Channel 5 News bulletin criticism.

A brief summation of my initial thoughts, whilst watching  Channel Five's 5pm news bulletin (in relatively chronological order).

The headline sequence is good looking, though I found it strange that after the flood headline, with the quote from David Cameron (not the most enthralling, but that's to be expected from the PM), there was quite a long gap before the next one, it works if the aim is to separate the top story from the others, but to a casual viewer, it seems like there is only one headline showcasing the entire programme.

The rest of the headlines, were a mix of public interest story (the Norovirus) and pop culture: Nadine Dorries relating to I'm a celeb; Bill Tarney of Corrie fame dying (admittedly there's more gravitas to this); and sports personality predictions. I'm not sure if I like the still and zoom of Chris Hoy, I'm of the opinion suspense doesn't really belong on a news show, though as the final piece it has something of an excuse as people will potentially wait longer to see it. I just don't think Chris Hoy's opinion is that much to be excited about.

The floods lead the entire bulletin, it was a very flood-heavy programme, which is reasonable as that is currently the biggest story in the UK at the moment. That said, the flood stories took up about eight minutes. On Monday's bulletin they even took up about 11. As well as having a flood special later on the Monday) and that could be quite a lot to ask of most audiences if they don't have much of an interest in them.

There were two flood packages today (three yesterday) both of which were introduced by a live OB with the reporter, and one of which returned to the OB afterword. I'm not sure how relevant some of it was, some provided updates on the stories, though they could have potentially been said by the presenter. That said, it made it look much more professional, especially from the point of view of Winchester News Online. We've had virtually no success with live OBs and to my mind it is one of the things that helps to look much more credible, on a technical level.

The graphic in the first flood story, looked very good (showing the UK behind the stats) though I had slight issues keeping up with the stats. I believe it mentioned the number of flood warnings and alerts, as well as the train announcements and road closures. A good selection to have, slightly hard to follow, but much better to have graphics than anything else.

The interview with David Cameron was great to have, it was a shame he didn't say much of particular interest, though not surprising. Some expo on what he wanted and hoped to happen.

The most noticeable feature of the second flood package, was the interview with a man trapped inside his house. with the reporter shouting questions to him as he leaned out of a window. Not only did it highlight the man's plight, but jumped out at as a very interesting part of the story.

The package also had some vox pops of flood victims, generally at WINOL we try to avoid VPs. However, in the circumstances it's a great way of gauging the problems ad temperament of the people affected.

The Norovirus story, as I said before, is a typical story formed around the public health interest. Health stories are always big and seem occur frequently at this time of year. That doesn't always make them too necessary. As far as I can tell, the story was simply saying that something that is always around, is happening somewhat early this year. The still image of the virus looked good, and I would have been surprised if there wasn't one. But the music underlay was perhaps a bit too sinister, it felt like the T-virus from Resident Evil was being unleashed. I'm not sure what the point of the music was, except to imply that the virus was something to be feared.The still of the virus, as well as the underlay were both used again at the end of the piece. It brought the story full circle, but also stood out to that there were apparently were no other pictures that could have been used.

Again in this piece, graphics were used, with an ER looking background, these looked very strong, and were a good way of rattling off figures without becoming too dull.

The Eon OOV  was quite quick, and worked to break up the heavy packages, though I'm honestly not sure what it was about, compensation for customers who switched services (I think) and it didn't seem there was much of a story there. Probably the reason why it was an OOV in fairness.

The reminder after the break was expected, and a good way to both remind, and introduce people to the bulletin, and also didn't delay too long, so no impatience to worry about.

The Yasser Arafat story had it's place as a fairly important one in the world, though rightfully I think, it hadn't earned a particularly high place in the programme, as it is somewhat out of place with the rest of the packages

Bill Tarney's funeral was well and sympathetically done. and the shots and interviews of Corrie stars were well used.

I liked the crane fire OOV. It was something of a "bloody hell look at that!" story, without a great deal of substance, but it's the sort of thing that wakes up the viewer and get them more interested in the bulletin as a whole. As a device to get the viewers attention, it worked brilliantly.

It was excellent to have an Interview with both Chris Hoy and Ellie Simmonds. Both athletes have become very big in the last few years, especially so in the wake of the Olympics. I liked the vox pops with member of the public saying who they'd like to win. We generally try to stay away from them at WINOL but for something which is decided by the public vote, it works.

Throughout the bulletin I noticed that a lot of the reporters tend to have themselves in shot during interviews. I feel that seeing a small part of the back of the reporters head in shot is a little jarring. maybe because I'm not used to it. I'm not sure if this is an editorial decision that they should do it. Maybe the audience of Channel 5 News appreciates it. In which case, that's fair enough. Working off my own experience at WINOL, though, it's generally thought that the viewers don't come to the news to see the reporter. they just want to know the story.