My news broadcast follows some conventions of real radio broadcasts such as being around 5 minutes long with short news items of 10-40 seconds. However, it also challenges conventions through the added use of sound effects related to the news items. The broadcast further adheres to conventions by including specialist reporters at the scenes of events and vox pops from the public to provide different perspectives. Each news item is introduced with a brief summary by the presenter.

1. Evaluation Question 1

2. • One way that my news broadcast uses the conventions of real
radio news broadcasts is that it amounts to around 5 minutes
long once all news items have been combined in a sequence.
This meant that each news item had to be kept short and brief
(about 10-40 seconds long) whilst containing enough relevant
information to provide the listeners with the sense of being
informed on all the news provided. By keeping the broadcast
short, it keeps the listener interested and does not bore the
listener by overwhelming them with information. However, a
broadcast of about 5 minutes is long enough to provide a
satisfactory amount of information to an audience.

3. • My broadcast challenges the conventions of real radio news
broadcasts through its added sound effects. For example, my news
item regarding Fifty Shades of Grey included a short soundtrack of
the film’s official music, during the speech of the presenter. I had also
challenged the conventions where I included the sound effect of
demolition when the presenter talks of the destruction of a local pub.
This is a quality which I had not previously observed but I did this in
order to challenge what realistic news broadcasts did and make my
own broadcast sound more intriguing to the listeners. The use of
these sound effects create an association between the effects and
the news events of which they relate to.
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4. • A large number of my individual news items contain a specialist
reporter who is present on the scene of whatever event has been
reported, in order to gain accounts from witnesses and those
involved with the reported event. This form of convention of real
radio news broadcasts is beneficial because it provides further
information on certain news from people who are directly involved
with the event and are relevant to expressing their point of view. As
a result, my broadcast included a vox pop which is a collection of
opinions from various members of the public, preferably of varying
types of people to enhance my broadcast’s reliability. The vox pop
which I used to display the opinions of people on railway ticket
prices creates a sense of legitimacy from my broadcast.

5. • A way that my broadcast develops a convention of real radio
news broadcasts is by extending the title to present a series of
headlines, accompanied by a jingle between each headline.
After the title music, which is a convention used by all radio
news broadcasts, I followed this up with an announcer
providing a set of headlines expressing a small selection of
what news stories will be within the broadcast. This is useful
because it would give my audience a taster of what is to come
and this could be a way to attract people to listen to my radio
news broadcast by announcing news which most likely sparks
the curiosity to want to find out more.

6. • A convention of real radio news broadcasts that my local news
broadcast follows is that each news item commences with the
presenter providing a summary of what the news is about.
This is a brief description of an event and in most cases is
followed by a reporter and guest to provide additional
information. I have noticed that the news broadcasts that I had
assessed followed this convention, so I incorporated it into my
own broadcast to make it more realistic. In doing so, the
listener is informed briefly of what event has taken place and
this would either be enough information, or it would prompt
the specialist reporter to provide further information.