Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)

Semester: Autumn, 2020

ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Q.1 What are different problems faced by the radio in Pakistan and what are the prospects and
challenges to radio industry?
Close to the end of 2015 Pakistan has more than 140 functioning FM radio stations in the private sector. With
TV completely dominating the landscape, and the government issuing new licenses from time to time what
future do these FM stations have? Already they are witnessing a shrinking advertisement pie and static
listenership figures. Many attending a seminar on FM radio in Pakistan in October 2015 in Islamabad agreed
that the time to act was now or these stations would soon be out of business.
At the seminar hosted by the electronic regulatory authority Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority
(PEMRA) with BBC World Service, most of the FM radio owners in the private sector complained of not
getting a level playing field as far as competing with state-run stations was concerned. “We got our licenses by
investing millions of rupees, whereas, the revenue chunk is being shared by a number of state-owned FM radios
who are not even PEMRA licensees,” complained an owner.
Senior radio broadcaster and former head of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) Murtaza Solangi said
competition between public and private stations is not fair. “We have the military running 55 stations. There is
an elephant in the room all can see, but we can’t call it so because it is an elephant.”
State broadcaster Radio Pakistan and many others run by the Pakistan military do not come under PEMRA
purview whose jurisdiction is restricted to regulating only the private broadcast sector. Therefore, they are not
being watched over by anyone except the government. But the most financially damaging aspect of this
equation for private stations is that these state broadcasters not only eat up millions of rupees of annual
government grants but also are allowed to pick up advertisements from the private market.
The economic pie, many owners said, was stuck at Rs4 billion annually for a long time, meaning new licensees
are also now competing for the same chunk. Imran Bajwa, CEO of FM 103, speaking in the seminar said in
India licenses have been auctioned in the last decade only two times compared to Pakistan where there have
been seven rounds so far. “We need not more stations but better stations.”
Najib Ahmed, CEO of Power 99 Islamabad, said owners can’t improve programming because each one holds
more than two or three licenses in different cities. “We earn from Islamabad station and feed the others such as
in Vehari and Abbottabad. If we are allowed networking we can do better than we are now.” He agreed that
merely holding talk shows on radio does not amount to good radio and that owners are a bit greedy in securing
more than one license.
The experts also demanded the government relax the regulatory conditions so that they can broadcast some
percentage of foreign content akin to the state-run radios. The private-commercial FM licensees also demanded
PEMRA to strictly enforce non-commercial FM licensees to only operate within their ambit and scope. They
proposed PEMRA and private FM licensees to jointly formulate a repository of content to overcome the
shortage of content.

1
 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
They private broadcasters of Pakistan also proposed a regulated rating mechanism for FM radio sector for fair
distribution of advertising business on the basis of reach and listenership of FM radios.
Acting Chairman PEMRA Kamaluddin Tipu in his welcome note said FM broadcasting is contributing
positively in spreading education, information and entertainment at grassroots level in Pakistan and are
consequently creating awareness in society.
This was the third seminar that PEMRA has conducted on the subject of FM Radio during 2015. All agreed that
for the FM stations to survive they would have to create a niche for themselves in this cut-throat competition.
There was also consensus that mere music would not hold the listeners glued to their radio sets for much longer
and that private broadcasters will have to be innovative and interesting to its audiences and that running
advertisements for long stretches will only end up scaring away listeners.
From what has gone before, it is clear that the radio industry is complex. No one is completely satisfied with the
way it produces programs or with its relations to the government. Its difficulties grow out of the fact that it has
more than one function. It renders a definite public service by communicating, recording, and reporting news,
ideas, and events for the public. But also, as an advertising medium for some dozens of industries, it operates to
make profits for those industries and for itself.
Like most American institutions radio started out under the management of private persons and corporations.
But radio's medium of operation-the air above our heads-was more like the sea or a public highway than like
private land. It belonged to everyone, and it could not be divided -up among private owners. Only a limited
number could use the "highway" at any one time. And since more than that number wanted to use it, the
government had to parcel out the ether's use by license, deciding who should use it and in what ways.
Radio stations resemble newspapers in that both report . news and both serve as platforms for the spreading of
views and the debate of public issues. The similarity naturally brings up the question of freedom of the press as
it applies-or should apply-to radio. The traditional mistrust of government control of or influence over the press
is the foremost problem.
It would appear that radio comes under the clear meaning, if not the exact words, of the first amendment to the
Constitution: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." Yet for physical
reasons, radio cannot operate free from some government control. And it is very difficult in practice to draw a
clear line between partial control and complete control.
Conflicts of split personality
Out of the dual nature of radio as a profit-making business and a public service, numerous conflicts arise.
Should radio be essentially a medium for selling goods? Should it fill more and more hours at higher rates with
profitable advertisements-accompanied by entertainment devices for attracting listeners to the ads? If it does
that, how can it, as a sound, profit-making business venture, stop short of crowding out the other, nonprofit
function entirely? At the least will it not be tempted to put profits ahead of public service?

2
 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
If such a trend sets in, would another radio system eventually appear, supported in some other way, to meet the
public's need for undiluted news, commentaries, forums, public announcements, and educational activities? If
so, would the present highly organized, skillfully led broadcasting industry find that the goose that lays the
golden egg had quietly died?
On the other hand, should broadcasters consciously and responsibly assume a double role? Can radio be at once
a public-service medium and a private advertising medium? Can broadcasters design a radio menu which
balances in proper proportions and separates in proper compartments two items of diet so different? Accurate
reporting of news, truthful comment on public events, and unbiased presentation of political, economic, and
social views call for one set of principles. Plugs for hair tonic or claims for vitamin pills, both exaggerated
beyond the bounds of accuracy, call for another set.
Can the radio string together quarter-hours of music, comedy, commentary, and advertising gems without
violating listener sensibilities and tastes? Can the station owner and the network say to the advertisers who foot
their bills: "This kind of plug, yes, and that kind, no. So much time for ads and no more"?
Can they say to the person or the group who would attack their own or their principal advertiser's interest, "Yes,
you may have time and your fair share of time on our schedule"? Will radio, with television and facsimile
added, forego the technical advantage of unified control and centralized management? Should it conscientiously
do so for the sake of avoiding monopoly control by keeping ownership in many hands?
Does radio give anything like the skill, talent, and time to educational purposes that it does to amusement?
Should it do so if radio is potentially equal, let us say, to books, magazines, and lecture halls as a serious
educational instrument?
Possible solutions in the future: FM
These are the kinds of problems that radio, as an industry serving both a public and a commercial function, will
be facing in the years ahead. The problems do not, however, have to be met and solved within the present
framework of the four networks and 900 stations now occupying the 550-1600 kilocycle range on the dial.
Frequency modulation broadcasting (FM), occupying a group of channels higher up in the spectrum, is ready
for extensive commercial development. FCC can, if it desires, grant FM licenses to 2,700 stations without their
broadcasts interfering with one another. One of the major networks has itself declared that FM opens the way
for six or more new networks as well. The technical characteristics of this newer method of broadcasting may
make it possible, therefore, for a large number of stations to serve a single community.
FM also offers other opportunities for variety. With FCC approval, a new set of noncommercial networks is
being planned. These would link together the endowed and public educational institutions engaged in
broadcasting. Their educational and other public-service and cultural programs, thus, would all be under public
educational authority and be supported by taxation or endowment rather than advertising.
This plan would place alongside commercial radio an entirely public-service radio on a state-wide network
basis. And the request is for full morning-to-night service.

3
 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
Subscription radio, television, and facsimile
The former head of a leading radio advertising agency has also proposed so-called "subscription radio" for FCC
approval. This is based on a recently invented device (pig-squeal) which will permit broadcasting companies to
transmit programs only to those listeners who subscribe a certain amount of money monthly. The scheme is
somewhat like the British system of supporting radio by imposing individual license fees on each receiver.
If frequencies are granted for such an enterprise, it will be an interesting experiment in broadcasting paid for by
the listeners rather than by the advertisers. The daily program would be completely free from advertising
interruptions. Such programs would be on the same dial and would compete directly with the commercial
advertising radio.
FM, at most, will gradually supplant our present transmission-reception system by amplitude modulation.
Television, also in the offing, is a more radical innovation. Unlike FM radio, its technical characteristics seem
to call for very expensive installations and high program production costs. It may tend toward greater
concentration of ownership.
Possibly the highly-centralized motion-picture industry may become a principal maker of television programs.
The broadcast networks interested in television clearly want to keep the making of programs within their own
control. They would rather not serve merely as buyers and sellers of programs made in advertising agency
studios.
It would be foolhardy to predict what chefs will actually make up the television menu, or what kind of food they
will serve for the spectator-listener. But they are not likely to be the same chefs who now serve the radio
audience.
Facsimile broadcasting, which at some future date may transmit printed bulletins by radio, will draw closer
together the interests of newspapers and radio. It will present new possibilities and new problems in the control
and communication of news. Facsimile will also make it possible to "deliver" magazines and books to our
homes by radio.
Short-wave and international regulation
Finally, the war stimulated great development of international short-wave broadcasting, entirely at the hands of
government agencies and for war purposes. The return of peace will probably allow the government to step out
of the direct control and direct operation of short-wave facilities. But short-wave radio is an international
agency of communication. Private broadcasters interested in developing short-wave programs, therefore, feel
that the federal government will have to exercise more control than it does in the case of domestic radio. What
form future American short-wave broadcasting will take and precisely what role the government will play in it
have not yet been decided.
Radio waves-and short waves in particular-have no respect for political boundaries. Just as their disregard of
state lines makes federal supervision necessary, so their inability to stop at national borders calls for

4
 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
international regulation. It's another case of having to create a superior authority or set of rules in order to avoid
impossible confusion.
To take the most obvious examples, radio stations in Canada and the United States must stay off each other's
wave lengths. So must the stations in Europe's many nations. The only way to solve effectively this and the
many other international problems of radio is by international agreement. As new techniques of broadcasting
are developed, the international as well as the domestic consequences become more complex.
Q.2 flow is the propaganda different from publicity? What is the purpose of propaganda?
Propaganda has been studied as history, journalism, political science, sociology, and psychology, as well as
from an interdisciplinary perspective. To study propaganda as history is to examine the practices of
propagandists as events and the subsequent events as possible effects of propaganda. To consider propaganda as
journalism is to understand how news management or “spin” shapes information, emphasizing positive features
and downplaying negative ones, casting institutions in a favorable light.
Propaganda, in the most neutral sense, means to disseminate or promote particular ideas. In Latin, it means “to
propagate” or “to sow.” In 1622, the Vatican established the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, meaning
the sacred congregation for propagating the faith of the Roman Catholic Church. Because the propaganda of the
Roman Catholic Church had as its intent spreading the faith to the New World, as well as opposing
Protestantism, the word propaganda lost its neutrality, and subsequent usage has rendered the term pejorative.
To identify a message as propaganda is to suggest something negative and dishonest. Words frequently used as
synonyms for propaganda are lies, distortion, deceit, manipulation, mind control, psychological warfare,
brainwashing, and palaver. Resistance to the word propaganda is illustrated by the following example. When
the legendary film director John Ford assumed active duty as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and
chief of the Field Photographic Branch of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, he was asked
by his editor, Robert Parrish, if his film, The Battle of Midway, was going to be a propaganda film. After a long
pause, Ford replied, “Don’t you ever let me hear you use that word again in my presence as long as you’re
under my command” (Doherty, 1993, pp. 25–26). Ford had filmed the actual battle of Midway, but he also
included flashbacks of an American family at home that implied that an attack on them was an attack on every
American. Ford designed the film to appeal to the American people to strengthen their resolve and belief in the
war effort, but he resisted the idea of making films for political indoctrination. According to our definition, The
Battle of Midway was a white propaganda film, for it was neither deceitful nor false, the source was known, but
it shaped viewer perceptions and furthered the desired intent of the filmmaker to vilify the enemy and
encourage American patriotism. Terms implying propaganda that have gained popularity today are spin and
news management, referring to a coordinated strategy to minimize negative information and present in a
favorable light a story that could be damaging to self-interests. Spin is often used with reference to the
manipulation of political information; therefore, press secretaries and public relations officers are referred to as
“spin doctors” when they attempt to launder the news (Kurtz, 1998). Besides being associated with unethical,

5
 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
harmful, and unfair tactics, propaganda is also commonly defined as “organized persuasion” (DeVito, 1986, p.
239). Persuasion differs from propaganda, as we will see later in this chapter, but the term is often used as a
catch-all for suspicious rhetoric. Sproule (1994) references propaganda as organized mass persuasion with
covert intent and poor or nonexistent reasoning: “Propaganda represents the work of large organizations or
groups to win over the public for special interests through a massive orchestration of attractive conclusions
packaged to conceal both their persuasive purpose and lack of sound supporting reasons” (p. 8). When the use
of propaganda emphasizes purpose, the term is associated with control and is regarded as a deliberate attempt to
alter or maintain a balance of power that is advantageous to the propagandist. Deliberate attempt is linked with
a clear institutional ideology and objective. In fact, the purpose of propaganda is to send out an ideology to an
audience with a related objective. Whether it is a government agency attempting to instill a massive wave of
patriotism in a national audience to support a war effort, a terrorist network enlisting followers in a jihad, a
military leader trying to frighten the enemy by exaggerating the strength of its army, a corporation pursuing a
credible image to maintain its legitimacy among its clientele, or a company seeking to malign a rival to deter
competition for its product, a careful and predetermined plan of prefabricated symbol manipulation is used to
communicate an objective to an audience. The objective that is sought endeavors to reinforce or modify the
attitudes, or the behavior, or both of an audience. Many scholars have grappled with a definition of the word
propaganda. Jacques Ellul (1965, p. xv) focused on propaganda as technique itself (notably, psychological
manipulation) that, in technological societies “has certain identical results,” whether it is used by communists or
Nazis or Western democratic organizations. He regarded propaganda as sociological phenomena, not as
something made or produced by people of intentions. Ellul contended that nearly all biased messages in society
were propagandistic even when the biases were unconscious. He also emphasized the potency and
pervasiveness of propaganda. Because propaganda is instantaneous, he contended, it destroys one’s sense of
history and disallows critical reflection. Yet, Ellul believed that people need propaganda because we live in
mass society. Propaganda, he said, enables us to participate in important events such as elections, celebrations,
and memorials. Ellul said that truth does not separate propaganda from “moral forms” because propaganda uses
truth, half-truth, and limited truth. Leonard W. Doob, who defined propaganda in 1948 as “the attempt to affect
the personalities and to control the behavior of individuals towards ends considered unscientific or of doubtful
value in a society at a particular time” (p. 390), said in a 1989 essay that “a clear-cut definition of propaganda is
neither possible nor desirable” (p. 375). Doob rejected a contemporary definition of propaganda because of the
complexity of the issues related to behavior in society and differences in times and cultures. Both Ellul and
Doob have contributed seminal ideas to the study of propaganda, but we find Ellul’s magnitude and Doob’s
resistance to definitions troublesome because we believe that to analyze propaganda, one needs to be able to
identify it. A definition sets forth propaganda’s characteristics and aids our recognition of it. Psychologists
Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson (2001) wrote a book about propaganda for the purpose of informing
Americans about propaganda devices and psychological dynamics so that people will know “how to counteract

6
 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
their effectiveness” (p. xv). They regarded propaganda as the abuse of persuasion and recognized that
propaganda is more than clever deception. In a series of case studies, they illustrated propaganda tactics such as
withholding vital information, invoking heuristic devices, using meaningless association, and other strategies of
questionable ethics. They defined propaganda as “mass ‘suggestion’ or influence through the manipulation of
symbols and the psychology of the individual” (p. 11), thus emphasizing verbal and nonverbal communication
and audience appeals. Other scholars have emphasized the communicative qualities of propaganda. Leo Bogart
(1995), in his study of the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), focused on the propagandist as a sender of
messages: Propaganda is an art requiring special talent. It is not mechanical, scientific work. Influencing
attitudes requires experience, area knowledge, and instinctive “judgment of what is the best argument for the
audience.” No manual can guide the propagandist. He must have “a good mind, genius, sensitivity, and
knowledge of how that audience thinks and reacts.”
Q.3 Does the radio have capability to bring social change through development? Discuss.
From what has gone before, it is clear that the radio industry is complex. No one is completely satisfied with the
way it produces programs or with its relations to the government. Its difficulties grow out of the fact that it has
more than one function. It renders a definite public service by communicating, recording, and reporting news,
ideas, and events for the public. But also, as an advertising medium for some dozens of industries, it operates to
make profits for those industries and for itself.
Like most American institutions radio started out under the management of private persons and corporations.
But radio's medium of operation-the air above our heads-was more like the sea or a public highway than like
private land. It belonged to everyone, and it could not be divided -up among private owners. Only a limited
number could use the "highway" at any one time. And since more than that number wanted to use it, the
government had to parcel out the ether's use by license, deciding who should use it and in what ways.
Radio stations resemble newspapers in that both report . news and both serve as platforms for the spreading of
views and the debate of public issues. The similarity naturally brings up the question of freedom of the press as
it applies-or should apply-to radio. The traditional mistrust of government control of or influence over the press
is the foremost problem.
It would appear that radio comes under the clear meaning, if not the exact words, of the first amendment to the
Constitution: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." Yet for physical
reasons, radio cannot operate free from some government control. And it is very difficult in practice to draw a
clear line between partial control and complete control.
Conflicts of split personality
Out of the dual nature of radio as a profit-making business and a public service, numerous conflicts arise.
Should radio be essentially a medium for selling goods? Should it fill more and more hours at higher rates with
profitable advertisements-accompanied by entertainment devices for attracting listeners to the ads? If it does

7
 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
that, how can it, as a sound, profit-making business venture, stop short of crowding out the other, nonprofit
function entirely? At the least will it not be tempted to put profits ahead of public service?
If such a trend sets in, would another radio system eventually appear, supported in some other way, to meet the
public's need for undiluted news, commentaries, forums, public announcements, and educational activities? If
so, would the present highly organized, skillfully led broadcasting industry find that the goose that lays the
golden egg had quietly died?
On the other hand, should broadcasters consciously and responsibly assume a double role? Can radio be at once
a public-service medium and a private advertising medium? Can broadcasters design a radio menu which
balances in proper proportions and separates in proper compartments two items of diet so different? Accurate
reporting of news, truthful comment on public events, and unbiased presentation of political, economic, and
social views call for one set of principles. Plugs for hair tonic or claims for vitamin pills, both exaggerated
beyond the bounds of accuracy, call for another set.
Can the radio string together quarter-hours of music, comedy, commentary, and advertising gems without
violating listener sensibilities and tastes? Can the station owner and the network say to the advertisers who foot
their bills: "This kind of plug, yes, and that kind, no. So much time for ads and no more"?
Can they say to the person or the group who would attack their own or their principal advertiser's interest, "Yes,
you may have time and your fair share of time on our schedule"? Will radio, with television and facsimile
added, forego the technical advantage of unified control and centralized management? Should it conscientiously
do so for the sake of avoiding monopoly control by keeping ownership in many hands?
Does radio give anything like the skill, talent, and time to educational purposes that it does to amusement?
Should it do so if radio is potentially equal, let us say, to books, magazines, and lecture halls as a serious
educational instrument?
Possible solutions in the future: FM
These are the kinds of problems that radio, as an industry serving both a public and a commercial function, will
be facing in the years ahead. The problems do not, however, have to be met and solved within the present
framework of the four networks and 900 stations now occupying the 550-1600 kilocycle range on the dial.
Frequency modulation broadcasting (FM), occupying a group of channels higher up in the spectrum, is ready
for extensive commercial development. FCC can, if it desires, grant FM licenses to 2,700 stations without their
broadcasts interfering with one another. One of the major networks has itself declared that FM opens the way
for six or more new networks as well. The technical characteristics of this newer method of broadcasting may
make it possible, therefore, for a large number of stations to serve a single community.
FM also offers other opportunities for variety. With FCC approval, a new set of noncommercial networks is
being planned. These would link together the endowed and public educational institutions engaged in
broadcasting. Their educational and other public-service and cultural programs, thus, would all be under public
educational authority and be supported by taxation or endowment rather than advertising.

8
 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
This plan would place alongside commercial radio an entirely public-service radio on a state-wide network
basis. And the request is for full morning-to-night service.
Subscription radio, television, and facsimile
The former head of a leading radio advertising agency has also proposed so-called "subscription radio" for FCC
approval. This is based on a recently invented device (pig-squeal) which will permit broadcasting companies to
transmit programs only to those listeners who subscribe a certain amount of money monthly. The scheme is
somewhat like the British system of supporting radio by imposing individual license fees on each receiver.
If frequencies are granted for such an enterprise, it will be an interesting experiment in broadcasting paid for by
the listeners rather than by the advertisers. The daily program would be completely free from advertising
interruptions. Such programs would be on the same dial and would compete directly with the commercial
advertising radio.
FM, at most, will gradually supplant our present transmission-reception system by amplitude modulation.
Television, also in the offing, is a more radical innovation. Unlike FM radio, its technical characteristics seem
to call for very expensive installations and high program production costs. It may tend toward greater
concentration of ownership.
Possibly the highly-centralized motion-picture industry may become a principal maker of television programs.
The broadcast networks interested in television clearly want to keep the making of programs within their own
control. They would rather not serve merely as buyers and sellers of programs made in advertising agency
studios.
It would be foolhardy to predict what chefs will actually make up the television menu, or what kind of food they
will serve for the spectator-listener. But they are not likely to be the same chefs who now serve the radio
audience.
Facsimile broadcasting, which at some future date may transmit printed bulletins by radio, will draw closer
together the interests of newspapers and radio. It will present new possibilities and new problems in the control
and communication of news. Facsimile will also make it possible to "deliver" magazines and books to our
homes by radio.
Short-wave and international regulation
Finally, the war stimulated great development of international short-wave broadcasting, entirely at the hands of
government agencies and for war purposes. The return of peace will probably allow the government to step out
of the direct control and direct operation of short-wave facilities. But short-wave radio is an international
agency of communication. Private broadcasters interested in developing short-wave programs, therefore, feel
that the federal government will have to exercise more control than it does in the case of domestic radio. What
form future American short-wave broadcasting will take and precisely what role the government will play in it
have not yet been decided.

9
 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
Radio waves-and short waves in particular-have no respect for political boundaries. Just as their disregard of
state lines makes federal supervision necessary, so their inability to stop at national borders calls for
international regulation. It's another case of having to create a superior authority or set of rules in order to avoid
impossible confusion.
To take the most obvious examples, radio stations in Canada and the United States must stay off each other's
wave lengths. So must the stations in Europe's many nations. The only way to solve effectively this and the
many other international problems of radio is by international agreement. As new techniques of broadcasting
are developed, the international as well as the domestic consequences become more complex.
Q.4 Explain with some examples the process of radio news reporting along with voice casting and
actualities.
Radio News: Definition, Scope and Characteristics.
There are just as many definitions .of news as there are books and scholars on journalism. Same is the
case with the definition of radio news. However all of them emphasize different aspects of the subject. There is
something to learn from each one of them. Starting from the common phrase 'when a dog bites a man it is not a
news; when a man bites a dog, it is a news' we can go through dictionaries and encyclopedias to know as many
definitions. In the present day world news can also be an account of an idea or a precise description of a
problem. News is current information. But news can also be made out of the indications of what may happen in
the near future.
No matter how one interprets the definition of news, a good reliable prediction or a speculation must
surely be based on 'current information' , that is news.
With the passage of time the evolution of the definition has been changing. It has different meaning for
different persons and also on different media. Something a news for a newspaper may not be as important or of
no significance for radio or television.
One of the most suitable definitions of news according to broadcasting point of view is "a new piece of
information about a significant and recent event that effects the listeners and is of interest to them".
A radio news story is written for the ear, it is not meant for reading. A radio story is also not for any
particular segment of the society.lt is neither targeted for any special ethnic group nor is limited to any
geographical boundary. Its drafting is therefore more ticklish than the print or visual media.
The most important stylistic principle in radio news writing is simplicity. If the language is too complex,
it is possible that the story will not be completely understood by the audience. The radio listener can not retrieve
lost information by reading a sentence or story. If the story is not understood the first time around, it would be
lost to the listener for ever. Radio news writers generally apply a few rules of their own to help them get
information across in the best (simplest form): keep the sentence short, avoid complex sentences or construction
and use basic words not colloquialisms.
Sources of news:

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 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
News gathering is a specialized job which needs lot of skill. It reaches the news room mostly in four
ways, through staff reporters, monitoring of foreign broadcasts, through news agencies or press releases, hand
outs etc. News falls into the news room from all the sources and at all the time and used then and there because
there are plenty of news bulletins as against news papers which are printed once each day. The staff reporter is
not only
responsible to collect his own stories but also generally asked to confirm doubtful stories filed by news agencies
or caHed to elaborate the message contained in press releases or handouts.
The information wings of the Federal and provincial governments work as pubic relations departments
of the government and their ministers. Every day these agencies issue a bunch of hand outs containing official
news. This include reports of cabinet meetings, statements of the government functionaries, stories of
development work and so on In special cases and unusual situation press notes are issued to explain official
position or point of view. The editor uses his own discretion and professional skill in using them on the basis of
actual news value. These materials are not office orders but only information messages from official quarters
and should be treated as such purely on merit. The press notes are to be taken more seriously and cautiously
because they are issued in special cases and generally contain serious information. These too should also be
properly edited and summarized according to the available space.
The news agencies, both national and international, are another important source of information. Perhaps
the British news agency 'Reuters' is the oldest. Other major international news agencies are the French news
agency, AFP; the American agency, AP; the Chinese agency, XINHUA; the Russian, ITAR-TASS; and the
German news agency, DPA. Most of the countries have there own national news agencies. For instance
Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) and the Press Trust of India (PTI). The major news agencies have their own
separate agreements for the exchange of news with Other international agencies thus filling the gap where they
ace not present.
In addition to APP there are many other news agencies in the private sector. Among them. the most’
significant is the Pakistan Press International PPI. Other significant in the field are NNI, (the Network News
International) PPA, (the Pakistan Press International agency) and KPJ (Kashmir Press International!).
Art and Scope of Reporting for Radio:
Reporting is the art of news collection and filing dispatches to the news room for suitable consumption
in the bulletins. In radio a reporter has got to be extra quick and accurate. The reporter has to keep his ears to
the ground for possible rumblings. There are many areas which sometimes, without much of a warning, may
produce headline news. Lot of skill and craftsmanship is needed to cover political events while the economic
front is quite less hazardous. In addition to political, economic, sports and development news the door of
investigative reporting is also *there which how ever is not very common phenomenon in developing countries.
A new spirit of enquiry and criticism has to be developed to break some ground in the field of investigative
reporting.

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 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
The reporting for radio is somewhat different from that of newspapers and television. In Radio, it is always a
race against time and demands, special skill and high sense of responsibility. Normal reporting assignments are
easy to handle but specialized one require special knowledge, skill and training. For instance a parliamentary
reporter can't justify his job unless he knows the rules of business and procedural matters of the House.
Similarly sports coverage is not justified without basic know-how of the game which is to be reported.
Perhaps far less hazardous are stories of economic front. Here too. there are areas of reporting which are
far more important in Asia than in industrialized , societies in the West. In many countries shortage of consumer
goods and food grains. lead to hoarding, black marketing and other malpractices. As an area of reporting, no
less important is smuggling of essential commodities.
Even on his own a young reporter can discover almost any number of areas of reporting. But what is
important is to see their relevance to the socio economic conditions-underlying the pattern. The reporter is
supposed to know his audience He is also supposed to anticipate and work under pressure and speed.
The art of reporting is the ability to simplify comlex matters and make them meaningful to the listeners. A good
reporter is inquisitive, cultivative his own source gets all facts asking a lot of questions and always watches for
the angle. Rumours, speculations and opinion are outside the domain of a responsible reporter.
Q.5 Write short notes on the following;
i . Credibility
Credibility comprises the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message.
Credibility dates back to Aristotle theory of Rhetoric. Aristotle defines rhetoric as the ability to see what is
possibly persuasive in every situation. He divided the means of persuasion into three categories, namely Ethos
(the source's credibility), Pathos (the emotional or motivational appeals), and Logos (the logic used to support a
claim), which he believed have the capacity to influence the receiver of a message. According to Aristotle, the
term “Ethos” deals with the character of the speaker. The intent of the speaker is to appear credible. In fact, the
speaker's ethos is a rhetorical strategy employed by an orator whose purpose is to "inspire trust in his audience.”
Credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective
components. Trustworthiness is based more on subjective factors, but can include objective measurements such
as established reliability. Expertise can be similarly subjectively perceived, but also includes relatively objective
characteristics of the source or message (e.g., credentials, certification or information quality).[1] Secondary
components of credibility include source dynamism (charisma) and physical attractiveness.
Credibility online has become an important topic since the mid-1990s. This is because the web has increasingly
become an information resource. The Credibility and Digital Media Project @ UCSB[2] highlights recent and
ongoing work in this area, including recent consideration of digital media, youth, and credibility. In addition,
the Persuasive Technology Lab[3] at Stanford University has studied web credibility and proposed the principal
components of online credibility and a general theory called Prominence-Interpretation Theory
ii. Sources of news

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 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
Anything that provides news information for a period of time is said to be a news source. News sources can be a
moving person or still documents. Such as people who have witnessed the crime would come to the news
source or documents found at the suicide crime spot would be considered as a news source. There are several
news sources such as official documents, governmental officials, witnesses of the crime scene, the victim itself
etc. News sources are required for the both, the journalists and for the audiences. Here we are going to discuss
the news sources for both.
In earlier days many rulers used the technique of drum beat to convey their message through different people or
his officials and many rulers carved their messages on the walls or rocks to deliver their message. Later in the
modern world, all these news sources were eliminated and then press took new elements of news sources. In
today’s world, we can see there are totally different news sources. Such as televisions, radio, press release, press
conference, newspapers, press interviews, institutions such as hospitals, schools, colleges, police stations etc.
These are the news sources which are prominent in today’s time:
1. Radio: It is an audio medium used by many in today’s time. We can see people are relying on Radio as a
source of information. Radio is prominent and seen in both rural and urban areas. People in rural who
cannot afford television rely on radio as it is cheap. If we talk about urban areas where we do not see many
using radio at their houses instead they listen in their cars. Over decades radio has gained popularity and is
said is a good source of news.
2. Television: television telecasts their news on television through which other newspaper takes there sources.
It is said to be the most authentic source of news as it has visuals to establish the authenticity. Television
helps and provides newspapers to give detailed information to the audience but television news just doesn’t
act as the source to the newspaper but also the audience itself.
3. Newspapers and magazines: these two also act as a good source of news. Newspaper on both the levels
national and international provides the best information in details. The newspaper has 5W’s and 1H which
gives all the significant information at the starting of the news and further deals with the minor details and
same is done in the magazines.
4. Press release: Press Releases are generally used for the release of a particular news. The Press Release
should contain worthwhile material which has some news value. A Press Release should be written in a
journalistic style and provide facts and information of interest to readers and should cover all aspects of a
specific subject. The release should be on current subject and a piece of clear writing without any
ambiguity, color or ornamentation but it should at the same time not be generally lengthy.
5. Press notes: The press notes are less formal in character. These are also issued on important official matters
e.g. raising or lowering of tariff rates, price fixation of food grains, subsidy announcement of seeds,
fertilizer etc. Apart from the name of department, place and date, a press note mentions headings. Unlike the
press communiqué, the newspaper can edit or condense the press notes.

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 Course: Electronic Media Part-I (5627)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
6. Handouts: The handouts are issued on a variety of subjects like the day-to-day activities of the ministry or
departments, VIP speeches, question and answers in Parliament or legislature and the developmental
programmes of government departments. It covers the name of the PIB or information department. No
official handout is issued, if the minister or a government official has spoken in his personal capacity.
7. Press statement: the statements are usually given by known people, then he shares his statement with
media and later this becomes press statement.
8. Police station: every event which is of big concern to the police station would be firstly found in the police
station. If the reporter wants to know about a crime scene he would get first-hand information from there.
iii. Monitoring
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is used to assess the performance of projects, institutions and programmes
set up by governments, international organisations and NGOs. Its goal is to improve current and future
management of outputs, outcomes and impact. Monitoring is a continuous assessment of programmes based on
early detailed information on the progress or delay of the ongoing assessed activities. [1] An evaluation is an
examination concerning the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and impact of activities in the light of specified
objectives. [2]
Monitoring and evaluation processes can be managed by the donors financing the assessed activities, by an
independent branch of the implementing organization, by the project managers or implementing team
themselves and/or by a private company. The credibility and objectivity of monitoring and evaluation reports
depend very much on the independence of the evaluators. Their expertise and independence is of major
importance for the process to be successful.
Many international organizations such as the United Nations, USAID, the World Bank group and
the Organization of American States have been utilizing this process for many years. The process is also
growing in popularity in the developing countries where the governments have created their own national M&E
systems to assess the development projects, the resource management and the government activities or
administration. The developed countries are using this process to assess their own development and cooperation
agencies.
iv . Voice casting
Voice casting is a vital pre-production process for selecting the voice
talent for radio and television commercials, documentary and corporate narrations, audiobooks and online
tutorials. It involves a series of auditions in front of a producer/director.
There has been a shift to online voice over casting in recent years. With many professional voice talent utilizing
home studios,[1] clients are able to cut out traditional bricks and mortar agents. Websites devoted exclusively to
pre-screened professional voice over talent are servicing international clients often faster and cheaper than the
traditional casting process of voice talent physically being required to be in a studio.

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