guidelines

As mentioned before, the BBC follow a set of rules specifically for them. This is due to them being a public service broadcaster and having to represent the licence fee payers equally and fairly.

Task 1

Define the following and provide an example of a story on you Weebly pages.

- Handling of stories involving minors

- Contempt of court

- Libel and defamation

- Coverage of elections

Find the Ofcom and BBC guidelines on the handling of stories involving minors and post on your Weebly page

Ethical Requirements for Radio Journalists

Serious and sensational stories – This is when news stories are over-hyped in an attempt to increase listener numbers. This can be done by appealing to people emotions or purposefully being controversial.

Quite often, these stories are not ones that affect listeners lives, but easily attract attention.

Invasion of privacy – Everyone has a basic right to privacy, however stories about people’s private lives appear in the news on a regular basis. These stories are often justified as being in the public’s interest. There has always been a debate as to what is classed as being in the publics interest as there is no set definition about what this covers.

Task 2

Find an example of a sensationalist story and explain why it is sensationalism.

Analyse the ethical issues that surround the reporting of this story

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19595221

Find another example of an invasion of privacy / public interest story. Write an argument both FOR and AGAINST the publishing of the article.

News Values

Story priority – This is the order news stories are presented in during a broadcast.

Immediacy – The speed in which the story is reported on. Everyone wants to ‘break’ the news.

Follow up angles – when more is reported on an existing story. Includes more detail such as new facts, developments, reactions etc.

E.G.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2473971/3-Roma-Gypsies-arrested-ANOTHER-child-kidnapped-Greece.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2476772/DNA-test-confirms-Bulgarian-woman-IS-natural-mother-blonde-haired-Maria.html

News Values

Availability of audio – having audio clips to support a news story that is being broadcast helps to add more depth and reliability to it. It helps the listener to establish that the story is truthful and also makes the news more interesting to listen to.

Human interest – when a story about a person or group of people is covered in an emotional way. It helps to gain attention by making the audience relate to the story and often sympathise with the people involved. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3045468/Up-700-feared-dead-migrant-boat-sinks-Libya-newspaper.html

Public interest agenda – providing information on matters of significance to a number of different audiences. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/06/mid-staffs-hospital-scandal-guide

Task 3

Listen to a recent news bulletin and analyse its content. You should look at

- story priority – what are the stories and what order are they in? WHY?

- immediacy – how recent are the news stories? Are any of the stories follow-ups?

- How are the audio clips used? Do they support the stories well? WHY?

- What type of stories are they? Human or Public interest?

Record your example bulletin using the ‘How to record iPlayer’ document and upload to your page