Adam
Johnson
My first choice of
news stories to analyse is a public interest article. This story is about Adam
Johnson who previously played for the football club Manchester City and now
plays for Sunderland, who has been arrested on suspicion of having sex with an underage
girl. Adam has now been suspended pending the police enquiry to his arrest, he
was due to travel with the rest of the Sunderland squad today however, police
and forensic officers were seen arriving at Adam Johnson’s property at 9a.m,
they then searched his garage and took Adam into custody. The story is in the interest of the UK national public, this is due to the fact he is a public figure and well known footballer for Manchester City and Sunderland. Also, over the past year a lot of allegations and arrests have been made on multiple famous people for similar cases, this means people have the right and want to know if he did commit this crime and what will happen to him if found guilty. Because he was a famous footballer, a lot of the public and fans will have a lot of questions about this case if found out to be true.
The immediacy of this particular story is fairly important due to the fact it’s a serious allegation, which if true will ruin his career and face jail time. If he is found to be innocent, his name has still been tarnished and could possibly harm his career prospects in the future. This case should definitely be broadcasted on Radio stations and TV news programmes, due to the seriousness of the allegation and also for the public interest in this case. Most broadcasting companies definitely have immediacy now, because this occurred at 9.a.m and in the news the same day. If a news story is important enough the TV station can interrupt the current story or show being shown and conduct breaking news reports. This can also be done via Radio stations, they can introduce news stories as soon as they happen by featuring it in their news segment, or if it’s incredibly important they can stop the current radio show and inform the public of the story.
There will definitely be follow up stories from this story, for example if he is found guilty the news will follow the court case and the final decision. However if he is found innocent, they will again follow this with the court case results and then ask for his word on what has happened. The news could even include his family, or girlfriend for the story.
If the story wanted to get audio clips to include for the
news story, it could be quite difficult due to the fact the victim in this case
is in fact underage and under 18, which means they would need to protect the
victim as much as possible because she is a minor. It can be possible to get an
interview from the victim or the family of Adam, however the reporter would
have to be very careful to protect the identities that are included, if they do
not they would be breaching certain contracts and constrains. It is also very
hard and limited when trying to get audio from the accused if he does in fact
get proven guilty due to fact he would be in prison.
This story is both human and public interest as it is a very serious and delicate case, which a lot of people will want answers for, because he was a role model for aspiring footballers or young fans of him.
Becky Watts
For my second news
story I will be analysing I have chosen a very serious and public interest
story. This article is about a 16 year old girl, called Rebecca Watts from
Bristol. She was reported missing when one night she did not come home from
visiting her boyfriend, her father led a search along with hundreds of
neighbours that wanted to help find her. They found no clues, until this news
report came out more than a week after she disappeared. The news story states
that new information had suggested that Becky’s body had been cut up and a
search at the new location has resulted in the discovery of body parts, and due
to this a further four men and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of
assisting an offender. Just like stated in the previous story, because this story is so serious it definitely has immediacy. If the story was deemed extremely serious, TV news can interrupt news stories with a report broadcast about this story, or could add a news banner onto a TV programme, along with Radio stations they can also interrupt the current show with a broadcast about this, this is to inform the public about this story. The immediacy of this story people will know about and are aware of this serious story. For example, the more people that know about this there is an increased chance of more evidence being brought or people coming forward with information on this case.
There are definitely a few follow up angles that can happen after broadcasting this story, it could even help uncover other cases of missing children. The family of Rebecca could be interviewed which could be used for radio audio clips, or if recorded could also be broadcasted onto TV in order to help find and contact Rebecca if she happens to see. Also, when the criminal who conducted this vicious crime is found, the public will want to follow the case and see what happens to them. If she does get found, they could follow up by possibly interviewing her or maybe her family to find how she is. In this case, her name is not being protected even though she is under 18, this is because it is a vital part of information that the public need to know in order to help possibly find her, hence why they are also including pictures of her in case anyone has seen her.