10 Key elements / standards of quality television

1. The quality of the sound recording.
2. The acting skills to make it seem real.
3. The storyline, whether its predictable and easy to read or unpredictable and harder to read and the writing of the story.
4. The style of clothes and makeup and the quality of props.
5. The picture quality.
6. Camera angles
7. Themes

Definitions:

• Broadcasting – Targets a large audience (mass media products)
• Narrowcasting – Targets a small audience (niche audience)
• Populism – The idea that media products follow what their audiences enjoy and love.
• Paternalism – The idea that media products follow what is good for their audiences.

The BBC:

• BBC was made in 1922, 51 years before Newsbeat.
• The first director general of the BBC was Lord John Reith.

Ethos of the BBC:

• Lord Reith developed the 3 components of the BBC: 1) Entertain 2) Educate 3) Inform.
• Grace Wyndham-Goldie explains changing nature of modern communication, essentially by transforming time and space through technology.
• British culture was centred around the BBC.

Theorists that can be linked to the BBC:

• Habermas: The BBC correlates to the transformation of the public sphere as this is where there is sharing of knowledge and ideas, which the BBC expresses and informs the UK of international news as well as national news.

• James Curran (talks about power and responsibility) says ‘Independence poses a serious threat to political institutions whose control over broadcasting should be strengthened’ – Pg 134 That the independence of the BBC is threatening political institutions such as the government.

• Jean Seaton explains ‘Commercial broadcasting is based not on the sale of programmes to audiences but on the sale of audiences to advertisers’ – pg 126 – meaning broadcasting requires advertising revenue to maintain programming and they are designed to attract ‘economically affluent audiences’, meaning audiences who want to buy the product that are promoted.

CSP: Newsbeat

Facts and Figures:

• Newsbeat is the BBC’s radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network.
• Newsbeat is edited by Danielle Dwyer.
• More popular with older groups like millennials with 63% than Gen X with 42% and Baby Boomers with 34%.
• The original release of Newsbeat was in 10th September 1973 to the present day.
• Runs for 15 minutes and its country of origin is the United Kingdom.
•  BBC Trust claims Radio 1 targets people who are aged 15-29. However, RAJAR suggests the average listener is actually 30.
• Newsbeat is a multi media production which consist of radio, news and video as well as behind the scenes of the radio (The way the camera angles are presented and the videos are performed).
• Transmitted live over digital audio broadcast most weekdays at 12:45 and 17:45.
• Newsbeat is owned by the BBC.

Media Industries:

• BBC is regulated by the government as audiences are unable to listen to the radio station and their news unless you have a TV license.
• Newsbeat uses multi media products to advertise and present their website through social medias such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Media Audiences (Relating to Newsbeat):

• Stuart Hall is represented through his reception theory as the producers appeal to their listeners through influencing their audiences opinion (Framing) through his 3 types of audiences. Dominant (Those who accept): Teenager and young people who listen or watch online, taking Newsbeats information and believing/accepting it. Negotiated (Those who argue): The audience which listens/reads but then disagrees with some things. Opposition (Those who reject): The audience which entirely REJECTS what newsbeat has to offer.
• Newsbeat appeal to younger generations of 15 to 29 years of age through their story contexts and presentation. On the stories page of Newsbeat, their stories are based around tik tok, education and celebrities such as the rapper and singer known as Stormzy, and other stories which may interest young audiences.
• Younger audiences have different consumption patterns to the older generations (younger gen through phones and older gen through TV)

Possible Exam Newsbeat Questions:

1. Assess the extent in which institutions and audiences play a key role in a product you have studied. (Newsbeat) 20 marks
2. How does Newsbeat attract their target audiences? (9 marks)