Actuality

Actuality was the subject of the first lecture in year two of FdBm..

- The live or recorded sound of an event or interview on location.
Live or as it "Actually" happens.
(Radio handbook, Carol Flemming)

We examined the use of actuality in the news...

It is particularly useful in local news creating "rapport" and "locality". It can create emotional connections and strengthen brand awareness. Stations such as Star radio in North Somerset have very minimal staff and a small budget but still do very well in the RAYJAR because of their commitment to local news and the use of actuality "on the scene" "live from" content in their news bulletins.

Bath FM's Laura Harrison had this to say-

"Actuality is really important, as I use it as much I can and and if I'm out and about interviewing people I always want to interview them somewhere where there's a bit of background noise.
It important because it shows the listener that we are out in the community where they are and of course the direct result of that it that they know we care about Bath and care about them...therefore we're local.
Here at Bath FM we do alot of OBs which has the same effect because it's bringing the brand out to the listener, they can then relate to us - and we're not just a bunch of lemons sitting in an office and not having a clue.
I think it also makes for appealing radio because as a listener you want to hear your radio station out in your community.

Last week we went to an old railway tunnel which was re-opening for the first time in years. The journalist walked the whole mile through the tunnel with a load of school children. It sounded immediate, it sounded interesting (because anyone can sit in an office and interview someone)and it it sets the scene a lot more. The listener can imagine themselves there and its all about making the listener believe that they are there with the others.

Live content's good because it is very immediate and up to date A few second world war bomb's have been found in Bath since I started here in April and we always get down to them because its what people are talking about in the pub - how stupid and out of touch with the local community would we look if we just sat in an office and speculated or just read what the press officers gave us?! Nine times out of ten live content will be top of the bulletins because it happening there and then".

(Bath FM News editor, Laura Harrison)

We were asked to create a narrative to accompany two pictures in the form of an "on the scene" news bulletin.

Our correspondent Michael Huck at the Popo river in Binan...

Suspended in a sea of debris, his hair slick with an oily film from the flotsam and jetsam of a nation's waste that surrounds him. This young boy is desperate to seek refuge from the sweltering afternoon sun.

From the look on his face on could presume he's faced with attack from the myriad predators in this region of the Philippines...Snakes, piranha's or an alligator perhaps?

This treat however is far more deadly. Over 90 percent of rivers in the PPhilippines have been classified as biologically dead. this floating landfill site is a stark and timely reminder of the damage we as mankind are inflicting on the environment.