Within a documentary there are many things that need to be acknowledged, this will help the audience be attracted to these and also help the documentaries be successful. These are:
Accuracy- The information that is provided in documentaries need to be real and not made up, this is because the whole point of a documentary is based on things that are true and not made up. It is important for some that is making a documentary to have actually information as one the audience will expect that everything on that programme should be correct. An example of factual programme that will have actual information is crime watch, this is very good example as all the crimes that are based on that programme are real and also the information that the show provide this is important for a factual programme like this because it this show is all about the interaction with the audience and by providing actual information it will mean that the programme are more likely to interact more with the audience. Another example would be the news as this will provide the audience will actual information, this is also important for the news as well as a lot of people will be watching this and its main purpose as a programme is to provide information to people and if its isn’t providing actual information then this programme will not be very useful.
Balance- having a balance documentary will mean that the person who made the documentary is not biased and they are not on one side of the story. Having a balance will mean that the information will not be biased as some reporters will only look at one side of the story. By having a balance will mean that the audience can then decide in which side of the story they would want to contract with this will enable the audience to be more aware of both sides of the story and they can then judge by their own perspective. An example of this is portrayed in one of the documentaries that I am looking at; this is the madeleine case as they look at both sides the story and they are fair about even about both the sides as they will be looking at what the victims itself in the incident had to say and also what the police and outsider had to say this way the audience will then be able to make a judgement them self and whi9ch side they want to be with, this way the audience are interacting because it will means that they will be able to fill in any gaps in the story and this way they will be getting the audience to think a lot more.
ImpartialityBeing impartial means that there is two sides of a story this is to make sure that something Is not biased and this will make the documentary fair as they won’t be focusing on just one point of the story. The British schools Islamic rules documentary only focuses on one side this means that the documentary is bias and there is not a mixture of both. However the other documentary focuses on both side it and this means that the documentary has two sides. This documentary will therefore let the viewers to come up with their side of the argument.
Objectivity
Being objective means that the person who is making the documentary will have to put their point across to the audience, this is important because the documentary will need to make a aim and a purpose which they want the audience to understand at the end of the video. One of the ways that the people making the documentary will make sure that they get the objective across will be through certain words and phrases. Bothe the documentaries that I’m looking at make sure that they make sure that they have a objectivity. In the madeleine case documentary and also the British school, Islamic rules in the first 6o seconds there is a voice over this means that someone is there explaining what the documentary is about and also the topics that will be covered, this is a good things because it will mean that the audience will be able to know what the documentary is about in the first 60 seconds. This is also a catch phrase for the audience because if they watch the first 60mseconds of it and they find it interesting then it will mean that they are more likely to carry on but however if they don’t then it will mean they won’t want to watch it. Another thing that the documentaries will also do is they will get specialist views who know what the things this means that if they say something people are more likely to believe then because they are persuaded that they know what they are talking about so they must be right. For example the British school, Islamic rules documentary got the opinions and view of people that were specialist in education.
Opinion – allowing opinions of different people will be important because it will mean that they can take into count how some people may feel about the situation. However they must make sure that they take the opinion so different type of people and different opinions as they can take opinions of people that are against the situation as this will not be fair as the audience will need to know about the different opinions in order for them to make a judgement themselves.
Bias- This is when an argument is one sided and they ignore the other side of the argument. this way they will only be selecting only certain information. If this is done then this will influence the viewers to agree and think they way that they want them to think as the other side of the argument is not shown and therefore the viewers wont know the other side of the argument this will be biased as they are only illustrating one side of the argument. Being will sometimes mean that it will be prejudice as they don't see the other side of an argument and they only agree with one side. an example of a show which is biased could be documentaries, for example some documentaries will only be based on one side of the argument and they don't look at the other side, meaning that that documentary will be seen as biased and they are only looking at one side of the argument and not both of the sides. The fact that some documentaries will be biased will mean that they want the viewers to think a certain way and agree with what they're saying and this way it limits the viewers from exploring the other side of the story. An example if something in the media which isn't biased is the News as what ever is based on the news is not biased as they look at both side of the argument, this way they don't want the viewers to think what they want as they want them to have their own opinions.
Representation- Stereotyping people into certain groups will mean that each one of them people will have their own image and representation as they are represented in a certain way. this also relates to peoples characteristics and the way that they are represented. Some represenations can be negative and some representations can be positive. This means that they will display people in a negative or positive way, for example in documentaries a represenation of people can either be positive or negative, this will be shown when they ask specialist for their own as they could represent that person is either a good way or bad way depending on that documentry.
Ethnicity- This is when people are stererotyped into different ethnicities, for example Asian and blacks. this can be done in a good negative or positive way. For example in Coronation Street with Dev and Sunita, the Scottish and Irish people are seen as alcoholics and constantly drunk, this shows how the enthnicity of these two people are used within Coronation Street and this is used in a negative way.
Disability- representations of disabled people are limited and they are very stereotypes, as they are seen as people who are to inspire people as they are vulnerable people and thats why they are always stereotyped. for example in movies they are stereotypes as actors who play disabled people will need to make sure that the interpret that role fully and they seem like a real disabled person.
Gender- Both males and females are represented in different types of media. For example female are highly represented in programmes as they are represented in a certain way to emphasise the fact that they're females. For example in movies females are represented as sexy and they are always beside men as though they depend and need to be around males.
Sexuality- programmes highly represent sexuality such as lesbians, gay and bisexuals and the story lines will relates to their story. For example in Emmerdale there was a story line about two lesbians and they were representing the lesbians and how they were seen different and how people were prejudice against them, the whole story was then based on these two characters.
Age- Age is a big aspect of programmes as they will show how people act and are represented, for example children will be seen different compared to the other people within the documentary. Also women are main targets for being fired over their age.
Access- this is what is needed for a programme to be made. For example within film makers are making a movies, what will they need in order for the film to be produced, for example they will need costumes, camera, place, money and people.
Privacy- in order to be able to film you will need to make sure that you have permission to who you will be filming and also what you will be filming. There we will have to make sure that we respects peoples privacy. For example on Crime the directors will have to make sure that they ask people before they film them and also any other information that will include them and as the viewers we will only have access to what the the person being filmed as given permission for.
Contract with viewers- This is when the people who are making the programme will have a contract with the viewers, meaning whatever they have told them will be displayed on the documentary will need to be there as they have promised the viewers this is what they will show them. For example if within a documentary the directors have said that they will interview and show a specialist then they must make sure that they do this as they will have a contract with the viewers saying that they will show this information.
