Unit 27 LO1

a. Opinion and bias

(what is YOUR opinion what is the opposite)
b. Accuracy
(How are you going to gain facts and make it accurate)
c. Balance and impartiality
(How are you going to make your documentary balanced do not just put I will
show both sides of the story what are they and how will this balance your
programme?
d. Objectivity and subjectivity
e. Representation
Who is being represented and is it fairly or are you leaning towards your
opinion of that person?
f. Access and privacy
What access do you have are you invading anyones privacy gaining the
information?
g. Contract with viewer
What are you promising the viewer and how are you going to stick to it?
1. Explain what each issues means and why it is important in factual
programmes
2. Detail how you are going to overcome these issues in your documentary
Opinion and Bias
Opinion and bias mean the
The stance taken by my documentary will be one that pigeon fancying and
racing is a dying hobby that has long passed its prime, as all documentaries
need to have an opinion or stance that they are investigating and deliberately
calling into question. All regulatory bodies consider impartiality not favouring
an opinion, or having a bias to be vital. I will exercise due impartiality by
representing opposing opinions, and in in line with the audiences expectations
given the context, and because of the light hearted nature of the subject.
A very recent, and particularly controversial example of the importance of
opinion and bias (and the backlash when the public do not feel its been met) is
BBC Ones The Last Whites of the East End which heard to opinions of those in
Londons East End that feel overrun and driven out by the increasing Asian
and non-white population. Members of the public have complained about its
blatant racism and right-wing bias, with the biggest criticism being the lack of
alternative opinions in the film depicting the other side of the argument.
Additionally, many have said that making and broadcasting the film in the first
place was wrong, and proves a bias within the BBC.
Accuracy
Accuracy is vital to factual programming because without adhering to proven
facts, your argument, narrative, or educational value loose integrity, and if these
are built up entirely on a flimsy unproven or unsupported piece of information, it

will collapse entirely. Factual programme makers and news outlets must be
accurate, but a recent example of this not being the case is seen in The Suns
Queen Backs Brexit headline cover, and although they have faced severe
backlash for their outlandish and unfounded claims, they stick by their
unnamed sources, insisting that the article was accurate.
Balance and Impartiality
Balance and impartiality means not to take sides in any particular reported
case, or favour a particular line of argument in a debate or divisive topic. It is
often, however, difficult to achieve because in some cases, such as the European
migrant crisis, simply creating broadcasts on the topic and educating people on
it has drawn criticism to newscasters such as the BBC as being too liberally
slanted and biased in favour of providing refuge, among many other issues and
in general.
Objectivity and Subjectivity
While objectivity is entirely factual and also, crucially, devoid of bias, judgement
and any prejudice; subjectivity is entirely opinion based and based on personal
feelings towards things. Both are open to external interpretation, and are both
vital in creating a balanced and impartial piece, as you must include objective
facts to have a credible foundation to build everything on top, and must include
varying subjective opinions and views in order to avoid bias objective facts can
be manipulated. The approach of BBC documentaries about racism such as
The United States of Hate and multiple about the KKK use objectivity to simply
present what peoples opinions are, and what is going on in their life, with
narration simply giving context to this rather than providing commentary or an
overlook, thus allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions from what is
presented to them objectively.
Representation
Representation is how people and facts are portrayed in any text. The
author/filmmaker has control over how these things are perceived by the
audience by how they make them appear. People can be represented unfairly if,
for example, they express a balanced argument in their filmed interview but only
one side of the argument is used the finished edited piece. Examples of this can
be seen in the reaction to news reporting of Islamist extremism with
researchers reported by the BBC to have concluded that most coverage of
Muslims is negative.
Access and Privacy
When creating any film, you need to be able to access all of the locations and
participants that you want to, and bear in mind what your limitations in this
respect are. Individuals privacy is also crucial to bear in mind though you have
access to some information, such as their full name or address, you should not
publish these or other information that could give these away. On top of this,
there are some barriers that prevent you from finding out certain information,
because doing so would invade somebodys privacy either the information itself
or your method of acquiring it. An example of this is the News of The Worlds
hacking of individuals voicemails in order to acquire information. Another, much
more amusing example, is the injunction implemented by a celebrity
entertainer to prevent news outlets from publishing details about promiscuity in
his relationship news outlets could not mention his name or allude to him when
reporting on the subject, even though everybody online new it was Elton John.

Contract with Viewer

This is the promise that you have made to the viewer the synopsis they may
have read that made them choose to watch the program and how you fulfil this
promise. For example, a program that categorises and presents itself as a piece
of factual programming but be 100% factual. Again using BBC Ones Last Whites
of the East End as an example some that did not object to the content still
complained that they felt the title was knowingly misleading and irresponsible.

Bibliography
BBC (2008) Most Muslim coverage
negative. Available at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7495384.s
tm (Accessed: 27 May 2016).
BBC (2016a) Injunction ruling,
supreme court judgement - BBC
parliament. Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0
7f2jbc (Accessed: 27 May 2016).
BBC (2016b) Last whites of the east
end - BBC One. Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0
7czw5k (Accessed: 27 May 2016).
BBC (2016c) United States of hate:
Muslims under attack - BBC Three.
Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0
3txt5y (Accessed: 27 May 2016).
Glanfield, E., Tapsfield, J. and Editor,
P. (2016) Twitter reacts to the last
whites of the east end. Available at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic
le-3608136/The-racist-programmehonest-reflection-state-nation-Britaindivided-reaction-Whites-EastEnd.html (Accessed: 27 May 2016).
News International phone hacking
scandal (no date) Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_In
ternational_phone_hacking_scandal
(Accessed: 27 May 2016).
Ward, V. (2015) BBC accused of
liberal bias by former director.
Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc
/11690479/BBC-accused-of-liberalbias-by-former-director.html
(Accessed: 27 May 2016).
Citations, Quotes & Annotations
BBC (2008) Most Muslim coverage
negative. Available at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7495384.s
tm (Accessed: 27 May 2016).
(BBC, 2008)

BBC (2016a) Injunction ruling,

supreme court judgement - BBC
parliament. Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0
7f2jbc (Accessed: 27 May 2016).
(BBC, 2016a)
BBC (2016b) Last whites of the east
end - BBC One. Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0
7czw5k (Accessed: 27 May 2016).
(BBC, 2016b)
BBC (2016c) United States of hate:
Muslims under attack - BBC Three.
Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0
3txt5y (Accessed: 27 May 2016).
(BBC, 2016c)
Glanfield, E., Tapsfield, J. and Editor,
P. (2016) Twitter reacts to the last
whites of the east end. Available at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic
le-3608136/The-racist-programmehonest-reflection-state-nation-Britaindivided-reaction-Whites-EastEnd.html (Accessed: 27 May 2016).
(Glanfield, Tapsfield, and Editor,
2016)
News International phone hacking
scandal (no date) Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_In
ternational_phone_hacking_scandal
(Accessed: 27 May 2016).
(News International phone hacking
scandal, no date)
Ward, V. (2015) BBC accused of
liberal bias by former director.
Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc
/11690479/BBC-accused-of-liberalbias-by-former-director.html
(Accessed: 27 May 2016).
(Ward, 2015)