Sending the right message : forty years of BBC Radio News

Abstract

Radio is, compared to television and newspapers, an under-researched area in media studies. This research has looked at BBC Radio News in the period 1966-2008; it is a case study into the views of 43 (former) writers of the BBC Radio Newsroom and BBC Radio One. Interviews were conducted with practitioners, BBC policy documents and style guides were consulted and a sample of radio bulletins from BBC Radios 1, 2 and 4 was analysed. Radio is a secondary activity which means that the listener is often occupied with doing something else besides listening. This could have implications for the way that news is written in order to be communicated effectively. This study in particular wanted to establish the views of those who write this news and therefore, the general research question this thesis asked was how Radio Journalists defined the characteristics of Radio News and their goals in communicating this news. This was further elaborated into four subsidiary questions regarding how the journalists view their audiences, the strategies they use to achieve their goals, their perceptions of BBC Radio News since the mid-1960s and possible changes in radio news output during that time. Whilst the BBC Radio newsroom itself has changed to a very large extent - both in terms of its physical location and the facilities and technology now available, and in terms of the organisational structure -, perceptions do not appear to have changed to any great extent. It appears that the main aim of (BBC) Radio News remains that of informing the public about what has happened or is expected to happen. The language used should be simple and more like spoken than written language and the stories themselves should be interesting to keep the listener engaged. Many of the interviewees, however, are concerned that an increased workload (more output with fewer staff) and competition from other (24-hour) news outlets could threaten the accuracy of radio news output, i.e. that unsubstantiated facts and incorrect grammar could creep in, and that the newscasts themselves will become less tailored to a radio audience. Many of those interviewed for this thesis only have a vague idea of who the public is for the various radio networks and they place the listeners into very broad (and sometimes conflicting) categories in terms of social class, education, age and gender.A sample of news output from 1966-2008 appears to suggest that from the mid-1980s onwards there was a greater range of stories than in the 1960s and 1970s, but the writing style on BBC Radios 2 and 4 have not radically changed; BBC Radio 1 though has adopted a different, less formal, style of writing. The most significant change which has impacted upon the style (and working practices) is the use of audio inserts into the bulletins since the 1970s. Changes in the language since the 1960s are charted in the BBC news Styles Guides and appear to follow changes in the language used in society