Digital News Production: Critical Analysis Draft

INTRODUCTION

This critical analysis will be discussing the online news channel Game-Over and the genre of news. This will be explored by focusing on certain aspects of news, involving the research of concept/brand development, audiences, platforms, news stories and their development and scripting and storytelling. By researching these areas of news broadcasting while simultaneously analysing the same aspects of the channel Game-Over, it will discussed in what ways the channel was influenced by other news channels and programmes, and why each decision was made in the process of its creation.

CONCEPT/BRAND DEVELOPMENT

When branding a news channel, there are several important things to consider. Chapman states that in news channels ‘The style, structure and very ‘look’ of the programmes [are] needed to underpin their reliability and impartiality.’ (Chapman, 2009: 219). For instance, in the case of BBC News, the programme keeps its integrity intact with a serious and bold branding approach with the simplistic colours of red and white. BBC News also offers its audience the reliability that they will provide globalisation-based stories among their reports from the offset, with their opening sequence involving a GFX globe (see fig. 1).

Fig. 1. BBC News Brand (2015)

The branding of news programmes such as BBC News, heavily influenced our approach of boldness alongside seriousness and simplicity when developing the brand of the YouTube news channel, Game-Over. For example, our use of the sharp and straightforward colours, red, black and white allow for the impression of intelligibility, rather than using overly broad and seemingly immature colourings that could be seen as insincere for the styling of a news channel.

As human-interest news stories are focused on those that relate directly to the audience, they seem to be strongly appealing to viewers. As it’s said that ‘If news is to be worthwhile, it should accord to something we value.’ (Chapman, 2009: 59). So it was decided that our channel would be based on video games and why they are being released unfinished. This decision was also due to the rise of social interest in video game news reporting. For example, the popularity of the television gaming news channel, GINX is rising. With their ratings growing by ‘59% year on year’ (Develop, 2015) and their programmes ‘available in 26 million homes globally’ (Develop, 2015). Therefore being that news content’s focus is on the contemporary and current matters, a video game news channel ties in with this in today’s culture.

Other news channels such as The Know, a popular online YouTube video gaming news channel, also influenced the branding of Game-Over. Such as the use of a geometric green screen background, electronica music and the use of GFX (The Know, 2014). These aspects of the programme are used frequently and appear to be effectively visually stimulating for young gaming audiences.

AUDIENCE RESEARCH

BBC News is also a prime example when discussing the popularity of news around the world. For example, recent figures revealed that BBC News’ weekly global audience ‘has increased by … 7 per cent since last year, to a record-breaking 283 million’ (BBC Media Centre, 2015) meaning that ‘one in every 16 adults around the world uses BBC News’ (BBC Media Centre, 2015). While in 2012 it was found that the audience of news channels such as BBC News, Sky News and Sky Sports News were mostly over 35 years old (OFCOM, 2012). Although, it seems that the topic of news can allow the age range of different news programmes’ demographics to vary.

With experience of our own as a gaming audience, as well as conducting research into who the target audience of a video gaming news channel is, there is a variety of statistical information to support our findings. The target age of the news channel is fifteen to thirty-five year olds. This is due to the fact that as of 2015, the highest percentage of game players is ‘30% 18 to 35 years’ (Theesa, 2015). However, 26% of gamers are under 18 years old (Theesa, 2015), therefore the target audience for the channel consists of the two statistics combined.

When looking into the gender of a target audience for a gaming news channel, it is found that 56% of game players are male, while 44% of game players are female (Theesa, 2015). As these percentages are extremely close to the population of gamers being half male and half female, Game-Over’s content is able to appeal to both genders with video game content.

A more recent development in news is the audience’s ability to comment and connect directly with news channels and their stories, mainly doing so online. For example, BBC News has their own page called Have Your Say, a page on their website focused solely on viewers discussing current news items, as well as the public sharing stories of their own (BBC News Have Your Say, 2015). Game-Over incorporates the technique of the viewer becoming involved and sharing their own opinions by directly stating ‘let us know with your comments’ (Game-Over: Why are Video Games Being Released Unfinished? 2015) alongside on-screen information of Twitter, YouTube and the channel website links. Allowing the channel to be as modern and current as other popular news channels by having the audience become a part of the discussion.

PLATFORM RESEARCH

There are four main platforms in which the news is presented to the public, these are television, radio, print and most recently, online. While it appears that audiences of television news channels such as BBC News are slowly growing, it would seem that over the years, digital media could be overtaking other platforms in news reporting. As of 2013, ‘72% of adults get most news from friends and family, including social media’ (Teckel, 2013) and it has been found that over 50% of smartphone and tablet owners get news on their device every week (Teckel. 2013). The sources of new media news reporting includes on demand broadcasting websites such as YouTube and television channels’ own websites such as 4OD and newspaper websites, for instance, The Guardian. As well as this, social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook are also used as a method of the public sharing and discussing news stories with others.

While there are negatives to the introduction of new media news reporting, for example, the 27% reduction of printed newspaper staff between 2006 and 2011 (Teckel, 2013). It has been found that there are a number of positives to the digital age and reasons as to why it is appealing to the public. These including that due to the costs of production in television before digital media, broadcasters had needed to ‘reach several hundred thousand viewers in order to run a sustainable service … digital broadcasting has a far cheaper cost of entry and offers interactivity, thus undermining older business models’ (Chapman, 2009: 44) and the fact that new media allows there to be ‘content available anytime and anywhere on a wide variety of platforms’ (Chapman, 2009: 42).

When discussing news reporting on YouTube, it has been found that the website is becoming a successor for the publics’ news reports. As ‘in 2011 and early 2012, the most searched term of the month on YouTube was a news related event five out of 15 months’ (Pew Research Center, 2012). Among a recent study conducted by Pew Research, certain facts were discovered about YouTube and news:

• ‘At any given moment news can outpace even the biggest entertainment videos.’ (Pew Research Center, 2012)
• ‘The most popular news videos are a mix of edited and raw footage.’ (Pew Research Center, 2012)
• ‘Citizens play a substantial role in supplying and producing footage.’ (Pew Research Center, 2012)

Not only do a large amount of news channels such as Sky News and CNN have their own YouTube channels to present its audience with snippets of their programmes, but YouTube also has a variety of user-generated content in news. It is said that ‘The internet shapes the media landscape towards a more decentralized and community-orientated form of publishing, media organizations are no longer gatekeepers of information’ (Chapman, 2009: 14), meaning that it could be argued that first hand or eye witness citizen journalism could be a more credible source of reporting as it’s not being presented by journalists being influenced by media organisations.

In relation, Game-Over is presented in a new media style, broadcast as a YouTube news channel. The programme uses the tools that have been created with the digital age of reporting by including the combination of classic in-studio reporting from a professional along with formal interviews, as well as new media content such as incorporating the public’s opinions through the discussion of Twitter posts and the use of user-generated video gameplay footage. All of which are influenced by the normalities of news reporting within the digital media platform.

NEWS STORY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

There are key parts of a news channel’s agenda in reporting, the structure of which consists of presenting the ‘coming up’ section, reporting the stories of the day in certain styles and incorporating presenter types, the brand and locations into the structure. For example, a serious and well-respected news programme such as ITV News consists of two well-presented and stern in-studio presenters, one male and one female (ITV News, 2015). Not only is the use of a female presenter now extremely common in news, for instance the use of main BBC News presenter, Fiona Bruce, it is an extreme contrast and break-through in news in comparison to only a few decades ago. As in 1994, journalist Joanna Coles found in a survey that ‘most male and female viewers didn’t have very much confidence in female news readers’ (J’Accuse The News, Part 2, 1994).

The modern use of female presenters on news channels allows Game-Over to use women in both its news package and OB and still have it remain very current. However, the two presenters are in contrast to each other, as the news package presenter, Lisa, has a typical news programme style of reporting and presentation (see fig. 2 & 3). Whereas the OB presenter Candice, has a much more upbeat style of presenting. That similar to the cheerful presentation of other gaming news channels such as Ginx and Rooster Teeth.

Fig. 2. Fiona Bruce – Biography and Images (2015)

Fig. 3. Game-Over Package Presenter (2015)

There are typically two main types of in-studio locations used in news, these being a studio set and the use of a green screen. Studio sets are most commonly used in typical and generalised television news programming such as BBC News, ITV News and Channel 4 News. Meanwhile, it is found that green screen sets our found in smaller news productions such as BBC Three 60 Second News (BBC Three, 60 Seconds, 2015) and digital media platform news such as YouTube news channels, including the aforementioned ‘The Know’. Similarly, Game-Over involves the use of a green screen background transformed into a geometric print, fitting with the conventions of a simplistic and relaxed style of small new media news channels.

Often in news, the branding and entertainment value can overtake the value and importance of news stories. With the focus resting on the atmosphere that news creates and the way in which the channel, programme and reporters are advertised, this can often damage the amount of important information that is communicated. Mark Tully, an ex BBC Correspondent, stated that the industry is ‘influenced by pressures, by what we think the viewers want to see, by what other networks are doing … not out of any proper consideration of what we should be doing’ (J’Accuse The News, Part 3, 1994) meaning that media organisations are influencing the amount of GFX, incorporation of dramatic soundtracks and more popular human interest news stories rather than hard-hitting journalism.

The reason for this is said to be that it is to keep the audience entertained and more likely to keep watching. BBC journalist Francis Wheen has pointed out that news has developed ‘the need to have constant activity on screen. Because they think that people will be bored if they don’t … use lots of studio gimmicks’ (J’Accuse The News, Part 1, 1994). While this can occasionally be over-used in news programming as a way of advertising and distracting the audience, by using a small amount of cutaway imagery in Game-Over, it was found to be an effective way of supporting the information and topic that was reported due to the relation between the images and the discussions.

SCRIPTING AND STORYTELLING

Game-Over’s package and OB news story focuses on the topic: ‘why are video games being released unfinished?’ The opportunity for this story was created when we found our peg, that being the midnight launch of the video game Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. When researching the Assassin’s Creed game series, it has been found by gamers and customers to have a lot of problems in gameplay. Even Unity, the most recent Assassin’s Creed release before Syndicate, has caused reviewers to state that there is an ever-present ‘series-long frustration of your assassin not doing quite what you want him to do’ (Sliva, 2014). The fact that the series has glitches that increasingly frustrate gamers allowed the topic of unfinished games to become a captivating human interest news story in Game-Over’s news package, as well as the peg of an exciting game release in the OB.

When researching the approach of reporting a news story, it can be found that there are a number of certain techniques that are used. For instance, when observing the agenda of BBC News and ITV news, the storytelling style of both news channels includes an in-studio introduction of the story, OOVs, cutaways, live piece to camera shots, GFX imagery and interviews in almost every news story. It could be said that using a variety of presentation techniques in storytelling allows a more in depth and layered report of the story, at the same time as keeping the audience entertained.

Game-Over’s news story involves all of the mentioned techniques of reporting. Examples of each feature are…

•  Piece to camera reporting in the studio.

This allowed for a conventional appearance in the reporting technique, similar to most other news channels.

• The use of an OOV when presenting on-screen video game glitch footage while the presenter simultaneously pin points the exact issues in each clip.

It was found that using an OOV to present the viewer with the factual information on the issues of the game, coinciding with footage of the game itself, allowed for a showing and telling approach that could be said to be more captivating and entertaining than the presenter simply reporting the story in long piece to camera shots.

• GXF imagery of game discs with statistics presented in bold text. Also with the presenter vocally reporting the statistics.

While it could be seen that overuse of GFX imagery can become distracting and take away from the integrity and importance of the news story, it was found to be effectively appealing for one use in Game-Over’s report.

• An interview between the presenter and a gaming enthusiast university lecturer.

While remaining conventional in news by using an interview with a professional to gather further information, Game-Over stands out from other news reports by dressing the set with sofas and gaming memorabilia to create a relaxed and informal atmosphere during the interview.

•  A cutaway to introduce the interview.

This allowed for a brief visual introduction of the interviewee with a simultaneous verbal introduction from the presenter. Again, allowing the viewer to be both shown and told.

• Piece to camera reporting in the OB, alongside interviews.

In a conventional approach to live broadcast reporting, the presenter reports in a continuous piece to camera shot, while interviewing customers on the street about the topic of the game launch.

While the set-up and scripting of Game-Over’s news story is slightly typical and conventional for a news channel, the variety in approaches alongside an unusual angle and topic allows it to stand out from other news channels.

CRITICAL REFLECTIONS & CONCLUSIONS

There were a small amount of issues in the creation of Game-Over. For instance, the original structure of the OB was changed to have a new location, new interviewees, a new shooting time and a slightly different script due to last minute changes in accessibility to film the original peg. However, issues such as this were able to be quickly resolved in the short amount of time permitted, and a new successful plan and structure was created for the OB. A great deal of the channel’s quality is due to the large amounts of research conducted on not only other video gaming news channels, but generic news channels also. This research on a variety of areas in news allowed the structure and story in Game-Over to obtain conventional news programming features, while still perceiving the overall style and atmosphere that is found in video game news channels.

It was found in the conducted research that news channels in modern times pay a large amount of attention to branding and advertising, entertainment in news is slowly becoming of more importance, there is a typical structure to the techniques of reporting news stories across all visual platforms, and new media is becoming the most used way for the public to become involved in the news. In relation to this, Game-Over fits successfully into the conventions of generic news channels and programmes, as well as having a fresh and contemporary take on the genre by being broadcast through new media.

Illustrations List:

Figure 1. BBC News Brand (2015) [Logo] At: http://tvforum.uk/thegallery/bbc-rebrand-2015-06-style-40590/page-3 (Accessed on 09.11.15)

Figure 2. Fiona Bruce – Biography and Images (2015) [Image] At: http://tvnewsroom.org/biography-images/fiona-bruce-955/ (Accessed on 13.11.15)

Figure. 3. Game-Over Package Presenter (2015) [Image] At: http://meganwaterstv.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2015-10-30T15:27:00Z&max-results=7 (Accessed on 13.11.15)

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Develop. (2015) Video Gaming Channel Ginx Looks to Raise £540,000 and Give British Gaming Media a Power-Up [online press release] At: http://www.develop-online.net/press-releases/videogaming-channel-ginx-looks-to-raise-pound-540-000-and-give-british-gaming-media-a-power-up/0213628 (Accessed on 10.11.15)

The Know, Halo: The Master Chief Collection Multiplayer Having Problems [television programme online] YouTube (2014) 1 min 20 sec At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GUsEj7-C1c (Accessed on 10.11.15)

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Theesa (2015) Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry At: http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ESA-Essential-Facts-2015.pdf (Accessed on 11.11.15)

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