INTRODUCTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE PACKAGE
The answer to the question “What is news?” may seem obvious. News is what is new; it’s what’s happening. Look it up in the dictionary, and you’ll find news described as “a report of recent events or previously unknown information.”
The following factors need to be taken into consideration when viewing news and in fact does it become news worthy, especially due to the fact that we are working within the broadcasting framework, that of radio.
Timeliness: Did something happen recently or did we just learn about it? If so, that could make it newsworthy. The meaning of “recently” varies depending on the medium, of course.
Impact: Are many people affected or just a few? Contamination in the water system that serves your town’s 20,000 people has impact because it affects your audience directly. A report that 10 children were killed from drinking polluted water at a summer camp in a distant city has impact too, because the audience is likely to have a strong emotional response to the story
Proximity: Did something happen close to home, or did it involve people from here? A plane crash in Chad compared to a bomb blast in P.E?
Controversy: Are people in disagreement about this? It’s human nature to be interested in stories that involve conflict, tension, or public debate. People have opinions and therefore will take sides, but the question will be according to whose sides are they taking and why.
Prominence: Is a well-known person involved? Ordinary activities or mishaps can become news if they involve a prominent person like a prime minister or a film star.
Now that we have defined the bases for what within news becomes interesting and news worthy each journalist is unique and therefore would be able to create the story within their own way. For example unemployment and further cuts have been experienced here in Grahamstown. A journalist may wish take many angles on this such as showing how this will effect countless families (a more doom and gloom angle), they can show how people are banding together to help themselves (this being a positive spin on unemployment), another angle could be a comparison on differing economic standards and what sort of financial help and setting can be provided to the persons who require assistance.
From my personal philosophy and the ability to recognise that the community around me just lacks the information they require to help themselves with this particular story I had decided to show how local businesses have started on a micro scale but have over a year employed other locals to assist and that all one needs is financial help as well as a good business plan. As human beings we are able to see an opportunity and take it and thus thrive off the resources we have available to use and hence exploit this to make a profit in order to survive. Other than this aspect, I think that when it comes to news stories its simple to follow the standards either that which is set by ones self or that by ones institution. Its not difficult to have both sides of the story heard, the difficulty occurs when you are too close to a story that being you can relate to the story or the situation this can either enable a journalist to do a proper job of finding out the truth of ensuring that the facts are presented in a fair and just manner or this could disable a journalist as the story thus becomes one sided as to erect some sort of support from their audience.
I was able to attain the news story of the person who was raped and the accused who were detained that morning and the story was broadcasted on our podcast that afternoon when the local news paper would have only released the update the next day.
A follow up to this story would be to follow the court trial as it was a young girl who was gang raped and thus if she and the family permitted a follow up on her recovery (if any) and progress should also be done.
Follow ups such as the above help to remind our audience of the kind of society that we live in and that they need to take note of their surroundings and keep loved ones safe.
CLIMATE CHANGE PACKAGE
The media have a crucial responsibility as a source of information and opinions about science
and technology for citizens. Public perception and attitudes with regard to those domains are
significantly influenced by representations of scientific knowledge conveyed by the press and
other mass means of communication.
Eastern Cape Coast line has seen an increase in fishing of protected species of aquatic life, what is the control over this? Does holding a fishing permit mean that you can do as you please? Should we save the fish or save the hungry people?
