Is Television news a window on the world?

Is Television news a “window on the world”? Television news has rapidly changed over the last few years, mostly due to the advancement in social media sites such as twitter. However the way in which the news is delivered to us and the methods in which they do this have generally stayed the same. The news channels have always somewhat branded themselves as an unmediated and neutral “window on the world”. The news uses different methods in creating this transparency of information that is presented to us in a non bias package. One of the ways in which they do this is through their starting sequences, sets and presenters. Most news programmes will begin their starting sequence with a large picture of the earth. This and many over connotations, is used to symbolise their motto of bringing news to the viewer from all around the world. They may also rush into different shots creating a feeling of speed that represents that way the news is packaged and then delivered to the audience. After these connotations, the starting sequence tends to either switch to a summary report (read by the presenter) or simply straight to the main presenter who sits at a large desk. The transition between these two shots might be used by the production and editing teams as a chance to show the viewer the programmes set. This is usually used to continue the idea that news programmes bring you unedited and neutral news. News presenters are also taught to present in a certain manner and attitude in order to once again show a non-bias representation of global news. The typical southern accent as well as their formal behaviour gives the audience the impression that these news stories are of serious importance and need to be heard. On very little occasions will news presenters give their own opinion on a topical subject, mainly because news programmes need to be perceived as impartial and professional.

 Regulatory bodies such as Ofcom and the BBC Trust try to withhold this idea of news programmes bringing unmediated, neutral news to its viewers. On Ofcoms website they state the principles that they try to follow. They main principle on impartiality is “to ensure that news, in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality.” The BBC Trust has a similar statement on their website that reads “impartiality lies at the heart of public service and is the core of the BBCs commitment to its audiences. It applies to all our output and services- television, radio, online, and in our international services and commercial magazines. We must be inclusive, considering the broad perspective and ensuring the existence of a range of views is appropriately reflected.” Although these bodies claim to show a clear reflection of their principles on impartiality, I find it hard as a member of the common audience to understand how they can morally abide by these set of principles. Well, to unsure that these channels abide by certain impartiality rules, certain broadcasting rules have been in place such as the Broadcasting act of 1973 that deems “ITV will show due impartiality. Other laws include the BBC Royal Charter which states that the BBC “shall refrain from expressing its views on matters of public concern.” These laws do help to prevent against certain stories that might be deemed offensive or inaccurate. However, I question how impartial the news can really be; for instance how can the news be portrayed as impartial, when the very news story published on air have been shot and selected in a certain manner. It is in fact impossible for news channels to provide impartiality as in order for news stories to be packaged and delivered to our televisions, certain choices of shots and editing aspects are chosen. This detracts any sense of impartiality that news channels try to portray.

 The news can sometimes show forms of a narrative structure to their stories. This is no coincidence; most news reports have some sort of narrative structure to their story. For example, if a news programme were to report on the increasing number of overweight teens, they may use a sensitive story based around the child’s struggle to keep healthy. Field reporters will frame and interview their subject in order to create a certain emotional attachment to the interviewee. The fact that news programmes allow their reporters and studio news readers to present the news in this style detracts any form of impartiality. The editing of these clips using continuity transitions hides the constructed and artificial nature of the text. They use these edits to try and create realism in what would be a jumpy and unattractive news story. The news is therefore very much an impartial outlook on world news stories due to the fact that every single news story goes through a precision process of shooting and editing that will be perceived in less of a natural form. The choices that are made do to with shot angles, shot durations and editing processes are all selected/constructed for certain reasons. These reasons may be to indulge the viewer in what would a boring topic, artificially constructed to show only the interesting things. They may also be constructed to show in favour of a certain person, party or political scheme that would be beneficial to certain people. We must question how accurate these stories are and whether they have in fact been cleverly edited/shot to create an altered portrayal of real events.

 The news states to be objective and impartial yet they seems to struggle in balancing between an interesting story and an impartial and informative view on global events. We also have to question what makes a story news worthy, for example news that might be important to myself might not make the national news compared to a story about a famous figure in society. Certain news values make certain stories seem more important. Galtung and Ruge studied the idea of what makes a story news worthy and created list of certain aspects which allow the stories we see on the news to be selected in the first place. This is the list of some categories that G&R created: Frequency- the event has to fit in with the cycle of news production. Threshold-The bigger the event, the more likely it’s going to be focused on in the news. Meaningfulness- The story has to be relevant to the audience watching as it may impact their lives. The categories of news values that G&R created seem to be consistent with modern day news broadcasting, however I believe that certain categories will have to be added to their news values as the world will constantly evolve and change.

 One of the biggest changes to television news is the increasing use of the internet and in particular a social networking site called Twitter. Twitter is altering the way in which we are presented with news. The general public are now able to find and publish news through websites in an instant. Were also allowed to focus and follow certain news stories as they develop and expand into what will be reported on the news. As this is the case, news channels have to even more aware of what might be deemed biased and false. In a way the internet has helped prevent television news channels from altering reality in order to seem more interesting. The introduction of twitter has in a sense democratised the news. Impartial and factual information can now be sourced through the internet and allows the user to make his own unmediated judgements on topics. Twitter has also changed the job structure inside television news as reporters now have the option of simply using twitter to compile information. Although television news promises to portray an impartial window on the world, there is in fact no way that that the news can be impartial due to way in which they artificially construct their news stories. However due to the introduction of modern technology sites such as twitter are allowing people to explore factual and unmediated news. As this is the case, do we really need television news?