Representation of the BBC

My homework was to anaylse contrasting representations of the BBC. I looked at an article published in the Daily Mail, a newspaper notorious for its right-wing satire, and the BBC 'countdown' advert. Needless to say, both were very different. 
 

 

Text 1 - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2232075/The-BBC-brilliant--despite-shambolic-army-suits-bean-counters.html - The Daily Mail is a conservative, British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust.

First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982. Scottish and Irish editions of the daily paper were launched in 1947 and 2006 respectively. The Daily Mail was Britain's first daily newspaper aimed at the newly literate "lower-middle class market resulting from mass education, combining a low retail price with plenty of competitions, prizes and promotional gimmicks", and the first British paper to sell a million copies a day. (Wikipedia)

 

Text 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqLI-io6_TU - The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcasting corporation. Its main responsibility is to provide impartial public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. It is the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees, with about 23,000 staff. The BBC is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London and has major production centres in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London and Salford and smaller production centres throughout the UK. (Wikipedia)

 

The Daily Mail newspaper article depicts the Public Service Broadcaster as a corrupt and disliked institution. This particular newspaper's mode of address is rather satirical and negative. The writer offers to “assist” the audience to “clamber over the heaped corpses of the BBC's failed, and now sacked, senior executives”. The imagery of death is rather hyperbolic, as it suggests that the BBC affiliates have failed so extremely that it is comparable to death. This is quite a common trait of the Daily Mail that, one could argue, enjoys criticising other institutions that may not share the same values and ideologies of the newspaper. The imagery conjured up by the phrase “heaped corpses” could make the audience think of murder, a completely corrupt representation of a previously well-liked institution. However, it may be a way of convincing the audience that the BBC's actions recently have been dishonest and terrible, which some may agree with. The pictures are cleverly utilised to further this notion of corruption and negativity. The first image depicts people walking out of the BBC building, an obviously innocent act, however, one could infer, from the surrounding body of text, that the walking away is an attempt of escaping. The second image shows the outside of the BBC building on a cloudy day. If pathetic fallacy were to apply here, one could argue that the atmosphere surrounding the BBC is hopeless, depressing and bleak. Both images are rather humorous ones chosen by the Daily Mail to feature in the article. The rather bias imagery created by the text and pictures in the article depict the BBC as a corrupt and tainted institution. 

 

One could argue that Text 2, the promotional BBC text, presents a modernised representation of the institution, rather than a traditional one. The clip features a montage of scenes depicting journalists reporting from unusual areas, such as football pitches and war zones, rather than the traditional studio format. This modern illustration of journalism is presented as a positive trait through the use of low-angled camera shots when looking at the journalists, as if the reporters are important and highly regarded for their dangerous reports. The question that arises is whether this modern take is positive or not. Text 1 depicts this change as a negative, impying that the BBC no longer has its traditional, well-liked values. The article claimed that the new changes made by the 'modernised' BBC create “a serious misfortune for the British people, to whom the old, trustworthy, decent, sometimes boring but sometimes brilliant old-style Auntie BBC meant so much”. One may note the adjective “trustworthy” to contrast with the recent notion of deceitfulness, suggesting that it is not only a loss of tradition, but a loss of actuality to the news. Furthering the notion of loss of reality, one could bring up the debate of censorship. Although danger is implied in Text 2 with a montage of scenes depicting war zones and non-diegetic bangs, no actual tragedies are reported, such as combat and subsequent death. Although these scenes are not shown for viewer safety, one could argue that the truth is being censored, stopping the audience from learning the true nature of events, such as war. Modernity is represented as a positive trait of the BBC in Text 2, with the use of camera angles and a montage of modern, global scenery. However, it is represented as negative by the Daily Mail through the use of contrasting imagery of the "old" (and "trustworthy") and new.

 Text 2 represents the BBC as diverse, showing a montage of scenes appealing to different audiences and their various gratifications. Scenes depicting sports journalists are merged with scenes of war reports and celebrity activity, in order to engage a range of viewers and satisfy uses and gratifications such as entertainment, information, escapism and topics for social conversation. David Attenborough, a BBC affiliate, stated that it is "a responsibility of the BBC to provide programs which have a broad spectrum of interest". The BBC is also represented as culturally diverse. Close ups and long shots depicting Asian children from countries affected by war as well as cast and crew of different cultures are used frequently. This is an example of globalisation, as one could argue the world is becoming ‘smaller’ and more intimate, as people in the Western world, that receive reports from the BBC, learn about cultures and lifestyles different from their own, hopefully strengthening international bonds and lessening prejudice. The global and broad content shown in Text 2's representation of the BBC implies that it is very diverse, not only as a requirement of a PSB, but also to appeal to a wide audience with differing taste and interests.

 Text 2 also represents the BBC as an institution set on discovering and presenting the truth to its audience. A mid shot depicting a camera operator and female reporter in protective clothing in an area that appears to be involved in war and a close up of a reporter reacting to some kind of explosion imply that the BBC strives to document reality to their viewers, regardless of the dangers they may face in the process. The non-diegetic bang that accompanies the startled journalist may be a method of anchoring the notion of danger to the audience, as the noise is rather sudden and unexpected, or to involve the audience, implying a unity and intimacy between the institution and its audience. With the recent allegations of the Programme Editor, Peter Rippon, refusing to air the ‘Newsnight’ concerning the late Jimmy Savile’s abuse case and George Entwistle, the Director General, airing an episode of ‘Newsnight’ that wrongly accused Lord McAlpine of abuse, one could argue that the BBC does not report the truth, or has at least struggled to for the past few months. Text 1 develops this notion by referring to George Entwistle as “unfit” to fulfil his role as Director, possibly due to his airing of the incorrect accusatory 'Newsnight', and calling the BBC, in general, a “grotesquely overblown organisation”. The adjective “overblown” may imply that the institution is relied on by a large number of people to receive the news, and ultimately the truth, which the BBC has not recently delivered. Text 2 attempts to represent the BBC as a truthworthy institution with aspects of danger faced by the journalists, whereas Text 1 desires to expose the insitution as an untrustworthy and corrupt organisation.

 

Text 2 implies that the BBC has a passion for reporting the news. The constant use of the colour red (seen on the logo that remains in the bottom left-hand corner, the ending moving image of the globe and the shoot of colour travelling through television aerials, symbolising the news reaching different households). Red has connotations of passion and love, possibly implying a love of reporting news felt by the BBC. Red also has connotations of danger, which may symbolise the type of news reported, as many of the scenes depict camera operators and journalists in harsh and war-affected areas. One could argue that the repetition of scenes depicting war may contribute to a form of moral panic. The audience may become desensitised to the images they witness on the news, meaning that sad stories of lives lost and continual struggles no longer affect an audience and sadden them the way one would expect, purely because of the constant reporting of warfare. Impressionable audience members may also relate what they see to violent video games they have played or just interpret it as fun. This could be considered a moral panic as it may influence someone to act violently as they are constantly exposed to savage images and have become desensitised to the horrors of military action. Although Text 2 desires to illustrate a passion for reporting the news, the danger of a moral panic is an effect of the constant depicting of war.

The BBC's role as a Public Service Broadcaster means that it must depict the truth to its audience. The recent controversy would imply that this is not being fulfilled by the institution. The Daily Mail article could be argued to revel in the BBC's neglected duties, whereas the BBC 'countdown' text aims to develop the idea that the organisation is a passionate,  truthful and diverse institution.