1. News Story Evaluation
On the 10th
April 2015 we were commissionedwithproducinganewsprogramme forE6 Radiothat
aimsto attract 16-19 year oldsas part of a small group;thisconsistedof me,LaurenMawer and
Daniel Hopkins.Eachof us was taskedwithsourcing,writing,compilingand producingthree
separate bulletinswhichwouldthenbe usedtowardscreatingourshow- StudentTalk. The aimwas
to have produceda segmentthatreflectsnear-professionalstandards,wascompleted
independentlyandof professionalexpectations.
At the time of commission,the upcominggeneral electionwasthe numberone issue surrounding
the mediaandtherefore myowntopicof interest. My firsttaskwas to gatherbackgroundmaterial
and lookforsuggestedcontactswhichwouldaidme inproducingthe bulletin;ithadpreviouslybeen
decidedthatthiswouldbe a copyonly. Since the targetaudience are bothstudentsanda high
percentage of votingage Iwantedto informthemof a subjectthat would affecttheminregardsto
my chosentopic- inthiscase,labourspromise tocut tuitionfees. It’samatterthatwill andis
concerningmostpupilsthathave decidedtomove ontohighereducationastheyall wanttoavoid
the £27,000 debtthat comeswith it,therefore Ibelieveittobe a storythat is suitable forthe
intendedaudience andone thatwill interestthem.
The purpose of the storyisto informthemof the factsthat have beenputout there bylabourin
regardsto the subjectmatterrather that providinganopinion,howeverdue topoliticalstandingof
the showand the people thatmake itup, the storyis biastowardsotherparties.Asmentioned
above the bulletinisacopyonlyas onlyI can be heard readingthe story;duringthe researchand
planningstage Ididapproach a source that providedaquote forme inregardsto the story,however
thiswas alsoreadby me. A large percentage of mysourceswere gatheredthroughlaboursparty
website aswell aspre-existingarticlespublishedbyboththe guardianandthe times - notorious,
centre leftwingnewspapers.
Once all backgroundmaterial hadbeengathered,Ianalyseditandhighlightedkeypointsthat were
bothof importance,relevantand thatwouldaidinbuildingandputtingtogetherthe bulletin. The
firststagesof productioninvolvedcreatinga drafttreatment,whichwaslaterdiscussedand
redraftedwithmytutor- actingas editor. Since itisa copy only,Iwas onlyrequiredtorecordone
voice piece before finallycompilinganeditingthe final bulletin. Thiswasa fairlyasimple taskas I
onlyhad one raw audioclip,Isimplyhadto ensure thatthe qualityof itwas of a professional
standardand audible. CertainaspectsthatIdeemedtobe irrelevant,suchasthe prolongedending
were alsocut out during editing.
Althoughnota sensational story,the topicisstill of importance andtherefore Idelivereditina
professionalmannerintermsof mylanguage,delivery,tone of voice andaudioquality. The bulletin
was filmedwithinthe collegeradiostationsothatall backgroundnoise wascancelledoutandmy
voice wasthe focal point. Standingup duringrecordingallowedme tobetterprojectmyselfwhich
inturn representedthe importance of the story. The language usedwasof a formal nature- no
ellipseswere usedtoshortenwordsanddialectwaspronouncedcorrectly.

2. A negative aspectof the newsproductionprocessisthe factthatthe backgroundmaterial forthe
bulletinwasgatheredfromsourceswithsimilarethical beliefsandpolicies,intermsof whothey
support.Therefore,the storyisbiasedtowardsrightwingpartiesandwhilstitdoesn’tportraythem
inthe outmostnegative way,notmuchismentionedaboutthememeaningviewersare being
influencedintovotingforlabourwhichisagainsteditorial guidelines,intermsbroadcastingduring
elections. Aswell asthisthe interviewee forthe storyisa supporterof the mentionedpartyand
therefore hisopinionalsoswaystowardsthem.
Overall,I’mpleasedwithstandardof the final productandthe wayin whichI presentedmyself.My
tone of language isclearandfluent,aswell asbeingprojectedwell enoughforittobe audible by
audiences.Althoughthe researchmaybe biased,I’mpleasedwiththe qualityandlevel of it.I
believethe final editedbulletintobe of professionalstandardandsuitable forboththe target
audience andthe genre of productionit’susedfor.
WithAlevel examsrapidlyapproachingandstudent’sturningtoforumstodiscussuniversityentry
grades,one thingthat wasbecomingapparentisthatthe BTEC qualificationwasoftenlookeddown
on,not deemedasacademicandstudiersof the course are viewedasnotbeingsuitableuniversity
candidates.Therefore,formysecondnew piece Ichose totake an investigative angleandgeta
scholarlyviewpoint fromatutorthat has experience withbothqualifications. The bulletinis
designedtoaffectstudentsintwodifferentwaysbydiscussingasubjectthatthey’re familiarwith,
therefore makingitsuitable for16-19 year olds. The aimis to change Alevel students prospective
and thinkingof the qualification,whilstBTECstudentsare the oneswho’ll be able torelate tothe
outlookthatshone onthem.
As withthe previousbulletin,myfirsttaskwastogather backgroundmaterial andapproachany
contacts that wouldaidme inpiecingtogetherthe story.Since Ididwantto go withan investigative
angle,Ichose to carry outan interview-thismentthata lotof mybackgroundmaterial involved
carryingout a more indepthstudyonthe topicsothat I couldask the appropriate questionsinorder
to getthe answers. Inorderforreliabilitymyfactsandstatisticswere gatheredfromeducational
online sourcessuchasthe times,the teacheronline and BBC;once thishad beencompleted
examinedmyfindingsandhighlightedthe keypointthatIviewedtobe bothimportantandrelevant.
Nowthat pre-productionwascomplete, Iwasable tobeginwiththe firststagesof productionwhich
involveddraftingmy script,whichwaslaterdiscussedandre-draftedwithmytutor.Since the focus
of the bulletinwasthe interview,Iwasonlyrequiredtocreate andopeningtothe newsstoryin
orderto give a quickoverviewof the topic. Once thishadbeencompleted,I begantowork onmy
questionsbyusingmybackgroundmaterial tohelpme- IkeptinmindwhoI was interviewing,whyI
was interveningthemandwhatIwas interviewingthemon. Ichose to use Paul Rossington,an
educatorat ecclessixthformcollege that hadan indepthunderstandingandexperience withboth
qualifications.Havingcontactedhim, we compromisedonasuitable time andmeetingplace inorder
to conductthe interviewwhichIcapturedwithavoice recorder.
Nowthat I had myinterview,Iwasable torecordmy voice piece before beginningthe editing
processwiththe use of reaper.Itwas a fairlysimple taskthatsimplyinvolvedme draggingand
droppingthe piecesof audiointhe correctorder andadjustingthe volume sothatit wasaudible.

3. Althoughitwasagainnot a sensational story,Idelivereditinaprofessionalmannerintermsof my
language beingformal andfluent,mytone of voice beingprojectedandthe audioqualitybeing
suitable forlistening. IensuredthatI pronouncedmydialectcorrectlyandthatno ellipsiswere used
as to not take awayfrom the formality- Ibelieve thisaidedinensuringthatthe storyistaken
seriously. Althoughthe languageisformal,it’ssuitableinthatit’still understandablebystudents.
The most negative aspectforthe storyfor me,isthat havinglistenedbacktoit,duringthe opening
of the bulletinIwasspeakingtofast,thereforemakingitdifficultforsome listeners.Another
negative aspect,whichIwasable tocorrect is that duringthe interview myvoice wasnotalways
audible,howeverthiswascorrectedinthe editingprocessbyadjustingthe volume duringparticular
parts.
Overall I’mpleasedwiththe outcome of the bulletinandbelieve thatthe interviewswasplanned
and carriedout well,thereforeenablingme togatherthe answersIwas lookingfor.
My final newpiece wasslightlymore light-heartedandtherefore notasserious. Withthe stressof
examsandcourseworkdeadlines,studentseasilyforgetthatcollege issooncomingto anend,
therefore formyfinal piece Iwantedtolookat whatstudentshadplannedforthe nextstage of their
life thusmakingitsuitable forthe targetaudience- it’sawayfor themto see whatothersintheir
situationare doing. ForthisparticularnewsstoryI chose to use vox pops.
Althoughbackgroundmaterial wasgatheredinordertodiscoverwhatthe vastmajorityof British
studentsgoon to do onthe completionof college inordertodetermine whetherthiswouldbe a
suitable bulletinora waste of time,onlyacouple of statisticswere usedwithinthe story.Once Ihad
whatI neededIbeganto workon my draftscript- whichwasagain simplyashortopeningtogive a
quickoverviewof the topic,before itwasre-draftedanddiscussedwithmytutor- actingas editor.
Nowthat I had an openingforbulletin,Ibeganworkingonthe questionsIwouldaskstudents;since
it isa lightheartedinterview,the questionswere designedtobe of a chatty nature inorderto
engage themandget a goodresponse.Isetup an appropriate time andoverthe course of an hour I
recordedeachof theiranswersindividuallysothatitwouldbe easiertosort throughduringediting.
Once thiswas completedIrecordedmyownvoice piece withinthe college radiostationsothatthe
audioqualitywasof a professional standard.AlthoughIbelieve mytone of voice tohave been
projectedwell,the storywasinformal andtherefore mylanguagewasof a colloquial nature with
frequentellipsis’.
The editingaspectof production wasyetagaincarriedout withthe use of professional software-
reaper- inorderto produce an industrystandardbulletin.Althoughthe mostbasicof the three
stories,itwasthe most time consumingsince Ihadto sort throughall the vox pops,editthem down
to an appropriate size andplace theminthe desiredorder.
Overall I’mpleasedwiththe outcome of myfinal newsstory,howeverIdobelievethatthe qualityof
some the vox popscouldhave beenslightlybetter;thisismainlydue tothe factI had the recorder
setup too far awayrather thanthe surroundings.
Nowthat eachof us withinourgrouphad produce all three of our stories,renderedthemoutand
convertedthe toMP3’s we were able tobeginthe editingprocessof creatingourfinal newsshow.
Keepinginmindthatwe wantedittobe as close to industrystandardsaspossible,we triedtofollow

4. all the conventionsyouwouldfindwithinaprofessionalnewsshow.The firstwayinwhichwe
completedthisisbyeachcreatinga bulletinthatisof a differentstyle- avoicer,copyonlyandvox
pop.As withourown bulletins,the firststage inproducingourshow involveddraftingourscript
whichwaslaterdiscussedandre-draftedwithourtutorwhoamendedcertainaspectsandgave us
feedbackon howto improve it.
Nowthat we had a final script,Daniel,actingasreportersetoutto record it;in orderto make it
easierduringediting,the scriptwasrecordedinsmall partsso thatwe couldsimplyimporteach
audioclipdirectlyintothe correct place,withoutthe hassle of cutting.
Havingsourceda theme tune touse forthe openingof the show - similartothat of an ident- we
were nowreadyto beginediting.Havingatheme tune means thataudienceswouldbe able torelate
it back to ourshow whilstalsoindicatingthe startof it.As withall newsshows,we openedupwith
the headlines,ensuringthe leadwaslefttill lastsothatwe couldgo straightintoit- thiswas our‘top
of the hourbulletin’.Inordertobreak upeach of the headlinesandsothat audiencesknow whena
newone isbeingannounced,we placedachime effectinbetween.Thisallowedtobuildenigmaand
addeda feel of importance tothe show.
Nowthat the ‘hardest’ parthad beendone,we simply neededtoimportourbulletins- having
previouslydiscussed whichordertheywouldappearin,we placedtheminorderof importance as
youwouldexpecttosee froma showof professional standards. Once thishadbeendone andthe
restof the newsreadersaudioclipshadbeenimportedour final newsshow wasnow complete.
We were nowable tolistenbackto itand amendany problems- fortunatelythissimplyinvolved
adjustingthe volume of certainclipsastheywere eithertooloudorinaudible.Ipersonallybelieve
our final newsshow- titledStudentTALK-tobe suitable forthe intendedtargetaudience of 16-19 as
all storiesdiscussedare onesthataffectthemwhetherit’sona personal levelorjustconcernsthem
ingeneral.Havingplayedourshowtoa small numberof students,theybelievedittoboth fittingfor
theirdemographic,aswell aseasytofollow andengaging.
If I wasto carry out the entire newsproductiontaskagain,I’densure thatmyinterviewswere better
preparedintermsof the setup,locationandanyback upquestions. Aswell asmakingsure thatthe
interviewee readsthe questionsbeforehandsothattheyknow whatto expectanddonot stumble.
Overall I’mpleasedwiththe outcome andthe wayinwhichI deliveredmyself aswell asthe effort
placedinby all groupmembers- Ibelieve thistohave aidedusincreatinga show that isclose to that
of a professionalstandard.