http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08bbxjm/bbc-news-at-one-24012017
Reggie Yates extreme
South Africa News
broadcast
1.
The white slums
2. BBC News at One -24/01/2017
Reggie Yates is an actor and a television presenter who
works for the BBC. He is well known for his investigative documentaries that he
has done. One of the series of documentaries he has done was on South Africa.
He explores what happened after the breaking of the apartheid in South Africa
and its effects on people. Reggie first investigates a new under class of
people that are not black but white. One
of the places where many white people live in slums is in a place called
Coronation Park.
BBC news broadcast is a programme that comes on the BBC
during different times of the day. It is a service which gives information on
the latest updates from around the world. This broadcast is at 1.00pm. It first
stats off with important stories of the day and even breaking news for example
Donald Trump’s first executive orders.
In this programme one of the key ethical issues is being balanced. Reggie not only talks to white people who
are living in the park but also with black people who visit the park. He tries
to be balanced when confronting an individual when he does not accept white
people living in poverty. In journalism
related issues balance is to offer both sides of a story instead of favouring
one side over the other. In the News
broadcast we see that the BBC asked two different people on their views on
Brexit. First we see somebody who is for Brexit and another person who is
against it (9.29-11.08).From the clip we see the reason why both people with
different opinions are given a chance to speak. It is because the programme shows
itself being balanced. Showing more than one opinion can show how the programme
is balanced we see how it does not favour one side over the other.
Most of the documentary is based around Reggie understanding
what is going on around him when he investigates. When he speaks his opinion he has to be careful so he doesn’t offend
people. In the programme Reggie says that the effects of the apartheid is still
on people and people cannot forget it. However the woman who he is having a
conversation with is saying otherwise. Tension slowly begins to start as she
says out her opinion which contradicts Reggie’s thoughts on his point. When
Reggie saw that his point wasn’t going forward he stopped asking questions.
Everything on the news broadcasts mainly backed up by facts. We see that there
is small room or even no opinion during this Programme. However the interviews
are mainly based on opinions. We see this from the small clips of interviews
from politicians (4.48-5.39). From this clip we see how the politician gives his view on
what is happening and what he thinks on the topic. He on occasion sates a fact
but he mainly speaks from his experience and opinion.
When making a documentary being un-biased is very important
to clear problems as well as being fair to your audience. To be bias is to unfairly siding with one side over the
other without using evidence to back your point. When Reggie was making this
documentary he talked to a lot of people from different backgrounds racially
and economically. For example Reggie remained unbiased when talking to Irene
and her son on the issue of black people being more privileged than white
people. He questioned both people who
had different views. He tried his best to understand the point the son was
making. In the news broadcast we saw that there was no biased information.
Everything was backed up by a point. The news made sure it was not approaching the subject
without establishing the facts. We also see more than evidence on a certain
topic.
Journalists find it very important to be impartial because you cannot create content which is
biased, you cannot be one sided when creating anything related to media. This
would not be of interest to your audience and only really journalist create
such content. When making content that is impartial it is important to use
facts, for example in Reggie’s documentary majority of its based on his opinion
however when talking about Apartheid he uses facts to prove his point. The
broadcast was impartial and all the reports were not based on personal opinion
or what people were thinking. In journalism in general being impartial. To be impartial you would need to look at this things from more than one point of view. You would need to observe things with out emotions getting into the way.
Objectivity is judging
something without having any emotions and prejudices come into play. It is
simply looking at a subject logically without allowing your personal feelings
getting involved. There are not many examples to give from the documentary. One
of the examples can be argued for having objectivity is when Reggie argued that
the system of employment was not fare for whites now in South Africa
(16.10-17.50). BBC broadcast was similar
but more objective when talking about the effects of America leaving the
Trans-pacific deal. We saw that the information given showed both sides of what
would happen when America leaves the deal.
Accuracy in journalism is
reporting correctly on the subject that is being mentioned. When a journalist
investigates or reports on something it is essential to note: places, dates of
birth (if necessary) and quotes. It’s important to note these things down
because being not accurate can cause your audience to question you. This causes
a problem because people would not be interested in content which is not
accurate. It can destroy your reputation and cause problems when publishing
other content. Writing or broadcasting information which is not accurate can
cause people to sue you. In Reggie’s documentary we see how he uses videos of
white people’s views on black people during apartheid (6.58-7.17). This can be accurate to a degree of seeing
some people view on apartheid however people could say this bias on making all
white South African people racist. BBC was very accurate when talking about the
outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision on article 51.
Subjectivity is opposite to Objectivity. Subjectivity is
judgment based upon personal feelings and opinions rather than facts. In
television programmes which are factual subjectivity is rare. However many
documentaries on BBC three are based on subjectivity. In Reggie’s documentaries
we see how when he investigates he talks from his emotions and opinions. We see this in the video (24:37) where Reggie
sees what I was like being in jail but from his perspective after hearing what
happened in the jails. He explains how he personally would be angry if
something that was brutal as the punishments in jail would be if it was inflicted
on someone like his parent who was living around that time. He also explains
why many people would get angry and why they would still remain like that. The
News on the other hand was completely different to the documentary. It is the
complete opposite of Subjectivity. It does not have personal feelings attached
to the reports. Only interviews have a small dose of Subjectivity.
Representation is the way
something or someone portrayed or stereotyped in the media (world). To
stereotype is seen as unwise and bad because when some people watch video they
might believe the stereotype of something. If a certain people feel as if you
have stereotyped them in a negative way they would cause a backlash and can
even sue companies and creators responsible. In Reggie’s documentary we see
that all people are represented fairly. Reggie goes to a part of Johannesburg
where black people and white people are well integrated. The way he shows that
both black people and white people can be together (40.12- 41.54). The news
gave facts for both for and against Trumps actions. We see how the BBC engages a conversation
with experts who know more on the subject. We also here questions and answers.
Facts were used instead of personal opinions unlike the documentary conversations.
Access in journalism is being
allowed permission to film or write an article about something. Sometimes when
not gaining legitimate access to a story or event can cause problems for the
one making the story and even the one who the story is being made of. An
example of legitimate access to a story of something remarkable would be from
the documentary. In the beginning Reggie
asks permission from Irene to enter the camp (4.15-4.22). Beforehand BBC
journalist would have asked people if they were going to be filmed. They also
had permission from the government to film in parliament.
Privacy: Contracts and rules
must be agreed on and implemented in order to protect participants in
documentary programmes and films. Over the many years privacy is becoming
increasingly tough for high profiled people. Mainly due to peoples obsessions
with celebrities and celebrity lifestyles. However for people that are not high
profiled it is easier to protect participants. We see in Reggie’s documentary
that he asks people beforehand if he can interview them and he also asks them
upfront as well. However we don’t see a lot of privacy given to a lot of people
being filmed on the programme. We see in the BBC broadcast that Privacy is
respected when certain shots blur out the background. Also there is no need for
privacy for public information that are given out for example Videos of Trump
showing his executive orders. In this case privacy is not needed because there
would be no need for a contract for public information.
Contract with viewer is an
unwritten rule between a creator and the audience. The rule is a promise that
the content that the creator described is the same that would be shown. For
example if you describe a documentary exploring war and the actual documentary
is a video about food then the contract is broken. The relationship between
viewer and creator is important. If the needs of the audience is not fulfilled
then automatically the creator is given a bad reputation.
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