Extent of TV News Coverage Driven by the Quality of Footage Available - Essay Example

To what extent should TV news coverage be driven by the quality of footage available, prioritized over the quality of a story? Introduction Quality of footage that has presented and the quality of story play a part in the coverage of news for television. Television news is obtained from diverse locations throughout the globe through various means, which may include TV footage and compelling storylines. These footages and stories are prepared prior to the provision of the real news to the populaces. The process commences with selection of the most striking stories and footages within a certain region. The major consideration in the selection of news is the quality of presented content. This seeks to offer the viewers the best coverage within a certain area. In news coverage, certain pieces of news are considered paramount and more important than others depending on the section under which the news falls. Immediacy and importance of certain subject to the populace are the two criteria utilized in the determination of content that ought to be presented in news coverage (Gripsrud 1999, 56). In accordance with this, coverage of the world news, the relative significance of certain occurrences that ought to be covered on the news, are measured against other criteria such as power and distance. This implies that occurrences that have greater influence on the structures of power and prominence within a given society are greatly considered compared to other events that have little influence on this area (Gripsrud 1999, 56). Events that are appreciably associated or connected to the society attain greater coverage than other events, which have no connection or association to the society. Certainly, magnificent disasters that emanate from remote regions coupled with available footage have a propensity of getting into television news (Gripsrud 1999, 56). These events meet the criteria for television news on the grounds of immediacy. The makes the presence of footage for certain events direct to prioritization over the quality of the offered stories. Quality of footage has been improved to a greater extent through novel news technologies that have been directed by the demand. These technologies offer newsrooms with instantaneous content that increase the work for news creation staff, since it offers diversity and difficulty in choosing the most imperative and striking news footage or stories. These technologies allow the populace to experience news live as the events transpire in the real world. Numerous considerations are made concerning news coverage with other criteria being secondary to the earlier mentioned criteria of immediacy and imperativeness (Gripsrud 1999, 56). Therefore, the quality of footage being offered is almost not considered in the presentation of news on television. This implies that the quality of footage is irrelevant within the news coverage context. For that reason, news has the capacity to acknowledge poor-quality news content and even poor quality speakers considering the subject of immediacy and significance of the presented events. These two factors are the principal considerations in the provision of footage that can either be quality or not. Therefore, these factors are considered as the determinants for the content that ought to be covered in television news. The populace is acquainted with the unaesthetic framing, presence of content that is captured through sudden pan shot, the dubious quality of the sound of the presented content, blurred images and other images presented under dazzling light (Gripsrud 1999, 56). This is considered wild footage that emanates from untamed world. Such content is considered imperative, despite the quality of content provided. The footage that has been presented is regarded a priority with regard to the quality of the story being presented. Bulletins for the news are developed, or created, by stitching these rushed, unreliable and poor quality contents from different sources (Gripsrud 1999, 56). Conversely, their antithesis, which is the manipulated images utilized by the news, anchors together with exceedingly unnatural graphics that go along with the explanatory content. Television functions through the content delivered for news in two connected ways. Firstly, it utilizes words offering diverse varieties of justification and comprehension with additional information and other psychological points of view that are unfeasible within the news arrangement. News values, which are the attributes of a certain occurrence that increases its likelihood of being chosen for news agenda, have considerable influence on the inclusion of certain news on television. Offering a review of various determinants in news production for dissimilar television networks depict that news values are regarded principal considerations (Boyd-Barrett & Rantanen 1998, 92). Consequently, if a certain story bears numerous news values as per the television requirements, then it gains greater prominence. Therefore, such a story has a high likelihood of being included in the news coverage for that television network. This implies that no matter the quality of footage, prioritization cannot be achieved over the story that bears the values as per the requirements of that television network. However, prioritization over the quality of the story delivered can be realized, in favor of the quality of footage for content that bears little qualities as stipulated by the determining factors that ought to be included in the news. In such cases, the story has little prominence with reference from the news values set by newsrooms for certain events (Boyd-Barrett & Rantanen 1998, 92). Quality of footage has a considerable effect on the inclusion of certain content in news. Content obtained for reasons other than news does not ensure the footage is of high quality. Similarly, certain events cannot be required to produce quality footage, since the conditions for acquiring such footage may be difficult for persons involved in undertaking the task of capturing content of certain events in footage. In such situations, capturing may not consider the aesthetic or technical footage quality (Buckingham, Willett & Pini 2011, 85). The principal rationale for capturing certain events is the content of the events being captured implying that the form that it is obtained in is irrelevant on such occasions. On imperative occasions, form of the footage obtained may be considered paramount with respect to story quality. This implies that the story is not always the determinant factor for all events, since certain events require quality footage more than others. Stories that are most significant for a country or region have to offer quality footage above the quality of the delivered story. The footage becomes paramount with respect to power influences of the events under consideration, making quality of the story secondary, since the populaces watching or following such events want every aspect of such events live and clear. On various occasion, television news integrated footages for specific events despite the technological intricacy involved in this undertaking (Bignell 2004, 204). During such occasions, news crews and producers work towards the provision of quality footage for the viewers with little consideration of the story quality. This is often undertaken in immediacy for coverage of imperative events in the history of certain regions. Such footages are coupled with other commentaries and discussions that make them clearer to the audiences who expect the best for newsrooms. The audiences are filled with the promise of obtaining quality footages and hearing the news from broadcasting rooms mainly for most significant events with a given society or region. Footages that necessitate live coverage are considered imperative to the viewers obligating the news producers and crews to offer the actual footages (Bignell 2004, 204). Immediacy seeks to integrate the concepts of actual events through live footage and at times, it may include the concept of live reporting on various issues. Actuality footages that govern the immediacy element in news presentation is regarded, as the television pictures that characterize occasions that transpire and are filmed live, as they transpire. Consequently, actuality pictures or footages that are live are considered as the most striking to television producers for news coverage with relation to the news value command chain. After live actuality footages, television producers find actuality footages that have been pre-recorded as the second striking events in newsroom presentations. Lastly, stories that cannot be demonstrated through actuality footages or any visual appearances, as well as stories whose likelihood of getting included in the news program by the producer, are least considered. Under circumstances that the stories are not presented in other visual forms or the stories cannot fit in the running order of the producer, quality of the footage is prioritized over the story quality. Running stories repeatedly without any illustrations makes the audience bored due to monotony. Therefore, breaking the monotony serves the purpose of making the crowds lively and attentive to the details of the news being presented on national television. In response, the news crew and producer opt to present an illustration of the stories under investigation or scrutiny by the assigned journalist. These illustrations are mainly conducted through utilization of actuality pictures or footages with the length and quality being weighty considerations in the presentation of these events or stories on the bulletin (Boyd 2003, 140). Therefore, the quality of footages in case of breaking the monotony of bare stories causes prioritization over the story quality. Quality footages offer viewers the morale to continue following these events on actuality footages that seem more informative, and have more appeal to the audience than bare stories that may at times lead to boredom for the intended audiences. The greatest disparity between television and radio news presentation is the presentation of moving pictures or actuality footages. In radio news presentation, the efficiency of news presentation is determined by the ability of the news presenter to arouse imagination to the audiences. Contrary to the radio news presentation, the producer and the crew have to offer viewers with the actuality footages that cover various events both locally and internationally. Therefore, the mentality of the viewer is tuned in a manner that footage serves the greatest purpose in informing them. Consequently, they consider the creation of stories as in the case of radio ineffectual and the quality of these stories matters little to the viewers. Provision of quality footages is the expectation of these audiences implying that the producers have to incorporate numerous footages beyond every story to make them informative and appealing to the viewers. Currently, developments in television news have sought to deliver quality of footage through presentation of faster and better actuality footages. In the precedent, emphases were on the transformations in formats and presentation styles (Buckingham, Willett & Pini 2011, 86). Numerous revolutions in television news presentation have prioritized footage quality over story quality as per the expectations of the viewers or television audiences (Boyd 2003, 149). Quality of footage plays a paramount role since reporters can utilize these footages for developing stories. Contrary to this, story quality cannot be utilized in the creation of footages since news presentation require specificity, actuality and originality. This means that news events cannot fake for the interest of the viewers. Individuals involved have to get to the ground or venues under which the events are transpiring to get quality footage for presentation to the eagerly awaiting viewers (Boyd 2003, 149). In the contemporary world, quality footages not only illustrate news but the viewers consider them the real news. Therefore, in the absence of actual footages for various stories, it seems like it is no news for the viewers. The viewers do not intend to assume the role that is assumed by audiences for news in the radio; they are dependent on the quality footages offered, by the news presenters and producers, to feel the difference between watching the news on the television and listening to a newscaster on the radio (Boyd 2003, 149). Therefore, the story quality matters little for the television viewers without the actual pictures or footages. The quality of the footage present for certain news stories is highly determinant in the inclusion of a certain story on the television news coverage. It is considered that the presence of footage offers the strength needed, for the story, to be aired on television bulletin. In the presence of quality footage for news content, reporting is carried out more prominently than in the absence of the footage. Conversely, absence of quality footage makes presentation of a story to be carried out mutedly since the most imperative component, which is the footage, is missing. The audiences have modest understanding concerning the absence of the footage, and they always expect the journalists to provide footages no matter the situation under which it is provided. This is the reason that makes journalists be forced to undertake risky coverage even in the event of war, in order to bring the real situation of war and make it appealing to the viewers. Otherwise, the viewers consider presenting blank news without footages a misfire for the news production crew. Absence of footages leaves no mark in the minds of viewers since they have already gotten accustomed to getting news through footages. Coverage of stories without footages can only take a little time since the most imperative element is missing for the audiences. Therefore, such news coverage is mentioned by the reporters with no much emphasis on these stories, no matter their quality. Conclusion Quality of the story is a determinant in the presentation of news for television, although the quality of footage supersedes or is given priority over the story. This makes the footage quality the main or principal consideration in offering the news to the viewers. Offering viewers more footage than blank stories serves to satisfy their viewing expectations since it brings the anticipated effects to the minds of the viewers. Quality footage on television news offers the dissimilarity between listening to radio newscaster and television news presentations. Despite the quality of the story, television viewers consider viewing news without footage ineffective and lacking the essence of television viewing. 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