Styles of Radio News
Related to audience
Related to audience
is a style of news that relates directly to the radio station that is
broadcasting the news’ target audience. For example, the radio station Gaydio
on their exchange show that includes news and then discussion about that news
topic. For example, the station Gaydio broadcasted news subjects that relates
to their target audience which is the LGBT community. The news they included
was Park Life banning man bags and how that effects the LGBT community, free
banking in Britain may end and their major news topic was a news story about in
Ireland public services are fighting for the right to deny members serviced
based on their sexuality, due to their strong religious beliefs. They then
brought Steve Brooks onto the show to talk more in depth about the topic, and how
it is discriminating against anyone who is not heterosexual. This topic
obviously relates to audience, due to the fact it directly relates to the LGBT
community and discrimination against LGBT community. They use both informal and
formal language, and speak in a serious way however introduce humour also. I
think they do this because when they use formal language, they get across the
serious side of the story, however when they speak informal it makes the
listeners and guests on the show feel comfortable and not as serious. The show
could apply to anyone, because anyone from any demographic can be gay, however
it mostly applies to the demographic profiling of C2 and up.
Public service news:
Public service news is when a radio station includes news that
appeals or applies to the majority of people; this includes a lot of world or
country news, war, major crime or political topics. For example the radio
station BBC Radio 1 air public interest topics that have the possibility of
reaching everyone and interesting every member of the public. However if that
piece of news was extremely important, the majority of news stations will
broadcast that piece of news so that everyone is aware of that news topic (for
example; Politics, War, weather and traffic updates). On public news stories
they usually use very formal language and speak formally, in order to get the
news story across clearly to the audience. Public service news applies to
everyone from any demographic profile, from E to A, as the news applies to
everyone in the country.
Commercial news:
Commercial news is news that has a commercial value.
Commercial news will be broadcasted to the area that it relates to. For
example, if a new shopping centre was opening in Manchester, the Manchester
based radio station will broadcast the commercial news to reach their target
audience, which would be the people of Manchester. So in that instance,
Capital, Key103 or Salford City Radio would all air this commercial news. This
will usually apply to the demographic group of C2 and up to A because they have
more disposable income, and will be more likely to purchase what the commercial
news is selling. Commercial news will usually be spoken formally to impress the
audience and also to make sure it is easily understandable.
Community news:
A community news station is a radio station that airs to that
local area, for example Salford City Radio, they broadcast to the city of
Salford. Salford City Radio will include topics that relate to the city of
Salford, because their target audience is people who live in Salford. For
example they will broadcast news that has happened within Salford like crime
that has happened in that area, or local elections. Community news is usually
spoken formally to ensure the news can be easily understood. However the target
audience depends on where they are broadcasting too. For example, with Salford
City Radio their target audience will be C1 and below due to the fact that the
demographic for Salford is C1 and below, however it depends where that show is broadcasting
too.
Small-scale:
Small-scale news is usually played on radio stations that is
very small and only broadcasts to a small area or building. An example of a
small-scale radio station would be the college based radio station, E6 Radio.
Their target audience is the students and teachers of Eccles College. Their
broadcast will include anything from local news and college based news, for
example new courses, a change in the college or something the college wants the
students to get involved in. All of the E6 Radio’s broadcast will be
surrounding the college, as that relates to their target audience. Small-scale
news can be spoken both informal and formally, depending on the news story. For
example if it was a serious or important news piece, it will be spoken very
formally. However, if it wasn’t a serious story the station could put an
informal or comedic twist on the story. With small scale news, the target
audience depends on where it is broadcasted. For example with E6 Radio, the
target audience will be E on the demographic profiling scale because the
majority of listeners are students and therefore apply in the E category.
Local news:
Local radio news is very similar to small-scale; they
include news that relates to their target audience. For example, with Salford
City Radio they play news that relates to that area, so they will broadcast
local news that are about or surround the city Salford, for example local crime
or local elections. Local news can be spoken either informally or formally depending
on the gravity of the story and who the radio station is broadcasting too and
their target audience. For example with Salford City Radio, their target
audience is C1 and below on the demographic profile because that is the
demographic for Salford.
Regional news:
Regional news is news broadcasted to only the region it
applies too, for example BBC Radio Manchester, Key103 and Capital are all
regional news stations. Their target audience are members of that region so
they will include news that surrounds that region, so for BBC Radio Manchester,
Key103 and Capital they broadcast for the North West of England so they will
include news stories based around the North West. This could be anything from
crime based in the North West or local elections; any news based within the
North West will be broadcasted. Regional news is usually spoken formally
however can sometimes have an informal twist, for example if a story could be
considered as funny they will joke about it however will keep it formal so it
can be easily understood. Regional news is targeted at where ever they are
broadcasting too, for example with BBC Radio Manchester, Key103 and Capital
their target audience is the North West, which can be anywhere from A to E on
the demographic profiling scale. However it depends where that particular radio
station is broadcasting too.
National news:
National news is a news story so important it needs to be broadcasted
to the whole nation. Their target audience is the entire nation so they will
include any vital information that the nation needs to know about, for example
war, politics or government. Any radio station will air national news stories
from small-scale radio stations to national-news stations (BBC Radio 1). They
will use formal language in order for the news story to be easily understood.
This will also be targeted at the entire nation, meaning it will reach to the
entire demographic profiling scale, from E to A.
Internet, satellite
and cable news:
Internet, satellite and cable news are all specific to
audience news programmes. For example, if an Internet radio show is rock based,
their target audience will be rock music fans. They will broadcast news that
surrounds that topic, like band news or rock music festivals. Their broadcasts
can reach anyone that connects and enjoys their topic, so they will only really
include topics that their audience wants to hear and know about. Internet,
satellite and cable news can be either formal or informal depending on what
their talking about however are mostly informal. Their target audience depends
completely on what they are broadcasting and who it interests, so it could be
anywhere from A to E on the demographic profiling scale.