U27 LO1: Issues relating to your documentary:

Opinion and Bias: An opinion is something favored by a person, but

it doesnt need to be biased in a way that it is positive or negative but
could be a factual opinion. A biased statement is more towards the idea of
favoring one side more than the other. It is more used in the context of
expressing a prejudice opinion.
An opinion is important within factual programming because presenters
and producers want to show viewers what the members of the public
think. However, they want to keep it balanced when showing opinions
from others, because they want to keep the argument fair, otherwise if
there are too many opinions showing they agree with an argument, it will
seem out to be biased, which presenters and producers want to try and
prevent, in order to keep a discussion fair. An example of an opinion,
would be something like cancer is a terrible disease, which is based on
facts and a fair calculation of data, therefore it is not biased, it is merely
an opinion from facts.
A biased statement is important to control. Its important for producers
and presenters to look at different opinions so that they dont risk
offending some viewers. A biased opinion is more like favoritism of a
specific subject. In the media, the stories that are selected are usually
based on whatever will please the viewer, and what they want to hear, not
the other side of things or others opinions. An example of a biased opinion
would be something like Women cant do handy work as well as men
can this is merely based on ones biased opinion, as it is not based on
factual information.
For my documentary, I am currently focusing on some negative points
about social media such as, where the information you put out, where that
information goes. To avoid this biased side of the documentary, I will try to
include both sides of Social Media, and not just the negative. This is so
that I am not just giving one sided opinions on the topic, but a full range
of facts, views and opinions. This is also to avoid offending anyone who is
strongly for social media and may have many viewpoints to argue against
my idea.

Accuracy: The accuracy refers to how correct and precise the

information given, really is, and whether or not the audience trust the
information theyre given. It is important for producers and presenters to
keep their information as accurate as possible, because if mistakes are
consistent, the audiences trust will eventually wear out. It is vital that
accuracy is kept to a good standard. You can make sure of this, by
interviewing or talking to eyewitnesses or people who were involved in the
event or experienced something similar. This way you have the best

possible chance of receiving the most accurate information on a report.

For example in David Attenboroughs wildlife documentaries, he provides
the audience with factually correct information. However, in Supersize
Me, the presenters state correct factual information, but often overexaggerate the facts and make them seem ridiculously bad, making it
inaccurate, biased and subjective.
In my documentary, I will make sure my information is as accurate as
possible. I will gather my information from reliable online sources as well
as from interviewing people who are able to give accurate information on
the subject. In this case, these will be people who have, themselves,
posted something that they have regretted, and therefore have a lot to
say about it, as well as what can actually happen. The online sources I will
gather will be sure to be from an accurate source that provides correct
information, to keep the audience happy and build their trust with the
information I am giving them.

Balance and Impartiality: Balance means to keep the information

fair on both sides of a topic that is being discussed. There are always two
sides to a story; therefore the information told should be correct and fair.
This can also link to the accuracy of information given to the audience,
and that it is vital to keep the information accurate in order to build the
trust with the viewer. Impartiality is viewing both sides and opinions
equally and not taking sides or making your own personal judgements of
the topic, which may also be inaccurate.
Balance is important for the presenter or producer to maintain, so that
both sides of a topic are backed up with all possible correct and fair
information and not make it seem like one side is more focused on. Only
at the end of a discussion, is it ever acceptable to be biased towards a
certain subject. For example, if there was a show focusing on Weed, both
sides would have to be argued (both negatives and positives) such as, it
can be used as prescribed medicine for someone with Crohns disease, in
order to treat them, which is clearly seen as a positive; however negatives
of the substance would include the effects it has on the body as a whole.
At the end of the discussion, it would be more acceptable for a biased
conclusion, as the information from both sides could be added up to see
which side weighs more than the other.
Impartiality is important for producers or presenters when it comes to
factual programming. In order for producers or presenters to make an
impartial judgement, they will have to gather arguments that are relevant
to the topic and present them correctly so that they dont appear as
biased. If your information is constantly your own judgments or opinions
and not impartial, then the audience wont be pleased with the
information theyre given, and may feel that it is biased and may find that
other information you provide is biased as well.

An example of a factual TV programme that provides the audience with

balanced and impartial information is Supersize vs Super-skinny, where
the presenter discuss how bad the diets are of both guests on both sides
(one who over-eats and one who under eats). The show progresses for the
contestants to then switch diets for a week, in order for them to see that
they dont need to live on their current diet, and that they can change it to
benefit them. The show doesnt only mention how bad fatty-foods are, but
also how bad under eating can be. The show talks impartially of both sides
and gives a clear, balanced argument of the topic.
For my documentary, I will try to keep my information as balanced as
possible, and provide the audience with information on both the negatives
and positives of social media. Even though, my documentary will focus
more on awareness of the topic and asking the rhetorical question Do
you really know what youre doing? and giving examples of people who
have posted something theyve regretted, I will also include some
positives to balance it out, such as pointing out basic/ brief information
about how social networks such as Facebook can be used to keep in
contact with old friends as well as keeping all your contacts in one place.
Also, that it can be used as a good base to advertise your business across.

Objectivity and subjectivity: Objectivity means to look at both

sides fairly and impartially. It means to be using evidence and facts and be
fair about it. Whereas subjectivity is more about you giving your own
opinion or judgement whilst discussing a topic and being more biased and
only seeing your viewpoint as valid.
To achieve objectivity successfully in factual programming, it is important
for presenters or producers to keep their opinion and judgement to

themselves sometimes; at least for a while until they have revised and
looked at all possible facts on both sides of a topic. It is important to see
things from both sides and gathering all facts before making a final
judgement. This is in order for the presenters or producers to not be seen
as biased. An example for objectivity is to understand that there are two
sides to a story, for example smoking has many negative effects as well
as some positives. The negatives include increase in chance of getting
many types of cancers, or that its addictive and may be hard to stop.
However, positive effects are things such as it can improve memory. But
at the end of an objective discussion, and after youve analyzed both sides
of the story, is it acceptable to give your own opinion, which may be
subjective.
It is important for producers or presenters to try avoid subjectivity as
much as possible, as it may result in outcome to be quite biased towards
the desired view. It may also prevent a chance for all the true and correct
facts to come across to the audience. Its okay to get your point across
and use your own opinion, but only as long as it is stated that it is our own
opinion and that it may not be necessarily factually correct or accurate,
but merely an opinion. This will help the audience understand that you are
not trying to be biased towards the topic.
In my documentary, I will try to keep it as objective as possible so that I
prevent being biased, as much as possible. I will try and look at my topic
from both the negative and positive sides, so that I get all the factual
information across to the audience, and prevent being seen as biased. I
also want to get all facts across first, before giving my own opinion on the
subject, so that the audience can see that the information I am providing,
is as accurate as it can be. This information will be from online sources as
well as interviews with people who have experienced or been a part of
something to do with social media and posting something theyve
regretted after. At the end of the documentary, I may conclude the topic
as a whole and then give my own opinion on what I think. This opinion
may be one sided, negative or positive, and some people may or may not
agree, but it is merely an opinion.

Representation: This is what something is known for in the media.

Its how something is constantly portrayed and what stereotype
something is given. Its best to try and avoid stereotyping. Especially in
the media, as people usually believe what they hear and see in the media,
therefore they may believe what you are saying about a specific topic,
however this information may be wrong. This is vital for producers or
presenters to try and avoid, especially during factual programming, as it
could lead to misleading and false information, and if the audience find
out that it is false, you may not be able to keep your audience. An
example of representation and stereotypes is that Women are
housewives, whilst men work this is a gender stereotype which not only

women, but many men as well, are against. If this stereotype came out as
a title in a popular magazine or mentioned in a factual programme, it
would most probably cause an outburst. People whod be against it may
even file complaints against the company or presenter who provided this
information.
For my documentary, I will try and not stereotype anything or give
anything a representation. This includes anyone that is being interviewed,
or the topic itself. Anyone being interviewed will be given the chance to
get their opinion or story across, and not be interrupted or told that
theyre wrong and provide with a subjective opinion instead. I will not
stereotype the topic itself (social media), as it is wrong to do so in a
factual programme, and people may get offended or be able to see that it
is being stereotyped and think it is wrong. I want to try and avoid this as
much as possible, and instead include fair and impartial information.

Access and Privacy: In factual programming, you need access for

filming on certain locations or even certain people, which has to be
accepted with permission. Privacy is your right to not be observed or
disturbed by other people. It is being free from the publics attention.
It is important for producers or presenters to be given permission to film
on location or film certain people, because if you do so anyway, without
permission, you could get in trouble with the law. They also need to have
access to the rights resources for when theyre filming, such as camera
equipment or even permission to use a studio, if it is needed. For
example, a prank show called Impractical Jokers, where four guys go
around in the city of New York, pulling pranks on each other, as well as
other people on the streets. Behind the scenes, the presenters of the show
have to make sure theyre given permission, from the people on the
streets, if they can show the footage with the peoples faces in it, and for
it to be shown on TV.
Privacy is something that is vital for factual programming, and something
that is usually a problem within the media, because people have the right
for their own privacy without other people observing them, but the media
also have a right to the freedom of expression, where they often publish
or produce anything which they think would be in the publics best
interest. It is important for producers or presenters to try and maintain the
privacy of others, especially when the presenter or producers is not given
permission to use anything that the person counts as part of their privacy.
Invasion of privacy is a legal concept. Its a wrongful act, and allows the
person whose privacy was invaded, to file any lawsuit against the intruder.
For example, in 1992, a 96 year old woman and newspaper carrier, had
her picture next to a headline "Special Delivery: World's oldest
newspaper carrier, 101, quits because she's pregnant!". The woman, who
was not pregnant, sued the Arkansas newspaper and was given $1.5
million for any damages. The woman filed a lawsuit against the newspaper

as a result for invading her privacy, and presenting her with false
information. Another example is a male gym teacher who was sentenced
to jail after he admitted to have placed a video camera inside the
womens restroom at Franconia alternative school. Investigations began
after another teacher had found a video camera placed inside the staff
restroom and the police examined the camera and found a possible
suspect.
For my documentary, I will make sure to gain permission from people I am
interviewing, to show their face on camera, and as long as they are okay
with that, otherwise another possible arrangement can be discussed (such
as have them as a silhouette during the interview, or not show their face).
I will also gain permission to any extra equipment I may need to borrow,
and ask the rightful owner of the equipment, if I am able to use it. I will
not invade peoples privacy in this documentary; no secret filming, no
trespassing and I wont use information about someone or something
without the owner of the informations permission.

Contract with viewer: The contract you have with the viewer is
when you state what your factual programme is about and what it will
involve. You have then made an agreement with the viewer to provide
them with the information youre saying you will provide them with, as
well as it being accurate and interesting.

This is important for presenters or producers to maintain and to provide

the viewer with correct and true information (that you say you will),
because if you tell them youre providing them with a certain type of
information, but then theyre no receiving what they were told, then this
could lead to them not trusting you in the future and youre audience
could start to drop. By providing the viewer with the wrong information
could also result in attracting the wrong audience for the factual
programme. For example if the presenters where doing a show on
cyberbullying and their target audience were children between 8-14, but
the description of the programme doesnt clearly explain what the factual
programme focuses on, and instead tell the viewer that its about schools
in the UK, or in a certain area; not only does this provide the viewer with
false information on what the programme is actually about, but also the
viewer could find that the presenters or producers are trying to make UK
schools out to seem bad because they have a lot of cyberbullying, and
therefore the schools or even the area could be given a reputation.
In my documentary, I will make sure to provide my audience with the
information I say I will supply them with, and not give them false
information to get them to watch a show they may not even be interested
in. This could also attract the wrong audience, by not providing the right
information from the start; therefore I will be precise with the information
so that the viewer can understand exactly what the show is about and not
be disappointed when they come to watch it.

References:

http://www.slideshare.net/954869/factual-programming
Bibliography
Factual programming (2011) Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/954869/factual-programming
(Accessed: 1 May 2016).

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

(Factual programming, 2011)

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/218470/what-is-thedifference-between-bias-and-opinion
Bibliography
What is the difference between bias and opinion? (2016) Available at:
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/218470/what-is-the-difference-between-bias-andopinion (Accessed: 1 May 2016).

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

(What is the difference between bias and opinion?, 2016)

http://liamhaydn.blogspot.co.uk/
Bibliography
Haydn, L. (2012) Unit 27 understand issues relating to factual programming for television. Available
at: http://liamhaydn.blogspot.co.uk/ (Accessed: 1 May 2016).

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

(Haydn, 2012)

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-bias.html
Bibliography
Examples of bias (no date) Available at: http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-bias.html
(Accessed: 1 May 2016).

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

(Examples of bias, no date)

http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/features/medicalmarijuana-uses
Bibliography
Harding, A. (2013) Medical marijuana. Available at: http://www.webmd.com/painmanagement/features/medical-marijuana-uses (Accessed: 1 May 2016).

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

(Harding, 2013)

https://prezi.com/lgvosmm1rc6v/the-positive-and-negative-effectsof-smoking-tobacco/
Bibliography
Sheades, E. (2012) The positive and negative effects of smoking tobacco. Available at:
https://prezi.com/lgvosmm1rc6v/the-positive-and-negative-effects-of-smoking-tobacco/ (Accessed:
1 May 2016).

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

(Sheades, 2012)

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=what+is+privacy
Bibliography
Google (no date) Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/#q=what+is+privacy (Accessed: 2 May
2016).

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

(Google, no date)

http://legaldictionary.net/invasion-of-privacy/
Bibliography
*, N. (2015) Invasion of privacy definition, examples, cases. Available at:
http://legaldictionary.net/invasion-of-privacy/ (Accessed: 2 May 2016).

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

(*, 2015)

http://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/invasion-of-privacy.html
Bibliography
Invasion of privacy (2016) Available at: http://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personalinjuries/invasion-of-privacy.html (Accessed: 2 May 2016).

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

(Invasion of privacy, 2016)

http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2013/11/18/region/doc528256194
5ca0899765753.txt
Bibliography
Jr, C.H. (2013) Gym teacher jailed in invasion of privacy case. Available at:
http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2013/11/18/region/doc5282561945ca0899765753.txt
(Accessed: 2 May 2016).

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

(Jr, 2013)