Jade Gibson 8328
AS Group 3
Media Evaluation-Radio Project
Considering the brief given for the radio production- a local radio news bulletin-, we began extensive research into the media platforms, how they use radio and general commercial stations, analysing their structure and typical conventions. A prime example would be the research and study into our local radio station WishFM, in order to gain insight into the running order of the show and the style the news bulletins are approached in. We found that colloquial language was used and the news is often ordered chronologically or in order of importance and relevance. Although often there is one particular headline they focus upon and expand on with the use of vox-pops, pre-recorded interviews or general voice clips/recordings. As a clear convention of radio, we stylized our show around this format with the expansion of a moderately controversial news item; sex education for minors. With the knowledge the age of sex education is taught at, is in question, we felt a broader audience could interact and give feedback. We continued to use vox-pops we had from the public, selecting people from largely populated areas (a shopping centre in the town) and a local village to give us the widest range of views possible. This enabled us to reach a wider variety of audience, diversifying to ensure credible material for all ethnicities and social groups. We knew that the psychographic of most, means that the audience would want to voice and share their opinions.
Another notable code of radio, were the voices used, the show we listened to had one male presenter and a female reading the news; to avoid segregation of sexes and attract an expansive audience. Their voices were clear and coherent, the vocals throughout were smooth and maintained a regular volume. Though conflicting with this particular convention, we decided to use two female vocals considering compatibility and the females within the group carried a more refined accent which could appeal to a wider area. The voices complimented each others tone better although the males within the group with the broad northern accents were used as readers for reporting and sport to add to the regional appeal and align us with the audience.
Following more research into the audience profile, we found the designated market are (DMA) of the local station, Wish FM, spanned from the
We planned our progress with objectives for each we worked on the project; enabling us to chart our stages of production so we could meet our deadline most efficiently. Although when we edited our material, early on during production, we found it easier to tackle changes and stages as we heard them. This tracking made work far more simple, for example when we listened over the opening sequence, we found gaps and edited the transitions and continued to go along and edit each defect we heard.
Aiming to attract the market to our station further, we ensured that we used more colloquial and informal language during our studio dialogue. Keeping the news and cover stories refined in fitting with the audio conventions of news bulletins; with global and local stories. We wanted to ease the frequency of financial and other contextual terminology which may have alienated our audience. The delivery was approached with formality and balanced with the more chatty register of our improvised speech. It was important not to allow our context to establish any ideologies or bias, so we kept the news items neutral using the economic crisis, and presidential election.
An additional audio code and convention we used within our production, was the stations identification. Featuring in the sting at the opening and closing of our show, it stated the name of our station and its frequency, ‘102.5 Live’. We elongated the ‘live’ when spoken and gave it more musicality, adding and echo to act as a form of branding, with an instantly recognizable jingle. The stations name connotes energy and the idea of open transmitting, giving the station a large scale appeal, people will want to tune in to and open and ‘live’ station, being catchy and memorable also.
After completing and finalizing all of the work, we needed some audience feedback. We each sought out students and teachers to ask, varying age and social groups to ensure a fair average.
Greg-Teacher- The layout is good and the transitions allow it to flow well. The context is relevant and you have approached each issue with sensitivity, and your vox-pops sound really professional!
Charles-Student- I enjoyed listening to it, the jingle was really catchy and the news bulletins definitely weren’t boring. It wouldn’t sound out of place on a real radio station!
Generally the audience liked the style and content of our show.
Throughout the course of the radio production, I used and developed my skills regarding the audio technology. I became familiar and adjusted to the workings of the programmes Audacity and Adobe Premier Pro. My knowledge of the tools enhanced my ability and I could complete tasks to a better degree. These new media technologies defined the quality of our final product and evidently the recording studio became the most central to our project. We found soon we began to set the equipment correctly, adjusting volume of the microphones and know the appropriate distance to sit form the microphones for ample sound.
As my knowledge was limited regarding the audio equipment I feel I have adapted and developed many of my technical skills and initiative within such projects and believe I would be able to complete tasks more efficiently.