This document provides definitions and concepts related to TV news programming and production. It defines key terms like news values, news agenda, hard and soft news, bulletins, rolling news, scheduling, target audiences, and news sources. It also discusses public service broadcasting, branding, and the mode of address TV news uses. The accompanying instructions provide guidance on how to prepare for an essay on TV news by taping a broadcast, analyzing story types and construction, and noting production techniques used in stories.

1. TV News Definitions
• News Values - the criteria by which items are selected to appear on the news (see sheet).
• News Agenda - the range of topics which are chosen by TV news and the order in which they
appear.
• Soft and Hard news - a subdivision of news between more 'difficult' topics such as the economy
and 'lighter' items such as sport.
• Bulletin - a fixed length news programme, such as the BBC 6.00 News. These may range from as
long as 55 mins (C4) to as little as 60 seconds (BBC3).
• Rolling News - channels which show ongoing news round the clock such as BBC News 24.
• Scheduling - the time slot which a news bulletin is given; needs consideration of where rival
channels place their news and what is up against the news on rival channels at the same time.
• Target audience - the group(s) at which a particular news programme is aimed.
• News sources - places/ organisations where selected news tends to come from (see sheet).
• PSB - Public Service Broadcasting - the duty of TV and Radio to provide more than just
entertainment and ratings based programmes which ensures that part of their output is socially
important material such as News.
• Branding - the process of differentiating your product from competitors. With TV news this is often
achieved through the titles sequence, the set and the use of 'star' presenters.
• Mode of Address - the way TV news presents itself to the audience, through branding, language
use, agenda and particularly the way the presenter(s) 'speak' to us (even through their clothes).

2. How to prepare for an essay on TV News
1. Tape a TV news broadcast to keep.
2. Go through the broadcast and identify which stories are hard news and
which are soft and why.
3. Note how the programme's news agenda is constructed and who you
think the target audience is and why.
4. For each item, decide what news values are present (why the item will
have been chosen).
5. Decide the news source of each item.
6. Pick two items and note in detail how each uses a variety of techniques:
presenter, interview, outside broadcast, stock footage, vox pop, graphics,
etc.
7. Use the page of notes on how to structure the essay
Remember! The mark out of 30 features 10 for structure, organisation and
readability, 10 for understanding of concept
and 10 for use of appropriate examples in detail.