Issues, Ethics, Codes and Conventions of Factual Programming

A factual programme is a programme that is based on facts, the purpose is to present these facts to the appropriate target audience and anyone else who may watch it. Although the facts which are presented are sometimes coiled so that they show the producers biased opinion which then leads the audience to think the same as the producer.

There are many types of factual programmes which currently exist these are:

• News
• Quiz show/game show
• Live sports/sports show
• Discussion shows
• DIY shows
• Reality shows
• Lifestyle
• Special interest
• Cooking shows
• Educational shows

There is also a list of different sub-genres within documentaries I will state these and explain each of them briefly.

Docusoaps
Is a combination of two completely different genres which are documentaries and soap operas. Docusoap is a mix of fact and fiction which is uniquely obvious. They usually use storylines which are led by characters, they also generate their own characters with their own personalities and are always set around the same location. This means they are similar to soap operas, soap operas involve many characters and stories occurring at the same time. They are also similar to documentaries in a way as they show peoples everyday life, in which a documentary does.

After outlining some similarities there are also differences between the two different genres. Traditionally documentaries have a very serious attitude to them and are very informative. Docusoaps are in place to purely entertain the viewer.

Examples of docusoaps that currently exist are One Born Every Minute, Airport and Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.

Reality Television
From the title of the genre it is pretty obvious on what the genre specifically entails. Reality television is unscripted and documents actual occurrences. All in all reality television is different from other unscripted documentaries as it outlines personal drama. Examples of documentaries within this genre are Big Brother, News and Police, Camera, Action. Reality television is characterised by surveillance or observational camera work, primary event or eye witness testimony as well as studio to camera links with commentary from presenters.

Fly On The Wall
The camera is usually hidden or unseen. This means that the audience can watch the events unfold without a front being put on. A good example of a fly on the wall documentary would be Educating Essex. Another example would be Celebrity Get Me Out Here.  These documentaries include little narration as possible and refers back to being an observational documentary. As we are observing what is happening.

Mixed Documentary
A combination of interviews, observation, actual footage, achieve material and narration. The narrator pulls everything together making the audience understand the mix of all these elements. It also highlights both sides of the arguments.

Self Reflexive
A camera and the audience follows a person or a group of people around. As they know the camera is there they may purposely sometimes stop to talk to the camera.

Docudrama
A docudrama features re-enactments and reconstructions. The reconstructions should be exactly as the event happened. Crimewatch fits within this genre.

Fully Narrated
This is where narrator narrates throughout the documentary. Narration is used throughout to portray the exposition and to make sense of what the audience can see.

Issuses and Ethics

There are many issues that have to be covered, when producing a factual programme for television, these are accuracy, privacy, objectivity vs subjectivity, bias, opinion and representation.
Within media many people form biased opinions on issues. A biased opinion is when one person's own opinion is swayed further to one side of an argument or debate.

Accuracy is a very important aspect within all platforms of media, a programme has to be accuracte so that it can be broadcasted. In factual programmes such as the news, it is crucial that the reporters give correct and accurate information. If the information given is inaccurate about an issue or an individual it could be deformation of their character. Accuracy is vital if you wish to keep an audience interested and focused, an audience would prefer to read a story that are full of true facts rather than information that is not true. For example if you were interviewing an eye witness of a car crash, when you are interviewing this person you have to bear in mind that they may not be telling the full truth or may not be able to remember the full incident.

Subjectivity is defined as the belonging to the thinking subject, rather than the object of thought. Things can be classed as subjective are people's own opinions, moods and attitu
des. Some programs can be subjective if they portray only the individuals thoughts about an event, rather than looking at the wider context.

However, objectivity means the opposite of subjective. This means that whoever has produced the documentary or media piece has not put their mind, interests and opinions towards or within the product and hence it is an overall view, which is not affected by an individuals thoughts.

Representation is action or speech on behalf of a person, group, business and community and so on. In other words, this can be also described as how an individual or group is presented to us. Some examples of media representation are: class, gender, age, sexuality and more so. However, stereotypes and labelling comes under the influence of media upon us. The media use many stereotypes for example they class youths as thugs in hoodies, children and oldies as vulnerable and so on.

Another important issues within factual programming is bias. The meaning of bias means to prejudice, favouring something over another, in a usually unfair way. A bias factual programme is one sided.

Within factual programming another issue is opinion this a view of judgement about something which can affect you but not always necessarily. Usually it is a personal view of  a matter or belief about a particular thing however the same set values can be interpreted  in different ways.


Codes and Conventions (attached to news programs)

To be a news presenter there is certain elements you need to hold as an individual to carry out your job correctly these are:

• Editorial knowledge
• Understand legal and ethical issues which affect journalism
• Good communication skills
• Good interpersonal skills

As a presenter you have to make sure that you visually look presentable to the audience, if you go on air looking unprofessional then some people may tune out. As they may think if he/she is not taking their appearance into consideration then the information they are giving us may not be true etc.

When news reports are carried out presenters normally always do a piece to camera, there is always a voice over.

5 types of documentaries

Expository
Expository documentaries speak directly to the audience; most of the time in a form of commentary with an authoritative tone which proposes a strong opinion and argument of the subject or person. They also usually contain reconstructions.
An example of an expository documentary is Americas Most wanted, below I will show a short clip and explain about it briefly.

After watching this documentary I can obviously see that it is all fact, reconstruction is shown which outlines that it is an expository documentary. The woman who was the victim of the incident, you could see by her expressions that she wasn't lying.

Observational
Observational documentaries attempt to simply and naturally observe lived life with a minimum involvement. These documentaries tend to be non-biased and very objective. Within the filming of these documentaries mobile lightweight cameras and portable sound recording equipment for synchronized sound. Lightweight cameras tend to be used for immediacy and intimate filming as well as revealing of individuals human characteristics in an ordinary life situations.
An example of an observational documentary is 16 and pregnant.

This show is classed as an observational documentary because it follows the pregnant teens around and observes there everyday life and how they deal with the situations they face. A notebook style is used to outline and emphasise to the viewer the main parts featured in the show.
Reflexive
Reflexive documentaries are representational; they question the sceptical of realism and authenticity. The presenter of film-maker acknowledges there presence in front of the camera and provides a narrative to the documentary itself. The reflexive style of documentary is usually associated with experimental documentaries, where the viewer is just as interested about how the film is constructed as a whole as they are with the actual content within the documentary. When watching a reflexive documentary the audience is more aware of the problems the documentary maker faces while they make the film. They tend to be the most truthful out of all the sub genres within documentaries as they always focus on realism. An example of a reflexive documentary would be 'Driving Me Crazy' By Nick Broomfield.

This is documentary is a good example as it clearly shows Nick Broomfield in front of the camera with his film crew and most of the documentary itself is about making of the film, rather than the actual content.

Performative
Performative documentaries stress subjective experience and emotional response to the world. As documentaries they are strongly personal, unconventional, perhaps poetic and/or experimental. This sub-genre may lend itself to certain groups(e.g. women, ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians) to'speak about themselves' individually or as a group. Performative documentaries often link up to personal accounts or experiences with larger political or historical realities such as the war.
An example of a performative documentary would be Alain Resnais' Night and Fog (1995), with commentary by Holocaust survivor but instead a subjective account of it. Its a film about memory.