NE

Unit 27 Assignment 1

$1.25

Thursday, April 2nd, 2015

Vol XCIII, No. 311

Benefits Street

Bias, Accuracy and Representation

This programme is quite accurate because the people featured in it are real and they can give facts about themselves instead of someone else which makes it more believable. The programme has issues of bias though because participants were approached in a negative way, they were asked questions that were negative when being interviewed which showed participants in a bad light. It also had issues of representation because the programme was misrepresenting people who were on benefits by showing all the negative things to do with people on benefits and very little positive things, like the people who are trying really hard to get off benefits and aren't unclean and do look after their houses and children. Participants claimed they had been duped into taking part under the pretence it was a series about community spirit.

The impact on the audience is that they aren't getting a good representation of people who are on benefits and could lead them to believe that it is. It also can offend people watching the programme who are also on benefits because they might feel like they are being judged based on this programme.

Bias - When the documentary has a one sided opinion. You can't skew the facts in favour of something in a factual programme.

Accuracy - Meaning is the factual programme truthful, is the information correct. You can't make a factual programme that isn't accurate because other wise what's the point in making it.

Representation - The way the subject/topic/facts/people are shown to the audience, misrepresentation of these things is unfair and unbalanced.

Worldwide Status Clip

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/benefits-street

ITV Fake Footage

There is a massive problem with accuracy because the footage is fake. This makes ITV look unprofessional and makes them untrustworthy. There is also an issue with bias because they wanted to make Gadaffi look bad so they used whatever footage they had of the 1988 attack (clip 0:36 - 1:00) The impact on the audience is that it can make people doubt itv in the future, people won't trust them. Making a 'mistake' like this could bring viewing numbers down, and not want to watch future documentaries that itv bring out. If they lied about the footage being real then what else have they lied about in the documentary or other documentaries? They could be lying about the fact that the footage was accidentally put in there when the programme was edited together.

UKIP Documentary

Frozen Planet

There is an issue with accuracy in frozen planet as some footage of polar bears was found to have been filmed in a zoo instead of in their natural habitat which was what the footage was said to be. This made viewers disapointed because of the reputation of the programme and David Attenborough which became damaged. There was also issues with representation because polar bears were misrepresented in their natural habitat, giving the impression they are more tame than what people think when the polar bears used in the zoo was just a trained polar bear who was taught to be less wild like. The impact on the audience is that we it makes us disheartened and makes us doubt future David Attenborough documentaries and past ones.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2955872/Channel-4-s-UKIP-Days-hatchet-job-receives-700-complaints.html

There was an issue with representation in this documentary because it was an inaccurate representation of Britain after UKIP have come into power, channel 4 have also been accused of showing Israel as a far right country by showing far right protesters with an israeli flag. The documentary was mainly accused of being biased because viewers thought that the docu-drama was highly bias against the political party and only showed them in a negative light. One man tweeted that as a state funded broadcaster Channel 4 should be more politically balanced and another tweeted that the documentary was quite insulting. The documentary had publically ridiculed UKIP, Nigel Forage and its supporters. People who didn't even support UKIP were complaining that Channel 4 had been too unfair to ukip and too bias. The impact on the audience is that it makes people think that Channel 4 are too one sided and are not a fair channel. People who support UKIP have been misrepresented and this could make them not want to watch channel 4 anymore.

Conventions of a news programme

• Facts
• Interviews
• Key information
• Short and snappy to keep it interesting
• Title Sequence
• No opinions from the presenters on formal news
• Well spoken people who are easily understood by everyone
• Smart outfits, office wear / formal
• Distinctive music so you can recognise it's the news. Dramatic music / formal to match with the formal presenters and stories
• Studio presenters/reporters and presenters/reporters on locations relating to stories.

BBC News

Newsround

• Facts (2:45 - 3:01)
• Interviews (4:07 - 4:36)
• Title sequence (2:06 - 2:22)
• Formal clothing
• Multi Strand narrative (0:25 - 2:05)
• Distinctive theme tune (2:06 - 2:22)
• Colour scheme of red and white through out the set, graphics and even the presenters clothing.
• VT (0:56 - 1:10)
• On location reporters/stories (6:03 - 6:17)
• Graphics (5:55 - 6:02)
• Guest apperances (9:55 - 10:56)
• Desk

• Informal clothing
• Simple headlines (0:04 - 0:14)
• Colourful graphics/Title sequence (0:13 - 0:17)
• Kid friendly stories e.g frozen winning an oscar (1:08 - 1:25)
• Understandable script, simple words like 'big meeting' (0:45 - 0:54)
• Sofa thats brightly coloured instead of a desk (1:00 - 1:05)
• Not long winded keeps kids interested (throughout)

Modes of documentary

• Participatory
• Observational

Why are these programmes using these conventions?

MTV News

Conventions of a documentary

• Interviews
• Introduction to the subject
• Conclusion about the subject at the end
• Statistics
• Sometimes opinions from the film maker
• Film maker sometimes participates
• Voice over, usually the film maker
• Travelling to places that are related to the documentary getting real footage
• Observing things that are happening
• Cut aways
• Text with peoples names on and age etc when they are being interviewed

• Informal script "hey i'm laura..." (0:05 - 0:10)
• Guest presenters (throughout)
• Background music (throughout)
• Comedy in the dialogue (0:15 - 0:20)
• Fun colourful graphics (1:35)
• VTs (1:20 - 1:35)

The news programmes all use the conventions that make a news programme apart from other programmes. BBC uses formal conventions which youtypically see on main channels such as BBC, ITV Channel 4/5. This is because these channels attract more of an adult audience who prefer more formal new shows because they like to know more about important issues in their region, country and all over the world. MTV and Newsround have a more informal news show because they are on channels that have an audience of a younger age. This means that they use more colourful graphics, less serious and important stories to attrack a younger range of people.

The Imposter

• Reenactments (throughout)
• Dramatic/eerie music (4:45)
• Observational/No voice over
• Interviews with the people involved in the subject of the documentary (5:09)
• Cut aways (throughout)
• Text with interviewees name (3:03)

Louis Theroux

Stacey Dooley

• Images of british party goers in a montage with a voice over introduction, portraying young people as wild party animals who binge drink (first minute)
• Participatory (4:40) She joins in the bar crawl and watches what it entails
• She interviews people on holiday (7:26)
• Voice over (6:22)
• She gives her opinion on what’s going on, how she feels about the drinking etc. (15:17)

• Preview clip before the introduction (0:00 - 0:55)
• Interviews with the people who the programme is about (3:10)
• Voice over of Theroux (2:16)
• Participatory (Throughout)
• Theroux gives his opinion (32:36 - 32:34)
• Conludes the documentary (last minute)
• Uses a lot of cutaways and talks directly to the camera/audience (throughout)

The observational conventions in the imposter are used because :

- No voiceover made the documentary more serious and is appropriate for ‘weird’ subject matter.

- Interviews with real people make the story more accurate and we get a proper insight into what happened.

- The reenactments help us to imagine what the real situation was like, makes us feel like we were actually there ourselves.

- The music adds tension, makes us feel emotion towards the documentary

The participatory conventions were used in Stacey Dooley and Louis Theroux because :

- They can educate themselves and the audience about the subject matter.

- It gives us an insight we might never see for ourselves in real life

- Using a voice-over allows for more observational footage and allows us to see more things.

- Participatory mode appeals to the target audience of 18-30 year olds. Its entertaining and educational.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ag6pb_louis-theroux-a-place-for-paedophiles_webcam