Case Study 2: BBC News at Six

Basic Details:

• BBC stands for British Broadcasting Corporation
• The BBC is funded through tax payers
• Their mission statement is to inform, educate and entertain
• The remit for BBC 1 is to deliver TV programmes and bulletins with no opinions 
• BBC news also cannot have any opinions

Presenters:

• Presenters are Fiona Bruce and Jane Hill
• Presenters are dressed formally
• Would use a variety of presenters so that they can cover stories from any part of the world
• Other presenters are shown in different countries for a personal bulletin
• There are more male presenters than female presenters
• Most of the presenters are white are mixed-race 

Opening Sequence:

• The very first shot is of the first shown presenter sitting at a desk with looking papers
• Special Effects are used to "dumb down" the news stories
• There is dramatic music being played in the opening sequence
• The stories coming up are briefly mentioned at the start of the bulletin

Studio Mise-En-Scene:

• The audience can see the presenters, The background workers and the desk
• Only one of the presenters is sat behind a desk; the rest are in different locations
• Cameras are shown at the beginning of the show
• The studio's main colour is red, which is mostly used with black

How News Stories Are Presented:

• The story is presented in a monotone voice 
• The presenters introduce themselves before they begin with a bulletin
• They cover financial, crime, country, academic and sports news
• Special effects are blended into the real-life footage

Running Order:

• The top story was that Tesco lost £6.4bn
• It lasts for about 6 minutes
• Order of stories: Tesco, Child Abuse, Immigrants, School Children and Cricket
• All stories last approximately 6 minutes
• Shown for this time to spread out the time schedule

Audience:

• The target audience for this news show is 70% of Britain
• On average it pulls in 4 million viewers
• This would be chosen over other news programmes because of the timing
• Viewers are advised to keep an eye out for criminals or special events
• The viewers can find out what is happening in their local area

Institution:

• Other news programmes by the BBC include BBC World News and BBC three's 60 seconds
• BBC's news mustn't have any opinions attached to their news
• I agree that BBC News at six has been dumbed down because there are too many special effects

TV News and New/Digital Media:

• This news show has a page on it's institutional website
• This news show also has a twitter feed
• It has highlights etc and recaps with extra website links 
• Twitter feed promotes the programme by tweeting the time it's coming on 
• Viewers are advised to keep an eye out for criminals or special events