Documentary theory
Accuracy is important when you talk about a certain subject. If you give a false statement then its going to cause problems when it comes to being watched. It is important that the facts are accurate as possible and don't twist stories. If you do end up twisting stories into something there not then people will find it hard to believe anything else they say. My documentary has to be believable otherwise the viewers will not follow what they are talking about. It makes a impact of the facts are good and true. Some news reporters get accuracy wrong when they want too be the first people to tell the story causing them to say things that might not be true as they are in such a rush to broadcast the story. A example of this would be the Hillsborough disaster as the sun quickly blamed the Liverpool fans for the disaster, this upset a lot of people including family of the people that died.
Balance
Having balance in a documentary is important and means that if you have two topics that you have to show each side of them equally so that you dont seem bias. You often see balanced arguments on news programmes where two or more people have a debate on a certain topic. The news channel will always pick people who have different opinions of the subject, so that you get too see both sides of the story. The head of BBC Arabic Tarik Kafala was talking about the Paris attacks and stated "We try to avoid describing anyone as a terrorist or an act as being terrorist" and went on to say "The UN has been struggling for more than a decade to define the word and they can't". Lots of people were outraged by this as it was completely one sided.
Bias
Bias is basically the same as balance as its all about getting both sides of the story. Quite a lot of news channels have been accused of being bias, for example Fox News produced its own "Anti-Obama" video implying that all his promises were unkept. This was bias because they didnt show any arguments against it and only stuck too one side. This has an effect on people as they can get angry at the fact they are displaying a one sided story. It is essential that I'm not biased in my own documentary as it will effect the way people view it and what they think about the subject itself.
Impartiality
Impartiality is the opposite of bias and is a also a problem in debates. If it is too open nothing will get resolved and you wont be able to hear both sides of the story to the extent of the problem. It effects people in a way that if they want to hear what a certain side has too offer, they cant because no one is sticking up for their opinion. Ofcom states that its principles are to "ensure that news in whatever form is reported with due accuracy and presented with impartiality"
Objectivity
Objectivity is where you are removed from the subject you are talking about, this can be a good thing or a bad thing as if you are hosting a debate but you are not involved in the subject, there is no way you can be biased towards that subject. but also if you don't know the subject too well you might accidental give out false information. There is a documentary on channel 4 called 'Meeting the taliban' where sean langan goes to meet the people that the British army are against, Ofcom stated that this 'must be treated with due objectivity'. This is because its quite a important subject and if anything is in accurate then it could cause a lot of trouble.
Subjectivity
As i stated with objectivity if you know about the subject, this might persuade you to lean towards one said rather than looking at both sides. This is known as subjectivity. A big example of subjectivity would be the channel 4 show 'benefits street' as they purposefully exaggerate people who are on benefits rather than showing people who actually desperately need benefits. Also as they don't include facts and statistics it is seen a subjectivity.
Studio Newsreaders
Studio news readers are hired by TV company's too sit in front of a camera and talk about the latest factual news, and this can be seen all over the world. The news readers are always inside sitting behind a desk, as it is normally field reporters that go to the location that is talked about by the newsreaders. The news reporters always dress up smart and have serious a serious face, this makes the news channel look serious and important. An example of this would be the BBC, the BBC is funded by people who live in the UK and it is one of the top news programmes in the UK so they have to dress smart and set a good reputation as they are the face of the programme.
Field Reporter
Field reporters are similar to newsreaders but the difference is field reporters are at the location where the news story is at. They give out information that is at the scene so that people know in depth what is happening. The field reporter is almost always live as it is the best way to keep up too date with the situation, this means that people can watch it and get as much information as possible. Field reporters also have to dress smart as they are informing people about events and they need to be taken seriously.
Interviewing
Interviews are a important role in the media industry as it is a key source of finding out information. The interviews can either take place at the subject location or in the studio and is most commonly used by news channels as they are a good source of information. These interviews can be with people from the streets that have witnessed the story, these can be important as you get first hand information from people so you know the full story. Also sometimes you get interviews with a expert even though they may have not been at the location or the scene, this is because they can describe why the situation happened with the knowledge they have about the subject. Interviewing the victim is important as well as it can bring a certain effect on the viewer, for example if they interviewed a relative of someone who had just died you get a very personal story.
Report structure
This is a big key in the news industry as the structure of the show determines what news will be at the top of the list. When you have some really important information it will always be at the top of the list and shown at the beginning and the less important stuff is played towards the end. Doing this keeps the viewer watching so that they can find out all of the information.
Realism
Realism is based on real people and real stories. For example realism documentaries include real peoples stories and normally follow information about a certain person or subject. Realism effects the audience in a way that a fictional character wouldn't. If it was a fictional character people would feel a emotional connection as much as with a real person.
Dramatization
Dramatization is the exaggeration of a subject that gets built up within a documentary. This appears quite a lot when documentaries are prejudice or bias. Its not very good to have dramatization in something like a documentary because it can appear to be very one sided and can turn the audience against the stuff being said.
Narrativisation
Narrativisation documentaries are told in the way of a story and are acted out with a beginning, middle and end. It will always be based on real events other wise it wont be factual programming. It effects the viewers as they get to find out information the same as any other documentary, just this is shown in the form of a story.
