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Time: 20 hours
Level: Introductory
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 Introduction Resource- This unit looks at the technologies used to acquire information about the world. A particular focus is the technology used by television businesses in gathering news reports. The unit draws upon the expertise...
| | | | | 1 Bringing the news on the back of a horse
- 1 Bringing the news on the back of a horse Resource
- We seem to be surrounded by ‘news’ these days, but it was not always like that. In Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 2, Falstaff hears the news that his former friend and drinking partner, Prince Hal, is now...
| | | | | 2 From newsreels to real news
- 2.1 Communication technologies Resource
- With the Industrial Revolution the idea of ‘news’ developed rapidly, and these days most people in the UK and other developed countries have concept of ‘the news’. We expect to be kept up to date with...
- 2.2 The role of technology in the broadcast news industry Resource
- Taylor starts with some introductory comments. Notice the informal style he uses because this is essentially a script for a talk to a colloquium. Notice also the other issue that I raised earlier,...
- 2.3 Newsgathering and newspapers Resource
- Taylor now discusses some early information and communication technologies and the extent to which they had an impact upon newspapers.
- 2.4 Comparing early sources of news Resource
- Taylor compares the merits of radio and newsreels, as sources of news, with those of newspapers.
- 2.5 News and television Resource
- In the next part of the paper Taylor discusses the early days of television.
- 2.6 New media Resource
- Taylor now describes the era when film was replaced with analogue electrical video.
- 2.7 Digitisation of the news Resource
- Remember that this paper was written in 1995, at which time digital techniques were just beginning to take over in electronic newsgathering. Taylor therefore concludes his paper with comments on...
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- 3.1 Introduction to SNG and ENG microwave Resource
- Taylor's paper, From Newsreels To Real News, provided a historical overview of newsgathering up to the time the paper was written in 1995. It provides a good background but is out of date as I write this...
- 3.2 ICT processes in newsgathering Resource
- The generic diagram of a communication system, as discussed previously, is shown in Figure 3. If we think of newsgathering as communication from the reporter in the field (User 1) to news editors in the...
| | | | | 4 Anatomy of a digital camcorder
- 4.1 An introduction to the camcorder Resource
- The development of portable camcorders capable of recording long sequences of high-quality video has been important for newsgathering, but camcorders are also very popular consumer items. In this section...
- 4.2 Sound and light input Resource
- Figure 5 shows a model of a camcorder at a lower level of abstraction than Figure 4, concentrating on the input of light and sound.
- 4.3 Recorder Resource
- The descriptions of newsgathering in the extracts by Taylor and Higgins make reference to videotapes because, until recently, tape was the main storage medium used for video. Camcorders had a built-in...
- 4.4 Batteries Resource
- Though batteries are in some ways less glamorous than other components of ICT systems, advances in battery technology are every bit as important to the success of ICT as developments in other areas.
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- 5.1 Transmission of electrical signals on wires Resource
- In the discussions of newsgathering in the Taylor and Higgins papers, you saw the significance of the development of systems that allowed long-distance transmission of electronic signals. Initially transmission...
- 5.2 Other transmission media Resource
- Wires are still used to carry electrical signals over short distances. At the time of writing, for example, most connections between telephones in private houses and the local telephone exchange still...
- 5.3 Signal speeds, propagation times and distance: the formula triangle Resource
- When signals travel along a wire or optical fibre, or through space, the relationship between the speed, propagation time and distance can be written in three ways, depending upon which one you want to...
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- 6.1 Reliable information Resource
- Information is worthless if you have no trust in it. This has always been the case, but there are issues of trust that arise specifically in the context of modern information and communication technologies....
- 6.2 Authority and the variety of information sources Resource
- Technology has massively increased the number and variety of news sources that we have access to. We still have printed books, magazines and newspapers, while digital techniques have increased the number...
- 6.3 Authentication of information Resource
- When I watch TV news, listen to the radio or buy a newspaper I never think to question whether I really am watching ITV, listening to Radio Five-Live or getting the Guardian. In each of these cases it...
- 6.4 Pictures Resource
- It used to be thought that a photograph could provide proof of an event – someone could be caught red-handed by a photograph, as proof of their guilt. ‘The camera never lies’, it was said. If you have...
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- 7 Summary Resource
- The theme of this unit has been the impact that information and communication technologies have had on the news industry. I introduced this theme with a short historical overview of technology in the news...
| | | | | References and Acknowledgements | | |
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