Content Analysis of British Broadcasting Company Website - Assignment Example

 Content Analysis Content analysis is a part of the social sciences curriculum which allows an individual to better understand the content used for communication. This essay will use British Broadcasting Company also known as BBC as the subject of the required content analysis. The website will be used to better explain the content of this channel. The essay will try to better explain the credibility and authorship of the texts available on this website. Not only will this content analysis work to better explain the inferences made by the communication model but will also discuss the characteristics and effects of the communication itself. To better understand and analyze this channel, it is necessary to give a few facts about BBC itself. BBC is considered to be one of the world’s largest broadcasters (BBC). Established since 1922, BBC today creates programs and information which is available all over the globe through television, radio and internet. Divided into a variety of different genres, BBC tries to create programs that will be suitable for all types of audiences, young and old alike. In their mission statement they aim to make their organization the most creative in the world. Thus, BBC news, BBC entertainment or even BBC food: each catering to the needs of a diverse audience. It sets itself as responsible for educating and entertaining the audience. The Royal Charter aims to ensure that the work done by the broadcasting corporation is free from private and governmental motives and thus requires its work to be free from the political and commercial influence and responsible only to the viewers and listeners of the organization. The BBC holds this as a necessary aspect of their mission to enrich the lives of their audiences. The news pieces on the website are not specific to any author. BBC keeps its unity by not giving the reader the opportunity to differentiate between any writers. It seems that by keeping the name of the writers’ private, BBC aims to keep the name of their channel known more than the name of any individual writer. While reviewing BBC’s news website certain aspects of the content were evident. The news presented by BBC is not limited to any specific region or continent. It is divided into different parts, each specifying the region the news is related to: Asia, Europe or Africa. This allows every area to get its space, granting them place to provide for the news specific to them. It also allows the reader to sift through the different news items far more easily. What is more effective by dividing these news pieces is the order of importance they are given within their own pages. For instance, Africa’s page has the most important news as the headline in its pages while less important news are placed in the second or third position, after the headline. Thus, by dividing the news items according to the area they belong to, each region is given its own significance also making it user friendly for the user to choose what they want to read. BBC aims to make the language and style used to be similar so that it is impossible to separate and creates difference in any article. Thus, BBC maintains its identity not by the people who write for it, instead by the work that is done by the body as a whole. The characteristics of BBC are plentiful. The technique used by the writers is unbiased and lacking in prejudice. There are two types of articles available on the BBC news website. One is the new report in itself while the other is an opinionated piece on the report by a writer who has experienced or witnessed the event in question. In this way BBC provides not only a authentic report on the exact happenings on the news without letting any personal judgment come in but it also provides for features and analysis on the report so that their reader is presented a full picture of the news event: with and without human emotion. For instance, BBC keeps a diary on Zimbabwe known as the “Harare Diary”. Also, BBC uses images and videos to help their audience better understand the message. While the website in itself consists of articles and pictures, it also includes video and voice clippings to help enhance the meaning of the news. So while the entire world reads of the politics and leaders in the country, BBC provides a more personal opinion by also ensuring that the human suffering is not lost on its readers. The content itself is honest and impartial just as the BBC aims in its mission statement. The news in itself, as previously stated, is very diverse. It allows the reader to access a great variety of information, devoid of bias. Thus, BBC does not maintain a policy that leaves out any specific culture or event. The quality of the news articles is diversified and ample which allows the reader an initiation into a variety of events. With reporters located all over the globe, BBC is able to get access to immediate news from correspondents as soon as an event in any part of the world occurs. The audiences watching BBC are spread all over the world. As mentioned previously, BBC is the largest broadcaster in the world. Yet, its not just the variety of channels it produces that makes it such a favorite amongst different audiences. The work presented by BBC allows it to spread all over the world. Thus, BBC has audiences not only in its own home country of the United Kingdom but is viewed by individuals in Asia, Australia and the Americas. In this way, BBC ensures premium quality not only by the techniques it employs in giving the message but also through the writers who produce the message and the audience that is considered as necessary to have the message conveyed to. News channels are responsible for creating and presenting content that can be easily understood by the ordinary viewer. Thus it is important for BBC to ensure that their work is not only credible but also effective in the message it presents to the audience. BBC works on this by allowing their viewers to leave comments on what they view. Thus, the channel not only presents its own views but also allows it audience to access the boards and write what they think of the situation. This creates an interaction with the audience which allows the channel to better itself and create a rapport with the viewers which makes them feel included in the work the channel does. It is easy to decode the work done by BBC because the comments are then read out and analyzed to ensure that the audience is getting the true grasp of the news report. Providing news through different avenues like television shows and radio stations, BBC functions well in the form of an online site. It gains precedence in the technology age of today where many choose to read their news on a website which is update regularly. Thus, the success of BBC is enough to make it one of the largest, most responsible and most credible organization of today. Coding Schema Inferences Source BBC-News website Authorship Encoding Analysis, cultural aspects, evidence Characteristics Channel Techniques Message Content Recipient Audience Effects Decoding Response of the audience Works cited BBC, About the BBC, 9 August 2009, Harare Diary, BBC news, 9 August 2009 < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8059998.stm> Read More