P2 - Planning our Radio Newscast

P1 - Group Preparation

As a group, we got together and all decided on the things that we would like to be a part of our radio news cast. 

The kinds of stories we thought would fit our criteria are hard stories such as crime, education etc yet include stories for young people as they're out target audience. Also because we're targetting a youthful audience, we thought fashion, celebrity, sports stories and the weather would attract them more. This presents the news value of human interest, currency and familiarity; if we had done a story on health for pensioners, they cannot really relate. Therefore by choosing these stories, it will attract a larger audience because it's something they can talk about as it's also current. 

In addition, we thought we should include different ways of presenting each story so that it's not the same thing and bore the audience. We came up with vox pops and voice inserts instead of just using recordings in our newscast. To edit these, we said we'd use audacity to cut, trim, paste, etc the sound clips to how we need. To record all this, we said we'd use a dictaphone instead of using phones because they record at a better quality than our mobile phones. 

For our newstory, like others we decided to start off with the introduction to ourselves. By presenting ourselves first we feel that our audience will have a better sense of familiarity. The the normal procedure of how to start a news story once we fully research on how it is done on popular radio stations like Capital FM. 

R31 - Pyschographs

Psychographs

 - A way in which to describe an audience by looking at their behaviours and personality traits. It labels a  particular type of person and makes an assessment about their viewings and spending habits.

I believe that I would be an Aspirer, Explorer and Reformer. This is because as a young person, I do in fact care about image and appearance, materialistic things and especially the packing of a product instead of the quality. For example unfortunately, I am the type of person that would go for a brand rather than the quality, like many others.

I think I fall under the psychograph as an explorer also, because as I'm still growing and gaining new experiences, I am finally seeing the world under my own impression and not of those that tell me. I am maturing and more understanding of everything around me which does impact the way I am.

In addition, I think I am a reformer as I am quite inquisitive about the way things work and why people do what they do. This is shown through my interest in psychology. I am aware of the types of people around me socially and will not allow anybody to restrict me from what I know is my rights.

R30 - Trip To the BFI

On Wednesday 11th of February, we went to the BFI on the South Bank to get more information about the British Film Industry. The day set out to inform us about the different exhibitions of films. We also got the chance to watch the film Belle, and have a Q & A session with the producer, Damian Jones - also producer of The History Boys and Adulthood/Kidulthood.

In the first half of the programme, we were given an introduction to film and the types of films there are. The speaker helped us identify that there were different types of audiences within the audience we were sitting in. For each film we had watched that the speaker said, we would either have to stand if we had watched it, or sit down if we hadn't. All the people that were standing presented a different audience. Some of the audience members were standing for more than 2 of the films which represents a mixed audience signifying that audience do not always have to be 'labelled' as a certain thing.

In the second part of the programme, the speaker played a list of trailers and in the hand outs we had to guess where it would be exhibited. E.g Picture house, art house. We also had to determine the genre of the film for example The Woman in Black starring Daniel Radclyffe was obviously a horror film however there were other films that were less easier to determine. We also received information about small independent film companies such as Warp X - which I can talk about in section B of my exam.

In the last part of the programme we got to watch  a film called Belle (2013); directed by Amma Asante and produced by Damian Hurst. The film is about a young girl called Dido Belle from the West Indies - also the illegitimate mixed race daughter of the nephew of William Murray (1st Earl of Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice of England). She was found living in poverty by her father and was entrusted to the care of Mansfield and his wife. The film focuses of Dido's relationship as a young woman however to the public, very little is known about her existence due to society measures. The film is inspired by the 1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle beside her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray and focuses on the equality between Black and White. However meanwhile, the relationship between her and an aspiring lawyer who is White British; it is set at a time of legal significance, as a court case is heard about the Zongmassacre. This was about when slaves were thrown overboard from a slave ship and the owner filed with his insurance company for the losses. Lord Mansfield rules on this case in England's Court of King's Bench in 1786 with a decision that contributes to the abolition of slavery in Britain.

Personally for me, I thought the film was really good. At first, it took me a while to get into however when I started to understand what the film was about, I really enjoyed it, as did my friends. To create a film which was inspired by a significant point in history and then to make a film about it to exhibit not only to a normal audience but to a young audience of students, is a very daring move. Some of the students did not enjoy the film however I thought the film was really well executed. The storyline helped show the lives of people oppressed from inequality and especially as the theme of sexism was portrayed throughout, it interested me more. Overall, I wouldn't mind watching the film again.

In the last part of the programme, we got the meet the producer Damian Hurst, who was also the producer Kidulthood and The History Boys. Je told us about the successes and losses of a film. He shared personal stories about how the films he thought would be successful didn't even make it to the big screens while films like Adulthood which he did not expect to do good at all, became a very successful film for an independent film company. Likewise, even though the film was very small-budgeted, the profit made back was over the 'norm'.

Overall, the day was a very resourceful yet entertaining one. I learnt a whole load of things that I never thought i would need to learn. As well as it being very packed with information, i still enjoyed myself and had a better time than I thought I would. Even though this won't really be able to help with my coursework, i still benefitted as it can help me loads with Section B of my exam and the film industry.

R29 - Mipsterz & Hijab

As media is all about finding things out from different perspectives, I took the opportunity to work with Anna on the BBC with a project called Hip and Hijab. Myself as well as other students took part in an interview on how we think Muslim young girls are represented in society and what the hijab means to us. Being a Muslim myself and not wearing hijab entitled me to having different opinions compared to the other students.

Due to a family emergency, I could not attend the first meeting with a woman called Shelina. The meeting was about the idea of oppression as the media seem to continuously present Muslim women as feeling oppressed due to them wearing hijab.

The second meeting took place at All Stars Bowling Alley in Brick lane. I learnt that the natural environment is best in this circumstance to show young girls not being made to feel like they're oppressed and that Muslim young women are the same like non Muslim women when taking part in leisure activities. This sort of environment will reflect the fun that Muslim girls do have and show the public that 'being made to feel oppressed' is not always the case.

R28 - City University Masterclass

On the 10th of December, I went to a master class in City University for Journalism. We had to apply online and see if we could get in which luckily enough I did. When I went, we had to get into different groups of four and come up with a particular news story, which would eventually became one big newscast.

 My group had chosen to do how the recession had affected them. We were then given a microphone and a dictaphone to go out onto the streets to do a vox pop. As it was lesson time, majority of the students had gone to lectures or lessons so it was difficult to find someone who would participate. We eventually did, and also went to a local store and a large supermarket like Tesco. We eventually got the answers we needed and put the newscast together with the help of Collette Cooney, a broadcast journalist. 

 We also got the opportunity to have a tour around the University, especially around the media room that had a green screen and controls of the radio channel. This opportunity taught me about the variety of newscasts that are broadcasted. Also, as I was unsure about whether I wanted to pursue the career path of a journalist, this gave me an indication of what it was like to be one. I gained more teamwork skills and had the chance to meet new people, which developed my social skills. Overall, the day was very enjoyable and something I would do again. However, to be a journalist, I’ve learnt that you need to be very confident and outgoing to get the best possible news stories which I think isn’t for me.