Radio Assessment- Final News Bulletin

Third news story without audio

Second News story with audio

HCJ- The Dreyfus affair and 'J'accuse'

Background Information

During the Franco Prussian war in the 19th Century, was a growing power and a great influence on Prussia under the rule of Bismarck. Bismarck wished to unify Germany. France was ruled by Napoleon and France was forced into war with Prussia without any allies. This continued until Napoleon was captured and France was therefore defeated. This was a great humiliation for France and for Napoleon. Due to Napoleon's capture Paris declared the Third Republic- siege of Paris by Germans.

Germans were fantastic in war and so it was inevitable that France would lose. This means that because the French lost the war they therefore have to pay compensation (a huge indemnity) and also the French Provinces of Alsace and Lorraine had to be handed over to the Germans. There were 2 million people who remained in Paris and refused to give up to the Germans. The Germans had Paris surrounded and acted in a vicious/ savage manner to the Parisians. They were starved and even had to slaughter horses for food. The Parisians attempted to use pigeons to send messages to others outside of Paris but the Germans brought in hawks to eat the pigeons. The Parisians gave up in 1871 and the Germans now have a victorious nation.

The Paris Commune

Landlords returned to Paris and demanded rent and interest. A new National Government consisted of mainly Royalists and so there was a fear of a new monarchy. The Commune was created in March 1871 and then was abolished in May 1871, so only last 2 months. The Commune gave the Parisians a chance to rebel against the government by setting up their own rules: ''Festival of the Oppressed'' ( Lenin). This also gave women the chance to be equally powerful in the Commune as they to set up their own rules. Activists, Socialists, Anarchists and Jacobins were all in the Commune. Marx supported the Commune: ''the dictatorship of the Proletariat.''

The Commune introduced social reforms such as setting up nurseries so that women could work. Night working was also abolished and consequently all working conditions were improved. People had the right to run a business, separated Church and State.

The Commune was ruthlessly destroyed, somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 people were executed. ''In Paris everyone was guilty'' Especially women were shot since women were vital to the leadership of the Commune, they undermined the confidence in the army and so had to be put in their place.  Despite the Commune being short lived it had a huge impact on European Politics.

Dreyfus Affair

In 1894, the defeat of the Franco- Prussian War just cast a shadow over France. The French built an overseas empire in Asia/Africa but were concerned about everything that might effect their power/reputation/greatness once more. Politicians were bribed by Jewish people to stay quiet about financial problems.

France was very militaristic and the army were seen as a symbol of French identity, they were still however, worried about there being another war with Germany. There was a huge increase in spying in all European Countries.

There was evidence of secret French information being found in a wastepaper basket in the German embassy. The Army decided to pin the blame on Captain Dreyfus for passing this information onto the Germans since he was intelligent and from Alsace, so therefore a Jew. He remained adamant that he was innocent.

In 1894 Dreyfus was found guilty for a crime he did not commit and was sent in exile to 'Devil's Island'. Later on an officer looked into the case again and discovered that the real culprit was a man called Esterhazy. The French government were reluctant to believe this was true but if it did turn out to be true they believed that if a Jew rots on 'Devil's Island' it is a good thing. Esterhazy was put on trial but found innocent (wrongly convicted) A famous French journalist called Emile Zola was furious about this miscarriage of justice and wrote an article called 'J'accuse' which named the men who he believed to be corrupt in the government and he stated that Dreyfus was wrongly convicted. This was a very brave thing to do. Zola was convicted of Libel and fined and sentenced to prison, he fled to London.

Anti-Jewish riots broke out and right wing papers campaign for Jews to lose their citizenship. The army recognised the weaknesses in their case and so forged documents in order to provide more evidence which will keep Dreyfus on 'Devil's Island'.The man who forged these documents committed suicide in prison after he was caught and was seen as a martyr/ a hero. After Dreyfus was retrialed and was found guilty with ' extenuating circumstances', Dreyfus was trailed again and prenounced innocent not until July 1906.

First News Story with audio

The Paradigm of Change- Seminar Paper

The Paradigm of Change: Kant, Hegel and Schopenhauer

Kant

·         A Paradigm is a way of connected thinking across all fields of thinking. After the enlightenment and Romanticism there was a Paradigm shift.

·         Kant, Hegel and Schopenhauer were three German philosophers who were idealist and were also mainly against Hume and his empiricist approach. Empiricism was previously influenced by the Romantic Movement which occurred after the French Revolution.

·          During the 18^th century Britain was mostly occupied with empiricists such as Locke, Berkeley and as I previously mentioned, Hume.

·         Their philosophy led to subjectivism (subjectivism was fundamental of all measure and law). This was not a new tendency since it existed previously at the time of St. Augustine.

·         Leibniz believed that everything in his experience would be unchanged if the rest of the world was annihilated.

·         German idealism incorporated the idea that the mind was believed to be more important than matter and so many of these idealists believed that only the mind exists and that knowledge isn’t always the best way to reach a philosophical conclusion. This is due to their rejection of empiricism and also Utilitarian ethics.

·         Rousseau influenced Kant more than Hume since he often read Rousseau’s work.

·         Kant was brought up as Pietist (Stress on the emotional and personal aspects of religion) and so he was liberal in Politics and theology and also sympathised with the French Revolution until the ‘Reign of Terror’. He was also a believer in democracy.

·         Kant’s principle was that every man is to be regarded as an end in himself. This was a form of the doctrine of the Rights of Man. Kant’s love of freedom is shown in his saying: ‘’There can be nothing more dreadful than the actions of a man should be subject to the will of another.’

·         Kant was more concerned with science in his earlier work, than with philosophy. For example he wrote a treatise on wind and he wrote ‘General Natural History’ and ‘Theory of the Heavens’ (1755).

·         Kant’s most important book ‘The Critique of Pure Reason’ was written 26 years later in 1781. It was written to prove that although none of our knowledge can transcend experience, it is in part a priori and not concluded inductively from experience. The part of our knowledge which is a priori embraces not only logic but much that cannot be included or deduced from logic.

·         Kant separates two distinctions:

1.      Between analytic  and Synthetic Propositions

2.      ‘A Priori’ and ‘Empirical’ propositions.

·         Analytic reasoning is based on contradiction. For example, ‘a tall man is a man’ you know that this is true because to say that ‘a tall man isn’t a man’ is contradictory.

·         Anything learnt through experience is always a synthetic proposition, not analytic. For instance ‘yesterday was cold’ there is no evidence contained within the statement to prove someone to be right or wrong.

·         Unlike Leibniz, Kant refused to accept that all synthetic propositions were discovered through experience. Instead he made the distinction between the knowledge that we know empirically from what we know ‘a Priori’.

·         An empirical proposition is knowledge derived from our senses either on our own or that of someone else whose testimony we believe.

·         A Priori proposition is to have a basis other than experience. A general proposition is that 2+2=4 this proposition has a certainty which induction can never pass on to General Law. Therefore all propositions of mathematics are a Priori. Once we’ve understood this general principle, there is no need to keep using evidence to reinforce the idea, it’s just always true.

·         Kant therefore accepted that it is synthetic and still a Priori. This raised the problem: ‘how are synthetic judgements a Priori?’ Kant spent 12 years answering this question. The outer world is a matter of sensation, the world we see is what we perceive because of our brain sorting the world into space and time in a way in which we can understand. 

·         Things in themselves which are caused by our sensations are unknowable; they’re not in terms of space, time or substances. Nor can they be described by any general concepts which Kant calls categories.

·         Space and time are a subjective part of perception. Therefore, a synthetic proposition can be a Priori because we perceive the world through time and space and can therefore be sure that everything we see has to remain close to the parameters (limits) set by time.

·         Space and time are not concepts, they are forms of intuition.

·         Within ‘The Critique of Pure Reason’ Kant also included a section where he chose to demolish all the purely intellectual proofs of God’s existence. He had other reasons for believing in God.

·         The only 3 proofs for God’s existence are:

1.      Ontological proof

2.      Cosmological proof

3.      Physicotheological proof

·          Ontological proof defines God as the most real being. For example, the subject of all predicates (the answer of new knowledge/ a technical word for logic) that belong to being absolutely. Existence is such a predicate that he must exist. Kant however, objects that existence isn’t a predicate.

·         Cosmological proof states that if anything exists then a necessary, Supreme Being must also exist in order for everything else within the universe, and the universe as a whole to exist. Eg this Being is God.

·         Physicotheological proof is similar to the design argument but in a metaphysical sense. The universe exhibits an order which displays evidence of purpose. Kant argues that it only points out an architect, not a creator.

·         ‘’The only theology of reason which is possible is that which is based upon moral laws or seeks guidance from them’’

·         The three ideas of reason were:

1.      God

2.      Freedom

3.      Immorality

·         Kant had no input on doctrines which gives to morality a purpose outside itself such as Utilitarianism.

Hegel (1770-1831)

·         The peak of movement in German philosophy was carried out by Hegel but undoubtedly stemmed from the work of Kant. Hegel often criticized Kant but was a major influence on himself and also on Germany.

·         In the 19^th century, two major countries: America and Britain were Hegelians.

·         Marx was a disciple of Hegel.

·         In later life Hegel was a patriotic Prussian, a loyal servant to his state. In his youth he despised Prussia but admired Napoleon.

·         Hegel retained a belief in the unreality of separateness.  The world in his view wasn’t a collection of hard units whether they are atoms or souls. This idea was unlike Spinoza. The world is one large organism and the separate things that make up the world are only real in the sense that they make up the world, when they are all put together.

·         A disbelief in the reality of time and space.

·         ‘Whatever is, is right’

·         The absolute is the whole (when referring to the world)

·         Two things distinguish Hegel from others of a similar metaphysical outlook:

1.      Emphasis on logic

2.      The triadic movement called the Dialectic.

·         Logic, according to Hegel is the same as metaphysics. His system is based on these two forms of logic which are essential to prove the nature of reality. He began by stating that the absolute is ‘Pure Being’ because it doesn’t have any properties other than simply existing to contain all that is within (the thesis).

·         The absolute cannot exist without properties otherwise the absolute is nothing. This is antithesis.

·         His nature of reality is an ever changing cycle of errors being corrected which he believes will eventually lead to some kind of perfection. This meant that Hegel believed the world was changing constantly even though we can’t see it changing. This is the same logic that can be applied to atoms since we know they are constantly moving even though we can’t see them moving. Change is the only constant, yet despite this change everything remains its being. This being is its ‘Geist’ (soul /appearance). The universe as a whole must have a Geist as it is changing constantly and therefore must be some sort of surrounding thing.

·         The purpose of the Geist is for an object or thing to understand themselves. He stated that ‘the fall’ (when Eve ate the forbidden fruit) caused alienation so the Geist no longer knew itself and is now constantly changing in order to return itself to the Perfect State.

·         The nature of the Geist is to know itself.

Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

·         Born in Danzig, Germany, Schopenhauer was a pessimist. This was a peculiar characteristic to possess for a philosopher. He was also not fully academic unlike Kant and Hegel but was interested in art and ethics.

·         Schopenhauer preferred Hinduism and Buddhism to Christianity.

·         He placed great emphasis on will because will is metaphysically fundamental but ethically evil. Therefore pessimistic.

·         The three sources of his philosophy were:

1.      Kant

2.      Plato

3.      Upanishads

·         Schopenhauer valued peace more than victory and rather hated German morals so in his youth moved to Paris for 2 years.

·         Later he became a clerk in Hamburg in order to please his father but he hated it since he desired a literacy, academic life.

·         His father later died of suspected suicide and Schopenhauer disliked his mother. It is suspected that his low opinion of women was a contributing factor to his dislike for her.

·         During his time in Hamburg, Schopenhauer became influenced by the romantics especially Tieck, Novalis and Hoffmann.

·         In 1809 whilst attending the University of Gottingen he discovered Kant’s philosophy.

·         He hated the revolution of 1848 and instead supported spiritualism and magic (Kant a Buddhism).

·         ‘The World as Will and Idea’ was published in 1818 and Schopenhauer believed this book to be of great importance and even claimed that some paragraphs were dictated to him by the Holy Ghost.

·         It wasn’t until in later years that the book got the recognition which Schopenhauer felt it deserved.

·         His system is an adaptation of Kant’s system but emphasises different aspects of the ‘Critique’ and made knowledge metaphysically fundamental.

·         He also agrees with Kant that time and space belongs only to phenomena; the thing in itself is not in space or time.

·          ‘The principle of Individuation’

·         Cosmic will is wicked since it is a source of endless suffering. Suffering is essential to life however, and is increased with every increase of knowledge. There is no fixed end. The less we exercise will, the less we suffer.

Radio Production work-facebook

I apologise as I know the microphone is a tad crackly but I tried several times to get it to stop by changing how close I was to the microphone  but nothing seemed to work!

Radio News Story for Annette

 

Thieves have broken into the Museum of Army Flying in Andover and have stolen a large bronze eagle statue from the Memorial Garden in the museum. The statue is said to be worth approximately £9,000.

The Museum of Army Flying is a registered charity and depends on public support.  Therefore, they cannot afford to replace the statue.

In this economic climate, metal thieves are increasing as scrap metal dealers are willing to pay more money for metal.

Police are currently investigating this crime.

Marx

Marx was a revolutionary and was born in 1818 in German (converted to Lutherism) and was of Jewish Heritage. Marx studied Law, Philosophy and revolution.

Marx, however, ventured on to a different career path once again as a journalist and editor for the 'Communist Manifesto' in 1848. Marx's radical ideas caused controversy and caused him to flee to London where he later died in 1883.

The writing on his tombstone: ''Workers of the world unite' expressed Marx's opinion that you can explain everything about society by analysing the way economic forces shape social, religious, legal and political processes: 'The philosophers have only interpreted the world- the point however is to change it''

Politics was less important for Marx and economics became a dominate factor throughout.

Aristotle said that man is a rational animal, for Plato the political animal, for Kant a moral animal and for Hegel a historic animals. For Marx man is the productive animal. Mankind creates the environment it inhabits: ''Not a figure in the landscape, but the shaper of the landscape.'' Technological determinism- teleological approach to history (Hegel). He believed history has a process that's driving towards an end.

Marx achieved (according to Engels) a fusion of:

1. Hegelian Philosophy ( the philosophy of history and dialectics)
2. British Empiricism (economics of Smith)
3. French revolutionary Politics/ socialist politics ( ''Man is born free but everywhere is in chains.'')

His method was scientific, he believed that he was using the same methods as Darwin.

Hegel

Hegel believed that spirit guides history towards an end point where history will lower itself ( seeking self knowledge). History ends when spirit will achieve full self- knowledge and become the absolute spirit. This process works through the dialectic:

• Thesis ( proposition)
• Antithesis ( counter - propositions- contradictions- negation) 
• Synthesis ( combination/ refuting of one position) 

Marx attacks Hegel's Dialectic Idealism was the Geist battle between good and evil, the real dialect was rooted in the real world in money- a class struggle. Marx theory of history Dialectic Materialism was where there was an historical process between man and the material conditions of his existence. There was a class struggle through history and the property was less for the working class, proletariat there was nothing to lose and gain, 'nothing to lose but their chains' (Rousseau who was influential to Marx).

''Have the world to win'' Marx couldn't understand why people of a lower class E.g slaves etc. don't fight/ campaign for change. Marx believed that the reason why people of a lower class were afraid was due to Alienation. Capitalism alienates men from themselves and from each other. People begin to value things over each other and encourages avarice, competition and inequality.

Communism

Thesis: The Bourgeoisie (free market capitalism, liberal state, individual rights)
Antithesis: The Proletariat.
Synthesis: Socialism.
Seeds of its own destruction: ''Capitalism produces all things in profusion but most of all it produces its own grave diggers.'' ( Das Capital)
Capitalism will try to survive by investing in better technology and exporting products.

Marx believes that the fall of Capitalism and the rise of the Proletariat are equally inevitable. The Proletarians would rise up and dispossess the bourgeoisie- dictatorship of the Proletariat. This would result in socialism. Communist society is characterised by equality and true justice and the evolution of a truly free individual.

Context of Marx's work:

The revolutions 1848- Spring of Nations. Europe had a wide explosion of revolutions- France, Italy, Austria and Germany were all key countries. Most were put down and the British Empire grew quickly. Germany failed to make political advances like in England due to revolutions. Aristocracy remained in control of power and the middle class were excluded from political power. Therefore they turned back to education and culture the primary factors of socialisation. Freedom began to be viewed as within the individual rather than society.

Public Affairs- Councils

• The Court is separate from the council which means that an MP is also separate from the council. For instance Steve Brian the local MP for Winchester ( Torie) represents Winchester in Parliament but he has no direct control in any council or Courts.

• 'A Clinic Book' is a tool which MPs use to allow members of the public to raise a query to councils/parliament, however, they have no actual power to ensure these queries are resolved.

• There are three types of council:

1. City Council
2. District Council
3. Parish Council

For example, Hampshire County Council is more powerful than Winchester City Council and is consequently in charge of Winchester City Council. Hampshire County Council controls a budget of 1.8 billion whereas in comparison Winchester City Councils controls a budget of 12 million.
The Parish Council are underneath the City Counciln in terms of ranks.

• District Council is responsible for:

1. Dead Animals
2. Parking
3. Abandoned Vehicles

• Winchester City Council is responsible for:

1. Bins
2. Leisure
3. Health
4. Environmental issues
5. Parking                

• In the City Council they have Unitary authorities which means that all the councils are together as one layer. For example Southampton City Council is at the same level as Hampshire County Council.

• Councils are organised like Parliament in Westminster, for instance you can have a cabinet if you have a big party etc.

• It is within the Public's Interest to report on council meetings and also qualified privilege gives you the freedom to report on council meetings without any risk of being sued for libel/ defamation. However, due to the terms of the Defamation Act 1996 you need to give any person the opportunity to defend themselves, or their actions.

• Local authorities are funded by a combination of grants from central government, council tax and business rates.

• Councillors are elected from a place called a Word.

• MPs are elected from a constituency.

• People who come in to talk to the council during a council meeting are called Civil Servants- they are people from a particular profession who come in to talk about their profession.

Radio Interview basics

The key two elements of producing a successful radio interview is:

• Good, sensible questioning.
• The proper use of your equipment.

Before you go out recording make sure that:

1. You know the equipment well and know how to use it before you set out.
2. Make sure that your equipment is fully charged ( if necessary take spare batteries).
3. It may sounding silly but make sure that you are actually recording and have pressed record.

Before using a Microphone it is essential to check that:

1. You are holding the microphone with a firm, steady hand.
2. The microphone is plugged into the correct hole of the recorder.
3. Leave ambiance at the end of the recoding rather than having an abrupt stop.

Places to record:

• Don't always go for a quiet room, give audio the most texture (the actuality) background sounds add to the atmosphere of the clip.
• Avoid echo.
• Beware of sounds such as the air con or the boiler which will sound alot louder on audio.
• Keep away from heavy traffic noises.
• Manually set the recording levels if it is noisy.

A few interviewing tips:

• The best interviews are unscripted chats. Have just a few questions or key ideas prepared.
• Listen to the answers you are being given and if the answer is something which interests you, develop the answer with another question.
• Use simple, straight forward questions: 'Who, what, how, when, where, why?'
• Avoid using closed questions (questions which require a yes or no answer).
• Do your research into the interviewee's work etc. Expand your knowledge.
• Nod to encourage your interviewee but do not speak as this will be tricky to edit out later.
• Always be in control of the interview, remember you're the one asking the questions.

Radio Production for beginners

Radio is intimate, immediate and personal. Arguably TV may seem to be more personal, radio, however,makes the listener feel included by creating visual images and keeping the conversation following as if you're listening to an old friend rather than a complete stranger in a studio.

Radio news comes in different forms. For example the amount of news broadcast depends on the particular radio station's target market. For instance Radio 1 is aimed at a younger audience and therefore provides short, informative summaries of the news. Whereas on the other hand stations such as Radio 4 with cover the news in more detail and dedicated more time to the news. This is because their target audience is of a much elder generation than the audience of Radio 1 and so they desire a more detailed coverage. The style and format of a radio show is dictated by ther target audience.

Target Audiences

• Target audiences are defined by age and social demographic ( A,B,C1,C2,D and E).
• The As and Bs are people of a high salary profession.
• Bs are professional jobs such as doctors and lawyers etc.
• C1s are people who have desk jobs.
• C2s are skilled manual workers.
• Ds are the working class (unskilled)
• and the Es are the people of the lowest income/people on benefits.
• Age is categorised in groups 10-20 years. For example, 16-24 25-44 etc.

A standard radio show would usually contain a selection of the following:

• Headlines
• Bulletins
• News Programmes
• Magazine Programmes
• Documentaries

Headlines

These are a summary of what the news stories of the day are. You will either then continue with a bulletin or programme which gives the audience more detail of the story, or simply have a stand alone bulletin.

Bulletin

• These usually last between 2-5 minutes and start with a headline and contain audio cuts of interviews or vox pops ( a series of answers given by the public to one particular question). 
• A voicer or voicepiece is where another journalist summaries a story.

News Programmes

• These usually begin with headlines and explore top stories in greater depth.
• Other news stories are included too along with interviews which will either be prerecorded.
• Outside broadcasts.
• Debate, comment and commentary.
• packages.

Magazine Programmes (E.g Radio 4)

• These may be specific or wide-ranging but generally magazine programmes have specific remit. For example 'you and yours'.
• They are less likely to include headlines or bulletins but may react to the top stories of the day.
• Cover stories are usually both topical and timeless or may often use a topical story as a peg on which hang on an otherwise timeless issue.
• Listener interaction is sometimes used.

Packages

• Packages are cues read by the presenter. The cue may include an introduction and conclusion by the reporter or participant.
• Reporter links are recorded either in the studio or on location.
• There will be be at least one interview as well as vox pops, music, sfx, actuality and archive clips.

Documentaries

These are expanded packages or features which explore a particular subject or issue in much more detail than is possible in either a news or a magazine programme.