TV News Case Study 1: Channel 4 News

Basic details

when is Channel 4 News on?
Monday - Friday 7:00pm - 7:55pm
when was the programme first broadcast?
2 November 1982 at 4.45pm.
What awards has the programme won?
Drama, Comedy, TV News etc. What is the media institution that produces Channel 4 News?
Advertisements and it's a terrestrial channel.

Presenters

Who are the presenters?
Jon snow, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Cathy Newman

Presenters  

1. The main presenters are John Snow, Cathy Newman, Kirshan Guru and Matt Frei.

2. The presenters are wearing formal clothing the men are wearing suits and the women are wearing dresses. This suggests they want to be taken seriously .However the colour of the clothing is not like as seen on other news shows this is suggesting that the news show is trying to not be like BBC news at six or like ITV news at 6. In the video Jon Snow’s tie the colour or pattern looks different. I think this relates to the News program itself as it wanted to target minorities this is its remit.

3. The news program presenters otherwise it will become uninteresting without a variety .The audience will become disengaged with the show .If a news program uses a variety of presenters .The variety of presenters means that they have particular presenters for each type of story at the current time .

4. The other reporters in the program investigate stories this is what makes channel 4 different from other news shows as they investigate deeply into stories. And are live from wherever it is this makes it more edgy for the audience and the reporters this cause’s people to feel more involved with the show.

5. There are more male presenters but this news program but in the program itself on each story there are male and female journalists presenting the story this is done in order to show the program is not sexist. The program use people from different ethnic backgrounds the presenter Kirshan Guru is of Asian background. When you see the Channel 4 News team it is clear that there are not just white British presenters this is very different from other News program's such as BBC News at six. The institution do this in order to represent more ethnic groups/ nationalities.

Opening sequence  

1.     The first shot is a 3-D four in purple this is the brand identity for channel 4.

2.    The opening sequence features use of animation this causes the audience to want to watch it as in the animation it shows you video footage of the stories this allows the audience to know what parts hey want to watch. Also this opening sequence use of graphics is unique to channel 4 so the audience recognize it as Channel 4 news. The graphics look modern so this may suggest it’s aimed at a younger audience.

3.    The music used in the opening sequence sounds dramatic this is similar to other news programmes such as Sky News. The music is suggesting that the program is reporting dramatic stories in the news and it’s serious. The music starts at the same as the graphics after the brief commentary of a story.

4.    In the beginning of the program one of the presenters introduces the stories in the news at the current time and state what the stories are about. There are a few stories they tell you what stories are coming up later and precisely what time they will be presented at. This means the audience don't have to watch the entire program in order to see the story they want to know about if they are busy. Therefore they can come back to watch the program at that precise time this is good as it means people don't have to watch the entire program as they may not want to know about every story . 

Studio mise en scene 

1.    In the show there are parts of it where the presenters are sat behind desks this is an aspect of more traditional news shows but there are also parts of the show where one of the main presenters are stood in front of a screen this has moving graphics on it or video or picture footage  .This is done because the news show wants to be modern as well as traditional this news program tries to be different this is because the channel itself was set-up to target minorities in society  however, now it targets a wider audience .

2.    While the show is on, it presents national stories first this is because they view stories that happened here as most important .Channel Four News then present international story this is normally serious .They typically report a story in British politics recently since the general elections are approaching they present stories relating to this they report stories linked to the election.

3.    The presenters and the technology are easily visible from the audience's perspective .This suggests to the audience that the program is being professional and its showing the studio is legit .They want the audience to feel like they are watching a good news show.

4.    The colours used are purple and orange .The colour purple has connotations of wisdom, ambition and independence. This links to the program as in a way it is creative as it is meant to be different from other news shows and its remit is to bend the rules in a way. The studio used the colour orange but the main colour is purple.

How are news stories presented?

1. In the studio the main presenters are stood in a studio with a decks and chair behind them this is an aspect of traditional news shows. In the background though as the audience you can see the rest of the studio this is not graphics this is the rest of the building. And you can see a screen behind the presenters this has whatever story they are reporting. Also the audience can also see the cameras and lighting above. This News program use's aspects of other news programs as it has a balance of moving graphics and the studio itself.

2. During the running of the program there are different techniques .An example of this is when in the program a reporter is live from wherever the news story has taken place also they have use of images .This is using modern technology to report the news the audience want to see how the issues look in real life .Also use of image is more powerful than the use of words .The program use graphics.