NEWS CRITIQUE-By Alice Neumbe, 06-0215

 

I have been analysing  KTN Late Night News which is done at 11pm, Radio maisha and The Standard online edition and KTN website features these are my findings

Video

KTN has good headroom, stable shots, good tilts and pans in that before moving left or right from a fixed axis like a tripod (Media College 2010) and down the camera person focuses on the starting point for a minimum of 6-7 seconds. The zooms are logical to create desired kinds of effects to show how far or close the objects may be.

Sound

KTN has good sound .The reporter’s voice is not overpowered by the background noise during the stand up reporting. This was well exhibited by the reporting of common wealth games by Celestine Karoney in New Delhi.

Lighting

There is good use of spot and flood light. The News Anchor is not extra or under lighted. There is a separation of background and the anchor. Three are usually no shadows.

 

Shots

Most of the time an establishing shot is done to give total surrounding and send feel of it to the audience, especially if a person is being interviewed. Long shots are used to focus on him alone by showing full stature from head to toe. Medium shots are used to show the total expression of the interviewee by use of gestures of hand and other body parts. Medium shots are usually taken from head to the waist. Close ups to show a certain feature of the interviewee, it could be the face, the hands or the toes and  extreme close up is due to show the details of emotions for example tears.

Editing

There are good transitions, cuts of unwanted shots and logical flow of the story in line with words. Both Linear and in camera editing skills are well applied

Mulmedia convergence

The television news is full of shots and footage to tell the story by the use of footage which is logical

The radio version of the same on Radio Maisha tells the news in details by use of good sound effects to create mental pictures

The standard online and the KTN website expound in depth with links each news item, for example, the story of Wetangula’s resignation.

 

Conclusion

Late Night News programme is a brief and Consise to the point, which professionally wraps up the top News happenings in an attractive style attractive to the tired and sleepy audience.

References

 1. Watching KTN late night News, http://www.ktnkenya.tv/

2. Retrieved November 2011, www.mediacollege.com

3. Radio Maisha news, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhQPGVRpEmo&feature=youtube_gdata

4. The standard online, http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/news/