Factual Programming

Factual programming takes up a large percentage of terrestrial and digital airtime in the United Kingdom. It could easily be considered the largest of the genres, and it has many sub-genres that make up for a popular airtime filler. One of the most influential sub-genres in factual programming would be considered to be the News, which captures a large and varied target audience and holds all ‘mealtime’ slots for each day.

The news programmes have always been a very important part of the British society, and a lot of people take the information presented on these programmes as absolute fact.

This is largely due to the way these programmes present themselves.

The news readers are always dressed in a well presented way (the traditional English suit and tie), which gives the audience a sense of the presenter being a representative of truth and accuracy and gives him/her a place in authority. This is a very subtle technique to persuade the audience that the facts presented to them are being relayed in an appropriate manner.

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Codes of news: in the beginning we have a dramatic music so that the audience could recognise that code which means it’s an important program. Also, we have the presentation in the beginning. The globe in the intro symbolises news about the world. However, ITV uses Big Ben to show that it’s about London and the parliament which shows accuracy. On the other hand, BBC News program is about the world because it’s a famous channel which has many subsidiaries in many different languages.

What makes a news studio looks news? We have a desk. Also, we have images in the studio of the news stories. This is a code because the pictures are real and news footage pictures. The audience recognise that it’s a fact news program.

It’s a convention to have an older man presenting a news program to show that he have had more ‘’experience’’ in life. On the other hand, a woman presenter turn to be younger to give a bit of ‘’beauty’’ and ‘’taste’’ to the program.

In the program there are news features, they are produced from a location by a news reporter. This is all factual reportage. This is both code and convention, because it’s not scripted and all the images are real.

Speaking in region accent shows that this news program is for everybody. This is a code.

What type of people gets interviewed indoors? Doctors, politicians etc. this is a convention. An example can be a police officer being interviewed outside to show the public that the police are outside with them. This is a convention.

Reporters plays also a role in the news, reporters speaks to the camera, they sum up the story and they look directly at the camera to direct the audience who are watching the news show.

News shows also uses people that has different point of views in their program to make their show more debated and serious.

Most of television news program is pre-recorded, either on the day, a week old or two weeks old.