RADIO CRITIQUE:Classic Breakfast show and Focus on Africa

I have been critiquing Classic’s breakfast show hosted by Maina Kageni and Churchill Ndambuki aka Mwalimu Kingangi   and BBC’s Focus on Africa, hosted by our very own Sophie Ikenye. Sophie was once a news anchor with Nation Television. I opted for the above mentioned radio shows after conversing myself with the different radio formats. A number on unethical issues and other requirements of radio arise, especially with the Classic breakfast show. There is so much when we look into the history of the presenters and the skills they display and whether the main goal of reaching to their desired audience is archived.

08-1969

Selly |S. Amutabi

CONTINUATION OF BIG BREAKFAST SHOW AND HEALTH CHECK SHOW

There are certain stereotypes that are been conveyed in both BBC Health Check and KISS 100 Big Breakfast. The stereotype been portrayed in Health Check is that Africa and Asia are the heart of all the medical problems. Unfortunately, I have never heard medical experts from these “unfortunate” continents been interviewed. The guest speakers are always medical experts from the West whose expertise is sought to help curb these problems. It makes me wonder if Africans and Asians themselves cannot provide the answers to their problems.

In Big Breakfast, the stereotype been conveyed is that Kenyan politicians are greedy people who are up to no good. The presenters generalize all politicians forgetting that there are actually some politicians who work to help people.

When it comes to the programme idea, I tend to strongly agree that Health Check is an original idea as it’s the only one of its kind I have heard on radio. Its format is quite unique as the programme is segmented into three parts. The first part is a brief of world health news; the second part is an exclusive interview of an individual who has been affected by a particular disease and the third part is the big debate between medical experts who debate on various medical issues-The latest debate was whether nations should be more engaged in preventing infectious diseases (malaria, TB or HIV) or chronic illnesses (Heart Diseases or Cancers) and the guest speakers were Richard Smith and David Haymond.

In Big Breakfast on KISS 100 the programme idea is not original. This talk show format, on issues affecting Kenyans is found in most of our local radio morning shows. When listening to the Big Breakfast, I feel as though it’s a replica of Homeboys Radio, Easy Fm, Hot 96 and Ghetto Radio morning talk shows.

When it comes to the programme source, Health Check is a BBC programme which is imported and foreign as BBC headquarters are in London. The content aired on Health Check is imported as the issues which are discussed are from all over the globe. The producer of this show is Hellen Shoppe and the presenter is Claudia Hammand. There is no content rating as anyone in any age bracket can listen to this show.

In Big Breakfast on KISS 100, the programme source is local and regional as the KISS 100 base is situated in Westlands. I am yet to find the name of the producer of the Big Breakfast Show but the show’s presenters are Caroline Mutoko, Larry Asego and Mzee Jalango. There is also no content rating on this show as anyone from any age group can listen to the show.

The production values of Health Check on a scale of 1-10, I can confidently give Health Check a 9.60.  The audio is very clear and the presenter uses the microphone excellently. Sound effects are not overused and they are well used where they are supposed to be. The music used creates the mood of the show which conveys seriousness. When a certain music or sound effect is used, you will definitely know that a certain segment of the show is been discussed. There is always a back announcement and when the show starts the presenter gives you the run down on what is prepared for each segment. However, there is never any time check on the show and that is why I gave Health Check a 9.60 instead of a 10. Claudia Hammand is very interactive with her interviewees and the debate is engaging. When listening to the show, I don’t feel as though I am a part of a huge crowd that is listening to the show. I feel that Claudia interacts with me on a personal level.

On the Big Breakfast, microphone usage is great and the audio levels are perfect. In production levels, I would give the Big Breakfast a 10 on a scale of 1-10. There is perfect use of sound effects and the music used creates the mood of interactivity. There is always a back announcement and time check after every break. The presenters hold our interest by not telling us at the beginning of the show what the topic of discussion for the day is. This show is very interactive between the three presenters and they always seek the citizens’ views by letting them call in.

MUIRURI MUTHEGU PRISCILLA
08-0751

RADIO PROGRAM CRITIQUE

 BBC
This is  the second of the four debates, that started last week. The major issue was improving global health.She(Claudia) asked a rhetoric question to the health experts. "What would you fight for, which would make the most difference to the health of the world's poorest people."

This week she focuses on the issue of clean water supply and some decent toilets versus a mother who has several years of education at school. Her guests were Yael Velleman from water aid and who is championing for clean water supply and decent toilets and Professor Anthony Costello from the institute of child health (London) who sees education as being important than any other thing.

Valleman argues that education is not beneficial if there is no clean steady supply water as well as decent toilets because taking dirty water one becomes sick and hence misses class for a number of days. Costello on the other hand argues that one needs a proper education so as to think of how they can get that steady supply of water and decent toilets.

The issue brought me closer home and I thought of the people living in the slums, if given a choice between having a school constructed or having decent toilets and a readily available supply of clean water they would choose the latter.

The show at hope FM doesn't  have sound effects just straight to the discussion with an inetrlude of
4TH OCTOBER
This is the third of the four debates. It also deals on improving global health just as it was last week. Claudia  still poses the same question she did last week that what could be the only ting that the health experts would fight for to make the most difference to the health of the world's poorest people.

Her guests were Julian from Global Alliance for vaccines and immunization and professor Campbell from the London school of hygiene and tropical medicine. The issue being discussed was vaccination and Professor Campbell argues that more children should be vaccinated against improving  the health of the mothers whereas Julian was championing for the opposite.

She also touched on Psychologist Maslow who came up with who came up with the famous pyramid commonly known today as  the Maslow hierarchy of needs. Claudia here talks to Doug Kenrick, Professor of Arizona state university in the United States of America about how he has re-drawn the pyramid.Maslow hierarchy. Maslow's pyramid had five steps;from the least to the most -basic needs, security, relationships, self esteem and self actualization.

Kenrick says that it was based on some great ideas but "missed out on some very basic facts about human nature facts which weren't well understood in Maslow's time." His renovated hierarchy of needs has seven steps and from the least to the most they include: immediate psychological needs, self protection, affiliation, status/esteem, mate requisition, mate retention and parenting.

11TH OCTOBER
In today's show which is the last in the series, Claudia concentrates on Parkinson disease. Her guest Dr. Haydeh tells how she has identified genes that can reduce risks of the disease when stimulated by caffeine, but it is not everyone who will respond positively to it.

She also focused on a story in Hong Kong where young people are using a drug known as Ketamine. Ketamine, she explains is a horse tranquilizer and a popular recreational drug among the young people in Hong Kong. Dr. Albert Low from Hong Kong explains that the drug has replaced heroine and the major side effect is the shrinking of the bladder

HOPE FM
The healthy living is a show in Hope FM that deals with how we can adopt a healthy living lifestyle. This show comes on a Friday between 7am and 7:30 am. The expert here is Kate Kiboro. She is a nutritionist whereas James Okumu is  the host of  the entire show activate.

10TH SEPTEMBER
On this day the discussion was on "how to increase metabolism."She had 10 steps but she gave five for this week which would then be completed on the following week. The steps she gave were drinking plenty of water, not skipping meals, exercising , detoxification, a healthy diet as well as reduced stress.She also gave practical measures on what people should do  to increase their metabolism which  translates to a well maintained body weight.

17TH SEPTEMBER
Today's show is a follow up of last week, where Kate continues giving ways on how to improve one's metabolism. She continues by saying that, one needs to eat small frequent meals, drink cold water, incorporate high fibre in your diet and last but not least sleep well as lack of sleep interferes with metabolism.

24TH SEPTEMBER
In today's show she is talking about a conference that was scheduled to take place the following day 25th September 2010. She therefore touched on the issue the at would be discussed in the conference, which included such topics as diet, food, metabolism and lifestyle.The conference was to be an individualized affair, where everyone would be taken care of as per  their body type, age and sex.

1ST OCTOBER 2010
On this day, the show was not on scheduled since there were special guests who had come for a concert that was scheduled for the following day.

Having listened to these two shows, till this point , the theme of these two programs is on health. The hope FM show focuses on nutrition whereas in BBC it focuses on various issues on relating to our health.

The show at hope FM doesn't have sound effects just straight to the discussion with an interlude of music, whereas in BBC  its only the programs signature. Claudia voice is conversational putting a pause where need be and stressing on the ones that  needs to be stressed. Kate on the other hand speaks with a voice like that of a teacher and at times she gets too close to the microphone, that you can hear her breathing or even swallowing. Her voice is neither conversational nor a monotone but you'd still want to stay and listen to what she has to say till the end.

07-1240

RADIO PROGRAM CRITIQUE

As I had mentioned earlier, I started listening to BBC on the 6th of September because , on the very first day of class, Mrs. Kowour had mentioned that we need to listen ti 10 episodes of the programs that  we will choose so that we may familiarize with the content of the program.

6TH SEPTEMBER 2010
In this episode, Claudia Hammond revisits a story that she had earlier done to commemorate the memory of one Dr. Richard Gregory who had earlier been interviewed on the February of 2010 and had passed on in May, o this was like a repeat or a refresher for that matter.

Here, she revisits a story of Sidney Bradford whom in the program was simply identified as SB. SB lost his eye sight at the age of 10 months. His eyesight were later restored at the age of 52 by Dr. Richard Gregory through surgery  who was an experimental lecturer at Cambridge university. SB died 2 years later after the operation on his sight. Whether he died due to the surgery is not known but in the program the doctor mentioned that he took on a tour in Britain and he says that SB was disappointed by all that he saw.

In this episode what was being portrayed was humanity. That despite you being blind, there is still a chance to regain your eyesight.

There were vox pop where different people gave different views on the matter on hand.


13TH SEPTEMBER
On this episode, Tribute was being paid on Sir Patrick Manson , who was known as the father of tropical diseases. Sir Manson ,as I listened, had discovered that mosquitoes could spread diseases from one person to another and that was about 150 years ago. Talk of History. Present to discuss this issue was Mike Barret who is a professor of biochemical parasitology at Glasgow University.

The professor agreed with Sir Manson's findings and added that aside from the mosquitoes spreading diseases from one person to the next, the mosquitoes can also spread disease from animal to animal and even animal to humans.I felt that the discussion was brought closer home because mosquitoes are found in tropical areas like Africa so Sr. Manson must really have spent an insurmountable time in Africa for him to have observed the mosquitoes and come up with the conclusion that he came with.

20TH SEPTEMBER
Today's episode is a four part series on various issues. Today Claudia  is touching on unprotected sex. Her guest is Tania Bowler, who works with Marie Stopes International and says that unprotected sex has increased at an alarming rate especially among the 13-24 year old bracket. This statistic is prevalent in Europe, Asia Pacific,Latin America and North America. She explains that this was because these people are not educated on reproduction and their health, as well as ignorance.

she also touched on Hepatitis. Here she gives the facts about the disease and  that it is transmitted  through sharing of needles especially in Northern Europe, while in the rest of the world it is contracted through non-sterile medical equipment.

07-1240

Class Facilitation Report - Marie and Princely

Marie Kubasu (08-0102) and Princely Glorious (08-2026).

We facilitated class today, October 13, 2010 in the form of a broadcast presentation. Our show was called "Enlighten" on 97.1 Infinite Radio and the topic of today's discussion was "Writing for the Ear."

The presentation was split into five portions: an overview of writing for radio, aims a radio-writer should have, principles for writing for the ear, general guidelines of journalistic writing, and a session on the use of sound effects in radio. Each session had an accompanying broadcast piece for the class to sample.

We employed a docudrama (Escape from Sobibor), a feature (The Secret) and a drama piece (The Simpsons) - all of which where critiqued by us and a "media expert" from among the class. For the sound effects session, we employed a feature ("Unity in Diversity" by our own Mrs. Rosemary Kowuor) - after which we critiqued it and had an interactive session where the class critiqued it.

Finally, we received great feedback from the class - though it was only positive - and got a chance to comment on our experience. The class commented on our show saying it was great that there was no dead air, that we (as a class) are making improvements in both the technical and presentation aspects of radio, that the show was well organized and executed and that we (Marie and Princely) have great voices for radio. These among others.

Though we appreciate the encouragement, we wish that someone would have given us even a tinge of [positive] criticism rather than just tell us what we did well. We also hope that we can, with time and practice, become better presenters, producers and media players while helping others do the same!

Thanks guys!!!!

LIVE COMBO OPERATION

            

Produce a strictly 5 minute live talk based on the following guideline:

¨     Fade Up time check/station jingle/programme intro for 20 seconds then fade out

¨     Segue instrumental music for 10 seconds then under

¨     Discuss the golden rules of script presentation for 1 minute

¨     Fade up instrumental music for 10 seconds then fade under

¨     Demonstrate main characteristics of voice presentation and their influence on your success as a radio presenter for 1 minute

¨     Fade up instrumental music for 10 seconds then fade under

¨     Cross fade back announcement and time check for 10 seconds

¨     Demonstrate the qualities your voice should have for you to be a successful radio presenter for 1.30 minutes.

¨     Fade up instrumental music for 10 seconds

¨     Fade up programme outro for 10 seconds

¨     Cross fade instrumental music for 10 seconds then out

¨     The scripts must be typed and well formatted according to principles you learnt in COM 263 class. Surrender one copy of your script to Selly Amutabi at 8:45am at the big television studio on 06/10/10.

¨     There will be no other arrangement for studio operation exam. So all MUST attempt this exam!

Motto: Quality edutainment Radio production!

RADIO PROGRAMME CRITIQUE

I must admit that getting to find a similar format in BBC with what I am listening to in one of our local radio stations was not easy. For one I got all mixed up when it came to time. The time that I thought the program was supposed to be aired ,was not that time which was at 10 pm , so I ended up falling asleep instead. Anyhow I went back to the time difference and this time I got it right, but an easier option is that I get to listen to it online which is much more easier. So much for my adventure. Anyhow, I started listening to the different programs as from 6th of September and still going on.

I am listening to  the morning show in Hope Fm called activate and especially on Friday, this is because, it has a show within a show. This is to say that aside from it being a morning show,it (the program) hosts another show. This small show is called, "healthy living". The activate show is hosted by James Okumu, who is a graphic designer by profession and a pastor whereas the guest in the "healthy living " is a nutritionist by the name of Nancy Kiboro. The activate show airs every Monday to Friday from 5 am to 9am. In healthy living, they discus on issues that concerning our health and how we can adopt a healthy lifestyle.Healthy living starts from 7:30 to 8:00 am but at times when the topic they are discussing is so intense,they spill it over to the next hour.

In BBC, I listen to "Health check" show which is a 27 minute program, hosted by Claudia Hammond. She is a broadcaster, writer and an academic psychologist. She is also a part time lecturer at Boston University where she lectures in health and social psychology as well as an author.

This program airs three times in a week. On Monday and Tuesdays at 1:32 GMT and 4:32 pm local time and on Sundays it airs at 11:32 GMT and 2:32 am local time. I believe that the Monday and Tuesday shows are a re-run of the Sunday show.

This show deals with different health issues that affect people directly or indirectly. The first time I listened to it which was on the 6th of September, she was revisiting a story she had earlier done on SB a man who became blind at the age of 10 months and surgically regained his eye sight at the age of 52.

CHARACTERS
In the hope FM show, there are only two characters, James Okumu who is the presenter and Nancy Kiboro, who is the nutritionist. Listeners also call in to ask questions. In health check, Claudia is the main character as the presenter. She also has a guest and voicers, where people give out their views on that specific topic.

PROGRAM SOURCE
These two programs are local in their respective countries. Activate is a hope FM production produced and presented by James Okumu, whereas health check is produced by Marya Burger and Claudia Hammond and presented by Claudia

TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience in healthy living at hope Fm- dealing with nutrition- is both men and women who want to live and maintain a healthy lifestyle, whereas in Claudia's show her target audience is varied depending with the topic she is discussing as well as people who deal with health matters like doctors or even students of medicine

These two shows are interesting especially the one on nutrition.

(07-1240)