Professional Documents
Culture Documents
BRPP Dher Saare Notes
BRPP Dher Saare Notes
BRPP Dher Saare Notes
AN INTRODUCTION I
One of the aims of this unit is to farniliarise the student with the nature and
cllaracteristicsof radio as a mass medium. Another is to briefly outline the basics of
radio programming for entertainment, information, instruction and education of
listeners, for advertisement of goods and services and for announcement of various
public utility measures. It also discusses the rudiments of techniques for producing
programmes and gives some guidance for effective writing for radio. The unit briefly
lists the typical demands on a writer, or a speaker on the radio, and explains,
particularly, the art of script-writing for broadcast. Radio as a medium has also its
limitations, at which the unit also briefly glances. Read the unit to get an idea of
Radio's potential. In the following unit (unit 2), we Gll elaborate upon the types of
programmes.
'Wireless telegraphy, the precursor of today's radio, was invented by a very young
];talianelectrical engineer, Gugliemo Marchese Marconi (1874-1937) in 1895-(the
same year as Rontgen discovered the X-ray)-and was patented by him on 02 June
.the following year. This eventually led to the discovery of the basic principle of radio
communication.
Radio came to India in August 1921, and the first broadcast, a special programme of
music for Sir Georg Llo d, the then Governor of Bombay provmce, was made from -
I"
the P & T Bombay, and was listened to by him at Pune at a distahce of about 175
kilometers. Two yetis after, from November 1923, programmes came to be broadcast
from Calcutta when the Radio Club of Bengal started them from a dingy lane, called
Garstin Place, near Dalhousie Square, on a small Marco transmitter.
After a taady develapment. radio stations came to beset up by a commercial concern
called Indian Boradcasting Company with stations at Bombay and Calcutta; it came
into being on 13th September, 1926, as a result of an agreement with the
Government. On 23rd July, 1927, the Bombay Station of the Company started to
function, marking the beginning of organised broadcastingin India. On 26th August
the same year, came the Calcutta Station; by the end of the year, Broadcasting
Receiver Licenses (BRL) had gone up to 3594.Two years later, on 01 March, 1930,
the Company went into liquidation and a month later, on 01 April, 1930, the
Government of India took over .broadcasting and designated it as Indian State
Broadcasting Service.
It passed through many vicissitudesfor the next six years and on 08 June 1936, it was
re-designated as All India Radio, or briefly, AIR, with Mr. A.S. Bokhari as the first
Station Director of Delhi as well as Deputy Controller of Broadcasting. Earlier an
Englishman, Lionel Fielding, had taken over as India's first Controller of
Broadcastingon 30th August, 1935, and Mr. Bokhari was the first Indian to become
the Deputy Cbntroller.
A revolution in radio broadcast occurred with the invention of transistor by three
American scientists in 1948. Mass production of transistorised sets by the mid-fifties
took radio to almost every household in a few years. The abolition of the licence fee
in respect of single and two-band transistor sets in August 1980, gave it a further
boost. With the colour transmission and expansion of TV network during and after
the Ninth Asian Games in New Delhi, in November-December 1982;radio did suffer
a setback but is gradually regaining its lost clientele by judicious re-planning of
programmes.
However, much still remains to be done, not only to make radio withstand the
competition from the TV but to help it grow further as a potent and parallel mass
medium. For instance, BBC Radio has become strong and vibrant inspite of its
extremely popular television medium. ?he electoral promise of the National Front
Government at the Centre to convert All India Radio and Doordarshan into a
Corporation, as and when it comes about, will be a milestone in the history of radio
broadcast in India, because a perestroika of this huge organisation and its ethos is
likely to revolutioni'sd the programme planning of All India Radio.
Exercise 1
Write your answers in the space provided and check with the aids to answers given
in 1.9.
i) Which organisation pioneered broadwsting in India? How long did it carry. on
broadcasting and from which places?
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'4s a medium of mass communication, radio has also many unique featwes- some
lo its advantage, some not. It is an audio medium and with the invention of
stereophonid recording and Frequency Modulation (FM),it brings sound waves to
listeners in utmost perfection. Newer technology and circuitry have also improved
radio-listenifig to a great extent in recent years. This has particularly rendered music
broadcast by AIR extremely popular and made All fndia Radio the greatest
propagator of all forms of music in the country. The next area of broadcast, to benefit
fiom this feature, is news and news-based programmes. Although visuds on TV have
added a new and attractive dimension to newscast - because seeing is believing -
news over radio has more immcdiatly, bulletins bdng more frequent than on TV.
As TV does not reach the blind (except its sound component), radio does not reach
the deaf,there lies their complementarity too. In a crowded room, where others are
rret interestedin aradio programme, a listener can tune to itduough a headphone;
this is nbt possible for a TV progranime. Fdr, while you can listen to this sound through
h~eadphone,you can't switch off the screen pictures. Another unique featwe of radio
is its mobility. Modem-day transistors are small and portable; they can be carried
everyivhere- to a factory or a field, and even to the toilet as one shaves, or does
one's morning chores. Bekides,radio is ine~qnsiveand is within the reach of almost
all people. It is easy to operate and canibe switched on at any place even outside
home. We see transistors on a pedlar's pushcart or on the footpath where the
vegetable vendors and cobblers stack up their wares for'sale. It can be slung on a
bicycle handle or carried while walking one's way to and from the office.
Some changes are, however, taking place in the use of radio as a mass medium,
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mainly because af the spread of TV and the greater maneuverability of the
transistorised sets. Declamatory and formal broadcagts are going out of fashion; radio
is becoming more pervlasive and personal. The difference between TV-viewing and
radio-listening in India Is that while a TV programme is normally viewed by a number
of persons at a time (in one place) radio, because of its relatively lesser price and
easier portability and availability. can be listened to by hundreds of single individuals
at different places. Community radio-listening has become a matter of the past. In
this changed ethos, broadcasting techniques are shifting emphasis from mass
communication to pemnal communication, as if it is treating every listener
separately. The 'You' jn radio programme is no longer the plurality but the single
person who at the moment may have tuned in. The change is already well-established
in foreign radio stations but is gradually coming to All India Radio and would stay
when it fully arrives.
Why is Radio still the most immediate and widespread mode of mass communication
in India? (Check with aids to answers 1.9)
Describe the relative and dbndvantaga~of Radio vie-a-vis TV. Write your
m e r in the space provided and check with aids to answem given in 1.9.
So much for the contrasting characteristics of radio and TV. Radio's inherent
clraracteristicsalso distinguish it from other mass media like newspapers, periodicals,
m~agazines,i.e. the print media on the one hand and from the audio-visual media,
lilke cinema and video. on the other.
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Some other characteristics of radio issue from another aspect of its technology. For
cxamplc, medium-wave broadcasts are better received than short-wave in less
expensive sets. In a mountainous terrain, medium-wave transmissioh is obstructed by
hills and valleys. On a cloudy day or night, the quality of transmission is affected by
lightning and clouds; the FM broadcasts are better at night.
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1.4
- SUBSTANCE OF RADIO-PROGRAMMING
Radio-programming,is essentially based on auditory values of the content of the
plrogramme. Howsoever good a news commentary may be, it can be spoilt by bad'
reading on the mike. Ravi Shankar's finesse on sitar may not get across if recording
orr transmission is faulty. With this basic condition in mind, let us briefly glance at
radio-programmingfor providing entertainment, information, instruction or
etlucation and at the basics of commercial broadcast and public utility
announcements.
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t 1.4.1 Entertainment
It is not easy to separate entertainment from information or education. For example,
film-songs which ostensibly entertain, also educate a deep and careful listener about
the trends and socio-economic milieu through the words of the song. While
programming entertainment broadcasts, certain things are kept in mind. The first is
the quality of entertainment which in a mass unrestrictable listening, should be of
g t d taste and not smack of communal, casteist, chauvinist or any other kinds of
bilas. In a free society like ours, which is often prone to communal, ethnic ahd
sc:cessionist violence, entertainment matter for radio broadcast has to be carefully
chosen. The matter can be of mass appeal, like film-songs over Vividh Bharati, or of
restricted, even elitist/specificinterest like Hindustani Classical, or Western Classical
music, -or high-level informative programmes like 'Spotlight' and 'Current Affairs'
W r l U q for Rsdk8-1 produced by the News Services Division.
1.4.2 Information
The major information broadcasts from every radio station are the news-based
programmes which are very popular in developing countries. Strictly speaking, "what
makes information" vaties from person to person. To a News Executive of AIR, for
example, much of the newscast from AIR is no information, because he is steeped
in it; while news from the BBC may be very informative to him. A midday women's
programme may be vety informative to rural women, but to a socialite, urban
woman, it may sound elementary.
News-programming will be discussed in detail in Unit 1 of Block 2, but suffice it to
say here that the infrasOructurefor news-gathering, editing, compiling and reading is
elaborate and expensive in every radio organisation. Programmes of information
broadcasts have to keep their content clear and direct, free of all emotional or
editorial comment. The information should be authentic, verifiable and given in a
manner that does not lead to a social or law-and-order turmoil. For example, the
immediate announcement of the death-toll in a communal clash or a police-action in
a partisan or provocative tone, in a sensitive situation, can aggravate it further.
1.4.3 Commercials
<
Commercial advertisiqg was started on AIR on 01 November, 1%7, to boost the
revenues of the organisation, by promoting goods and services in the private sector. '
As listeners generally resent commercial motives behind entertaining, informative
and educative programmes, a separate channel in twentynine AIR stations presents
commercial advertisements interspersed with lilting and light film-songs to keep
listeners glued to the channel. Planning of commercial advertising over radio calls for
mature auditory imagination and grasp of the essentials of advertising-like an
attractive slogan, an arresting sound or anecdote and subtlety in bringing in the
product and its merits, It is different from advertising in print and audio-visual media,
like TV,video and cinema, for the absence of visuals needs to be more than made
up by striking use of slogans and sound-effects.
ii) How are commercial broadcasts over AIR different horn entertainment
programmes? Give examples.
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iv) What purpose is served by Public Service Announcements over a radio system?
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Production techniques are not learnt in a day; one needs to have a good ear and quick
reflexes to edit or dub a programme. Surface editing eliminates undesirable sounds,
such as stammer, sneezes, coughs and choking of voice. A deeper editing cuts out
repetitions, arranges thd ideas in order and brings back and forth the matter that
needs to be in sequence, especially in a feature. Discussion programmes improve
vastly by imaginative editing. Dubbing adds extra sound-effects, or brings disparate
sounds together. Before producing and recording a programme, seating of
participants in the studio needs to be carefully planned so that sound-levels become
uniform and clear, partibularly while recording a discussion programme or an
orchestra.
Production calls for moqe care and efficiency in outdoor programmes than inside a
studio. The recording of a football match, for example, is more challenging than
recording a solo music programme in a studio. Spot interviews of eye-witnesses in a
crowd call for skill and ptesence'of mind. In outdoor recordings, it is difficult to keep
out extraneous sounds. A cock may suddenljl crow when a classical musician
demonstrates a raga or asonata and mar the entire programme. By re-recording and
taking advance care, such hazards of outdoor recording can be reduced to a great
extent, if not kept out dltogether. Handling and erasing of magnetic tapes can be
learnt only by demonstrition and experience. Sudden defects in recording or dubbing
equipment need to be promptly attended to with the help of the servicing and
maintenance staff.
Modem production techniques have replaced human ingenuity and judgement to a
great extent. In advanwd radio stations, production is wholly computerised.
Adjustment to sound-levels and frequency is done by the computer automatically.
And yet human judgempnt and ingenuity are still important inputs and an
experienced and imaginative producer can do wonders with old, antiquated
equipment. Orson Welles, the legendary Hollywood film-maker, once produced a
radio programme on inter-stellar journey which brought Americans out onto the
I streets to see the 'Alien' because it was so convincingly done that the reality sense of
listeners vanished for a moment.
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1.6 WRITING FOR RADIO
Writing for radio is v g different from writing for any other medium, particularly the
print medium. Many gdod writers of books and newspaper articles have fared badly
when called upon to wfite for, or speak on the radio. On the contrary, many good
writers or speakers on radio have done equally well in the print medium; George
Orwell, Dylan Thomasl, Rudyard Kipling are well known examples.
Sometimes the writer for radio is also required to read his or hei own script over the
microphone; it is always better that way. A h t e r knows the nuances of his ideas and
sentence-patterns; a professional reader may not always be able to grasp them.
If you have to read your own script consider the limitations of your voice, modulation
and pronunciation so that the script is otherwise enriched to compensate for these.
For example some people stammer on a particular word or a group of words; these
wt>rdscan be cleverly avoided. 'I%eaim is to make an impression on your listeners
in a short while and let your ideas sink into their minds. To achieve this, a writer has
to avoid angry, partisan aqd biased remarks, avoid speaking in either a highbrow or
a lowbrow manner, and avoid giving an impression of condescendingto the listeners
as if he is obliging them with his erudition or authority.
At: the same time, a writer for radio should make his or her message forceful and not
be wishy-washy or mincing. Subhash Chandra Bose's or Hitler's addresses to their
tr<mpsover radio would have had little effect on the soldiers if they were not inspiring
and forceful. A talker on a social or an economic topic needs to substantiate his talk
with facts and figures;use them with imagination and force to make the talk objective.
Subjectivityis, to a large extent, the essence of creative writings -of poetry, novel
anld drama-after all; all creative writers reflect their own personality-but it mars a
talk on the.socia1,economicor political topic of the day. Because what the listeners
arc: interested to lnow are not your views on these topics only only an anal*
of the situation that you wish to get across.
Writing for radio b u l d preferably be typed, or neatly hand-written, so that neither
you nor the reader fumbles in-the studio. For adjustingto the time-slot, the talk can
be rehearsed at home before recording it at the radio station. Although spellings are
nolt very important in radio-writing, one should be careful, because sometimes good
brc~adcastsare sent out for publication.
Bellow are given two passages, exemplifying gdod and bad writing for the radio.
How is writing for rado different from writing for a newspaper? 'What are the points
to be borne in mind while writing a script on a current topic for radio broadcast?
(Check with aids to abswers 1.9)
I-fowwould you plan an illustrative talk on your favourite music for All India Radio?
Iliscuss your answer with fellow students and your counsellor.
1.8 SUMMING UP
To sum up, radio has ample potential as a mass medium and much of this has been
harnessed in more thah half a century of its existence in our country. Its widespread
occurrence in urban atld rural India, and its unabated popularity in rural and
backward areas, where newspapers and television have not yet reached, are still
enormous. At a small cost and smaller recurring expense, a whole family caa be
entertained, informed Cnd educated in such ample measure as no other mass medium
can give at such a price.
Radio's potential reaches not only the economically backward or poorer people; it is
E'xercise5
VJhile writing for Radio, one must have an understanding of the sound value of
lc:tters, words and sentences. Carefully the sentence structure is to be framed avoiding
long sentences, multisyllable words, unfamiliar directions. The rigid time frame of a
radio broadcast calls for precise and comprehensive scripting.
E,xercise6
Sound-effects,music interludes, background music, careful dialogues that will reveal
the location, personality of the characters and conflict of the play are some of the
techniques involved in a radioplay production.
AUDIO
Voice-Over : Voice added to a tape, to illustrate an image or a sound on a broadcast
medium
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The previous unit (3) of this Block has made you familiar with certain general features
of writing for Radio. This includes writing for the ear, the use of spoken language,
narration and sound-effects and the formats for radio scripting. The present unit aims
at equipping you with the understanding of what makes a good radio talk. The
guidelines given should help you to discern the basic requirements of a radio talk -
the audience and - the situations. This unit prepares you for the task of writing a
radio talk. In order to write and present a radio talk successfully, you must
understand what are the essential elements which make for communication between
the talker and the listener. Communication will take place only if these elements are
included in the talk. Some of these requirements may seem obvious, but the fact is
that talkers neglect them, both in the writing and in the delivery of talks.
We will learn that language skills, like mechanical skills, require endless practice. The
activities interspersed in the unit merely give you an idea of how to go about refining
and polishing your skills. You should be able to construct similar exercises on your
own for further practice.
4.2.1 Attractiveness
The two most important subjective factors which make for-recall are interest and
attention. They are closely connected. If you are interested in something you will pay
attention to it, and if you listen to it carefully, you will remember it. So the first thing
the talker must do is to rouse the interest of the listener. If something concerns him,
he will naturally become interested in it and will pay attention to it. But if it is of
remote or merely academic interest, he will at best listen to it without closely
following its argument.
If a radio talk is on the functioning of the Railways, the focus should be on the safety
aspezt rather on a budgetry analysis. The radio talk is aimed at the listening public
and therefore should centre round points that will hold the listener's attention.
4.2.2 Clarity
Similarly, any material +thatis retained and remembered possesses certairi
characteristics. The listener perceives.the talk as 5 whole or as a pattern, and in
remembering it also it is this pattern that comes to the mind. Experimental evidence
shows that the listener tries to get hold of the pattern, the central theme oi what is
communicated in the talk.
Psychologists have described this process, the process of reacting to given material,
as an effort after meaning. We not only seek to find a meaning in what we perceive,
we also recall more easily something which we have understood. The lesson for the
talker is to ensure that there is a central theme in what he says. A talk which is a
series of disjointed observations will not be recalled. It will leave little impression on
the listener.
Psychologists have also drawn attention to a factor, described as the 'dominant detail'
which facilitates recall. What is dominant detail? If you ask a friend the story of a
film, the answer might be 'Oh'! it is the eternal triangle; but this is not the whole
story. The friend may add that it is the eternal triangle with a difference. This
difference is what gives the clue to the dominant detail. Thus, while huqan beings
attempt to perceive objects as unitary wholes, there is some detail which stands out
apart from the rest and influences what is perceived. This dominant detail is a kind
of nucleus around which the other images cluster in a process of recall. It sets the
stage for remembering. Take the well-known film Arth. It is the eternal triangle, but
right through we see the heroine trying to forge a life of her own. This movement
towards the woman's self-identity is the dominant detail.
4.2.3 emtent-density
Do not burden your script with details which in any case make little impression, and
which are easily forgotten. Chief among these are figures. Once they get into lakhs
and crores, they mean nothing to the common person. It is much better to give
comparisons. For example, if you want to say that the population of Australia is very
small, it would be more revealing to say, the total population of Australia is only
equal to the number of children born in India in just one year. If you must give
figures, give round figures.
Also easily forgotten are names, especially unfamiliar names, like those in a Russian
novel, where, additionally, you discover that characters have several names. You
have to face a similar prablem if required to discuss a border dispute between our
country and China. Somatimes one town may have three names - an Indian name,
a Tibetan name and a CNinese name. A wise talker who is anxious to communicate
will choose one name, the one that is least unfamiliar to his audience. The person
who is concerned to show off his learning will use all the three. The former will
succeed as a radio talker, while the latter may not.
Activity 1
Given below is a passage, Read it carefully and do the exercises given :
1) List the reasons why 9ou think that the passage given below is unsuitable for a
radio talk.
2) Select any four words which you would like to replace with other simpler words
or phrases of similar meaning.
3) Are there any facts or figures which can be deleted without loss of meaning?
More than half of the urban population is in cities, with more than one lakh
population. The urban agglomerations of Calcutta with a population exceeding
10 million followed by Bombay, which is about :o reach the 10 million mark are
the thickest populousurban areas in India. In addition to these, Delhi, Madras,
Bangalore, Hyderabdd, Visakhapatnam, etc. are the other cities growing by
- leaps and bounds in terms of size and populations., This abnormal growth in the
number of urban arehs and population therein demands the supply of more
transport facilities.
Serious consideratio0 is, therefore, required to be given to the transportation
and traffic problems of these fast growing cities. They are no longer capable of
satisfying excessive travel demands because of phenomena1 increase in
population. \
Sentences in the active voice tend to make for easier comprehension than those in
indirect speech in the passive voice.'For instance, it is better to say, "Several
distinguished economists believe that a huge budgetan deficit tends to result in
inflation", rather than to say, "The view that a huge deficit in the budget will tend
to result in inflation, is held by many distinguished economists."
Difficult and uncommon words should be avoided: Remember that the listener
neither keeps a dictionary close on hand, nor has the time while listening to refer to
it, if difficult or uncommon words are used in the talk. Easy communication is basic
to radio talk.
~ Radio-I
W r f t l for
Activity 3
Read the sentence given below and convert into active voice.
Mental peace and the continuation of mental and physical faculties with passing
years was sought W be achieved by the eastern mystics by the practice of yogic
exercises.
(Check your answer wivh the hints given in 4.7)
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4.3.2 Informality 1
There is an important despect in which a radio talk differs from a public speech or
lecture. A speech or lecture is heard or listened to by a.collective audience or group.
In the case of the radid talk, however, it is the individual, a few family members,
perhaps a friend or two,who constitute the audience. The radio talker speaks to them
- thousands of such small groups - in the intimaq of their homes.
The radio talk is like a iconversation with friends. It is informal, it is chatty. True,
the other party, the listeners, can not butt in, they cannot interject. It is the talker's
job to do that for them by raising questions and doubts on their behalf, and trying to
answer them. The succq!ssful talker will attempt to do so.
In a radio talk, the persqnality of the presenter is important. One may have made a
special study of a subject, another may have inside knowledge, a third may have been
an eye-witness to an imhrtant event. That is why listeners are interested in what the
thlker has,to say. The talker is not a disembodied voice which is presenting
dry-as-dust fact. So, when you prepare a talk, assimilate your material thoroughly,
consider the main thesid you want to put across', and harness the crucial facts which
articulate your case. 'Tlje upshot of the issue as I see it is this....', '"This is what I
can make of the p r o b l e ~... . . Statements of this kind, in the first person, are entirely
in.order in a radio talk.
Activity 4
Read the passage given below and make it personal, informal and chatty.
A widow becomes the.flotsam and jetsam of Indian society washed ashore at
the portals of exploitative ashrams in the hope of dying there and attaining
moksha salvation)^, or remains prey to the predations of relatives who enslave
or mentally tortureher. Reduced to virtual non-status through a series of rituals
masquerading undbr obscurantist religious sanctions - the breaking of her
bangles or banishidg her from auspicious functions - she loses her
independence and capacity to fight for her property rights.
(Check with answer in 4.7)
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Radio Talk and Rdlk
4.3.3 Self-Explanatory
The talker is not face-to-face with his audience. This is another point of difference
between the radio talk and the public speech or lecture. In the latter two cases, the
speaker faces his audience. The talker does not have this advantage, and so has
problems. Facial expression communicates a great deal. The audience can see from
the hint of a smile on the speaker's face that he is making a mild joke, or that he is
saying something tongue-in-cheek. Again, on the other hand, one can see from his
expression that he is serious- about the point he is making. Such visual aids are not
available for a radio talk. So the talker has to make up for them in the way he or she
reads the sqipt.
Reading out a script is rather like speaking lines in a play. The talk has to be carefully
rehearsed, so that every nuance of meaning is brought out. However, the talk must
on no accpunt be over-dramatised, because it would then cease to be a conversation,
and would sound unnatural.
One of the important advantages which face-to-face communication gives the speaker
is the feedback through the expressions on the faces of the audience. If he sees them
looking puzzled, he can explain the point further. If they look bored, he can move
on to the next point, and so on. The talker on the radio has to manage without these
important signals. The talker must, therefore, anticipate audience response when
writing his script, or when rehearsing it. If he finds anything lacking in clarity or
taking t60 much time, he should find a corrective for it.
Activity 5
Given below are some opening sentences (a-f) from excerpts.
1) Identify those you think can be used, as they are, as opening for radio talks.
2) Give the ones selected, suitable titles to focus the theme.
a) Three o'clock in the morning - dark, cold, peaceful. The telephone rings
with a start, I get up and lift the receiver : Kaun?
b) It is found out that in the manufacture of safety matches the material contents -
chlorate of potash, sulphur, phosphorus, red antimony, black antimony,
glue, veneers, splints, blue paper and gun powder form 61 per cent of the
total cost of production.
c) There is a convenient penchant to sweep under the rug some of the most
grotesque evils that plague society until some apocalyptic incident jolts
people from their escapist reveries.
d) One can watch the varying moods of rivers - almost human - in the
ceaselcss cycle of the seasons. A narrow, slow, silvery streak of water during
the hot summer, a wide roaring broad-bosomed torrential spectacle during
the monsoons.
e) The second Asiad, the tenth Asian Games, will be remembered for the
emergence of a new power in sports arena of the Continent : While China
reasserted its supremacy by maintaining the dominance gained at the New
Delhi games four years ago, the host country, South Korea, rewrote history
by toppling Japan for the secmd position.
f) Voltaire, enumerating the advantage that animals have over man, observed
that they have no theologian to instruct them, their funerals cost them
nothing and no one starts lawsuits over their wills. This set me wondering.
What is the advantage man has over animals?
(Check your answers with Aids to ~nswers'4.7)
4.6 SUMMING UP
A Radio Talk implies communication between the talker and the listener. There are
certain essential elements which, if ignored or neglected, will render the talk
ineffective. 'They are interrelated, and in satisfying one you may be satisfying one or
more of the others at the same time.
As thje Radio Talk is usually listened to by individuals, it should be informal, even
chatty.
The talk should concern the issue uppermost in the mind of the listeners.
The writer must, therefore, use appropriate language to hold the interest of his
listeners. For instance, short sentences, simple words, personal interjections,
rhetorical questions, etc., make for clahty and liveliness in delivery.
The talker should not burden his talk with figures which are usually forgotten.
Likewise, he should not use unfamiliar names, and, if forced to use. them, he
should choose the name least unfamiliar to his audience.
The talk should be personal and should reflect the talker's knowledge and his own
v i l w or perspective.
The talk should be memorable at its first presentation, since it will not be repeated.
If the theme is clearly expressed, the dominant detail highlighted and irrelevant
matter struck out, there is no reason why the talk should not leave a lastina
impression on the mind of the listener.
Radio profiles could be talks, features, magazines or even a documentary on a
personality.
Research and organisation are equally importantin the writing of a radio profile.
A c t i v i ~2
The sentences consists of nearly seventy words, and the listener would lost the sense
of it before he gets to the end. To make it effective in a radio talk you should break it
up into diffcrcnt sentences. and the key idea should come into the first short sentence.
thus : 'The Indian Constipution is said to guaranteeofreedom of religion. hut thi4
freedom comes to naught in view of a e power of the state to restrict it'. (27 words)
"These restraining power4 include the right to interfere with any rcligio~h'~racticc if
it endangers. etc. etc."
Activity 3
a) 'Eastern mystics, becbmes the subject of your sentence.
b) 'Achieved' becomes '$chieve'.
Activity 4 I
a) Write in the first p e m n , 'I; - 'you' form.
b) Substitute simple words for the more pcdantic ones. i.e.. cxploit;ttivc.
predations, obscurantist, etc.
C) Replace the cliche 'flotsam and jetsam' with words indicating your scnsc 01
. disgust at the status allotted to widows in scxiety.
Activity 5
a) The Day Everything Went Wrong
My Past Catches U p y i t h Me
d) The Seasons of a Riv r
Rivers Make Me Thin
e) The'Second Asiad
1
f) What Makes Man ~ u k r i o tor Animals?
The Simple Life
I
IJNIT 5 RADIO AND MASS
COMMUNICATION
ti.0 Objectives
!i,l Introduction
5.2 Communication
5.2.1 Mass Communication
5.2.2 Inrcr-Pcmnal Communication
5.3 Effects Theory :An Overview
5.3.1 The HypodermicN&dle Model
5.3.2 The TwvStep flow Hypothesis
5.3.3 R m t Trends In Communication
5.4 Development Communication Models
5.5 Theory Development and Research
5.5.1 Content Analysis 1
5.5.2 AudiamResearch I
I
5.6 The Role of Radio in Mass Communication
5.7 Summing Up
5.a - OBJECTIVES
At the end of your study of this unit. you will be able to:
def111e mass communication
explain the role of mass communication in development process
state and describe the theory of wmmunication research and
describe the role of radio in mass communication
5.1 INTRODUCTION
I
m e 20th century has made rapid strides in wmmunication technology. This revolution in I
telecommunications
videos, audios, compact discs etc.
These are a few of the well-known and important gifts of communication technology to us
in the last one hundred years. This has brought about a rapid development in communication
which, in hun, has ushered in a new information-based society with its two-fold emphasis
on right to communicate and right to receive communication. In this unit we
discuss the theory of communication followed by a discussion on the role of radio as an
important medium of mass communication.
I
52 COMMUNICATION
What is communication? Try to mall what you do when you communicate with your friend.
You will reach the conclusion that communication is the art of transmitting one's thoughts.
ideas, philosophy or message to others. Thus, it involves an interaction between a minimum
of two persons -the sender (or the communicator or the encoder) and the receiver (or the 5 ,
J
Reaching the Public listener or the decoder). The other components of comnknication are the message, the
medium, the method of communication and th6 response or effects on the receiver.
the sender
the message
the medium (print, radio, video, cinema etc.,)
the method (oral, written, visual, drama, song etc.,)
the receiver and
response or effects
Communication can take place between two or more persons. When it is meant for a large
number, it is commonly known as "mass communication".
1
Mass Communication is not a 20th century phenomenon. It has been there since pre-historic ,
times when messages were relayed to people at far off distances by means of drum beats or as
in the early Greek times by means of drama. But what is new today is the development of
communication sciences that has drawn upon scientific theories and concepts of social and
behavioural sciences such as Economics, Sociology and Psychology. This has made
communication easy among large numbers of people, cutting across regional and
geographical boundaries. The term 'mass communication' has two terms - ''massV and
"communicationw.
The term 'mass' refers to 'a large body of people in a compact group'. (Ref. : Longman
Dictionary of the English language.) In the context of mass communication, the 'mass'
consists of an audience unseen and unknown except that more often than not, the addresser
shares with it certain common cultural and social attitudes.
The term 'communication' has, two distinct meanings. The first sees communication as the
'transmission of messages'. This, as we have seen, involves a sender, a receiver, a channel or
a medium through which the message is transmitted. This also looks upon communication
as a process by which A sends a message to B to produce an effect or change on the attitude
or behaviour of the latter (B). The sender, in this case, occupies the centre stage and
determines the effect of the message on the receiver, who remains passive.
The second meaning of communication relates to 'the production and exchange of meanings',
as a result of the interaction between the sender, the text and the receiver. In short, it is clear
that the text or message is a construction by the receiver of the signs therein to produce the
meaning. The sender is no longer the central actor here. The emphasis shifts to the 'text' and
how it is read by the receiver. The receiver reacts to the text based on his own cultural and
social experiences.
Both the meanings are valid up to a certain point. Putting the two together, we can arrive at
a broad definition of mass communication as 'the practice and product of providing leisure,
entertainment and information to an unknown audience by means of ... print, screen
audio and broadcast media' (O'Sullivan, Hartley, Sounders, Friske : Key Concepts in
Communication).
Activity 1
Either now or sometime later, listen to a few advertisements on the Vividh Bharati
broadcast of All India Radio. Assess their impact on you and find out if your response has
been that of a passive receiver or of an active one. Discuss with your counsellor and fellow
students at the counselling centre.
Mass communication media (Print, Radio, Television etc.) serve a number of purposes:
......................................................................................................................
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ii) Define the purposes served by mass communication media.
The term 'effects' in the context of mass communication is commonly used to refer to the
direct impact of media messages on individuals. But often this term takes a highly pejorative
meaning for it implies media authoritarianism whereby you are compelled or forced to adopt
certain attitudes and behaviourialchanges or accept certain ideas and ideologies, which
would not have otherwise entertained, but for the media. The concept of one-way flow of
information from the sender to the receiver to create a pre-determined effect has thus come in
for severe criticism. The theory of wmmunication of effects, as stated above, has been
challenged and countered by rigorous academic and critical examination of the assumptions
underlying it. Further, the charge against media effects has also a lot to do with the negative
effects the media has on the public, in terms of generating violence, juvenile delinquency and
other social problems. It is pointed out that certain groups, especially children, young
impressionable people and the uneducated am vulnerable to the negative effects of the mass
media. Here one should add that the term 'effects' is different from 'effectiveness' of the
medin .-"
Activity 2
Today there is a lot of discussion going on about communalism. You have access to
different view points on the print, radio and television. Read about it in a news magazine,
listen to the topic on current affairs programme on the Radio and try to watch a programme
on communalism on the TV,(you can also borrow a video cassette and an audio tape on this
issue). Analyse the effects of each of these media on you. This will help you recognise the
positive and negative effects of the media.
r ~ f i ; ~in<
.
Fig 1
Media -(influence)
opinion leader q Individual group member
The development of the model shows that the media message is not a fixed message that is
to be understood in identical terms by one and all; on the contrary, it could be interpreted
differently by different people.
The newly emerging independent nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America, initially looked
upto the developed countries of the West (America and North Atlantic nations of Europe) for
technology transfer which included techniques of communication and a proper and effective
use of the media. But soon it became clear to them that dependence on Western technology
only perpetuated, in a different way, the same old colonial dependence which they had
recently shaken off.
Hence the earlier diffusion of innovation models that the West had transferred to these
developing nations had to be replaced by indigenous models referred to as Dependency Model
or self-reliant model.
The post World War 11era is marked by the rise of the power of science and technology and
the emergence of the social and behavioural sciences such as Economics, Sociology and
Psychology.
Drawing on all these is the science of communication and media studies. After World War 11,
the USA and the North Atlantic nations (Western Europe) developed rapidly in all spheres of
agriculture, industry, power and development communication. Desiring to shape the world in
tems of their own interests, they were keen to transfer their technical know-how to the
backward non-Western world. Techniques of communication and use of mass media were part
of this technology transfer. This was one way of having control over the information
networks of the developing nations and thereby bringing them under their influence. This
model of development communication rested on the "modernisation paradigm"
(approximately from 1945-65) that sought to transfer modem technology as well as the
socio-political culture of modernity to traditional societies of the developing nations of Asia,
Africa and Latin America.
Dependency-Dissociation Model -
The newly independent counaies of Asia, Africa and Latin America were initially attracted by
the promise of technical assistance from the developed West, which they believed would
rapidly solve their problems of hunger, illiteracy and bad communication facilities. But soon
they realised that this Western aid was introducing yet another f o m of dependency which
would in course of time lead to the Western domination over them. So to safeguard their
economic, cpltural and communication independence, these newly emerging countries decided
to band themselves to f m h aunified block of non-aligned nations and seek to establish a
New World Economic and Information Order. Hence this communication model based on
dependencydissociation paradigm (fromthe early 1960s to the early 1980s) sought to
preserve the political, cultural and economic independence of the developing nations and to
move towards a New World Order.
The Alternative Development Communication Model Radio ind Muss
Commltnication
Along with the non-aligned nations' demand for a New Information Order, came the
Alternative Model or the Self Reliant Model of development communication. This favours
people's communication through mass movements to bring structural changes in the society
thereby preserving and strengthening the individual national cultures and traditions. On the
national level this model advocates decentralisation which in essence means propping up
local and regional cultures, languages and traditions for a smooth flow of information to all
sections of people.
I
aspects:
b) Combined use of traditional media and modem media through the participation
of the entire community in all communication programmes.
Hence there is a growing concern for research into the consequences of this progress in
communication technology. There is in existence a bulk of research findings on the
effectiveness of mass communication, but much less study on the effects of the media in
their newly developing forms on society. The early research findings about mass media and
rnass communication have underscored the omnipotence of the media whereby the
communicator could influence his audience at will. This view is no longer favoured and
those in the developing countries seem to be awake of the potential dangers in the use of the
mass media. There has been considerable research done in the field of rnass communication
in the industrialised countries, but to a lesser extent in the developing countries of Asia,
Africa and Latin America. The role of the media and the functions of mass communication in
these countries differ significantly from those of the industrially advanced nations.
With the mass media forming an integral part of national development, communication
research has to orient itself to relate it to developmental campaigns relating to national
unity, agriculture, health, education, family planning, adult literacy etc. Research assumes
added importance here because the practitioners of mass communication campaigns should
approach their tasks on the basis of some fundamental knowledge of their media, of their
audiences, of the process of information flow and the possible effects of their campaigns and
messages on people. Communication research is to be done continuously before, during and
after the message reaches the audience. Before, because the communicators need basic
knowledge; during, because they should know whether they are on the right track and
whether changes are called for; after, towards assessing the effectiveness of their message and
towards obtaining feedback information.
1
Broadly speaking, communications research can be categorised into content ~nalysisand
audience research.
e) the development of indigenous models of communication that will protect the cultural.
integrity of every nation
f) the role of the mass media in promoting national and international understanding
g) news transmission and the coverage of events and issues without bias, sensationalism,
neglect of background etc.
Radio and Mass 1
Comr~unication
This involves the study of audience patterns (listenership, viewershiplreadership) with
reference to radio / TV /journals. It also includes the gathering of information about a large
number of the characteristics of the audience, how much do they listen to the radio or watch
TV etc.. their reaction to what they hear and see, their attitudes to and opinions on various
subjects and issues, their responses to specific campaigns and messages, and finally their
adoption or rejection of the new practices and innovations communicated to them. The
importance of audience research in developing countries cannot be exaggerated. Since people
have to be actively participating in the developmental programmes, it is necessary that they
discuss and express their opinions' on the changes that are being introduced through the
media. It is equally useful to know their needs and concerns. This information has to come
back to the communicator telling him what reactions his receivers had to the message he had
-- .
sent out.
As pointed out in the earlier sections of this unit, communication and transfer of information
play a key role in the development plans of many of the developing countries. Most of the
rural people in a country like ours are illiterate and therefore have no use for the newspaper.
Nor can they afford television sets in their homes. But a growing number of people even in
distant places and remote villages do listen to the radio. Hence governments in most of the
newly emerging nations are more and more concerned with the effective use of radio to
inform and educate people about the development plans and programmes for their betterment.
Reaching the Public i) Formal Education
Studies on the effectiveness of radio indicate that instructional radio, supplemented with
appropriate printed material is almost as effective as traditional classroom instruction. Radio
has been effectively used in language instruction - especially to teach English iq Thailand,
the Phillippines and the People's Republic of China. Other areas where radio instruction is
useful are those of basic sciences, natural science, hygiene, public health etc.
Radio's use to inform includes presentation of news, current affairs, matters of social and
community concern etc. Public Service Announcements can serve both to motivate and to
inform. Kadio programmes that teach can be aimed at telling mothers about nutrition and
child care; farmers about crop planting; rural people about medical care and hygiene and
young people in particular about first aid in case of accidents. As regards the fourth purpose
- to change attitude or behaviour - the programme on family planning, on vaccination, child
marriages, dowry, secularism etc. will give the people the right direction to follow. This
will help them give up irrational faiths, superstitions, beliefs and traditional customs that
have impinged on the health of men and women and open their eyes to a different way of
living on a rational foundation.
iv) Entertainment
The role of radio in entertainment has in recent times been outweighed by the television
programmes. Though radio entertainment is strictly aural with no supporting visual aids,
radio plays and radio adaptations of stories from classics and novels continue to enjoy
popularity among the listeners. You will read more about Radio and Entertainment in
Block 3 of this course.
Activity 4
Listen to Radio Programmes related to Development communication. List out the different
programmes presented on rhc AIR. Comment on their usefulness and effectiveness.
14
Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 The Advertisement: Need and Function
6.2.1 Advertising Campaign
6.2.2 Advertising Classification
6.3 Public Service Announcements
6.3 1 What is PSk?
6.3.2 Difference between Commercial Advehsements and PSAs
6.3.3 Themes ln PSA e
6.3.4 Regular PSA
6.3.5 Current PSA
6.3.6 Public Service Announcements/Campaigns
6.3.7 Audience Research
6.4 Radio Advertisement vis-a-vis Press / TV Advertisement
6.5 Radio Advertisement and Time
6.5.1 Radiospot
6.5.2 ' Sponsored Pmgrammes
Programmes
6.5.3 Sponsored Song and MUSIC
6.6 Scripting the Advertisement ,
6.6.1 Target Audience
6.6.2 Creative Strategy
6.7 The Selling Approach
6.7.1 Appeal Strategy
6.7.2 Humour Strategy
6.7.3 Comparat~veAdvenising as a Creat~veStrategy
6.7.4 Samples of Radio Advertisements
6.8 Summing Up
6.9 Reading List
6.10 Appendix -General Rules of Conduct in Advertising
6.0 OBJECTIVES
After a study of this unit, you will be able to :
defme advertisement and state its need and function
explain the two types of advertisement-commercial and public service
announcements
describe the different social themes taken up for public service campaigns
state the differences between Radio and Press / TV advertisements and
script a radioadvertisement.
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Radio has a significant role to play in the shaping of our society. This is specially true of
our country where more than 95% of the population listen to the Radio. Till a few decades
back, Radio was being primarily used as a medium for mass entertainment and for broadcast
of News and Features. But today it is being increasingly used in the service of the public to
communicate important messages, announcements and information. In this context, we shall
discuss the effective use of Radio for public service announcements and commercial
advertisements. You are well aware of the strengths and limitations of Radio as a medium of
mass communication. We shall also discuss the specific use of language in the preparation
of the copy for radio advertisements and announcements.
At the end of the unit we have attached an Appendix on General Rules of Conduct in
16 Advertising, which should prove useful.
Public Servlce Annwncernents
6.2 THE ADVERTISEMENT: NEED AND FUNCTION
What is advertisement? It is a means of communicating to people on a nonpersonal basis. It
uses the media of mass communication such as radio, television, newspapers, magazines and
public display hoardings. Advertising is defined as "...paid, nonpersonal communication
through various media by business f m s , nonprofit organisations and individuals who are in
some way identified in the advertising message and who hope to inform or persuade members
of a particular audience." (S.S. Dunn and A.M. Barban, Advertising: Its Role in
Modern Society Hindale: The Dryden Press, 1978) p.8
From the above definition, it is clear that advertising is not restricted to products but
encompasses services and ideas also. It is also evident that the two basic functions of
advertisement are (1) to inform and (2) to persuade. Thus advertising leads to
promotion of sales, change of attitude and arousal of awareness. Because of
its persuasiveness, advertising has to be specially concerned with the economic, social,
ethical and moral issues of advertising.
1) Who is advertising?
2) Institutional Advertising : Here advertising is towards selling ideas. There are three
forms of Institutional advertising -
a) Patronage Institutional Advertising which sells the ideas of patronising a producer
or retailer other than specific product merits. For example "Ford has a better idea" without
mentioning'lhe individual product (Car/ Truck1 Bus) tells the listener the importance of the
manufacturing finn FORD, so that he patronises the fm,
1) Railway bulletins
3) Employment News
4) Weather bulletin
While preparing the text for such announcements, care is to be taken to provide correct
information and details so as to leave no doubt in the minds of the listeners. In preparing
Railway bulletins, the name of the train mail or express, the destinations, both to and fro,
the number of the train and the time are to be given in a serial order. Instead of making
announcements in terms of "a.m." and "p.m.", it will be better to give the time in figures.
For example, 4 p.m. can be stated as 16 hours. If there is a delay in the arrival or departure
of a train, the original scheduled time and the new time have to be given. 7
1
Note the time of the Railway bulletins broadcast on your Radio station. Listen to these
announcements. Attempt a sample announcement of a Railway bulletin. Discuss with your
counsellor and fellow students at the study centre.
All India Radio has a special form to be filled in for "Lost persons" announcement. This
form has the following format:
Easy l a n g u a g ~ i m p l and
e direct sentences
Listen to Lost Persons announcements on the Radio and prepare a sample copy of a lost
pup. Discuss with your coumsellor at the study centre.
Rewhiag the Ppbllc
63.5 Current PSA
Under this category, information and announcements relating to basic daily amenities are
given:
20 and him is your signature" (2) "Set your sights on the nearly blind. Give" (3) "They walh I %
i
faith, not by sight, let us give that they may see". "Blood donation", "Your
blood.. .someone's life-blood".
On "Helmet wearing", "Accidents get either your head or your helmet" I "Keep your head
Wear your helmet".
I
I
I
1) the area covered by the broadcast
2) the degree of clarity of the message in its apprehension by the audience
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
Advertisement, as you have seen, has two functions-to inform and to persuade. It draws the
attention of the audience (listenerhiewerlreader) to any particular issue and then gives the i
relevant information. A successful communication is measured by the degree of persuasion it i!
achieves. On All India Radio, advertisements are on the Vividh Bharati channel and they are I
4) Audio medium 4)
Visual medium
5) Does not call for concentrated 5)
To read the Ad., you need
attention to hear the Ad. concentration and time.
6) Ad. announcements are fleeting 6) One can pick up the paper Ad. any
time and read it.
Let us see the difference between Radio and TV advertisements:
Radio Advertisement TV Advertisement
1) Only an audio medium 1) Both an audio and visual medium.
2) You can listen to it even outside 2) You have to sit before your TV set to
your roomlhome. Even when you follow the Ad.
are moving, you can listen.
3) Sound is important 3) Visuals are important
4) Music and sound are used 4) Here also sound and music are used.
5) Jingles are specially made for 5) Jingles are used, though they are not
Radio Ad. very essential.
6) Time factor is significant 6) Time factor is equally significant.
7) This is an inexpensive set. 7) TV is an expensive item.
8) Production is less expensive. 8) Production is very expensive.
Self Check Exercise 2
Giver three distinguishing features of Radio, TV and Press advertisements
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............................................................................................................................
There are two kinds of sponsored programmes :(1) during sports commentaries or other
programmes broadcast by the Radio Station, advertisements can be made (2) the advertiser
can also sponsor a special programme like quiz or a play or film-based songs or serials and
the advertisements can be made during the period of broadcast of these pmgmmmes.
Reaching the Public Self Check Exercise 3
i) What is the difference between "spot" and "fixed spot"?
...........................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
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............................................................................................................................
ii) What is a sponsored programme? What are the two kinds of sponsored programmes?
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............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
"
nd
Fig. 3
Thus the communications objectives is a two way process and the advertiser (sender) has to
meet the objectives and felt needs of the audience (receiver).
1) What features of the product are unique to the product? (in the case of PSA
what features of the message are to be highlighted)
2) What features or attributes of the product are important to the consumer?
24
Publlc Service Announcements
3) What attributes of the product are to be highlighted in relation to other
comparable brands?
Any strategy for advertising a product or an idea has to have (I) ap'peal strategy, (2) Humour
strategy and (3) Comparison advertising.
"Mango F m t i
Fresh and Juicy"
On the whole the points to remember while preparing a radio ad. are
1) Use of short simple sentences to make the maximum impact I
2) Clear and simple diction that can be easily understood 1
a
a
The need and function of advertisement
Advertising campaign strategy
The definition of public service announcements and the difference between commercial
~
l
I
advertisement and PSAs
a The themes taken for public service announcements I
a Radio advertisements and its distinct characteristicsvis-a-vis press and TV
advertisements
a How to write a copy incorporating three strategies-appeal, humour and comparative
advertising.
6.10 APPENDIX
i) which derides any race, caste, colour, creed, nationality except wherein such
usage would be for the specific purpose of effective dramatisation, such as
combating prejudice;
iii) which will tend to incite people to crime or to promote disorder, violence or
breach of law;
vi) which exploits the national emblem, or any part of the Constitution, or the
person or personality or national leader or state dignitary;
viii) No advertisement shall be permitted the objects whereof are wholly or mainly of
a religious or political nature; advertisements must not be directed towards any
religious or political end or have any relation to any industrial dispute; .
*ix) Advertisement for service concerned with following are not acceptable:
(a) Moneylenders; (b) Chit Funds and saving schemes other than those conducted
by nationalised or recognised banks; (c) Matrimonial agencies; (d) Unlicensed
employment services; (e) Fortune-tellers or sooth-sayers, etc., and those with the
claims of hypnotism would be excluded from advertising on T.V.;
*x) Betting tips and guide books, etc., relating to horse-racing or o+er games of
chance shall not be accepted;
*xi) No advertisement shall contain references which are likely to lead the public to
infer that the product advertised or any of its ingredients has some special
property or quality which is incapable of being established,e.g. cure for
baldness;
*xii) Scientific or statistical excerpts from technical literature, etc., must be used only
'k with a proper sense of responsibility to the ordinary viewer. Irrelevant data and
scientific jargon must not be used to make claims appear to have a scientific
basis they do not possess. Statistics of limited validity should not be presented
in such a way as to make it appear that they are universally m e ;
*xv) Imitation likely to mislead viewers even though it may not be of such a kind as
to give room for legal action or be deemed as breach of copyright must be
avoided;
*xvi) Visual and verbal representation of actual and comparative prices and cost must
be accurate and should not mislead on account of undue emphasis or distortion;
and
*xvii) Testimonials must be genuine and must not be used in a manner likely to
mislead the viewers. Advertisers or the agencies must kprepared to produce
evidence in support of any testimonial and any claims it may contain.
28
UNIT'7 SCRIPTING FOR NEWS
Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 What is News?
7.2.1 Elements of News
7.2.2 Gathering News
7.2.3 Sources of Infonnation
7.3 Scripting for Broadcast
7.3.1 Selection of News
7.3.2 characteristics of News Writing for Broadcast
7.3.3 Story Structure
7.3.4 More Writing Tips
7.4 Summing Up
7.0 OBJECTIVES
--
At the end of your study of this unit, you will be able to:
state the meaning of the term "News" and descrlbe ~ t elements
s
explain the process involved before scripting news fpr broadcast and
describe the principles of and process involved in news scripting tor the broadcast medla.
7.1 INTRODUCTION
- --
The public, In any society, gets most of its ~ n f o m t i o non current attalrs through the
vanous media of mass communication - wch as the newspapers, magazines. rad~o,
television, documentary films and occa\~ondllyeven through motlon pictures. But the
effectiveness of any single medium for the dissemination of information is related to certaln
Inherent characteristics of the medlum. For example, print medlum can be effective only if
people are literate. They should also have the money to buy the dailies and magazines which
are priced high in a developing ~ o u n u ylike
, India. In the countries with high illiteracy rates
and with low average family incomes, the print medium has not served well as a meanspf
mass communication. In the case of Television, the cost factor is prohibitively high for the
majority of the rural poor to buy a T.V. Unless rural community centres are activated and
galvanised to help the poor towards T.V. viewing, T.V. will remain the monopoly of the
urbans. Nevertheless both T V. and Radio score over the print medium. First, with receiving
sets in about 60% of Indian urban homes, radio and television can reach a majority of the
urban listeners. Secondly, because of the existence of national network, radio and television
cut across reglonal barriers. Thirdly, in broadcasting news and in the coverage of special
events, radio and television have a d~\tlncttime advantage over the pnnt media.
Broadcasting stations can provide upto the minute-news, almost as it happens, while there is
a delay of several hours before a newspaper can bring a news item to its readers.
At the end of this unit, we have attached an appendlx on News Policy for Broadcast Media.
--
What :What is the major action or event of the story ? What are the actions or events of
lesser importance ?
When :When did the event occur ? The 'When element' is rarely the best way to begin a
story because it is not often the most important piece of information, but it should come
early in the story and should be closely stated.
Where :Where did the event occur ? The location or locations of the event or action should
be clearly written.
Why and How : If a story is about something bizarre or unusual, the writer should offer
some explanation, so that the questions the event raises in the listener's or reader's mind are
answered. The writer also needs to set the events or actions in a story in the proper context.
Reference should be made to previous events or action if they help to explain things to the
listener or reader.
32
I
Scripting for News
7.2.3 Sources of Information
Before we begin gathering news, we should find out where does the information in a news
story' come from.
A news reporter has three fundamental sources of information for a news story. (i) People,
(ii) records ( any information that is written'or stored), and (iii) personal observation. In this
I section, we shall discuss these sources.
i) People :.lJeople provide most information in most news stories. A news reporter is
likely to spend most of his or her non-writing time talking to people either personally or
over the telephone. In fact, the more people the reporter talks to, the better the story is likely
to be, because of the variety of information and views the reporter can obtain.
To make things easier, reporters have to develop the information sources from among the
people whom they contact regularly, that is, the reporters will have to identify people who
have information and are willing to talk to the reporter about it. Reporters know that many
people can provide them with information and sometimes that information can come from
totally unexpected sources. For instance, most reporters who are assigned to a beat - ( a
term in journalism meaning a place or topic a reporter must write regularly about) -learn
that personal secretaries, rather than their bosses, are the best sources of information. As
reporters and sources deal with each other, they should develop a relationship of mutual
credibility and understanding. Reporters find out whom they can trust among these sources,
and the s6un:es realize that the information they give to reporters will be used wisely.
iii) Personal Observation : The third major source of information for the reporter is
personal observation. Wherever possible, news reporters like to attend the events they are
writing about. They like to see for themselves and understand what happens even though
they rarely write from a first person point of view. The personal observation is factual,
authentic and accurate but care is to be taken not to introduce subjective assessments or
judgements to bear on newsreporting.
Activity 1
a) Select thee topics of the day that have news value.
b) Look at three news stories in your local English newspaper. What news values are
present in each of them ?
c) Why is it important for a journalist to get information from more than one source?
Discuss with your counsellor at &e study centre.
There is very little doubt that broadcasting on radio and TV is a potent means of mass
communication in the world today. Underdeveloped areas which cannot get access to even a
small newspaper will usually have a transistor radio which serves as a link with the rest of
the world. Moreover, with the advent of satellite broadcasting it has become possible to knit
the world and relay information from anywhere to everywhere on the globe. Those who write
news broadcasts must be good at the use of language that is comprehensible to all listeners.
The language must be simple and direct (see Unit 3). They should be willing to research
their subjects thoroughly and understand them well, to report on them with clarity. Often the
newswriters may have to edit and rewrite main stories so as to prune them off any
ambiguity. In addition, they should be able to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
Information not explanation : Newswriters for the broadcast media look for stories
which do not need a lot of explanation for listeners to understand them. They prefer stories
which are self explanatory and which can be told in a simple, straight forward manner. The
maximum length for any story or a radio newscast is two minutes; the normal length is 20
to 30 seconds. Some stories, of course, are complex and explanation cannot be avoided.
Audio impact : Broadcast journalists should select stories which will make an impact on
the audience. For example playing a part of the President's Budget Session address is much
more dramatic than a news reporter summarising it. Whatever news is to be broadcast must
have the dramatic element to sustain the listeners' interest.
The broadcast journalist is first and foremost a journalist, and the first commitment of a
journalist is to accuracy or correctness. Everything that a broadcast journalist does, must
contribute to the telling of an accurate story. Even though the broadcast journalist must
observe some strict rules about how stories are written, these rules must contribute to, not
prevent, an accurate account of an event.
One important characteristic of writing for broadcast is the emphasis on the immediate. As
we mentioned earlier, broadcast news must be up-to-the minute. It should also be written as
if it is updated to the last minute. While the past tense for verbs is preferred in the print
media the present tense is preferred when news is broadcast concurrently with the event
happening. Consequently, a newspaper story has to use past tense as the print begins after
the event. For example in a newspaper we will have an item "The Prime Minister said
yesterday that he would support the hiking of petrol prices ...."
The broadcast news story if relayed when the PM is making the speech in the Parliament
will use present tense.
Another way of emphasizing the immediate is to omit the time element in the news story
and assume that everything happened today. As we can see in the example above, the
broadcast version has no time element since it would probably be heard on the day the Prime
Minister made that statement. Of course, news which does occur on a day other than the day
of the broadcast will have the time element.
The tight phrasing which is characteristic of broadcast writing is one of its chief assets
and one of the most difficult'things for a beginner to achieve. As time is short, the
broadcaster cannot waste words. Hence the news scripter must work constantly to simplify
and condense without losing out on significant and essential detail. There are a number of
techniques for achieving this :
34
Scripting for News
a) Eliminate all but the most necessary adjectives and adverbs. Every
newswriter should know that the stories are built on nouns and verbs-the strongest words
in the language. Avoid using the passive. Instead of saying "a meeting was held under the
auspices of the Ministry of Human Resources Development", it is better to say "The
Ministry of Human Resources Development held a meeting at Vigyan Bhawan today".
b) Use short and simple sentences. Broadcast news does not need the variety of I
length and type of sentences which print journalists need to make their copy interesting. The I
news bulletins on Radio and TV can give information to the listeners in short, simple
sentences which get registered in their minds at once. One of the characteristics of good
broadcast writing is its clarity. Listeners and viewers cannot go back and re-hear news
broadcast in the way they can re-read a newspaper. This is like listening to dialogues on
Broadcast writers achieve clarity by using simple sentences and familiar words, by avoiding I
I
the use of pronouns and repeating proper nouns if necessary and by keeping the subject close
to the verb in their sentences. i
) Deadlines. Another characteristic of broadcast writing is that it has to be written to
meet the dgadlines. Deadlines are far more important to the broadcast writer than to the print
Let us take an example of a newspaper story and the attention getting lead that could be
written for broadcast:
Newspaper Story
"India is turning out inferior products that are priced too high for foreign customers and the
problems go beyond a strong rupee, high wages, and high taxes, a Commerce Ministry
spokesman reports."
Broadcast Lead
"A Commerce Ministry spokesman said that Indian products are of inferior quality and are
not worth the price that are quoted."
7.4 SUMMING UP
Writing for broadcast places a difficult set of demands on the writer.
Broadcast news is written in a different form than the inverted pyramid structure.
a Broadcast copy is written for the ear rather than the eyes; that is writers must be aware
that the consumers of broadcast news will be listening to what they write rather than
reading it.
Finally, in writing broadcast copy, the writer is less concerned with relating the details of
a story than with making sure that a story is told as completely and clearly as possible- in
a short amount of time.
Activity 2
(i) Compare the important news stories published in the Times of India on three
consecutive days (or any other national newspaper) and the corresponding Radio stories.
Discuss it with your counsellor and fellow students at the counselling centre.
(ii) Take the lead story from a daily newspaper. Try to rewrite it for radio.
Discuss with your counsellor at the study centre.
7.5 APPENDIX
38
UNIT 8 DOCUMENTARIES, FEATURES,
MAGAZINES AND PROFILES
-8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 The Nature of Documentary
8.3 Research for the Documentary
8.4 The Documentary Narration
8.5 Organising the Documentary
8.5.1 The Organising Function
8.5.2 Developing the Ideas
8.6 The FeatureMagazine Programme
8.7 The Radio Profile
8.8 Summing Up
8.9 Made1 Answers
8.0 OBJECTIVES
8.1 INTRODUCTION I
In the previous two units -units 6 and 7 -we discussed scriptwriting for news and public
service announcements. Yet another way of reaching the public through Radio is by means
of documentaries, features and profiles.
I
This unit will introduce you to several of these factual forms. The documentary is the most
difficult and complex of all factual forms, the others being featureslmagazines and radio
profiles. You should remember that the norms for scriptwriting that we discussed in Unit 3 - I
I
are fundamental. In this unit you will find how these norms apply to specific forms like the I
radio documentary, feahms/magazines and radio profiles. i
I
At the end of this unit, we have attached an Appendix on Guidelines to Board of Censors,
which should be helpful to you.
i
8.2 THE NATURE OF DOCUMENTARY
We should begin by conceding that the term 'documentary' is not easy to define. In the
broadcast sense, documentary is any feature or programme that is based on 'documents'.
Defined this way, it is a form directed towards presenting a factual recod about real people,
things and events. It sets out not just to 'entertain' but to explore. However, any programme
that deals with factual information is not documentary. A documentary goes a step further or
several steps further. What does a documentary do? It may attempt to persuade. This indeed
was seen to be the function of documentary earlier on, till communication studies revealed
that it was not so easy to persuade. Documentariescould therefore, be seen to persuade,
communicate a message or just provide insight. It may either advocate solution to a problem
or simply, articulate a problem. Whatever its intent, the social relevance of documentary
I
Reaching the Public Because documentary strives to influence people's thought and actions, it differs from other
factual programmes and is consequently charged with a strong emotional quality. Its purpose
is not merely to report facts and events but focus on the most moving examples. It is this
compelling factor that gives documentary a sense of the Dramatic.1t is not the drama of the
make-beliewe but one that stems from real life or "drama a t you doorstep", so to speak.
It is dramatic also in that it adds an artistic purpose to journalistic and sociological aims.
Filmmaker John Grierson who fmt used the word 'documentary' to describe "creative
treatment of actuality" remarked:
The documentary idea, after all, demands no more than that the affairs of our time shall
be brought to the screen in any fashion which strikes the imagination and make
observation a little richer than it was.
Producers of docun~entarywhether in radio, television or film generally learn to expect ( and
confront) a lot of violent criticism. That is because documentary goes beyond a news
'
broadcast and deals with not just what is happening but also why it is happening. British
TV Producer Philip Donellan once remarked that the function of documentary is to "rock the
boat". In other words, documentary can be seen to raise controversies and encourage debate.
Needless to say, documentary is also the most difficult of all factual forms.
In documentaries, the role of the writer and the role of the producer merge. The writer must
know the process of production well and preferably be involved with it. Only rarely does a
documentary script represent everything appearing on the programme. The writer-producer of
documentary has to depend greatly on spontaneous developments and improvisations in the
field. Completely written documentaries were very common after World y a r I1 but over the
years they have been largely replaced by programmes made on actual location featuring actual
happenings. If rigidly scripted, radio documentary tends to sound staged and is hardly ever
very exciting. '
Activity 1
Listen carefully to a few radio documentaries. Can you come up with a few proposals that
would serve to highlight the 'drama' at your doorstep' ? After you've finished check with
model-answers for some more ideas in section 8.9 at the end of the unit.
Self Check Exercise 1
What are the characteristicsof a documentary ?
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Since writers and producers of documentary deal with facts, they must develop techniques for
discovering what the facts are. Research depends a great deal on the resources that are
available. Research may either be conducted by an individual or by a large organization
depending on the resources available. In India, writers for documentary are usually left to
their own devices for research. This of course, does not mean that the writer had to invent the
wheel all over again! it simply means that shehe has to access herhimself to all
information that can possibly be got or is required for the programme production. Even if the
writer-producer has researchm to help h i m e r , hetshe cannot escape the responsibility of
research. It is important for writers to immerse themselves in the research sufficiently to
develop a point-of-view. In documentary production there are very few things worse than
weak mearch.
40
Before going out with the tape recorder, some basic research must be completed. There are Documentaries, Featurc
Magazines an11 Profil
three main sources for research.
First, library research. This does not just mean looking up whatever there is in the
library but also what is called 'fugitive' literature. These are mostly unpublished sources
of information available with non-governmental organizations and voluntary agencies
working in that area.
Second, consultation with subject experts. Now, 'expert' here need not be someone
holding a high position and salary! It could be anybody who is well-acquainted with the
issue. If for instance, one has to make a documentary on a water barrage being built, it
is not enough to talk to people involved with the building of it but also those affected
by it. In this instance, it could be tribals who may be displaced because of the barrage.
Therefore, they too are subject experts. Perhaps a better terms to use than 'subject
experts' is 'resource people'.
Third, it is important to conduct location research. This involves visiting the actual
location and conducting a first hand survey of what is happenning.
In documentary. the process of research continues throughout the production of it. Each time
a person speaks or is interviewed, new information is revealed. Therefore, the writer,
interviewer and the tape-recorder, conhue to build on preliminary research.
Activity 2
You are probably tempted and getting ready to script a radio documentary by now. Select an
idea out of all that you had listed in your previous activity. If you were to write a script on
this issue, how would you conduct your research ? After you finish listing your sources,
check with the checklist provided in the model answers in section 8.9 at the end.
Serr Check Exercise 2
What are the three main areas of research for a documentary ?
i) We may want to interview him as part of the profile. If Salman Rushdie is in India, we
can make an attempt to get him for a brief interview. We can write a script about him
and get him to speak on certain important issues.
ii) We may discover that Salman Rushdie is in England and has no immediate plans of
visiting India. We make a hurried attempt to find out whether anyone has ever recorded a
conversation with Rushdie. If yes, can we have access to it and use it for our
programme. Our script would certainly become more lively if it incorporates excerpts
from interviews from the archives. In which case we can have a scripted profile of
Rushdie intercut with archival material (i.e. pre-recorded interviews).
iii) We hunt high and low for archival materials and discover that no one has ever
interviewed Rushdie. Even if they have, there's no trace of them. We don't want our
programme to be a straight talk. Why not interview people who know Rushdie or are
familiar with his work? We manage to track down several people who are familiar with
Rushdie and his work and have a lot of interesting information to share. In which case,
we can have a scripted profile of Rushdie that incorporates several other speakers.
iv) We discover that we are very lucky and have access to all of the above. In which case we
have a scripted commentary, Rushdie himself, some archival interviews of Rushdie and
some interviews of 'experts' on Rushdie. If we have all these resources at our command,
we can even go to the extent of producing a radio documentary:
44
v) If we do not have access to any of the above, all is not lost. We can produce a well Documentaries, Features, i
scripted talk that will both inform and interest listeners. Magazines an~dProfiles '
Now, all the rules for writing that we have talked of in Unit 3 and the present one are
relevant for producing a radio profile. Even though options i, ii, ,iii and iv may needJdemand
a lot of running around, it is hardest to produce a well written 'talk' on a personality. The
first three options have an inherent interest element (Rushdie himself, other interviews, etc.,)
and some variety. The 'talk' on the other hand runs the risk of being monotonous and dull.
How does one get out of that ? Well, there are no hard and fast rules, but keeping the
following in mind can certainly help.
i) Research is always most important. Whether your include all your material into the
programme or not, you should know everything that there is to know about that person.
Your facts should be checked and crosschecked-served times over.
ii) Avoid dates, numbers and technical jargon. For instance, nobody is interested in
knowing how many articles Rushdie has published on which day and in which magazine
and in what edition. Remember the Charlie Chaplin exercise you did in Unit 3?
iii) Your presentation should be informal. You may be writing about a writer but there's no
need to get into any high-flown emotional rhetoric (....As the sun sets to the west and
the hills are tinged with pale orange, Salman Rushdie, writer, thinker and lost soul in
hiding, makes a secret vow to himself ....) It should also be noted that the scriptwriter
cannot run away with informality. So when you make a programme on say, a pop
singer, think twice before using words like 'ripoff', 'rip', 'dude', 'funky', etc. Not only
do these word risk extinction but they are probably not found in the dictionary. It's
always preferable to use words that everybody is familiar with.
iv) Selection is an important part of producing a profile. Human beings are multi-faceted.
It's quite impossible to deal with everything all at once. Take one aspect of that person
and write about it. Of course you should acknowledge the existence of other aspects but
do not attempt to deal with everything in depth.
v) An attempt must be made to concretize the abstract with specific examples. Anecdotes
and examples come in v e q handy here. If say, we are making a profile of the famous
theatre director Peter Brook, we may say; "Peter Brook's work is replete with
symbolism" (genemllabstract statement) This could be concretized with : "Peter Brook's
. work is replete with symbolism. In The Mahabharata for instance, Arjuna is a
character who changes constantly. In the end, he is victorious but not above blame. We
watch him increasingly become besmirched with mud and blood from his wounds".
Activity 5
You have an assignment. You have to script a radio profile of five minutes on the famous
Indian Filmmaker Satyajit Ray. You can use all resources at your disposal for research.
When you finish your final draft, check with the model answers given in 8.9.
8.8 SUMMING UP
Documentary is a factual form that could attempt to influence, persuade or provide
insight.
Because it attempts to influence people's thoughts, it is often charged with a strong
emotional quality. A documentary, however, is broad in its definition with its
boundaries ever expanding.
Documentary, unlike other factual forms, asks 'why', This often makes it controversial.
Research is of fundamental importance to documentary.
A documentary scriptwriter should be fluent with the art of writing narration.
Organization lies at the base of documentary scriptwriting.
The first step to organizing a documentary is to draw up an outline.
An organizational plan should be simple, logical and clear.
FeatureJMagazine programmes are other factual forms that seek to entertain, inform and
sometimes even influence thought and action.
Radio-profiles could be talks, features, magazines or even a documentary on a
personality.
Research and organization are as important in the writing of feature /magazines and radio
profiles.
MODEL ANSWERS
Activity 1 : Model Answers
The following are some random ideas for writing proposals for radio documentaries.
i) Vested interests in your neighbourhood are not allowing a school for the
handicapped to be built so that they can build a park.
ii) Your local municipal authorities are turning a blind eye to unauthori~edbuildings.
iii) Parks and public spaces are being misused for private functions.
V) The little boy who sells peanuts near your house, earns money to support his
younger brothers.
vi) A worker at a construction site nearly loses his leg in an accident and consequently
his livelihood.
vii) Your local ration shop seems to have supplies for very selected people.
viii) The local kindergarten school is being run by people who (you get to know) do
not have the required qualifications.
You have seen before that documentary concentrates on the most moving examples. You'll
notice that all the topics given above are actually part of a greater issue (child labour, misuse
gf public property and power, labour in the unorganized sector, etc.). You are therefore, not
just concentrating on a petty local issue but selecting part of a greater whole. Therefore,
these themes are significant and as you can see, some are controversial too. However, it
should be clarified that 'drama at you door step" doesn't always have to be a controversial or
topical subject. It could be on personalities, ways of life, different cultures, art, history,
science, medicine and every other thing. You will remember that Satyajit Ray made some
very good documentaries on non-topical and non-controversial subjects such as, on the great
literary figure Rabindranath Tagore. the dancer Bala Saraswathy and the artist Benod Behari
Mukherjee.
Activity 2 : Model Answers
To make sure you have covered all possible sources of research, check with the checklist
below:
1) Libraries : Have there been books published on the issue or similar issues?
2) Has any magazinelnewspaper carried an article on it? Or something similar or related ?
3) Who wrote the articles ? Can you meet him/ her ? Who were his/ her resource people ?
Is it possible to meet them ?
4) Do voluntary organizations have any fugitive literature on the issue ?
5) Who are the people who are most familiar with the subject ? You must contact them at
all costs
6) Who are the people linked with the issue ? Who stands to gain ? Who stands to lose ?
Who are the people who could have helped matters ? Why haven't they ?
As you can see, writing /producing a documentary involves a lot of original research and
legwork! Once you have made a satisfactory list of possible sources, you can begin your
research. You will find that once you start collecting information. the going gets better and
better and one thing leads to another.
Activity 3 : Model Answers Documentaries,
Magazines and Profile
What dms the narration do ?
- link ideas ?
- provide information ?
- reinforce arguments ?
- clarify ?
- interpret? .
- emphasize?
Also note whether the narration follows the norms of scriptwriting. Is it brief or excessive ?
Meandering or incisive ? Formal or informal ? Emotional or unemotional ?
Activity 4 : Model Answers
Some more ideas for featureslmagazines :
The men who paint cinema hoardings
The famous painter and architect Satish Gujral
Streetplays and their contemporary relevance
The Chipko movement to save trees
A discussion on media autonomy
A Commentary on the French Impressionist painters
8.10 APPENDIX
2) In pursuance of the above objectives, the Board of Film Censors shall ensure that:
ii) is examined in the light of contemporary standards of the country and the people
to which the film relates.
4) Films that meet the above-mentioned criteria but are considerid unsuitable for exhibition
-
OBJECTIVES
At the end of your study of this unit, you will be able to:
state the basic approach to an interview
list and describe the different types of interview and how to conduct them
describe the basic preparations before recording an interview and
This is the last unit in this Block relating to Radio in the service of mass communication.
In the previous unit we discussed scripting for some of the factual forms like documentary,
features and profiles. In this unit, we will take up two other radio programmes and discuss
how to script and prepare for interviews and discussions.
In the early days of broadcasting, the host and the interviewee would often meet before the
broadcast and write down the complete interview. The host / hostess would write down the
questions and the interviewee would write down the answers. At the time of broadcast they
would read our their papers word by word. As broadcasting became more and more common
and both interviewers and interviewees became more relaxed in front of the microphone,
interviews became increasingly spontaneous. Ad libbing came to replace the scripted
intqview. Today, most interviews are ad libbed and u n r e h e d .
With the transition from verbatim reading to ad libbed conversation came a different set of
demands on the interviewer. A good interviewer prepares hisher material thoroughly but I
I
gives the interview (that is, the question and comments) its final form only when the
interview is actually in progress. In wording questions and comments on the air, the I
interviewer actvally performs a writing function. He/she is also a performer so sometimes, it
is difficult to decide where writing ends and performing begins. In effect, the interviewer is I
an oral writer.
I
Although, the focus in this course is on writing, it is inevitable that in discussing the I
preparation and presentation of interviews in this unit, we shall deal with functions and I
qualities that some might call performance aspects. It is also important to discuss the I
I
preparation that precedes the broadcast. This function, which belongs to the writing area, can
I
be done either by the interviewer or by research assistants who have gathered information I
about the subjects. Contemporary interviews are potentially more exciting and involving, I
than the formal exchanges they replaced. In the following sections, we shall explore the 1
major implications of the altered attitude towards interviews.
-- ---
vraching the Public
9.2 APPROACHES FOR THE ORAL WRITER
The shift from the scripted to the unscripted interview has actually been a shift from an
examination of an individual's knowledge and opinion to encouraging a conversation that
would engage the audience. One must make a distinction here about mere conversation and
meaningful conversation. The art of meaningful conversation should not be confused with
idle chatter.
Good conversationalists are first and foremost good listeners. They are people who are
interested in the views and feelings of others. Successful interviewers put their guests at ease
in order to share information with them (that they may not have shared elsewhere). If you
iisten to good interviewers, you will f i d that they are attentive; they respond to unexpected
confidence and thereby encourage the disclosure. They are also flexible in that they are
willing to lay aside prepared questions, should more interesting information begin to surface.
Yet, good interviewers always remain in control of the interview. They are firm enough to
direct the course of the interview and re-direct the evasive guest to those issues she/h.e agreed
to discuss. Good interviewers are aware of their responsibility of raising question that the
listeners would like to raise. Even when they are thorough researchers, they take special care
not to overlook the obvious yet often necessary questions that seem important to their
listeners. "Mr. Jean Rouch, I would like to start by asking a basic question. As the founder
of the cinema-verite movement, what is your opinion on traditional documentary methods?"
Before asking this question, the interviewer must make sure that the term "cinema-verite" is
explaked to the audience.
If not, then the obvious has been overlooked.
Activity 1
Listen to interviews over the radio. You will come across both good and bad interviewers.
What are the functions of an interviewer? Can you list them out ? Some aids given in
Section 9.6 might help you.
Generally, there are 3 types of interviews. Spot interviews, Field interviews and Studio
mterviews. Spot interviews are brief and usually limited in scope.
Field interviews can be either long or brief. You may interview a farmer in his farm; a pilot
in the airport cr a sailor on the ship. Studio interviews are usually formal. Again, this may
tither be long ar short.
For the sake oi'simplicity, three approaches to interviews can be identified. although any one
situation may involve all three categories to a greater or a lesser extent. These are the
informational, interpretive and emotional interview.
"Can you explain how the token and the pouch systern works in the Railways?"
Can you tell us the procedure for selecting players for test matches?
The interpretive interview has the interviewer supplying the facts and asking the interviewee
to either comment on them or explain them. The aim is to expose histher reasoning and
allow the listener to make a judgement on hisher sense of values or priorities. Replies to
questions will almost certainly contain statements in justification of (or allegations against)
a particular course of action which should themselves also be questioned. An example of this
kind of interview would be, for instance an education minister giving his reasons for an
already formulated or proposed education policy. The essential point is that, the interviewer
is not asking for facts of the matter, these will be generally known; rather he is interviewing
the interviewee's reaction to the facts. "Why do you say that the opposition is communal?"
"How do you respond to the chaige that your education policy is elitist?"
A good interviewer will always know that a situation of this kind is generally reactive and
would therefore, never rehearse it in detail.
'l%eaim of the emotional interview is to give an insight into the interviewee's mind so that
the listener may understand what is involved in lmman terms. Specific examples would be
the feelings of relatives of say, victims of a train accident. Or the feeling of achievement for
an athlete who has won an Olympic gold medal. In these situations it is the strength of
feelings present, and not rationality, that is important.
"It's been a year since your wife died. What difference has her absence made?"
"You have finally won the National Award. How does it feel?"
Needless to say, emotional interviews need sensitive handling. It is very easy to slip into
sensational vouyerism when one is handling human emotions. An interviewer must
consciously stop himherself from exploiting vulnerable situations and intruding into private
grief. Interviewers should avoid questions like "how does it feel to have all your children
~iid?~.
Peaching the Public The categories above are simplified and will rarely exist all by themselves. All three
categories, for instance, would come together in a documentary or a feature. First, the facts
of the matter and background information. Second, the interpretation and implications of the
situation. Third, their effect on people and personal reactions.
e
Activity 3
From the list given below can you distinguish between informational, interpretive and
emotional questions?
b) How did you feel when you tested positive for drugs?
Activity 4
You have to interview a famous tennis player. Your job is to prepare a list of six questions
that have a mix of informational, interpretive and emotional questions. Having prepared your
list, you can check with model answers at the end of the unit. (Sec. 9.6)
At this point, it makes no difference to the validity of the question but a lack of care
undermines the questioner's credibility in the eyes of the interviewee and more importantly,
in the ears of the listener. Once basic information is gathered, the interviewer should
concentrate on structuring out the questions. There is no ideal way of structuring the
questions nor is there any need to have a rigid structure to follow.
1) To obtain sufficient briefkg and background information on the subject and the
interviewee.
2) To have detailed knowledge about what the interview should be able to achieve. Interviews and discussion^
An interviewer must list questions very carefully. Very often, we hear and see interviews that
don't seem to work well. Next time, when you come across one such interview, ask yourself ;
why it doesn't work. A common mistake is to ask for a one-word response:
"Yes".
And that's the end of the interview. Generally, asking questions based on the 'reversed verb'
are discouraged because they evoke one-word responses.
Are you ......?
"Mr. Chief Minister, a controversial legislation has been passed during your tenure. Do you
support it?"
A question of this nature compels the interviewee to take a position one way or another. If
this is what the interviewer's objective is then the techiique is legitimate but not if the
intention is to draw the interviewee into conversation. No questions should be asked with the
'hope' that the interviewee will continue to say something after 'yes' or 'no'. This could
also lead the interviewer to lose all control over the interview. The 'reversed verb' question,
therefore, should be used only when a yestno question is required :
"You have just finished editing your new film. Tell us about it". Firstly, this is not a
question; it's an order and the interviewee is not obliged to follow it. But more importantly,
the validity of the question itself is suspect.
If for instance, the famous theatre director Peter Brook had to be interviewed. One could ask :
"You have recently directed the Mahabharat. Tell us about it." With this question, the
interview could end up anywhere. A more specific question could provide more direction:
"You have recently directed the Mahabharat. Could you tell us why, of all the epics, you
chose this one?" or, "what is it about the Mahabharat that inspired you to adapt it for the
stage?" 1
Another trap that confronts inexperienced interviewers is that of the multiple question. This
means that more than one question is being asked :
"Why was it that the train met with an accident and how would you prevent this in future?"
In such a situation the interviewee may answer one half and genuinely forget the next or just
choose to answer whatever is preferable. Questions should be kept short and simple. Long
and circumlocutory questions rarely get a conversation going. Stimulus determines response.
If the interview has to be conversational, the interviewer has to set the tone for that.
Following are some of the 'dont's' of the business :
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a Don't ask leading question. Lazy, inexperienced or malicous questioning can put the Interviews and Discussions
interviewee in a particular position even before he begins : I
"Why did you start your business with such shaky finances?" I
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a Don't be redundant.
Ttds advance billing is unnecessary. The fact that the person has accepted the
interview means that he has agreed to 'tell us'.
a Don't respond with a sound. When an answer is in progress don't keep saying
'yeah', 'yes', 'uh-hhh', 'mmm' and so forth. Loud responses can interfere with the
audio of the interviewee. Non-verbal support by nodding and smiling are preferable
to exclamations that disturb the sound track and annoy the listener. Remember,
facial expression and eye-contact are important. If the interviewer does not maintain
eye-contact then it's likely that the eyes of the interviewee would also wander and
with that probably hisher thoughts as well. Needless to say, an interviewer cannot
afford to look bored without affecting the outcome of the programme.
Look out for these things when you hear an interview over the radio or see an interview on
TV. Television interviews have the added visual dimension that is not particularly relevant
for radio but it's valuable learning experience because you can 'see' the interaction between
the interviewer and the interviewee. Next time, you watch a TV interview, watch out for
non-verbal modes of communication. Is the interviewer supportive? Is shehe expressive?
Does shehe maintain eye-contact? Does shehe look boredlinterested? And so on.
Activity 5
Use the material above to organize and execute a complete interview with whoever you want.
Use a small tape recorder and record the interview. On completion, discuss the interview with
your counsellor. Have your research and preparation been satisfactory? Were your questions
relevant and interesting? Was the presentation imaginative? How were you as an interviewer?
You may idso exchange these with your fellow students.
On the other hand, the sensitive and enterprising interviewer may find a way to interject a
delicate or a controversial question without committing a breach of ethics.
"In your plays you have dealt with the issue of marital fidelity. Does your own life in
anyway influence you to write?'Interviewers particularly inexperienced ones, sometimes
allow themselves to be overawed by celebrities who are recipients of enthusiastic hero-
worship. Extensive adulation does not produce good interviews.
"Mr. Rangeen Kudar, you are the best actor in India and a most handsome man. What kind
of women do you like?Needless to say, excessive adulation makes one silly as well.
It's always useful to remember that questions that probe experiences common to most
human beings reduce the distance between guest and host. Questions about family,
background, education are. obvious unifiers, but even more relevant are those that relate to.
common human factors of experience.
"What effect has popularity (fame, money, success) had upon those who were closest to you
before you became a star?'All interviews are. of course not with celebrities. They are often
with doctors, scientists, writers, playwrights, artists, sculptors, so on and so forth. In fact.
personality interviews of lesser known personalities (and ones whose contributions are
equally constructive) should be made more popular.
It is important to remember that personality interviews DO NOT only just mean eliciting
information about ones' personal life.
"Mr. Satyajit Ray, have you ever lived in a village?"
It should be on personal life as it relates to hisher work and philosophy.
"Mr. Ray your film Pather Panchali beautifully captures village life. What helped you
capture it with such authenticity?"
Pointless questions dealing with personal likes and dislikes should be avoided.
"What brand of soap do you use?"
"What colour is your favourite?"
"If you are sick, who would you like to nurse you?"
Activity 6
Read any sketch of a personality. Make a list of 10 questions including an introduction and a
conclusion based on it.
Activity 7
This is a practical assignment. Choose a personality that you find interesting. Prepare a
complete 'script' (introduction,conclusion and questions) and discuss with your counsellor.
9.5 SUMMING UP
Asking questions is an art that needs to be mastered. Don't ask questions that are narrow
in their scope or too broad to handle. Don't ask leading questions or non-questions.
The personality interview is what the name describes. It could be a personality from the
world of sports, films, politics, engineering. medicine or any other field.
The radio discussion is a discussion over a topic of common interest. usualiYthe
discussion revolves around a question or a statement presented.
Did shehe tackle controversial issues? How did shehe balance between
complete evasion and sensationalism?
'Iiese are just a few indicators. You may have come up with many more. Keep listening and
picking up little tips each time.
3) a) informational
b) emotic~nal
C) informational
d) interpretive
e) interpretive
f) informational
g) informational
h) interpretive
i) emotional
j) interpretive
k) infomiational / interpretive*
It is possible for a question to be a mix of both. We can assume that the question ("Can you
tell us about the Marxist Theory of the State?) is being asked of someone who has studied
Marxist theory. If you are familiar with Marxist or any other theory, you will know that
there aie various interpretations. So you may have information as well as interpretation.
4) The following list of questions is only one way of going about the work and is not the
only way to go about it.
ii) How many major tournaments have you won in the International circuit?
(informational)
iii) You have played almost all the top-seeded players in the International circuit.
How do you rate yourself in comparison? (interpretive)
vi) Next month you'll complete 15 years of playing tennis. How do you feel about
it? (emotional)
.5 Read the complete unit once again. Discuss your programme with your
counsellor.
15 Discuss with your counsellor.
'7 You may have come up with quite a different list of names.
Here's my choice :
1 Asghar Ali Engineer : Director of Institute for Islamic Studies,
Bombay.
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At the end of'your study of this unit, you will be able to:
define drama and radio drama
10.1 INTRODUCTION
This unit i s the first Unit of the Block entitled The Imagination. The qther two Units
are: Adaptations of Novels, Short Stories and ClasSics for Radio (Unit 1l), and Sports,
Special Events and Entertainment (Unit 12). We will begin the unit with a discussion
about drama in general and then define one of its important elementk,.namely
conflict. The conflict in drama can be internal or external or both. In this unit, we
shall see how radio.can effectively present dramatic conflict. We will also examine
stage plays for their audio-worthiness and discuss how to adapt plays for broadcast
over the radib. Read the unit carefully and write the answers for the activities given.
Drama is derived from the Gqeek word "dron", which means "to do": One of the
important constituents of drama is therefore actipn. Action in drama cbmprises both
movement o n stage and movement of a story line from beginning to end. This implies
that the physical action in drama requires a viewing audience. It is in this respect that
radio drama, that caters only for Iistening audiedce differs from stage drama. The
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10.2.1 Action and Dialogue
Action, as has been mentioned above, can be communicated theatrically through
dialogue. We hear about character'x's movements, thoughts and plans because
he/she is discussed in a dialogue between character Y a n d character Z. We get t o
know characters X, Y and Z because every,time they speak, whether in monologue o r
dialogue, they reveal themselves. It is very.much like what people do in real life. When
they are not aware that they are being observed, they give themselves away in what
they say and the manner in which they say it. In a stage play, people reveal their
character in what they d o (action), in the intensity with which they act (dramatic
impact), and in what they and others say about them (dialogue). But in a radio play,
in the absence of perceivable action, the dialogue assumes added significance.
If. for instance, a character in a stage play is given to moving awkwardly or
'bumbling' instead of getting things done in a normal way, we can see this and know
what to expect of him. In a radio play this item of information will be supplied .
through dialogue. Someone would, for instance, say: "You know Mr. Bumble - he
has a way of dropping anything he picks up." In this way his nature is revealed
through comments in the play. We also get to remember this funny side of his nature
every time he is heard to speak.
Activity 1
Can you suggest a dialogue that can reveal a character's absent-mindedness? ,
I (Refer to aids to answers 10.10 for a n example)
so you can neither place t h t dramatic personae's social status nor gauge the period of
the play. You d o nat see theatre props or scenery. So your imagination has to work to
create the necessary background and atmosphere. In short, the directorial imagihation
is. partly supplied by you, a member of the listening audience.
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10.2.5 Mime
In a stage play you can tell a story through mime. This, you cannot do in radio
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drama. You are dependent on words, music and sound effects. Can you think of ways 1
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to make these stand in for miming? When you see a mimer like Marcel Marceau, you. I
are enthralled by what can be achieved dramatically without words. There is about it
the capacity to express emotion of some kind without words. You can to some extent, I
attempt to imitate this with words by using the same word or group of words
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rhythmically. Repetition is one of the features of mime and a repetitive.sound.or tone
in music can induce nearly the same response as mime. However, mime is not suitable
for broadcast over the radio.
What do you infer from these differences between a stage play and a radio play? It
follows that you have to achieve competence in the mastery of words. The use of
spoken words, whether in prose or poetry is the only means-for dramatic presentation
on the radio as a substitute for action. The externals of movement have to be reduced I
to a minimum - but by the same token, your range in presenting internal conflict is
enormously increased.
do, than his outward interaction with others. A fencing match on the stage represents
outward or external conflict. A soliloquy in which a man considers conflicting reasons I
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for +actionand non-action, represents inward or internal conflict. Take this example
from Shakespeare's Macbeth. Macbeth, a victorious general has been rewarded for his
valour and loyalty by king Duncan. But when Duncan visits him, Macbeth is caught
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Can you recan the'role of narrator in any action play you have read! Try to analyse
the narrator's function within the context of the play. Discuss with your counsellor at
the Study Centre.
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P
Qctivity 4
Now try to find answers to the rest of the questionso(ii-vi) listed to assess the radio-
worthiness of this play. Attempt a similar analysis with another play you have read or
seen on stage. Discuss with your counsellor.
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Activity 5
Assess the play mentioned above as a radio Play.
(Check the answers given in 10.10)
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10.6.4 Othello
It is the story of the Moorish general who historically was in the service of Venice and '
won famous victories for her. Othello wins the !ove of Desdemona, thebeautiful white
daughter of the Senator Brabantio, who takes his daughter and the Moor to court for
her abduction. Othello pleads hiscase magnificently, and the Venetian court, that
qadly needs. his services, declares him innocent of magic in misleading Desdemona.
dhe declares publicly that she "did love the Moor to live with him" and presently
joins him at Cyprus where he has to make his headquarters. In Othello's serviceis his
ensign, Iago, villain of the piece, and his faithful soldier, Cassio. Iago contrives to
entangle Cassio in a drunken brawl in which the latter loses Othello's favour, Iago
nates the Moor, and sets out to destroy Othello's love for Desdemona by representing
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that she is faithless and in love with Cassio. Wracked by insecurity for he is the
only blackman in a whiteman's world - Othello strangles his chaste and faithful wife,
then realises through Emilia, Iago's wife and Desdemona's maid, that Desdemona is
blameless and kills himself. Shakespeare has made a convincing tragedy of this story.
It will be clear that Qthello is the outsider in race and colour. Such-a theme i s
inevitably more effective on stage than over radio. A great actor can make much of
the great soliloquies and speeches over radio, but you cannot see Othello or
Desdemona and you never can visually witness the contrast between the black Moore
and the white Venetians. In spite of this major limitation, the play with its evocativi
dialogues and soliloquies is effective on radio. What is needed is careful editing so
that the impact is tight and processed.
!;ometimes music and sound effects together replace action or determine it. If you
study Shakespeare's The Tempest, you will see that this occurs wherever Ariel is
introduced into the plot. Ariel is the very spirit of freedom, but he is a h in bondage
The Imaginat~on to prospero, ahd it is through Prospero, that he is finally freed. While in bondage, fhe
is required to be the instrument of ~ r o s ~ e r oscheme
's to bring his enemies to justice.
Ariel is commissioned to draw.the shipwrecked Ferdinand nearer to Prospero's cave.
He does so by singing:
"Come unto these yellow sands
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And then take hands;
Curtseyed when you have and kissed,
The wild 'waves whist.
Foot it featly here and there,
And sweet sprites, the burden bear." ,
Further along, Ariel sings another song to Ferdinand:
.
"Full fathom five thy Father lies
Of his bones are corals made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea change
Into something rich.and strange."
And, finally, when freed by Prospero, Ariel sings:
"Where the bee sucks, there suck I;
In a cowslip's bell I lie,
There 1 couch when owls do kry
On the bat's back I do fly
~ f i e summer
r merrily,
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough."
All these songs imply action, for through them Ariel brings Ferdinand within the
physical power of Prospero and within tne sight of Miranda. Between them Ferdinand
and Miranda represent the love element in the play. We know by the last of the three
songs, that "all has ended well for Prospero who is restored to his Duchy of Milan, and
in consequence Ariel is freed from his bondage and is now truly a spirit of liberty.
Here it is important for the listening audience to hear and listen to the words of
Ariel's sdngs since they determine the action that will follow if the play is to reach the
desire< conclusion.
10.9 SUMMING UP
Now we have attempted to distinguish between what makes a good Stage play and
what makes a good radio drama. You can test various plays you come across to see if
they lend tliemselvesto radio dramatlsation and if not, why not. You will incidentally
have made the acquaintance of a wide number of plays, old and new, that will provide
you with a background for the study of both radio and drama. We have discussed:
the importance of words in a radio play
the potentiality of radio to present inwardness or internal confliet
the radio-worthiness of plays and
the importance of music and sound effects in a radio play.
both the Count's messhger and the messenger of Death. The dialogue is self-
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explanatory. This is therefore a good play for adaptation for radio. Try it out and you
will see that, well acted, it succeeds. On radio; you can use Mozart's music most ,
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conflict and harmony between an inspired teacher and an inspired student. This, is the I
theme-under discussion and it can be made to come across very well on radio.
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Sophocles Antigone
Eliot, T.S. Murder in the Cathedral
Hope, Anthony The Prrsoner of Zenda I
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UNIT 15 ORGANISATION OF A RADIO
STATION
Structure
Introduction
Object~ves
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Organlsational Setup
15.2.1 Types of Organ~sations
15.2.2 Principles of an Organisational Setup
Organisational St~uctureof All India Radio
Types of Radio Stations
15.4.1 National Chamel
15.4.2 Regional Station
15.4.3 Sub-regional Station
15.4.4 Local Station
15.4.5 Other StationsIOffices
Private Radio Stations
Let Us Sum Up
Glossary
Check Your Progress: Possible Answers
In the previous blocks you have been familiarized with the broadcasting scene in India today
with special reference to its role as a medium of mass comn~unication.In this unit, we shall
&uss the stnlcture of the broadcasting network in India, the types of radio stations we have in
our country, and their organisational set-up, which is designed to achieve the policy objectives
of broadcasting. We shall also look at the philosophy behind different organisational structures
and how All India Radio (AIR) has carved out a federal system of broadcasting for serving
vanous segments ofaudience. This unit will bring home the point that a broadcasting station is
more than a production company. The wide range of its activities include consultations with
a wide spectrum of the audience, programme planning, production, editing, presentation and
transmission of programmes, research, beside a lot of other activities.
15.1 OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you will be able to;
describe the objectives, policy and organisational structure of a radio station;
discuss the general principles and structural patteni of a radio organisation;
list the different types of radio stations in India today;
analyse the characteristics of different types of radio stations; and
describe the evolution of private radio stations in India.
Line organisation;
Line and staff organisation; and
Functional organisation.
In a Line and Staff Organisation, there is a provision for 'staff position' to discharge a
variety of auxiliary and advisory functions. For example, in a sales organisation, the sale is
the primary activity yhile accounting, legal, public relations, etc., are auxiliary activities.
Unity of command;
Span of control;
Exception principle; and
Scalar principle.
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The Unity of command principle means that no member of an organisation should report to
more than one superior. According to the Span of control principle, there must be an
optimum limit to the maximum number one can supervise. The Exception principle
emphasises the need for delegation of not only functions, but authority down the line while
the Scalar principle deals with hierarchy in each set-up.
All India Radio (AIR) is one of the major public service broadcasting organisations in the
world, and perhaps the largest in Asia. It has a network comprising 209 broadcasting centres
with a staff component of over 30,000employees and an annuq,l,expenditure of over Rs.450
crores in the year 2000.Its home service, averaging 2300 hours of output everyday, includes
national, regional, sub-regional and local service in 26 languages and 146 dialects, beside
light entertainment commercial service. Its external service in 16 foreign and 10 Indian
languages is beamed to 84 countries around the globe for a daily duration of over 70 hours.
I Prasar Bharati
DIRECTOR-GENERAL
Each radlo station, except the smaller ones, has Programme, News, Engineering,
I Administralion, Accounts, Audicnce Research and Security Units. The head of the station
reports to the Direclor-General directly or through tegional/zonal heads. S h e coordinates
the various units to ensure that the communicalion objectives of the organisation arc aclueved
through the station's programming and other activities. The typical organisation chart of a
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radio station is given belo~v:
HEAD OF STATION
National Channel
Regional station
Sub-regional station
Local station
Other stationdoffices
15.4.1 Nationalchannel
The National Channel transmits programmes of national relevance. It is an alternative channel
to the listeners who have access to the regional /sub-regional and Vividh Bharati Service.
The languages of the spoken-word broadcast of the National Clmnel are Hindi and English.
Orga~lisationalStructure. The National Chamel features Hindustani and Carnatic music. light and folk music' from
Planning and Research different regions of the country, Western music, plays, dramatised presentation of short
stories translatea into Hindi from different Indian languages, documentaries, financial
reviews, sports magazines and programmes in Urdu. The national service is available to
substantial segments of the people in different regions. It begins every day at 1855 hours in
the evening and continues up to 0610 hours. The production of programmes is undertaken
at Delhi and Chennai, and supplemented by the recordings received from stations in different
regions of the country. Its organisational structure is indicated below:
DIRECTOR
Chemai Centre
~rodyctionand
Presentation Staff
Programme Wing
Each station is equipped with facilities for programme production and presentation. The
Programme Wing is divided into a number of production units such as; the Talks Unit,
Women and Children's Programmes Unit, the Farm and Home Unit (for producing rural
programme), Youth Programmes Wing, the Education Programme Unit, Science Programme
Unit, Music Units (for classical, light and folk muslc programmes) Outdoor Broadcasting
(field based) programme, Morning Information Programme and Senior Citizen Programme
Units. In some stations, there are Western Music and Industrial Workers Programme Units
also. All the stations have a Programme Coordination Unit and Public Relations Unit.
News Wing
The News Wing is headed by a Joint Director or News Editor w d is assisted by sub-editors
and news reporters. For news reporting and news gathering there are staff correspondents,
supported by a number of part-time correspondents or stringers. The news editing is done
by the editorial staff. while translation and reading of news is done by translators and news
readers respectively. The news wing also produces district newsletters and one or two
~lewsreelsin a week.
i It is a low-cost, low-budget station with minimum production facilities used exclusively for
enrichment and education.
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comn~erc~al broadcasts which comprise Vividh Bharati programmes, programmes in the local
languages and commercial advertisements. They are located in the regionalisub-regionaYloca1
stations.
O r g d a ~ o n a Structure,
l North Eastern Service: The North Eastern Service is located in Shillong. It is an integrated
Planning and Research service catering to the communication needs of the listeners living in the North Eastern
region. The broadcasts fiom individual stations in the North East of India are mostly in the
tribal dialects due to the absence of a common linguafianca of the region. The spoken-word
broadcasts are in English and Hindi. The music broadcast features are folk and tribal songs
of the entire region, collected from different stations of AIR in the North East.
Commercial Sales Unit: %Commercial Sales Unit (CSU) is the Wing which keeps
liaison with the advertisers and advertising agencies. The advertisements (or commercials)
are cleared by this unit located in Mumbai. Marketing units have also been set up to promote
sale of airtime.
Vividh Baharti Service: Vividh Bharati programmes form the bulk of commercial
broadcasting services of AIR. Thcy are produced at a separate production unit functioning
in Mumbai. The programmes arc taped and copies sent to the commercial broadcasting
centres.
External Services Division: The external broadcasts of the country are organised by the
External Services Division of AIR located at Delhi. It is an independent office with its own
production and managerial staff.
News Service Division: The national news bulletins and news-based programmes are
produced by the News Service Division with headquarter located at Delhi. It is an
independent office with large number of editors and correspondents.
In addition, there are separate offices for high power transmitting stations and civil
construction works.
Check Your Progress: 2
In the case of the Union of India vs. the Cricket Association of Bengal, the Supreme Court
in its judgement of February 9, 1995, held that the airwaves are a public propbrty and a
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rnonopoly over broadcasting whether by Government or anybody else (public monopoly
could be an exception) is inconsistent with the free speech right of the citizens and directed
the government to take immediate steps to establish an independent autonomous public
authority, representatives of all sections and interests of society to control and regulate the
use of airwaves.
It was expected that the government would bring in legislation for setting up a broadcast
authority with enabling provisions to license and regulate private radio stations. But the
government chose to use the administrative powers vested with it and worked out a scheme
to make way for the setting up of radio statioils by private parties. It identified 40 towns and
cities for setting up 108 channels. Some cities would have as many as 11 private channels,
while places like Agra, Cuttack, Trivandrum, Nagpur etc would have only one. The allotment
of licenses to operate channels was made on the basis of highest bids from the eligible
applicants. Only companies registered in India under the Companies Act 1956, were eligible
to apply. The scheme includes some clauses for disqualifying religious bodies, political
bodies and advertising agencies from getting the license. There are also clauses to prevent the
same company getting more than one license at the same townlcity. The Government might
identify more places and channels for opening up private radio stations. It is worthwhile
to note that some of those who got the licenses surrendered them because of financial
non-viability.
Organising a private radio station involves setting up of a studio, transmitter and generation
of software. T h ~ would
s require a substantial investment, entrepreneur-ship and manpower
and this will depend on the hours of broadcast and type of progl-amrning.The station has to
depend on advertisement revenue for its day-to-day expenditure, profits and provision for
deprec~ation,etc.
Experience of running private radio stations elsewhere in the world reveals that they have to
be contpact organisations with minimum staff, avoiding the expense of a large paraphernalia
of divisions and departments with huge staff manning them. The management could ill afford
all this. The station has to be managed with a small contingent of multi-skilled staff
numbering 10 or 15 persons or even less. The software has to be drawn from pre-recorded
cassettes1CD's and the like. To hook the listeners, in a competitive environment, they may
have to organise interactive programmes. chat shows, prize sdhemes etc. The situation would
be d~fferentif a corporate body gets licenses to operate a number of radio stations at many
centres. These could be 'functional' type of organisations. In community radio stations the
organisation would be distinctively different depending on the informational resources.
The government has granted licenses to IGNOU to operate educational channels known
as Gyan Vani. These radio stations are managed by a three member team headed by a station
manager.
I) What according to you is the justification for an autonomous body like Prasar ~harati?
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2) What scope do you foresee for private radio stations in India?
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3) State two reasons how the organisational set-up of a private radio station is different fiom
a public service broadcaster like the AIR.
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While tracing the organisational structure of AIR, we examined the basic principles governing
the various types of broadcast organisations. We noticed that AIR has a three-tier system of
broadcasting comprising national, regional and local stations and several distinct services.
We also discussed the evolution and organisation of private radio stations. The proliferation
of radio channels would tluow a great deal of challenge as well as opportunities for the
listening public as well as media professionals.
15.7 GLOSSARY
Broadcasting : It is an organised system of communication of
programmes using radio waves. The pIocess includes
preparing the mcssage or programme, its delivery
through transmitters and its reception through radio
receivers.
1) 209
1) All India Radio is a multi-disciplinary organisation with a large number of radio stations
spread throughout the country. AIR adopts the functional type of organisational structure,
with a large number of divisions such as Programme, News, Engineering, Administration,
each headed by a specialist at the headquarters. The Administrative Division at the
headquarter performs the staff or auxiliary functions. The same set up is replicated at
stations. The organisation is headed by a ~irkctorGeneral who is an ex-officio member
of the Board of Management of Prasar Bharati. AIR functions as a unit of Prasar Bharati.
2) Every state, for broadcasting purposes, constitutes a region. The regional station
originates certain quantum of programmes and news bulletin covering the entire region or
state and these are relayed by the sub-regional stations. Each sub-regional station covers
4 or 5 districts depending on the power of its transmitters. It originates programming
using the talent resident in its area. The local radio station is a small station which
originates 3 or 4 hours of programmes and this set-up is being developed as a community
radio station. The budget and staff component of these stations are in direct relation to
their programme output. The regional station has the added responsibility of obtaining
the programme activities of other stations in the state.
3) The volume of programme activities and the financial outlay envisaged will be the major
factors in determining the organisational set up of a private radio station.
Unit 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 4 31
Organizational Structure and Functionaries of a Radio Station: Govt. and Private
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Unit 1, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 1
Radio as a Medium of Mass Communication
Introduction
Radio in recent times has developed a new role as informant and companion, besides being the
source of entertainment. Radio for most of us serves as an alternative to many things newspapers
and magazines, informal gatherings and conversations, clubs, cinema, theatre, schools and the
playground. It brings us news and their analyses, discussions on current events and educational
programmes; it also provides entertainment through music and songs, serials, radio-drama, sound-
tracks of films, besides sports commentaries.
It is no exaggeration to say that we cannot imagine civilized life without this product of modem
science and technology. In fact, radio has permeated into those remote areas of our society where
neither electricity nor newspapers nor even motor vehicles have reached.
In the last sixty years radio in India has increasingly become the main source of mass broadcasting.
Through its broadcast of news and features. Documentaries and interviews, it makes people aware
of matters that are close to them and that affect them most. A good radio broadcast acts as a
communication catalyst encouraging people to think and analyse and keep alive to happenings
around them. Radio pours out thousands of words every minute in an effort to inform, educate,
entertain and at times persuade. The development of the transistor has revolutionised this broadcast
medium and has made it available to all sections of people all over the country. Hence there is the
urgency and the need to recognise its full potential as a mass communication medium and exploit it
to fulfil the twin objectives of education and entertainment in the broad sense of the terms.
All India Radio with the help of its 98 radio stations, 142 MW (medium wave), 40 SW (short wave)
and 4 VHF (very High frequency) (FM) transmitters cover 95% of the population and 86% of the
area of the country.
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Unit 1, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Characteristics of Radio
1. Radio makes pictures: Remember the example of the running commentary on radio of the
Repubic Day Parade in Delhi? As you heard the commentary, you could visualize or ‘see’ in
your mind what was being described. You could actively ‘see’ pictures in your mind of the
parade even as you listened to the sounds of bands playing patriotic tunes or the sounds of
marching and commands. You use your power of imagination as you follow the running
commentary.
2. The speed of radio: Radio is the fastest medium. It is instant. As things happen in a studio
or outside, messages can be sent or broadcast. These messages can be picked up by
anyone who has a radio set or receiver which is tuned into a radio station. If you have a
television set and cable or satellite connection you may be using a remote to get your
favourite channel. These days if you have a satellite connection, you can also receive radio
signals of various AIR stations. Otherwise your normal radio set gives the meter or frequency
on which various radio stations operate. You are tuned into that station and listen to news
that happened a few minutes earlier. On the other hand, a newspaper gives you the previous
days’ news. Of course television can also cover events instantly. But television is a more
complex medium where you need light and cameras for any coverage.
3. Simplicity of radio: Compared to all other media, radio is simple to use and it needs very
simple technology and equipment.
4. Radio is inexpensive: As it is simple, it is also a cheaper medium. The cost of production is
low and a small radio can be bought for as low a price as say fifty rupees.
5. Radio does not need electric power supply: You can listen to radio using dry battery cells
even if you do not have electric power supply or a generator. So in a country like ours, where
electricity has not reached everywhere, radio is a great blessing.
6. A radio receiver is portable: Don’t you move your radio set at home from the living room to
the kitchen or as you go out somewhere? You can’t do that very easily with television. This
facility of moving an object which is called ‘portability’ gives radio an advantage. These days
if you have a car and a radio in it, you can listen to it as you drive or travel. Can you think of
watching television, when you drive?
7. One does not have to be literate to listen to radio: Unless you are literate, you can’t read
a newspaper or read captions or text on television. But for listening to radio, you need not be
literate at all. You can listen to programmes or news in any language on the radio.
3
Unit 1, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
8. For a majority of Indians in the rural areas, radio is the only source of news and
entertainment. Radio news can be heard anywhere using an inexpensive receiver. Even the
most economically backward sections can afford to use the medium of radio. Radio is the
best medium of entertainment. It provide healthy entertainment to the listeners. There is
plenty of music of different types available to people. The popular types of music are classical,
light classical, light, devotional, folk and film music.
Limitations of radio
Radio, like any other medium suffers from many limitations as well. Some are redundant in today’s
time and technology and some seriously hamper the messages reaching the audience. Radio
broadcasts are of no use to people who have no sense of hearing especially those with hearing
disabilities.
4
Unit 1, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
However in the case of television, it showed the actual cyclone hitting the country, visuals of
properties destroyed, rescue operations and many more details which could be seen. Now compare
the two. A natural disaster like a cyclone when seen on television is more effective than what you
hear on radio.
It is said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. It is also said that ‘‘seeing is believing’’. So when
you see something, it is more believable than what you hear. So having no visuals is a major
limitation of radio.
5
Unit 1, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
During the 1930s, radio was considered an intimate and credible medium. The public used it as a
news source and expected it to provide factual information. Radio was the first truly mass medium
of communication, reaching millions of people instantly and altering social attitudes, family
relationships, and how people related to their environment.
Radio is an attractive medium among the various mass communication media because of its special
characteristics. It continues to be as relevant and potent as it was in the early years despite the
emergence of more glamorous media. It is a truism that in the first phase of broadcasting spanning
three decades from the early twenties, radio reigned alone or was the dominant player.
However, over a period of time, the media scene has changed drastically. Television with its inherent
strength of audio-visual component has captured the imagination of the people. The advent of
satellite television, the Internet and the convergence of technology have added further dimensions
in media utilization patterns.
However, despite the presence of a plethora of media, there is room and scope for each medium.
Experience has revealed that 'new technologies add things on but they don't replace'. One medium
is not displaced by another - each medium reinvents itself in the context of changes in the
communication environment. In the changed media scenario, radio is reorienting itself with more
innovative programmes and formats.
Radio has expanded into to a national medium of communication. It reaches to even those who
cannot read and helps those who cannot see to maintain a contact with the world around. Whatever
else can be said of the medium, it is plentiful has maintained its place in a highly competitive field
where television, newspapers, cinema and video films jostle for the attentions of the media.
Now, let’s take a look at the features which makes radio as a medium of mass communication:
6
Unit 1, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The difference between potential and actual will depend on matters to which this book is dedicated
– programme relevance, editorial excellence and creativity, qualities of ‘likeability’ and
persuasiveness, operational competence, technical reliability, and consistency of the received
signal. It will also be affected by the size and strength of the competition in its many forms.
Broadcasters sometimes forget that people have other things to do – life is not all about listening to
radio and watching television. Audience researchers talk about share and reach. Audience share is
the amount of time spent listening to a particular station, expressed as a percentage of the total
radio listening in its area.
Audience reach is the number of people who do listen to something from the station over the period
of a day or week, expressed as a percentage of the total population who could listen. Both figures
are significant. A station in a highly competitive environment may have quite a small share of the
total listening, but if it manages to build a substantial following to even one of its programmes, let
alone the aggregate of several minorities, it will enjoy a large reach. The mass media should always
be interested in reach.
7
Unit 1, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The programmes of political propagandists or of Christian missionaries can be sent in one country
and heard in another. Sometimes met with hostile jamming, sometimes welcomed as a life-
sustaining truth, programmes have a liberty independent of lines on a map, obeying only the rules
of transmitter power, sunspot activity, channel interference and receiver sensitivity. Even these
limitations are overcome for radio on the Internet, which can bring any station to an Internet-enabled
PC, laptop or mobile phone, wherever it is. Independent of transmitter power or cable networks, any
studio can have a worldwide reach. Crossing political boundaries, radio can bring freedoms to the
oppressed and enlightenment to those in darkness.
8
Unit 1, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
9
Unit 1, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 2
Radio Broadcasting in India
(pre and post-independence)
It was under the private operators and afterwards placed under the direct control of the central
government and renamed as the Indian Broadcasting Services. In 1935, the Hyderabad station
under government of the Nizam of Hyderabad started operation. In 1936, the Indian radio was
designated as All India Radio wad designated as All India Radio (AIR). In 1938 June 16, a
programme journal named Vani a Station Publication from Madras with the declaration of was on 3
September, 1939 it was inevitable that the Broadcasting news from AIR station acquired added
importance from October 1, 1939 coinciding with about 40% increase in the transmission hours of
all stations, AIR started giving news bulletins, in five Indian languages Tamil, Telugu, Guajarati,
Marathi and Punjabi in addition to the usual bulletins in English, Hindustani and Bengali. In 1948
Vijayawada station started broadcasting.
Lionel Fielden, India’s first Controller of Broadcasting, tells the story of the early years of Indian
Broadcasting in his autobiography-
‘A group of Indian business men, fired by the financial success of European broadcasting, had
floated a company in 1927 with a too-meagre capital, built two weak little stations at Calcutta and
Bombay. In the following three years they had gathered some 7,000 listeners and lost a great deal
of money. They decided to go into liquidation. The government of India, which then and later with
considerable wisdom-thought broadcasting a curse was there upon bullied by the vested interests
of radio dealers to buy up the transmitters. Having done so, it proceeded, quite naturally, to
economise.
10
Unit 1, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
File-writers in Delhi could hardly be expected to sanction public expenditure on music, drama and
similar irrelevancies. It seemed obvious that all such frivolous waste should be avoided. The
programmes accordingly deteriorated even from their former low standard and Indian Broadcasting
would have spiralled down to complete eclipse had not the BBC, at the critical moment, started an
Empire programme on the short wave.
Europeans in India rushed to buy sets and since the Government had, by way of strangling
broadcasting although, put an import duty of fifty percent on sets, even the 8000 extra sets
purchased brought quite a deal of money under the broadcasting head. The dealers cried that
broadcasting’s profits must be used for broadcasting: The Government replied with the offer of a
new station at Delhi and a man-me-from the BBC. But, however much English residents of India
listened to the BBC and to the radio dealers it did not matter, then, who listened to what as long as
sets were sold-Indian broadcasting remained what it had always been…’
In 1935 the colonial government took another decisive step by inviting the BBC to help develop
radio; one of the BBC’s senior producers, Lionel Fielden, was sent. Fielden is credited with having
the name of the organization changed to All India Radio and for laying the foundations for public
service broadcasting with the goal of providing information and education. He returned to England
in 1940. By 1947, the year of India’s independence, the air network had grown to 11 stations with 2,
48,000 radio licenses.
In November, 1923 a Radio Club was set up in Calcutta which ushered amateur. Broadcasting in
India. In June 1924, similar clubs in Bombay and Madras began transmitting programmes for about
two and a half hours every day. However, the Madras club closed down in October 1927. But earlier
in July the Bombay station of the Indian Broadcasting Company was given the government licence
for regular transmissions, and in August the Calcutta station of the IBC went into operation.
11
Unit 1, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy, who inaugurated the Bombay station earlier, said the following words
on the occasion:
'India offers special opportunities for the development of broadcasting. Its distances and wide
spaces alone make it a promising field. In India's remote villages there are many who, after the day's
work is done, find time hang heavily enough upon their hands, and there must be many officials and
others whose duties carry them into out-of-the-way places where they crave for the company of their
friends and the solace of human companionship. There are, of course, too in many households
those whom social custom debars from. Taking part in recreation outside their own homes. To all
these and many more, broadcasting will be a blessing and a boon of real value. Both for
entertainment and for education its possibilities are great, and as yet we perhaps scarcely realise
how great they are’.
In a sense Irwin was prophetic. Today for education and entertainment radio is a powerful means of
communication for the masses of this country especially for those living in remote villages.
The lndian Broadcasting Company began with a capital of 15 lakhs of rupees. Four and a half lakhs
were spent on the installation of the stations at Bombay and Calcutta. On 3 1st Dec., 1927 Broadcast
Receiver licences were enforced. There was a fee of Rs. 101- per year on every radio set. There
were 3,594 sets at that time. In two years this figure went up two- fold. In 1930, however, the number
of licences went down. The expenditure on broadcasting in the meantime was far in excess of the
revenue. The company therefore applied to the Government for a loan which was turned down. The
result was that the company went into voluntary liquidation in March, 1930.
AIR is born
The 30s were a bad period for the world economy; worse for the Indian radio. The expenditure on a
radio station was pruned from Rs. 33.0001- a month in 1927 to Rs. 24, 0001- in 1929 and after the
Government of India took over, to Rs. 220001- in 1930.
The cut in the budget forced the Indian radio to adopt lower and lower standards until 1935 when
the Government of India Act was passed. The constitutional position of broadcasting was defined in
section 129 of the Act.
12
Unit 1, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The salient features of this Act lay emphasis on granting reasonable freedom to:
i) The government of any province or the Ruler of any Federated State such functions with respect
to broadcasting as may be necessary to enable that Government or Ruler-
a) To construct and use transmitters In the Province or State;
b) To regulate, and impose fees in respect of the construction and use of transmitters and use of
receiving apparatus in the Province or State, and
ii) To the matter broadcast by or by authority of, the Government or Ruler. In August, 1935 Lionel
Fielden of the BBC came to India. He had been recommended to Lord Willingdon, the then Viceroy
of India, by Sir John Reith, the then D.G. of the BBC.
Lionel Fielden is now a mythic figure in the history of Indian broadcasting. He was the first Controller
of Broadcasting in India when the Indian state broadcasting corporation was controlled by the
Department of Industries and Labour. In the five years or so that Fielden was the Controller of
Broadcasting he showed patience, tact and foresight and succeeded in establishing the radio as a
public institution in India.
'There is an often-quoted episode in Fielden's autobiography, 'The Natural Bent (1960). It tells us
how the Indian State Broadcasting Service was rechristened as All India Radio.
It goes like this:
"I had never liked the title ISBS (Indian- State Broadcasting Service) which to me seemed not only
unwieldy but also tainted with officialdom. After a good deal of cogitation-which may seem ridiculous
now, but these apparently simple and obvious things do not always appear easily-I had concluded
that All India Radio would give me not only protection from the clauses which I most feared In the
1935 Act, but would also have the suitable initials AIR. I worked out a monogram which placed these
letters over the map of India, and it is now about the only thing which remains of me in India......
Thus All India Radio was born."
Today All India Radio is known as Akashvani, a name which was given to it in 1958.
13
Unit 1, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The word ‘Akashvani’ however was first used by Dr. M.V. Gopalaswamy, Professor of Psychology
at Mysore, for a radio station he established at his own residence on 10 th September, 1935. It used
to be on the air from 6 to 8.30 p.m. daily, except on Sundays. The broadcasts were of Carnatic
music and talks in Indian languages on various subjects of popular interest. His radio station was
able to broadcast programmes on a regular basis with the financial support of the Mysore
Municipality and Professor Gopalaswamy's own, until 1942 when it was taken over by the Mysore
State.
In 1950 it became part of the AIR network consequent on the integration of the former princely
states. Lionel Fielden left India in 1940 and handed over the charge to A.S. Bohhari, who had taught
English at Government College, Lahore and had joined the AIR in 1936, and became Fielden's
Deputy in three months. Bokhari went back to become Principal of the college from where he had
come in 1946. P.C. Chaudhuri was the first D.G. of Akashvani in independent India under Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Minister for Information and Broadcasting.
14
Unit 1, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
(Source: allindiaradio.gov.in)
Fielden defended the broadcasts on AIR in Hindustani and recorded that the AIR had 'tentatively
adopted it as a language spoken or at least understood in the greater part of Aryan speaking India'.
'There is, however', he went on, 'a feeling in the country that All lndia Radio should assist in the
evolution and expansion of a common language for India, and it is in pursuance of this feeing, no
less than for practical considerations, that All India Radio is endeavouring to widen the scope of
Hindustani.' However, the word Hindi replaced Hindustani in AIR programme journals in November,
1949. Shortly afterwards newscasts started in Urdu while Hindustani, a mixture of the two, was not
recognised officially as a language.
15
Unit 1, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
All lndia Radio today has a fully developed news service which broadcasts news in 20 languages
and 34 dialects. It also broadcasts, apart from the bulletins, newsreels, daily commentaries on
important events and discussions on current events. It provides service to small newspapers through
its slow-speed bulletins in Hindi and English. It monitors broadcasts of foreign stations by the
monitoring services at Shimla and in New Delhi.
Educational Radio
In a way discussions and commentaries on current events have great educational spin-offs. Such
programmes can be classed under non-formal education. Some other types would be Farm and
Home Units of which there are over 60 which deal with agriculture, animal husbandry, cooperatives,
cottage industries and such other matters. Radio Farm Forum was started in 1949. In 1956 the Pune
Station of Akashvani made an experiment in Adult education.
Another area in which radio has been active since 1967 is family welfare. It covers education on
health and nutrition, immunization, child and mother care and family planning techniques. Apart from
the non-formal education mentioned above radio has gone in a big way into formal education
through its school and university broadcasts.
Programmes for schools are broadcast from Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Delhi and other stations
for 30 minutes, two or three times a week. However, they have not been received by a large number
of schools due to the lack of infrastructural facilities. At each station there are consultative panels of
6 members who advise on the programmes but good teachers do not always make good
broadcasters and the AIR does not always succeed in selecting the best 'people for the school
broadcasts. Akashvani at present broadcasts programmes of the universities of Delhi, Punjab
(Chandigarh) and Punjabi (Patiala). It will soon broadcast programmes of this university as well on
a regular basis.
16
Unit 1, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Yuv-Vani or The Voice of Youth is a special audience programme, planned, presented and to a large
extent managed by the young people of the 15-25 years age group. The Programme commenced
on 23rd July, 1969. Can you recall which other world famous event took place on that day'? Neil
Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin set foot for the first time on the moon.
By August 1976, the Yuv-Vani service was broadcast from 23 stations. Delhi, where this service
was introduced for the first time had 6000 participants in its programmes in the first six months (in
1969-70) of its commencement. Today it is still very popular on the national level.
In order to satisfy the Indian listener's needs, AIR introduced a new service in 1957 on par with
Radio Ceylon known as Vividh Bharati or the All India Variety Programme channel. Originally these
programmes were broadcast from Bombay and Madras. After 1960 these Programmes have been
made available on low-power medium wave transmitters also.
17
Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 3
Different Types of Radio Stations and Transmissions:
On the Basis of Reach: National, Regional, Local and Community
On the Basis of Transmission Technology: AM, SW, FM, Web
Introduction
Transmission is the act or process of sending a message and information from one location to one
or more locations by means of radio waves, electrical signals, light signals, etc. In radio electronics
and broadcasting, a transmitter usually has a power supply, an oscillator, a modulator, and amplifiers
for audio frequency (AF) and radio frequency (RF).The modulator is the device which modulates the
signal information onto the carrier frequency, which is then broadcast.
In daily parlance, a radio is an apparatus that receives signals broadcast by radio stations in the
form of electromagnetic waves and converts them into audible sounds. We use it in fact as a
shortened form of a RADIO RECEIVER.
Aerials
a radio receiver is generally is attached to an aerial. The aerial picks up all the radio frequency
waves around it.
Tuner
these frequencies are conveyed to the tuner that selects the desired frequency and rejects the
others.
Vacuum Tubes
With the help of special vacuum tubes the programme current is separated from the carrier current
so that the former alone remains.
18
Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Amplifiers
The programme current is very weak and cannot operate the loudspeaker. Hence it is made more
powerful (i.e. amplified) with the help of vacuum tubes called amplifiers.
With the advancement of radio technology, transistors that take less space than a vacuum tube
Began to be used in their place. 'Transistor is an electronic device much smaller than a radio valve
used in radio sets. It works both on electricity and cells. If there an old radio, look into its hole at the
back. You may also take the help of a technician and look into a transistor set and difference will be
clear to you.
Loudspeaker
The loudspeaker converts the programme currents into sound waves that we hear.
The transmitter sends these sound waves to the listeners’ radio sets which convert them into
sounds. There is no time gap in the whole process.
Transmitters are generally located outside the city boundaries. The transmitters are of different
capacities such as 1 KW to 100 KW, 200 KW or 250 KW or above. Their locations are decided
according to their capacity. A 1 KW transmitter is normally installed in the vicinity of the studio/control
room whereas the high power transmitters are installed outside the city.
19
Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
In a radio station, the broadcaster speaks into a microphone. The microphone converts the sound
into electrical energy. Certain substances-have the property of conducting electricity when they are
put under pressure. Carbon is one such substance. The more pressure you put on it the greater the
electricity it will produce. Hence a capsule of fine carbon particles is connected to a piece of wire
and placed behind a plastic or springy sheet of metal called a Diaphragm. The broadcaster speaks
in front of the diaphragm. The sound made by the announcer presses the carbon particles which in
turn, produce the electrical energy.
This electrical energy is in the form of a programme current which is weak in nature and cannot
travel very far. Certain vacuum tubes at the radio station produce carrier currents that can travel
very far. Special vacuum tubes combine the two currents--carrier and programme. Thus modulating
the carrier current. This modulated carrier current (AM or FM) is sent through a wire to a radio
transmitting tower. The carrier current is amplified (or increased) and radiated out in all directions
from the transmitting tower.
The Ionosphere
Do you know that the quality of reception on your radio-receiver depends also on the sun '? The sun
sends its energy to the earth and thus ionises the layers of air from about 50 to 175 kilometres above
us. The ionosphere layers reflect the radio waves back to the earth. During the day the ionospheric
reflector is pushed behind in the sky. The result is that the sky waves arc reflected farther during the
night than during the day.
20
Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
On the other hand, if with the help of the programme wave we modulate the frequency and not the
amplitude of a wave we have frequency modulation or F.M.
In radio communication, a radio signal is ‘modulated’ so that it can be transmitted over long
distances. In the simplest terms, this means that the radio signal (or input signal), i.e. the signal
carrying audio information, is added with a carrier signal. Unlike a radio signal (which usually has a
very low frequency), a carrier signal has a constant amplitude and frequency, i.e. a constant
waveform, which helps to carry the radio signal over long distances. The process of ‘mounting’ the
original signal to a carrier wave is called modulation.
21
Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Meaning of Amplitude
The strength of a wave of sound or electricity, measured at the strongest repeating part of the wave.
22
Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Meaning of Frequency
The rate per second of a vibration constituting a wave, either in a material (as in sound waves), or
in an electromagnetic field (as in radio waves and light). A particular number of radio waves
produced in a second at which a radio signal is broadcast the number of times that a wave, especially
a light, sound, or radio wave, is produced within a particular period, especially one second
Advantage of FM
The big advantage of FM is its audio quality and immunity to noise. Most forms of static and electrical
noise is naturally AM, and a FM receiver will not respond to AM signals. FM receivers also exhibit a
characteristic known as the capture effect. If two or more FM signals are on the same frequency,
the FM receiver will respond to the strongest of the signals and ignore the rest. The audio quality of
a FM signal increases as its deviation increases, which is why FM broadcast stations use such large
deviation.
Disadvantage of FM
The main disadvantage of FM is the amount of frequency space a signal requires.
AM vs FM Debate
Mode of modulation: AM involves the alteration of the amplitude of the carrier wave, whereas FM
involves changes in the frequency of the carrier wave.
Frequency range: The typical frequency range in which AM works is 535 to 1705 Kilohertz, whereas
the frequency range is around 88-108 Megahertz for FM.
Area of reception: Unlike AM, FM signals can’t travel over long distances; therefore, FM signals
have good reception in cities, whereas AM signals (usually used for broadcasting news) have a
lower sound quality, but can be transmitted to more remote places.
23
Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
This is because FM waves have a small range in terms of the geographical regions they can cover,
whereas AM waves have a much larger range and can therefore be received even in hinterlands!
This is the reason most news stations use AM over FM, because they want the information to reach
as many people as possible, even if the sound quality isn’t top-notch, which brings us to the next
point.
Complexity and cost: The equipment requirements of an FM system are costly, whereas AM, with
its relatively older technology, relies on less complex and thus cheaper equipment to transmit
signals.
Bandwidth: AM signals take up 30 kHz, while FM signals take up 80 kHz of bandwidth for each
signal. This means that AM can send more signals than FM in a limited range of bandwidth.
Sound Quality: The one aspect that’s undoubtedly the most relevant to users, i.e. the sound quality
of the transmission, is where FM clearly trumps AM. Noise affects amplitude more readily, and since
information is stored in the amplitude itself, AM becomes vulnerable to interference. FM, on other
hand, relies on changing frequency, and is therefore less susceptible to noise, allowing it to provide
a superior quality of sound.
Given the fact that both AM and FM are commonly used for broadcasting information these days,
it’s evident that there’s no winner in this debate. Whether you use AM or FM while broadcasting
something depends entirely on how many people you want to reach out to.
Most radio stations use amplitude modulation because it is most efficient for long-distance
short-wave broadcasting. However. AM programmes are often disturbed by noise. FM programmes
are, on the other hand, not disturbed by noise but do not prove useful in long- distance broadcasting.
However, if you have a stereo-radio receiver-and you live close to the big cities you will find music
broadcast on FM much more enjoyable.
24
Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Additionally, it is used for two-way international communication by amateur radio enthusiasts for
hobby, educational and emergency purposes. Shortwave frequencies are capable of reaching any
location on the Earth. Shortwave broadcasts often suffer from serious interference problems
because of overcrowding on the wavebands, atmospheric disturbances and electrical interference
problems (particularly in cities) from TV sets, computers, poorly designed domestic appliances, and
substandard electrical installations. Even under ideal reception conditions, the audio quality of a
shortwave broadcast is usually inferior to that of domestic stations, particularly FM stations, and it
is always in mono.
The selection of a frequency to use to reach a target area depends on several factors:
Shortwave does possess a number of advantages over newer technologies, including the following:
25
Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Radio on Web
Radio on internet is a growing phenomenon with thousands of radio stations operating through
computer modems. It is altogether a new format that removes the restrictions of frequency or license.
It is relatively cheap to set up. It has certain advantages as well as disadvantages. Now all the
national and international radio stations like BBC, Voice of America, and All India Radio are available
on internet. It is now possible to listen to the programmes from a radio station while working on the
computer. All India Radio started its services on internet on 1st May 1998. With this, it was possible
to extend the coverage of programmes to all parts of the world including USA and Canada.
All India Radio is a division of Prasar Bharati or the Broadcasting Corporation of India, an
autonomous corporation of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
The headquarters of AIR is at Akashwani Bhawan, New Delhi. AIR has different services each
catering to different regions/ languages across India. One of the most famous services is Vividh
Bharati (All India Variety Programme) which offers programmes such as news, film music, comedy
shows etc. in several cities of India.
AIR has a three-tier system of broadcasting. These three levels of programmes are the National,
Regional and Local each having distinct audiences. National programmes are broadcast from Delhi
for relay by the Capital, Regional and Local Radio Stations. Some of these are the National
Programme of Talks and Features in Hindi and English, the National Programmes of Drama and
Music.
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Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
It caters to the information, education and entertainment needs of the people, through its
transmitters at Nagpur, Mogra and Delhi beaming from dusk to dawn. It transmits centrally originated
news bulletins in Hindi and English, plays, sports, music, newsreel, spoken word and other topical
programmes, to nearly 76% of the country’s population fully reflecting the broad spectrum of national
life. The languages of broadcast are Hindi, English and Urdu apart from some music from other
Indian languages.
The National Channel features Hindustani and Carnatic music. light and folk music' from Planning
and Research different regions of the country, Western music, plays, dramatized presentation of
short stories translate into Hindi from different Indian languages, documentaries, financial reviews,
sports magazines and programmes in Urdu. The national service is available to substantial
segments of the people in different regions.
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Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The organisational setup of a regional radio station which is located at the capital of a state or Union
Territory is more or less on the pattern detailed in the typical set-up of a radio station.
The head of a regional station is Station Director who is the controller of the station and is
responsible for its final output. Public relations is directly under the Station Director. She keeps
liaison with state government functionaries, eminent writers, thinkers, scientists, technologists,
musicians, artistes and others. She also presides over the Programme Advisory Committees and
Consultative Panels attached to the stations.
A Station Director of a radio station in a state capital has the added responsibility of organising and
coordinating the programmes of state level relevance and importance. She also inspects other
stations in the state.
The government has granted licenses to IGNOU to operate educational channels known as
Gyan Vani. These radio stations are managed by a three member team headed by a station
manager.
Each of these local radio stations serving a small area provides utility services and reaches right
into the heart of the community, What distinguishes local radio from the regional network is its down
to earth, intimate and uninhibited approach. The programmes of the local radio are area specific.
They are flexible and spontaneous enough to enable the station to function as the mouth piece of
the local community.
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Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The FM service of AIR has two channels- FM Rainbow and FM Gold. There are 12 FM Rainbow
channels and 4 FM Gold Channels. The programme content of these channels is mainly popular
Indian and Western music, presented in a style which is highly popular with the urban youth. News
bulletins and current affairs programmes are also broadcast from these channels. There are also
other AIR stations on the F.M. mode. There are several private FM channels which can be heard all
over the country.
Community Radio is a type of radio service that caters to the interests of a limited area or a
community which is homogenous. It broadcasts programmes that are popular and relevant to the
local audience. A community radio license is required to operate a community radio station.
Community Radio Stations are operated, owned, and driven by the communities they serve.
Community radio is not-for profit and provides a mechanism for facilitating individuals, groups, and
communities to tell their own diverse stories, to share experiences, and in a media rich world to
become active creators and contributors of media.
These stations are expected to produce programmes as far as possible in the local language or
dialect. Although the stress is on developmental programmes, entertainment is not banned on these
radio stations. Anna FM is India’s first campus community radio operating from Anna University in
Chennai, Tamil Nadu. This was launched on 1 February 2004.
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Unit 1, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
On 16 November 2006, the government of India notified new Community Radio Guidelines which
permit NGOs and other civil society organizations to own and operate community radio stations.
The license entitles them to operate a 100 watt (ERP) radio station, with a coverage area of
approximately 12 kilometers radius. A maximum antenna height of 30 meters is allowed. Community
radio stations are expected to produce at least 50% of their programmes locally, as far as possible
in the local language or dialect. The stress is on developmental programming, though there is no
explicit ban on entertainment.
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 4
Organizational Structure and
Functionaries of a Radio Station: Govt. and Private
Introduction
The organisational structures of institutions are designed in accordance with their objectives and
functions. This holds true of radio networks/stations as well. There are several broadcasting
networks in the world, some are public service broadcasting organisations, and others are
commercial networks. Besides, there are individual radio stations, mostly of a commercial nature.
The policy objectives of radio networks/radio stations differ widely depending on the policy of those
who own/control them. The organisational structure of a broadcasting organisation also varies
widely in relation to the size, of the network, its policy objectives and capital investments.
In India, as in most other counties, it is an organisation under the control of the government. In some
countries, as for instance the U.S.A., there are private radio stations. In others, radio has greater
autonomy than what it enjoys in our country, nevertheless it is still under governmental control. Such
is the case with the British Broadcasting Corporation (B.B.C.). The nature of relationship influences
the organisation of radio station.
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
All India Radio (AIR) is one of the major public service broadcasting organisations in the world, and
perhaps the largest in Asia. It has a network comprising 209 broadcasting centres with a staff
component of over 30,000 employees and an annual expenditure of over Rs. 450 crores in the year
2000. Its home service, averaging 2300 hours of output every day, includes national, regional, sub-
regional and local service in 26 languages and 146 dialects, beside light entertainment commercial
service. Its external service in 16 foreign and 10 Indian languages is beamed to 84 countries around
the globe for a daily duration of over 70 hours. The headquarters of the network located in New
Delhi is headed by a Director-General. The Director-General is assisted by an Engineer-in Chief, a
Director-General (News), and Additional Deputy Director-General for Programme, Administration
and Security, a Director of Monitoring Service and a Director for Audience Research. The Director
General is answerable to the Parsar Bharati Board of Management.
Director-General (DG)
The Director-General provides the professional leadership. He controls and supervises the
activities of various divisions. The heads of programme and engineering divisions are, in turn,
assisted by regional/zonal heads and a chief engineer in charge of civil construction. The heads of
programme regions are located in Mumbai, Calcutta and Guwahati, while the zonal chief engineers
are headquartered at the four metropolises. There are 41 Regional News Units attached to the
various radio stations and they receive professional guidance from the Director-General.
A Deputy Director General carries out the inspection of radio offices.
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Director General, All India Radio is responsible for the overall administration of the entire Akashvani
network consisting of 277 stations and 432 broadcast transmitters (148 are MW (Medium Wave),
236 FM (Frequency Modulation) and 48 SW (Short Wave) transmitters as on 31.03.2012), which
provide coverage to 99% of the population spread over the country.
DG, AIR- Shri F. Sheheryar
DG, AIR (News) - Ms Ira Joshi
Prasar Bharati
Board
Director General
(DG), Station Director
All India Radio
Audience
Programme Engineering Administrative Security
Wing Research
Wing Wing Wing
Wing
34
Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Director General
(DG)
Programme Wing
Each station is equipped with facilities for programme production and presentation. The Programme
Wing is divided into a number of production units such as; the Talks Unit, Women and Children's
Programmes Unit, the Farm and Home Unit (for producing rural programme), Youth Programmes
Wing, the Education Programme Unit, Science Programme Unit, Music Units (for classical, light and
folk music programmes) Outdoor Broadcasting (field based) programme, Morning Information
Programme and Senior Citizen Programme Units. In some stations, there are Western Music and
Industrial Workers Programme Units also.
All the stations have a Programme Coordination Unit and Public Relations Unit. The programmes
are produced by Programme Executives/ Prograrnme Officers/Farm Radio Officers who are
deployed at the station according to the language and other special requirements. The programme
producers are assisted by reporters, script writers and production assistants. Instrumentalists and
music composers’ assist in the production of music programmes.
The work of the programme executives is supervised by assistant station directors/deputy director
in accordance with the Scalar Principle. The Station Director coordinates all the activities in
accordance with the principle of Line of Control. The presentation of programmes is generally made
by announcers and broadcast of programmes in accordance with a pre-determined schedule is
ensured by a cadre of officers referred to as Transmission Executives.
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Engineering Wing
The head of the engineering wing is a Station Engineer/Superintending Engineer. She controls and
coordinates all the technical activities of the stations. She/he is assisted by Assistant Station
Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Senior Engineering Assistant, Engineering Assistants and
Technicians. They handle all programme origination and transmission, including relays from Delhi
or other stations. They are responsible for maintenance and operation of the technical facilities
created at the station.
News Wing
The News Wing is headed by a Joint Director or News Editor and is assisted by sub-editors and
news reporters. For news reporting and news gathering there are staff correspondents, supported
by a number of part-time correspondents or stringers. The news editing is done by the editorial staff,
while translation and reading of news is done by translators and news readers respectively.
The news wing also produces district newsletters and one or two newsreels in a week.
Security Wing
The security set up comprises of a Deputy Director General (Security), Assistant Director General
(Security) and a Deputy Director (Security). They handle matters of the security and safety of AIR
installations, transmitters, studios, offices etc. The Security needs of Doordarshan are also looked
after by these officers.
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Research Department
The functions of the Research Department include Research and Development of equipment
required by AIR and Doordarshan, investigation and studies relating to AIR and Doordarshan,
development of Prototype models of R&D equipment for limited use field trials in the network of AIR
and Doordarshan.
In addition to the above discussed, there are some other offices and stations in AIR:
Commercial Broadcast Stations: These with a small complement of staff look after the
Commercial broadcasts which comprise Vividh Bharati programmes, programmes in the local
languages and commercial advertisements. They are located in the regional/sub-regional/local
stations.
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
North Eastern Service: The North Eastern Service is located in Shillong. It is an integrated service
catering to the communication needs of the listeners living in the North Eastern region. The
broadcasts from individual stations in the North East of India are mostly in the tribal dialects due to
the absence of a common lingua franca of the region. The spoken-word broadcasts are in English
and Hindi. The music broadcast features are folk and tribal songs of the entire region, collected from
different stations of AIR in the North East.
Commercial Sales Unit: Commercial Sales Unit (CSU) is the Wing which keeps liaison with the
advertisers and advertising agencies. The advertisements (or commercials) are cleared by this unit
located in Mumbai. Marketing units have also been set up to promote sale of airtime.
Vividh Baharti Service: Vividh Bharati programmes form the bulk of commercial broadcasting
services of AIR. They are produced at a separate production unit functioning in Mumbai. The
programmes arc taped and copies sent to the commercial broadcasting centres.
The structure of broadcasting was again reviewed by a Working Group on Autonomy for Akashvani
and Doordarshan in August 1977. This group headed by B.G. Verghese recommended in May 1978
the creation of a National Broadcast Trust to be named Akash Bharati to look after radio and
television. The then Union Government did not consider it necessary for the setting up of a trust
under the name Akash Bharati. However, it brought a bill for creating a Public Sector Corporation
under the title Prasar Bharati. The bill lapsed with be dissolution of the Lok Sabha. Under a modified
version of the Bill, the Prasar Bharati became an Act in 1990 and the Act was notified for
implementation with effect from September 15, 1997. As a result, All India Radio and Doordarshan
are functioning as units of the autonomous corporation Prasar Bharati.
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
"The question of whether to permit private broadcasting or not is a matter of policy, for Parliament
to decide. If it decides to permit it, it is for Parliament to decide, subject to what conditions and
restrictions it should be permitted. Private broadcasting, even if allowed should not be Ieft to market
forces, in the interest of ensuring that a wide variety of voices enjoy access to it. -...the electronic
media are the most powerful media, both because of their audio-visual impact, and their widest
reach covering the section of the society where the print media do not reach. The right to use
airwaves and the context of the programmes, therefore. needs regulation for balancing it and as well
as to prevent monopoly of information and views relayed which is a potential danger flowing from
the concentration of the right to broadcast/telecast in the hands either of a central agency or few
private affluent broadcaster”.
It was expected that the government would bring in legislation for setting up a broadcast authority
with enabling provisions to license and regulate private radio stations. But the government chose to
use the administrative powers vested with it and worked out a scheme to make way for the setting
up of radio stations by private parties. It identified 40 towns and cities for setting up 108 channels.
Some cities would have as many as 11 private channels, while places like Agra, Cuttack,
Trivandrum, Nagpur etc. would have only one. The allotment of licenses to operate channels was
made on the basis of highest bids from the eligible applicants. Only companies registered in India
under the Companies Act 1956, were eligible to apply.
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The scheme includes some clauses for disqualifying religious bodies, political bodies and
advertising agencies from getting the license. There are also clauses to prevent the same company
getting more than one license at the same town/city. The Government might identify more places
and channels for opening up private radio stations. It is worthwhile to note that some of those who
got the licenses surrendered them because of financial non-viability.
Organizing a private radio station involves setting up of a studio, transmitter and generation of
software. This would require a substantial investment, entrepreneur-ship and manpower and this
will depend on the hours of broadcast and type of programming. The station has to depend on
advertisement revenue for its day-to-day expenditure, profits and provision for depreciation etc.
Experience of running private radio stations elsewhere in the world reveals that they have to be
compact organizations with minimum staff, avoiding the expense of a large paraphernalia of
divisions and departments with huge staff manning them. The management could ill afford all this.
The station has to be managed with a small contingent of multi-skilled staff numbering 10 or 15
persons or even less. The software has to be drawn from pre-recorded cassettes1CD's and the like.
To hook the listeners, in a competitive environment, they may have to organize interactive
programmes, chat shows, prize schemes etc. The situation would be different if a corporate body
gets licenses to operate a number of radio stations at many centres. These could be 'functional' type
of organizations. In community radio stations the organization would be distinctively different
depending on the informational resources.
The government has granted licenses to IGNOU to operate educational channels known as Gyan
Vani. These radio stations are managed by a three member team headed by a station manager.
The proliferation of radio channels throws up a lot of challenges as well as opportunities. The
presence of a number of private stations would encourage a healthy competition among them and
in such a situation, the listening public eventually would be the beneficiaries.
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Unit 1, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
42
Unit 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Programme Formats
______________________________________________________________________________
Lesson 1 2
Radio Announcement and Links
Lesson 2 11
Radio Talk
Lesson 3 14
Radio Interview and Discussion
Lesson 4 22
Radio News
Lesson 5 31
Radio Feature and Documentary
Lesson 6 41
Radio Commentary
Lesson 7 47
Radio Play/Drama
Lesson 8 52
Radio Ads (Social and Commercial)
Lesson 9 57
Phone-in and Radio Bridge
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Unit 2, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 1
Radio Announcement and Links
Introduction
Oral communication is an elementary urge of every human being. Radio ‘speaks’ to people. It
‘sings’ in their ears. It communicates in the language, diction and nuances of the people for whom
it is meant. It informs, educates and entertains. It lets the listeners ‘see through their ears’. It is
companion medium. The medium (radio) provides a challenging platform to broadcasters-because
the mass to whom they address are demographically heterogeneous, anonymous to each other-
even very often to the communicator. All these factors engage the broadcaster in creating content
and planning a format in which the communicator intends to establish a connection with the
listener. Think of the different types of programmes you have heard on radio. You would probably
remember film songs, phone in programmes, talks, discussions, news, cricket commentaries etc.
These different types of programmes are called formats.
Radio Format
When you read a popular magazine, you will come across various things. There will be an
attractive cover, advertisements of different products, stories or articles on issues ranging from
politics to sports and cinema, interviews and other features. Similarly, a radio station also
broadcasts programmes of different types. Think of the different types of programmes you have
heard on radio. You would probably remember film songs, phone in programmes, talks,
discussions, news, cricket commentaries etc. These different types of programmes are called
formats.
The requirements of listeners of radio stations are not the same. To serve them, we need to know
many facts about them. Let us make a list of what we should know about the audience:
(e) Schools/Colleges
(g) Health facilities — availability of doctors, primary health centre, clinics, hospitals.
You can add many more issues to this list. We need to know these facts to decide the language,
the type of broadcast, timing of programmes etc. Radio formats therefore are decided on the basis
of the needs of the audience.
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Unit 2, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Processing information and creating content is just like a recipe for utilising ingredients (Spoken
word, Music, Sound Effect & Silence) to prepare a programme. Like all other medium competing to
draw the attention of customers, radio has also devised various appealing ‘formats’ which are
further innovated by creative broadcasters to deliver the content to the best satisfaction of
listeners.
Most of what is spoken on radio is written down. What is written for radio is heard and is referred
to as ‘spoken word’ as against the ‘written word’. But the spoken words on radio is written down or
what is generally called ‘scripted’.
(b) Music
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Unit 2, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Radio Announcement
This is straight information given to individual listeners or group of listeners. Programme summary,
slogans, weather reports and outlook, railway time, government plans and policies etc. are
covered under announcements. These announcements are re-drafted from the original texts
received for better comprehension. Announcement is specifically written clear messages to inform.
They can be of different types. For example station/programme identification. These programmes
mention the station you are tuned into, the frequency, the time and the programme/song you are
going to listen to. These days, these announcements have become informal and resemble
ordinary conversations. There can be more than one presenter in some programmes like
magazines.
“The art of announcement is not the art of speaking. It is the art of talking”. Radio
announcements are also spoken at the beginning and end of a programme. Public Service
Announcements are an example of radio announcements.
Radio announcements are also known as public service announcement (PSA) or public service ad
is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media. Or Public service
announcements, or PSA's, are short messages produced on film, video, or audiocassette and
given to radio and television stations. Whereas the objective of a standard advertisement is to
market a product, a PSA is intended to benefit the public interest, by raising awareness of an
issue, affecting public attitudes, and potentially stimulating action. In commercial radio, public
service announcements (PSAs) flood in literally every day. You should adopt a standardized style
in presenting these announcements to the audience of your station.
Radio, more than any other medium of mass communication reaches more than 95% of the public
and hence its use in making PSA is more effective than that of newspapers and television. If
PSAs are carefully and precisely worded for broadcast over the radio medium, they are likely to
reach a large segment of our population and to be equally well understood by it. Communications
which urge its audience to implement or support some kind of social or economic cause deemed
beneficial by the consensus of the general public is Public Service Advertising.
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Unit 2, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
We now take you over to Rose Bowl Stadium, Southampton, England for the live broadcast of the
first day’s play of Fourth Cricket Test Match being played between India and England.
Our Commentators are Praksh Wakantkar and Dr. Milind Tipnis in English & Vineet Garg and
Dileep Doshi in Hindi.
“You had been listening to the live commentary of the Fourth Cricket Test match being played
between India and England at Rose Bowl Stadium, Southampton, England.
Our Commentators were Praksh Wakantkar and Dr. Milind Tipnis in English & Vineet Garg and
Dileep Doshi in Hindi.
May we remind our listeners that All India Radio will broadcast the live commentary of the second
day’s play of Fourth Cricket Test match being played between India and England at Rose Bowl
Stadium, Southampton, England tomorrow from 3:15 pm onwards on the same frequencies.
This broadcast came to you from the Delhi Station of All India Radio.”
Types of PSA
We can look at the theme from three aspects-regular PSA, current PSA and Public Service Campaign.
They all deal with affairs related to our daily living, social issues and information on essential
matters. Over the radio, these PSAs reach out to all segments of society all over the country. For
the PSAs to make an impact on the listeners and for them to be effective, the time of broadcast,
and its duration are of considerable importance and the message has to be precise and in
unambiguous terms.
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Unit 2, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Regular PSA: While preparing the text for such announcements, care is to be taken to provide
correct information and details so as to leave no doubt in the minds of the listeners.
For Instance- Employment News, Weather bulletin, Market rates/ Bazaar rates, Announcement of
new policies, programmes and proposals on important days, Book reviews and Highlights of the
day's broadcast programmes.
Current PSA: On the Radio, there are specific times allotted to such PSAs. Usually these
announcements are sandwiched between two programmes i.e., at the conclusion of a programme
and before the commencement of the next programme. Under this category, information and
announcements relating to basic daily amenities are given:
Public Service Announcements / Campaigns: This does not provide information, but is more in
the nature of persuasion. The aim is to make the listeners aware of certain basic issues and
principles governing the health and welfare of the society. For example, given below are a few of
such PSAs:
Blood donation
Eye donation
Family welfare
Wild Life
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Unit 2, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Audience Research: For a successful campaign on radio, audience research has to be made at
frequent intervals with reference to important announcements. The research should relate to:-
Scripting a PSA
Extreme precision
Clarity of expression
Appeal to emotion
Friendly intimacy
Examples of Slogans
Helmet wearing- “Accidents get either your head or your helmet” and "Keep your head Wear your
helmet".
Eye donation- “All that stands between darkness and him is your signature”
8
Unit 2, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Advantages of PSA's
1) PSA's are generally inexpensive. Since the airtime is donated, your only cost is production. If
you keep to a tight budget, you can make PSA's very cheaply.
2) Most stations will allow you to include a telephone number for more information in your PSA.
3) PSA's tend to be really effective at encouraging the audience to do something -- for example,
call a phone number for more information, use condoms, or have your pet spayed or neutered.
Decide upon and clarify the purpose of your PSA. What are your goals here? What do you want to
accomplish by putting a PSA on the air?
Target your audience: What type of people are you hoping to reach through your PSA? This will
help you focus in both your desired media outlets, and also upon your PSA content. Survey your
media outlets to best reach that audience: That means that you need to know what media outlets
are available in your particular geographic area.
Prioritize your media outlets: That is, you need to know which outlets your target audience is
most likely to prefer. For example, is your audience more likely to tune in to the 24-hour country
music station than to the one that plays mostly golden oldies? If so, then you point toward the
country music outlet.
Choose points to focus on: Don't overload the viewer or listener with too many different
messages. List all the possible messages you'd like to get into the public mind, and then decide on
the one or two most vital points. For example, if your group educates people about asthma, you
might narrow it down to a simple focus point like, "If you have asthma, you shouldn't smoke."
Brainstorm: This is also a good time to look at the PSA's that others have done for ideas. Get
together with your colleagues to toss around ideas about ways you can illustrate the main point(s)
you've chosen. If possible, include members of your target group in this process. If you're aiming
your PSA at African-American youth, for example, be sure to invite some African-American youth
to take part in brainstorming.
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Unit 2, Lesson 1 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Check your facts: It's extremely important for your PSA to be accurate. Any facts should be
checked and verified before sending the PSA in. Is the information up to date? If there are any
demonstrations included in the PSA, are they done clearly and correctly?
Identify a "hook”: A hook is whatever you use to grab the listener or viewer's attention. How are
you going to keep them from changing the channel or leaving the room or letting their attention
drift when your PSA comes on? A hook can be something funny, it can be catchy music, it can be
a shocking statistic.
Links
What do you say between items? One must get away from the ‘that was, this is’ approach. The
last item may need an explanatory back-announcement and the real question is whether there is a
logical progression between that and the next item. If not, because you are going into the weather
forecast, then it’s better not to try and contrive one. On the other hand, it helps the programme
flow if there is a natural and easy way of moving from one scene to the next. Do the items have
anything in common? Consider the function of mortar in building a house. Does it keep the bricks
apart or hold them together? It does both, of course, and so it is with the presenter. Rather than
make the programme seem jerky and disconnected, presenters do well to make such transitions
as smooth as possible – even by going into an ident or time check.
Some presenters do well to ad lib, to do everything off the cuff, but it has to be said that for most of
us the preparation of interesting, informative, humorous, provocative, friendly or insightful current
remarks or comments in the links takes thinking about. This is where the style of the programme
comes from. The links more than anything else give substance rather than waffle.
10
Unit 2, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 2
Radio Talk
Introduction
This format may appear to be very simple. But in practice. It is the most difficult format in radio.
The radio talk probably is the oldest format on radio. There has been a tradition in India and Britain
to invite experts or prominent persons to speak for 10 or 15 minutes on a specific topic. These
talks have to go through a process of being changed into radio’s spoken word style. Over the
years, these long radio talks have become unpopular. Instead, today, shorter duration i.e 5-6
minutes talks are broadcast. These talks only on public service broadcasting stations. Radio talks
are not public speeches; rather, they are chats with a friend who does not see you, but is
nevertheless close and attentive to you. Radio talks should give the impression to a listener that
the speaker is addressing him or her alone in an informal manner.
The words of a radio talk need to be kept simple and familiar, yet descriptive and powerful, and the
sentences short and without dependent clauses and uncomfortable inversions. Care should be
taken to keep close to the rhythm of ordinary speech when writing the talk, and also when
recording it. Radio talks have no definite structure. All that the listener expects from them is that
they should be interesting and informative.
Find out what topics and subjects are current, newsworthy & topical: Scan the media for 'Hot
News Topics' that may fit your area of expertise. Remember the goal of radio talk is firstly to help
the station produce interesting and engaging radio for the listener and provide solutions to
listeners' problems.
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Unit 2, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Be yourself: Your whole self, not just your expert self. Authenticity is as important as authority in
radio. Your voice will be most eloquent and unique if you speak from the core of your being,
blending your knowledge, experience and conviction.
Speak in a moderate tone: Your listeners will be more receptive to your message if it is delivered
in a relaxed and reasonable manner. If you are respectful of your listeners’ intelligence, they will
be more respectful of yours.
Make friends with your host: Even a host with an opposing point of view can be won over by a
genial guest and may end up defending your right to express an unpopular view against the
criticisms of more hostile callers.
Listen as carefully as you speak: Most people use the time when others are speaking to think
about what they want to say. In so doing, they miss the information they most need to know to
make an appropriate response.
Address your listening audience directly: Always keep in mind that your real conversation is
with your listeners, not with the host or callers. Visualize them in your mind's eye and turn inwardly
in their direction.
Keep your message simple and repeat it often: Unlike the print media, words spoken on the
radio vanish in the moment after they are uttered. Keep your message simple, clear, and concise.
Repeat it often enough for it to be remembered.
Speak from your heart as well as your mind: Reason alone is not sufficient to persuade most
listeners, particularly on AM radio. Make heart-to-heart contact with your audience.
Let your passion be felt in your voice: Passion carries well on the radio, which unlike television
is a warm medium. Return to the roots of your commitment to your work and speak from that
conviction.
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Unit 2, Lesson 2 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Avoid long pauses: Radio abhors silence. The pauses that punctuate a face to- face
conversation come across on the air as mere blank space in the absence of any visual clues.
Phrases like "Well..." and "You know..." can be used to buy time while you figure out what you
want to say.
Use anecdotes whenever possible to illustrate your points: Radio is an oral medium and
stories are an oral tradition. Use them to humanize your arguments and give abstract issues a
tangible form.
Avoid jargon and specialized language: Visualize your audience not as colleagues at a seminar
or Congresspersons at a hearing but as fellow passengers on the bus or in line at the checkout
counter. How would you communicate with them? Speak simply and straightforwardly but never
down to your audience.
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Unit 2, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 3
Radio Interview and Discussion
Introduction
The aim of an interview is to provide, in the interviewee's own words, facts, reasons or opinions on
a particular topic so that the listener can form a conclusion as to the validity of what she/he is
saying. It follows from this definition that the opinions of the interviewer are not to be counted here
and that he should not get drawn into answering the question himself/herself.
Within the present definition, it is the interviewee who must come through in the programme and
not the interviewer. A good interviewer must necessarily be self-effacing. Spontaneity also adds to
credibility. A rehearsed interview will not only sound 'staged' but 'fixed', if not 'planted'. For this
reasons, though the topic may be discussed beforehand, the actual questions should not be
provided in advance. The interviewer acts on behalf of the listener in that she/he asks the
interviewee what the listeners want to know. Not just that, but also what the listener would ask if
she/ he knew as much about the interviewee as the interviewer knows. In this sense, most
significantly, the interviewer is several steps ahead of the listener. The interview is an ideal
opportunity to provide not only what the listener wants to know but what the listener needs to
know.
This format is to elicit cream from expert or knowledgeable personalities, public figures whose
views and actions affect societal behaviour or development. In a radio interview the important
thing is to encourage the person that you have chosen to interview to give interesting answers.
This means that you will have to be aware that a public radio interview is completely different from
researching or a private chat. A radio interview is always intended for a third party, i.e. the invisible
audience.
Types of Interview
Informational Interview
Obviously, the purpose of the informational interview is to impart information to the listener. The
sequence in which this is done becomes important if the details are to be clear. There may be
considerable discussion beforehand to clarify what information is required and to allow time for the
interviewee to recall or check any statistics.
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Unit 2, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Topics for this kind of interview include: the action surrounding a military operation, the events and
decisions made at a union meeting, or the proposals contained in the city’s newly announced
development plan.
Interpretive Interview
The interpretive interview has the interviewer supplying the facts and asking the interviewee either
to comment on them or to explain them. The aim is to expose the reasoning behind decisions and
allow the listener to make a judgement on the implicit sense of values or priorities. Replies to
questions will almost certainly contain statements in justification of a particular course of action
which should themselves also be questioned. The interviewer must be well briefed, alert and
attentive to pick up and challenge the opinions expressed. Examples in this category would be a
government minister on the reasons for an already published economic policy, why the local
council has decided on a particular route for a new road, or views of the clergy on proposals to
amend the divorce laws. The essential point is that the interviewer is not asking for the facts of the
matter, since these will be generally known; rather he or she is investigating the interviewee’s
reaction to the facts. The discussion beforehand may be quite brief, the interviewer outlining the
purpose of the interview and the limits of the subject to be pursued. Since the content is reactive, it
should on no account be rehearsed in its detail.
Emotional Interview
The aim of the emotional interview is to provide an insight into the interviewee’s state of mind so
that the listener may better understand what is involved in human terms. Specific examples would
be the feelings of relatives of people trapped in the debris of an earthquake, the euphoria
surrounding the moment of supreme achievement for an athlete or successful entertainer, or the
anger felt by people involved in an industrial dispute. It is the strength of feeling present rather
than its rationality which is important and clearly the interviewer needs to be very sensitive in
handling such situations. There is praise and acclaim for asking the right question at the right time
in order to illuminate a matter of public interest, even when the event itself is tragic. But quick
criticism follows for being too intrusive into private grief. It is in this respect that the manner of
asking a question is as important as its content, possibly more so.
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Unit 2, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Documentary Interview
These different categories of interview are likely to come together in preparing material for a
documentary or feature. First, the facts, background information or sequence of events; then, the
interpretation, meaning or implication of the facts; finally, their effect on people, a personal
reaction to the issue. The documentary interview with, for example, a retired politician will take
time but should be as absorbing for the interviewer as it will be for the listener. The process of
recalling history should surprise, it should throw new light on events and people, and reveal the
character of the person. Each interview is different but two principles remain for the interviewer –
listen hard and keep asking ‘why?’
Vox Pop
Vox pop’ which is a Latin phrase meaning ‘voice of people’. Here generally just one or two
questions are put across to ordinary people or people with knowledge on some current topic to
measure public opinion. Interviewee or people’s names and identity may not be asked. For
example when the general budget or the railway budget is presented in the parliament, people
representing radio go out and ask the general public about their opinion. You have to be very
inquisitive and hard working to be a radio interviewer with good general awareness and
communication skills.
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Unit 2, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Preparing the questions: how you prepare your questions will depend on two criteria:
a) Who am I interviewing? A politician, a colleague, the man in the street, an expert, a celebrity.
You will tailor your questions in quite a different way for each.
b) What is it for? A news bulletin, a current affairs programme, a general interest broadcast. The
format and the atmosphere should be adapted for the different types of programme.
Preparing your equipment: Make sure your recorder is working properly (microphone, cable,
tape, cassette, mini-disc, plug, batteries, etc) by doing a quick recording and listening back to it. If
the interview is to take place outdoors, take along a microphone wind-shield.
Interview Techniques
The non-directive interview: Begin with "Tell me about...” never use a question. This approach
leaves the interviewee free to say whatever he or she likes without limiting him or her to the
parameters of your own knowledge of the subject.
You can then go back over the most important points raised, "sum up" each along the lines of "you
were saying...” This method of interviewing is best for bringing out lots information, but it is the
most difficult to master.
The directed interview: Only use questions, more or less open ones. The interviewer knows
about what they are discussing, and sometimes even knows the answer he will get, but needs the
interviewee to confirm the information.
The semi-directed interview: Alternate the questions between those which guide the interview to
where you want to go and those which may invite interesting and enriching elaboration.
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Unit 2, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Radio Discussion
The radio discussion usually involves several participants and moderator. The discussions are
usually over issues and events that are of some importance to the common man. Radio
discussions could be on any subject: politics, medicine, science, sports, literature, polymer
engineering or any other topic. More specifically, it could be on:
"Introducing new fertilizers"
“The contemporary relevance of Jazz"
“The use of computers in the railway system".
"Public apathy to eve-teasing".
"Big-money in Cricket"
"Relevance of Media Autonomy", etc.
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Unit 2, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Through a discussion we can find out a solution to problems. In any discussion there are more
than 2 or 3 people and then ideas can be pooled to come to some conclusion. In radio, this
technique is used to let people have different points of view on matters of public concern.
Radio discussions are produced when there are social or economic issues which may be
controversial. So when different experts meet and discuss such issues, people understand
various points of view.
Generally, these discussions on radio are of longer duration-say 15 to 30 minutes. Two or three
people who are known for their views and a well-informed senior person or journalist who acts as
a moderator take part and discuss a particular topic for about 30 minutes. The moderator
conducts the discussion, introduces the topic and the participants and ensures that everyone gets
enough time to speak and all issues are discussed. The topic for a broadcast debate should be a
matter in which there is genuine public interest or concern. The aim is for the listener to hear
argument and counter-argument expressed in conversational form by people actually holding
those views with conviction. The broadcaster can then remain independent.
Having taken up a specific subject, radio discussions can debate, interpret, explain or even
investigate a certain issue or event. A radio discussion cannot and should not be fully scripted.
This of course, does not mean that the programme should proceed any old way. It has to be very
carefully structured by the moderator. First, the participants have to be chosen with great care.
They should be well informed on whatever subject they are called upon to speak and should be
willing to be disciplined in their presentation under the direction of the moderator. Indiscipline
participants can ruin the whole discussion by projecting their point-of-view at the expense of
others. This is a common phenomenon when politicians are asked to speak.
Some party loyalists look upon a discussion as an opportunity to 'give the party line' and 'floor
opponents'. Usually these people end up cutting a very sorry figure. A good participant listens,
awaits his turn and chooses to debate instead of argue. Similarly, a moderator should be non-
partisan. She/he should not be partisan (at least in his/her role as a moderator) and ensure that
everyone has an equal chance to speak.
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Unit 2, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
She/he should refrain from weighing heavily onto any one side. "Well, I must say I agree with
you...” or "I disagree with you completely...” are not the kind of statements that should figure at all.
Nobody is interested in knowing whether the moderator agrees or not. Like the interviewer in the
interview, a moderator is only a catalyst. It's the participants of the discussion who are more
important.
Research plays an important role in organizing a discussion. The producer of a discussion has not
only to study the subject being discussed but make an intelligent choice of participants. The
participants need not be 'experts' in the formal sense of the word but should have some reason for
being on the panel. Some students of mine once did a programme on the impact of advertising
when they interviewed a famous painter. It was evident in the programme that the painter did not
have anything special to say on the subject. When asked why they chose to have the painter,
they replied: "Because he is famous". There is no rule that says that famous people know
everything about anything. If the discussion has to have credibility, the participants must be
chosen with great care.
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Unit 2, Lesson 3 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
• The moderator must obtain clarification of any technical jargon or specialist language which
a contributor may use.
• The chairman has to watch for, and correct, alterations in the balance of voices that was
obtained before the programme began.
• It is rarely desirable for the chairman to attempt a summing-up.
• If a summary is required, it is often better to invite each speaker to have a ‘last word’.
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Unit 2, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 4
Radio News
Introduction
The public, in any society, gets most of its information on current affairs through the various media
of mass communication - such as the newspapers, magazines, radio, television, documentary
films and occasionally even through motion pictures. But the effectiveness of any single medium
for the dissemination of information is related to certain inherent characteristics of the medium.
For example, print medium can be effective only if people are literate. They should also have the
money to buy the dailies and magazines which are priced high in a developing country like India.
In the countries with high illiteracy rates and with low average family incomes, the print medium
has not served well as a means of mass communication. In the case of Television, the cost factor
is prohibitively high for the majority of the rural poor to buy a T.V. unless rural community centres
are activated and galvanised to help the poor towards T.V. viewing, T.V. will remain the monopoly
of the urbans. Nevertheless both T V. and Radio score over the print medium.
First, with receiving sets in about 60% of Indian urban homes, radio and television can reach a
majority of the urban listeners. Secondly, because of the existence of national network, radio and
television cut across regional barriers. Thirdly, in broadcasting news and in the coverage of special
events, radio and television have a distinct time advantage over the print media. Broadcasting
stations can provide up to the minute-news, almost as it happens, while there is a delay of several
hours before a newspaper can bring a news item to its readers. Moreover, it is axiomatic that in a
democratic country - like ours - citizens who participate in the political process should be well
informed.
What is News?
The best short definition of news is ‘that which is new, interesting and true’. ‘New’ in that it is an
account of events that the listener has not heard before – or an update of a story previously
broadcast. ‘Interesting’ in the sense of the material being relevant, or directly affecting the
audience in some way. ‘True’, because the story as told is factually correct.
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Unit 2, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
News pertains to some recent event which is a matter of interest to readers or listeners. Also,
news implies new or the latest information. News relates to information from North, East, West and
South. There are many definitions of the term "News". These Scripting for News definitions can be
summed up thus:
"News is anything that is timely and significant to readers in respect of their personal
affairs or their relation to society, and the best news is that which possesses the greatest
degree of this interest and significance for the greatest number."
News should be
Accurate
Timely
of interest to 'the public
Significant in relation to matters of interest to the greatest number of people and
Unbiased in its account or events or affairs.
Most of the definitions of "news" repeat that news is of interest to the public. The interest,
however, differs from person to person and place to place. The two important things about news
are its immediacy and authenticity.
Elements of News
News is built on some news values which you should know. These news values are the basis on
which journalists decide whether or not an event is news. There are millions of 'events' which take
place every day. Only those few events which have at least one of the following criteria can be
classified as news.
Impact: Events that affect people's live5 are classified as news. The event itself may involve only
a few people, but the consequence5 may be wide-ranging. For example, if the Parliament passes
a bill to raise taxes or if a researcher discovers a cure for a form of cancer, both are significant
events that have a wide ranging impact. Hence these events are to be classified as news.
Timeliness: Timeliness is a value common to almost all news stories. It refers to the recency of
an event. Without the elements of timeliness, most events cannot be considered news.
For example, a trial that occurred last year is not news; a trial that is going on presently is news.
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Unit 2, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Prominence: Prominent people, sometimes even when they do trivial things, make news. The
actions and speeches of the Prime Minister of India are important to us in India. But they will not
be news in USA or U.K. Wherever the P.M. takes a trip - even for purely personal and private
reasons - his movements are covered in great detail by the news media of India. Anything he does
is likely to have an impact on the country, and people are very interested in his actions.
Movie stars, famous politicians, advocates of social causes, sports personalities all these people
make news simply because they are well known.
Proximity: Events that occur close to home are more likely to be news than the same events that
occurred elsewhere. For example, a car accident killing two persons that happens on a road in our
town is more likely to be reported in the local news media than the same kind of accident which
occurs 1,000 miles away. We are interested in the things that happen around us.
Conflict: When people disagree, when they fight, when they have arguments - that is news,
particularly if one of the other news values, such as prominence, is involved. This is more on the
nature of controversy such as Narmada Project where the environmentalists are up in arms
against the construction of the Tehri Dam or the Ram Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid controversy.
The bizarre or unusual: A rare event is sometimes considered news. Like the sighting of a new
star or planet or a new form of bloodless surgery with the help of laser technology or the birth of a
three headed baby.
Current: Issues that have current interest often have news value and events surrounding those
issues can sometimes be considered news. For example, a conference on medical technology will
be of interest to medical practitioners, but not to journalists, unless the discussion topic were "The
Morality of Abortion". Then the news value of the conference will change and there will be a
number of journalists covering it.
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Unit 2, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Radio News
Among all the spoken word formats on radio, news is the most popular. News bulletins and news
programmes are broadcast every hour by radio stations. In India, only All India Radio is allowed to
broadcast news. Duration of news bulletins vary from 5 minute to 15 and 30 minutes. The longer
news bulletins have interviews, features, reviews and comments from experts. Events of global,
national, regional and local importance having general bearing on public interest are included in
the news bulletins broadcast at intervals. These are broadcast live. Since the time is limited, a
brief account of selected events/views is covered in the news. Radio news broadcasting can be a
challenge because it is format that has its own rules. First and for most, radio news scripts are
written for listeners, not readers or viewers.
Good presentation stems from an understanding of the medium and a basically caring attitude
towards the listener. The broadcaster at the microphone should consciously care whether or not
the listener can follow and understand what he or she is saying. If a newsreader or presenter is
prone to the destructive effect of studio nerves, it is best to ‘think outwards’, away from yourself.
This also helps to counter the complacency of overfamiliarity and is therefore more likely to
communicate meaning. Since it’s not possible to know the listener personally, adopt the
relationship of an acquaintance rather than that of a friend.
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Unit 2, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The news presenter is friendly, respectful, informative and helpful. You know you have something
to offer the listener, but this advantage is not used to exercise a knowledgeable superiority or by
assuming any special authority. The relationship is a horizontal one. We refer to ‘putting
something across’, not down or up. In informing the listener, we do not presume on the
relationship but work at it, always taking the trouble to make what is being said interesting – and
sound interesting – by ourselves being interested.
Of course, news reading tends to be more formal than a music programme, but there is room for a
variety of approaches. Whatever the overall style of the station, governed by its basic attitude to
the listener, it should be fairly consistent. While the sociologist may regard radio as a mass
medium, the person at the microphone sees it as an individual communication – talking to
someone. Thinking of the listener as one person, it’s better to say ‘If you’re travelling south today
…’ not ‘anyone travelling south …’ the presenter does not shout. If you are half a metre from the
microphone and the listener is a metre from the radio, the total distance between you is one and a
half metres. What is required is not volume but an ordinary clarity. Too much projection causes the
listener psychologically to ‘back off’ – it distances the relationship. Conversely, by dropping his or
her voice, the presenter adopts the confidential or intimate style more appropriate to the closeness
of late night listening.
The simplest way of getting the style, projection and speed right is to visualize the listener sitting in
the studio a little way beyond the microphone. The presenter is not alone reading, but is talking
with the listener.
The script must not come between the broadcaster and the listener. The listener should feel that
he or she is being spoken to – not read to. The script needs to be written for talking aloud and the
vocal inflections and stresses kept as natural as the broadcaster’s own speech.
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Unit 2, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
With the stress on the ‘you’, it is a very direct question; on the ‘me’, it is more personal to the
questioner; on the ‘do’, it is a practical rather than a theoretical matter; on the ‘that’, it is different
again. It’s meaning changes with the emphasis. In reading news such subtleties can be crucial.
Listening to newsreaders it is possible to discern a widespread belief that there is a universal news
style, where speed and urgency have priority over meaning, where the emphasis is either on every
word or scattered in a random fashion, but always on the last word in every sentence. Does it
stem from the journalist’s need for clarity when dictating copy over the phone? The fact is that a
single misplaced emphasis will cloud the meaning, possibly alter it.
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Unit 2, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The only way of achieving correct stressing is by fully understanding the implications as well as
the ‘face value’ of the material. This must be a conscious awareness during the preparatory read-
through. As has been rightly observed, ‘take care of the sense and the sounds will take care of
themselves’.
Quotation marks: Reading quotes is a minor art on its own. It is easy to sound as though the
comment is that of the newsreader, although the writing should avoid this construction.
Some examples: While an early bulletin described his condition as ‘comfortable’, by this afternoon
he was ‘weaker’. (This should be rewritten to attribute both quotes.)
The opposition leader described the statement as ‘a complete fabrication designed to mislead’.
He later argued that he had ‘never seen’ the witness.
To make someone else’s words stand out as separate from the newsreader’s own, there is a small
pause and a change in voice pitch and speed for the quote.
Lists and numbers: The reading of a list can create a problem. A table of sports results, stock
market shares or a shipping forecast – these can sound very dull. Again, the first job for the reader
is to understand the material, to take an interest in it, so as to communicate it. Second, the
inexperienced reader must listen to others, not to copy them, but to pick up the points in their style
that seem right to use. There are particular inflections in reading this material which reinforce the
information content. With football results, for example, the voice can indicate the result as it gives
the score. The overall style is not one of ‘reading’ – it is much more akin to ‘telling’.
Corrections: But what happens when a mistake is made? Continue and ignore it or go back and
correct it? When is an apology called for? It depends, of course, on the type of error. There is the
verbal slip which it is quite unnecessary to do anything about, a misplaced emphasis, a wrong
inflection, a word which comes out in an unintended way. The key question is: ‘Could the listener
have misconstrued my meaning?’ If so, it must be put right. If there is a persistent error, or a
refusal of a word to be pronounced at all, it is better to restart the whole sentence. Since ‘I’m sorry
I’ll read that again’ has become a cliché, something else might be preferred – ‘I’m sorry, I’ll repeat
that’ or ‘Let me take that again’. It is whatever comes most naturally to the unflustered reader. To
the broadcaster it can seem like the end of the world – it is not. Even if the listener has noticed it,
what is needed is simply a correction with as little fuss as possible.
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Unit 2, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Station style: Radio managers become paranoid over the matter of station style. They will regard
any misdemeanour on-air as a personal affront, especially if they instituted the rule that should
have been observed. It’s nevertheless true that a consistent station sound aids identification. It
calls for some discipline, particularly in relation to the frequently used phrases to do with time.
Is it 3.25 or 25 past 3? Is it 3.40 or 20 minutes to 4? Is it 1540? Dates: is it ‘May the eleventh’, ‘the
eleventh of May’ or ‘May eleven’? Frequencies, Find out the station policy and stick to it – even
when sending in an audition tape, use the form you hear on-air. A frequent rule of presentation is
‘never say goodbye’. It’s an invitation for the listener to respond and switch off. At the end of a
programme the presenter hands over to someone else – you (the station) never give the
impression of going away, even for a commercial break. Further, the presenter joins the listener,
not the other way round. ‘It’s good to be with you’ is a subtle form of service, whereas ‘Thank you
for joining me’ is more of an ego-trip for the presenter. The station should go to the bother of
reaching out to its listeners, not expect them to come to it.
A station like this might as well be automated. If there is time at programme breaks, trail an
upcoming programme – not the next one, since you are going to announce that in a moment. The
most usual style is to trail the ‘programme after next’, but do so in a compelling and attractive way
so as to retain the interest of the listener – perhaps by using an intriguing clip from the programme
If the trail is for something further ahead, then make this clear – ‘Now looking ahead to tomorrow
night …’. Continuity presentation requires a sensitivity to the way a programme ends, to leave just
the right pause, to continue with a smile in the voice or whatever is needed.
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Unit 2, Lesson 4 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Develop a precise sense of timing, the ability to talk rather than ‘waffle’, for exactly 15 seconds, or
a minute and a half. A good presenter knows it is not enough just to get the programmes on the
air, the primary concern is the person at the end of the system.
• Always have a pen or pencil with you for marking alterations, corrections, emphasis, etc.
• Don’t wear anything that could knock the table or rattle – bangles, cuff-links.
• Remove any staples or paper-clips from the script and separate the pages so that you can
deal with each page individually.
• Make sure you have the whole script, check that the pages are in the right order, the right
way up.
• Check the clock, cue light, headphones – for talkback and cue programme and the mic-cut
key if there is one.
• News should be read at 160–200 words per minute but slower for short-wave transmission.
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Unit 2, Lesson 5 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 5
Radio Feature and Documentary
Radio Feature- An Introduction
Developmental themes, historical perspective, customs, rituals and events of archival value are
normally presented in the formats of documentary and features. While documentaries rely on
factual records, features rely on imagery and emotional creativity with dramatics. So a radio
documentary is a programme based on real sounds and real people and their views and
experiences. Radio documentaries are based on the facts presented in an attractive manner or
dramatically. Radio documentaries are radio’s own creative format. The producer of a
documentary needs to be very creative to use human voice, script, music and sound effects very
effectively. Radio documentaries are also called radio features. Radio has created this format for
itself and is perhaps the most intricate format compared to all other formats.
Among the various radio formats, the format of Features and Documentaries is one of the most
fascinating ones. Radio broadcasters, over the decades, have made imaginative use of this format
and its potential for extending the range of the medium. The term 'feature' is used to indicate both
studio-based features and documentaries. There is a very thin line of separation between a radio
feature and a documentary. The feature is a radio programme, in which emphasis is laid on
imaginative presentation of facts, while documentaries are based on actualities.
The idea of radio documentary is essentially a take-off from documentary films developed by John
Grierson who is considered to be the father of film documentary movement. With the widespread
use of portable tape recorders and later with the introduction of ultra-portable tape recorders
(UPTRs), the radio documentary emerged as a popular radio format. While 'documentation' or
'actuality' is the mainstay of a radio documentary, the radio feature writer can take a lot of creative
freedom. There is also a hybrid form of feature which combines studio material with actuality.
There is scope in a feature for imaginative treatment of facts or even abstract concepts, while a
documentary would confine itself to facts. For example, an imaginary conversation in heaven
between Mahatma Gandhi and Pt. Nehru on what is happening in India today could form the
subject matter of a feature. According to Robert McLeish, the feature need not be wholly true in
the factual sense- it may include folk songs, poetry or drama to help illustrate its theme.
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Unit 2, Lesson 5 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Whereas the documentary must distinguish carefully between fact and fiction and have a structure
which separates fact from opinion, the feature programme does not have the same formal
constraints. Here all possible radio forms meet: poetry, music, voices, sounds – the weird and the
wonderful. They combine in an attempt to inform, to move, to entertain or to inspire the listener.
The ingredients may be interview or vox pop, drama or discussion, and the sum total can be fact
or fantasy. A former Head of BBC Features Department, Laurence Gilliam, described the feature
programme as ‘a combination of the authenticity of the talk with the dramatic force of a play, but
unlike the play, whose business is to create dramatic illusion for its own sake, the business of the
feature is to convince the listener of the truth of what it is saying, even though it is saying it in
dramatic form’.
The possible subject material for the feature ranges more widely than the documentary, since it
embraces even the abstract: a programme on the development of language, a celebration of
St Valentine’s Day, the characters of Dickens, a voyage among the stars. Even when all the
source material is authentic and factually correct, the strength of the feature lies more in its impact
on the imagination than in its intellectual truth. Intercut interviews with people who served in the
Colonial Service in India mixed with the appropriate sounds can paint a vivid picture of life as it
was under the British Raj – not the whole truth, not a carefully rounded and balanced documentary
report, it is too wide and complicated a matter to do that in so short a time, but a version of the
truth, an impression. The feature deals not so much with issues but with events, and at its centre
is the ancient art of telling a story.
Types of Features
There are mainly two types of features: narrative features and dramatized features.
Narrative Feature: In Narrative Features, the thread of narration runs through the entire
programme in which dialogues are avoided. It includes extracts from a variety of sources including
books, memoirs, reports, dispatches, library recording etc. Biographical features belong to this
genre. A narrative feature is possible on any subject in which the producer can access material
recorded or printed and create a word picture, through appropriate use of the accessed material
and suitable narration.
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Unit 2, Lesson 5 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Dramatized Feature: It has the characteristics of drama but unlike plays which deal with fiction, it
aims at imaginative presentation of the facts. It is undertaken when OB recording is difficult to
obtain or is not found necessary. To quote Elwyin Evans, a well-known feature producer of the
BBC "Invented dialogues in the mouth of invented characters sometimes express the essence of a
human situation better than any words one can dig out of real people". A dramatized feature is not
merely a talk script read by three or four voices but there is emphasis on dialogues and
presentation by drama voices.
Planning of Features
A radio feature, like any other radio programme, has to seize the attention of the audience. For
that, it is crucial that the feature has a strong introduction. The introduction would also depend on
the type of radio technique you adopt. Often sound and music, and not necessarily, the spoken-
word, that can make the beginning of a programme attractive and compelling. You have to use
your creativity and ingenuity to come out with very attractive openings of a radio feature.
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Unit 2, Lesson 5 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Research: At the stage of generating ideas and conceptualizing a programme, you as a producer
have to work on your own. You need to understand the subject and come to grips with it. Very
often, the information, data or document available may not be adequate; hence, research may be
required. Research helps you to cover the relevant and vital aspects or issues involved in their
entirety. It enables you to define the scope and sharpen the focus of the programme. Research
comprises both library research and field research. Library research is collecting material from
books, periodicals and report. Field research includes consulting persons connected with the
subject. In nanny cases, the producer has to double up as a researcher for collecting and collating
information from various sources.
Defining the Scope: A radio programme, as you are aware, essentially seeks to cater to the
needs of the listeners. You should ensure that the topic chosen is not only be relevant to the target
audience but also be comprehensible to them. For this, it is imperative that you yourself have
clarity in ideas about the subject and the treatment you propose to give to the subject. This means
defining the objective and the scope of such programmes. The scope of the programme is not a
detailed write-up. It is a statement of the objectives of the programme. It may contain at the most
about 200 words. It starts with a working title which can be changed later if you come across a
better and a catchier one. If the producer is planning a programme on consumer protection which
is a vast subject, outline the scope of the programme after studying the available material. It helps
in focussing on the core issues, emphasis to be made, facts to be brought out, and persons to be
interviewed etc. Such a systematic approach helps in avoiding waste of efforts.
Plan of Action: After defining the objective of the programme and working on its scope, you have
to chalk out a plan for production process. For the smooth production of a radio feature
documentary, you have to do a lot of paper work. You have to intimate the organization or
individuals concerned about the date and time and schedule of recordings so that the persons are
available at the time of his/her visit. Even if you speak to someone personally or over the
telephone, it is always advisable to write and confirm the appointments so that there are no last
minute glitches.
In radio, deadlines are of great importance. A programme like a feature is generally prepared well
in advance. To beat the deadlines, various actions involved in the production of the programme
need to be drawn out. You must outline a checklist of all these activities, including the sound
effects to be recorded, the interviews to be conducted and the information to be collected.
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Unit 2, Lesson 5 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
In the case of studio based features, you have to prepare the list of recordings available in the
library, material which is to be recorded in the studios, the artistes to be invited for voicing the
script, the date and time of recording etc. For O.B. recording you have to organize the O.B.
equipment, tapes, manpower and transport, dates of OBs, persons to be interviewed, dates of
recording of narration, editing etc.
Scripting of Features: The producer writes the script him/herself or engages an experienced
script writer to write it. The three cardinal principles of spoken-word namely simplicity, lucidity and
euphony are to be kept in view while writing the script. A feature is possible without a single OB
recording as 'inset'. If there is no recorded inset in the programme, the script has to be presented
by two or three drama voices. The script will then lay emphasis on dialogues. However, as we
have already mentioned, a feature script is not a talk script apportioned between two or three
voices to be read, each voice establishes a separate identity.
Production Techniques
The production techniques and sequence are the same as for a documentary – statement of
intent, planning, research, script, collection of material, assembly, final editing. In a documentary
the emphasis is on the collection of the factual material. Here, the work centres on the writing of
the script – a strong storyline, clear visual images, the unfolding of a sequence of events with the
skill of the dramatist, the handling of known facts but still with a feeling of suspense. Some of the
best programmes have come from the producer/writer who can hear the end result begin to come
together even while doing the research. Only through immersion in the subject comes the
qualification to present it to the rest of us. Once again, because of the multiplicity of treatment
possible and the indistinct definitions we use to describe them, an explanatory subtitle is often
desirable.
‘A personal account of …’
‘An examination of …’
‘The story of …’
‘Some aspects of …’
‘A composition for radio on …’
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Unit 2, Lesson 5 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Radio Documentary
A documentary programme is wholly fact, based on documentary evidence – written records,
attributable sources, contemporary interviews and the like. Its purpose is essentially to inform, to
present a story or situation with a total regard for honest, balanced reporting.
Very often, subjects for programmes present themselves as ideas which suddenly become
obvious. They are frequently to do with contemporary issues such as race relations, urban
development, pollution and the environment, or medical research. A programme might explore in
detail a single aspect of one of these subjects that broadly attempts to examine how society copes
with change. Other types of documentary deal with a single person, activity or event – the
discovery of radium, the building of the Concorde aeroplane, the life of a notable figure, or the
work of a particular factory, theatre group or school. Essentially these are all to do with people,
and while statistical and historical fact is important, the crucial element is the human one – to
underline motivation and help the listener understand the prevailing social climate, why certain
decisions were made and what makes people ‘tick’.
The main advantage of the documentary approach over that of the straightforward talk is that the
subject is made more interesting and brought alive by involving more people, more voices and a
greater range of treatment. It should entertain while it informs, and as it illuminates provoke further
thought and concern.
Types of Documentary
Radio Documentary is generally of two types; the informative and investigative.
Informative Documentary: It can be on any subject or theme, person, event, activity or institution
undertaken to widen the horizon of the listeners. It tries to involve the audience both emotionally
as well as intellectually by presenting a wide spectrum of information. The subject can be an
eminent freedom fighter, AIDS awareness, a research institute or the discovery of insulin etc.
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Unit 2, Lesson 5 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Where no overall duration is specified, simply an intent to cover a given subject, the discipline is to
contain the material within a stated aim without letting it become diffuse, spreading into other
areas. For this reason, it is an excellent practice for the producer to write a programme brief in
answer to the questions ‘What am I trying to achieve?’ ‘What do I want to leave with the listener?’
Later on, when deciding whether or not a particular item should be included, a decision is easier in
the light of the producer’s own statement of intent. This is not to say that programmes cannot
change their shape as the production proceeds, but a positive aim helps to prevent this happening
without the producer’s conscious knowledge and consent.
A final point on planning. A producer’s statement of intent should remain fixed, but how that aim is
met may change. Initial plans to reach the goals in a certain way may be altered, if in the course of
production an unforeseen but crucial line of enquiry opens up. The programme material itself will
influence decisions on content.
Research
Having written the basic planning notes, the producer must then make the programme within the
allocated resources of time, money, people, etc. Now the decision is whether to call on a specialist
writer or to write one’s own script. Depending on this will rest the matter of further research –
perhaps it is possible to obtain the services of a research assistant or reference library. The
producer who is working to a well-defined brief knows what is wanted and in asking the right
questions will save both time and money. The principle with documentary work is always as far as
possible to go back to sources, the people involved, eyewitnesses, the original documents and so
on.
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Unit 2, Lesson 5 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Structure
The main structural decision is whether or not to use a narrator. A linking, explanatory narrative is
obviously useful in driving the programme forward in a logical, informative way. This can provide
most of the statistical fact and the context of the views expressed, and also the names of various
speakers. A narrator can help a programme to cover a lot of ground in a short space of time, but
this is part of the danger, and may give the overall impression of being too efficient, too ‘clipped’ or
‘cold’. The narrator should link and not interrupt, and there will almost certainly not be any need to
use a narrative voice between every contribution. There are styles of documentary programme
which make no use at all of links, but each item flows naturally from one to the next, pointing
forward in an intelligible juxtaposition. This is not easy to do but can often be more atmospheric.
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Unit 2, Lesson 5 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Music
The current practice is to make little use of music in documentary programmes, perhaps through a
concern that it can too easily generate an atmosphere, which should more properly be created by
real-life voices and situations. However, producers will quickly recognize those subjects that lend
themselves to special treatment. A line from a popular song will sometimes provide a suitably
perceptive comment, and appropriate music can certainly assist the creation of the correct
historical perspective.
Compilation
Having planned, researched and structured the programme, written the basic script and collected
material, the producer must assemble it so as to meet the original brief within the time allotted.
First, a good opening. The start of the programme can gain attention by a strong piece of sound
actuality, or by a controversial or personal statement carefully selected from material that is to be
heard within the programme. It opens ‘cold’ without music or formal introduction preceded only by
a time check and station identification. An opening narration can outline a situation in broad factual
terms or it can ask questions to which the listener will want the answers. The object is to create
interest, even suspense, and involve the listener in the programme at the earliest possible time.
The remainder of the material may consist of interviews, narrator’s links, actuality, vox pop,
discussion and music.
Programme sequence
There are few rules when it comes to deciding the programme sequence. What matters is that the
end result makes sense – not simply to the producer, who is thoroughly immersed in the subject
and knows every nuance of what was left out as well as what was included, but to the listener who
is hearing it all for the first time. The most consistent fault with documentaries is not with their
content but in their structure. Examples of such problems are insufficient ‘signposting’, the reuse of
a voice heard sometime earlier without repeating the identification, or a change in the convention
regarding the narrator or interviewer. For the producer who is close to the material it is easy to
overlook a simple matter which may present a severe obstacle to the listener. The programme
maker must always be able to stand back and take an objectively detached view of the work as its
shape emerges.
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Unit 2, Lesson 5 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The ending
To end, there are limitless alternatives. Here are some suggestions:
1. To allow the narrator to sum up – useful in some types of schools programme or where the
material is so complex or the argument so interwoven that some form of clarifying résumé is
desirable.
2 To repeat some of the key statements using the voices of the people who made them.
3 To repeat a single phrase which appears to encapsulate the situation.
4 To speculate on the future with further questions.
5 To end with the same voice and actuality sounds as those used at the opening.
6 To do nothing, leaving it to the listener to form an assessment of the subject. This is often a wise
course to adopt if moral judgements are involved.
Contributors
The producer has a responsibility to those asked to take part. It is first to tell them as much as
possible of what the programme is about. Provide them with the overall context in which their
contribution is to be used. Second, tell them, prior to transmission, if their contribution has had to
be severely edited or omitted altogether. Third, whenever possible, let contributors know in
advance the day and time of transmission. These are simple courtesies and the reason for them is
obvious enough. Whether they receive a fee or not, contributors to documentary programmes
generally take the process extremely seriously, often researching additional material to make sure
their facts are right. They frequently put their professional or personal reputation at risk in
expressing a view or making a prediction. The producer must keep faith with them in keeping them
up to date as to how they will appear in the final result.
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Unit 2, Lesson 6 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 6
Radio Commentary
Introduction
This format is very popular in radio because big sporting and non-sport events are covered live in
this format. This format enables listeners to see things through their ears. A running commentary
is a description of an event that is broadcast on radio while event is taking place. If you can’t go to
see a football or cricket match in a stadium, you may listen it on radio. But for that you have to be
at home or at some place where there is a television. But if you are travelling or outside, then you
may listen to radio for a running commentary of the match.
In commentary commentator would give you all the details of the match such as the number of
players, the score, and position of the players in the field etc. So by listening to the running
commentary, you get a feeling of being in the stadium and watching the match. Best commentator
needs good communication skills, a good voice and knowledge about what is going on. Running
commentaries on radio can be on various sports events or on ceremonial occasions like the
Republic Day Parade or events like festivals, melas, rath yatras, swearing in ceremony of
ministers, last journey (funeral procession) of national leaders etc. Today radio running
commentaries especially of cricket and other sports can be heard on your mobile phones.
Radio has a marvellous facility for creating pictures in the listener’s mind. It is more flexible than
television in that it is possible to isolate a tiny detail without waiting for the camera to ‘zoom in’ and
it can create a breadth of vision much larger than the dimensions of a glass screen. The listener
does more than simply eavesdrop on an event; radio, more easily than television or video, can
convey the impression of actual participation. The aim of the radio commentator is therefore to
recreate in the listener’s mind not simply a picture but a total impression of the occasion.
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Unit 2, Lesson 6 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
In describing a scene the commentator should have in mind ‘a blind friend who couldn’t be there’.
It is important to remember the obvious fact that the listener cannot see. Without this, it is easy to
slip into the situation of simply chatting about the event to ‘someone beside you’.
The listener should be regarded as a friend because this implies a real concern to communicate
accurately and fully. The commentator must use more than his or her eyes and convey information
through all the senses, so as to heighten the feeling of participation by the listener. Thus, for
example, temperature, the proximity of people and things, or the sense of smell are important
factors in the overall impression. Smell is particularly evocative – the scent of newly mown grass,
smoke from a fire, the aroma inside a fruit market or the timeless mustiness of an old building.
Combine this with the appropriate style of delivery, and the sounds of the place itself, and you are
on the way to creating a powerful set of pictures.
Preparation
Not only must the commentator be certain of the field of vision and whether the sun is likely to be
in your eyes, but it is important to spend time obtaining essential facts about the event itself. For
example, in preparing for a ceremonial occasion, research:
1 The official programme of events with details of timing, etc.
2 The background of the people taking part, their titles, medals and decorations, position, relevant
history, military uniforms, regalia or other clothing, personal anecdotes – for the unseen as well as
the seen, e.g. organizers, bandmasters, security people, caretakers, etc.
3 The history of where it’s taking place, the buildings and streets, and their architectural detail.
4 The names of the flowers used for decoration, the trees, flags, badges, mottoes and symbols in
the area. The names of any horses or make of vehicles being used.
5 The titles of music to be played or sung, and any special association it may have with the people
and the place.
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Unit 2, Lesson 6 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
It may be necessary to devise some system of hand signals or other means of communication with
technical staff, and on a large OB whether all commentators will get combined or individual
‘talkback’ on their headphones, etc. These matters are the ‘safety nets’ which enable the
commentators to fulfil their role with a proper degree of confidence. As with all outside broadcasts,
the base studio should ensure that the commentary output is recorded.
Sport
First and foremost, the sports commentator must know his or her sport and have detailed
knowledge of the particular event. What was the sequence that led up to this event? What is its
significance in the overall contest? Who are the participants and what is their history? The
possession of this background information is elementary, but what is not so obvious is how to use
it. The tendency is to give it all out at the beginning in the form of an encyclopaedic but fairly
indigestible introduction. Certainly, the basic facts must be provided at the outset, but a much
better way of using background detail is as the game, race or tournament itself proceeds, at an
appropriate moment or during a pause in the action. This way, the commentator sounds much
more as part of what is going on instead of being a rather superior observer.
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Unit 2, Lesson 6 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
The description continues from the general to the particular noting, as appropriate, the weather,
the overall impression of lighting, the mood of the crowd, the colour content of the scene and what
is about to happen.
The ending
Running to time is helped by having a stopwatch synchronized with the studio clock. This will
provide for an accurately timed hand back, but if open-ended, the cue back to the studio is simply
given at the conclusion of the event.
It is all too easy after the excitement of what has been happening to create a sense of anti-climax.
Even though the event is over and the crowds are filtering away, the commentary should maintain
the spirit of the event itself, perhaps with a brief summary or with a mention of the next similar
occasion.
Another technique is radio’s equivalent of the television wide-angle shot. The commentator ‘pulls
back’ from the detail of the scene, concluding as at the beginning with a general impression of the
whole picture before ending with a positive and previously agreed form of words which indicates a
return to the studio.
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Unit 2, Lesson 6 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
• Keep going if you can: A sense of shock is understandable, but don’t be so easily
deterred by something unusual that you hand back to the studio. Even if your commentary
is not broadcast ‘live’ it could be crucial for later news coverage.
There’s no need to be ashamed of your own emotions. You are a human being too and
if you are horrified or frightened by what is happening, say so. Your own reaction will be
part of conveying that to your listener. It’s one thing to be professional, objective and
dispassionate at a planned event, it is quite another to remain so during a sudden
emergency.
Don’t put your own life, or the lives of others, in unnecessary danger: You may from
the best of motives believe that ‘the show must go on’, but few organizations will thank you
for the kind of heroics which result in your death. If you are in a building which is on fire, say
so and leave. If the bullets are flying or riot gas is being used in a demonstration, take
cover. You can then say what’s happening and work out the best vantage point from which
to continue.`
Don’t dwell on individual anguish or grief: Keep a reasonably ‘wide angle’ and put what
is happening in context. Remember the likelihood that people listening will have relatives or
friends at the event.
Let the sounds speak for themselves: Don’t feel you have to keep talking, there is much
value in letting your listener hear the actuality – gunfire, explosions, crowd noise, shouts
and screams.
Don’t jump too swiftly to conclusions as to causes and responsibility: Leave that to a
later perspective. Stick with observable events, relay the facts as you see them.
Above all, arrive at a station policy for this sort of coverage well before any such event
takes place. Get the subject on the agenda in order to agree emergency procedures.
Commentator’s Microphone
• The lip microphone: The microphone has excellent noise-cancellation properties, which
makes it ideal for commentary situations.
• The mouth guard is held against the broadcaster’s lip while the microphone is in use.
• There is a bass cut in the handle to compensate for the bass lift that results from working
close to a ribbon microphone.
Lip microphone
46
Unit 2, Lesson 7 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 7
Radio Play/Drama
Introduction
The radio medium has a long and distinguished history of turning thoughts, words and actions into
satisfying pictures within the listener’s mind by using the techniques of drama. But there is no
need for the producer to think only in terms of the Shakespeare play – the principles of radio
drama apply to the well-made commercial, a programme trail, dramatized reading, five-minute
serial or two-minute teaching point in a programme for schools. The size and scope of the pictures
created are limited only by the minds that devise and interpret them.
The aim with all dramatic writing is for the original ideas to be recreated in the listener’s mind and
since the end result occurs purely within the imagination, there are few limitations of size, reality,
place, mood, time or speed of transition. Unlike the visual arts, where the scenery is provided
directly, the listener to radio supplies personal mental images in response to the information given.
If the ‘signposts’ are too few or of the wrong kind, the listener becomes disorientated and cannot
follow what is happening. If there are too many, the result is likely to be obvious, ‘cheesy’ and
‘corny’. Neither will satisfy. The writer must therefore be especially sensitive to how the audience
is likely to react – and since the individual images may stem largely from personal experience, of
which the writer of course knows nothing, this is not easy. But it is the ageless art of the storyteller
– saying enough to allow listeners to follow the thread but not so much that they do not want to
know what is to happen next or cannot make their own contribution.
Drama is derived from the Greek word "dron", which means "to do": One of the important
constituents of drama is therefore action. Action in drama comprises both movement on stage
and movement of a story line from beginning to end. A Radio drama or a radio play is like any
other play staged in a theatre or a hall.
The only difference is that while a stage play has actors, stage, sets, curtains, properties
movement and live action. A radio play has only 3 components. They are the human voice, music
and sound effects. Radio of course uses its greatest strength for producing radio plays and that is
the power of imagination and suggestively. For example, if you want to have a scene in a radio
play of a north Indian marriage, you don’t have all physical arrangements made.
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Unit 2, Lesson 7 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
All that you have to do is to use a bright tune on the shehnai and excited voices of people to
create in a listeners’ imagination- a wedding scene. The voice of the actors, music and sound
effects can create any situation in a radio play. Drama is about conflict and resolution,
relationships and feelings and people being motivated by them, both driving and driven by events.
The writer must have a thorough understanding of the medium and the production process, while
the producer needs a firm grasp of the writing requirements.
Assuming that the writer is starting from scratch and not adapting an existing work, what is the
broad intention? Is it to make people laugh, to comment on or explain a contemporary situation, to
convey a message, to tell a story, to entertain? How can the writer best enable the listener to
‘connect’ with this intention? Is it by identifying with one of the characters? Should the basic
situation be one with which the listener can easily relate?
The second point at this initial stage is to know whether the play has to be written within certain
technical or cost limitations. To do something simple and well is preferable to failing with
something complicated.
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Unit 2, Lesson 7 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Of course, there may be intriguing complications, mystery and subplots, twists and surprises at
several levels. This an essential aspect of the multi-strand soap opera, where the listener is invited
to relate to several different characters. In an absorbing story there will be small personal
struggles to be resolved as well as the big issues. However, the essence of the thing is to find out
‘what happens in the end’. Who committed the crime? Were the lovers reunited? Did the cavalry
arrive in time? The element that tends to interest us most is the resolution of conflict and since this
comes towards the end, there should be no problem of maintaining interest once into the ‘rising
action’ of the play. And in the final scene it is not necessary to tie up all the loose ends – to dot
every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ in a neat and tidy conclusion. Life seldom works that way. It is often
better to have something unsaid, leaving the listener still with a question, an issue or a motivation.
Plot: This is the story with lots of twists and turns. The more the merrier. Most listeners like good
exciting plots. Without a good plot you're eating a soufflé that has gone flat. You need plot, more
plots and more plot. Run at least two story lines. Two sub plots would be interesting. Keep the
plots linked logically within the same play. The best system is a major and a minor storyline linked
to one another. Get them to come together at the end.
Characterization: characterization is a key ingredient and many writes find it important to sketch
out a pen portrait of each character. This helps to stabilize them as people and it’s easier to give
convincing dialogue. Who is the hero or heroine? What does he or she want? And why should I
care?
Conflict: Conflict in drama doesn’t always have to be a struggle between two people
(melodrama). Conflict can consist of a person’s struggle to overcome a stomach ache as in radio
commercials (resolution is offered by the sponsor’s pain remedy).
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Unit 2, Lesson 7 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Action: Because radio is not a visual medium, action must be portrayed through sound. (ex.
Boxing match – dramatized on radio with the ringing of the bell, roar of the crowd, smacking of
gloves with a description of the fight provided by the dialogue).
Speech
Dialogue: Spoken words are very important in radio drama as it provides most of the information
and meaning in a scene and they describe most of the action. Limitations of radio dialogue are
action, multiple characters in a single scene.
Tone: vocal inflexion can show against the lexical meaning of the dialogue (satire, mockery) or
can emphasize it. Tone can also include
Sound Effects: When the curtain rises on a theatre stage the scenery is immediately obvious and
the audience is given all the contextual information it requires for the play to start. So it is with
radio, except that to achieve an unambiguous impact the sounds must be refined and simplified to
those few which really carry the message. The equivalent of the theatre’s ‘backdrop’ are those
sounds which run throughout a scene – for example, rain, conversation at a party, traffic noise or
the sounds of battle. These are most likely to be pre-recorded and reproduced from a CD. The
‘incidental furniture’ and ‘props’ are those effects which are specially placed to suit the action – for
instance, a ringing telephone, pouring a drink, closing a door or firing a gun. Such sounds are best
made in the studio at the time of the appropriate dialogue, if possible by the actors themselves –
for example, lighting a cigarette or taking a drink – but by someone else if hands are not free due
to their holding a script.
Some other sounds which have become immediately understood are:
1 Passage of time – clock ticking.
2 Night time – owl hooting.
3 On the coast – seagulls and seawash.
4 On board sailing ship – creaking of ropes.
5 Early morning – cock crowing.
6 Urban night time – distant clock chime, dog barking.
7 Out of doors, rural – birdsong.
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Unit 2, Lesson 7 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Music
An ally to the resourceful producer, music can add greatly to the radio play. However, if it is
overused or badly chosen, it becomes only an irritating distraction. Avoiding the obvious or
overfamiliar, the producer must decide in which of its various roles music is to be used:
1 As a ‘leitmotif’ to create an overall style: Opening and closing music plus its use within the
play as links between some of the scenes will provide thematic continuity. The extracts are likely
to be the same piece of music, or different passages from the same work, throughout.
2 Music chosen simply to create mood and establish the atmosphere of a scene. Whether it is
‘haunted house’ music or ‘a day at the races’, music should be chosen that is not so well known
that it arouses in the listener personally preconceived ideas and associations. In this respect it
pays the producer to cultivate an awareness of the more unfamiliar works in the various production
‘mood music’ libraries, some of which is non-copyright.
3 Reiterative or relentless music can be used to mark the passage of time, thus heightening the
sense of passing hours or seconds. Weariness or monotony is economically reinforced.
Silence: use of silence exemplifies the “invisibility” of radio - reinforces the “enigma code”,
creating suspense, ambiguity, tension, reflection.
Rhythm /Speed: both within the line, and within the dialogue as a whole - defining the pace of the
scene.
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Unit 2, Lesson 8 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 8
Radio Ads (Social and Commercial)
Introduction
Radio commercials are an old but still popular mode of advertising. And the format hasn't changed
much since radio advertising's inception. The ads should first catch the listener's attention, and
then quickly list the benefits of the product. The modern market encourages entertaining
advertisements with funny bits between speakers. But often that detracts from the actual product,
and is rarely funny to a majority of people. As a beginner, start with a straightforward approach.
Radio commercial/advertisements vary in format, but one of the most common is a dialogue
between consumers sharing information about the product you are trying to sell. This is effective
because it creates the facade of word-of-mouth advertising, which is the one of the most effective
versions, and because it can be entertaining as well as informative.
Definition of Advertising
According to S.S. Dunn and A.M. Barban, “Advertising is defined as “Paid, non-personal
communication through various media by business firms, non-profit organizations and individuals
who are in some way identified in the advertising message and who hope to inform or persuade
members of a particular audience.”
Advertising is not restricted to products but encompasses services and ideas also. It is also
evident that the two basic functions of advertisement are to inform and to persuade. Thus
advertising leads to promotion of sales, change of attitude and arousal of awareness.
Advertising Campaign
There are many types of advertising campaign. But basically any campaign strategy has to
address itself to the following six questions:
Who is advertising?
For whom is the advertisement intended?
What is being advertised?
What is the purpose of the advertising campaign?
Which geographic area does it cater to
Which medium is to be used?
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Unit 2, Lesson 8 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Radio Advertising
The purpose of an advertisement is to sell things. The radio advertiser must use a good deal of
skill in motivating a target audience to a specific action.
The effective advertisement will:
interest
inform
involve
motivate
Direct.
Elements to be considered before making a commercial
The target audience – for whom is this message primarily intended?
The product or service – what is the specific quality to be promoted?
The writing – what content and style will be appropriate?
The voice or voices – who will best reinforce the style?
The background – is music or sound effects needed?
Radio Spot
Advertisements of 5 to 60 seconds at the beginning or end of a programme or between film
songs are known as "spots".
Advertisements during fixed important programmes are known as "fixed spots".
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Unit 2, Lesson 8 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Sponsored Programmes
Purpose of Advertising
The basic purposes of advertising messages (commercial/PSA) are to inform, to persuade
and to remind.
All advertising messages have one or two or all these elements embodied in them.
The objectives of the message are to stimulate (demand (commercial product) and
awareness (PSA), to promote a brand/idea and to cause direct or indirect action to be
taken by the consumer (buy/motivate to act).
Advertising Appeal
Any strategy for advertising a product or an idea has to have
Appeal strategy: Advertisement, if it has to have an appeal should engage the attention of the
consumer create interest in the idea or message promote his desire or awareness and motivate
him/to take action. For Instance-
Don't just practise, Preach". . . (Pause) "Tell someone who is less aware, less experienced,
less educated how simple it is to plan a family"
"Your daughter will never be as good as a son" (Pause). . . "Unless you give her a chance"
Humour strategy: Humour as a strategy enhances audience's attention, at least when they
listen to the advertisement for the first few times. The advertiser who prefers humour as a
creative strategy should bear in mind the following points:
Humorous messages attract attention.
They may detrimentally affect comprehension
Humour increases persuasion
Humour tends to enhance source credibility
A humorous context may increase liking for the source and create a positive mood.
54
Unit 2, Lesson 8 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
In the family planning ads, the comparison between a planned family household to the
disadvantage of the latter is more effective than a slogan that says "a small family is a
happy, one".
1. Know your audience: Ask your client what sort of customer they want to target. Commercial
selling yachts will definitely be different than a commercial promoting special at the local sports
bar.
2. Formulate your idea: Bounce some creative ideas of other writers or with the client. The
commercial will be short, so pick one idea and stick to it.
3. Begin your first draft: Radio ads are fifteen, thirty or sixty seconds in length. Find out which,
and then write the advertisement.
4. Insert the business name into the draft: Do this twice for a fifteen second commercial, three
times for thirty second commercials and at least four times for a sixty second commercial.
5. Read the draft out loud with a stopwatch: Read at an even, realistic pace, and time how long
the script runs. Add or delete words to get the commercial to the right length. Do not try to read
faster, just read it as you would any script.
55
Unit 2, Lesson 8 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
6. Let the script sit for a while, take a break, and then return to it with fresh eyes: Edit it as
necessary, but remember to time it again once you arc done.
Radio Jingles
This format of short durations a market driver, to inform the listeners about a product or service. It
may be a public service or a commercial ad also. A radio jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an
engaging melody. Some tips for effective jingle writing:
Know the product: What are you trying to sell? A service? A product? A company? What does it
do, provide or offer? Familiarize yourself with its benefits, capabilities, and distinction. What makes
it superior to others of its kind?
Drill the name: The jingle must mention and repeat the specific name of the product or company
and what it does. You want to ensure that the consumer remembers the name in conjunction with
the type of product. If they repeat it, the’ are more likely to buy it. With a good jingle, the consumer
may actually begin to call all products of that type by the trade name.
Set your slogan to a tune: There is much evidence to show that we remember tunes better than
mere words. That’s why a jingle is generally much easier to remember than just a slogan.
56
Unit 2, Lesson 9 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Lesson 9
Phone-in and Radio Bridge
Introduction
In this age of technological development, phone-in is the most important format. This is called
interactive programming where the listener and the presenter talk to each other. Their talk goes on
air instantly. The listener has the satisfaction that his voice is being listened to and replied
immediately. Other listeners also listen to him. Such presentations need advance publicity so that
the listeners get ready to air their grievances/queries or requests.
They dial up the announced telephone number at a stipulated time and get their problems
discussed with experts in the studio. Initially this format was introduced for playing the listeners’
request based film songs. Now it is being used for health related programmes, rural broadcasts,
complaints against the government/ administrative machinery etc.
Phone-In Programme
In phone programme the caller is connected via a telephone hybrid, which connects the telephone
line to the audio console through impedance matching, or more modern through digital signal
processing, which can improve the perceived audio quality of the call.
Telephone calls are often organized through a system which also provides broadcast automation,
with an administrative assistant answering calls and entering caller information on a personal
computer, which also displays on the radio presenter's screen.
Types of Phone-in
The open line – conversation with the studio presenter.
The specific subject – expert advice on a chosen topic.
Consumer affairs – a series providing ‘action’ advice on detailed cases.
Personal counselling – problems discussed for the individual rather than the audience.
57
Unit 2, Lesson 9 Basics of Radio Programming & Production
Radio Bridge
Radio Bridge means connecting different stations throughout the length and breadth of the
country.
In this technique, for example, an expert sitting at Chennai can interact with the common
man in the studio in Delhi.
This format was first used by All India Radio during elections.
58
Characteristics of Radio News as against
news in other media
HISTORY:
Radio broadcasting in India began as a private venture in 1923 and 1924,
when three radio clubs were established in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
The Radio Club broadcast the first radio programme in India in June 1923.
The daily broadcasts of 2 to 3 hours consisted mainly of music and talks.
These stations had to close down in 1927 for lack of sufficient financial
support.
It was followed by the setting up a Broadcasting Service that began
broadcasting in India in July 1927 on an experimental basis at Bombay and a
month later at Calcutta under an agreement between the Government of
India and a private company called the Indian Broadcasting Company Ltd.
Faced with a widespread public outcry against the closure of the IBC, the
Government acquired its assets and constituted the Indian Broadcasting
Service under the Department of Labour and Industries.
Since then, broadcasting in India has remained under Government control.
In 1936, a radio station was commissioned in Delhi.
In the same year, the Indian Broadcasting Service was renamed “All India
Radio”
and a new signature tune was added.
The Delhi station became the nucleus of broadcasting at the national level.
All India Radio has come a long way since June1936.
When India became Independent, the AIR network had only six stations at
Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lucknow and Tiruchirapalli with 18
transmitters - six on the medium wave and the remaining on short wave,
Radio listening on medium wave was confined to the urban elite of these
cities.
After Independence, the broadcast scenario has dramatically changed with
198 broadcasting centers, including 74 local radio stations, covering more than
97.3 per cent of the country's population.
Mostly the broadcasting centers are full-fledged stations with a network of
medium wave, short wave and FM transmission.
RADIO - MASS COMMUNICATION
MEDIUM
DEFINE:
Radio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves
with frequencies below those of visible light.
In electronics, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of
high frequency periodic waveform, called the carrier signal, with respect to a
modulating signal.
This is done in a similar fashion as a musician may modulate the tone from a
musical instrument by varying its volume, timing and pitch.
The three key parameters of a periodic waveform are its amplitude ("volume"),
its phase ("timing") and its frequency ("pitch"), all of which can be modified
in accordance with a low frequency signal to obtain the modulated signal.
During the 1930s, radio was considered an intimate and credible medium.
The public used it as a news source and expected it to provide factual
information.
Radio was the first truly mass medium of communication, reaching millions of people
instantly and altering social attitudes, family relationships, and how people related to
their environment.
Radio is widely used mass communication medium and has a great potentiality in
dissemination of information as radio signals cover almost entire population.
More than 190 radio stations are there across the country.
In present scenario, about 98.1 percent of the population is reached by the radio.
Radio being a convenient form of entertainment caters to a large audience.
Radio is effective not only in informing the people but also in creating awareness
regarding many social issues and need for social reformation, developing interest and
initiating action.
Radio is an attractive medium among the various mass communication media because of
its special characteristics.
It continues to be as relevant and potent as it was in the early years despite the emergence
of more glamorous media.
However, over a period of time, the media scene has changed drastically.
Television with its inherent strength of audio-visual component has captured the
imagination of the people.
The advent of satellite television, the Internet and the convergence of technology have
added further dimensions in media utilization patterns.
Radio is still the cheap alternative to television, but is no longer the poor medium in
advertising terms.
It can serve as a standalone medium of information dissemination or a support
medium for curricular learning, jointly with print material or with fieldwork.
It has also prospered as an advertising medium for reaching local audiences.
As a vehicle of information for masses it is still the fastest medium.
One medium is not displaced by another - each medium reinvents itself in the context
of changes in the communication environment.
In the changed media scenario, radio is reorienting itself with more innovative
programmes and formats.
RADIO BROADCASTING IN INDIA
NEW SERVICES:
The News Services Division of AIR through its central and regional news
bulletins and its current affairs, commentaries and discussions, provides accurate,
objective, speedy and comprehensive coverage of news to listeners at home and
abroad.
AIR now broadcasts a total of 239 news bulletins a day, with duration of 32 hours
17minutes.
Of these, 67 are Central bulletins broadcast from Delhi in 19 languages, with a
daily duration of 10 hours 3 minutes; 57 external bulletins (from Delhi) broadcast
in 24 languages for a duration of 7 hours 14 minutes and 15 regional bulletins
from 34 regional centers (including the Pradeshik desk in Delhi) broadcast in 22
languages and 34 tribal dialects with a total duration of 15 hours every day.
The major sources of news for AIR are its correspondents at home and
abroad, the news agencies and the monitoring services, AIR has a total of 206
correspondents, Of these, 111 are part-time.
EXTERNAL SERVICES:
AIR made its first broadcast to listeners outside India on October 1, 1939.
Today the External Services of AIR broadcast in 25 languages for about 50 hours
daily round-the-clock, reaching listeners in widely scattered areas of the world.
VIVIDH BHARATI:
A self-contained service of popular entertainment, known as Vividh Bharati was
started in October 1957 to meet the growing demand for popular music and light
features.
Commercial advertising was introduced on AIR in November, 1967, from the
Bombay-Nagpur channel of Vividh-Bharati on an experimental basis.
Vividh Bharati, an alternative national service of All India Radio, now forms a
part of the Central Sales Unit of the Commercial Broadcasting Service.
It has also started originating programmes.
The total duration of broadcasts of the Vividh Bharati service is now 12 hours 45
minutes, on week days and 13 hours 20 minutes on Sundays and holidays.
The network covers 29 full-fledged centers and seven partial centers.
Vividh Bharati is also radiated through two powerful short-wave transmitters
from Delhi, Bombay and Madras.
NATIONAL PROGRAMME:
Started in July 1952, the weekly National Programme of Music provides an
opportunity to listeners to hear well-known exponents of Hindustani and
Karnataka music.
It has helped in a better understanding of the two systems prevalent in the North
and
the South.
At suitable intervals, programmes based on recordings of old masters are
also featured in this programme.
The medium of the drama is utilized for popularizing the Economic Programme.
A special series of short plays on various themes including the Economic
Programme, Family Planning, Dowry and anti Casteism are regularly broadcast.
Nearly 4,000 plays are broadcast from the different stations of AIR annually on an
average.
The most significant achievement of AIR in the field of Radio drama is its National
Programme of Plays.
The National Programme of Features attempts to mirror the progress made in
different spheres of development in the country and to project various aspects of
its social and cultural life.
The original broadcast of this feature might be in Hindi or English, but these are
invariably translated into all regional languages and presented from the regional
stations.
YUVA-VANI:
Programmes for the youth in Yuva Vani are broadcast from Calcutta, Delhi, Hyderabad,
Jammu, Patna and Srinagar stations.
This service provides a forum to the youth between the ages of l5 and 25 years, who
present their viewpoint by participating in a wide range of programmes-talks,
discussions interviews, plays, features and music.
A youth news bulletin is also broadcast by the youth themselves.
WOMEN PROGRAMMES:
Women programme of All India Radio covers subjects related to socio- economic
development of women, health & family welfare, Food and nutrition, scientific home
management, women entrepreneurship, education including adult education, women
empowerment, gender issues etc.
Special programmes focusing on the status and importance of the girl child are broadcast
throughout the year to create social awareness to welcome the girl child’s birth.
These programmes also aim at creating social awareness about the rights and
privileges of women through the propagation of legal literacy.
REGIONAL STATIONS:
The Regional Stations in different States form the middle tier of broadcasting.
This also includes the North-eastern service at Shillong which disseminates the
vibrant and radiant cultural heritage of the north-eastern region of the country.
LOCAL RADIO:
It is comparatively a new concept of broadcasting in India.
Each of these local radio stations serving a small area provides utility services
and reaches right into the heart of the community, What distinguishes local
radio from the regional network is its down to earth, intimate and
uninhibited approach.
The programmes of the local radio are area specific.
They are flexible and spontaneous enough to enable the station to function
as the
mouth piece of the local community.
COMMUNITY RADIO:
Community Radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio
broadcasting beyond commercial and public service.
Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of
interest.
They broadcast content that is popular to a local/specific audience but
which may often be overlooked by commercial or mass-media broadcasters.
Community Radio Stations are operated, owned, and driven by the
communities they serve.
Community radio is not-for profit and provides a mechanism for facilitating
individuals, groups, and communities to tell their own diverse stories, to
share experiences, and in a media rich world to become active creators and
contributors of media.
These stations are expected to produce programmes as far as possible in the olcal
language or dialect.
Although the stress is on developmental programmes, entertainment is not
banned onthese radio stations.
FIRST COMMUNITY RADIO STATION:
“Anna FM” is India’s first campus community radio operating from Anna
University in Chennai, Tamilnadu.
This was launched on 1 February 2004.
On 16 November 2006, the government of India notified new Community Radio
Guidelines which permit NGOs and other civil society organizations to own
and operate community radio stations.
CAMPUS RADIO STATION:
Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a
college,
university or other educational institution.
Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers
from the wider community in which the station is based.
Sometimes campus stations are operated for the purpose of training
professional radio personnel, sometimes with the aim of broadcasting
educational programming, while other stations exist to provide an
alternative to commercial or government broadcasters.
INTERNET RADIO:
Internet radio has been around since the late 1990s.
Traditional radio broadcasters have used the Internet to simulcast their programming.
Internet radio is undergoing a revolution that will expand its reach from your desktop
computer to access broadcasts anywhere, anytime, and expand its programming from
traditional broadcasters to individuals, organizations and government.
Radio broadcasting began in the early ‘20s, but it wasn’t until the introduction of the
transistor radio in 1954 that radio became available in mobile situations.
Internet radio is in much the same place.
Until the 21st century, the only way to obtain radio broadcasts over the Internet was
through your PC.
That will soon change, as wireless connectivity will feed Internet broadcasts to car
radios, PDAs and cell phones.
The next generation of wireless devices will greatly expand the reach and
convenience of Internet radio.
In comparison to traditional radio, Internet radio is not limited to audio.
An Internet radio broadcast can be accompanied by photos or graphics, text
and links, as well as interactivity, such as message boards and chat rooms.
This advancement allows a listener to do more than listen.
Most of the radio channels in India have an online channel as well.
PRIVATE FM RADIO STATIONS:
In India, All India Radio - the public service broadcaster, had monopoly on
Radio Broadcast, till a couple of years back.
In May 2000, the Government of India opened the Sector for participation by
the private FM broadcasters and offered 108 frequencies in 40 cities for open
tender bidding.
At present, 21 private FM stations are on the air in 12 cities.
These are private or commercial radio stations which have been given a
license to broadcast programmes on radio.
Most of them cater to the younger generation by providing a mix of music
and fun.
SATELLITE RADIO STATION:
Satellite Radio or Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS) is a subscriber based
radio service that is broadcast directly from satellites.
Subscribers will be able to receive up to100 radio channels featuring Compact
Disk digital quality music, news, weather, sports. talk radio and other
entertainment channels.
BASIC COMPONENTS OF SATELLITE RADIO:
SATELLITES
GROUND REPEATERS
RADIO RECEIVERS
SOME SATELLITE RADIO STATIONS:
“XM Satellite Radio” launched commercial service in limited areas of the
United States on September 25, 2001.
“Sirius Satellite Radio” is now operational in the United States, with its
official launch on July 1, 2002.
“World Space” is already broadcasting in Africa and Asia, and will begin
broadcasting in South America sometime soon.
ON THE BASIS OF TRANSMISSION TECHNOLOGY: AM, SW, FM,
WEB:
TRANSMISSION:
Transmission is the act or process of sending a message, picture, or other
information from one location to one or more other locations by means of
radio waves, electrical signals, light signals, etc.
In radio electronics and broadcasting, a transmitter usually has a power
supply, an oscillator, a modulator, and amplifiers for audio frequency (AF)
and radio frequency (RF).
The modulator is the device which modulates the signal information onto the
carrier frequency, which is then broadcast.
AMPLITUDE MODULATION
UNIT 2
UNIT 2
PROGRAMME FORMATS
RADIO TALK:
The radio talk is probably the oldest format on radio.
There has been a tradition in India and Britain to invite experts or prominent persons
to speak for 10 or 15 minutes on a specific topic.
These talks have to go through a process of being changed into radio’s spoken word
style.
It should be interesting and informative and not a boring lecture.
Over the years, these long radio talks have become unpopular.
Instead, today, shorter duration talks are broadcast.
Of course, you can listen to these talks only on public service broadcasting stations.
The words of a radio talk need to be kept simple and familiar, yet descriptive and
powerful, and the sentences short and without dependent clauses and awkward
inversions.
Care should be taken to keep close to the rhythm of ordinary speech when writing the
talk, and also when recording it.
Talk is a straight delivery of words by a particular speaker.
Talk can be an effective format to present an opinion on an issue or a problem.
These are generally planned in advance; however, talks on important items or current
affairs are also arranged at a short notice.
RADIO ANNOUNCEMENTS:
These are specifically written clear messages to inform.
They can be of different types.
For example station/programme identification.
These mention the station you are tuned into, the frequency, the time and the
programme/song you are going to listen to.
These announcements have become informal and resemble ordinary conversation.
There can be more than one presenter in some programmes like magazines.
RADIO COMMERCIALS/JINGLES:
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and other commercial uses.
The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product
being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans.
Ad buyers use jingles in radio; they can also be used in non-advertising contexts to
establish or maintain a brand image.
When you write a radio ad, the most important thing to remember is that you are
writing for a listener, not a reader or viewer.
Plus, you have a limited amount of time to convey the message because the
advertisements are just fifteen, thirty or sixty seconds.
NOTE:
The jingles are usually composed by professionals.
Since jingles are important components of the ad campaign, a lot of care is taken to
ensure that only a very high quality advertising jingle is produced.
Because they are so popular, and also given the wide reach of them, a lot of
established musicians also lend their talents to it.
As a result, it is often seen that the advertising jingles are of superior quality.
A radio jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an engaging melody.
Always use a Strong Opening Statement in Your Radio Advertisement.
Determine Your Radio Commercial Length.
ADVANTAGES OF PSA’s:
PSA's are generally inexpensive.
Since the airtime is donated, your only cost is production.
If you keep to a tight budget, you can make PSA's very cheaply.
Most stations will allow you to include a telephone number for more information in
your PSA.
PSA's can raise awareness of your issue.
LIMITATIONS OF PSA'S:
Because PSA's depend on donated time, you'll often find you're not able to get them run
on all the media outlets you'd like to, or you may find yourself at the mercy of station
staff members who may be overworked, arbitrary, or personally opposed to your
group's work.
PSA's are often run as "filler" in the middle of the night or during other times when
only a few people are listening or watching.
Stations may not track and report when your PSA's have been played, but they will do
this for paid advertising.
WHEN SHOULD YOU CONSIDER USING PSA'S?
When your group is a nonprofit organization.
When you have a specific announcement to make (for example, the time and place of
a meeting or event).
When you have a clear and easy-to-understand issue.
When you're requesting a very specific action.
When you have good contacts for getting your PSA on the air.
When you have good writing and production skills.
When you've previously used PSA's with success.
When it's going to be part of a larger media campaign.
RADIO DRAMA:
APPROACHES TO WRITING FOR RADIO DRAMA:
Radio drama is capable of capturing the imagination of the listener with very fine
strokes of sound, and much can be achieved with a subtle use of effects.
Silence in radio drama can be as dramatic as the spoken word or a devastating sound
effect.
Entire plays have been constructed without a single word of dialogue.
Radio drama is referred to as ‘Theatre of the mind’.
It presents word pictures.
Dialogues, instruments and background sound effects keep a harmony to make
pictures in hearer’s mind.
Simple dramatic situations, language and imagery are used in a radio drama.
Tonal variations make impacts.
Each words and sounds should provide exact pictures.
Instead of actions and facial expressions words and sounds dominate in radio
dramas.
Radio drama is a story told through sound alone.
All the ingredients of the drama like the voices of characters, background or mood
effects, musical effects, atmospheric effects is conveying only through sound.
So, when writing a script for radio drama, the script writer should be known to write
the entire visual picture through sounds i.e. the audio script should draw the visuals.
NOTE: Radio drama can be either single, self contained plays or serial dramas
consisting of several episodes.
Listeners can visualize everything by hearing the audio and Sound should create
facial expressions, body language, gestures, crisis, conflict, fight and the like.
Generally they have not more than 3 or 4 characters whose voices must be sufficiently
distinguishable lest the listener gets confused.
They must sound natural and speak true to character.
DURATION: Average time duration is 30 to 60minutes.
CHARACTERS' IN DRAMA:
A radio play generally has fewer characters than a staged play.
This partly because it is easy for an audience to forget who characters are if they do not
speak frequently as they cannot be seen on stage, and partly because it can difficult for
an audience to distinguish between a number of characters by voice alone.
The audience learns about the characters through what they say and what others say
about them, and the sound of their voice.
Characters have to have distinctive voices.
DIALOGUES IN DRAMA:
Dialogue is essential to define sounds heard in a radio play.
A listener might interpret a sound in a number of different ways, unless there is
dialogue from the characters to set the scene.
The words need to sound the way people speak.
For this reason it is a good idea to say the words as you write them so that you can hear
what they sound like.
The words that a character uses will tell the listener about the character‘s
background.
ACTION IN DRAMA:
Characters need to describe what they are doing, or to describe what they can see
others doing.
Whether in a radio play or stage play, action is still about what happens.
It is about what happens to characters, what they do in response, and how it all ends
up.
TENSION IN DRAMA:
Tension can be developed by using silence, changing the length of scenes, locations,
and the use of music as well as the events in the play.
Dialogue can be faster or slower.
Most radio drama is very badly written.
RADIO COMMENTARIES:
Running commentary is one of the popular formats of radio.
In sharp contrast with television, in which visuals unfold an event, a Radio listener
'sees' the event through the word picture given by the commentator.
Radio commentary is faster than television, as the radio commentator has to give the
details, which the TV camera provides.
A commentator would give you all the details of the match such as the number of
players, the score, position of the players in the field etc.
A radio commentator has to mention whether the sky is clear or overcast, what is the
colour of the dresses of the teams playing the match or if a batsman in a cricket match
is wearing a helmet or not and so on.
So by listening to the running commentary, you get a feeling of being in the stadium and
watching the match.
The commentator needs good communication skills, a good voice and knowledge about
what is going on.
Running commentaries on radio can be on various sports events or on ceremonial
occasions like the Republic Day Parade or events like festivals, melas, rath yatras,
swearing in ceremony of ministers, last journey of national leaders etc.
RADIO REPORT:
A Radio Report is based on outside recording (OB), including excerpts fro-m speeches,
eyewitness accounts with actuality, interviews, and statements by the local authorities
etc.
Radio report uses a narrator in order to link up pieces of actuality sound pertaining
to an event.
The presenter's job is to put this material into a coherent perspective, filling the gaps.
The chronology of the event should not get distorted despite various parts being
presented in the report in a different order.
The producer here resorts to the technique of "back and forth” in order to give
prominence to important segments of the event.
RADIO DOCUMENTARY:
Documentary is any feature or programme that is based on ‘documents’.
It is a form directed forwards presenting a factual record about real people, things, and
events.
It sets out not just to ‘entertain’ but to explore.
However, documentary attempts to persuade and thus the social relevance of
documentary are immense.
A radio documentary or feature is a radio documentary programme devoted to covering a
particular topic in some depth, usually with a mixture of commentary and sound
pictures.
The documentary, since it usually has a specific message to communicate, must be
organized in order to be clear and effective.
Structure, i.e. the sequence of presentation, is very important.
The material should be organized in such a way that it indicates the various
relationships between facts and ideas of the programme.
This pattern, linking facts and ideas, is the outline of the structure.
It lists the ideas of the documentary and separates the major ideas from the
subordinate ones.
This outline provides the structural foundation on which you base the programme
plan.
The organizational plan of a documentary should have several qualities-simplicity,
logical connection and clarity.
A major step to creating a plan with these qualities is to make sure that the script is
dominated by one overriding thought to which all the other ideas in the programme
are related.
These supporting ideas, in turn, should be arranged to show their relationship to the main
thought and one another.
RADIO FEATURE:
There are various types of features.
These programmes generally aim to entertain, inform and sometimes even influence
thought and action.
In preparing features, you may encounter many of the problems faced in producing
documentaries and informational programmes.
A sound structural plan is as important to feature writing as to other programmes
dealing with information.
We should clearly define the general purpose and the central idea before you start
writing.
A relevant and logical succession of supporting points should also be prepared.
STRUCTURE OF FEATURE:
The beginning and ending of a broadcast feature are particularly important.
Your beginning should be able to ‘catch’ the listener’s attention.
If your beginning fails to grip, chances are that you have lost your listeners.
The conclusion is equally important because it leaves the audience with a last impression
which will ensure memorability, or guarantee that what you have written will not soon
be forgotten.
The feature today uses a number of forms and techniques of broadcasting; and
producers have to know the potential of each form and technique, and the best way to
utilize them in a feature.
FEATURE PRODUCTION:
One of the richest and most rewarding sources to draw on for features is the world in which
we live.
The outside Broadcasting Van and travelling microphone have, over the years
thoroughly exploited this field.
Mobile recording techniques have frequently helped to garner exciting and priceless
sound for the feature producer, whose business is with reality-real men and women, in
their natural habitat-at home, at work, or at play.
It is no longer necessary for the feature producer to imitate reality.
He can now go direct to the sources-photographs in sound-edit and shape them.
It s a capacity unique to the feature programme-the stuff of reality-shaped in a
disciplined way and patterned into a form, controlled by a single, creative mind.
The feature programme marked the birth of creative broadcasting.
Every feature calls for an idea, research and a script.
Some features need actors, sound effects and music.
Many call for extensive recording of sound and voices.
All call for three main processes:
Research.
Writing.
Production.
NEWSREEL:
Newsreels are typically featured as short subjects preceding the main subject.
A newsreel is a form of short documentary radio programme regularly released
containing news stories and items of topical interest.
It is a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of radio listeners.
Newsreels are considered significant documents, since they are often the only audio
record of cultural events.
RADIO INTERVIEWS:
The aim of an interview is to provide, in the interviewee’s own words, facts, reasons, or
opinions on a particular topic so that the listener can form a conclusion as to the
validity of what she/he is saying.
There can be different types of interviews in terms of their duration, content and
purpose.
Firstly, there are full fledged interview programmes.
The duration of these may vary from 10 minutes to 30 minutes or even 60 minutes
depending up on the topic, and the person being interviewed.
Most of such interviews are personality based.
You might have heard of long interviews with well known people in the field of public
life, literature, science, sports, films etc.
Secondly, there are interviews which are used in various radio programmes like
documentaries.
Here the interviews are short, questions specific and not many.
The purpose is to get a very brief, to the point answer.
Thirdly there are a lot of interviews or interview based programmes in news and
current affairs programmes.
With phone-in-programmes becoming popular, you might have heard live interviews
with listeners.
These interviews have been made interactive.
There is another type of interview based programme.
Here generally just one or two questions are put across to ordinary people or people
with knowledge on some current topic to measure public opinion.
For example when the general budget or the railway budget is presented in the parliament,
people representing radio go out and ask the general public about their opinion.
Their names and identity may not be asked.
Such programmes are called ‘vox pop’ which is a Latin phrase meaning‘ voice of
people’.
RADIO DISCUSSIONS:
The radio discussion usually involves several participants and a moderator.
The discussions are usually over issues and events that are of some importance to the
common man.
Radio discussions could be on any subject: politics, medicine, science, sports,
literature, engineering, etc.
A radio discussion cannot and should not be fully scripted.
This does not mean that the programme should proceed any old way.
It has to be very carefully structured by the moderator.
First, the participants have to be chosen with great care.
They should be well informed on whatever subject they are to discuss and they should be
willing to be disciplined in their own presentation under the direction of the
moderator.
Undisciplined participants can ruin the whole discussion by projecting their point-of-
view at the expense of others.
This is a common phenomenon when politicians are asked to speak.
A good participant listens, awaits his turn and chooses to debate instead of argue.
A GOOD MODERATOR SHOULD:
Introduce the topic briefly and comprehensively.
Clarify the focus of the discussion.
Introduce the participants and clarify why they are eligible to speak on the issue.
Present a question or statement.
Choose a participant to respond to it.
Go round the table to make sure that everybody gets a chance to speak.
Ensure that everyone has a chance to speak.
Persuade an evasive speaker to make a point.
Encourage the participants to speak by being interested.
Research plays an important role in organizing a discussion.
NOTE:
The producer of a discussion has not only to study the subject being discussed but
make an intelligent choice of participants.
The participants need not be ‘experts’ in the formal sense of the word but should
have some reason for being on the panel.
RADIO NEWS:
Among all the spoken word formats on radio, news is the most popular.
News bulletins and news programmes are broadcast every hour by radio stations.
In India, only All India Radio is allowed to broadcast news.
Duration of news bulletins vary from 5 minute to 30 minutes.
The longer news bulletins have interviews, features, reviews and comments from
experts.
RADIO NEWS WRITING:
News stories must be legible and intelligible.
They should be designed for effortless reading.
News stories must be well structured and organized.
Five Ws should be incorporated into each story.
News bulletins are broadcasted by AIR almost every hour of the day in English and
the various regional languages.
The major bulletins are of 15 minutes duration, while others are of only five minutes
duration.
News bulletins present summaries of news stories in order of importance and
interest-value.
The major ingredients of news bulletins are the following:
National news.
International news.
Regional news.
Local news.
Human interest stories.
Sports news.
For a news bulletin, the script writing should be in interesting, brief, clear, accurate and
well authenticated.
The listener cannot re-read a sentence if he does not understand it.
So the sentences for the script must be concise and clear.
It dealt with the news of the day and carried interviews and the voice and sound of
important events and personalities round the world.
In the west, the personal element began to dominate in its content and presentation
and was copied in other countries.
Radio news reel was the fore runner of many later developments in radio news
broadcasting.
News bulletins are usually of 10 minutes duration.
About 1,500 words are needed to fill a 10 minute bulletin.
Individual stories are considered long if they go much beyond 100 words lasting
about 40 seconds.
CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING IN MIND WHEN WE WRITE A RADIO
SCRIPT:
How long was the programme?
Where are the headlines?
Did the programme contain music?
How many stories did the programme contain?
How long was each of the report?
What was the language like?
Which sound and video clips were used?
Is it interesting?
To sum up follow the script closely with Clarity, Correctness and Conciseness.