FACTUAL TVCODES AND

CONVENTIONS OF NEWS

By Lucy Thurlow

News...News is an essential part of our daily life and

we use the news to help frame our daily events. News can come in two categories: hard news OR soft news.

Hard news stories deal with dramatic and serious events which are delivered to us as soon as they happen. Soft news stories are usually

human-interest stories which consist of entertainment, sport or time-free news.

Mode of Address

Example - On the Channel 4 news programme, the presenter Jon Snow uses direct address by looking ‘directly’ at the camera when introducing the news story to signal importance and keep the viewers engaged.

The mode of address is the manner in which the news is delivered to the audience by the presenters and reporters of the news programme.

Some conventions of mode of address include direct address, which is the way the presenter is received by the viewers, the soundtrack used for the title sequence at the start and end of the news programme and the medium close up angle , which is used throughout the programme for the presenters.

Technical Codes

Example – The report on the Australian floods by Channel 4 news have used several high angle shots and long shots to show as much of the damage as possible.

The technical codes refer to the camera work used in the news reports, as well as lighting and editing.

Common camera shots used in news reports are establishing shots, long shots, mid-shots and close-ups.

News TechniquesThe news uses different techniques to make the reports interesting and also some are used to make the news more credible. Some of these techniques can include interviews (right), vox pops, video footage, photographs, sound recordings and animated graphics (below).

News ValuesNews values determine what makes a story be worthy as news.

Some common news selection values used by radio and television are; the power and fame of people who are involved in the event, location of the event and the power of the location, for example London.

Example: The Australian floods story covers news values like amplitude (it is a big story), impact (the floods are affecting a lot of people), recency (it has only recently happened) and negativity (it is an example of bad news).