GCSE Media Summer Research Project

TV News research

Your summer project requires you to choose a British TV News programme and research the following: 

1) The key information about the programme: 

• The channel it is broadcast on
• The day(s) and time of broadcast
• The presenter or presenters
• Average viewing figures
• Any awards the programme has won
• The logo/brand identity of the programme
• A video clip from YouTube of the show 

2) The institution behind the programme – this is usually the TV channel it is broadcast on. Find out:

• What year the channel was launched
• Who owns or runs the channel
• What the channel is famous for or associated with
• The channel logo
• A YouTube trailer advertising a show on the channel
• Any other information about the channel you can find

3) The target audience 
If you can’t find the official target audience for the programme, make an educated guess based on the rest of your research. Remember: % gender, age range, social class, level of education, job/earnings etc.

4) The running order for three separate editions of the programme. Watch at least 20 minutes of the programme on THREE separate days and write down the following:

• The news stories that appeared
• The order in which the stories were broadcast
• Why you think the editors of the news programme chose those stories and put them in that order.

Suggested shows you could choose: Channel 4 News, BBC 6pm News, ITV1 10pm News, Channel 5 News, Sky News etc.

You need to collect this information and complete these tasks on your blog. It is crucial you remember the log-in details for your blog and can show this work in the first week back in September. If you haven’t done so already, email your own school email address with your blog log-in details so you can easily access the blog over the summer and in September. 

Remember: post everything to your blog. The more videos, images and text you can find the better – make it look fantastic and show you are a top grade Media student in the making.

Due: September (first week back)