Evaluation

Radio (local news bulletin) - Evaluation

Over the past couple of months, we have been completing our radio show together and have produced a 5 minute news bulletin that would be heard on the local radio, for example, our main inspiration, Key 103.
There are many conventions which are part of a radio news bulletin, such as headlines, jingles, vox pops, outside broadcasts, interviews and an external pre recorded piece with an expert. We have made sure to use all the above with the aid of listening to Key 103, and actually hearing how they make up a news bulletin. With this in mind, we took ideas and developed our own to form an individual bulletin. Using an example of this, we listened to the opening of the Key 103 radio show, we found our own individual music; we made creative links between topic changes, e.g. “Recognise this…? [Firework sound clip]” (the introduction to bonfire night topic). We also made sure to use copyright free music for the jingles and for the background music. Although we had many ideas of our own about the structure of a radio show, we also thought it was best to stick to the original forms and conventions, purely for the reason that we felt it already worked really well, and didn’t want to make it too different.
Whilst researching about the different techniques that are used on a radio show, we found a page on the BBC website which listed each technique and gave help and advice on how to do these successfully and this helped us to produce our show. We tried to stick to the rules that a normal radio show has to abide by, such as including the public in the show itself and the information to be honest and fair. Finally, a show that produces no material that is likely to lead to hatred or discrimination. As mentioned previously in the blog and the planning, we looked at www.rajar.co.uk which gave us the demographics of numerous radio shows; it showed the differences their target audiences and viewing figures. This helped us to decide what kind of radio show we wanted ours to be, in conjunction with listening to some shows to give us ideas. In the planning and the blog, we constructed a table which included many demographics for some radio shows.
With Key 103 being our main motive, and the audience being mainly the younger age group due to the types of music, the conversations they talk about and also the advertisements, we decided to make ours the same. As we are younger anyway, it seemed like the best idea as we have more knowledge in this area. Also, the audience would be listening from local surroundings due to the news being mainly regional.
We tried to make our jingles and background music catchy as this is vital for people to keep listening to a show, the conversations had to short and snappy in a colloquial style, but to the point. The same applies to the news in order for it to run smoothly, however, it had to be spoken in a more formal tone as it is a serious issue for the community. This keeps the listeners attention and makes the show run smoothly. We also addressed the audience directly by mentioning “…give us your views, text in on…” This makes the listener feel involved in the show.
Once we had developed the script, putting it a structured running order, we went to the recording studio to do the final recordings. We decided to have the two presenters being ourselves, but also using other people for the weather and travel; we used a male for some voices to make sure there was a contrast in the show and not just the two of us all the way through. When we were speaking, our voices were continually enthusiastic and upbeat, definitely not monotone! In the recording studio, we used audacity, specifically designed for the task and is a simple ‘record and speak’ format. We saved it as a WAV, which let us easily convert it into Adobe Premier Pro, which we could then edit accordingly and to perfection. Digital recording meant that I could judge the sound volume both during and after the recording took place. This means that keeping consistent levels throughout the show was much simpler.
It was more difficult to do the vox pops as we had to use a portable recording device, we then had to find an appropriate location, and once again edit accordingly. Outside broadcasts were also done using the same format. We also used audacity to extract sounds or quotes from copyright free sources; these were then put into our radio show and made it more interesting and lively.
We found it very interesting whilst making our radio show; it was also good to learn how actual radio stations construct their shows and made us think about the time and effort you have to spend making it perfect. We had lots of fun doing the recordings and when we finally finished the radio news bulletin, we asked other people to listen to our work and give their opinions to see if there was any way in which we could improve. Our tutor felt that we needed to re-record a couple of our conversations in order for it to run smoothly and be more upbeat and fun. This was good advice.
As for problems, the only minor one we had was doing an outside broadcast. Once we had recorded, we converted it to our project and found out that the voices were unclear. There were unfortunately no effects that we could use to combat this, so we had to re-record the piece. Also, it proved quite difficult to find news quotes from copyright free sources, but we sorted it in the end. There were no major issues as we found Adobe Premier Pro to be an excellent piece of software, and any effects that we needed could be done easily.
Finally, we believe that our radio news bulletin was very successful, and with the amount of time and effort we put into it, it has hopefully paid off. With other people’s views to add to this, it helped greatly for minor improvements. However, they even thought that our show sounded like the real thing which was pretty impressive! As quoted by a fellow student, “that is really good! It sounds just like a real show!” Also, we feel that our understanding of editing has improved over the past few months.

Preliminary task

Preliminary Task

Before we started on the actual coursework task of a radio show, we did a pleminary piece. This was a short 1minute interview of our choice. This was good preparation for the actual piece; we practiced using all the recording equipment and also using the software on the computer.
As we mentioned we did for the actual piece, we wrote the script together, recorded in the recording studio, then edited as we wanted. On this pleminary task, we used a song from the charts, however, we knew that for the actual task, we would have to find music that was from copywrite free sources. We were very happy with this pleminary piece, and it also gave us idea as to what we wanted to do for the full coursework piece.

Working together & Comparing our work

Working together:

As we are working together, we had to bear in mind each others opinions and make decisions after discussion about the project. By doing this, we woked well as a pair, and if any of us used eqiupment or did any work out of lesson, we discussed this.

Comparing our work:

Once we had transferred our work into Adobe Premier Pro, we compared our with other radio stations we had researched from the start, eg. Key 103. By doing this, we could decide whether our project was as good as it could possibly be.

Taking out recording equipment

Taking out recording equipment:

As well as recording in the radio studio, we also used equipment from the college media department. Firstly, this was to do the vox pops. For this we used the voice recorder; we took it round the college canteen and asked various people their views on the credit crunch. Then, as we did with every other recording, we edited them accordingly on Adobe Premier Pro.
Secondly, one of us took out the voice recorder to do the outside broadcast which was scripted. This was on loan from the media department. The following day, this was brought back into college and again, edited accordingly.

Putting the show together

Putting the show together:

Once we had wrote out the script together, and chose the jingles from copywrite free sources, we needed to start recording. So we went into the recording studio with our scripts, bearing in mind the safety aspects:

• no food and dring
• watching out for wires
• general treating the equipment with care

Using audacity, we recorded our script bit by bit. This also included

• asking other people to do recordings for us
• re-recording various parts of the script to make it as good as possible

After this, we transferred these recordings into Adobe Premier Pro, edited the recordings accordingly, and then transferred them into our radio project: Buzz FM.

Script

Script (5 minute news)

(Lauren 1): Intro: (music) – Good morning and welcome to BUZZ FM, the show that everyone’s talking about. Once again it’s a rainy day in the North West, but hey, were here to brighten up your day! It’s the 27th of October, it’s 8.30am and I’m Lauren Wareing. This morning we have all the latest news from your area including the controversial subject of bonfire night coming up next week. Are people too focused on the dangers rather than the actual meaning and fun of the event? Give us your views, text in on 678490.

First of all though here’s the other Lauren with the news:

(Lauren 2): NEWS: I’m Lauren Keegan and here are the latest headlines this morning.
· It has been reported that a man from the st. Helens area has been tragically killed in an accident occurring on the east lancs road earlier this morning. The collision involved 2 cars that lost control and collided into one another. The passengers have yet to be identified.
· Rugby League star David Myers has been confirmed as being among the dead following a series of motorway collisions which also saw a family of six being burnt to death in a fireball. Fellow team mate Martin Offiah shares his regret with us:
(Quote from Martin Offiah)
· Lessons about personal, social and health matters including sex and relationships will be compulsory in all England schools from ages 5 to 16.
· The European drugs watchdog is recommending doctors do not prescribe the anti-obesity drug. The European Medicines Agency has said the risk of serious psychiatric problems and even suicides are too high.


(Lauren 2): Now over to ……..(male) with the latest weather and travel in your area:
Well, it’s started off as quite a rainy morning and unfortunately, looks as though it is to continue to do so for the remainder of the day with top temperatures of 11 degrees, so my advice is to stay in the house! Progressing into tomorrow however, we can expect to see light scattered showers and top temperatures of 12 degrees, slightly better but not fantastic I’m sorry to say.
On a brighter note, surprisingly most of the roads are running smoothly this morning, apart from slight flooding at Saddle junction, so take care and drive slowly. If you’re stuck in a queue and we’ve not mentioned it, drop us a text if it’s safe and free to do so on 678472. Back to Lauren in the studio.

(Lauren 1): Thanks,
Now, with news of the credit crunch eating away at our pockets it’s not just the big companies that are feeling the pinch at the moment, we went to Wigan town centre to ask the public how their coping.

(Vox Pops – 4) question:
*so, how’s the credit crunch affecting your day to day living?*
· 1st person
· 2nd person
· 3rd person
· 4th person

Between 2 presenters, informal few lines about credit crunch.
Lauren 1: That's what the people of Wigan think...

Lauren2: So, what do you actually think of it then Lauren?

Lauren1: Well it's starting to effect me now - I’m even shopping at Aldi, never thought I’d see the day come!
Lauren 2: Eh! I shop in Aldi sometimes, its good value 4 money in there, what are you talking about?! And another thing, did you see that wine that’s bin advertised at the moment? Its fantastic, 3 bottles for a 5a!
Lauren 1: Eh all these binge drinkers will be going in to aldi now from you saying that!
Lauren 2: Oh those days are over now for me I think, waking up with a banging head and getting so drunk that u can’t remember a thing.

Lauren 1: No it's not too good. Anyway listen to this voice that i've just found.

(homer simpson clip)

Lauren 2: Eh! It's Homer Simpson!
Lauren 1: Yeah i know. On a serious note though, binge drinking is a rising problem amongst teenagers and young adults in the UK. With over 10000 deaths a year due to drinking alone, this matter is becoming a very worrying issue, so we sent out our… Katy to see what the clubs and pubs of Britain are really like in the early hours.

Outside Broadcast:
Hi there, I’m here in Liverpool, its not a pretty sight but i'm joined here by Lindsey a mum who lost her son to binge drinking and John the owner of Asda supermarket,

So Lindsey, why do you think people like John are to blame for your sons death?

Lindsey: Well, if the big supermarkets are going to continue to sell alcohol at such low prices then how do you expect youngsters to take note of such a serious issue. if it wasn't for this, my son would be alive now.

John: I cannot take responsibility for the death of your son, and i am sorry if you think so, however, alcohol is not just aimed at youngsters, but for all ages, and as a world wide supermarket, we aim to compete with other supermarkets to have the best possible prices.

Katy: Well, i find it amazing that the statistics aren't higher on binge drinking. Back to you in the studio.

Recognise this? (firework noise)

Well, bonfire night is approaching, and with the latest ban of fireworks, we decided to speak to Fred from orrell cricket club who is joining us this morning. He plans to ignore the new rule, and go ahead with a night full of bangs!

So Fred, talk us through your plan.

I'm not going to take any notice of what the government have said and i want to continue with the bonfire night spirit.

So when's the display and what's the price?

Well, it's on the 5th of november, it's £2 to get in, and fireworks will be launched at 6 hopefully!

Thanks fred, well, if you want a last chance to see a firework display in orrell, head down to orrell cricket club next week.

Here are a few of your views that you’ve been texting in this morning:
1. Sarah in Bilinge says that while it is a dangerous evening in some aspects, why should we lose the magic of bonfire night?
2. Gary in Ashton says, it’s all about health and safety nowadays, we can’t do anything anymore, where is the fun; it’s not like the good old days!
Well thanks for your views, that’s all we have time for this morning, next up, Ben takes control of the charts, stay tuned in to Buzz FM!

Radio Audience Profile

At the start of our research we looked at viewing figures and audience profiles, we did this to gain a greater understaning into how Radio Stations appeal to different age groups and what viewing numbers they are recieving through this; this is the website which allowed us to collect the data below on Wish FM, Key 103, BBC Radio lancashire and others:

http://http//www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.phpThis is the table that we produced using the data from the website, however we also added a target audience column at the end just to show how radio stations differ and appeal to many different audiences. This then helped us to come up with a target audience for our station: young adults who work and are interested in the news. We found that most radio stations seem to have a younger audience although do play a mixed style of music and news so that it doesn't neglect any of it's other potential audiences.

Media Coursework: 5 Minute Radio News Bulletin

Lauren Wareing and Lauren Keegan

For our Media Studies coursework project, we plan to make a 5 minute news bulletin to be heard on the radio.

We have done some research into a few radio shows including Key 103, wish fm and radio lancashire. From listening to them and basing our work on knowledge about news reports, we plan to make a successful news bulletin containing:
1.outside broadcast, 2.vox pops, 3. recorded interview, 4. Numerous presenters and 5. suitable music and scripting.

Here's an example of a couple of news bulletins that we have listened to so far which will help us to create our own:

http://www.key103.co.uk/Article.asp?id=481636&spid=18062

http://www.whatson.com/goto/?type=radio&station=radiocity&show=a_city_news

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