Conventions of a News package
News Package
News packages, are usually found in long news programmes such as BBC News. The package itself, is a self contained news report. Most likely the presenter will read out an introduction to the story live and then it will go on to pre-recorded footage of the story. News packages, usually last around 1-3 minutes, where in that time they are able to cover the majority of the story by including 6 main conventions.
Field Reporters
A field reporter is a reporter that reports the news on location and who helps provide extra information for the main reporter of the news package. A field reporter is able to also provide more information on for the audience, as they are at the exact location where an event is taking place. Also a field reporter can become quite involved depending on the story they are reporting e.g. if they are reporting about Afghanistan, they might be following the movements of the troops and their involvement and importance to the story will also be shown through their costume.
Links to studio
Links to the studio is another convention that is used throughout news packages, which is where the audience is able to see the main presenter talk to another reporter on a different location, which is usually presented live, but it can be pre-recorded footage. The location for the the link to studio, is able to make the topic being covered more realistic for the audience.
Mode of address
Another convention would be mode of address, which can be different in a lot of news packages as it depends on the story that is being covered. If the presenter is talking about a serious matter or talking about facts, their tone of voice would be serious and clear, so that the audience is able to understand the importance of the matter and also provides them knowledge. Also the language complexity of the presenter would depend on what the package is covering, as they might use words that relate to a certain group and might even exaggerate on some of the words they say, to express importance or so.
Interviewing experts and witnesses
Throughout news packages they also include interviews, where the reporter is speaking to an expert on the subject. But it can also include interviews with eye witnesses where the audience is able to receive direct information on what that person saw and also interviews with members of the public, so that their opinions on the subject or event is heard. Also the interviews are always done on a relevant location that links with the story, so that the news package is able to keep continuity even through locations and camera language.
Report structure
The majority of news packages have a different structure from one another, but the most common structure included would be the sign in, where the presenter introduces themselves and the story line. The ending of the news structure, mostly ends on the presenter coming to a conclusion about the story, or if it's an on-going story, there will be more updates as the story develops. The other types of parts that are included in report structures are : Archive footage, vox pops,pieces to camera, cutaways and noddies.
Actuality footage
Actuality footage is a type of archive footage, but it mainly comes from members of the public that are witnessing the event and are recording in on their phones or video cameras. Through actuality footage, the audience are able to notice if it is filmed professionally or at a amateur level, which is able to add more realism to the news package. Depending on what the story is focused on, they will use certain parts of the footage too convey meaning more.
News package on the death of Baby P
Mode of Address to viewer
The mode of address throughout this news package has a very serious tone, as the topic that the presenter is covering is very tragic and upsetting, as it focuses on the murder of the toddler baby P, which will convey to the audience seriousness of the matter and also through his tone such as at 0:10 he explains about the people who are responsible can "finally be named" for the child's death, but his vocabulary is able to grab the audiences attention and make them more sympathetic towards the topic as he says "the death of an innocent", which shows to the audience that the child that did not deserve to get tortured and makes the people responsible receive hatred and negative comments from the members of the public, which even though they killed a child, it's still not right they receive the abuse from the public that they received. Through the package, the reporter keeps to the same clear serious tone and at 0:20 he is able to provide the audience with facts about the child's admission to hospital and the specific date, which allows the audience to become more knowledgeable about the tragedy. Also through the voice over such as at 0:38, the reporter is able to explain in more detail and depth about the murderers and their past actions, which in a sense allows the audience to become even more against them and from this information being revealed, it can put their own lives at risk. Due to the reporter revealing secret information about the murderers current and past lives, it also gives a sense of him being biased towards the situation, as even though what they did was wrong and they should know better as they are adults in a way, he is still making the audience more able too create their own opinions on them in a distasteful way. Also at 1:08 the reporter empathizes on the word "fact" which would make the audience be more trustworthy of the reporter, as he is looking straight at the camera and not stuttering, which suggests that he knows a lot of information about the case and makes him an reliable source to the audience. The reporters dress code, also come across as a reliable and honest to the audience, as he is dressed in a smart attire such as at 0:17 and also connotes that the topic is a serious one, which allows the audience to know the importance of the topic. There is no expert opinion throughout this package but, I think because the reporter knows a lot about the incident, he is able to provide the necessary information for the audience, but if they were to have an experts opinion, it might be from the point of view of the doctor who examined the body of the child, but at the same time this is a sensitive topic and the more in depth analysis of the child might be private and they wouldn't want to come across an insensitive to the audience or the family members.
Interviewing Experts and Witnesses
Throughout this package there two main interviews, one that talks to the neighbor of the family and the mother of the two sons that tortured the toddler. At 1:59 the voice over introduces a neighbor, who was an eye witness to the ambulance arriving to take the toddler to hospital. The witness explains exactly what he saw and how he never suspected anything like that to happen locally. The editor of this news package, most likely edited out the most important factors the of the conversation, as the witness says he saw " a ambulance man rushing out, cradling the baby in his arms", which is able to create a upsetting tone through the audience and also creates a sense of realism to the event, as they are hearing it directly from someone who saw what happened. The location that is used for this interview, is most likely the area where the event took place, as the reporter is interviewing a local and also makes it more believable as at 1:58 the man says "walked down to the corner" and while doing this, his eyes suggest where he walked to, showing audience that the interview is taking place in the area where the murder happened. Also at 2:10, the reporter suggests that he has talked to a number of the mothers friends and received information about her and her lifestyle, which is able to provide the audience some background detail on her, but can come across as unreliable as we are not directly seeing her friends being interviewed about her and the event. Also nearer to the end of the package, there is a interview with a person who could be the mother of the two men who killed the toddler at 3:04, but this mainly gives the audience background detail on what they were like growing up and how the treated their grandmother, which even though it is providing information on the two men, it has moved away from the actual topic of the torture of baby P, which the audience would have more of an interest in as that is what the package was originally talking about. But also this interview would be used in the package, to create more of an image about the men and create people to hate them even more. Through this package, their isn't any graphics of the names such as at 2:00 and 3:00 of the people they are interviewing, which could make the audience question if who they are interviewing a reliable source, but the voice over before the interviews are shown, explains on who they are interviewing and their relation to the family. The camera language through the interviews are at a mid-shot, which can give the impression of the interviewees talking directly to them such as at 3:13, but also maybe so that the audience are able to slightly get an idea of what they're like and there importance to the story.
Field reporters
Through this news package, the reporter is in relevant locations to the event. At 0:13, we are introduced to the reporter wearing smart, formal clothing, which immediately shows the audience that the topic of the report is a serious one. The reporter is shown walking and talking to the camera, which is known as pieces to camera, while outside the hospital of where the toddler was admitted to. While he is walking he is explaining facts of the case so far and then at 0:25 he stands still outside the ward where the baby was taken to. The reason why he may of stopped directly in front of the sign, is to emphasis the situation more and also too present to the audience that he knows what he is talking about, and also gives the audience more knowledge on the exact hospital where Baby P was taken to. At 1:08, the reporter is outside Haringey civic council, who are in connection with social services. The idea of moving to this location, is to show another side of the story, in which the audience might not have considered, which would be what the local authorities and social services had done, and also he reporter talks about what the council themselves have said which was " bound to learn the lesson of this tragedy", which implies to the audience that social services didn't really do much about the Baby P. The reporter doesn't have direct involvement with the story, but he is able to present to the audience that he knows what he is talking about and provides them facts and information about Baby P and his family such as at 2:15. Also the audience are able to get glimpse inside the house of the family 1:51 and 1:55, which allows them to see the lifestyle that they were living in. The type of camera movement used through there home, is quite slow paced and only focuses on the run down parts of the house such as at 1:54, which shows the audience once again, on the lifestyle that the lived in and makes the criticism them. The choice of presenter used for this report, is a white middle aged man such as at 0:14, which they may have used a man rather than a woman, because women can be considered more emotional to sensitive topics than men, so the production team needed use a man as they are represented as being strong and they won't break character and is able to get the story told in the best way possible.
Report structure
This news package does contain the conventions of a report structure but with this one, the reporter does not introduce himself or what the report is exactly going to be about until 0:08 where the voice over mentions the name Baby P, which then immediately the audience will know what the package is going to be about, as it was quite a popular story at the time and they want to see what is happening with the case at the present time. But the downside to not using a sign in at the start of the package, means that the audience doesn't know what it's going to be about and they might not be eager about watching it, as the reporter doesn't clarify straight away, what he is going to be talking about. The context of the package is shown straight at the beginning, where it is presented through graphics at 0:03, with the voice over explaining who they are and their current situation in court. This introduces to the audience, what the main topic of the package is going to be about and as it seems to be a on-going story at the time, this would come across as important to the audience as they would have wanted to be kept up to date with situation and how things are going to turn out in the end. There is a lot of fast communication shown through the graphics in this report such as at 0:50,1:16 and 2:34 where with each part the voice over provides information about each murderers past, but from this at the side of the photo, there is a small sentence next to them which also provides information, while the voice over goes in depth about it. At 0:52 the graphic says "fascinated with Hitler", while the voice over explains how the man used to collect "Nazi helmets and daggers", through this the report is able to keep to the topic, by going in depth with their past and revealing to the public what sort of people they were/are like. Also the graphics help break up the shots such as at 1:45, the voice over is talking about how the mother used to hide the bruises " by smothering him in chocolate" and then it provides the audience of an image of Baby P covered in chocolate, showing the audience that the reporter has done a lot of research in to the case, so that he is able to provide this to the audience, without missing out something important or saying something that isn't true. Also throughout the report, pieces to camera is used quite frequently such as at 2:09, where the reporter is outside the family's home, as he says "this house" suggesting to the audience, that he has done his research about the crime and makes it more interesting to watch, as the audience would become bored if the reporter stayed in the same spot, when it came back to him, so making the camera follow while he talks, makes it enjoyable to watch and also makes the reporter himself more involved with the story.
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Actuality footage
Actuality footage is shown is seen at 0:29 of the package, which is able to draw the audience in straight away and make them actual see the events that are taking place in Syria. By providing the audience with footage of the events that are happening, it gives off a sense of realism, even though the reporter states its from last night at 0:37, the footage still has the realistic feeling. Also the camera movement of the footage is un-professional, which suggests to the audience, that this the person who recorded the footage is a part of what is happening and they are able to see what it's like through the recorders eye in a way and is able to make the audience feel like they are actually there and witnessing it for themselves. With this actuality footage, the production team are able to show the audience the truth of what is happening and at 1:00 they cut the shot at a mans feet, as it is too gory for the audience to witness. This implys that the events happening in Syria are too frightening and inappropriate to show on television, but by cutting the footage at the mans feet, it is still able to make the audience feel sympathy towards the situation and also makes them realise that innocent people are dying. The voice over does give out information on what the rest of the footage included at 1:00 where the presenter stated " they do reveal dozen of bodies on this blood stained road", so the audience are given a small amount of information, but it's mainly left to the imagination. Actuality footage in the report, is used quite frequently and is often used as cut aways to while the presenters are discussing whats happening and what the next movement is going to be for Syria and the UN. By using the footage gradually throughout the report, it is able to keep the audience gripped, as they want to see more of what is happening and how the citizens are reacting such as at 1:26.
The links to studio in this news package is quite limited, due to the events happening in Syria they are unable to continue filming. But, the studio presenter is still able to connect with someone in Syria as at 2:50, the man in Syria explains the next steps of the soldiers and military, which is able to give the audience information on what's going to happen next and what the government are going to do about it. The bad thing about this link to the studio is that, the man is away from the action that is happening such as at 3:15 and seems to be outside on a more calm street, which to the audience might be disappointing as they want to see what is happening directly and how things are evolving, but at the same time they are able to get information from this man about the crisis without being interrupted with background noise or so, but this takes away the realism of the story. Also the graphics at 3:20 clarify's that the man is not that far away from the action, but it might be presented like this so that he is able to explain everything more clearly and in more detail without getting disrupted. The camera language is static at 3:11 and is keeping to the rule of thirds rule, which makes the audience feel like he is talking directly to them and makes them feel more a part of it. Also the background at 3:25 implies that he at the moment is on safe ground and also makes the audience think that, it's strange how destruction of cities and the deaths of people are happening not that far away, from the location of him, which might be to show the comparison and how things might be changing in a few hours or so.
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