Back Chat FM News Evaluation

EVALUATING YOUR FOUNDATION PROJECTS

For the Evaluation you need to write an entry on your blog, under the heading “Evaluation” which answers the following key points:


• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For our AS Media project we were asked to create a short five minuet news production. My news production was on the stations BackChatFM, which has an audience of young, sporty, 16-35 years male predominated. The production I felt, follows fairly standard radio industry methods. For example, outlining the main headlines at the star of the bulletin and then given in depth later. Also I have incorporated different element of real media production such as the interviews with passengers, officials and unfortunate ice cream van drivers. Also BackChatFM to me, is an in the moment current issues station. For example the story of Ryaniars downturn due to financial problems this is a topical theme at the moment. Also celebrity stories of Beckham as well as keeping to the stations theme sport.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Well throughout the news broadcast different social groups are represented in different way. Firstly the news reader, represents the interests of the public, for example when interviewing the Irish Ryanair PR Official. The news reader was trying to get as much information out of him as he could and some questions had tones of anger and major inconvenience on behalf of the general public and the stranded customers. Another social group that was represented was the Irish Ryanair PR official whom had responsibilities to gloss over his companies mistake and to try and reassure the general public. The PR Official Brendan Fitzpatrick also had tones of trying to keep the interview light hearted to gloss over the problem. Furthermore, in the same news story the disgruntled and angry stranded customers in Berlin represented the ordinary man on the street and how these big companies didn’t care about anything only the money. Within this interview with the customers this represents football fans too. The final social groups that were involved in the news project was the unlucky Polish ice-cream-van-man. Here was represented he working class and shock of what had just happened. Furthermore, throughout the whole news broadcast accents were represented such as the Irish spokesman, the Polish ice-cream-van-man. Also the different English and regional accents are shown at the airport. These accents represent class and also the different audiences that listen to the station.

• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The purposes of news reports are to inform, involve, and to a certain extend entertain the uniformed general public. There are many different media organizations that need, want and use news broadcasts. the media institution that would distribute my work would be some companies like BBC or RTE. Also now with the new and ever expanding world wide web, news can be broadcasted online, live or on playback.

• Who would be the audience for your media product?
As discussed before my target audience would be 16-35 sporty, light hearted males. However, news being news, it has no specific target market because news is to inform. Understandably some stories will interest certain audiences more but overall news is there to inform the uninformed.

• How did you attract/address your audience?
The way in which I addressed the audience was to involve and get the point across to the audience. As well as the informal style that is given across in the broadcast and the fast tempo of the news suggesting up-to-date, urgent, and this is also shown in the way of the station ID and jingle. For example, within the jingle the announcer, says the station name BackChatNewsFM, and with the effects that I have added to that it re-enforced the name because it sound like someone chatting back due to the echo effect. Also the tempo of the jingle also adds to the pace of the news items. Furthermore, I chose to make my station have an interactive element to it such as the texting element which also gives across the suggestion of up-to-date and urgent news and also getting the audience involved and letting the audience give their ‘back chat’.

• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The technology side of creating this new project has been very enlightening I have learnt a new and wide ranging skills and tools. For example I have used Garageband to create the actually audio project. This tool lets you create and layer different track and effects to give a professional element. Also I went in to a recording studio to put the package all together as live, for example I burnt all my voxpops and interview clips on CD and played and read my script as live. In the studio we used microphones and different faders to build up the piece. The useful thing about Garageband is that it is a non-destructive editing package, this means it lets you edit whilst not losing what you’ve already created. I also used a small portable voice recorder which you could save as either mp3 or wav files. Before doing this project I had never used any such like equipment, but now I feel able to use these items.

• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Compared to my preliminary project I have think have progressed quite well on the technical and editing side of the packaging process. Furthermore, there are so many different ways in which to create a news broadcast and there’s also many different ways of delivering the news broadcast, such as style, tone, audience market.