Produce 2-3 min radio package: research - record

Radio News Package Assignment: Research, record, produce, and edit a 2-3 minute package

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Task

Demonstrate knowledge of the technologies needed for audio and video journalism and their safe use
Demonstrate skills and abilities in devising appropriate ways of carrying out journalistic work using a range of technologies

You will research, produce, record and edit a radio package of 2 - 3 minutes duration. The context of your work should be broadly news and/or local/current affairs related. Three minutes is the maximum duration for this work - quality is much more important than quantity. The package that you produce should be relevant to a young audience. In other words it should be broadly of interest to young people and students in the Luton area. It should include:

-either two interviews or an interview and a voxpop,
-other elements such as actuality, sound effects and/or music, as may be appropriate for the topic you are covering.

Additional marks will be awarded for creativity of approach, the use of additional voices and other suitable broadcast production techniques, such as the inclusion of background and spot sound effects, additional voice over reports.

Send your completed edited work via https://www.wetransfer.com/ to: [email protected] & [email protected]. In the notes in wetransfer, you must include your full name & student number.

Each student must submit a 1,500-word contextual essaywith a bibliography (bibliography doesn’t count towards the word count), plus cue

materials as an appendix at the end. In the contextual essay you should explain which radio stations/ podcasts your news packages were produced for, some of the key decisions you made while completing your package, any issues you had to overcome, and evaluate how happy you were with your final package. You should include quotes from books/sources (such as Radio/ podcasts) to support your points where necessary. After the contextual report, you should include as an appendix evidence of your cue material (these do not count towards your word count).

Your contextual study for this assignment should do more than simply explain what you have done. You also need to explain why you took the approach you did and put the production into context in terms of professional practice and the target audience for your package. You should analyse your own work in relation to other current media practices (in particular the approaches taken by broadcasters such as the BBC when producing similar materials) and reflect on what you have learnt, and on your approach to the production of the radio package.

Demonstrate the ability to produce correctly edited, clearly designed audio and online journalistic material, whilst also showing knowledge of essential health and safety procedures necessary for the use of journalistic equipment.

Deliver a radio package that includes a variety of primary-sourced audio that appeals to an identifiable target audience.
Present the research and wider listening you have undertaken, as well as how these inspired your own practical work, in a contextual essay that uses correct academic referencing techniques.

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

Your work will be marked in relation to both its content and its technical quality. Work is marked against professional broadcast radio standards. If your work is considered to be of broadcast standard without the need for alteration or modifications and it is provided with the correct paperwork, it is likely to get a good mark. You will be individually assessed, marked and, in order to pass this assignment, your work must be of an acceptable standard. Unsuitable recording quality, weak content structure and poor narrative will all reduce your overall mark.

To maximize your chance of securing a First Class mark, your practical work also needs to be creative/ innovative in terms of content and/ or structure.

The Contextual Essay will be marked for the quality of its writing as well as for its accurate and detailed content.

How does this assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?

The assignment will be the culmination of skills taught in the first part of the unit, which concentrated on producing content for radio/ podcasts. You will be able to take formative feedback from classes to improve upon your work, which will advance your practical skills ahead of submitting your assessment at the end of the unit.

Your assignment will be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page.

You can use them to evaluate your own work and consider your grade before you submit.

3^rd Class – 40-49%

Lower 2^nd – 50-59%

Upper 2^nd – 60-69%

1^st Class – 70%+

Design and Presentation: These elements are handled appropriately, with no flair, and with occasional serious problems. Any difficulties that are evident are obvious but possibly resolvable.
Ideas: the concept of the work is mostly relevant, but uninspired. It is loosely related in some way to current media academic practices. The nature of the work has been understood, and the brief lightly followed. There are clear defects in the thought which has gone into the project, perhaps occasional fundamental mistakes.
Technical features: the work occasionally succeeds in the technical sense. Most that has been attempted is accomplished, although with varying degrees of skill. Some serious problems may occur.

The work will be below average on the whole.

Design and Presentation: These elements are handled appropriately, with little flair, but no serious problems. Any difficulties that are evident are obvious but resolvable.
Ideas: the concept of the work is relevant, although uninspired and related in some way to current media academic practices. The nature of the work has been understood, and the brief followed, but with no exceptional insight. There may be some clear defects in the thought which has gone into the project, but these are not fundamental mistakes
Technical features: the work succeeds in the technical sense. All that has been attempted is accomplished, although with varying degrees of skill. Some problems may occur, but they are not particularly serious.

The work will be average on the whole, although there may be some respects in which it falls to a below average standard.

Design and presentation: The design of the work is appropriate to the task and fulfils the instructions given to the students well The form of the design or structure is clearly derived from existing practice, but is suitably chosen and executed competently. The presentation of the work gives a generally very good impression, although there will be some aspects in which it could be improved upon. The defects, however, are matters of style and finish rather than fundamental errors.
Ideas: The ideas upon which the work is based are drawn from reading and investigation of current media texts. They have been assembled coherently by the student(s) into a convincing response, but they do not constitute a radically innovative approach. The intellectual issues posed by the work, have, however, been addressed in all important respects. Some ideas may not have been considered in full, however, and there are opportunities for further refinement .
Technical Features: All technical aspects of the work are dealt with effectively, although there may be some relatively small problems which the student(s) should have considered. These are not sufficiently serious to obscure the basic concept of the work. Where technical skill is demanded this has been shown.

Design and presentation: The work is structured, designed and presented throughout in a manner which is entirely suited to the subject- matter, is elegantly constructed or executed, and does not contain any errors. All matters of design, which should have been considered, have been addressed in a manner which has clearly been devised by the student(s) themselves and which shows considerable ability to initiate design projects independently. The presentation skills required of the students are extremely good and offer no grounds for criticism.
Ideas: The intellectual ideas to be found in the work or upon which the work is based, constitute a valid, highly individual perspective on the issues being addressed. This perspective shows full awareness of current debates within media academic thinking and contributes a fresh approach to the task. The brief which the student(s) were given has been followed in every respect and subjected to a penetrating critical appraisal where appropriate. There is evidence that the student(s) have done some relevant research on current practice.
Technical Features: All technical aspects of the work within the students' control are skillfully dealt with, and there are no technical problems which prevent the concept of the work being realised. The work has been organised and managed efficiently and within all budgetary and time constraints.

Contextual Essay:

The contextual essay reveals that the students has done some research and preparation and that a concept has gradually been formulated and some problems overcome.

The contextual essay reveals that the students has done extensive research and preparation and that a concept has gradually been formulated and most problems overcome.

A very good account of the technical development of the project with some reflection on the problems and the means of overcoming them.

This should reveal an extremely detailed account of a dynamic process of research, exploration and technical experimentation which has evolved over a period of time.

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