Questionnaire

To get an idea of my target audience and what would be appropriate to put onto my station, I decided a questionnaire would work best to find out my intentions.

Radio Questionnaire      Circle the correct answers

What is your gender?

Male  Female

What age bracket do you fit into?

0-12  13-16  17-20  21-26  27-35  36-45  46-50  50+

 Out of the following, what radio station do you usually listen to?

Kiss  Capital  Heart  Magic  Classical  SportTalk  LBC  BBC Radio’s  Other (please state)

How often do you listen to radio per week?

0 days  1 day  2 days  3 days  4 days  5 days  6 days  7 days 

How many hours per day?

0-1  1-2  2-3  4-5 other (please state)

Where do you listen to radio?

Car  Home  Work  Phone  Computer  TV  Other (please state)

What type(s) of news do you find interesting?

Death/fatalities  Crime  Political  National  Worldwide  Sport  Showbiz  Health  Education  Other (if so please mention)

Do you ever tune in to listen to the news?

Yes  No  Sometimes

Do you change station when adverts come on?

Yes  No  Sometimes

Analysing A Radio Homepage

To show what conventions of a radio homepage show their target audience and genre, I have analysed 'talkSPORT' which is a similar station to what mine will become to demonstrate the ways in which their homepage shows these conventions.

OFCOM (My Station Details)

By looking at Ofcom, I will be able to look at radio stations similar to my own - looking at their character of service to see what their target audience is; what music they play, the genre of the station and any other information about audience.  For example, if I wanted to see how many people tune into 'LBC' I will be able to access this information, along with any other information regarding audience. 

Analysed Adverts

To understand what makes a good and bad advert, I listened to five different adverts from radioville.co.uk and made short bullet points about what was good, who the target audience was and how it can be improved.

‘Robinson’ Radio Advertising Bureau

• Isn’t very clear what they are advertising at first
• Target audience is hard to say could be a range 
• Could be improved by starting with what the ending of the advert was
• Music felt irrelevant 

‘Switch’ Lexus

• Immediately knew what they were advertising
• Good use of facts
• Describes the cars manufacturers elegance well
• Music suited how the voiceover was talking
• Could not really fault how they presented the ad
• Most likely targeting older more experienced drivers who has a bit of money

‘Bro’ Yorkie Muffin

• Typical 2 men talking about chocolate describing it
• Stereotypical male names used
• About ‘brothers’ which is what the title is called 
• Can understand that its about a Yorkie muffin
• Can imagine the two bothers talking
• Targeting men to buy this new muffin based on a ‘male’ chocolate

‘Why’ Nationwide

• Uses comedy well
• Describes how payments for this bank is ‘different’
• Bit too exaggerated on the comedy though
• Makes sense but needs a second listen
• Definitely targeting people who want a new mortgage or renewing one

‘Its a miracle’ Carphone Warehouse

• Shows that they fix phones well
• Very clear whats going on
• Factual voice over which compliments the ‘phone’ who is ill representing a school child and the typical story of suddenly being better
• Targets both children, mostly older and parents about getting their phone fixed with trust 
• Personifies the phone into a human very well

Analysing Capital FM Schedule

Capital is a well established station, who have their own schedule of their website so people can see who is playing when and what show is on etc. This is the link where you can see their schedule, I used this one to help set out and design my own. 

Capital Schedule

• On the very early morning shows such as 1:00, 3:00, 4:00 it is very basic broadcasting with less popular or experienced presenters. For example the 3:00 slot is pure music mixed by Capital with no presenter, otherwise known as the 'Graveyard' shift. On the other hand the other two shows do have presenters, although they will play more music from their playlist than talking as normally there isn't a huge audience on a Wednesday at those times. 
• The 6:00 Breakfast slot is probably the biggest slot, where there is lots of banter between the presenters who are most likely the most famous and have a bigger audience. The audience at that time will be early commuters and children going to work and school, there needs to be a good mix of entertainment and music at that time if the day. Capital have a varied audience , therefore the show needs to accommodate to all. Whereas at 10:00 yet again will have a big audience, their description mentions even more big artists that will be played with less talk and more gossip and tunes. The audience will still be the same if not slightly different form earlier.
• During the afternoon shows there will be a smaller audience and especially not children as they'll be at school. More adults therefore the news is played more and people are getting around home from work and possibly school, so the travel is updated more. There are still lots of hits being played which repeats from previous shows. 
• Later shows during the night will have different types of music playing as there could be the younger generation who are going out and want pre-club tunes on their journeys. More at the 22:00 show than earlier where it is still a repeat of earlier. 

Target Audience

For my bulletin it is vital that I have the correct target audience, otherwise my extract will be unsuccessful. There are certain factors to consider about who will be my appropriate audience -including age bracket and lifestyle etc.

To find out who will be my target audience there is need to do research such as a questionnaire. Which I found out a suitable age bracket and categories fitting my station genre. People's hobbies, finance issues and jobs affect what type of station they listen to. Even where they live as there a many local radio stations of different genres who all have different target audiences. From my findings I assume my certain target audience will be middle aged men who are football fanatics, who go to football matches and enjoy going to the pub with their mates pre and post matches. In general single and married men with and without children, with chances that a younger aged bracket will also tune in. Most likely they will all play football on a regular basis and listen in the car or even at home.

Jingle Effects - Station 2

After listening to a mainstream, popular station - I decided to listen to a neighbouring station related to my own, who have similar content and the the station is run is similar. With 'LBC' being based on news and dialogue, and my very own being the same, however about sport - I felt it was appropriate to listen to their jingles and bulletins to relate to my own.

The 'LBC' news is much more serious to 'Capital', they have longer headlines and go into more depth about each story as that is what the audience would expect. The jingle is just a sound of regular 'bell' like noise like BBC news - possibly to relate to Big Ben in London, which we see on the news regularly. The presenter is very formal and the delivery is pure, without any background music until the news is over,  and the jingle has more of a beat and uplifting tone.

The effect on the audience will be a good delivery, bringing them the information they want to hear - not too long, but not as short as 'Capital'. Part of their target audience will be older then those of 'Capital', therefore news will be a bigger priority to keep them engaged. For my own station, my bulletin will have to balance a mainstream vibe, however delivering news like the way they do so on 'LBC',

Jingle effects

Music and jingles can reflect the station. and who their target audience is. The style of the music can show us what genre the station is, and and what type of news they will publish. I listened to two different stations, taking note of the type of jingle they play, and the tone they do it in.

On 'Capital FM' their jingle involves different music and wording - depending what style of jingle it is. The news jingle is short and snappy, just a few seconds saying the station name with a booming background tune, which then quietens down to a level where you can hear a continuous beat, relating to the type of music they primarily play with the presenter talking over it. The effect on the audience will keep them enticed, and will keep them tuned in as they will feel part of the station and the music played will not be much different to the rest of the station.

Running order, facts and 'news values'

To get an understanding of the way in which radio stations present their news and addressing their audience, I have listen to certain stations such as 'Radio1 Newsbeat', and 'Kiss' to see how their bulletins are presented and the conventions of them, regardless of station.

In 'Radio1 Newsbeat', after the news jingle is played the presenter, in a firm tone of voice will address the selected audience and introduce the stories for the day in order of importance according to the 'news values'. In the first listening the order was:

- Amanda Todd's hanging
- British computer hacker won fight to stay in the UK
and then less important stories such as sport and celeb gossip.


Amanda's story has most the news values; Immidiacy, continuity as this has happened to other people before, familiarity since everyone knows and uses Youtube, frequency as this doesn't happen often, impact, conflict and personalisation.

The correspondent then carries on the story after the presenter introduces them, an archive clip played of a girl talking about her experiences and how she related to Amanda. A soundbite on the street was then introduced where witnesses were recorded and edited like a Voxpop.

In the hacker story, the same presenting style was applied just with slight changes to relate to audience. Instead of a regular reporter, there was the political reporter since that is what the story is related to; Whom says the story in the same way the regular news presenter would.. As the man had asperger syndrome the correspondent changed to someone with a different tone of voice to relate to the younger listeners so it can be explained and they would understand. Followed by a clip form a press conference, where you can actually hear the cameras flashing in the background.

This story had very similar if not the same new values as the first story, this is what makes it top news and into the first few headlines.

A story from 'Kiss FM' was slightly different to 'Radio1'. Firstly the story was introduced in a much less formal way, the presenter of the show actually read the stories. After a song and then the news jingle (which is very techno and different to Radio1) indicating their target audience is completely different. The presenter then went on to read the story in a way which a younger generation would find interesting.  It made top news on this station, but much lower on stations such as LBC or Radio1. The story (Brtiney Spears drug use) was read with a backing track and in a 'younger', more urban way of speaking to relate to their audience. Then straight after the shortened version of the story was read the presenter immediately went on to the next story about sports from the last night.

Regardless of the station the news values still matter and in this particular story, even though it was shorted and told differently to what we would expect still held many important news values:
Immediacy, surprise, continuity, elite people, personalisation and scandal. Keeping it top news for this particular station.

By comparing and contrasting the running order, facts, and news values of different stations and seeing how they differ show what I need to do for my own station and what type of stories are appropriate to the audience and how the delivery should be.

My 24 Hour Imaginary Schedule

To get an understanding of what type of station show is most suitable to base mine on, and at what specific time shows will air, I compared my target audience to a station which is similar to which mine (talkSPORT) and created my own schedule to fit my station's description. I made a table with the time each show is broadcast with the presenter/show and a brief description of each.

TODAY (Wednesday, 24 October 2012)

1:00 Jade Hill Jade brings you the sporting news from abroad

3:00 Emile Owen SportTalk 90 Q&A For those early sport lovers we have a chance to call the studio to get your questions in for a pole at the end of the day

4:00 Jeremy Carr Jeremy has the International gossip

6:00 The Kick Off Show Put your alarm on! Terry & Roy start your day with the latest Football news leading onto more sports

10:00 Rich Steve  Rich has a special guest in every day to take your questions, phone-in to get your views across too!

13:00 Jack Dee Jack brings you first, fast news of the day regarding all sporting events and special chart songs

16:00 Gregg Smitt Greg drives you home to more hits and ongoing discussions on the days news

19:00 Tyler Berry Tyler wraps the day’s news and discussion’s up

22:00 Extra Time Anyone who missed out on the day has their chance to catch up today’s events!

Local News Analysis and News Values - Political Story

The story below is a local story regarding Portsmouth Council refusing to issue licences to local strip clubs.

Local Politics Story

The news values contained within this story include:

This is an odd story, and would not make the national news as it only really affects people in the local area. and somehow made the news but will have an effect on some people (mostly men) where they will have the Surprise factor as they would not expect this. This is without a doubt a Balance story as it could be seen as a bit lighter in comparison to depressing stories such as death, especially since locals would think of this story as positive, although people who want to regularly visit lap dancing clubs would see the story as including Negativity. There is probably an element of Conflict due to the difference of opinion between the lap dancing club and local residents.

National News Analysis and News Values - Political Story

I am now going to look at two political stories - one national and one local - to see if there are any major differences in the ways that the stories are reported.

The political story below is about an MP calling for increased jail sentences for people who commit cruelty to animals. If you click on the link below you can read the full story.

National Politics Story

The news values contained in this story include:

Immediacy is a news value in this story as the MP delivered his speech in the House of Commons the day before. The story relates to cruelty to animals in England and Wales, so Familiarity is a factor as any changes in the law will affect people in this country. 

Amplitude is a factor as any changes in the law could affect large numbers of people as there are hundreds of thousands of animal owners in the UK.

Frequency could be a factor as though this kind of change in law doesn't happen very often, cruelty to animals is something that happens frequently.

Local News Analysis and News Values - Education Story

I have decided to look at another education story, but this time for local news. This will further help me see if there are any significant differences between the way that national and local stories are presented.

Click on the link below to read the full story about the closure of a secondary school in Hull, which was included in the Humberside section of the regional news on the BBC News website.

Local Education Story

The news values contained in this story include:

The first news value is Immediacy, as it has just been announced that there will be consultation into closing the school in Hull. As with many local news stories Familiarity is important as the story will affect people in the local, regional area of Hull and Humberside, where the school is located.

It could be argued that Amplitude is a factor as the school's closure will affect a relatively large number of people (students and parents) in the local area. It could also be argued that Impact is a factor, as other parents of children at struggling schools may feel threatened that their schools could also be closed.

Predictability is definitely a news value contained in the story as the school has been failing 'year on year', and it is likely that the parents and students expected that the school may have to close - particularly after it was put into special measures and it received a damning Ofsted report. There is also Conflict between Hull City Council, Ofsted and parents regarding the possible decision to close the school. There is Negativity as the school's closure is bad news for the pupils, parents and teachers.

Both  the national and local education stories contain the news value Familiarity - though the audience the stories are likely to affect is different; one is relevant to the whole of the UK while the other only affects people in a smaller, more localised region. This seems to be the major difference that I have noticed between national and local news stories.

National News Analysis and News Values - Education Story

Having looked at the ways that crime stories are reported in national and local news, I am going to look at different types of stories, starting with education stories.

The first story is a national news story about changes in the education system. If you click on the link below you can read the full story.

Education Story

This story will be of interest to many in the UK, as many families will include people who are taking/have taken GCSEs, meaning that the story will have a strong element of Amplitude and Familiarity. The story is ongoing (Continuity) as reforms in the education system have been in the news for some time. In some ways, the change was a Surprise to everyone from the examiners to pupils - though it could be argued that these kinds of changes are happening with increased regularity (Frequency) and readers may expect these seemingly unnecessary changes. Personalisation and Negativity are factors as this is awful news to those students affected. It is a genuine Scandal as there was outrage from the whole of the UK.

Local News Analysis and News Values - Crime Story

I have decided to look at another crime story, but this time for local news, so that I can see if there are any differences about the ways that this type of story is reported depending on whether it's a national or local story. It may be that the news values are different in a local story, and that the story may appeal to a much smaller audience.

Click on the story below, about men from Derby being charged with the murder of a man in Kilburn, which appeared in the East Midlands regional section of BBC News online.

Local Crime Story

The news values contained within this story include:

Continuity, as this is part of an ongoing murder investigation (though, this element of the story is 'breaking' and it could be argued that the story incorporates the news value Immediacy). For readers in Derby, this story is geographically close to them and Familiarity is a very important news value for local news (probably the most important news value of all) - most stories reported in local news have taken place close to that regional area (or, at least, involve, people from that area). These kinds of incidents happen quite often, so I would suggest that the news value of Frequency is a determining factor in the story's prominence in local news. Also, as the story involves crimes that may make the readers feel threatened, the news value Impact is part of the story. Conflict and Negativity are most certainly news values as the story involves the murder of one individual by others.

The reporting of both stories is reasonably similar and the fact that one is a national story whilst the other is a local news story, seems to have had little bearing on the ways that the stories are reported - apart from the fact that the local story will be of more interest to readers in the East Midlands area. It appears, then, that crime stories are reported in a similar way regardless of whether the report is from a local or national outlet.

Having noticed that crime stories appear prominently in national and local news, I am going to include a crime story in my bulletin.

National News Analysis and News Values - Crime Story

At the centre of my radio extract there will be a news bulletin, and as part of my research I have been looking out for the news values in different stories and analysing them to get an idea of which story has more importance and what type of stories would be suitable for my own extract.

Having researched news I found that there were many different types of stories such as crime stories, political stories, disaster stories, entertainment stories and sports stories - I have therefore decided to analyse a range of different types of story, starting with a crime story about the arrest of seven Royal Marines for murder. You can click on the link below to read the full story, taken from BBC News online.

Crime Story

The news values contained within this story include:

Immediacy, as this is a 'breaking' story which happened only several hours before it was reported.
Surprise, as the public would not have expected this story to come out. Although we often hear about Marine and Army stories in the news, one such as this would be a surprise to the readers as it involves the army in disrepute. This story does involve a large number of people, which makes it Amplitude.
This is certainly an Impact story as it contains elements which people would feel threatened by - as the Marines are supposed to offer protection rather than be involved in this kind of violent crime.
This story contains a great deal of Conflict as it makes reference to firearms involved, murder, battles and arrests - and there is conflict between our expectations of the Marines and the reality of how they have behaved.
This is definitely a human interest story, incorporating the news value of Personalisation, as it involves the murder of an innocent victim. Without a doubt this is a negative story, containing bad news. The story also contains the news value of Familiarity - even though the murder took place in Afghanistan, the prosecution of the Marines will take place in this country (and it involves British forces).
Finally, the last news value contained is Scandal - many readers will be outraged at the way our armed forces have behaved.

The article contains many of the news values which explains why it was the first story to appear on the BBC News online site.

Analysis of News Values - National and Local News

To help me write my news stories for my news bulletin, I am going to look at a range of both national and local news stories to see which news values are most prominent. It will be useful to compare the ways that news values are used in different types of stories, and to see if certain news values feature more frequently if the news is targeting a national or local audience.

News Values

As part of my radio extract, I need to include a news bulletin which will contain a number of news stories. Before scripting my own news stories, I want to look at a number of online stories to see if I can determine what makes a news story newsworthy. 

News values are the factors, defined by theorists Galtung and Ruge, that explain how journalists and news editors decide that certain news stories and images are considered newsworthy, while others are not. News values are applied to news stories in traditional newspapers, such as The Sun and The Guardian, online news sites, such as BBC News Online, and on news bulletins on the radio.

When analysing news stories, both online and on the radio, I will look out for the following news values:

Immediacy - is the story a new story, is it 'breaking' - has it happened recently?
Familiarity - is the story geographically close to the audience, regionally or nationally?
Amplitude - is the story a big event or one which involves large numbers of people?
Frequency - does the event happen often?
Impact - can the audience identify with the story as having a profound effect on their lives? Are there threatening elements to make the audience feel in danger?
Predictability - did the audience expect the story to happen?
Surprise - is the story an unusual or unexpected event?
Continuity - has the story already been defined as news? Is it part of an ongoing or long-running story?
Conflict - does the story contain drama in describing disagreements, arguments, fights or battles between two or more people/organisations?
Elite People - does the story concern well-known people, such as celebrities (actors, popstars, sportsmen, politicians)?
Personalisation - is it a human interest story?
Negativity - is the story bad news?
Scandal - is the story likely to provoke moral outrage from parts of the audience?

Balance - has the story been selected to balance other news; for example a human survival story used to balance a number of stories containing tragedy?

One of the first bits of research I am going to do is to identify the news values of a number of different news stories (both national and local) and try to determine how the news values affect the position of the news story on the website and on bulletins.

Preliminary Task - Evaluation

For my preliminary task I had to create a short extract from a radio station with an archive clip featuring a guest. The experience has made me realise that I have to do a lot more research when preparing my script for my final task, and that I will need to listen to existing radio stations more frequently so that my extract sounds authentic in terms of representations, jingles, adverts and, most importantly, news bulletins.

First of all I had to create a script and an archive clip to record - I have chosen a sports radio station and a little piece from that including: A 'World Cup hero', with a clip from the commentary of his winning goal. I found the scripting entertaining to write, but I feel it could have been better had I done more research.

The preliminary task has given me the opportunity to use the recording equipment and editing software, which will definitely help me when I do my full task. When recording the hardest challenge was layering all the sound effects and music onto the archive clip, overlapping different sounds and changing certain effects -  all of which took time and precision to accurately place each different layer to make it sound authentic. I learned to clip and loop some of these effects, and to record and edit voices, removing mistakes and pauses, and then putting them onto the final track itself.





The most beneficial aspect of creating the archive clip was that it made me realise that I could create realistic sounding locations through using carefully selected sound effects - this has me given lots of ideas for the script for my full task.









Even though the preliminary task was short, I can see that the process will be beneficial for when I have to do my main task. I have picked up a number of skills which will be used whilst recording and editing my actually extract.