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Introduction
to Broadcasting MCM
411
VU
LESSON
02
CLASSIFICATION OF
PROGRAMS
Moving on
from the previous talk in
which we discussed various
aspects of broadcasting in
the
sense
of target audience and
timings of the programs, we
will now see in detail as
how
programs
are classified for a full
fledged broadcasting
house.
Classification
Almost
all the leading broadcasting
houses have put their
presentations in these
distinct
categories
namely;
·
News
·
Current
Affairs
·
Programming
Today,
we start understanding the
first category; news and
current affairs.
NEWS
Perhaps
the hallmark of every
broadcasting house is presentation of
the news. Some
are
specifically
known for it like BBC or
CNN. So much is the
specialization of this category
of
broadcast
that some houses have
now launched channels which
round the clock deal
with
news
and news analysis
only.
By
definition a news is a piece of
information which tells you
about the recent, events
taking
place
any part of the world
and which interests large
number of people.
This
updating of events is perhaps in
the human instinct. But
how a producer should deal
with
this
segment of broadcast is what we
will be talking in
detail.
Authenticity
First
and foremost, the producer
must check is the
authenticity of the news,
reliability of the
sources
for any mistake here
may result in a wide spread
reactions.
Language
The
news language is always the
standard language with
pronunciation and accent
socially
accepted.
Story
lines are simple and
short which communicate
more. Jarring sentences or
complicated
structuring
of lines will only ruin
the whole exercise.
Taboos
There
are certain things in every
society mention of which is
not encouraged, even if the
facts
are
correct. No society allows
mentioning of sacrilegious matters or
talking more on
racism
even
if some even to this effect
has taken place. For
the sake of not fanning
such things, these
matters
are put in the low
key. In Pakistan, for
instance, stories of rape,
murder or other
social
distortion
are not given any
undesired publicity by the
broadcasting houses for the
society
does
not permit there mention
too often. Knowing such
sensitive matters is one of
the primary
things
a news producer must be
aware of.
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Introduction
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411
VU
Sensationalizing
A
big no. News are
written and read in a manner
they do not cause undesired
bent to, or from,
an
event. They must be
delivered in a standard way. In
fact if there is a juicy
news - about
show-biz,
sports or politics, a good
news producer will tend to
subtract sensational area
from it
so
that it does not cause an
immediate reaction. But it
does not suggest by any
means that the
interest
in the news be shrinked. It is
here, qualities of a news
producer are exposed.
Voice
Quality
People
appearing in different broadcast
possess different voice
qualities - level,
stress,
mincing
words, some natural some
un-natural, sharp, hoarse
and with a range of accents.
But
for
news reading a person is
required whose voice quality
should be described as
STANDARD.
It is difficult to define it,
but the voice, which
has high social
acceptability, could
be
categorized for it.
Reading
Speed
It
is suggested that a news
reader must practice the
script, and is very well
trained, in keeping
a
uniform speed for reading
different news throughout
the given bulletin. It will
be a very
embarrassing
situation for the producer,
as well as listeners, to see a
broadcaster reading
slowly
in the beginning and then
running fast through the
later part of the newsreel.
This also
suggests
that news producer should
put as much reading material
on the script which must
be
finished
right in time of the
bulletin with the uniform
reading speed adopted by the
news
reader.
This is easy said then
done. A lot of practice is
required to keep matters in
control.
Proximity
Selection
of news is the area about
which it is generally said
that it is here that a
news
editor/producer
grows grey hair or loses
hair faster than others. And
truly said so. At a
news
section
of a broadcasting house you
will encounter tens of
thousands of news items
pouring in
from
all around the world -
the volume of this material
in a day is enough to keep
you busy
reading
it a whole week if not less.
How to choose news which
suit to my bulletin is a
huge
question
facing a news producer many
times a day. And unfortunately
you do not have
ample
time
to think, but take a
decision as quickly as possible
for the legs of the
wall-clock are
ticking
fast
to keep you under pressure
for a decision.
Let's
see what helps him in
news selection; proximity of
events is perhaps the first
guideline
for
him... an event taking place in
Pakistan, suppose a rail
accident killing five
people, is a
preferred
story for him than
killing of 30 people in some
South American state by a
cyclone. A
political
statement from a top ranking
official in Pakistan will
feature prominently in a
news
bulletin
run by a Pakistani Broadcasting
house, than a similar
statement issued by an
even
senior
ranking official of another
country, mattering little to
people of Pakistan.
Then
he knows the regional
issues, developments in the
Muslim world and the
international
scenario
which may interest people
here. More he knows about it
easier is the
selection
process
for him; though it is never
easy in standard
terms.
Specific
NEWS
With
specialization emphasized in all
the well spread out
areas, special news
bulletins are
arranged
for specific target
listeners. Many a broadcasting house,
and the Pakistan
Broadcasting
Corporation included, news
bulletins meant generally
for a specific segment
of
society
are arranged; special news
bulletin for farmers
carrying mainly agricultural
news, for
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Introduction
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411
VU
business
community or sporting news
for the people who
interests more in these
areas. The
benefit
of such arrangement is that
more material could be put
across here as compared
to
general
newsreels which would only
touch briefly on these
issues for want of
time.
Breaking
NEWS
These
days we hear more of it.
Well, this means stopping
your routine transmission
to
announce
news of immediate interest
and importance to most
people. This must be
done
prudently
otherwise people will lose
interest in the routine
newscasts.
And
before we end this
discussion, we should not
forget noticing news
bulletin
in regional, or as they are
called these days, national
languages. This exercise is
done
to
accommodate and communicate
things worth news to people
in the remote towns,
especially
speaking languages in a particular
dialect and diction. Such
bulletins usually
carry
news
of local contents.
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