Introduction to Broadcast Media

Documentary
A Documentary programme is wholly fact based on the documentary evidence-written records-attributable sources and contemporary interviews. Its purpose is essentially to inform to present a story or situation with a total regard for honest and balance reporting. The ideas for the documentary may be with the contemporary issues such as race relation urban developments pollution and the environment or medical research. Other types of documentary deals with the single person activity or event eg the discovery of radium, Concorde aero plane, the life of a notable figure, or the work of a particular factory, theater group or school. The main advantage of documentary approach over that of straight forward talk is that the subject is made more interesting and brought alive by involving more people, more voices and great range of treatment. It should entertain while it informs ,and as it illuminates provoke further thought and concern.

Planning
After the selection or finalizing the initial idea it is an excellent practice for the producer to write a programme brief in answer to the questions: What am I trying to archive? What do I want to leave with the listeners? In order to fulfill that purpose you must have to prepare the first planning note for the production of documentary. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Working title Aim Duration Information Content Key questions Interview sources Reference source Actuality

Feature
Whereas the documentary must distinguish carefully between facts and fiction and have the structure which separates facts from opinion, the feature programme does not have the formal constraints, here all possible radio forms meet ; poetry ,music, voice, sounds. They combine in an attempt, to inform, to move, to entertainer to inspire the listeners.

The ingredients may be interview or vox pop, drama or discussion and the some total can be fact or fantasy.

The Ending
To allow the narrator to sum up. To repeat some of the key statements using the voice of the people who made them. To repeat a single phrase which appears to encapsulate the situation. To speculate on the future with further questions. To end with the same voice and actuality sounds as those used at the opening. To do nothing , leave it with the listeners to form an assessment about the subject.

WRITING FOR THE EAR

Writing words to be heard by the ears are quite different from the words to be read by the eye. This is the most essential point which you have to be borne in mind that you are not writing to be read ,taken in by the eye as in the case of print medium but to be heard .

Who are you talking to:

The listeners come first. Decide who it is, you are talking to. Is this for specialist audience-Children-Doctors-Farmers. For general or unspecific listeners. Write directly for the person you want to talk to seeing them as you write. Radio is not P.A system. Avoid talking about your listeners but to the listeners eg, listeners if you would like to contact us. Who want to contact us .

WORDS
Words are the building blocks of our meaning and need to be used with care because that meaning is to be recreated in the mind of listeners e.g. news story about a collapsed of building. The suitable transitions words can be added to ease the flow. Questions are being asked about whether there were flaws in the buildings. It is alright in paper but on air it may confused with floor e.g. oral/aural-sole/soul draft/ draught two/too and so on. A final point onward is to prefer the simple to the complex because our job is not to impress but to express e.g. begin or start rather than commence, find out rather than ascertain, ask rather than enquire, buy instead of purchase, and try instead of endeavor.

SENTENCES
When we speak to one another we place the figure or amount of money first and the currency afterwards e.g. The prime minister will leave Islamabad for china tomorrow, not on 25march or next month ,last year. Long widening sentences, difficult and unfamiliar words and several points of information crammed into single sentence should be avoided.

Cause comes first before effect

What you are going to say, be logical in the order you put things because with the print page it is possible to look back but with radio that is not possible which is why the structure of talk is important so not only our words simple and our sentences shorter but things must be in the right order-cause come before effect e.g Erum, who is about to leave UMT, where she has been for two years, which included a time as GR ,is looking for a job. Erum has been at UMT for two years .This included a time as GR .She is now about to leave and is looking for job.

Long Widening Sentences

Despite initial attempts from certain quarters to stonewall its effective functioning, the joint parliamentary committee, inquiring into a multicorer scam ,in its 80 days of functioning, has succeeded in projecting itself as fact finding body determined to get to the bottom of fraud. Long widening sentences can be split while rewriting them for broadcast e.g The lower house of the parliament today observed a two minutes silence in the honor of two of its sitting members who died over the weekend and later passed a bill to create a national commission to protect the right of women. The house of parliament today passed a bill to create a national commission for women. Earlier it mourned the death of two of its sitting members over the weekend by observing two minutes silence .

The date and place have to be woven into the story; Example
The Malaysian Prime Minister arrived in Lahore today to begin a five days official visit to Pakistan In news paper you would write; Lahore January 25 Dr Mahatir Muhammad, Prime Minister of Malaysia arrived here today at the start of an official visit to Pakistan. While referring the time of any past event or any forthcoming event .

The Storage of Talk

Your script is essentially the storing of that talk on a paper. The easiest way of doing this, having listed out your points, is to say loud your way of expressing them and writing down what you hear. The sentences should be shorter and simpler. The script is a crude and imperfect as it gives no indications of stress and pauses which is very much important communicating the real sense sentence e.g. You mean I have there at ten tomorrow.

Pictures and Stories

Remember the visual nature of radio and illustrate what you are saying with pictorial color. Blue sky, Black umbrella ,recall the smell of Chinese meal ,the radish brown earth after rain. These all help the listeners to be there to share the experience.

What do you want to say; What do you want to leave with listeners
Start by listing the points to be made and put them in the logical order. Visualize the effect that each will have on the listeners; bringing about a smile ,or causing them to think about an issue or to wonder at a particular fact: Beginning Middle End (give the listener some thing to hold on to make it memorable)