Research And Planning
In order to create a successful radio show we need to do a bit of research. This research consists of three subjects. Genre, Audience and Topic research.
GENRE RESEARCH
What makes a story newsworthy?
These are the five things are taken into account in order to see if an item is newsworthy or not at all. 
RAJAR
This is a screenshot from the RAJAR website. BBC Radio Berkshire is relevant to me because I took time to listen to it and record it for my research and planning. As you can see the average hours per listener is 7.2. This means that not as many people listen to it on the hour.
4 Week Research Plan
Day 1: 31st: Passed
Day 2: 1st: Passed
Day 3: 2nd: Make phone calls to different radio stations, this will be done by Elle with the whole group listening
Day 4: 3rd: Some more phone calls trying to reach those who didn't pick up the previous day, this will be done by Ryan and watched by the whole group
Day 5: 4th: research good books to purchase/look at to prepare for the main task (this time focus on interviewing skills)
Day 6: 5th: research good books to purchase/look at to prepare for the main task (this time focus on interviewing skills)
Day 7: 6th: rest
Week Two: 7th - 13th October
Day 8: 7th: listen to a local radio show which is not broadcast nationally - take notes
Day 9: 8th: research how to make an efficient questionnaire
Day 10: 9th: rest
Day 11: 10th: listen to different local radio show and compare the two we have listened to.
Day 12: 11th: confirm appointment with one of the local radio shows to interview the presenters.
Day 13: 12th: Visit local radio show to interview the presenter.
Day 14: 13th: rest
Week Three: 14th - 20th October
Day 15: 14th: Research how to approach people with a questionnaire in public
Day 16: 15th: Start to Prepare the questionnaire
Day 17: 16th: Think of questions to add and how many open ended questions and closed end questions we want in our questionnaire, also how many questions
Day 18: 17th:Go out around the area where the radio station is and ask them questions about the radio station
Day 19: 18th: Go out around the area where the radio station is and ask them questions about the radio station
Day 20: 19th: Go out around the area where the radio station is and ask them questions about the radio station
Day 21: 20th: rest
Week Four: 21st - 27th October
Day 22: 21st: compare all the results we got from the previous 3 days of asking people the questionnaire.
Day 23: 22nd: Go to the public library in Marylebone and spend a few hours researching in their media section
Day 24: 23rd:Go to the other public library in Leicester Square and spend a few hours researching in their media section
Day 25: 24th: rest
Day 26: 25th :rest
Day 27: 26th:rest
Day 28: 27th: rest
West Side Radio Phone Call
This is an Example of us calling a local radio station. This is West Side Radio in Hanwell. We called them 3 times but each time they did not pick up. It went to voice mail like in this recording. The type of radio they do is mostly music but we would have asked them a few questions about their target audience, how many viewers they receive and what kind of things attract the most viewers. Unfortunately we could not ask these questions as they never picked up.
3 Examples of Local Radio News
1. BBC Radio Oxford
This is a screenshot of the radio show i recorded. It was by Mark Forrest in Oxford. It gave some bits of news and some songs.
In the first 27 seconds there is a clear introduction as to what will be shown on the show including 'special guest' also the radio presenter introduces themselves and there is a jingle. After this at 33 seconds they mention something that appeals to their target audience, a film and also a guest is mentioned that helps with the film that will be on the radio show.
2. BBC Radio Merseyside
This is the second piece of radio news i recorded. This time it was BBC Radio Merseyside. This Recording was of some football news. It started straight into the football, talking about the club, Chester, and it's fans, who are most likely the audience of the radio show. The Presenter addresses the audience directly.
3. BBC Radio Berkshire
Codes and Conventions of local radio news.
1. Jingle
The radio shows starts off with a classic jingle. This signifies the audience that is is a new show and it is starting.2. Greeting
The radio presenters usually greets the audience according to the time of day. In this recording he says 'good evening' as this is when the radio show was broadcasted.3. Location
After the greeting the radio shows tend to mention the location. In this case it is BBC radio Berkshire.4.Content
The presenter should, at some point, mention that it is a news show and then also the time goes along with this.5. 1st Headline
This has been said in this particular broadcast by a different presenter. It lasts for 45 seconds and a guest has been brought into this one for 18 seconds.6. 2nd Headline
This headline is mentioned for 1:16 seconds. Another guest is used for 11 seconds | 8th November 2013 6pm News | Analysis |
1st Headline 30 seconds. | Britain’s spy chiefs have appeared in public together for the first time. | This is keeping the audience in touch with a serious matter; if people aren’t pay full attention then they will hear the most important bits of the news, which they know will be at the beginning of the programme. |
2nd headline 27 seconds. | Child abuse and exploitation. | This is the second biggest news and can apply to most of the audience as it is about children and they will mostly be parents. |
3rd headline 16 seconds. | Frimley park hospital being inspected. | This news has been set as the third one because it is not about crime or murder etc. It is about health and sanitation but because the Hospital had good inspection reviews the news is not that concerning. |
AUDIENCE RESEARCH
Questions to ask the Public
1. Do you live in the local area? If not what attracted you to this area.2. Do you listen to local radio?
3. If so what type of radio do you listen to. If not, why?
4. At what time of the day do you listen to local radio?
5. If you do not listen to local radio what would attract you to listen to it?
Target Audience
Target Audience took us a long time to figure out. We changed our minds a few times and decided we would ask a few questions to anyone in the general area where our radio is based, then we would decide our target audience. After this we decided our target audience would be middle aged people of both genders.
Our Radio
What's the difference between Search and Research?
The art of searching is when you look for something. This generally involves one step/form of searching. For example i could search for the quickest route to Baker Street. I would usually use a search engine or the journey planner website. Research is a little different. It involves a few ways of searching. For example if i wanted to find out the history of Baker street i would search the internet, maybe find a few books about it and ask the people who work/pass Baker Street to give me some information. This is two types of research, primary and secondary.Putting our questions to practice
As i mentioned previously I created 5 questions i wanted to ask people who live/use the local area of Maida Vale to get a feel of it and what kind of things they are interested in. I did this so I could see what attracts my target audience so i could use this knowledge in the construction of my radio show.
Interview 1:
.JPG)
This interview was with a middle aged man. It helped me because he lived in the area and he listened to local radio news so I could find out why he listens to it and what he likes about it.
Interview 2:
This interview i probably learnt the least from, as it was very short answers and there was not a lot of detail so i couldn't decipher point to help me with my radio show, but there was a few things this man said that i took into account when making the radio show.
Interview 3:
.JPG)
This was the first interview I did and it was the most helpful. Although the interviewee does not live in Maida Vale he had some good points which i would say helped myself and my team a lot in the construction of our radio show. We really took into account what he said, and tried our hardest to incorporate it into our 5 minute local radio news broadcast.
Flowchart
Radio Show Script:
This is the script for our 5 minute local radio show. It doesn't include the answers to the interviews or the vox pops because we do not know what the interviewees are going to say in their answer.
ELLE (Continuity): Bringing you the latest news every morning, it’s Maida News Flash.
RYAN (Intro): Good morning I’m Ryan Murphy with all the headlines at 8 o’clock
RYAN (Headlines): Firstly man obsessed with saw films jailed for 30 years, Pensioner arrested 28 years after alleged rape on a woman in south London, Rock band the killers perform intimate gig for 35 fans at Maida Vale Studio, QPR owner Tony Fernandes gets go ahead for new stadium plans, England’s poorest spend 13 billion on gambling machines, astly 5 jailed over fake film tax scam in Maida Vale.
RYAN (First Story): First this morning’s main headline 25 year old Matthew Tinling brutally stabbed and murdered his former neighbour Richard Hamilton 17 times in the head neck and legs in a vicious attempt to recreate saw 6. He killed him in a hostel for the homeless in which they both lived in Shirland road. Judge Timothy described the attack as vicious and savage whilst he was sentencing Tinling. He added it was something you had seen and tried to imitate, Tinling was sentenced to at least 30 years at the Old Bailey on Friday. Now over to Elle Gilbert who is at Marylebone Magistrates court with the owner of the hostel.
ELLE (Interviewer): Thank you Ryan, I am now stood with the owner of the hostel Melanie Gold.
Q: When this awful incident took place, where were you?
Q2: And who notified you that this event had occurred and how did you react to it?
Q3: Thank you Miss Gold.
RYAN (Second Story): Lyndon Plumber was arrested 28 years after and alleged rape on a woman in west London. He bumped into the victim in a pub where she recalled the double attack. Plumber denies the two accounts of rape and the trial at Southwark Crown Court continues.
RYAN (Third Story): QPR owner Tony Fernandes has got the go-head to plan a new 40,000 seat stadium in Royal Oak which will replace the current home of almost 100 years, Loftus Road. We spoke to a few fans around the area to find out what they thought about the plans.
Q: QPR are moving to Royal Oak is that going to replace the special atmosphere?
RYAN (Fourth Story): So from fans of football, more or less to fans of rock music, where Redwan is talking to a lucky few who managed to be with The Killers at Maida Vale studios. Over to you Redwan.
REDWAN (interviewer): Thank you Ryan, I am now live at Maida Vale studios. Here with me is an attendee of The Killer’s concert Amgad Masfary.
Q1: So Amgad how was The Killer’s Concert?
RYAN (Fifth Story): Thank you Redwan from Maida Vale studios. Of course not all activities are as straight forwardly pleasurable as attending a rock concert, as Elle Gilbert found out on Kilburn High Road.
ELLE (interviewer):
Q1: what do you think about the use of betting machines nowadays?
Q2: How have the betting machines changed how betting shops are like?
RYAN (Sixth Story): Lastly, 5 individuals have been jailed for four years for abusing the applications for VAT repayment and claiming film tax credits used to encourage the film industry. Bashar Al-Issa, Tariq Hassan, Osama Al Baghdady, Ian Sherwood and Aoife Madden stole almost £3million pounds between April 2010 and April 2011.
ELLE (Outro): That was the news at 8. Now over to Ron Burgundy for the weekly weather forecast for the rest of the week.
