News Formats
In many countries of the region, the news format is still very rigid and formal; a ten or fifteen-minutes bulletin is read straight through by one person. Research has shown however, that the attention span of the average listener is limited, particularly when one person is talking all the time.
The method of straight reading therefore is no longer considered the best way of getting information to the listener. Even the use of two newsreaders alternating the presentation of the items in a news bulletin is considered better for keeping the listener’s attention.
News presentation techniques have changed greatly in recent years. In many countries, a large proportion of major news bulletins is made up of actuality inserts. These cover material from any source other than the newsreader, and include voice reports by the journalists themselves, brief extracts from speeches, interviews, news conferences and genuine sound effects. Some stations use jingles, or even drumbeats for instance, between national and foreign news items.
All these techniques should be used properly. For example, a tape or ‘phone-in’ insert would be pointless if the technical quality does not ensure clarity. So you must also have the best equipment possible.
Journalists need to be trained extensively in various modern broadcasting techniques, such as the use of voice inserts and actuality, tape editing and presentation.
The A.B.C of professional Journalism
ACCURACY
Accuracy is fundamental to any news service. When you fail in accuracy, you fail the audience, and lose credibility. So GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT. Check everything, don’t guess. You can never be too careful with facts, figures and names.
The electronic media have a big advantage in being faster than the press, but speed increases the risk of error. Limitations of air-time also require news to be tightly compressed, thus raising the possibility of distortion and ambiguity.
Distortion of news occurs when inaccuracies and untruths replace facts. For rewriting, always go to the original source. Don’t rewrite from someone else’s copy – check and recheck all facts, figures and names.
Do not use rumors. The word rumor must never appear in your copy. It is not the role of the news service to speculate the purpose is to report accurately. Speculation is not fact, although facts need to be explained. Indeed, there’s a growing need to place events and issues in a broader context. So, Explain rather than speculate.
A news service should not contain opinion. It should report only the facts and other people’s opinions.
Inaccuracies also occur in translation. Translators have the important task of understanding the message and translating it accurately into another language.
BALANCE
Balance is one of the most important issues. You should seek to give both sides to a story particularly when it’s a controversial subject. If you don’t do this, you lose credibility. Balance should be achieved in each news item, each bulletin and certainly over a period of time.
There are serious imbalances in the newscasts produced by Radio Pakistan:
- Extensive use of governmental views only
- Over-use of stories of intentions (what a minister or somebody intends doing)
- Opposite opinion is ignored.
- Too much foreign news, much of which is irrelevant to the local community.
- Interior and remote areas are out of focus
- Too much urban oriented and urban originated stories, whereas Pakistani Society is predominantly rural.
- Too few stories with a human interest angle.
In the interest of harmony in multi-racial and multi-religious societies, you must be careful in the way you report news relating to the various communities.
You must also seek balance in presentation styles.
CLARITY
If the audience cannot understand what you are saying because it is not clear, the whole effort is wasted and no communication has taken place. That’s why clarity must be top priority. If an item is not clear to you, it will be a meaningless babble to the listener.
ACCURCY + BALANCE + CLARITY = CREDIBILITY
When the message is accurate, balanced and clear, the audience will believe it.
Credibility is journalism’s greatest asset
Radio and television services when government controlled suffer from lack of independent validation. There’s a tendency to say ‘oh, that’s Government propaganda’. Many of us have the experience of not trusting people who have a vested interest in the message. If someone tries too hard to sell us something, we look upon that person with suspicion, because we feel that person has something to gain by convincing us.
Only journalism which is both free and responsible and believed to be both can enjoy the respect and confidence of people and earn credibility in their eyes.
If you do not strive for and earn credibility and listeners don’t believe your news service, you are wasting your time.