BBC Research

BBC News at Six
Basic details

• The letters BBC stand for British Broadcasting Corporation
• Funded by TV license
• Their mission statement is to: inform, educate and entertain
• BBC 1's remit is to be the BBC's most popular mixed-genre television service across the UK -  offering a wide range of high-quality programmes. A very high proportion of its programmes should be original productions.
• BBC news at six fits in with this remit because it offers a mixed genre or topics and stories.

Presenters

• George Alagiah and Fiona Bruce are the main presenters
• The presenters in this programme wear suits and other types of formal clothing which suggest that the programme is going to be both serious and professional
• They may use a variety of presenters to give the audience something new to see each time, to help change the faces displayed and draw away from the same old. To give the news something fresh.
• Other reporters are used to collect information and to experience things outside the studio and to get a closer look at the news topics.
• There is a fair amount of both genders 

Opening sequence

• The opening shot is of the presenter at the desk about to begin the news
• The graphics used show a world/globe which helps the audience feel connected to the other countries and shows that BBC news will give them all the news from all around.
• The music used is quite dramatic which creates tension as the audience wait to hear the first headline.
• The news stories are spoken about briefly and we are told about the upcoming news stories in the headlines

Studio mise-en-scene

• The camera shows the entire studio where the audience can see people at work on the computers and can also see the lights and cables etc.
• The majority of the time the presenters remain seated as to create a serious feel however sometimes they do leave their seats and stand up when addressing the audience personally.
• The technology is visible to help show realism and to make the news more realistic and truthful also because seeing many people working will give the audience the impression that they get the latest news as soon as it happens.
• The studio is mainly red and white which may help to symbolise the British flag and just gives off a sleek professional look and feel.

How news stories are presented

• The news is typically presented with presenter piece to camera and is presented by the presenter giving a brief explanation of the news story. Also another common way that the news is presented is by voice over, video footage of the story plays on the screen with a voice over explaining each aspect of the story or is presented by a reporter who has ventured outside of the studio and reports back to the people in the studio.
• BBC News at Six usually cover news stories such as; politics, international news and sometimes local news.
• Coverage on the conflict in Syria was covered using a strap on camera strapped to a reporter at the scene, this made the audience feel as if they were right there in Syria, another example would be BBC's coverage on the general election where opinions from member of the public were taped and shown on the programme, this is just another example of how news stories are presented to keep the interest of the audience.

Running order

• Top story is Tesco's loss of profits (losses)
• The actual story lasted for about 15 minutes however, the highlight lasted around 2 minutes
• Top story (most important), next story (second important) and so on...stories are broadcasted depending on their importance.
• Each story is shown for 5-10 minutes however the top story may be shown for longer

Audience

• The target audience is for families but is still targeted at the adult generation
• Viewing figures for BBC News at Six are 4 million
• A person may choose to watch this TV news over the others because it is more targeted towards families and provides something a bit different as it is more interested in the thoughts of the public and so on.

Institution

• Other programmes BBC News offers include; BBC News at 10, BBC Breakfast, CBBC, Cbeebies
• OfCom regulates all British TV news by the Broadcasting Code which helps to keep TV news in line. The Broadcasting Code gives basic guidelines and rules for channel's to follow that help to keep TV News impartial. OfCom monitors the TV News with care and failure to comply with any of the rules will result in consequences.
• I agree with the accusation made against BBC news in regards to them "dumbing down" the news because during the Tesco Losses story animations using red arrows pointing downward despite the fact that the word "decrease" could clearly be seen beside it implying that viewers do not know what the word "decrease" means and therefore in turn, "dumbing down" the news. However I do not see anything wrong with having graphics to help explain a story. Also there may be a few people who maybe don't know what certain words mean so at the same time it is wrong to accuse the BBC of dumbing down the news when we do not know every viewers capabilities.

TV News and New/Digital Media

• BBC News does have a dedicated website and a Twitter where you can catchup on missed clips and find out additional information and on the Twitter you can view news related hashtags leading you to new news stories, however there is no obvious way for the audience to get involved.